Written by Brett Solesky | 16 March 2010

The Chicago Bears today released one of the longest tenured players on the team, full back Jason McKie was released.  McKie has been with the Bears since the 2003 season and was elevated to the role as the starting fullback in 2006.  A class act McKie worked hard and never complained throughout his career.  He was a very typical lunch pail type of player who did everything he was asked to by the Bears. 

Nice things aside McKie was never very productive as the Bears' starting fullback, he wasn't a very effective blocker, nor was he a very good runner or even a threat as a receiver.  Probably one of the most loathed plays in the entire Ron Turner play book was the play action fake, full back in the flat quick hitch pass that was run on so many third and shorts.   Most of the time the play blew up in the Bears' face and didn't get the level of production it should have. 

Just as bad was the FB dive that the Bears would run with McKie where he would  plunge head first into a wall of blockers and defenders and not get much leg drive for a first down.  McKie was a better blocker in the early stages of his tenure in Chicago, but as his career wore on his glaring lack of ability as a blocker became more and more evident. 

With that lack of blocking in mind, it likely became more evident to Mike Martz that McKie didn't fit well into his system.  Martz needs reliable blockers in his offense and with the addition of FB/HB Freddie Williams as a free agent signing from a couple weeks ago, the writing was on the wall for McKie. 

Elsewhere the Bears added some much needed experienced depth at the CB position by signing restricted free agent Tim Jennings from the Indianapolis Colts.  Jennings was not given a tender offer so the Colts will not be due any  compensation from the Bears.  

Jennings may simply be an insurance policy and depth more than anything.  He's not likely to come in and compete as a starter, he was rated as the third worst CB in the NFL by Football Outsiders.  That being said Jennings is a part of the football outsider ratings primarily because of the Colts' Cover-2 philosophy do not allow the big play even if it means giving up the first down.  As a result Jennings' stats are a bit skewed when using the FO defensive measurements. 

With that in mind Jennings may be the right type of player to come in and fit into a defensive scheme and philosophy he's already extremely familiar with. 

I'll have a more comprehensive break down of the Jennings sign from the guys over at 18to88.com the Colts blog on the Bloguin.com network.

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