Special thanks to the Reverend and my buddy Brian. Both our Bears-based conversations this weekend led to me writing this column.

The Bears will enter into the 2012 season with that which they have never possesed. They will take the field on opening day with depth at the wide receiver position. Depth. At wide receiver. Who woulda thunk it?

Brandon Marshall is the stud, number one-type we’ve all clamored for since Dave Wannstedt prematurely ended the tenures of Curtis Conway and Jeff Graham in Chicago. Alshon Jeffery has the size and hands to be a perfect complement to Marshall and a serious threat in the red zone. The Bears will line up two dynamic weapons in the slot: Earl Bennett as a third-down, possession man and Devin Hester as a deep speed threat. Four men. Four unique sets of skills. All good.

Phil Emery did not stop there. Eric Weems and Devin Thomas have also been paid some money to wear navy blue and orange and both are significant special teams additions. Will they have an impact in the passing game? For the most part that is doubtful but their roster places are almost assured by their ability to impact the third phase, cherished by an organization that pays their special teams coordinator appropriately as one of the best in the game. (Dave Toub will be a head coach in the NFL inside of five years.)

Where does that leave Dane Sanzenbacher?

The Great Dane from the Ohio State University showed a propensity to get open down around the goal line and seemed to earn the respect of Cutty as the season progressed. He also struggled mightily to get separation on third downs and dropped far too many passes while standing alone near the sideline. (In fairness I only remember one of these but everything negative about 2011 seems heightened in my mind. Remember all that Sam Hurd stuff? Did that really happen?) Dane’s contributions on specials? I can’t remember one.

But there is no doubting his raw ability and one wonders if Sanzenbacher could develop into the next Ricky Proehl if given the appropriate time and the correct system. (Yes, by the way, I’m making that comparison based purely on race. Sue me.) But more to the point I don’t believe the Bears should be in the business of casting “projects” like Dane to the slag heap. His 27 catches, 276 yards and 3 touchdowns as a rookie pale in comparison to Proehl’s rookie stats but were impressive for an undrafted free agent rarely serving as more than the third option. (A look at Dane’s game-by-game stats for 2011 show consistency, if a lack for the spectacular, when healthy.)

There are not many question marks when it comes to the Bears roster for 2012. Most of the final slate is pretty well set while starting gigs are up for the taking. Sanzenbacher, a fan favorite, is a true question mark. Can the Bears afford to keep him on the roster without receiving significant contributions from him on specials? Can Sanzenbacher display the physicality and toughness required to be a specials standout? Or might Dane display the type of improvement in the passing game come Bourbonnais that makes him impossible to cut?

I certainly hope so. For me the potential future of of Dane Sanzenbacher is far more promising than the present of Devin Thomas.

The Bears have not retired the number of a single member of the 1985 Chicago Bears defense. Not Hall of Famer Mike Singletary. Not Hall of Famer Dan Hampton. Not Hall of Famer Richard Dent. Aside from the possibility of running out of numbers (unlikely) this is a travesty that should no longer be tolerated by the game’s most loyal fan base or most cloying media. But being that the 25th anniversary of the NFL’s greatest team has come and gone I will continue to assume that behind-the-scenes drama is precluding the McCaskey family from celebrating the achievements of these all-time greats and 50, 95 and 99 will continue to be worn by inferior performers.

Olin Kreutz never won a Super Bowl as a member of the Chicago Bears. He only made the Pro Bowl six times. He was only voted the best center in the league four times and was named to the 2000s all-decade team. He and Brian Urlacher were the beacons of light through an era of scattered sunshine. Kreutz, more than Urlacher, commanded the locker room and ran the huddle. Urlacher might have sold more jerseys but Kreutz sold the toughness. He was the aggressor. He is more Hawaiian than a Don Ho retrospective at the Pineapple Hut (made up place) but he was pure Chicago when he donned the navy and orange.

But the defining moment of Kreutz’ career came off the field. No not his breaking the face of Fred Miller at a shooting range (though that would define many a man). No, Olin Kreutz defined his career in Chicago by spurning Dave Wannstedt and the Miami Dolphins in 2002, rejecting $2 million more a year, and re-signing with the Bears. He was proud. He was loyal. And he turned down the archenemy of the Chicago Bears in a glorious and legendary gesture.

How his tenure ended in Chicago was unfortunate. The Bears realized Kreutz was no longer a very good player but offered him a contract anyway – well beyond his worth. He rejected it, went to New Orleans and barely made it through a few months before walking away. The greats never know how to walk away from the game and Kreutz was undoubtedly one of the greats.

No more time needs to elapse. The Bears should select a home game in the 2012 season and forbid #57 ever be worn again. Celebrate Olin Kreutz while many of his former teammates remain on the roster and all of his fans remain in the Soldier Field seats. Kreutz may not have been the player Singletary or Hampton or Dent were but his importance to an era of Chicago football and specifically to the Chicago Bears offense can not be understated.

How often does a center come along like Olin Kreutz? Once in a generation if we’re lucky. And we were lucky. We had him in our colors for all of his surefire Hall of Fame career. Why wait? I know I am one of many Bears fans that would appreciate the opportunity to say thank you.

I imagine it is Twitter’s fault and it probably is. But at no point in the history of professional football have OTAs received the attention they are currently receiving across the landscape of the NFL. I heard the legendary athlete Tim Hasselbeck predict the Falcons to top the Saints in the NFC South this year because the Saints would lack for Drew Brees’ leadership…at OTAs. You know what it all is? Bullshit and nonsense.

BEARS REARRANGE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

I’m not going to get into the particulars of the moves but you can read Dan Pompei’s expansive breakdown of it all by clicking here. Here are the two most important changes:

The most significant moves were the promotions of longtime area scouts Marty Barrett and Chris Ballard.  Barrett will serve as the director of college scouting and Ballard will be the director of pro scouting.

The Bears had been operating without pro and college scouting directors for more than two years.

The highly respected Barrett has been an area scout in the West region for the Bears for 15 years, having worked for Mark Hatley, Jerry Angelo and now Emery. He previously was with the Saints.

Ballard long has been considered a rising star in the Bears organization.  As the Bears’ Southwest area scout, he has had considerable sway in the draft process for a number of years.  He has been with the organization since 2000.

I have nothing to add other than to say this continues to the process of Phil Emery rebuilding the entirety of the Chicago Bears organization in his own image.

HESTER WEIGHS IN ON HIS RETURN LIFE…

Here are the quotes from Vaughn McClure’s piece in the Trib:

“I think every now and then, I’m going to do kickoffs,” said Hester, who still is expected to handle most punt returns. “It will depend on how the game is going.

“If I’m involved in the offense the whole first and second quarters, maybe I’ll tell them to cut back on the kickoff returns. If I’m not getting that many touches on offense, of course I’m going to want to get some more touches on kickoff returns. That’s how I see things panning out.”

I can’t say I disagree with this, to be honest. If Hester somehow becomes a focal point of the Tice offense then the Bears should absolutely move him off the kickoff return game. If he’s not then he should return every single kick possible. With the receiving corps looking deeper and more talented than at any point in Bears history, I’m almost rooting for Hester to be returning kicks.

HENRY MELTON WANTS A NEW CONTRACT?

Henry Melton is in the last year of his rookie deal and has been essentially retweeting any individual who mentions him receiving a contract extension. Really? Melton has had one, one, ONE year that can be ranked above decent. He was good last year but why not leave your contract alone until you’ve proven you can be a productive NFL player for two consecutive seasons? If only one good year of football is required for a contract extension then why don’t NFL teams only reward players with one-year deals? One-for-one. That seems fair to me. (In case you can’t sense it I am getting royally pissed off about this contract shit. The richest sports league in the universe acts like they’re a third-tier soccer program operating out of the Pacific Northwest. It’s pathetic.)

OTAs end this week and then it’s the long wait until camp opening on July 26th. Are any of you planning to be in Bourbonnais? I’ll be soliciting fan photographs and videos to post here. Drop me an email: jeff@dabearsblog.com

Webb v. Williams Will Take Center Stage in Bourbonnais

Chris Williams has been officially relocated from left guard to left tackle. So say those covering the minute-to-minute of the OTAs and so I believe. I don’t like it. I thought Chris Williams was quite possibly the most improved player on the Bears roster last year and he seemed to thrive at guard as the season progressed. But the powers that be have determined otherwise and now Williams will compete with the oft-maligned J’Marcus Webb for the starting left tackle position in Bourbonnais.

Thus the stage is set for the most public, dramatic battle of Bears training camp. I would expect Williams – with his first-round pedigree and polish – to win the battle and relegate Webb to the quite useful role of swing tackle. (His experience on both sides being an asset.) I have a feeling we’ll be tracking how many times the combination of Peppers/McClellin/Idonije beat both men at practice daily.

Enough About Devin Hester…

I can’t remember a sillier plot line heading into an off-season summer than “the Devin Hester package”. The Skunk is going to be lining up in the slot (when Earl Bennett doesn’t) and catching the occasional bomb from Jay Cutler. He is not going to be a down-for-down part of the base offense and anyone who thinks otherwise has not (1) watched him play receiver for the last five years (2) grasped the impact Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are going to have on this organization.

Tee-Shirt Announcement

After teasing the shirt on Twitter and receiving some terrific recommendations, we have gone back to the drawing board a bit and redesigned the shirt. The plan is to make the shirt available on Friday June 15th and give everyone til August 1st to place their orders. We’ll do all the shirts in one big shipment and have them sent off to you by September 1st. We’ll also have a limited number of DaBearsBlog koozies available.

There is no way to win a debate over player contracts/salaries. Such is clearly the case with Bears running back Matt Forte.

In one corner sit the diehard fans and former players who believe Forte is a great player and should be paid like like an elite running back (Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson…etc.). They do not care about the salary cap implications, shifting league strategy or possibly debilitating knee injuries. “He is great,” they say. “Pay him accordingly.”

In another corner sits Blue Collar Bob – the guy who has no patience for a football player unwilling to accept more than $8 million for a single season of NFL ball. He’s the guy using arguments like “I’d play for a nothing” and “in this economy, with so many folks out of work…”. These gents can not be defeated in debate because they ignore the most simple fact about NFL athletes: they are worth more than the rest of us because they can do things the rest of can’t do. Sure you would play for nothing and that would be an accurate evaluation of your worth on the football field.

I want Matt Forte on the Chicago Bears next season. I want Matt Forte on the Bears for two and three seasons after that. But it is becoming abundantly clear that Emery and the folks at Halas Hall have no intention on paying him what he wants. (Rumors are $20 million guaranteed.) They seem perfectly content to play hardball with Forte and force the back’s hand as the summer progresses and camp moves along. Will it work? Yes I think it will. The Bears have capable running backs on their roster and the addition of big-ticket wide receivers means you will see Forte’s ability to catch the ball significantly devalued.

But this is the last I’ll write about it until a decision is made one way or the other. Unfortunately every time I write a column understanding the organization’s financial philosophy I am painted by a myriad of ex-Bears as anti-player and anti-Forte. Neither is true. But how can we fault the Bears if they DO believe Forte’s knees an issue? Isn’t not concerning himself enough with player injuries one of those attributes that made fans loathe Jerry Angelo? How can we fault the Bears if they DON’T believe Forte is worth $20 million guaranteed? Shouldn’t we allow the new general manager to institute his vision for the ballclub? Agree with Phil Emery or don’t agree with Phil Emery, that’s up to you. But I have no interest in a GM without the gaul to implement his own agenda. Emery has that.

So here’s hoping the Double Deuce is there in Bourbonnais and adding a pivotal piece to what may be the most exciting Bears offense in many a moon. If he’s not there I will be Michael Bush’s number one fan. In the meantime I am going dark on the matter. Lights fading. Fading. Fading a bit more. Out.

I’m back. I’m not thrilled about it but I am back and returning to my daily duties.

The Bears begins OTAs tomorrow and while not much drama/news is expected to emerge over the three sessions taking place between now and the seventh of June, there are still questions to be answered when it comes to the make of this talented roster. Here are a few.

WHO IS PLAYING WHERE ALONG THE OFFENSIVE LINE?

Is Edwin Williams really a front-runner for a starting guard position? Are the Bears seriously, as per Brad Biggs’ hypothesis, considering moving Chris Williams back out to tackle? Is J’Marcus Webb in danger of losing his starting position before the team arrives in Bourbonnais in July? Is Gabe Carimi fully healthy? How Mike Tice and Lovie Smith decide to line up their boys this week may provide some clues as to how they’d love to start the season. (My vote: Webb-Chris Williams-Garza-Spencer-Carimi.)

HOW DOES THE RECEIVING CORPS SHAKE UP BEYOND BRANDON MARSHALL?

Devin Hester is not going to have a 100 catches. Brandon Marshall, if healthy, is. He is going to be Jay Cutler’s first look on just about every drop back and anyone who thinks/says otherwise is trying to sell you something. But how will the remainder of the receiving corps look? If Hester slides naturally into the slot as a speed threat where does that leave Earl Bennett? Will Alshon Jeffery spend his first season as a specialty target in the red zone or become a big-ticket, 50+ catch complement to Marshall? Is there any shot of a Johnny Knox sighting in 2012 and does Jay Cutler have any interest in his return if he were healthy enough to do so? Marshall is the sure thing. The rest are questions with potentially brilliant answers as the Bears enter the 2012 campaign with one of the most dynamic receiving corps they’ve ever had.

HOW DO THE ROOKIES FACTOR?

This is always the most interesting information to trickle down from OTAs. What kind of impression will Shea McClellin make on Rod and the defensive coaching staff? Will Brandon Hardin challenge the back of the defensive secondary in a meaningful way? Will Evan Rodriguez do his best Aaron Hernandez impression and impact the Bears base offense? Did the Bears find a steal on the draft’s final day? We won’t know the answers to these questions in OTAs but we’ll start to hear rumblings.

WHO ARE THE STARTING DEFENSIVE TACKLES?

My buddy Adam Oestmann believes the Bears are poised to give Stephen Paea a larger role in the rotation and pair the beast of an athlete beside Henry Melton to begin the 2012 season. I tend to agree with him. But how the position shakes out is surely one of the more interesting questions facing this defense.

Dearest Readers, Friends & Jerks,

DaBearsBlog will be on vacation until May 20th. I and my lady shall be venturing to Ireland for a time. (I’m assuming you’d prefer me not update this website with hurling results or preview columns for Ireland’s campaign in Euro 2012 this summer.) Should anything of note break in Bearsland I will be entrusting things to good ol’ Reverend Dave.

I will be attempting to devour my fear of heights by scaling Skellig Michael – video attached to this post. If I die whilst trying to do so I will leave it to you all to figure out how this site moves forward. It must live on!

See ya’ll in a few weeks!

-Jeff

BECAUSE I KEEP BEING EMAILED/ASKED ABOUT IT… 

J’Marcus Webb is going to be the starter at left tackle for the Bears in 2012. Right or wrong decision I have continually cited Mike Tice’s comments on the position as my rationale for the belief. Brad Biggs did a nice job digging up the quotes for his almost absurdly long post-draft column:

“Here is what I saw with him: Second-year player playing one side one year and one side another,” Tice said. “I thought he was adequate. I thought his consistency grade — how many times does he block his guy – his consistency grade was actually solid. What grade was bad was the critical errors, the sacks, penalties, not really a ton of quarterback hits. When he made a critical error, everyone knew what it was. But, what you look at is the development of a second-year, seventh-round draft pick. Is he a guy we can move forward and win with?

“Well, if you change your drops and you’re not always in the deep drops. If you change your philosophy of making sure the guy gets chip help from a back or a tight end. If you change and move the release point of the quarterback, you’re going to already make him better without making him better. And then you have an entire offseason and now you have a chance to make him better there. So there are two ways I just told you we can get him better in. And then already I think he is a very good run blocker. That is an area that doesn’t get talked about. Do I think he is the guy moving forward? Yes, I do unless some miracle happens and an elite first-round pick that we couldn’t pass up fell in our lap which I doubt. Yeah, he’s our guy moving forward.”

Tice blames Martz and the Martz system for Webb’s public failings in 2011. And this team is not going to cut ties with the monster tackle until they’ve given him an opportunity to succeed in a simpler, more manageable system.

RASHAAN SALAAM DIDN’T WORK HARD

I remember being down Gunnel Oval in Kearny, New Jersey. Little League baseball. I was in blue pinstripes for Kearny Florist and a buddy ran over to me to tell me the Bears had drafted Penn State’s great running back Rashaan Salaam. I was convinced the second coming of Walter Payton had arrived. It hadn’t. Salaam gives some telling quotes to Fred Mitchell in the Trib:

“I didn’t realize coming up how much work you had to put in once you got to the NFL,” he said. “It’s a whole different lifestyle. You have to change the way you live. You have to change who you hang out with. You have to totally get focused on your game. You have the athletic ability, but if you don’t put the work behind it, nothing will come from it.”

Salaam admitted many years ago that his partying and use of marijuana contributed to his downfall as a player.

“I had no discipline. I had all the talent in the world,” he said. “You know, great body, great genes. But I had no work ethic and I had no discipline. The better you get, the harder you have to work. The better I got, the lazier I got.”

It is so easy to trash general management when draft picks go awry. But there are very few tests one can apply to know whether an individual cares about the game. Salaam didn’t. And he squandered the opportunity for a brilliant care and legendary status in Chicago.

WHERE WILL SHEA MCCLELLIN LINE UP?

A lot of people have been guessing where 19th overall selection will line up for the Chicago Bears. Some have guessed he’ll be starting for Nick Roach and operating as a blitzing backer. Some have wondered if he’s the heir apparent to Brian Urlacher. My guess? He’s just a plain old defensive end. Nothing fancy at all. In the Bears system the defensive end is a three-down player that must be solid against the run and rush the passer. That’s the role McClellin will fill. The Bears are looking for him to be Alex Brown with more sacks.

T-SHIRTS AND KOOZIES FOR SALE

The 2012 Bears Blog t-shirt and koozie will go on-sale simultaneously on the blog by the end of May. The site will on vacation (I’m going to Ireland) from May 10-19. After that we’ll get the system set up to accept orders. Unlike previous years we’ll be doing all the orders at once. The first orders will be filled before July 4th. The second set of orders will be filled by Labor Day.

There were safer picks than Boise State’s Shea McClellin available with the nineteenth selection of the 2012 NFL Draft. Illinois’ Whitney Mercilus and Syracuse’s Chandler Jones both seemed logical choices to put their hands on the ground as 4-3 edge rushers in Lovie Smith’s system but Phil Emery and the folks at Halas Hall instead opted for a speed threat most had projected to OLB in a 3-4. (Ironically, or perhaps not, Mercilus and Jones ended up in the 3-4 systems of Wade Phillips and Bill Belichick respectively.) It was a move made without fan and media consensus and signaled a change in draft day philosophy at the highest levels of the Chicago Bears organization.

I don’t know if Shea is going to be a great player, worthy of first round status. I don’t know if Alshon Jeffery is going to be the go-up-and-get-it red zone threat Emery targeted when trading up in the second room. I don’t know if Brandon Hardin’s remarkable speed and athleticism will enable him to overcome the injuries that plagued his career at Oregon State. I don’t know if Evan Rodriguez will be the Aaron Hernandez/Chris Cooley type Emery believes will be a participant in the base offense – a coup for a fourth round pick. (I can’t go crazy with Isiah Frey, Greg McCoy or UFA James Brown. If they produce anything for the Bears my applause will be deafening.)

What I do know is Phil Emery placed a premium on that which he reiterated ad nauseum during his introductory press conference: playmaking ability. The Bears chose four players, in four positions of need, they believe are going to alter the course of football games. McClellin and Hardin disrupting the high-powered pass games of Green Bay and Detroit. Jeffery and Rodriguez  providing General Cutler with battlefield artillery and displaying the almost miraculous, newly discovered commitment to supporting the franchise quarterback.

Also telling were the decisions NOT made. Until signing feel good (I knew that he would) free agent tackle James Brown of Troy, Emery and company ignored the pleas of the fans and media and ignored the offensive line for seven rounds. As Mel Kiper-adored Bobby Massie of Ole Miss plummeted round-after-round, Emery had every opportunity to offer an olive branch to those clamoring for the head of J’Marcus Webb. He balked. Right or wrong this team believes in their offensive line. They believe in the unit that anchored 2,014 yards rushing among three backs in 2011. They believe in the unit that allowed only five sacks over Cutler’s last five games. They believe the return of Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi from injury will mean significant improvement in 2012.

This was Emery’s draft. These were his guys and he’s staked his reputation on them. His first four draft picks for the Chicago Bears bear his stamp by their unpredictability and  the all-too-common risk/reward factor. If they fail on (or off) the field  the pressure next spring will be thicker and tenser than Emery’s ever experienced in his professional career. If they hit the moping and complaining that have filled the Chicagoland air over these past few days will sound like the puny cries of kitten on a crowded city street in years to come. If you draft well, and you win, you’re given years to fail. That goes for football drafting and movie directing and cocktail mixing.

Should Emery’s picks need to succeed in 2012? No. Do they? Most likely. The Jerry Angelo tenure has forced most of the Bears faithful to look at whomever is making the personnel decisions with a raised eyebrow. Too much Dan Bazuin and Michael Haynes. When camp opens in Bourbonnais this summer most media members and fans will have their eyes fixed on four individuals: McClellin, Jeffery, Hardin, Rodriguez. How they perform there and beyond will tell us whether Phil Emery is the man to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Chicago.

Well this report sure doesn’t make it sound like he’s making a professional football team. But who the hell knows in the 7th round. In this video I kind of liked him. (Motherfucker can sing!)

From PFW:

Undersized cornerback whose biggest impact will be on special teams — gained 30.6 yards per return on kickoffs as a senior and had three career touchdowns, including two in 2011. Has good top-end speed, as well as a 38-inch vertical leap, and clocked a 3-cone drill time of 6.62 seconds. Overcame stacked odds to have success in college.