New OL projection

[dplank]

Curious with the two new additions who folks think will be lining up on opening day? Too many config options to create a poll, so will just put my prediction down.

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Jenkins

My expectations for this group have upgraded significantly with the two recent signings. I always believed the new scheme would benefit the line, but the talent was so bad that we'd still be one of the worst lines in football. Now, I believe we can be a middle of the pack OL if we stay fairly healthy.

[wab]

LT - Reiff / Jones
LG - Whitehair / Carter
C - Patrick / Kramer
RG - Schofield / Taylor
RT - Borom / Jenkins

RT is a bit of a wildcard. I think Borom opens training camp as the starter but Jenkins will get his chance to unseat him. I would like to see Eiselen make the team, but he probably won't.

[Moriarty]

The R/L of the T position is unsure - Reiff could wind up on either side, Borom could wind up on either side.

LT - Reiff / Jones
LG - Whitehair / Carter
C - Patrick / Kramer
RG - Schofield / Taylor
RT - Borom / Jenkins

RT is a bit of a wildcard. I think Borom opens training camp as the starter but Jenkins will get his chance to unseat him. I would like to see Eiselen make the team, but he probably won't.

This would be my first guess, too, except with Carter or Kramer going to PS

[wab]

The R/L of the T position is unsure - Reiff could wind up on either side, Borom could wind up on either side.

LT - Reiff / Jones
LG - Whitehair / Carter
C - Patrick / Kramer
RG - Schofield / Taylor
RT - Borom / Jenkins

RT is a bit of a wildcard. I think Borom opens training camp as the starter but Jenkins will get his chance to unseat him. I would like to see Eiselen make the team, but he probably won't.

This would be my first guess, too, except with Carter or Kramer going to PS

Yeah, I don't think they keep 10. I'd guess Kramer to the PS since Carter can play both OG and C.

[Grizzled]

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Borom as starters. Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Zachary Thomas, Doug Kramer in the wings. Do they cut Mustipher?

[Moriarty]

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Borom as starters. Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Zachary Thomas, Doug Kramer in the wings. Do they cut Mustipher?

Pretty sure

He's not a starter anymore and there's no future upside there.

PS maybe - and not even that, if they feel good about Kramer

[IE]

Hopes and Dreams (if this is what they trot out for Game 1, it is best for the team - and I mean if they earn it):

Borom / Rieff / Jones (with Jones starting in '23 and Borom replacing Rieff as swing)
Whitehair / Carter
Patrick / Kramer
Thomas / Schofield
Jenkins / Reiff


Reality (likely for most of the season) :

Rieff / Jones
Whitehair / Thomas
Patrick / Mustipher
Schofield / Eislen
Borom / Jenkins
(Risking Carter and Kramer waivers to PS)

[IE]

Apparently (via Twitter) the Rieff deal is only $3.5 guaranteed with up to $10 if he meets criteria such as starts/playing time. That definitely changes the picture in terms of assumptions that it is his job to lose. At least IMO.

[Arkansasbear]

Curious with the two new additions who folks think will be lining up on opening day? Too many config options to create a poll, so will just put my prediction down.

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Jenkins

My expectations for this group have upgraded significantly with the two recent signings. I always believed the new scheme would benefit the line, but the talent was so bad that we'd still be one of the worst lines in football. Now, I believe we can be a middle of the pack OL if we stay fairly healthy.

I agree with your starting 5. I think Jenkins is going to grab the starting RT spot once the pads come on and he can actually hit people. As Patrick said yesterday, you don't know what you have on the OL until the pads comes on.

I think Jones will be backing up Reiff as they try to groom him to be the starter down the road. His technique is just so raw he needs some time to improve on that. Borom will be backing up Jenkins and be the first guy off the bench when they want to go with a "heavy" package. I think Carter and Kramer provide our depth at the interior spots. They could try to move Kramer to the PS and keep Mustipher due to him having NFL starts.

[wab]

FWIW, reports out of camp are that Mustipher is still the first team RG. Reiff is splitting first team snaps at LT with Braxton Jones.

[RichH55]

Apparently (via Twitter) the Rieff deal is only $3.5 guaranteed with up to $10 if he meets criteria such as starts/playing time. That definitely changes the picture in terms of assumptions that it is his job to lose. At least IMO.

Mine too

[RichH55]

Curious with the two new additions who folks think will be lining up on opening day? Too many config options to create a poll, so will just put my prediction down.

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Jenkins

My expectations for this group have upgraded significantly with the two recent signings. I always believed the new scheme would benefit the line, but the talent was so bad that we'd still be one of the worst lines in football. Now, I believe we can be a middle of the pack OL if we stay fairly healthy.

The best part of these signings is that we can de-Saintify Morgan Moses

[RichH55]

Or however that is spelled

[IE]

Or however that is spelled

The best thing about made-up words is, you can't misspell them. In all seriousity.

[dplank]

Curious with the two new additions who folks think will be lining up on opening day? Too many config options to create a poll, so will just put my prediction down.

Reiff / Whitehair / Patrick / Schofield / Jenkins

My expectations for this group have upgraded significantly with the two recent signings. I always believed the new scheme would benefit the line, but the talent was so bad that we'd still be one of the worst lines in football. Now, I believe we can be a middle of the pack OL if we stay fairly healthy.

The best part of these signings is that we can de-Saintify Morgan Moses

I'd rather have signed Moses.

[Moriarty]

I'd rather have signed Moses.

He comes with a nice price tag, crazy durability, and a fun beard.
But the right side only part is a serious drawback for our situation.

[dplank]

I'd rather have signed Moses.

He comes with a nice price tag, crazy durability, and a fun beard.
But the right side only part is a serious drawback for our situation.

The both have alliterative names tho....

[wab]

[wab]

[dplank]

let the best man win! Left side is Reiff starting and Jones backing up, which is great to give Jones more time to acclimate to the NFL. They can then judge both Reiff's performance (I suspect he'll be better than most here think) and Jones progression as they make a 2023 decision.

[RichH55]

Or however that is spelled

The best thing about made-up words is, you can't misspell them. In all seriousity.

Agreed

I'm just liking the people who posted 8000 posts - Why haven't we added OL!!!! (Offseason hasn't started). WHY HAVENT WE SIGNED OL! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MORGAN MOSES IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIELDS BEING THE FERRARI AND A BUST!!!! MORGAN MOSES!!!! (Whispers: You know he's just kind of an average Tackle and can only play the right side?!?! ).

MORGAN MOSES! POLES YOU FOOL. WHERE WILL WE EVER FIND AN AVERAGE-ISH Guard or Tackle! IT CANT BE DONE! THIS IS WHY FIELDS WILL STRUGGLE!!!! 400 POSTS ON PIG SIMMONS!!!!!!!! HOW COULD HE EVER GET A NON GUARANTEED CONTRACT AND BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE??!?!!?

and then its "Oh...nevermind"

[RichH55]

let the best man win! Left side is Reiff starting and Jones backing up, which is great to give Jones more time to acclimate to the NFL. They can then judge both Reiff's performance (I suspect he'll be better than most here think) and Jones progression as they make a 2023 decision.

If he's Jason Peters Im pleased - thats plenty

I suspect he will be replaced in season - Jones needs some time but good to get his feet wet later in the year. Sitting will help him though

[IE]

let the best man win! Left side is Reiff starting and Jones backing up, which is great to give Jones more time to acclimate to the NFL. They can then judge both Reiff's performance (I suspect he'll be better than most here think) and Jones progression as they make a 2023 decision.

If he's Jason Peters Im pleased - thats plenty

I suspect he will be replaced in season - Jones needs some time but good to get his feet wet later in the year. Sitting will help him though

In his 2 opportunities last year, without much practice and like zero reps, Larry Borom was better than the 2021 Ghost of Peters.

[RichH55]

If he's Jason Peters Im pleased - thats plenty

I suspect he will be replaced in season - Jones needs some time but good to get his feet wet later in the year. Sitting will help him though

In his 2 opportunities last year, without much practice and like zero reps, Larry Borom was better than the 2021 Ghost of Peters.

At what Dominos? Eating Dominos? Singing Fats Domino?

Not at Left Tackle he wasn't. I wish he was, he wasn't

[dplank]

The best thing about made-up words is, you can't misspell them. In all seriousity.

Agreed

I'm just liking the people who posted 8000 posts - Why haven't we added OL!!!! (Offseason hasn't started). WHY HAVENT WE SIGNED OL! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MORGAN MOSES IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIELDS BEING THE FERRARI AND A BUST!!!! MORGAN MOSES!!!! (Whispers: You know he's just kind of an average Tackle and can only play the right side?!?! ).

MORGAN MOSES! POLES YOU FOOL. WHERE WILL WE EVER FIND AN AVERAGE-ISH Guard or Tackle! IT CANT BE DONE! THIS IS WHY FIELDS WILL STRUGGLE!!!! 400 POSTS ON PIG SIMMONS!!!!!!!! HOW COULD HE EVER GET A NON GUARANTEED CONTRACT AND BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE??!?!!?

and then its "Oh...nevermind"

You do realize that we were in fact 100% right that we couldn’t go into the season with the line as it was, right? We were wrong to not assume Poles would fix the problem, he did and you and others were right when you predicted he’d do it last minute - ‘kudos (for the third time now BTW). But there’s a whole other group that was going along blindly happy with starting Mustipher at RG and a rookie LT. They were also wrong. Incapable of admitting it, but wrong none the less.

[Heinz D.]

You do realize that we were in fact 100% right that we couldn’t go into the season with the line as it was, right? We were wrong to not assume Poles would fix the problem, he did and you and others were right when you predicted he’d do it last minute - ‘kudos (for the third time now BTW). But there’s a whole other group that was going along blindly happy with starting Mustipher at RG and a rookie LT. They were also wrong. Incapable of admitting it, but wrong none the less.

I was hopeful at least one other addition would be made--but I'm not dwelling on that.

I was not happy starting Mustipher, in fact, I pray these last two moves by Poles send him looking for another team.

We MAY still end up with a rookie LT, though. We'll see how things play out. The fun part is there is a lot less desperation and finger-crossing around the line right now.

[thunderspirit]

You do realize that we were in fact 100% right that we couldn’t go into the season with the line as it was, right? We were wrong to not assume Poles would fix the problem, he did and you and others were right when you predicted he’d do it last minute - ‘kudos (for the third time now BTW). But there’s a whole other group that was going along blindly happy with starting Mustipher at RG and a rookie LT. They were also wrong. Incapable of admitting it, but wrong none the less.

Well, they certainly could have gone into the season with the line as it was. I didn't believe they would or that they should have, but they could have.

I'm more than fine with the additions of Schofield and Rieff, particularly at the cost for which they signed. Both are competent and both are replaceable if the young guys outplay them.

[dplank]

You do realize that we were in fact 100% right that we couldn’t go into the season with the line as it was, right? We were wrong to not assume Poles would fix the problem, he did and you and others were right when you predicted he’d do it last minute - ‘kudos (for the third time now BTW). But there’s a whole other group that was going along blindly happy with starting Mustipher at RG and a rookie LT. They were also wrong. Incapable of admitting it, but wrong none the less.

I was hopeful at least one other addition would be made--but I'm not dwelling on that.

I was not happy starting Mustipher, in fact, I pray these last two moves by Poles send him looking for another team.

We MAY still end up with a rookie LT, though. We'll see how things play out. The fun part is there is a lot less desperation and finger-crossing around the line right now.

I think Reiff has become a solid pro, so if Jones beats him out then that would be a great development. Either way we are better up front now than we were last week. That’s a good thing.

[Grizzled]

GMs are notoriously closed mouth. They make the CIA seem like blabbermouths. Of course Poles wasn't going to announce he was looking for additional OL between the draft and training camp, giving him better leverage on contracts. He's working from a plan: sign one year guys at reasonable contracts while assessing if the young guys will step up. He recognized what was important: Fields needs better OL protection and he's made an attempt to address it. When the season starts, we can bash each other all over again how the OL is playing. I'll admit I'm not really up on all the OL who will be free agents in 2023. Quenten Nelson is one but I doubt the Colts let him. Otherwise no franchise guys. If Jones, Borom, and Jenkins don't step up, I see Poles using a high draft pick on an OT.

Read up on Davenport, he's physically the type of guy Poles wants and he's started 32 games. Does he stick, do the Bears keep 10 OL?

[Moriarty]

Read up on Davenport, he's physically the type of guy Poles wants and he's started 32 games. Does he stick, do the Bears keep 10 OL?

Minus injuries, the absolute only way he stays is maybe if Jenkins is moved to G. And it seems awfully soon to go that route.

Otherwise, they've got 4 tackles ahead of him (plus all of their Gs have played T, too).