| 04 May 2010
A fairly busy week of activity the Bears have been involved in since the draft a little over a week ago. The Bears did the front office shuffle, conducted their rookie mini-camp and Mike Martz went on permanent record regarding the quality of the player the Bears having hauling in passes from Jay Cutler. Read more inside regarding the team's latest activities since they wrapped up their draft.
College Scouting director Greg Gabriel was relieved of his duties almost immediately following the draft. This is a move that was expected as Jerry Angelo follows Lovie Smith's move in this make or break season. Like Smith Angelo is trading in the cards he's been dealt with a new hand, axing Bobby DePaul and now Gabriel. Replacing these two will be as expected Tim Ruskell from the Seattle Seahawks. As we wrote about back when DePaul was fired Ruskell had some success in Seattle but towards the end completely bombed on all fronts.
Coincidentally Ruskell's strength in Seattle was much like Angelo's strength in Chicago, he drafted well at the LB position but almost exclusively ignored and/or bombed at scouting offensive line talent.
This move essentially combines two positions into one, likely because Angelo couldn't find another taker other than a good buddy to take a one year fling at the job. The timing of the hire is not even remotely peculiar it's more or less laughable because Ruskell will be provided over the grim reaper season for both Angelo and Lovie. Make the playoffs or be fired is the ultimatum and with 95% of the off-season activity essentially accomplished after the draft Ruskell won't be doing much more than taking a pay check and holding a title.
Once a new regime is in place the likelihood Ruskell will ever have any impact on shaping the Bears' roster will not exist.
Elsewhere fifth year DE Mark Anderson signed his one year restricted free agency tender. Anderson is expected to compete for the starting slot vacated by Alex Brown, or at least he should given it makes no sense to place him on the strong side and where it's more his responsibility to help stop the run.
The Bears also held their rookie mini-camp and free agency try out camp over the weekend and there weren't many stand outs from the first rookie camp. Dan LeFevour (a wasted draft pick in my opinion more on that later) struggled dropping back from center having primarily played out of the shot gun in college.
LeFevour was seen and fairly as a bargain pick because he had fourth round value in the sixth round. But his overall pro level readiness is in question and it could be argued he is a luxury pick. If he's a developmental prospect, then he's in the same mold as Caleb Hanie who the Bears have spent the last two seasons developing to be the backup to Jay Cutler. Cutler clearly is the man for the next decade so there is reason to wonder why the Bears didn't address another position on the team with a different value pick a position of stronger need. LeFevour didn't represent the only player of value still left on the board at the time.
The one note from rookie mini-camp was former USC Trojan Averell Spicer try out invitee did play well enough to earn a one year contract offer which means he'll have a shot to earn a spot on the 53 man roster later during training camp. Spicer was a one gap nose tackle for the Trojans while at USC in the Dusty Dvoracek, Tank Johnson, Anthony Adams role for the Trojans. USC's defense was a version of the Cover-2 one gap scheme the Bears run so Spicer has a leg up in trying to win a roster spot. In the end though I don't think he'll supplant some of the stronger veteran DT players along the line.
Elsewhere reports from mini-camp have free safety Major Wright and defensive end Corey Wootton looking as well as advertised. The two draft picks performed at the level expected and showed the flashes necessary justify their draft value. Making plays in T-shirts and underwear however doesn't mean much until the pads go on, or even until the rooks go head to head with the veterans.
One of the best value the Bears may have landed was in 6-foot-7 330-pound OT J'Marcus Webb who showed positive signs from a seventh round pick. You could argue that Webb is a player that almost certainly needs to develop given the Bears' lack of any depth much less young depth on the roster. Someone needs to be in position push Shaffer and Omiyale for their roster spots. Neither veteran's play last year inspired awe or any real reason for them not to be pushed for their roster spot.
Bears wide receivers were overall pleasantly surprising in 2009 when called upon to be productive just about every receiver on the roster had a big game. Cutler spread the ball around plenty and there wasn't much of a drop off in overall catch production between any of the top five guys on the roster. That being said the Bears could use a true number one target that would be the focal point of any defense out there, thus opening things up for Olsen and whomever winds up starting in the slot.
Mike Martz made a pretty resounding and strong endorsement of his receivers when he stated :
"You can put that in granite," Martz gushed about the receiving corps after the team wrapped up its three-day rookie minicamp. "There's not very many things I would say are unretractable, but that one is pretty strong. That's a terrific group.''
Martz can understandably be confident in his players, but he needs to tone down the rhetoric a bit because all he does is amp up very high expectations for this group. At the end of the day though it won't matter what type of production the Bears get out of their receivers if Jay Cutler is every bit as productive as he was minus the 26 INTs.
Speculation is beginning to swirl on a whole different level regarding bringing a veteran QB who has faced the proverbial cliche,"more live bullets." Even a player who has more experience would be beneficial to the Bears but Caleb Hanie hasn't done anything wrong to warrant being demoted. Meaningless pre-season games is where Hanie has had his most success, but that's precisely the area where Charlie Whitehurst has had his most success and everyone gushes over his potential. To be fair Hanie may not be on a big level as some other backups, but I feel he should be the outright backup to Cutler. If the Bears do bring in a veteran QB as is being widely speculated Hanie is likely to be the one that's cut given the Bears would in no way carry four QBs on the roster. LeFevour a draft pick certainly wouldn't wind up on the practice squad because he wouldn't clear waivers to make it onto the practice squad.
| < Prev |
|---|
