Free Agent Rumors

[beardown3231]

3 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

BRYAN WITZMANN
T, CLEVELAND BROWNS

Browns signed OG Bryan Witzmann, formerly of the Bears.
Witzmann started seven games at right guard in place of an injured Kyle Long with the Bears last season and was an obvious weak link there. Prior to that, Witzmann was the Chiefs' left guard in 2017. He amassed poor marks from Pro Football Focus in Kansas City as well. Witzmann, 29 in June, will compete for a reserve job.

Mar 22, 2019, 7:51 AM

Browns like former Bears OG's, huh?

[WindyCity]

 The Bears have their 3 primary backup OLmen in Sowell, Larsen and Coward. They probably add one in the draft at some point, which means Witzmann has no path to playing time.

[soulman]

8 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

 The Bears have their 3 primary backup OLmen in Sowell, Larsen and Coward. They probably add one in the draft at some point, which means Witzmann has no path to playing time.

Just as well.  His run blocking was not in any way good.

We just need Long to go uninjured for 16 games and he needs to as well or this will definitely be his last year as a Bear.

[dll2000]

31 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

 The Bears have their 3 primary backup OLmen in Sowell, Larsen and Coward. They probably add one in the draft at some point, which means Witzmann has no path to playing time.

That is not reassuring.  I wonder who will be first up.  Probably Sowell at T and Larsen at G.

Stay healthy guys!

I guess to be fair we haven't really seen Sowell or Coward play much in regular season.  

I thought after a slow and bad start Witzmann played pretty well and run game picked up.  I think his first few games there were a lot of assignment mistakes that led to bad play as he tried to recover and couldn't, but I honestly didn't study it.  This is just live looking and a few clips.

I thought when Long came back he played great and then played bad against Philadelphia in playoffs.  Again that was live watching.  A slow rewatch may tell me something different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WindyCity]

1 minute ago, dll2000 said:

That is not reassuring.  I wonder who will be first up.  Probably Sowell at T and Larsen at G.

Stay healthy guys!

I guess to be fair we haven't really seen Sowell or Coward play much in regular season.  

I thought after a slow and bad start Witzmann played pretty well and run game picked up.  I think his first few games there were a lot of assignment mistakes that led to bad play as he tried to recover and couldn't, but I honestly didn't study it.  This is just live looking and a few clips.

I thought when Long came back he played great and then played bad against Philadelphia in playoffs.  Again that was live watching.  A slow rewatch may tell me something different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is better depth than most teams have. Most teams do not have 2 starting OTs, let alone a backup LT and C/OG with multiple starts and stretches of starting in the NFL.

 

[dll2000]

8 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

That is better depth than most teams have. Most teams do not have 2 starting OTs, let alone a backup LT and C/OG with multiple starts and stretches of starting in the NFL.

 

Most teams don't have a decent starting 5.   OL is a problem in NFL. 

[malagabears]

I think OL is one of the lesser problem areas this year. Definitely will need to look at Long's replacement next year if he gets injured again.

[WindyCity]

50 minutes ago, malagabears said:

I think OL is one of the lesser problem areas this year. Definitely will need to look at Long's replacement next year if he gets injured again.

I am tempted to take a 7th round pick and just giving it to Heistand. Let him pick the guy he wants to develop for the season. I do not care what that player does in 2019, it is about competing in 2020.

[AZBearsFan]

39 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

I am tempted to take a 7th round pick and just giving it to Heistand. Let him pick the guy he wants to develop for the season. I do not care what that player does in 2019, it is about competing in 2020.

You said a few weeks back that you’d give HH a day 3 pick every year to develop and I am 100% on board with that. 

[abstract_thought]

I hope Pace looks to proactively fill some holes with free agents rather than waiting until the draft. Better teams who draft lower need to be able to make luxury picks. In order to maintain an advantage in overall talent level, you have to be willing to draft guys who may not fit your immediate needs.

[WindyCity]

1 hour ago, AZBearsFan said:

You said a few weeks back that you’d give HH a day 3 pick every year to develop and I am 100% on board with that. 

Him and Jay Rodgers.

 

I would love to give Hiestand a higher pick [4th or 5th] but right now I think there are more immediate areas of need.

[soulman]

3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

That is not reassuring.  I wonder who will be first up.  Probably Sowell at T and Larsen at G.

Stay healthy guys!

I guess to be fair we haven't really seen Sowell or Coward play much in regular season.  

I thought after a slow and bad start Witzmann played pretty well and run game picked up.  I think his first few games there were a lot of assignment mistakes that led to bad play as he tried to recover and couldn't, but I honestly didn't study it.  This is just live looking and a few clips.

I thought when Long came back he played great and then played bad against Philadelphia in playoffs.  Again that was live watching.  A slow rewatch may tell me something different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a previous thread I posted Howard's stats vs every line combo we used last year and they were worst by a long shot when Witzmann replaced Long at RG and best with Daniels and Long at OG.  Even Kush was a far better run blocker than Witzmann.

Some of that may have been an initial unfamiliarity with his assignments but the difference was so great all of it could not have been caused by that.

[WindyCity]

1 minute ago, abstract_thought said:

I hope Pace looks to proactively fill some holes with free agents rather than waiting until the draft. Better teams who draft lower need to be able to make luxury picks. In order to maintain an advantage in overall talent level, you have to be willing to draft guys who may not fit your immediate needs.

I think wave 3 will start up soon. Once teams lock in their draft meetings in the next week or so and realize the areas they do not want to be exposed at.

[soulman]

3 minutes ago, abstract_thought said:

I hope Pace looks to proactively fill some holes with free agents rather than waiting until the draft. Better teams who draft lower need to be able to make luxury picks. In order to maintain an advantage in overall talent level, you have to be willing to draft guys who may not fit your immediate needs.

There'll be some vets released after the draft as well who might fill back of the roster spots.  There seems to be street FAs every year even once the season begins.  Guys like Witzmann for example.  And we'll always have at least two OL and DL on the PS we can elevate.

This kid Dejon Allen we signed as an UDFA out of Hawaii last year has me intrigued.  He's listed as an OT which is where he played in college but he seemed a little light last year being listed at 290lbs/6'3".  If he's added some weight he could be an OG/OC prospect as well.

[dll2000]

15 minutes ago, soulman said:

In a previous thread I posted Howard's stats vs every line combo we used last year and they were worst by a long shot when Witzmann replaced Long at RG and best with Daniels and Long at OG.  Even Kush was a far better run blocker than Witzmann.

Some of that may have been an initial unfamiliarity with his assignments but the difference was so great all of it could not have been caused by that.

Really?

I can tell a different story with stats between Long and Witzmann.

Let me start by saying Witzmann is not better than Long.  Long is a first round pick and multi-pro bowl player.  Witzmann is a journeyman who was on street when Bears called. 

Howard Regular Season with Long starting with 2nd game so we can compare 6 consecutive starts for Long to and 6 consecutive starts for Witzmann.

Howard with Long starting:

Seattle 14 for 35

Arizona 24 for 61

TB 11 for 25

Mia 14 for 69

Pats 12 for 39

Jets 22 for 81

So for a 6 game stretch against 4 of worst teams in league in 2018 and an injury riddled Seattle team Howard with Long rushed for 310 yards, an average of 51.6 yards a game and an average of  3.1 yards a carry.

Howard with Witzmann starting:

NOTE: Witzmann joined team for Buf game and played 45% of snaps so I didn't count it.

Detroit 11 for 21 

Min      18 for 63

Det.   7 for 13 (no QB)

NY.   16 for 76 (no QB)

Rams 19 for 101 (QB back)

GB.      19 for 60

So with Witzmann starting for 6 game stretch, two of which the starting QB was out of the game,  Howard rushed for 334 yards, 55.6 yards a game for 3.7 yards a carry.

Side by side regular season 6 consecutive game stretch:

Long    Witzmann

310      334

51.6.     55.6

3.1        3.7

Note in playoffs with Long playing every snap Howard rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries.  Gabriel added 20, 21on 1 carry and -1 on another.  Cohen zero.