Chicago Bears 2011 Predictions: Starting Lineups for Week 1 of Regular Season

With training camp fully underway, the Chicago Bears are trying to put the puzzle together and form a depth chart during this frantic and shortened offseason.

Many offseason changes have occurred for the Monsters of the Midway. In a matter of two weeks, the franchise has signed 26 undrafted players, all five draft picks, free agents, restricted free agents and even completed a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

Many questions still exist about what the team will look like when they break camp at the end of August. How many quarterbacks will the team carry? Is there enough room to rotate two entire defensive lines? How many receivers are too many?

Given the information available at the present time, educated guesses can be taken at what the opening day roster will be on September 11th against the Atlanta Falcons will look like. There’s always some room for change, as positions could be won or lost during practices and preseason games.

Let’s take a look at each projected starter and how that specific group of players could help get Chicago back to the Super Bowl:

Offensive Line

Projected Starters:

Left Tackle—J'Marcus Webb

Left Guard—Chris Williams

Center—Chris Spencer

Right Guard—Roberto Garza

Right Tackle—Gabe Carimi

There are plenty of eyeballs that will be watching the Bears offensive line this season.

Chicago’s offensive line surrendered 57 sacks last season including the playoffs, most in the NFL. If the Mike Martz system is going to be 100 percent effective, then Jay Cutler needs to remain upright away from danger.

This particular line is really more like a bunch of pieces thrown together where each succeeds best. Webb, Williams and Carimi are all listed as tackles, but Williams debuted as a guard last year for a few games and did moderately well.

It may seem scary that a 2010 seventh-round pick and a 2011 first-round rookie will be the starting tackles in this system. Inexperience could prove to be costly if offensive line coach Mike Tice is unable to get these two blocking the edges of the pocket.

Inside, Williams will be aided by the veteran Garza. Spencer takes over in place of thirteen year center Olin Kreutz. Spencer’s ability to learn the playbook in time for the season a little over a month from now will be essential for proper blocking assignments.

Offensive Backfield

Projected Starters:

Quarterback—Jay Cutler

Running Back 1—Matt Forte

Running Back 2—Marion Barber

Fullback—Will Ta'ufo'ou

Jay Cutler prepares to enter season number two of the Martz regime looking to improve on a dramatically better 2010 campaign than his first with Chicago in 2009.

The 2009 Cutler threw 27 touchdowns with 26 interceptions, where as one year later the numbers evened out to 23 and 16 respectively. A big difference seemed to be the number of pass attempts, almost 100 fewer.

Fewer passing plays means the Bears relied on Matt Forte to help keep the offense honest and balanced. Indeed it was more balanced since the bye week last season to be more specific.

By running on first and second downs, the offense will most likely set up short third down tries for Cutler instead of third-and-long attempts. The addition of Barber helps the downhill running game, especially near the goal line where Chicago struggled to punch in the ball last year.

The Mike Martz system does not utilize a fullback at all, so the second year Ta’ufo’ou may not see much of the field at all.

Receivers and Tight Ends

Projected Starters:

Wide Receiver 1—Johnny Knox

Wide Receiver 2—Roy Williams

Wide Receiver 3—Devin Hester

Wide Receiver 4—Earl Bennett

Tight End 1—Matt Spaeth

Tight End 2—Kellen Davis

Fans would dub the receiving corps the million dollar question. With an impressive free agent class, the wide receiver position looked to be one the Bears could fill rather easily with some substantial star power.

The Bears went and signed a free agent receiver all right, but it turned out to be the unreliable and unmotivated Roy Williams.

Williams may not be the sexiest car on the block but he still runs and was pretty cheap as a used vehicle. His best season came with Mike Martz as the Detroit offensive coordinator back in 2006. The obvious reunion is with the hopes Williams can operate in a system he has succeeded in previously.

The remaining receivers have plenty of work to do by improve route running and elusiveness. Last season, Cutler threw just as many times to Knox as he did to Forte out of the backfield. The two held the team lead with 51 receptions—a stat no running back should possess.

The tight end position is another which caused uproar amongst the fan base. Trading Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a third-round draft pick may have shown more dedication to Martz than anything else.

Since Martz came to Chicago, Olsen’s catches were down 32% and his blocking abilities-something Martz requires from his tight ends-were tested. To Martz, tight ends are just additional offensive linemen who happen to excel in blocking.

Maybe the maximum protection concept is one that could favor the Bears. At least Cutler won’t have to scramble for his life as often if that’s what the focus will be on.

Defensive Line

Projected Starters:

Defense End—Julius Peppers

Defensive Tackle—Anthony Adams

Defensive Tackle—Vernon Gholston

Defensive End—Israel Idonije

Julius Peppers was an immediate presence felt on the Bears defensive line a year ago. The way every offense prepared to face Chicago changed. Peppers demanded double team blocks and caused problems for franchises that were weak at tackle.

Peppers and Idonije each had eight sacks to lead the Bears in 2010 and look to improve on those numbers this season. Despite solid statistics, the pressure didn’t seem to be coming often enough.

Chicago only recorded 34 sacks last year while surrendering 56, a number that shows either how strong defensive lines are or how weak offensive lines are. The latter seems more plausible for the Bears.

One of the positions that required an upgrade this offseason was the defensive tackle spot. The Bears re-signed Adams who had a decent 2010 and signed free agent Vernon Gholston, a former first-round bust of the New York Jets.

Gholston played defensive end for Rex Ryan in New York and has had very limited success doing so. He has just as many career tackles as he has career games played in and is still waiting for his first NFL sack entering his fourth season.

Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli are convinced they can resurrect Gholston to meet his potential by moving him inside with the Chicago 4-3 defense. Smith addressed specifically his technique attacking off the snap would change and he feels the change could mean a world of difference for the former Ohio State Buckeye.

Linebackers

Projected Starters:

Will Linebacker—Lance Briggs

Mike Linebacker—Brian Urlacher

Sam Linebacker—Nick Roach

When the offseason started, the Bears faced a serious problem having only two linebackers under contract. Luckily for them, those two linebackers were pretty good-Urlacher and Briggs.

The first action taken by the Bears was to re-sign the third starting linebacker who as of right now appears to be Nick Roach.

Rumors are swirling right now that the Bears and former Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu are talking about working a deal.

Tatupu, who was cut by the Seahawks last weekend, has a connection with the Bears assistant general manager Tim Ruskell. Ruskell was the GM of Seattle in 2005 when Tatupu was drafted. However, Tatupu may not be a perfect fit for the Bears system. He has traditionally played middle linebacker and the Bears are anchored there with Urlacher. Moving him outside would take a small period of readjustment.

This position is one that had to be addressed and was done so with great urgency.

Don’t be surprised to even see the occasional J.T. Thomas cameo during rotations. Thomas, a rookie linebacker chosen by Chicago in the sixth-round, could be one of those players who just happen to see time as a result of weak depth at a position.

Defensive Backs

Projected Starters:

Cornerback 1—Charles Tillman

Cornerback 2—Tim Jennings

Nickle—D.J. Moore

Dime—Zachary Bowman 

Strong Safety—Chris Harris

Free Safety—Major Wright

When Chicago decided to part ways with Danieal Manning two weeks ago, it caused an opening to appear at the safety position and presented the coaching staff with an opportunity to make a change.

Manning had played strong safety next to free safety Chris Harris. Traditionally, the strong safety is the one who plays closer to the line of scrimmage and is much more involved with run support. The free safety usually covers more of the field and is faster with more range and field awareness.

Harris has built a reputation as a hard-hitter and reliable tackler, so the Bears decided to give him a shot at the vacant strong safety position. So far, things have been going fine in training camp for Harris with the change.

This now means a free safety starting job is up for grabs and the leading candidate for that vacancy is second year defensive back Major Wright.

Tillman and Jennings are slotted to begin as the corners outside. Playing a Tampa Two defense means the corners always start approximately seven yards off the receiver at the line of scrimmage. Being able to use bump-and-run coverage is not necessary for corners in this system, as jamming receivers is rarely done.

Special Teams

Projected Starters:

Kicker—Robbie Gould

Punter—Adam Podlesh

Kick/Punt Returner—Devin Hester

Special teams is a department the Chicago Bears have excelled in for seasons now.

Robbie Gould returns for another season as one of the league’s most accurate kickers. Last year, it seemed that Lovie Smith was confident with letting Gould try longer range kicks than he normally would. In fact, Gould set his career long for a field goal make at 54 yards Week 13 in Detroit.

The punting department will see a new face in Adam Podlesh was brought in this season. The former Jacksonville Jaguar relieves long time Chicago Bear Brad Maynard, now a member of the Houston Texans. Maynard had a subpar year in 2010 which ultimately led to his departure. Some would say he was the Bears MVP for seasons where they struggled in winning the battle for field position.

Speaking of field position, football fans must have been living under a rock or just waking up from a five-year coma to have never heard of the Bears most versatile special teams weapon—Devin Hester. Hester last season set the all-time NFL record for returned kicks and punts at 14. Those numbers do not include however the missed field goal return against the New York Giants in 2006 and the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

The league-wide change of kickoff location could bring Chicago back to the pack with regards to special teams success. NFL kickers will now be teeing the ball off from their own 35 yard line this season as opposed to their own 30 yard line. The five yard difference may not seem drastic, but it does ensure more kickoffs will land in the end zone for touchbacks and starting field position will suffer.

Hester sees this change as one to slow down not only himself but other NFL returners who have out-performed historical kick returners at staggering paces. Perhaps the breed of athlete has improved as time goes on but the change is to ensure player safety first and foremost. Less kick returns means less tackles and less dependence of running with wedges up field.

Special teams could play a huge role in how far the Chicago Bears go in 2011 with plenty of change on offense and an aged defense who could begin the downhill descent any season. 

Follow Brett Lyons on Twitter @BrettLyons670.