Bears Release DT Adams

According to sources, the Bears have released defensive tackle Anthony Adams.  Signed as a free agent in 2007, Adams has been an excellent run defender with the Bears and has been perhaps an even bigger influence in the locker room.  Many fans are familiar with Adams’ light-hearted nature and his “Fat Man Dance”.  The first two words of that title, sadly, helped lead to his release.

Coming out of the lockout last year, Adams was out of shape.  He was too much fat man, not enough dance.  A couple weeks into camp, he suffered a calf injury that held him out for about a month.  While we can’t tell whether his extra weight or lack of conditioning contributed to the injury, it certainly couldn’t have helped.  After his returned he played sparingly, appearing in 11 games and making only 16 tackles.

Now the good news.  While Adams was struggling, the Bears got excellent production from both Henry Melton and Amobi Okoye.  Even though these two players play the three-technique, a position different than the nose tackle position that Adams played, their success is relevant because it will allow the Bears to play Stephen Paea (who can play the three-technique or the nose) in the rotation at nose tackle with Matt Toeaina.  While Paea struggled to get on the field early in his rookie year, he did show promise down the stretch.  If this is in fact the case, Adams’ release leads us to believe that the Bears are confident they’ll be able to retain Okoye (who was playing on a one year deal) before he gets to free agency.  This would be a good thing for the Bears’ D-Line.

In other news, reports are that the Bears are close to resigning CB Tim Jennings.  He was said to be looking for a significant raise over his $1.9 Million salary from 2011.  As an undersized zone corner, he wouldn’t be in high demand on the free market and likely wouldn’t earn much more than that.  If he does get a raise, however, he might have teammate Zackary Bowman to thank.  Remember, Jennings was benched in week 16 vs the Packers last year and Bowman, his replacement, was beaten badly for three touchdowns.  So while they’d be wise to not overpay, the Bears would be smart to get a deal with Jennings done, especially considering his predominantly solid play over the past couple years and their lack of depth at the position.

Combine Preview

After a long period of inactivity, the NFL Combine is almost upon us.  Bears Playbook will be in Indy this weekend and thought we’d give a list of players that Bears fans should be paying attention to this weekend.  Here are some players that the Bears may target in the draft and what you should look for during some of their drills.

Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame – Floyd is a big-bodied receiver (6’3” 220) that the Bears could definitely use.  He has excellent body control , speed, quickness and is a good route runner.  His biggest question marks are off the field issues (he’s had 3 alcohol related incidents).  His interviews with teams this week will have a serious impact on his draft stock.

Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina – Jeffery’s draft stock has been dropping due to concerns about his ability to gain separation.  Once viewed as a top 10 pick, he is now projected to be drafted in the end of the first round.  At 6’4” and 230 lbs, Jeffery is a physical presence with excellent ball skills.  The key to his combine will be his 40-yd dash.  If he can drop some weight and run a good time in the 40, he may be in the conversation for the Bears at the 19^th pick overall.

Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford – Martin is currently projected to go around the middle of the first round.  If he makes it to 19, the Bears would have to give him strong consideration.  A strong run blocker, Martin is also good in pass protection and would provide a big upgrade at Left Tackle.

Mike Adams, OT, Ohio State – A very good run-blocker, Adams has struggled with consistency in pass protection, especially against speed rushers.  That said, he has looked dominant at times and would provide an upgrade to the Bears offensive line.  The combine may show off some of his physical traits and raise his draft stock back up to the point where he’ll be in consideration at 19 overall.

Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois – Mercilus was a monster in 2011 with 16 sacks and 9 forced fumbles.  He has a motor that runs non-stop and can rush with impressive speed around the edge or with a powerful bull rush.  Because he only started 15 games at Illinois, teams will be looking for a strong combine to help validate his strong results from this past season.  Most mock drafts currently project Mercilus to be drafted somewhere around the Bears pick and I’m sure Lovie Smith is impressed with his ability to strip the ball.  Given Lovie’s penchant for drafting D-linemen early, there’s a good chance that this backyard prospect will remain in Illinois as an NFL rookie.

Bears name Emery as GM

The Chicago Bears have tabbed Phil Emery as their new GM.  What everyone wants to know is what we can expect from him, particularly in the draft.  In the coming days, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of interviews with him during which we’ll get a better idea of the direction in which he wants to take the team.  For now though, let’s start with a list of some of the players that have been drafted by the teams he’s worked with.

Before I go into the list of players, it’s important to note that dozens of people have input into a team’s draft picks.  As a result, it’s impossible for us to know how much credit Emery himself should get for any pick, good or bad.  That fact notwithstanding, here’s a list of the positions Emery has held and some notable draft picks by his teams during that period:

Area Scout for Bears 1998-2004

Olin Kreutz

Marty Booker

Jerry Azumah

Brian Urlacher

Mike Brown

Charles Tillman

Lance Briggs

Tommie Harris

Nathan Vasher

Director of College Scouting and Regional Scout for Falcons 2004-2009

Roddy White

Jonathan Babineaux

Justin Blalock

Matt Ryan

Director of College Scouting for Chiefs 2009-2011

Eric Berry

Dexter McCluster

Jonathan Baldwin

Justin Houston

Certainly a pretty good list.  As I mentioned earlier, though, we can’t be sure how many of these (or the less successful) picks Emery is greatly responsible for.  We must mention, though, that Falcons president Rich McKay has said that Emery had strong convictions about Roddy White and he convinced the Falcons to draft him.  This, in and of itself, should be enough to get Bears fans excited.  

Bears set to win now

Two things stood out from the playoff games this weekend.  First was the amazing impact of the tight ends in the passing game (for more detail, see previous post).  The second thing that I took away from the games was that the Bears are built to win now.  Not only are they built for success, they’re moving in a direction that should bring this success.

Let’s review the games.  The Giants beat the Packers.  The 49ers beat the Saints.  The Ravens beat the Texans.  The Patriots beat the Broncos.  The common thread among these games is that the better defensive team won (except for the Pats thrashing of the Teblow Experiment, but a Denver loss is relevant to nothing).  It’s also worth noting that the team who won the turnover battle also won each game.  This is the type of team we have in Chicago.  We have a team who plays good defense and prides itself on taking the ball away.  We’re actually very similar to this Giants team that just knocked off the Packers.  We play a lot of Cover 2, get pressure from the front 4, run the ball well and have a very good if not elite QB.  They don’t have a Devin Hester to return kicks and we don’t have a Hakeem Nicks to catch passes, but the similarities far outweigh the differences. 

The point of all this is that, in a year where passing records are being shattered, defense still wins championships.  Even Mike Martz’ Super Bowl ring was acquired because of defense (when Wikipedia is back up and functioning, see “The Tackle”).  The Bears have a defense that is still among the best in the league and our turnover differential should only improve under the playcalling of Mike Tice.  It’s true that points come out of the passing game, but we have a quarterback who can get us those points as well.  So for those who have called for Lovie’s dismissal and want us to start over, I’m telling you to not hit the panic button.  As bad as this year ended, we’re a lot closer to the promised land than you think and we’re headed in the right direction toward it.

Tight Ends dominate playoff games

Without sounding too much like I’m dancing on a man’s grave, I’d like to reiterate “good riddance, Mike Martz”.  As we watch tight ends dominating these playoff games, I realize I may have missed a point in my “good things/bad things” column.  I did mention that we will utilize our TE’s more in the passing game but I didn’t note, for those who are unaware, that Mike Tice himself was a TE in the NFL for 14 years (after playing quarterback in college at Maryland).  While he was mainly utilized in blocking situations, he certainly understands how the position can be utilized in the passing game.  If nothing else, I’m sure we can all agree that it will be nice to see Jay Cutler throw the ball to someone over 6 feet tall (who isn’t named Roy Williams).

Let me expand on this point with an explanation on how these tight ends provide such mismatches and where Martz’ logic was wrong.  First, let me recall an interview with Martz when he first got hired by the Bears.  He was asked why he doesn’t take advantage of the mismatch a tight end has over a linebacker or safety in coverage.  He said, “might as well just put a wide receiver out there.”  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  I mean, if Greg Olsen would be a mismatch on a defender, imagine the mismatch Devin Hester’s speed would cause.  Problem is, NFL teams track what type of personnel is on the field.  For example, you know there will be 1 QB and 5 linemen.  That leaves 5 other players.  RB’s, TE’s and WR’s will comprise those 5 spots.  The problem with Martz’ plan is that someone on the opposing sideline knows what combination of positions you have on the field and they’re adjusting their personnel to that. 

To illustrate my point, imagine the Bears have 1 RB and 2 TE’s in the game (this is called 12 personnel – the first digit in 12 is one, which stands for the number of RB’s and the second digit is a 2 which stands for the number of TE’s).  Since RB’s, TE’s and WR’s account for 5 players, we know that there will be 2 WR’s in this personnel grouping.  So let’s say we run a play and then Martz decides to try out his theory.  He substitutes out his 2 TE’s and puts in WR’s instead.  The opposition tracks the TE’s leaving the field and sees the WR’s coming on and will then sub in an additional defensive back or two, moving to a nickel or dime defensive look.  So now the mismatch that you had, with a tight end on a linebacker, has turned into a normal matchup with a WR on a corner.  That’s the real value of a tight end.  The defense has no idea if you’re going to run the ball or throw it.  You could do either.  Remaining unpredictable is one of the most important objectives as a playcaller.  It’s too bad Mike Martz doesn’t realize this.  If he did, we just might’ve been watching Greg Olsen dominating games this weekend like these other tight ends.

Tice named OC

Mike Tice has officially been promoted to Offensive Coordinator of the Chicago Bears.  We here at Bears Playbook are excited about this news and would like to take this opportunity to discuss some good things and bad things related to this move.

Good Thing:  Audibles are back.  As I've mentioned before on this site, it's ridiculous that Mike Martz' offense didn't allow for Jay Cutler to audible.  They didn't have in place a check-with-me system.  Nothing.  If Martz called a play and the defense was set up well to defend that play then Jay was likely going to force a throw or take a sack.  How ridiculous.

Bad Thing:  The offense will want to utilize the TE in the passing game much more.  This by itself isn't a bad thing.  The badness of it is that our best TE is now catching passes from Cam Newton.  Kellen Davis may be able to serve this role of a pass-catching TE or he may not.  Under Martz, we were never afforded an opportunity to find out.  I guess time will tell.

Good Thing:  This may be more of a "not bad" thing rather than a good thing, but promoting Tice as opposed to hiring somebody else will allow the Bears to use most of the same terminology on offense that they used under Martz.  Some of the verbiage will be simplified a bit, but we'll avoid much of the learning curve that comes with learning a new offense

Good/Bad Thing?:  The Bears will run the ball more and will attempt to employ a power running game in a league where passing is premium.  We can all agree that the Bears have had success recently when running the ball more, but is Matt Forte really the type of running back who you want running between the tackles more?  Are we going to utilize the unique skills of our quarterback?  Basically it's good that we're going to run it more, but it's a fine line between running it just enough (and well enough) and becoming overly simplistic and predictable on offense (see Turner, Ron)

Good Thing:  Tice has said he will make use of Cutler's athleticism.  This means more rollouts, plays on which Cutler has been highly successful throughout his career.  It's good to hear a coach saying that he'll take advantage of his player's strengths rather than forcing his plan on players who don't fit the scheme.

Basically, there seem to be more good things coming from this promotion than bad things.  Now let's hope that we can make a smart hire at GM (Ted Sundquist = Good Thing, Les Snead = Bad Thing).  I think we as Bears fans are due for a few more good things than bad.

Season Officially Over... Random Thoughts

Now that our season is officially over (with just a meaningless game against Minnesota remaining), I'd like to say good riddance to 2011.  What a miserable year.  This was a year that saw us lose FOUR TIMES to Green Bay, lose Jay Cutler, lose Matt Forte, etc, etc, etc.  Instead of droning on about what could have been, I'd rather go with some random thoughts about the current and future state of the Bears.

• Kahlil Bell ran well yesterday.  With 23 carries for 121 yards, he showed patience, burst and vision.  However, hearing people praise him the way they are after a game with 2 fumbles feels like the way people praised Caleb Hanie after an NFC Championship appearance with 2 INT's.  Just saying.
• The 7-3 Chicago Bears proved that this was a team with a lot of talent.  The 7-8 Chicago Bears proved that this is a team without a lot of depth.  We need better depth at QB, WR, S, CB, DE, LB.  Well, pretty much everywhere except RB, DT and, surprisingly, offensive line.  We need more talent at offensive line, but our depth is not bad with Lance Louis, Edwin Williams, etc.  Actually, scratch that, we need one more lineman, just enough to finally push the miserable Frank Omiyale off the roster.
• Josh McCown didn't play that badly last night.  He was far from the hero that some are making him out to be, but he was a definite upgrade over the play we've been getting from Caleb Hanie.  With that being said, however, how wonderful would it be to sign Kyle Orton to a backup role in the offseason?
• Please draft a wide receiver in the first round this year.
• I'm hearing more and more that Mike Martz may remain in Chicago next season.  I'm very much hoping that that's not the case.  I'd like to see a more physical ground game, a TE who provides a mismatch in the passing game (I thought Kellen Davis could fill that role and it still has to be determined if it's his skill level or Martz' scheme that has prevented that) and a big, physical wide receiver who can force defenses to roll coverage and give Jay a big target with a large catch radius when he's running for his life or just has to get rid of the ball quickly.  A promotion of Mike Tice might bring all those things while keeping the same terminology in place and not setting the offense back.  
• I wish the Carolina Panthers would've sucked a little more.  Remember, we have their 3rd round pick from the Olsen trade.  With the issues of depth I mentioned earlier, that could be a valuable pick.
• This might've been the best job Lovie Smith has done since he's been in Chicago.  He's seemingly had more fire and been tougher on players than I've ever seen.  The way he handled Henry Melton is a perfect example.  He made adjustments and played more man than in recent years instead of sticking to zone schemes to a fault (think the Patriots game last year).  The corners have pressed more and that has also been beneficial.  It's a shame that the job he's done won't be recognized as a result of injuries but, for the first time since the '06 season, I'm happy and completely satisfied that he'll be our coach next season.
• Another note on Martz.  While watching the MNF game, I just saw a 3rd and 1 where the Saints were set up to run the ball.  Brees saw a corner playing off of Jimmy Graham and threw him a quick slant for an easy conversion.  For those who don't know, Martz does not allow any audibles to be called.  Ever.  If he calls a run and they put 11 men in the box and don't cover the wideouts, you'd still better run the play he called and hand the ball off.  That kind of egotistic approach is completely unacceptable and needs to be removed.

Well, that's it for now.  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and let's hope for a better 2012!