Idiotic, grinning skull Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune wrote an article titled “Chicago Bears Foolish if they dump Olsen“. The gist of the story is that Olsen doesn’t fit in very well with the Bears new scheme under Martz and that maybe they should get some value out of him in terms of a 2nd round draft pick or something.
What isn’t mentioned in the article are two other questions:
1) why even bother adjusting personnel in such a permanent way given that it is unlikely that any of the “four horsemen” on the mast head will be here next year?
2) when other teams value Bears offensive stars, what “factor” do they apply to the fact that all those years they labored under Ron Turner’s useless offensive plans? For example, in 2009 Olsen’s stats were 612 receiving yards, 60 receptions, and 8 TD catches. Do they multiply this by maybe 1.5 or 2.0 if he played for a “real” coach? Just wondering.
If you look at the before / after on some of our other Bears offensive departures the multiple was large, although the sample size is relatively small. Look at Benson, Jones, Berrian, Gage, etc… and how they fared after leaving the Bears. Or look at the fall in production once they JOINED the Bears. Here you could Moose the receiver and Pace, although Pace apparently was just plain busted when we got him.
This is probably an item worth approaching statistically at some point – we showed that Ron AVERAGED in the 20th percentile against his peers, and this would be another way of quantifying ineptitude.
I remember when ESPN the Magazine was doing a profile of today’s NFL stars against super stars from the past at the same point in their careers. They compared Cutler to Elway, I think, over those first couple of years, or some star like that. My answer was HA HA HA his stats are going to go in the dustbin in a relative sense as soon as the great minds at Halas Hall get ahold of him and surround him with their random cast members. Not to say that Cutler isn’t a big upgrade – he is the best Bears QB I’ve seen since Dan and I started sitting in the cheap non PSL seats – but to compare how he would do as part of a “real” offense to what he will do as part of the Bears is laughable. We all know how his stats in 2009 turned out.
I think they should get rid of Olsen because he is a pussy, plain and simple. But that doesn’t have anything to do with your post, of course. Pompei always wants to keep his access and he I think is forced to write SOMETHING, anything about the Bears to get paid by the papers. He has been shown over and over not to be a big thinker about much.
Meh, I’d hold on to the guy just to see how he does with a halfway competent coach. I mean, he’s shown flashes of being really, really good. Just hasn’t exactly DONE really, really good. AFAIC, 60 receptions, a 10 YPC, and 8 scores under Turner’s reign of idiocy is practically ProBowl numbers! And, as far as your question about scaling, I’m certain that Turner’s players get scaled upward when given to a decent OC. They’d almost HAVE to be. Turner truly is that pathetic.
Get rid of him now and get picks/players or both! Olsen is an above average receiving tight end, but HE CANNOT BLOCK, and is low on toughness. Unless Tice/Mart have a plan to beef up his attitude and body, we would do better to deal him. I’m sure he would then go to another team and become a blocking, catching, tough machine. But as long as he is with the Bears he has no incentive to change.
2nd option would be to give him a chance this offseason/preseason and first few games of the regular season to show that “He’s the Man.” If we don’t like the progress, trade him before the deadline for picks or a player that we need.
By the way, the Bears front office should visit this site and ask us questions. We could figure it out for them with a few blogs and quorum votes. They could fire Jelly Angelo save some money and give us some season tickets around the 40yd line (I don’t ask for much)!
Just give me my 100k stadium, and I’m a happy Doshi ^_^
T06 – “…but HE CANNOT BLOCK, and is low on toughness.” Yep, he is a pussy. I swear I am going to scream next time I see a 190 pound db tackle Olson in the flat. He never lowers the shoulder and runs the guy over. Even Clark, as old and feeble as he is does that once in a while and can at least get a decent block in there now and then.
I like Clark and was always surprised we spent a first rounder on a tight end when we have so many needs. I don’t think Olsen is a game changer.
Looks like we got Manumaleuna – I had to copy and paste his name because I couldn’t remember all those letters to spell it – so now do we have 3 tight ends? Martz seems to be putting his mark on the team.
Uhhh… Martz isn’t known for being a big TE guy. He uses them like an extra lineman, generally. Is this new guy known as a blocker?
Looks like that whore Virginia McCaskey is taking out the ol’ wallet and just throwing money around. Peppers, Taylor and Manumaleuna all were signed today. Six years for Peppers? That is way too much but I guess IF the Bears can actually contend in the next couple years, I guess it it is all worth it. But I am not betting on it anytime soon. They still need an offensive line along with some safeties/cornerbacks who actually know how to guard somebody.
Bears land Chester Taylor and Julius Peppers as well. Taylor is yet another above-average back that runs with power but not much speed. Peppers is a great pickup, but the 6-year contract is VERY crappy to me for a 30-year old.
OK, they’ve taken care of a need and two wants so far. I still have yet to see them take care of several other GAPING needs: Right Tackle, Left Guard, Defensive Tackle, Strong Safety, and Free Safety. I’m still high on Afalava, but he’s only in his 2nd year, and he’ll probably slump this year to come back stronger next year. But, right now, there’s nobody to protect Cutler or to open holes for Forte and Taylor. And there’s nobody to clog the middle on defense or to protect over the top.
I know many are calling WR a need right now. I respectfully disagree. I see a team with at least four #2 WRs with the Devins, Bennett, and Knox, and I’m fine with that. Look at the world champs right now. No true #1, but about 5 #2s. And each has their role. DevH and Knox are flyers (Knox is better there). DevA is good in coverage with his height and reach. Bennett is an ideal possession dink’n'dunk WR. I’m fine with role-playing WRs.
I also know some are calling for more CBs, and I just don’t see that. Tillman is one of the best cover corners in the NFL, and I credit him completely for the win over the Lions early last year with his coverage on Megatron. On the other side, both Vasher and Graham are serviceable CBs that aren’t going to lose to a #3 WR on any offense, and can perform competently against most #2s.
If anybody says we need more LBs, they’re stupid. Our backups could start for most teams in the NFL. Urlacher and Briggs, though getting older, are still two of the best in the game. Hunter’s a smart guy and just seems to be in the right place in the right time, though he doesn’t have the skill set of some of the other guys. Williams and Roach are both amazing talents but need some seasoning to be top tier. Pisa has a good reputation, and Tim Shaw deserves his shot on defense even after his stellar track record on special teams.
I’m moderately happy with the signings right now, but we need somebody like Sharper, and we need him YESTERDAY.