August 11, 2009

Bear(s who need to be put) down

PART I

After coming close to landing a full-time position, it turns out I'm going to have plenty of time to blog again. So let's talk about the Bears.

I love the promise of training camp. Basically I root for any rookies, and hope that underperforming veterans will finally be shown the door. While it may seem cruel to hope for someone's livelihood to end, it is so someone else's can begin. Besides, I haven't gotten any sympathy cards from these guys during my unemployment, so why should I give a crap about them? Having said that, here are three Bears -- one from each position group on the defense -- that I hope will not make the team.

Dusty Dvoracek, defensive line
I like Dvoracek, but c'mon. The guy cannot avoid injuries. Last year was by far his healthiest, and he still sustained a season-ending injury in the 12th game. The previous year, he suffered his season-ending injury in the game's first season, the year before that in the second game... of the preseason. So in three years -- that's 48 possible regular-season games -- he's successfully navigated 11. While he's talented, the Bears cannot afford to keep handing a roster spot to a guy that clearly can't stay on the field.

Keep in mind, the injuries are not some professional fluke with Dvoracek. Recalling that this crap dated well before he was selected in the third round in 2006, I decided to dig up his pre-draft ESPN.com scouting report, and found this phrase:
Durability is also a major issue.
And this:
Dvoracek played in nine games as a true freshman in 2001 and had surgery following that season to repair a torn right labrum. He started one of the 12 games that he played as a sophomore in 2002, when he was bothered most of the season by a lingering toe injury. Dvoracek emerged as a 14-game starter during his junior season in 2003, when he finished with 40 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Dvoracek started the first two games of the 2004 season before being dismissed from the program on September 14th, 2004 because of an off-the-field incident. He was reportedly involved in two other fights during his first three seasons at Oklahoma. Dvoracek received a medical hardship in 2004 and underwent counseling for alcohol problems. He missed the spring game in 2005 with a torn bicep muscle but returned healthy as a fulltime starter in 2005.
When the Bears drafted Dvoracek, Jerry Angelo famously said:
"There were character issues. There were some bad decisions he made. (But) we looked into those extensively and we are real comfortable. ... I will stake my reputation personally on his character at this point."
Well, lucky for Angelo's sterling reputation, Dvoracek's character certainly hasn't been an issue. As for his health... Shouldn't we have read between the lines, and seen Angelo's unwillingness to stake his reputation on Dvoracek's durability? At this point, I'd have to say yes.

Anyway, last year the Bears kept a total of nine defensive linemen. Now Alex Brown, Adewale Ogunleye, Tommie Harris, Anthony Adams, Israel Idonije, Mark Anderson, and the jovial Marcus Harrison are likely locks, as are rookies Jarron Gilbert and Henry Melton, given their draft status. That's nine right there. I don't see how you get rid of any of them in favor of Dvoracek. So barring (someone else's) injury, he would appear to be squeezed out of a job.

However, because of Harris' uncertain health status, maybe the Bears decide to keep 10 d-linemen this year. That might put Dvoracek back on track. But do the Bears really want TWO
injury-riddled defensive tackles? Wouldn't Matt Toeaina be a better alternative? Toeaina has never had a serious injury, in college or the pros, and is three-and-a-half years younger than the 28-year-old Dvoracek. Plus, when you make "Toeaina" possessive, it sounds like Toe-anus. What more do you want, people?

Hunter Hillenmeyer, linebacker
What, exactly, does this guy do well? I realize that the strong-side linebacker -- Hillenmeyer's position for most of his Bears tenure -- has mostly funneling responsibilities in the Bears scheme, but shouldn't the guy make a play at least every once in a while? Do you ever remember Hillenmeyer making a play? Ever? Seriously, I can't remember a single, beyond-routine play from Hillenmeyer in his six years with the Bears.

Since Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs are obviously locks, that leaves Jamar Williams, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Nick Roach, rookie Marcus Freeman, and Hillenmeyer to battle it out for the remaining spots. Williams and Tinoisamoa are likely in, and if the Bears keep six LBs like they did last year, I'd much rather have Freeman (23) and Roach (24) than the 28-year-old Hillenmeyer. I know it'll screw up the Bears' Vanderbilt posse, but it's time for the Bears to move on.

Josh Bullocks, defensive back
With Mike Brown packing up his injuries and moving to Kansas City, the safety position and its perceived lack of depth/talent has gotten a lot of attention off-season. I think the Bears made one of their best recent decisions by moving Danieal Manning back to free safety. Manning gets a bad rap because of a blown coverage in the Super Bowl, but I think he's got the potential to be a very good player back there. He's fast as hell -- faster even than Devin Hester or Johnny Knox, according to some teammates -- and because of that he can really pack a punch in the secondary. That the coaching staff sent him to purgatory after the Super Bowl was ridiculous. Yes, he made a mistake, and it was the Super Bowl. But his mistake didn't cost the Bears that game; the fact that they couldn't stop the run and couldn't make a big play on offense did. Besides, blown coverages happen all the time in the NFL. Hell, Charles Tillman (who I love, by the way) blew some coverage in spectacular fashion last season, a play which might have cost the Bears a playoff spot. I know I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: That veterans are allowed to play through their mistakes, while rookies are constantly pulled for them, makes absolutely no sense. It should be the veterans from whom mistakes are unacceptable, not the young guys. This drives me most crazy in basketball, but it applies here too.

Anyway, Manning's a lock. So, probably, are Kevin Payne and Craig Steltz (though I'm not sure either, especially the latter, should be). Last year the Bears kept nine defensive backs, four safeties and four corners, plus one who-knows-what in Manning. Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher, Zack Bowman, and rookie D.J. Moore are likely going to be four of the corners, with versatile Corey Graham, who was also tried at safety during the offseason and might end up being the nickelback, thrown in as well. That leaves one (I suppose two is a possibility, given Tillman's uncertain status) spot left for corners Trumaine McBride, Marcus Hamilton, and Woodny Turenne, and safeties Bullocks and rookie Al Afalava.

I'm rooting for Afalava.

By all accounts, Afalava is a big hitter. Plus, he's got a great name made up entirely of alternating a's, so he's my No. 1. I'd probably put McBride second, because he's a scrappy little fucker (he's listed at 5'9", 181, both of which seem padded) and you can afford to have one guy like that in your secondary. Somewhere way down the list? Bullocks.

Not really sure what this guy brings to the table, and anytime someone makes the effort to put together something like this, it's probably not a good sign. Remember too that Bullocks got benched by the 26th-best defense in the NFL. I'll take the nearly-palindromic Al Afalava, thank you very much.

So that's it for the defense. Coming soon (and I mean it this time! I swear!): the offense.

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