O-Line is Top Priority in Offseason

Crazy to think that the OL created some of the issues and needs to be dealt with.

Problem is, how? You gave massie, who was always a replacement lvl RT a contract last year. Your C/LG is on a rookie deal, and the other guy is young and just got an extension, and Leno will hopefully have a bounce back year next year after a big slip last one.

Bears had a legit bad OL last year 4/5's are coming back in some shape way or form. Coaches/Management better figure out what happened w/this group and fix it in OTA's and TC.

The Athletic(I know, I know...I keep mentioning them!LOL) has a great article on Castillo: theathletic.com/1611913/2020/02/17/what-the-bears-are-getting-in-new-offensive-line-coach-juan-castillo/

Here's some snippets for those that don't have a subscription:

“From the gate, I showed up to the meeting and he like, wanted to work me out in regular clothes,” former Eagles center Jamaal Jackson said. “Dude is crazy! When it comes to working, there was no substitute for him. He believes in hard work and doing everything the right way and the way that’s gonna help you be successful. He was a good dude from the jump.”

"Tra Thomas held a workout at Florida State prior to the 1998 draft. Castillo wanted to see Thomas do extra pass sets off to the side, but Thomas’ agent ended the session there.

So when Thomas made his pre-draft visit to Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, Castillo didn’t waste any time.

“I remember coming to the Vet and Juan, as soon as I walk into the facility, he took me on the Vet turf and was like, ‘Hey, man, I wanted to go over a couple pass sets with you. Let’s work some pass sets,’” Thomas said. “I had just put my suitcases down and Juan has me on the Vet turf doing pass sets in my street clothes. He wanted to see if I could do what he was trying to get done."

"Runyan’s son, John Runyan Jr., got to learn from Castillo this past season at Michigan, where Castillo helped the Wolverines. Runyan Jr. is a draft prospect this spring.

“I hate to use this term, but Juan is a grinder,” Runyan said. “The guy’s gonna work. He works and works and works. I was fortunate enough also that he was around my son this year at Michigan, too. He knows what he’s doing. He knows the technical side. Anybody that’s ever coached O-line in the NFL, Juan’s been in their office and talked scheme and technique and everything with them.”

“His whole style is technique,” Jackson said. “Juan, he’s not one of those coaches where talent will outweigh technique, he teaches technique first and foremost because once your talent fades in the NFL, you have to rely on your technique."

"Thomas explained that Castillo understood the “progression” of how to best teach technique and the importance of starting with footwork.

“The art of pass protection is an extremely technical thing, and Juan, throughout his past, we really got into it where we were paying attention to stances and when to punch, how to punch,” he said. “One of the first things we learned how to do is footwork. When you’re teaching an offensive lineman, first thing you need to work on is footwork.”

“We were athletic maulers, so to speak, because we didn’t really run the ball that much,” Jackson said. “We ran it when we could in certain instances, but as far as pass blocking, Andy liked to throw the ball. Juan’s outlook was, we can be physical running and passing the ball. That’s when you get some of your shots in when it’s five linemen against four or even a three-man line. If you’re not blocking someone, you should be, regardless of however many guys they’ve got rushing. And that’s his motto, always find somebody to hit.”

“If you’re going to have a passing offense, you damn better understand how to teach protection,”

And this last part is very interesting:

“Some guys tell you to go out and get the job done, but Juan would go out there and mold you and coach you up to get the job done,” Jackson said. “That works well with Matt Nagy’s offense because he’s running a variation of the West Coast offense where it’s implemented with that kind of blocking schemes. You have man and slide protections. In most protections, it’s you guys are blocking this guy, we’re blocking areas. It helps out a lot because the protection is based on the route concepts.”