Monday, January 21, 2013
Chicago's O-line next season
By Tim Kavanagh
One of the areas of major concern for the Chicago Bears heading into the offseason was the club's pass protection -- QB Jay Cutler was harassed extensively and consistently in 2012. New HC Marc Trestman enlisted O-line guru Aaron Kromer as his OC, and the two men have set about to improve the working conditions for No. 6 for 2013. So how will they do that?
There will certainly be some new faces. Lance Louis, Chris Spencer, Chilo Rachal and Jonathan Scott are all set to be unrestricted free agents, so the interior line will have a new starter, and LT J'Marcus Webb's tenure at LT could be coming to an end as well. Trestman, GM Phil Emery and Co. will be getting a good look at some of the draft prospects this week at the Senior Bowl, and Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune provided a quick look at what they'll find down in Mobile, including Bears RT Gabe Carimi's former teammate, Ricky Wagner.
Aside from Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel and Central Michigan's Eric Fisher -- both of whom are expected to go in the Top 10 -- the Bears may have their pick of the litter when it comes around to their selection at No. 20 overall. The impressions that Emery and Trestman get at the Senior Bowl this week -- and at the combine in February -- will go a long way towards determining whether they like any of the others enough to invest that pick on the position.
