How good is our OL on paper?

[Towel Manager]

We got Pace, Shaffer, and Omiyale. Pace will be the starting LT while Williams switches to RT. I'm guessing Garza and Beekman will be the starting guards? I don't know anything about Shaffer and Omiyale. Do you think with the addition of Cutler and his mobility, that this group of OL will be vastly improved from last season?

[Posey H8er]

It will look something like this-

LT- Pace
LG- Beekman
C- Kreutz
RG- Omiyale
RT- Williams

Omiyale is big and can play guard or tackle, and he will be a starting guard. Shaffer will likely just be a backup.

[fleet]

How good is Omiyale? Give me a quick scouting report

[emperorjones]

Scouts Inc.

Insider Analysis


Omiyale is a good-sized lineman with long arms. He is athletic, agile and runs easily. He is a decent knee-bender who can roll his hips to unload and leverage run blocks. He has a quick kick step to get out and pick up the speed edge-rusher. He shows above-average lateral range in pass protection. He is a good backup who can step in at either tackle spot and fill in for a game or two.

As I mentioned in an older thread, in a season and a half, JA has taken us from an O-Line that was considered old and bad heading out of 2007 consisting of:

John St. Clair T
Roberto Garza G
Olin Kreutz C
Fred Miller T
John Tait T
and
Terrence Metcalf G/Anthony Oakley G/C

To

Orlando Pace T
Frank Omiyale G
Olin Kreutz C
Josh Beekman G
Chris Williams T
and
Kevin Shaffer T/Roberto Garza G


I give JA the benefit of the doubt on O-Linemen. He really hasn't missed on adding a veteran that can contribute. He seems to know this position well. Therefore, I say that on paper this line is a huge improvement over last year and an overall solid line from a pass protection standpoint. Gotta see how CW will in the running game - but I have big hopes we will have a top O-Line in '09.

[fleet]

that sounds like a decent player, then the last sentence says they think hes a 1 game fill in player.
If true, thinking of a raw Williams and Omiyale makes the right side appear problematic. Pace better be healthy to keep blind side rushers at bay, because that right side could have Cutler flushed stepping up and left a lot if teams blitz into his face. Good thing Forte can block.

[emperorjones]

I wouldn't worry about Pace.

2008 Sacks allowed LT:

Left Tackle (sacks allowed)

1. Ryan Clady (Broncos) 0.5 sacks allowed (16 starts)
2. Michael Roos (Titans) 1.0 sacks allowed (16 starts) *PRO-BOWL*
3. Tra Thomas (Eagles) 2.0 sacks allowed (16 starts)
3. Orlando Pace (Rams) 2.0 sacks allowed (14 starts)
...
30. John St. Clair (Bears) 9.75 sacks allowed (16 starts)
31. Duane Brown (Texans) 11.5 sacks allowed (16 starts)
31. Jason Peters (Bills) 11.5 sacks allowed (13 starts) *PRO-BOWL*

[fleet]

Oh my bad Omiyale is a left guard? Hmm, Pace and Kruetz can hide him a little. But that scouting report says hes a weak link. If hes on the right, that doesn't sound too good

[Chewie]

Pace better be healthy to keep blind side rushers at bay, because that right side could have Cutler flushed stepping up and left a lot if teams blitz into his face. Good thing Forte can block.

Posted this elsewhere but an "anonymous scout" reported that Pace was still playing at a pro-bowl level in pass protection but has seemed to have lost the fire in the run blocking. Perhaps a change of scenery will provide some motivation in that regard.

[WAYSA]

LT - Orlando Pace
LG - Frank Omiyale
C - Olin Kreutz
RG - Kevin Shaffer
RT - Chris Williams

Beekman is awful and is too small to play guard. His future is at center if he has a future.

Chris Williams can play LT. Shaffer has played LT. Omiyale's only career start was at LT. That's a lot of versatility on the line and it's much bigger.

Should be a damn good line if big Pace stays healthy.

[WAYSA]

Pace better be healthy to keep blind side rushers at bay, because that right side could have Cutler flushed stepping up and left a lot if teams blitz into his face. Good thing Forte can block.

Posted this elsewhere but an "anonymous scout" reported that Pace was still playing at a pro-bowl level in pass protection but has seemed to have lost the fire in the run blocking. Perhaps a change of scenery will provide some motivation in that regard.

Where was this information coming from?

I hope he is fully healthy and can still move people in the run game.

[emperorjones]

Beekman is awful and is too small to play guard. His future is at center if he has a future.

Hey WAYSA, I know Beekman has not been high on your Bears O-Line wish list, but you have mentioned before he is too small. He's 6-2, 310 lbs. That's the same as Garza and seems adequate to me to play guard. I know those are just his stats, but even in games he doesn't appear small to me. How big do you like your guards?

He also seems to have done well in pass protection - can't speak on the run.

That said, I do think that he is our future center which was the position he played at BC.

[Chewie]

Pace better be healthy to keep blind side rushers at bay, because that right side could have Cutler flushed stepping up and left a lot if teams blitz into his face. Good thing Forte can block.

Posted this elsewhere but an "anonymous scout" reported that Pace was still playing at a pro-bowl level in pass protection but has seemed to have lost the fire in the run blocking. Perhaps a change of scenery will provide some motivation in that regard.

Where was this information coming from?

I hope he is fully healthy and can still move people in the run game.

You made me look it up. Didn't say "pro-bowl level" upon further inspection. My bad. From the S-T blog:

"Orlando still has it pass protection-wise,'' the scout said Wednesday afternoon. ``As far as pass sets and pass blocking, yeah. But his run blocking is declining seriously. He doesn't come off the ball well on runs, he doesn't sustain well. If you wan to just throw the ball, he'll be fine. I gave him a decent grade. I wrote him up again this year for us. I just think his fire is gone. That's what I've seen the last three years.''

Could a change of scenery, a new team and a new setting re-energize him?

"Now that could possibly happen,'' the scout responded. ``Maybe you're on to something there.''

[WAYSA]

"Orlando still has it pass protection-wise,'' the scout said Wednesday afternoon. ``As far as pass sets and pass blocking, yeah. But his run blocking is declining seriously. He doesn't come off the ball well on runs, he doesn't sustain well. If you wan to just throw the ball, he'll be fine. I gave him a decent grade. I wrote him up again this year for us. I just think his fire is gone. That's what I've seen the last three years.''

"Now that could possibly happen,'' the scout responded. ``Maybe you're on to something there.''

[/quote]

I have honestly not seen Pace play for a few years. When I saw he only gave up 4.5 sacks last season I was in shock, because he was cut and that is a solid number.

I believed your post & quote I was just wanting a link to the article, because I haven't seen any good articles about Pace yet. Cutler has been dominating the headlines. I was hoping they were going to introduce Pace with Cutler and Angelo would get asked how the OL looks right now on paper. I'm curious to see whether or not Shaffer is going to move inside to guard. That will be the key to the OL.

I think Frank Omiyale is going to be awesome and Williams is athletic enough to handle the right side. Lets just hope he can get some push in the run game.

I found the article now that I googled the quote. Thanks.

I know I could deeply regret this, but I am almost as excited about Pace as I am about Cutler.

[WAYSA]

Beekman is awful and is too small to play guard. His future is at center if he has a future.

Hey WAYSA, I know Beekman has not been high on your Bears O-Line wish list, but you have mentioned before he is too small. He's 6-2, 310 lbs. That's the same as Garza and seems adequate to me to play guard. I know those are just his stats, but even in games he doesn't appear small to me. How big do you like your guards?

He also seems to have done well in pass protection - can't speak on the run.

That said, I do think that he is our future center which was the position he played at BC.

Beekman has done well when he was pulling. He moves pretty well, but the guy is not strong at all and is often dominated. He got 0 push in the run game last year. The Bears could not run the ball behind him last year. Forte's big runs came on the right side. Yeah, Judy St. Clair is to blame for this as well, but Beekman was just not strong at all. He screams center to me. I think he looks small out there. He looks like the size of Kreutz out there and Kreutz is what? 290?

I am a fan of big nasty guards, lol. Guys like Herman Johnson really intrigue me and one of my favorite guards is Leonard Davis. A smaller guard I really like is Arron Sears on Tampa Bay. That guy is really nasty along with that entire OL as we all found out last year when Trueblood was dropping elbows on our defensive lineman in OT.

It's just personal preference, I guess. Beekman is just not strong enough to my liken. I want a big OL where you can line up on short yarded situations and know that the line is going to move people. Beekman & Judy St. Clair could not be counted on last year to do that.

Pace is a big boy and I hope Chris Williams manned up during the offseason. Also, Frank Omiyale will add some size with those long arms and height.

Projected size:

LT - Orlando Pace : 6'7" 325
LG - Frank Omiyale : 6'4" 310
C - Olin Kreutz : 6'2" 292
RG - Kevin Shaffer : 6'5" 315
RT - Chris Williams : 6'6" 315

[emperorjones]

I am a fan of big nasty guards, lol.

WAYSA likes the BIG NASTY

I get you though. I love the size that JA has added

Projected size:

LT - Orlando Pace : 6'7" 325
LG - Frank Omiyale : 6'4" 310
C - Olin Kreutz : 6'2" 292
RG - Kevin Shaffer : 6'5" 315
RT - Chris Williams : 6'6" 315

I guess we can call them the Big Nasty Monsters of the Midway
I'm down with it though. Didn't know Shaffer played guard?

I have honestly not seen Pace play for a few years. When I saw he only gave up 4.5 sacks last season I was in shock, because he was cut and that is a solid number.

and he actually only gave up 2 sacks. pretty solid at LT.

[WAYSA]

I believe Shaffer played guard early in his career for Atlanta in a ZBS. The same system Garza came from.

Shaffer is bigger and a better player than Garza. I don't see why he couldn't play guard.

I don't see the point of saving him for depth either. We signed him to be a swing guy, but we have a bunch of guys that can play LT/RT on this team. If one guy goes down it wouldn't be too difficult to shuffle around the line and not be in a bad spot.

Play the best 5 guys, IMO.

[emperorjones]

Hey that would be great if Shaffer could move to guard and has experience there. I'm not a Garza fan. He's always seemed like a backup to me.