Didn't call him a bust (Shaheen and Kevin White are BUSTS). Called him a disappointment and I think that's a fair description considering he was a 1st round pick. If he wasn't a disappointment, the Browns would be looking to extend him rather than trade him.
It's true as you point out that he had a solid season in 2018. So did Trey Burton and Eric Ebron.
You know who else had a solid 2018? Brad Sowell. Yeah, it was as a backup offensive lineman, but still.
Santa's Sleigh forever!
LMAO!
Yeah the Sowell-to-TE "experiment" was emblematic of the clown-school farce that was the Bears' 2019 season.
Only the Bears, right? Finally draft a GREAT tight end and our offensive coordinator decided he didn't fit his offense and so they got rid of him. For a 3rd round draft pick. It's stuff like this that Bears fans have had to endure for decades. The franchise is just clueless as far as building and sustaining a great offense. Those 3 point games last season just about killed me watching the futility.
Oh well...
"Before former Bears GM Jerry Angelo was fired following the 2011 season, he traded tight end Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a third-round pick, to the confusion of the entire Bears fanbase. At the time, then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz felt he couldn’t make good use of Olsen’s talents in his system and Angelo decided the Bears would ultimately be better off without him. In a way, that trade was essentially the beginning of the end for both Angelo and Martz in Chicago."
People have a funny way of having hindsight 20/20. A lot of people didn't like Olsen in Chicago b/c they felt he was to soft and would get tackled by DB's on first contact; and wasn't a blocking TE either. He was nothing special in Chicago. Most of his fumbles, and lost fumbles happened in Chicago, and only his first year in Car, until he started to break down a few years ago, was similar to what he did in Chicago. He never showed that 800-1k a season stuff here. You knew he was good, but you had no reason to know he was going to be what he became in Car. There was a lot of we need more of a Ditka 2 way complete TE then we need a oversized WR that goes down to guys 1/2 his size.
Was he here when Rivera was here? He was Jay's favorite receiver and Martz cut him loose. in the playoffs he came up big over the middle. Yeah, he wasn't great at blocking. For me it's just an example that the Bears rarely get the best out of their O weapons.
People have a funny way of having hindsight 20/20. A lot of people didn't like Olsen in Chicago b/c they felt he was to soft and would get tackled by DB's on first contact; and wasn't a blocking TE either. He was nothing special in Chicago. Most of his fumbles, and lost fumbles happened in Chicago, and only his first year in Car, until he started to break down a few years ago, was similar to what he did in Chicago. He never showed that 800-1k a season stuff here. You knew he was good, but you had no reason to know he was going to be what he became in Car. There was a lot of we need more of a Ditka 2 way complete TE then we need a oversized WR that goes down to guys 1/2 his size.
Was he here when Rivera was here? He was Jay's favorite receiver and Martz cut him loose. in the playoffs he came up big over the middle. Yeah, he wasn't great at blocking. For me it's just an example that the Bears rarely get the best out of their O weapons.
No Rivera was gone after the SB so no Olsen wasn't there at that time.
The Bears got what they could out of Olsen, problem was Olsen never topped 700 yards and more then a handful of TD's in Chicago even w/being the QB's favorite weapon. But again during that time he would consistently get tackled by a smaller cb or s.
What put the deathnell in Chicago for him was Lovie hiring his old pal Martz to come in and fix the O. Martz's system hadn't worked since StL, and it was never going to work in Chicago b/c they didn't have the qb, let alone the OL or the wr's. They had the rb but that was it.
Of all the TEs under discussion here, I think Ebron is the guy with most potential to have a major impact on the offense. If that fails, then I would take my chances in the draft. I don't see upgrading any other position on the O (except hitting the lottery at QB) as offering more upside gain in the coming season. This thing simply MUST get fixed!