How will free agency turn out for the Bears? Well most Bear fans will agree that offensive line is in need of a major infusion of talent. Tight End is right up there too…perhaps, this year’s 1, 2 punch so-to-speak. The Bears have had difficulty in drafting top talent through the Jerry Angelo era and we are now in the twilight years of core players that have provided much of the fuel for the Bears success. Free agency is an expensive endeavor to be sure but is strategic and necessary in instances where you need to improve now or to fill needs that have been persistently not addressed through the draft.  (more…)

Jan 4, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas A

Offensive Line

It’s no coincidence that the Super Bowl teams both had stout offensive lines loaded with high round draft picks.  It’s a key ingredient into constructing a successful team built for long-term and sustained success.  (more…)

"One, two, four?" Frank Omiyale can't seem to remember the snap count. (Photo courtesy of ESPN.com)

Frank Omiyale doesn’t need training camp; he’s already in midseason form.  Yesterday, I read repeated tweets about two consecutive false starts by last season’s offensive line scapegoat Frank Omiyale.  Today, he raised eyebrows with another pair of false starts.  Here’s what head coach Lovie Smith had to say about the falsies:

“We’re not game-ready yet, but that is too many,” Lovie Smith said. “It’s the same guy a few times and we’ve got to get that corrected.

“I think every time you jump offsides, you’re a little over-anxious, ready to play. But you have to be disciplined enough to stay on. We can’t lose a play before it starts. But that won’t be a problem for us; we’ll get that straightened out.”

The Bears would have you believe that bringing in new offensive line coach Mike Tice will cure all.   If Tice can’t teach the Bears offensive linemen to count past two, it won’t matter what else he does.

The Bears claimed that they put Omiyale in a bad spot last season, moving him from his usual tackle spot and tried to shoehorn him in at left guard.  The idea was that this season, by moving him to a more familiar spot, he would anchor the right tackle spot.  Guess again!

Omiyale was worst in the league among guards with a -8.0 overall penalty ranking according to ProFootballFocus.com.  Check out the graphic after the jump.

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