SB Nation User Blog: BearsFan1

Chicago Bears Position Breakdowns: Tight Ends

BearsFan1 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:17:13 -0000

The tight end position has been the biggest and most consistent strength for the Chicago Bears offense of the past few years.

Desmond Clark has been an extremely consistent tight end for the past six years before and has shown to be a good workhorse when the Bears need him.

The addition of Greg Olsen through the draft two seasons ago has added a big passing threat. Not only that, but he became an alternate for the NFC in the Pro Bowl, a great feat for a second year player.

But what is the state of our TE's right now? Join me after the jump.

How are we now?

The Bears have one of the better tight end tandems in the NFL. Olsen and Clark combined for over 900 receiving yards and each had at least nine yards per catch.

Olsen stood out as he took over the starting job that Clark had the year before. Here is a look at Olsen's last season stats.

	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
15	54	574	38.3	10.6	52	5	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Olsen became a crutch for Kyle Orton at times throughout the season, with four games with at least five catches.

His best game was against the Detroit Lions (of course) where he had just three catches but still amassed 87 yards, averaging almost 30 yards a catch.

Olsen's big play ability has made him an almost receiver-like player only much bigger, making him more dangerous in the red zone.

I expect Olsen to be able to keep progressing and become a Pro Bowler this season, depending on what happens with the quarterback position.

Clark is going to stay consistent as a decent passing attack and one of the better back-up tight ends in the NFL.

Possible Free Agent Pick-ups

Note: After this article, this section will be intertwined with draft possibilities which will be new to the next article in the series.

I don't think that the Bears will do anything about the tight end position this offseason, as they are basically set and need to worry about other positions much more than this one.

Poll

Where do you think the Bears tight end tandem ranks among other NFL teams

Top 5

519 votes

Top 10

172 votes

Outside the Top 10

28 votes

719 votes | Poll has closed

Chicago Bears Position Breakdowns: Wide Receiver

BearsFan1 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:26:41 -0000

The Chicago Bears' second Achilles' heel this season has been the wide receiver position, as they have had few strong receivers over the past few years.

Last season, they had brought back Marty Booker (now gone) and tried their hand with Brandon Lloyd (unrightfully gone).

The Bears still held on to Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Rashied Davis as those who will likely be the main receivers if they decide to keep their current roster through to next season.

However, most who look at the Bears see them as a team that needs to make a move and add a receiver to become contenders next season.

So what does a look at the Bears receiving core reveal?

How are we looking now?

Devin Hester was a player who got better and better as the season progressed and as he was able to learn his position, which hurt his returning ability and, some say, his chances of ever becoming a star.

However, with the number of catches that he had, he actually had a good year. He had over 600 yards and averaged 13 yards per catch.

Although he never had one great, breakthrough game, he consistently had between 50-80 yards and was a constant threat to take a catch all the way for a touchdown, even though he only had three on the year.

Rashied Davis has been an average receiver throughout his entire time as a Bear. Although he was never great, he was never bad and he was somewhat reliable in big situations, just like his game winning catch against the Vikings a few years back.

Davis had 445 yards receiving last year despite having either one or no catches in seven games last year. He averaged just under 13 yards per catch and didn't do anything special.

Earl Bennett was looked at as a rookie who could develop into a strong receiver, but was buried under failed attempts to revive the careers of both Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd, so Bennett had no catches last season.

Possible Free Agent Acquisitions

T.J Housmandzadeh: Although I think it is unlikely that he will ultimately choose Chicago as his home, he is available and the Bears should get into the bidding.

Shaun McDonald: This is a player I like because he has been a back up his entire career to some great players (eg: Tory Holt) and could be a diamond in the rough, only a lot cheaper.

If the Bears don't get their receiver position fixed soon, they could be stuck on another season where the passing game is average at best and their offense goes nowhere, expect a move, and it could be for one of these two.

Poll

Can the Bears fix their reciever woes?

Yes

181 votes

No

178 votes

359 votes | Poll has closed

Why I don't like Chris Simms

BearsFan1 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:04:16 -0000

I have seen a lot of people showing interest in Chris Simms over the past few weeks, especially after he has apparently shown interest in the Chicago Bears back.

However, just look at his stats in years where he wasn't average. He had one year where his QB rating was over 65.

l don't trust him to help the Bears and I don't see what everybody else trusts. If I had a choice, I would happily take Kyle Orton over the underachieving Chris Simms.

If he comes to the Bears and turns out to be great, I want everybody on this site to come, find this post, and rub it in my face, and I will happily take the criticism.

However, I find it much more likely that, if Simms does become a Bear, the Bears either don't start him, or he is a major flop.

Poll

Should the Bears pursue Chris Simms?

Yes

12 votes

No

14 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

Chicago Bears Position Breakdowns: Running back

BearsFan1 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:20:10 -0000

After a conversation with WCG, I have changed the format of my running series, and it even has a new name, switching the word "Possibilities" with "Breakdowns."

Now although I know that you all love to read about the inner workings of my articles, I think I should probably get to breaking down our running back situation.

The Bears were helped immensely by the addition of rookie Matt Forte, who came out as a second rounder from Tulane and gathered over 1,700 total yards.

Adrian Peterson and Kevin Jones were decent last year as backups, but the Bears ultimately failed as a rushing team, finishing 24th in rushing yards and yards per rush, a very, very, very bad team that supposedly "gets off the bus running."

So how are we looking personnel-wise?

How are we looking now?

Matt Forte was obviously a big help last season, just one look at his stats will show you that he is a player who can become dominant, as he was one of the best rookies in this year's class.

		Rushing						Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
2008 - Matt Forte	16	316	1238	77.4	3.9	50	8	63	477	29.8	7.6	19	4

His 1,715 total yards were huge to the Bears; however, Forte struggled with consistency and ultimately was stopped down the stretch, which hurt the Bears and their post-season aspirations.

Forte averaged over five yards per carry three times throughout the season, but also averaged less than three yards per carry another three times, one of those coming against the lowly Detroit Lions.

If Forte is going to become an every down back who will help the Bears become a Super Bowl winning franchise, he needs to work on his consistency or he will risk becoming another Anthony Thomas.

Kevin Jones was thought to be a player who would come in, share the load with Forte, and help the Bears in the running game.

Although he had a great rookie year, he has disappeared from the spotlight and is now trying to make his way back (Anthony Thomas?). However, I don't see him being able to do this with the Bears.

Possible Free Agents?

Deuce McAllister: Although he has had injury concerns, he is still able to run well and could provide a lot of guidance to help Forte avoid a disappointing career.

Fred Taylor: Taylor was just released and Jack Del Rio said that Taylor should have a chance with another team. Could that team be the Bears?

Look out for the next installment on wide receivers, coming likely on Friday.

Poll

Which free agent running back would be the best fit for the Bears?

Deuce McAllister

43 votes

Fred Taylor

122 votes

Correll Buckhalter

32 votes

J.J Arrington

25 votes

Other (specify in comments)

15 votes

237 votes | Poll has closed

An About Me...For Inquiring Minds

BearsFan1 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:04:26 -0000

I love the Chicago Bears...I mean I really love them. I was about to break something (there was nothing reasonable in the vicinity) when the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs (we couldn't beat the Texans? Really?).

I know that there are a ton of fans that are on this site, as shown by my first article getting, to this point, almost 800 votes on it's poll (which I will try to put on every article) and a lot of good conversation, so I know that this is a great site for Bears fans.

That being said, I think that some of you might want to get to know the actual writer behind just the whole BearsFan1 that you see.

I'm 17 years old (18 in about a month) and I'm going to go to Illinois State University next year, where I will be beginning my college career (I'm a little excited).

I'm the Sports Editor for my school paper and I love all Chicago sports (besides that baseball team that plays it's games on the South Side), and the Bears are my favorite of them all, followed by the Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks in that order.

I started writing at BleacherReport.com about a year ago, I've written over 200 articles and acquired 83 fans along with Senior Writer status and have been a staple among the Top 30 writers on the website (which has at least a thousand members).

I have a Cubs blog, TheDailyCub.com, which has been on hiatus all offseason but is back in action for this season, as I have just started posting new material there.

But don't worry, none of my other commitments will deter me from writing here at the Windy City Gridiron. In fact, I expect my writing other places to help me get more experience and grow faster so that you can get the very best writing possible out of me.

Overall, I hope that you all enjoy my writing, as I hope to enjoy my time here at Windy City Gridiron.

Chicago Bears Position Possibilities: Quarterbacks

BearsFan1 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:42:40 -0000

Now that the offseason is officially started, teams have started releasing players as they see fit to their situation, and teams are getting ready to start serious contract talks (such as Ray Lewis with the Ravens).

The Chicago Bears haven't made any big moves just yet (other than Ruben Brown's retirement) but they will likely have to make a few moves to try to move into position to overtake the Minnesota Vikings and stave off the Green Bay Packers for supremacy in the NFC North.

This is going to be a running series for my first set of articles for WCG where I break down each position in two different ways, how good our current players are, and who they could go after in the offseason. Time to start with the most important position on the field, the quarterback position.

Time to get the ball rolling.

How good we currently are:

The Bears have always been starved for good quarterbacks. The list goes on and on and I'm sure you see the list every time the Bears have a quarterback having at least three consecutive good games on Fox. The Bears woes at QB greatly exceed the Cubs troubles at third base since Ron Santo.

In case you haven't, it is full of names like Peter Tom Willis, Dave Krieg, Steve Senstrom, Jonathan Quinn and Craig Krenzel. Now, if you will excuse me, I must vomit.

Okay, time to finish this story.

Kyle Orton had a few good games at the beginning of the season, and the Bears were looking like they were ready to be playoff contenders. Then the Detroit Lions, the Detroit frickin' Lions, injured Orton and he was never the same this past season.

However, Orton was average, which is just as good or better than any Bears quarterback in recent memory, here are his stats for the past year.

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
2008 - Kyle Orton	15	79.6	272	465	58.5	2972	198.1	6.4	18	12	24	49	3.3	2.0	3	27	160

They aren't great, but he had more touchdowns than interceptions, which is more than Rex Grossman can say, excuse me, I think there is more vomiting that needs to be done.

Who could they go after?

There are always rumors about Donovan McNabb going to Chicago, we deal with them every year, I am about ready to name him the Brett Favre of being traded to the Chicago Bears (I hope that makes sense).

Kerry Collins and Kurt Warner both have expiring contracts and both would be attractive, but I think that both players are either retiring or staying with their current teams.

I have a feeling that the Bears are going to keep Orton at the QB position, but if they do look for somebody in free agency, they would likely go to Chris Simms, who has been on the Chicago Bears' radar for a while and who might head to the Bears.

Although Simms isn't great, and he likely isn't better than Orton, but if he does sign with the Bears, there would probably be a competition between Orton and Simms for the starting spot.

However, the Bears will likely be unable to fix their never-ending quarterback troubles with this year's batch of free agent quarterbacks, and the Draft doesn't feature any sexy QB picks that would be there for the Bears, so look for another year of mediocrity from the Chicago Bears at quarterback next year.

Poll

Who will start for the Chicago Bears next year?

Kyle Orton

777 votes

Rex Grossman

50 votes

Chris Simms

35 votes

Donovan McNabb

96 votes

958 votes | Poll has closed