- Joined:
- May 4, 2010
- Posts:
- 27,077
- Liked Posts:
- 15,163
The Bears never really figured out what to do with Greg Olsen, other than to trot him out in front of the cameras wearing pink cleats and gloves to promote breast cancer awareness. He's good about having a social conscience and connecting with the public.
He's also good at stretching the seam and making big plays. He didn't get a chance to do enough of that in his four years with the Bears, but now should after being shipped to the Panthers on Thursday for a third-round pick in 2012.
Olsen should have been in the Pro Bowl by now. He has that kind of ability. But he didn't have those kinds of game plans.
Give the Bears credit for this much: If they couldn't make their round hole fit the square peg, at least they recognized it. Matt Spaeth is the kind of tight end who Mike Martz likes. Olsen is not.
What general manager Jerry Angelo did Thursday was give Martz what he wanted.
Olsen was being wasted in Chicago. He had one reception of 25 yards or more last year. There were 127 NFL players who had more than one.
In his Bears career, Olsen averaged 10.2 yards per reception. Over the last four years, 35 tight ends averaged better for at least one season, including such forgettable names as Joel Dreessen, Joe Klopfenstein and David Martin.
Olsen also averaged 32 yards per game over the same period of time. Around the NFL, 21 tight ends did better in at least one season.
Don't think for a second 35 tight ends, or even 21 tight ends, are more gifted receivers than Olsen.
"He easily is one of the 10 most talented receiving tight ends in the league," said one NFC personnel director who was surprised to see Olsen traded.
Olsen ran a 4.51 40-yard dash at the 2007 scouting combine. His speed translates to the football field, too, making him one of the league's fastest tight ends.
That speed seemed to concern opposing defenses more than it excited the Bears.
"We had a hard time matching up with him," the personnel man said. "You always have to account for him, and when they play two tight ends and extend him, you don't know if you should play nickel or base. He could compromise your defense."
Players like Olsen are worth bending your scheme for. But the Bears tried to bend the player. They wanted him to major in blocking and minor in receiving.
Olsen should be a better fit with the Panthers. There he will be reunited with one of his college coaches, Rob Chudzinski, who, curiously enough, was not interested in becoming the Bears offensive coordinator when he interviewed with the team before last season. If Chudzinski had gotten job instead of Martz, it's safe to assume Olsen would not be calling the moving vans this morning.
Even though Olsen will have a play-caller who fits him better, he probably won't have a quarterback who fits him better. It may take awhile before Cam Newton starts passing as well as Jay Cutler.
Then again, Olsen's ballyhooed relationship with Cutler didn't really benefit him as much as it should have. The two of them appeared to have great chemistry at several points around River North. That chemistry was less obvious a couple of miles away at Soldier Field.
Cutler lost a buddy. Chicago charities lost an advocate. And the Bears offense lost an average blocking tight end.
The Bears drafted a thoroughbred and tried to turn him into a plow horse.
That's so Bears.
at Angelo and the Bears