Matt Suhey
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- Nov 10, 2012
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I know I know this guy is way too logical for the hothead know it alls around here but for shits and giggles I thought why not stir it up a little during this boring NFL time. The main reason I got over the Bears passing on Tunsil was because I am confident the Bear coaches are targeting Kyle for LT.
http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/...s-the-best-move-for-the-bears-offensive-line/
John Fox and Ryan Pace have repeatedly stated that the best five offensive linemen will be the starters, regardless of position, with the idea that they will find a spot for each of the best players, even if that means putting them somewhere new.
This idea opened up endless speculation for both the media and fans. The Chicago Bears have many offensive linemen who are very capable of playing three or more positions on the line at a very high level. Everyone seems to have the answers for how this competition will shake out, except for the coaches actually making the decisions, who will let their players’ performances in practice shape the offensive line for them.
All of the speculators and so-called experts are convinced that the Bears’ best offensive lineman, Kyle Long, is locked in as the team’s starting right guard. They abstain from the possibility of him being a tackle again because some talking head said so, as if reporters have it figured out before the coaching staff does. Understanding the Kyle Long chapter requires a real understanding of football and the reality of winning at all costs.
He belongs as the Bears’ left tackle, and there are plenty of signs pointing to it. If you think it can’t happen or won’t happen because “Kyle Long said so” then you aren’t looking at the big picture. The real truth, the thing that stands out like a sore thumb, are the things that make all the difference in winning franchises, what Fox is working to build.
The teams that win championships are the ones that put their best players on the field in the position that best helps the team win on Sundays. Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll get all the praise for doing this, but at the same time, people often fail to look at the direction or path that those franchises took to get to the point of winning.
They always started the best players, no matter where they were drafted, and they had no issues moving players around into the best position to help the team. They rewarded and coached up those players to improve in their position and ultimately help them win Super Bowls.
Meanwhile in Chicago, the fans are debating the importance of a guard verses an offensive tackle, as if this is a real question. But again, this is the same city with some fans that debated whether Jay Cutler was even a good quarterback or if he should start for the team in the new John Fox administration.
Clearly, Pace and Fox have tuned out the noise outside the locker room and do not care how the national media may see the Bears. It’s time for Bears fans to embrace change and believe in what could happen, and not what they think should or shouldn’t happen. Just like in the game of football itself, it all starts up front.
This is about protecting the most important and expensive asset on the offense, Jay Cutler. Poor offensive line play has held him back for years, and the team is building around him for a reason. That is why they are going to put their best five offensive linemen on the field, and the best way to maximize the starting combination is with the best blocker at the premier position of left tackle.
Kyle Long is the team’s best offensive lineman by a wide margin. He’s big at 6-foot-6, with 328 pounds of lean and powerful muscle. He is as athletic as they come for an offensive lineman, and he’s still just scratching the surface of how good he can become.
His size isn’t even his best attribute. His feet and athleticism make him special, and for the offensive line, the feet is where the analysis begins. Every offensive line coach worth his weight will ask about a prospect’s feet because you can’t teach great balance and footwork to large human beings. You can coach it up, but when you have a special athlete with tremendous balance and confident feet, you have won over half the battle in finding a franchise offensive tackle.
Long had limited experience under his belt in college, and his path to the big time is one that is truly remarkable. He went from a baseball miscreant, to a junior-college defensive end, to a rotational offensive lineman at Oregon, to a first-round pick, on his way to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons as both a guard and tackle. He’s the football version of Forrest Gump.
Long is an offensive line coach’s silly putty, ready to be molded and used in any and every way imaginable. That’s why he has been used all over so far in his career, because he’s so athletically gifted and versatile. It’s an extremely rare set of skills that make him so valuable for the offense.
When Long steps with perfect technique and locks out defenders with his long arms, he can dominate anyone in the league. The key word here is dominate. You may have been sold that Long is a better guard than he is a tackle, but that idea misses the bigger picture of his career and what is best for the team and ultimately the player himself.
Long was thrown into the fire at right tackle with just one week of preparation to face the rival Green Bay Packers, and he still played pretty darn well for a guy who had to take on Julius Peppers while learning a new position.
Although guard in the NFL is extremely difficult to play, coaches around the league will tell you it is easier to play than being isolated outside on the edge at tackle, one-on-one with the game’s best athletes. Inside at guard, you’re protected in a phone booth next to the center, and blocking schemes are often designed to help the interior cover up inferior players.
At right tackle, Long was able to combo block, scoop and use his speed and athleticism to get to inside defensive linemen, some of the hardest blocks for offensive tackles to execute. Even in his first game at the position, he showed plays full of promise and force, and when he loses technique he covers over it with athleticism.
It is obvious that Long puts in the offseason work in an effort to become the best he can possibly be, and he has voiced his preference to which position he feels most comfortable at on the field. But right there, just pause and put yourself in the position of a coach who has a player with Long’s ability.
All players will have their doubts of what they can do or could be in the NFL or on any level of football. It is the responsibility of the coach to place the player in the position to help the team and at the same time help the player reach their potential. Long clearly has all of the tools to be the pillar piece of the Chicago Bears’ offensive line. When he faced off versus some of the best pass-rushers in football, again at a position he was still learning, he held his own and played with heart and good technique.
The word “can’t” should never be used when talking about this player. How many people said he was a reach in the first round? How many people were certain that he was going to play guard last season? Even he thought he was going to be playing guard until late August. Everyone who doubted him eats their words every time he lines up on the field.
You put your highest expectations on your best players because you know what they are capable of and you know they can succeed and excel in whatever you ask of them. The Bears have lacked a dominant force at left tackle since Jimbo Covert lined up for the team 32 years ago, and it is time for this coaching staff to fix that by putting their most capable player at the position where he’s needed most.
The Bears have a polished rookie guard in Cody Whitehair, two reliable veterans in Ted Larsen and Manny Ramirez, and a developing second-year center in Hroniss Grasu. They have depth and talent on the interior. The tackle position is another story, with Charles Leno and Bobby Massie as the only legitimate options.
When Larsen signed with the Bears, The Chicago Tribune and ESPN’s Adam Caplan reported that the team expects him to start. When Ramirez signed, he told the Tribune “They basically told me it is an opportunity to gain a starting position at one of the inside spots.”
Add Grasu and Whitehair into the mix, and you have four capable players all competing for three starting spots. Why add Long to the mix to make it five, when you have only two offensive tackles who don’t have any real competition for their jobs?
Would you rather have Charles Leno or Kyle Long going one-on-one against Clay Matthews and Ezekiel Ansah for two games each? This team has plenty of starting options at guard, not including Long, and there is a much bigger need at the much more important offensive tackle positions.
As we move towards training camp, don’t be surprised if the Bears make the right move and have Long playing where they need him most — on the outside at the most important position on the offensive line — left tackle.
http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/...s-the-best-move-for-the-bears-offensive-line/
John Fox and Ryan Pace have repeatedly stated that the best five offensive linemen will be the starters, regardless of position, with the idea that they will find a spot for each of the best players, even if that means putting them somewhere new.
This idea opened up endless speculation for both the media and fans. The Chicago Bears have many offensive linemen who are very capable of playing three or more positions on the line at a very high level. Everyone seems to have the answers for how this competition will shake out, except for the coaches actually making the decisions, who will let their players’ performances in practice shape the offensive line for them.
All of the speculators and so-called experts are convinced that the Bears’ best offensive lineman, Kyle Long, is locked in as the team’s starting right guard. They abstain from the possibility of him being a tackle again because some talking head said so, as if reporters have it figured out before the coaching staff does. Understanding the Kyle Long chapter requires a real understanding of football and the reality of winning at all costs.
He belongs as the Bears’ left tackle, and there are plenty of signs pointing to it. If you think it can’t happen or won’t happen because “Kyle Long said so” then you aren’t looking at the big picture. The real truth, the thing that stands out like a sore thumb, are the things that make all the difference in winning franchises, what Fox is working to build.
The teams that win championships are the ones that put their best players on the field in the position that best helps the team win on Sundays. Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll get all the praise for doing this, but at the same time, people often fail to look at the direction or path that those franchises took to get to the point of winning.
They always started the best players, no matter where they were drafted, and they had no issues moving players around into the best position to help the team. They rewarded and coached up those players to improve in their position and ultimately help them win Super Bowls.
Meanwhile in Chicago, the fans are debating the importance of a guard verses an offensive tackle, as if this is a real question. But again, this is the same city with some fans that debated whether Jay Cutler was even a good quarterback or if he should start for the team in the new John Fox administration.
Clearly, Pace and Fox have tuned out the noise outside the locker room and do not care how the national media may see the Bears. It’s time for Bears fans to embrace change and believe in what could happen, and not what they think should or shouldn’t happen. Just like in the game of football itself, it all starts up front.
This is about protecting the most important and expensive asset on the offense, Jay Cutler. Poor offensive line play has held him back for years, and the team is building around him for a reason. That is why they are going to put their best five offensive linemen on the field, and the best way to maximize the starting combination is with the best blocker at the premier position of left tackle.
Kyle Long is the team’s best offensive lineman by a wide margin. He’s big at 6-foot-6, with 328 pounds of lean and powerful muscle. He is as athletic as they come for an offensive lineman, and he’s still just scratching the surface of how good he can become.
His size isn’t even his best attribute. His feet and athleticism make him special, and for the offensive line, the feet is where the analysis begins. Every offensive line coach worth his weight will ask about a prospect’s feet because you can’t teach great balance and footwork to large human beings. You can coach it up, but when you have a special athlete with tremendous balance and confident feet, you have won over half the battle in finding a franchise offensive tackle.
Long had limited experience under his belt in college, and his path to the big time is one that is truly remarkable. He went from a baseball miscreant, to a junior-college defensive end, to a rotational offensive lineman at Oregon, to a first-round pick, on his way to the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons as both a guard and tackle. He’s the football version of Forrest Gump.
Long is an offensive line coach’s silly putty, ready to be molded and used in any and every way imaginable. That’s why he has been used all over so far in his career, because he’s so athletically gifted and versatile. It’s an extremely rare set of skills that make him so valuable for the offense.
When Long steps with perfect technique and locks out defenders with his long arms, he can dominate anyone in the league. The key word here is dominate. You may have been sold that Long is a better guard than he is a tackle, but that idea misses the bigger picture of his career and what is best for the team and ultimately the player himself.
Long was thrown into the fire at right tackle with just one week of preparation to face the rival Green Bay Packers, and he still played pretty darn well for a guy who had to take on Julius Peppers while learning a new position.
Although guard in the NFL is extremely difficult to play, coaches around the league will tell you it is easier to play than being isolated outside on the edge at tackle, one-on-one with the game’s best athletes. Inside at guard, you’re protected in a phone booth next to the center, and blocking schemes are often designed to help the interior cover up inferior players.
At right tackle, Long was able to combo block, scoop and use his speed and athleticism to get to inside defensive linemen, some of the hardest blocks for offensive tackles to execute. Even in his first game at the position, he showed plays full of promise and force, and when he loses technique he covers over it with athleticism.
It is obvious that Long puts in the offseason work in an effort to become the best he can possibly be, and he has voiced his preference to which position he feels most comfortable at on the field. But right there, just pause and put yourself in the position of a coach who has a player with Long’s ability.
All players will have their doubts of what they can do or could be in the NFL or on any level of football. It is the responsibility of the coach to place the player in the position to help the team and at the same time help the player reach their potential. Long clearly has all of the tools to be the pillar piece of the Chicago Bears’ offensive line. When he faced off versus some of the best pass-rushers in football, again at a position he was still learning, he held his own and played with heart and good technique.
The word “can’t” should never be used when talking about this player. How many people said he was a reach in the first round? How many people were certain that he was going to play guard last season? Even he thought he was going to be playing guard until late August. Everyone who doubted him eats their words every time he lines up on the field.
You put your highest expectations on your best players because you know what they are capable of and you know they can succeed and excel in whatever you ask of them. The Bears have lacked a dominant force at left tackle since Jimbo Covert lined up for the team 32 years ago, and it is time for this coaching staff to fix that by putting their most capable player at the position where he’s needed most.
The Bears have a polished rookie guard in Cody Whitehair, two reliable veterans in Ted Larsen and Manny Ramirez, and a developing second-year center in Hroniss Grasu. They have depth and talent on the interior. The tackle position is another story, with Charles Leno and Bobby Massie as the only legitimate options.
When Larsen signed with the Bears, The Chicago Tribune and ESPN’s Adam Caplan reported that the team expects him to start. When Ramirez signed, he told the Tribune “They basically told me it is an opportunity to gain a starting position at one of the inside spots.”
Add Grasu and Whitehair into the mix, and you have four capable players all competing for three starting spots. Why add Long to the mix to make it five, when you have only two offensive tackles who don’t have any real competition for their jobs?
Would you rather have Charles Leno or Kyle Long going one-on-one against Clay Matthews and Ezekiel Ansah for two games each? This team has plenty of starting options at guard, not including Long, and there is a much bigger need at the much more important offensive tackle positions.
As we move towards training camp, don’t be surprised if the Bears make the right move and have Long playing where they need him most — on the outside at the most important position on the offensive line — left tackle.
