The Other Bears Offensive Captain is……..

Now that the draft has come and gone, I have been starting to think more and more about the upcoming Bears season. I started thinking about the Bears captains and I am pretty sure who all of them will be, except for one that stumped me.

I started with the Defense. Brian Urlacher has been wearing the C on his chest since they started that trend. The other one is most likely going to be Adewale Ogunleye who has been filling the role off and on depending on Mike Brown’s Health. So he is a likely candidate to take that over on a full time basis.

Patrick Mannelly was special teams captain last year and is back for another year. He is still one of the best long snappers in the league (if you’ve never been there, check out his website at www.longsnapper.com) and I see no reason why he wouldn’t resume his duties this year.

That brings us to offense. Like Urlacher, Kruetz has been wearing the C on his chest since the NFL started wearing them. Also from what I heard, Kruetz runs the team in the locker room. So he is another lock for the C. So who is going to be the other captain? Last season it was Captain Neck Beard, but he is gone now, so let’s look at the possible candidates and then I will rank them in order from most likely to least likely in my opinion.

QBs

Quarterbacks are always a logical place to look. They are always called leaders on the field and regardless if they are or not, they are the ones telling everyone what to do in the huddle. Also, QBs are traditionally some of the smartest players on the field. So it makes logical since that a lot of quarterbacks are captains around the league. Jay Cutler was a captain last season in Denver, so he has experience with the responsibilities. This is his first year with the team and it is yet to be seen how he will gel with the teammates. It’s not that I predict them to not get along, but more about will he come in and assert himself as a leader immediately or will he go in and take a more laid back role; let the already established locker room leaders continue to lead with him self just being a part of the whole?

RBs

Matt Forte seems like a great locker room guy and did all the right things last year as a rookie. In his second year is he really ready to step up and take the leadership role and become a captain. Even though my friend Ryan disagrees, I am still concerned he might have a sophomore slump, I am just hoping not as bad as A-Train, and if he does he might have to figure things out for himself. I feel like he could do it, but I don’t think the team will select a sophomore to be captain.

WRs

Well the Bears have a lot of these to choose from. However, honestly is there any wide receiver in the bunch you see as a possible candidate? I don’t see Hester nor Davis as captain material quite yet. If you disagree feel free to let me know, but I’m moving on.

TEs

The Bears arguably have the best TE’s in football and when I was discussing who was going to be the Bears’ Offensive captain with my bride-to-be Jamie, we found this to be an intriguing position. Greg Olson is the best pass catching tight end in the group and has a lot of natural leadership abilities. I honestly believe he is captain material but only going into his third year, I don’t see him getting the honor.

Desmond Clark is the best all around TE of the group and has always done whatever the Bears have asked him to do. After the Super Bowl season, everyone was trying to find out where the Bears needed to improve after such a solid year. One spot that kept coming up was the TE position. Des Clark heard all this talk during the off-season and didn’t make a fuss about it. The Bears then drafted Olson, which meant less playing time and catches for Clark. Again Clark did what he was told because he knew it was the best for the team. Clark is very outgoing and has a great relationship with the fans and media, he even co-host a talk show on ESPN1000.

I feel that Des Clark would be an excellent choice, but the question is can a TE really be a captain. With more and more teams spreading out the field, TEs are on the field less and less. I honestly don’t think this matters, and there are two captains on the field for a reason.


O-Line

The biggest reason I see the other captain spot not going to an o-lineman is because Kreutz is already a captain. I always heard that Kreutz and Fred Miller (when he was still around) ran the locker room, however Miller was never named captain. There is no rule that two players from the same position can’t be captains and there are two other good choices on the O-line. The first is Orlando Pace. He can provide the veteran leadership that is needed on every team and his credentials of countless pro bowls give him credibility when dealing with teammates, coaches, and refs. As mentioned with Cutler, this is his first year on the team and it is yet to be seen what kind of role he is going to take on. However, he has played in the league longer then Cutler and his experience might make him better captain material.

The other choice would be Roberto Garza. Roberto has been playing next to Kreutz for the last couple of season and has established himself with solid play and work ethic. I don’t see Garza being a vocal leader like Ed Reed or Ray Lewis, but more of a lead by example. Lead by doing the extra work required to make the team better. Plus, he was a Madden cover boy last year, that has to count for something right?

So who is going to be the Bears other captain? Here is my list from most likely to least likely:

Jay Cutler
Orlando Pace
Roberto Garza
Desmond Clark
Greg Olson
Matt Forte
Devin Hester

I personally would like the captain’s C to go to Clark and if not Clark then Pace. Not that I don’t love Jay Cutler, because I do, but I’d like to have him have a solid transition year before making this team his next year and hopefully many years to come.

Who do you want to see as captain? Did I forget anybody? Let me know below.