7th Round (227th overall) - OL Lachavious Simmons, Tennessee State | Bears 2020 Draft

[AZBearsFan]

4 hours ago, soulman said:

If the OTs in the 2021 draft class look good that may be when he looks to draft one but it's way to early for that kind of prediction now.

There’s also a pretty real situation where we are looking at using our top pick on a QB in 2021 which would leave us considering the 2nd or 3rd tier OTs in next year’s draft too, though we should have more FA flexibility next year. 

[soulman]

1 hour ago, AZBearsFan said:

There’s also a pretty real situation where we are looking at using our top pick on a QB in 2021 which would leave us considering the 2nd or 3rd tier OTs in next year’s draft too, though we should have more FA flexibility next year. 

And that's certainly possible as well.  We won't really have an accurate view of our 2021 draft until we know how this QB situation turns out.

[G08]

@dll2000 I may have asked you this previously but I don't recall for sure...

What makes a quality offensive lineman? Do you want intelligence? Athletic traits? Is one more valuable over the other?

 

I've always felt that when it comes to OL play you want athletic traits (including long arms, etc) and work ethic. I think if you have those two components and quality coaching you can building up these athletes to be come good offensive linemen.

 

Your thoughts?

[dll2000]

39 minutes ago, G08 said:

@dll2000 I may have asked you this previously but I don't recall for sure...

What makes a quality offensive lineman? Do you want intelligence? Athletic traits? Is one more valuable over the other?

I've always felt that when it comes to OL play you want athletic traits (including long arms, etc) and work ethic. I think if you have those two components and quality coaching you can building up these athletes to be come good offensive linemen.

Your thoughts?

Hmmm ...

In my experience and observations I think O linemen as a group are generally smartest players as a group on any football team.  I think that is not by design though.  It is more happenstance.

Learning O line schemes is about 100x harder than learning D line scheme.  It takes patience.  And usually meatheads are put at other positions.  So smarter guys are generally O linemen.  

I had a friend who was a literal genius, he died recently after ghosting me for a few years.  Anyway, he got super into O line and everything about it for some reason.  He liked the strategy and teaching theories of it.   He never played football and he was a tiny guy so it was kind of comical to watch him get into coaching OL and going to clinics with giants.   He was constantly coming up with these thoughts and theories on it.  He attended the C.O.O.L. clinic every year.

You don't have to necessarily be as good as an athlete as your opponent to play O line.  He would say it like this, he always had a pithy saying for everything, "I don't have to be able to play guitar like Eddie Van Halen to screw up his guitar playing."

Obviously greatest talent in a sport is athleticism.  If you start with clay of Shaq then you don't really have to work hard to be a great basketball player, but if you do have all intangibles and work hard you can be greatest if you start with that body and ability.  If you are like real Shaq somewhere in between you become pretty great.  If you are Michael Jordan you become Michael Jordan.  You have clay and intangibles.

But being a huge great athlete is number one. But if you are dumb you are going to D line and if you can run you are probably going to D line anyway.  There is a certain intelligence threshold to being an O linemen.  You can be borderline retarded (not saying that to be offensive, but I don't know a better word) and be a D linemen.   If you can know A, B and C gap you can play D line.  For great D linemen it isn't about scheme it is all tech.  Like a martial artist.   Sometimes you get an O Line guy who is head coach and he will put great athletes at O line.  Like you see at WI and IA.

If you are smart and disciplined enough to know you assignments and not screw them up that is usually smart enough.  But being extra smart is a bonus too because you can help your teammates so you a hat on a hat across board and improvise on fly.  

Aside from being huge you want guys with long arms.  Long arms help with everything in football.  All other things being equal dude with longer arms is one you want.   It is harder to be super strong with long arms, but not impossible.  In line play a coach once told me, its like a knife fight.  He who stabs first wins.  Guy with reach usually stabs first

Equal with long arms is you want good feet.  If you have bad feet you can't be a great O linemen.   Its a weird analogy because O linemen are huge and wide and basketball guards are skinny, but playing O line is a lot like being a great basketball defender.   You have to be able to move your feet and stay in front of your man.  If he gets on your hip you lost.

Lastly the really great O linemen are a little bit of a ****.  At least on the field.   You have to have mentality of a gnat or a mosquito if it had volition.  You have to want to ruin someones day and enjoy it.   To totally frustrate them.  Like a Dennis Rodman who doesn't care about scoring, he just wants you to have zero points and hate him at end of game.   I would tell my kids to block your guy through echo of the whistle.    It just pisses them off to no end when you do that.  If you can get them to say, alright the play is over!  Or take a shot at you out of frustration - good O line coach should give you a sticker for that.  More pissed your guy is at you the happier you should be.  Not playing dirty mind you.  Just frustrating the hell out of them.  Stealing all their imagined glory in front of their father and grinding it into dust at your feet.  You don't get any of the glory because you are an O linemen, but you can take theirs and you have to find the pleasure and joy in that.

 

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

^one of your better OL posts and that's saying something