Bears agree to terms with ex-49ers guard Rachal

[emperorjones]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/fo ... 1655.story

Rachal, 26, was the 39th overall pick in the 2008 draft out of USC, where he was a first-team All-Pac 10 performer. He started 38 games in four seasons with the 49ers, including 29 in 2009 and 2010, but quickly was relegated to backup status at right guard behind Adam Snyder last season when San Francisco cruised to a 13-3 record and the NFC West title under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.

Rachal, 6-5, 323 pounds, is an interior lineman and he’s not going to enter a situation where he is handed a starting job. The Bears and offensive coordinator Mike Tice have a variety of players to choose from on the interior.

Looking for more info, but I think he's staying as a backup RG and Spencer moves to exclusively backup Center. Louis gets the shot at starting RG but now there is competition & depth. I think the line will be a strength, but we really need a backup swing tackle. I guess that's coming in the draft?

[Cliff Levingston]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-chicago-bears-agree-to-terms-with-ex49ers-guard-chilo-rachal-20120418,0,4861655.story

Rachal, 26, was the 39th overall pick in the 2008 draft out of USC, where he was a first-team All-Pac 10 performer. He started 38 games in four seasons with the 49ers, including 29 in 2009 and 2010, but quickly was relegated to backup status at right guard behind Adam Snyder last season when San Francisco cruised to a 13-3 record and the NFC West title under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.

Rachal, 6-5, 323 pounds, is an interior lineman and he’s not going to enter a situation where he is handed a starting job. The Bears and offensive coordinator Mike Tice have a variety of players to choose from on the interior.

Looking for more info, but I think he's staying as a backup RG and Spencer moves to exclusively backup Center. Louis gets the shot at starting RG but now there is competition & depth. I think the line will be a strength, but we really need a backup swing tackle. I guess that's coming in the draft?

It's wouldn't be all too shocking either to see Chris Williams moved to LT, Webb become the swing tackle and having Rachal, Louis, E. Williams, Garza and Spencer duke it out for the interior linemen jobs.

[Chewie]

Good post on Rachal by Biggs:

Spoke to coach who worked previously with new #Bears G Chilo Rachal. He likes the move. Called Rachal a very physical, hard worker. Said at times Rachal can maul people. The downside? Says emotions can get in his way on occasion and that leads him to lose focus. Says his overall offensive line awareness isn’t where you’d want it to be but chalks that up to experience and believes he can improve.

[emperorjones]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-chicago-bears-agree-to-terms-with-ex49ers-guard-chilo-rachal-20120418,0,4861655.story

Rachal, 26, was the 39th overall pick in the 2008 draft out of USC, where he was a first-team All-Pac 10 performer. He started 38 games in four seasons with the 49ers, including 29 in 2009 and 2010, but quickly was relegated to backup status at right guard behind Adam Snyder last season when San Francisco cruised to a 13-3 record and the NFC West title under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.

Rachal, 6-5, 323 pounds, is an interior lineman and he’s not going to enter a situation where he is handed a starting job. The Bears and offensive coordinator Mike Tice have a variety of players to choose from on the interior.

Looking for more info, but I think he's staying as a backup RG and Spencer moves to exclusively backup Center. Louis gets the shot at starting RG but now there is competition & depth. I think the line will be a strength, but we really need a backup swing tackle. I guess that's coming in the draft?

It's wouldn't be all too shocking either to see Chris Williams moved to LT, Webb become the swing tackle and having Rachal, Louis, E. Williams, Garza and Spencer duke it out for the interior linemen jobs.

I wouldn't like Williams moving to LT at all. I really liked him at LG, especially pulling on running plays. I thought he was really starting to shine. Back at LT after 2 years at guard when he wasn't good at LT to begin with? Ugh. I actually have faith in Webb. I put most of his problems on Marsh. Just looking at Marsha's refusal to help on Jarred Allen resulting in Webb giving up 4 sacks in one game. With Tice as OC, I'm willing to bet Webb is a solid to above average LT. I think the rest of the line is strong with Louis moving back to RG. We need a reserve swing tacke IMO.

[heir_jordan22]

I wouldn't like Williams moving to LT at all. I really liked him at LG, especially pulling on running plays. I thought he was really starting to shine. Back at LT after 2 years at guard when he wasn't good at LT to begin with? Ugh. I actually have faith in Webb. I put most of his problems on Marsh. Just looking at Marsha's refusal to help on Jarred Allen resulting in Webb giving up 4 sacks in one game. With Tice as OC, I'm willing to bet Webb is a solid to above average LT. I think the rest of the line is strong with Louis moving back to RG. We need a reserve swing tacke IMO.

I agree with all of this. I think the starters will be the same but there will likely be open competition for the interior line spots. I also think Web will do a lot better with Martz' 13-step drops gone.

[Chewie]

Webb's got a lot to prove, though. Not sure how you can have faith in him, emp. He graded out as the worst starting LT in football last year. You can only lay so much of that on Martz. I don't like going into camp with a big question mark on such an important position. And it's not like we've exactly figured out that Carimi is legit or not on the other side or not, either, have we?

[emperorjones]

To me, I can put it on Martz. Its as obvious as this:

If you have a Matt Forte like RB who excels running outside the tackles and on short yardage/screen passes, but you had a head coach/ OC who believes the only way to win is to attack up the middle and never throws to the backs because he believes he has Earl Campbell back there, that RB is gonna suck.
If you happen to have another coach who is widely regarded as one of the best RB coaches in the league who is convinced you have Matt Forte & not Earl Campbell, when the new coach takes over, that RB is going to be in a position to succeed.

I'm gonna go with what I see and what the new coach says.

If this were a RB situation, I think it would be that obvious to us. I'm biased because I was pulling for Bears to draft Webb. But what I see is a huge guy who is very athletic who was put in bad situations all year long. Change the theory so you can play to his strengths instead of directly into his weaknesses and you have a different player. I think this happens a lot with RBs, QBs, & WR who excel in one system, then disappear when they change teams in free agency.

I guess when it comes down to it I really trust Tice. That, and for the last 2 years, on every pass play I've focused on Webb. I really think if you get rid of the 5 & 7 step drops and throw in more roll outs, play action & audibles, Webb is going to shine.

Also, as for Carimi, Tice had him graded out as the best OL on the team at the time of his injury.

[Chewie]

Well, sure, we're ALL focusing on Webb on every pass play. He's either the guy doing his best impersonation of turnstile or he's having a big yellow hankie being thrown in his general direction. You can't take his eyes off him!

I just want to keep Cutler in one piece here - we may have solidified the backup QB position but we're not making a dent in the playoffs without him, obviously. The OT position is still a big question mark and I really wanted to come out of free agency with an improved LT but you I realize you can't address everything. We'll wait and see if Lovie's and Tice's faith in Webb is justified, I guess.

[BullHeaded]

I wouldn't dismiss C Williams at LT. For a short spell he looked good there and basically couldn't stick because of injuries and Tice's man-love for Webb. Maybe Webb develops into a solid LT, maybe not. But its possible that a healthy Chris Williams with a chance to consistently play LT settles in there and proves to be the best LT on the roster. We've seen stranger... Mike Gandy became a pretty good LT for Arizona after being an up-and-down Guard for the Bears.

Another player I wonder about is Lance Louis who looked good at both RG and RT. He may have the feet to be an LT (not sure about arm length). He was a converted TE once upon a time and for whatever reason a lot of great LTs were once TEs (kinda like a lot of great TEs were once power forwards in another sport).