Day: March 30, 2011

Bears

• Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times notes Jerry Angelo’s belief that tight end Greg Olsen will have am more prominent role in the offense next year.
• Jeff Dickerson at ESPNChicago.com reviews the state of the cornerback position.  Head coach Lovie Smith had some hard words to say about Zack Bowman:

“You can’t be real excited about a guy’s play that year when they’re beaten out by someone else.  Zach went into the season as the starter, and didn’t play as well as he needed to early on, which allowed Tim [Jennings] to take advantage of that opportunity. So Zach needs to come back [strong] this year, which he’s capable of doing.”

• John Mullin at CSNChicago.com (in my opinion correctly) points out the the Bears are probably looking to improve the interior of the offensive line rather than offensive tackle.
• ChicagoBears.com is doing an interesting series of videos on the draft’s top 30 prospects.  I don’t think its likely Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith will fall to the Bears but character issues might drag him down:

• Most Bear fans would be extremely happy if Florida guard/center Mike Pouncey fell to them:

• TotalProSports.com rates the 9 worst TV/movie appearances by athletes.  Here’s a memorable Mike Ditka moment:

Elsewhere

• My gut feeling is that Pro Football Weekly‘s Nolan Nawrocki has quarterback Cam Newton pegged in his evaluation.  He definitively states pretty much exactly what my instincts tell me to suspect is true.  Via Bob LeGere at the Daily Herald:

“While Nawrocki concedes Newton’s physical skills are immense, he still considers the Auburn QB a risky gamble on greatness.

“Under ‘negatives’ for Newton, Nawrocki writes: ‘Very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law — does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room. … Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.’”

• Doug Farra at Yahoo Sports thinks Nawrocki went too far.
• For those of you who have been living under a rock, the Minnesota Vikings are going to draft a quarterback.  Via Kevin Seifert at ESPN.
• The New York Giants are on the clock at ESPN:

• As are the Chargers:

• And what else is there to do in Green Bay?  Via BenMaller.com.
• Mike Vandermause at the Green Bay Press-Gazette on Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly, who has been arrested (again) on charges of  felony possession of a controlled substance:

“It would take a skilled psychologist to determine what goes through the mind of an NFL player that had the world at his fingertips and willfully let it all slip away.”

• Aqib Talib looks like he just assaulted his way out of the league.  [Repeat quote in item immediately above.]  Via Gregg Rosenthal at profootballtalk.com.
• Rosenthal also writes a nice post on the drug problems of Erik Ainge, the Jets quarterback who went into rehab and has admitted having a serious drug problem since high school.  Rosenthal puts his finger on what I think is the most pointed issue:

“Did the Jets know about Ainge’s problems before or after the draft?  If they didn’t know, it raises a lot of questions about drug-testing procedures in the league.”

• Michael Silver at Yahoo Sports correctly points out the powerlessness of the NFL fan to do anything about the NFL lockout.  The only substantial thing you can do is to stop allowing the NFL owners and players from making money from you.  That is, to stop being a fan.  Which kind of defeats the purpose.
• Now that AFLAC has fired Gilbert Gottfried, Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones wants to be the new mascot:

One Final Thought

Seifert, ESPN‘s NFC North blogger, quotes Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy in a nice entry about the team’s quarterback school, something McCarthy runs every March:

“…it’s to give those young quarterbacks that chance to go back to square one every year. You learn the base protections, all the adjustments, I’ve been in the same offense since 1989, and I still learn something new each year. You’re never too experienced or been in it long enough to not find a better way this year.

“Because today’s game, it’s just a big circle. The NFL is just a circle of adjustments, whether it’s the 3-4, or whether it’s the 4-3, whether you’re spreading them out or running the ball. You really don’t run new plays. There are so many great coaches and players that have come before us and you’re just reinventing the stuff that have been done over history. You try to stay one step ahead of your opponents.”

Its not hard to figure out why the Packers won the Super Bowl last year.  The players are expected to go the extra mile in preparation and they do it.

I’d suggest that the Bears should run on one of these “quarterback schools”, too.  But you’d need a coach who could teach something to quarterbacks who will listen.  I’ve seen little evidence that the Bears have either.  That tells you something.