There are lots of positives surrounding the Chicago Bears offense through the first week of training camp. Caleb Williams is making several impressive throws every day. Many of them come from the pocket. Rome Odunze already looks like a bonafide stud. He’s beating the team’s starting corners with regularity. Keenan Allen looks like the six-time Pro Bowler he is, and running back D’Andre Swift seems to fit perfectly in this offense. Unfortunately, GM Ryan Poles can’t be all smiles. The offense does have one significant issue.
The offensive line hasn’t looked great. Or, more specifically, the interior offensive line has been shaky. Nate Davis continues to miss practices due to more health problems. Worse still, the Bears’ defensive front has made life miserable for the team’s recent additions, Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton. As a result, Williams is under frequent pressure, making it difficult for him to sustain drive in 11-on-11 drills.
Poles maintain the belief that the Bears have enough bodies on the interior to have a strong offensive line. The latest evidence suggests otherwise.
Ryan Poles has a tough decision to make.
Does he maintain the status quo, betting that things will coalesce as guys become more familiar with the offense? Or will he look to add another piece to the mix to increase competition and hopefully find stability? Given the situation with Davis, the former seems like a dangerous gamble. The guy has never started a full season without some health setback. Jenkins remains a wild card as well. If this team wants to beat the best in the division, let alone the NFC, they have to stabilize the trenches.
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Unfortunately, the Giants scooped up one of the best remaining guards on the market, Greg Van Roten. If Ryan Poles wants to roll the dice, his best bet is calling veteran center Connor Williams. While he is coming off a season-ending knee injury last year, he was one of the best in the league at his position before that. He would at least give the Bears some flexibility where they sorely need it. Otherwise, they risk their young quarterback getting way too much pressure on him in a pivotal year of development.
Ha!
Olympic Update: Hey, did ya’ll know one of our players is married to one of the Olympians? I think that’s pretty cool.
My football talk for the day. Hey, do ya’ll remember the time Leon Lett got the “twisties” on Thanksgiving Day? That was pretty cool, too.
I think the real problem in this type of chat is that the comments are so polarized that one side is always trying to take the lead instead of being consistent and looking at the actual results. My attitude has always been, that if you can’t say something nice or make a statement without lambasting a GM or player, just keep quiet. It doesn’t make them better either way. No one enjoys venomous diatribes when direct and even-handed criticism like @Ralph Law has used here. I can appreciate his opinion because while being forceful but not trying to beat everyone… Read more »
@Ralph Law – that’s exactly where I’m at with Poles. There’s stuff that looks good. But we still don’t know one way or the other.
lets face it, CW ts a rookie and is going to cause mistakes. It’s unenviable. But given time he will shine better than Mahomes