Sorting Out a Bears OL Center Winner

A standout OL

No pads

In shorts

LMAO, no such thing.  Every scout and serious analyst you read says you can evaluate OLs and DLs in OTAs.  Maybe you can see a little footwork stuff but that's it.  For linemen, you have to wait until pads go on to get a realistic impression.

I just did some research in the board's posting history. The only mention of Oluwatimi prior to the draft was in a general post by JABF on April 3 regarding a list of the leading center prospects.

In that same thread davidl indicates he would like to see a center as a day 3 priority.

Prior to the draft, I don't find a lot of significant discussion on why we need to draft a center in 2023.  I see a lot of moving Whitehair back to center for a year or two and replacing him in 2024 or 2025 as the need grows or a really hot prospect arises. 

Now we have statements that Poles really messed up by not taking a center at a specific pick.  IMO this is classic fan hindsight in action.  As I always say, the only vision that is consistently a perfect 20-20 is hindsight. We don't know how high Poles had Oluwatimi ranked in the draft. He could have thought he was going to last a bit longer and actually had plan to pick him up too.  It could be he was PO'd that Seattle grabbed Oluwatimi when they did.  It could be he didn't like Oluwatimi at all for some reason.  None of us has any idea as to what the real situation was. 

No one here know how Poles, Eberflus and the scouting staff had all the prospects ranked.  While I don't know for sure, I strongly suspect that Poles had the entire draft pool evaluated, graded and ranked well in advance of the draft.  He strikes me as a very methodical, thorough and intelligent person and manager.  He has his plan and is determined to execute it.  So far it looks good, in fact really good.  But just like we can't tell how good a player really is in OTAs and need to see that individual in full contact action, we won't know for sure if Poles' plan is really as good as we hope it is for at least 2 more seasons.  But we will have a decent idea pretty soon.

I have looked at a lot of video podcasts from all over the league.  There is a lot of Kool-Aid being chugged at the moment on everyone's roster.  Everybody has bag full of new and shiny toys.