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We Got St. Clair


Guest 88fingerslewy

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OK call me odd but who is this dude?

 

He's a solid veteran backup tackle. Can backup both LT and RT. To me that means that Tucker will be given the shot at RT if he can stay healthy and we have a solid backup now. We also have a backup for Thomas since Shaffer is gone. Also, in emergency, Womack can also backup at tackle.

 

Tucker is done rehabbing and is as close to 100% as I think he can be. The question is can he hold up over 16 games.

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St.Clair A Brown!

by tfrabotta on Mar 17, 2009 5:06 PM CDT 0 comments

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcnorth/...n-Chicago.html

 

I wonder if anyone within Chicago's front office thought free agent offensive lineman John St. Clair would fetch the type of contract he signed Tuesday with Cleveland, a surprising development that left the Bears without an obvious success to retiring right tackle John Tait.

 

St. Clair got a three-year deal worth $9 million, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Browns essentially doubled the contract Chicago offered last month, a three-year contract worth $4.5 million.

 

It has long been assumed that St. Clair would re-sign with the Bears after starting all 16 games at left tackle in 2008. Chris Williams has taken over at left tackle, but Tait's retirement gave St. Clair a natural landing spot on the other side of the line.

 

St. Clair has been a utility backup for most of his career, and you could argue he is overpriced at $3 million per season. The Bears obviously had a lower value of his skills, but that assessment has left them needing to find a right tackle either in the draft or hope that a more prominent free agent materializes later in the offseason.

 

The only internal option is to shift newcomer Frank Omiyale to right tackle and re-insert Josh Beekman as the No. 1 left guard. But that would defeat the purpose of originally signing Omiyale, which was to upgrade the left guard position.

 

The cupboard otherwise is bare. (Pun intended.) At Tuesday's mini-camp practice, undrafted rookie Cody Balogh was working with the first team.

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There was an interesting article from the Chicago Tribune from February 23rd.

 

The quotes from St. Clair surprised me. He said he had no interest in testing the market and wanted to stay a Bear because they are a class organization.

 

Another interesting quote was from Lovie...He said retaining St Clair was a priority and that he was consistent all year for the team. He said he was an important member even before Tait retired.

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Found this in Roto Times;

 

John St. Clair, T, Chicago Bears Tuesday 3/17, 5:52 PM CT

Updating a previous report, the Browns have agreed to terms with John St. Clair, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The deal is worth a reported $9 million over three years with $1.25 million guaranteed.

Our View: The Browns won out in the bidding war, even though Chicago offered more guaranteed money. St. Clair is slated to start at right tackle next season.

 

My view: looks like he started every game last year.. Something to be said for that alone with our history. We will see how this works out. I don't know that much about the guy. The bears ran the ball very well last year and were 13th in sacks given up.. How many were his.. I have no clue. But looks like another solid pickup for the new regime.. The bears wanted to keep him and that also says something..

 

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Guest Aloysius
The bears ran the ball very well last year and were 13th in sacks given up.. How many were his.. I have no clue.

He gave up 9.75 sacks, according to the list cited here.

 

If he ends up starting for us, I hope it's at guard.

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Were going to need linemen, when Mangini makes them run sprints most of the old Romeo guys will want to leave.

 

I feel its a good pick up, we need another versatile O-Line guy who will be ready to play this year, instead of drafting one in the later rounds who may take a couple of years to get ready to the speed.

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As a Bears fan, lemme add a few things....

 

St. Clair was set to start at left guard when Chris Williams got injured and he get's thrust into the starting left tackle role. He can play very well as a backup at RG, RT, LG and LT. He's a very versatile lineman who is the kind of guy you wanna have around. He did give up a pretty large number of sacks if I'm not mistaken but he wasn't as bad as the stats show him to be. Remember, this is a Bears team that's offense was supposed to rank 32nd, and the line was considered completely horrible. We even lose our starting, first-round left tackle and at one point have the #2 offense in the league. You guys are lucky to get him.

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Guest Aloysius
Those sacks were as a LT. A place he should have never been in the first place.

True. But it's not like he suddenly earned the nickname "the Human Turnstile" last year; pass blocking has always been the weaker part of his game.

 

As damajuki and Preston have noted, St. Clair did an adequate job subbing in at LT last year, but he was supposed to start at guard. That seems to be a better spot for him.

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So we've got Tucker, St. Clair, Pork Chop and Hadnot, all who could start on the right side... plus McKinney, Sowels, Scott Young, Lennie Friedmann...

 

Who starts at RG and RT?

 

I'm guessing Friedman backs up the left side, McKinney backs up center (wouldn't be surprised if they draft a center).

 

I'm guessing Sowels and Hadnot are gone because they are Savage guys and we just signed two guys who are better.

 

I'm thinking Tucker at RT, St. Clair at RG with Pork Chop backing up the right side?

 

I don't know how it will play out, but I'm feeling good about the veteren depth here.

 

Zombo

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True. But it's not like he suddenly earned the nickname "the Human Turnstile" last year; pass blocking has always been the weaker part of his game.

 

As damajuki and Preston have noted, St. Clair did an adequate job subbing in at LT last year, but he was supposed to start at guard. That seems to be a better spot for him.

Thanks for the shout-out, Al.

 

I actually thought he was going to start at RT before Williams' injury. I'm pretty sure they were planning on dumping Fred Miller but when Williams went down they enticed him to stay for another year and moved St. Clair over to LT.

 

Either way, I think he's a serviecable player and as I posted in the other St. Clair thread, he's almost a prototypical example of a Mangini guy: high character, team-first, quiet leader, well-respected, a true pro's pro.

 

Love this pickup at this cost.

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He's a solid veteran backup tackle. Can backup both LT and RT. To me that means that Tucker will be given the shot at RT if he can stay healthy and we have a solid backup now. We also have a backup for Thomas since Shaffer is gone. Also, in emergency, Womack can also backup at tackle.

 

Tucker is done rehabbing and is as close to 100% as I think he can be. The question is can he hold up over 16 games.

 

 

Eric Steinbach is our backup LT if I'm not mistaken. I highly doubt RAC EVER thought that is Thomas was injured that Shaffer would be the guy to spot sub for LT haha.

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So we've got Tucker, St. Clair, Pork Chop and Hadnot, all who could start on the right side... plus McKinney, Sowels, Scott Young, Lennie Friedmann...

 

Who starts at RG and RT?

 

I'm guessing Friedman backs up the left side, McKinney backs up center (wouldn't be surprised if they draft a center).

 

I'm guessing Sowels and Hadnot are gone because they are Savage guys and we just signed two guys who are better.

 

I'm thinking Tucker at RT, St. Clair at RG with Pork Chop backing up the right side?

 

I don't know how it will play out, but I'm feeling good about the veteren depth here.

 

Zombo

 

I'm thinking ust the opposite. Tucker at RG and St. Clair at RT, but who knows what Tucker will look like once practice starts. If he's back to 2007 form then maybe he starts at RT and St Clair and Womack work out at RG while Fraley and Hadnot fight for the center job. bottom line is we know have some depth at all line positions. Last I heard Freidman wasn't coming back. McKinnley can play Guard and Center. Sowels stays around through training camp as insurance against injuries.

 

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