Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on March 28, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Players who can play multiple positions, especially on an offensive line, are coveted. The 2011 NFL draft has one player in particular who teams are starting to recognize as being one of the more valuable offensive linemen in upcoming draft.  His name?  Mike Pouncey.

Pouncey is an all-star center/guard prospect out of the University of Florida, and his stock has been rising ever since the college football season ended. He is the target of several NFL teams that are looking for some much-needed help on the offensive line.

The Bears have expressed some interest in Pouncey and attended his workouts. They have worked him out themselves in order to try and figure out if he is indeed a player who they could use on the offensive line.

The nice thing about Pouncey is that he can play two positions, center and guard.  While he appears to be a much better guard than center heading into this draft, with some learning, he could take over center and end up being a long-time starter there.

Here is Chicago’s situation. Right now (thanks to the lack of a collective bargaining agreement), the Bears do not have a center under contract.  Their starter last season, Olin Kreutz, currently does not have a contract, but the Bears will sign him to at least a one- or perhaps two-year deal and leave him as the starter at center.  Kreutz is aging and isn’t as effective as he once was, but for now he’s all the Bears have.

If Chicago was able draft Pouncey, they could have a very positive situation on the offensive line.  They could keep Kreutz as the starter for next season while Pouncey learns how to play in the NFL at guard (depending on what the Bears decide to do with offensive tackle/guard Chris Williams) at Roberto Garza’s spot. 

Once Pouncey’s year at guard concludes, then the coaching staff can move him to center and either allow Kreutz to retire or keep him in the mix for one more season to help Pouncey learn and grow. It’s likely that Pouncey will have figured it out by then, though, so the need to keep Kreutz around (and have a roster spot filled up) would probably be something that the Bears wouldn’t need to do in 2012.

Now the question remains, will Pouncey be there when the Bears make their pick at 29th overall in the first round, and if he is, would Chicago take him there?

It’s very likely that Pouncey will be there when Chicago makes its selection, but right now it appears as if the Bears are much more interested in a defensive tackle than an offensive linemen. The rumor is that if the guy that the Bears want (at defensive tackle) is there, then they are going to take that defensive tackle.

Of course, that could just be a smoke screen that the Bears are putting out to help keep their real intentions a mystery, but they need a guy like Pouncey much more than a defensive lineman at this stage in the draft.

Do you think that Pouncey would be a good fit for the Bears?

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