Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on March 12, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

As of this writing, the Bears have signed Brandon Manumaleuna as the ideal blocking tight end for Mike Martz’s offense and this may spell the end of the careers of either (or both) Kellen Davis or Greg Olsen.  Olsen is not the ideal tight end for the style of offense that the Bears plan to run and may be on his way out of Chicago. 

The Bears ended up signing Manumaleuna as a blocking tight end and he has played in Martz’s offense before.  He brings big time blocking ability to the offense and will allow the Bears to do much more than they had been able to in the past.  Manumaleuna was with the San Diego Chargers last season and played in 16 games, starting five.  He had five receptions for 13 yards with an average of 2.6 yards per catch.  His longest catch was 11 yards and he didn’t have any touchdowns. 

Manumaleuna will be used for blocking more than anything else and he should be able to step in and contribute right away. 

Olsen, on the other hand, may not fit well in Martz’s system.  Olsen has had issues blocking as well as catching passes in traffic and may not be as “tough” as many would like to see.  He was very productive in 2009, however, as he played in all 16 games, starting 15.  He caught 60 passes for 612 yards with an average of 10.2 yards per catch in addition to a long of 41 and eight touchdowns.

We have talked about Olsen’s blocking problems but he has one other issue that is of concern to the team and that is catching the ball in traffic.  It seemed that when he expected to be hit, Olsen would fail to make the catch at times because of it.  He would also not make the effort to make the tough catch at times (see the Bears’ game against the Eagles), leaving many Bears’ fans scratching their heads. 

It’s likely the Bears will continue to try to trade Olsen but may not be able to do much until the upcoming 2010 NFL Draft.  Perhaps they can swing a deal to get a second-round pick, which would help them out immensely but is probably not going to happen until draft day.

Desmond Clark had his roster bonus picked up by the Bears so it’s very likely that they are looking at keeping him around in 2010.  Clark is a good blocker, reliable at catching the ball, and may be a little more of a complete package than Olsen is, but Clark is injury prone and certainly not getting any younger.

In 2009, Clark played in 11 games for the Bears, starting seven.  He caught 19 passes for 145 yards with an average of 7.6 yards per catch.  His longest catch was 26 yards and he had two touchdowns.  Clark is the more reliable blocker of the group (after Manumaleuna) and therefore would be much more useful in Martz’s scheme than perhaps Olsen. 

However, there are rumors going around the league that say Clark could be on the trading block as well.  This makes this very interesting.

While Kellen Davis didn’t see a lot of passes thrown his way in 2009, those passes that he did catch usually went for touchdowns.  He played in all 16 games in 2009, starting two.  He caught three touchdown passes as well, mostly at critical moments in games.  Davis could very easily be the odd man out this coming season depending on what the Bears decide to do at the tight end and also as a result of Davis not being a willing blocker.  That is why Davis could be on his way out of Chicago.

The Bears have also signed Richard Angulo who had spent a little time with the Bears along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, and St. Louis Rams.  He has the size to be an effective blocker in the Bears’ new scheme and could end up making the final roster.  The Bears also have Kevin Brock, a first-year player who doesn’t have a lot of experience but could end up competing for a third or fourth spot at the position. 

The tight end group could see a lot of changes before the start of the season in 2010.  We may see either Olsen, Clark, or both get traded or we might see them both return and contribute to the new offense that is being put together this offseason.  It’s hard to tell which way Martz may end up going with this offense; you would have figured that he was going to rely much more on blocking (with the tight ends) after the acquisition of Manumaleuna but anything is possible.  Perhaps Martz will end up changing his mind.

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