SB Nation - Dan Buenning

Positional Battles: Offensive Line

wiltfongjr — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:00:24 -0000

Rosters have to be down to 53 by tomorrow. Last nights game probably didn't do much to sway the coaching staff one way or the other. The swaying was mostly done during the off-season when Kevin Shaffer, Frank Omiyale, and Orlando Pace were added as free agents. These three will all be on the roster along with Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Josh Beekman, and Chris Williams. No question about it.

Last year the Bears opened up with eight offensive linemen, including the injured Chris Williams, so taking more than eight isn't gonna happen. The above mentioned seven will be joined by only one other big fella. My guess is after the jump!

I guess I should eliminate some from consideration to make this easier... Center Donovan Raoila will get the axe, because both Beekman and Garza could back up at center, and Beekman looks to be the future at that position. Johan Asiata (I'll admit I never even heard of this guy til I looked at the roster) is a goner. Lance Louis, as much as I like his potential, just isn't ready yet. I'd like him on the practice squad. Which leave us with Dan Buenning and Cody Balogh. And after some deep thinking...

I can't see Balogh making the roster, and Buenning is more versatile. He's listed at guard, but he's played right tackle in the past, and could play center in a pinch.

Actually this was pretty cut and dry. Barring an injury the Bears ride with those eight.

Since there isn't much debate for a poll I'll take it in a different direction.

Poll

Will the Bears have an offensive lineman elected to play in the Pro Bowl?

Yes

202 votes

No

104 votes

Pro Bowl? Our O-Line will be prepping for the Super Bowl that week!

176 votes

482 votes | Poll has closed

Is Garza a Lock at Right Gaurd?

Adam T — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:39:46 -0000

The Bears have done a lot to improve the quality of starters and the depth on the offensive line, but one thing they haven't done is bring in anybody to compete with right tackle Roberto Garza. The Bears have pointed out that Dan Buenning, who was aquired in a trade with Tampa Bay, could compete, but it has yet to be seen if he is being given the chance to win the job from Garza.

Here is a look at Matt Forte's performance running in each direction; it seems to support that Garza is doing fine.

Right side 102 carries, 405 yards, 4.0 average
Left side 95 carries, 314 yards, 3.3 average
Middle 60 carries, 286 yards, 4.8 average

There are other factors that can go into how these numbers can be massaged, but overall Garza seems to be holding his own.

Weekly Musings from a Disgruntled Blogger (3/25)

ChiFan13 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:43:49 -0000

Along with GB and WCG, I will be writing a weekly column that comes out on Wednesday. Mine is tailored more towards the long-term strategy of the Bears and the news and notes around the NFL. As per usual, I'll be giving you a steady dose of cynical and Devil's Advocate-type views.

If any of you listen to The Score, you may know that Mike Murphy does a "Tool of the Week" segment. At the end of each column, I'll have "ChiFan's Cretin of the Week." The lucky individual/individuals will either be from the Bears or the rest of the NFL.

Let's start, shall we?

Is the NFL Draft moving to February?

This article courtesy of Pro Football Weekly:

For instance, the draft has been held in late April or early May since 1977. However, there are a number of movers and shakers in the league who believe that veteran free agency should follow the draft, and with the CBA still to be agreed upon for the next contract, this issue could be a bargaining chip for owners.

Those same league insiders would like to see the draft moved to late February, with free agency to commence following rookie minicamps, most likely in mid-to-late March.

At the very least, this is an intriguing idea. Upon first read, I thought it was a great idea. I love the NFL draft and it would occur during a relatively dead time in the world of sports. However, there are more than a few problems with this notion:

1) If players have any sort of injuries towards the end of the year, it gives them little to no time to heal up and prepare for their pro day or the combine.

2) For the most part, pro days would cease to exist. The Senior Bowl, Shrine Game, and the combine would take their place.

3) It gives talent evaluators less time to perform their job.

How this has gained steam is beyond me at this point. I am almost positive that this move would not be popular with the veteran players, and I don't blame them. If they are on the FA market, most want to find a new home. This move would place too much emphasis on the draft, and, as we all know, drafting is never an exact science. An elite prospect may not pan out, and a team would be left with a gaping hole. As they say on all the anti-drug commercials, "Just say no."

Draft Talk: What should the Bears do?

This question has been bothering me for some time. Originally, I was a big fan of Oher and DHB, but Oher's been steadily slipping down the draft boards and I'm starting to get worried about DHB's skills translating to the NFL. A lot of you have been clamoring for Hakeem Nicks, and I was starting to come around on the idea until it was reported that he scored an 11 on the Wonderlic.

I realize that a poor Wonderlic score does not always translate to how productive a prospect will be. However, it does give some sort of an indication as to their problem-solving capabilities. I don't know about you, but consider me officially skeptical about drafting Nicks.

Digression aside, what should the Bears do?

As SackMan showed in this FanPost, we have a ton of holes to fill. Unfortunately, I see Jerry's moves to get Josh Bullocks and Glenn Earl (who?) as a sign that they're filling the FS void through free agency. Competition at positions is great; competition among below-average to awful players is not. I think this is a pretty clear signal that we're not going after Sean Smith or any safety prospects.

What about the wide receivers? Along with our offensive line, those two groups are disaster zones. No it All's idea is to move up in the draft and grab Crabtree. I'd be all for getting an elite prospect like him if we didn't have so many holes on our team. However, if Maclin slips to #17, I truly hope Jerry gets on the horn with the Jets and trades some picks so we can get him. After Crabtree and Maclin, the rest of the WR's possess something that I'm not interested in. DHB doesn't have a productive track record, Harvin scored low on the Wonderlic (so picking up a traditional offense could be slow for him) and has been injury prone, Nicks scored low on the Wonderlic, and Britt has the ego of Terrell Owens. Barring us getting Maclin, I don't know what we'll do here.

As we all know, our offensive line is a ship-shod group. Considering for a minute that we don't get Maclin with the first selection, my vote is to trade down to the end of the 1^st or early 2^nd. Why? We have a ton of needs right now. We would (hopefully) be able to pick up a prospect like Britton at the end of the 1^st and grab either an OG or WR with another 2^nd round draft choice. This does seem to be the most likely scenario, since Jerry loves to trade down for more draft selections. There's just an increased sense of urgency to get quality starters this year.

If Jerry follows through on his QB quote and we take Josh Freeman, it will be a sad, sad day in the annals of Chicago Bears history and a tough day on yours truly's liver.

Brief Rant on Jerry Angelo and the McCaskey's

GeoMak and others have started to champion the "McCaskey's are ruining the Bears" bit and have taken some of the blame off Jerry Angelo. I agree with the first part; I am not a fan of the McCaskey's and never will be. However, Virginia McCaskey didn't tell Jerry Angelo to sign Josh Bullocks, Glenn Earl (who?), Dan Buenning, or any of the other people we have masquerading on the Bears pretending to be football players. The McCaskey's are at fault for some things, but don't let Jerry off the hook for personnel issues.

ChiFan's Cretin of the Week

Taking "Apply directly to the forehead" a little too literally

We have a tie between Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith; hear me out before you start incessantly bashing me.

Jerry - Last offseason, you should have re-signed John St. Clair to a minimal contract. Instead, you chose to wait until our line completely fell apart, which would (obviously) drive JSC's asking price up. If you couldn't see that John Tait was on his last legs, you're worse off than we thought. John St. Clair is not worth nine million dollars, and I would've been more pissed at you if you signed him to that amount. But to let a serviceable band-aid get away when our line was already bad showed an incredible lack of foresight on your part.

Not only that, but here's another reason why you're Cretin of the Week:

Rashied Davis dropped a couple of passes in early drills. Not a good sign.

Uhm....well....duh. How he's still a WR on an NFL roster is still beyond me. Looking forward to watching him drop more balls this year, Jerry! Keep telling yourself QB is the only problem.

Lovie - Vaughn McClure relayed this little tidbit after JSC was signed by Cleveland:

Coach Lovie Smith said the team wanted to re-sign St. Clair but said there were other options in case he didn't.

Who, exactly, are those other options? Cody Balogh? Dan Buenning? Woohoo! Get pumped, Bears fans. Patrick Mannelly might be playing on the OL sooner than you think.

As always, I'd love to hear from you all. What you hated, what you liked, what you want to argue, lemme have it.

Bears Trade For Dan Buenning

Adam T — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:14:43 -0000

It seems like as soon as I am just ready to open up a good can of rant on the Bears for not addressing some particular need, they make a move.

The Bears have traded for Dan Buenning from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The left guard came to the Bears for an undisclosed 2009 draft pick.

To make room on the roster, the Bears waived rookie cornerback Zackary Bowman, a fifth-round draft pick from Nebraska. The trade is contingent on Buenning, a 26-year-old Green Bay native, passing a physical.

Buenning was a 16 game starter as a rookie. His second year he started 9 games before tearing his right ACL. The Bucs picked up two more first round linemen, Devin Thomas and Arron Sears, making him despensable.

I'll work on getting some more info from our Bucs blogger, if anything else this gives the Bears depth. With second year man, but first time starter Josh Beekman currently at that position and Terrence Metcalf coming off an injury and not really being a quality full time answer this is a good move.

Thanks to thecoolest for first pointing this one out.