.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Chicago Bears Trade Analysis: Right Call to Trade Gabe Carimi?")
Chicago Bears Film Evaluation: Gabe Carimi
The more film I watch on Gabe Carimi the more concerned I am with him in pass protection. We are consistently told that Carimi's knee is 100-percent healthy, and given that he played well into the second quarter I assume the Bears are preparing him for the season.
However what I consistently see from the Bears first round draft pick from a year ago, is an OT that can be around the corner too easily.
I evaluated Carimi coming out of college at Wisconsin, and the one constant I saw from Carimi as a LT in college, he was often times beaten by players with speed.
This lack of athleticism to the outside to stop the speed rush led to Carimi being deemed a RT only. Now 7.5 games (including preseason games) into Carimi's career his play only reasserts the concerns I saw in college.
Carimi struggles with speed off the edge, whether it's a player being able to turn the corner on him, or back pedaling and allowing a rusher to get leverage on him on a speed bull rush, there are concerns with this player.
All the confidence in the media surrounding Carimi to this point is completely unfounded. If you want to call Gabe Carimi the best pass blocker on the Bears offensive line, it's not because he's head and shoulders above everyone else, he's simply the best of a really bad group.
In Carimi's first two preseason games of the 2012 season he has struggled in pass protection. Last week he allowed a sack and a couple of other pressures, and in the game against the Redskins he allowed more than one pressure.
Are these pressures allowed the result of his knee not being at full strength? I don't believe so, I think what we're seeing from Gabe Carimi is a limited skill set for an offensive tackle. This could be what we get from Carimi and his play is concerning going forward.
Is there a way to improve upon his play? Yes there is room for improvement Carimi is essentially still a rookie out there. However there are physical flaws that Carimi may not be able to overcome that have nothing to do with his experience or his injury.
These flaws to Carimi's game could be something that prevent him from being a long term answer at the RT position.
Time and tape will ultimately tell the tale on Gabe Carimi, but the often overused acronym for the NFL, may be applicable in this case, Not For Long.
@FranklinGray Believe me I don't want to be right, I want it to be something that can be cured by more experience, or it's something related to confidence in his knee and thus his play is suffering accordingly.
