Heinz D. Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 5 minutes ago, Scoundrel said: Bolles finally got some good coaching and was able to develop. Risner could have played better at times but also didn’t give up a sack or account for a single penalty all season. The coaching has helped these guys tremendously. It has, for sure. I did think a lot of the early (harsh) criticism of Bolles was sort of undeserved, though. He didn't bolt out of the gates as an instant savior, but he wasn't all THAT bad. And now he's solid as heck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 5 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: It has, for sure. I did think a lot of the early (harsh) criticism of Bolles was sort of undeserved, though. He didn't bolt out of the gates as an instant savior, but he wasn't all THAT bad. And now he's solid as heck! The frustrations were with the drive killing penalties. He was flagged 16 times in 2019 (6 of those holding calls were declined) 12 times in 2018 with 2 holding calls declined of that. 14 times his rookie year with 2 holding penalties declined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Massie did not get benched. He injured his left leg in the beginning of the Saints game in week 8 and went to IR for the season. After which, FA signing RG Ifedi took over at RT in his place and played well and then the Bears drafted Larry Borom making Massie expendable. He spent the last 2 years on IR missing 14 games. Prior to that he only missed a total of 4 games in a 5 year stretch from 2014-2018. In 2016 he struggled, 2017 he was not starter material, 2018 he was really good, 2019 he was decent before going to IR and missing 6 games, 2020 he was decent before going to IR and missing 8 games. This is a good signing. Especially on a 1/4 deal. He's not a bad RT when he's healthy. He's a middle of the pack guy with not much upside at this stage in his career but you can certainly do alot worse. Can sometimes struggle in the run game but is solid in pass pro when he's locked in. Putting him on a OL led by Munchek is a great move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonserinNC Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Why is anybody talking about coaching? Massie is like 30 haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NudeTayne Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 4 hours ago, MonserinNC said: Why is anybody talking about coaching? Massie is like 30 haha You're gonna eat those words when Urban coaches Tim up and extends his NFL career into his 40s. Edit: sorry wrong thread 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ty21 Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 This is a nothing signing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronsWitness Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Ty21 said: This is a nothing signing After seeing Denver try anything and everything over the past 5 years to solve RT--i will simply take average. If any combination of Massie/Flemming can simply be average, it's a massive upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronsWitness Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 23 hours ago, Heinz D. said: It has, for sure. I did think a lot of the early (harsh) criticism of Bolles was sort of undeserved, though. He didn't bolt out of the gates as an instant savior, but he wasn't all THAT bad. And now he's solid as heck! He was always good the majority of the time, he just had a serious holding problem whenever he felt like he was going to get beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ_11 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Before he got injured last season, there was a stretch of around four or five games when he was the most consistent Bears OL. Bear in mind this was when the OL was playing horribly with Foles back there, so he was the best of a (very, very) bad bunch for a short time. Massie was always just such an easy cut candidate for cap reasons, and then Ifedi was really solid at RT for the last month of the season too which only made the decision easier. You can do worse than Massie at RT, he's not going to be setting the world on fire but he's kind of ok. And a kind of ok OT at this point of the year is a solid signing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 (edited) 49 minutes ago, RJ_11 said: Before he got injured last season, there was a stretch of around four or five games when he was the most consistent Bears OL. Bear in mind this was when the OL was playing horribly with Foles back there, so he was the best of a (very, very) bad bunch for a short time. Massie was always just such an easy cut candidate for cap reasons, and then Ifedi was really solid at RT for the last month of the season too which only made the decision easier. You can do worse than Massie at RT, he's not going to be setting the world on fire but he's kind of ok. And a kind of ok OT at this point of the year is a solid signing. Agreed. Almost every fan of every team would swear up and down they have the worst OL in the league. Massie is not bad when he's healthy. For those interested, this is the injury that put him IR. A freak injury that happened while he was turning his body and putting pressure on his left leg. Watch the RT #70 Edited May 17, 2021 by JAF-N72EX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSteelers56 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 A piece of clay for Munchak. I really miss that guy. He shined up some real turds for the Steelers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncofan Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 (edited) In a vacuum, there's nothing wrong with a 1 year, 4M signing. It's literally impossible to find fault with that. A couple of important caveats, though: 1. The stretch of good play was against 1 very good DL (Tampa) and 4 very suspect DL's (ATL's D in September was atrocious, post-firing they improved a lot). 2. Massie's stage of career and last 2 seasons do matter a lot more than the prior 6. Generally speaking, when the breakdown starts with the big uglies, it's hard to reverse. The one key Q - was there a better alternative? I did think there was 1 - Dennis Kelly (same age, and healthy the past 2 years, and played well, albeit with a better overall unit & scheme). Now, if Kelly wants mega-bucks and multiple years, I get why Paton passed. If Kelly only signs to a 1-year deal, though - then this will get scrutinized at year's end. Not an org-making or breaking decision, but one worth watching. As for Munchak, he's the reason for increasing optimism - he certainly looks like he fixed Bolles (and it was all about technique/mental side with him), I'd actually hope we see him have a greater impact on the younger guys (Risner regressed somewhat after a great 1st year, Cushenberry struggled hard, Meinert joining the fold really helps shore up our future IOL build). The one dark horse to consider is Calvin Anderson. We also signed Cameron Fleming, I definitely like the positional versatility he gives us across the baord, and the fact we now likely do have 9 legitimate OL (Glasgow & Muti are the other 2 IOL's with Glasgow starting <duh>), and 4 T's who can play on Sundays. The key is if we can find 2 who play really well. I don't know if Fangio survives this year (especially if we are going in with Lock/Teddy B), but I hope Munchak loves being with his grandkids in Colorado, he can be our OL coach for life as far as I'm concerned. Edited May 17, 2021 by Broncofan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 On 5/15/2021 at 8:41 PM, Heinz D. said: Yikes. You do know Massie was benched last year, right? Irony is of course the fact that Elijah Wilkinson, the likely starter at RT for the Bears, was benched by the Broncos last year ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 1 minute ago, lomaxgrUK said: Irony is of course the fact that Elijah Wilkinson, the likely starter at RT for the Bears, was benched by the Broncos last year ... Well, JAF pointed out that Massie technically wasn't benched. So, there's that. (But the Bears didn't bring him back from IR when they could have.) Anyway...there is little chance Wilkinson will be the starting RT for the Bears. It will be either Germain Ifedi or Larry Borom. Maybe Alex Bars. Wilkinson was most likely brought in to be the swing tackle. And, depending on how the various linemen perform in camp, he may not even make the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ_11 Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 9 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said: Irony is of course the fact that Elijah Wilkinson, the likely starter at RT for the Bears, was benched by the Broncos last year ... Yeah what's the deal with this guy? After the Bears signed him all I heard on Twitter was that he sucks, but then everyone hates their own OL. It'll be Ifedi at RT anyway unless our 5th round pick Borom randomly lights it up at camp, so Wilkinson won't be playing unless there's an injury, as Heinz said he's pencilled in to be the swing tackle I think. But has he got anything at all? He's only 26... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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