I feel bad for him too. But my gut feeling is that Grasu will eventually be a solid interior lineman for us. He may not be a center, but he will be a solid starter.
I always hated how some people called him Cody Wheelchair.
I didn't understand the connection (I'm not the brightest person). He's not injury prone. He started 51 of 52 games during his college career. What were they getting at?
Unfortunately, our most recent 2 "draft hits" were Kyle Long and Cody Whitehair who play G and C respectively. Those are the only 2 draft picks we have made in many years who have become true standout players and they play INTERIOR OL. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth but...interior OL is generally not a position group that wins you a lot of games or draws teams' personnel priorities. Lots and lots of starting C's and G's in the league are/were late round draft picks or even UDFAs. It's generally not a place where you're expecting to need 1st and 2nd rounders to man.
Nothing against KL and CW, I'm merely pointing out how pathetic and disappointing the Bears drafting has been for years.
Our draft "stars" are a Center and a Guard.
Wow, just wow....
I see this more as us finally realizing how important a O-line really is. When was the last time we had 2 Pro Bowlers at guard and possible future pro bowler at center? I do agree O-line in the first and second generally seem like a waste. Seeing that Packers O-line is filled with lower round picks as a great example but you got to start somewhere.
Hopefully Pace can draft a bit better next year seeing that he'll have 2 drafts under his belt. I bet he does.
IMHO, this coming offseason will be the "make or break" for how Pace's GM-ship is ultimately viewed in the future. If he rights the ship and gets the arrow pointing up next season (and I don't expect POs, just respectable again), he will be secure and can be our long-term GM. If he flops on coaching and player decisions, he will become the next in a long line of failed GMs for the franchise. I haven't given up on him yet but yeah its soon going to be put up or shut up time.
The Bears haven't drafted a standout DB, pass-rusher, tackle, QB, WR, LB, or RB (with the possible exception of Jeffery who's +/- there) in at least a decade. The so-called "skill positions" have been littered with busts and nothing-special type of players. That has to change if this terrible franchise is going to cease being an NFL doormat.
Didn't they say his short arms wouldn't allow Whitehair to succeed as a tackle in the NFL? Whitehair was a perfect fit for a guard or center.
All I remember is that some were upset we drafted him. He did play LT in college, but all of the pre-draft scouting reports I read had him projected as a G or C at the NFL level. When he struggled in his first NFL game this year, some were also complaining about him. It was his first rookie start of his career and already some were writing him off as a bad draft pick. It was pretty crazy.
Many were complaining because we had a good OC/G who was cheap. We had so many wholes as well. Then we decided to drop Slauson as well and lose that depth option we finally had at guard.
Sure we lucked out and picked up Sitton but we had to pay big money for him as a result of Pace's poor planning.
If Whitehair can keep this up for one more season he's a future starter and possible Pro Bowl player that this team needs at O-line.
I always hated how some people called him Cody Wheelchair.
I didn't understand the connection (I'm not the brightest person). He's not injury prone. He started 51 of 52 games during his college career. What were they getting at?
That was a stupid nickname from the old board derelicts. People questioned the pick because we had Slauson and Grasu at the time and interior OL didn't look like a big need. He was never considered to be an NFL tackle.
It turned out to be a solid pick (like Goldman was) but gets overshadowed becuase: A) Interior OL generally isnt a place where you need to spend high picks on B) We didn't have a "need" at the time and C) Pace traded down twice in the 2nd (getting 2 more 4th round picks) and then missed on Prescott 3 times.
All I remember is that some were upset we drafted him. He did play LT in college, but all of the pre-draft scouting reports I read had him projected as a G or C at the NFL level. When he struggled in his first NFL game this year, some were also complaining about him. It was his first rookie start of his career and already some were writing him off as a bad draft pick. It was pretty crazy.
Many were complaining because we had a good OC/G who was cheap. We had so many wholes as well. Then we decided to drop Slauson as well and lose that depth option we finally had at guard.
Sure we lucked out and picked up Sitton but we had to pay big money for him as a result of Pace's poor planning.
If Whitehair can keep this up for one more season he's a future starter and possible Pro Bowl player that this team needs at O-line.
To get the ship righted, Pace needs to find this offseason:
QB, obviously, first and foremost RT CB (move Fuller to FS) And a passrusher (unless McPhee comes back strong and Floyd starts lighting it up)
Many were complaining because we had a good OC/G who was cheap. We had so many wholes as well. Then we decided to drop Slauson as well and lose that depth option we finally had at guard.
Sure we lucked out and picked up Sitton but we had to pay big money for him as a result of Pace's poor planning.
If Whitehair can keep this up for one more season he's a future starter and possible Pro Bowl player that this team needs at O-line.
To get the ship righted, Pace needs to find this offseason:
QB, obviously, first and foremost RT CB (move Fuller to FS) And a passrusher (unless McPhee comes back strong and Floyd starts lighting it up)
Thats a pretty tall order
If we don't win meaningless games this year we should be in the top 3. Hopefully with that pick we don't have to worry about taking leftovers.
I still think Garrett is the right choice. Its very hard to pass up on a player like that. He's the best prospect in this years draft and would finally bring a playmaker on the defensive side. After seeing that poor performance from Mcphee in the Packers game I don't see him coming back strong.
I'm liking Hall. He has the height to do well in the NFL. If he learns to turn his head he could be a playmaker for us. I do however like to have Trumaine Johnson from the Rams here. Eric Berry from the Chiefswould also help bring in playmaking ability in the secondary and as you said move Fuller to FS.
RT and QB is something I would rather have in the draft.
It sure is a tall order but we have the cap space to bring in a few and hopefully the draft position as well.
I feel bad for him too. But my gut feeling is that Grasu will eventually be a solid interior lineman for us. He may not be a center, but he will be a solid starter.
We could actually have a really good line if we could figure out a way to win with 5 interior linemen.
To get the ship righted, Pace needs to find this offseason:
QB, obviously, first and foremost RT CB (move Fuller to FS) And a passrusher (unless McPhee comes back strong and Floyd starts lighting it up)
Thats a pretty tall order
If we don't win meaningless games this year we should be in the top 3. Hopefully with that pick we don't have to worry about taking leftovers.
I still think Garrett is the right choice. Its very hard to pass up on a player like that. He's the best prospect in this years draft and would finally bring a playmaker on the defensive side. After seeing that poor performance from Mcphee in the Packers game I don't see him coming back strong.
I'm liking Hall. He has the height to do well in the NFL. If he learns to turn his head he could be a playmaker for us. I do however like to have Trumaine Johnson from the Rams here. Eric Berry from the Chiefswould also help bring in playmaking ability in the secondary and as you said move Fuller to FS.
RT and QB is something I would rather have in the draft.
It sure is a tall order but we have the cap space to bring in a few and hopefully the draft position as well.
Cutler is comingba ck and he does give us the best chance to win. The thing is, right now, I'd rather have one of the top two picks. I don't see playoffs as a possibility.
