Bears veteran center Olin Kreutz had surgery in late January and was projected to miss four to six months, meaning there is a good chance he will be out when the team has its veteran minicamp in three weeks. That has led Josh Beekman to take the bulk of the snaps at center during the voluntary offseason program and given Tice a chance to look at someone new at left guard - Kevin Shaffer. Most figured he would be in the mix with Frank Omiyale at right tackle and that competition could still materialize, but right now Tice is interested in seeing Shaffer inside next to left tackle Chris Williams who he called a “stud.†"Shaffer might be one of our most valuable guys," Tice said. "I am not saying he (won't start) for us at left guard, but because of his grit and his football savvy, at minimum, he is going to be able to back up four spots. I have seen him on tape and last season he played winning football at both tackle spots." Source: Yahoo! Sports
Hope no Bear fans are fooled by Tice's comments. His job is to be positive in his assessments & blow sunshine up as many fans asses that are within earshot. Only this Bear staff can try to spin the horrid line play of last year into the notion that it can be solved by musical chairs with the same perpetrators. :icon_rolleyes:
But line play did improve when Pace was benched, Williams moved to LT and Schaffer was at RT, our problems were the interior line. Kreutz was awful last year as were our guards. 95% of the pressure Cutler had to deal with last year came straight up the gut. Schaffer did do well last year, I like him at LG and Omiyale is a natural tackle and he blocked like one when playing guard giving up his outside shoulder which made it easier for pass rushers to get by him. His instincts as a tackle betrayed him as a guard, but hopefully they will become a virtue when he is at tackle again. Fingers crossed.
