Chicago Bears: Harry Hiestand helping the offensive line
The Chicago Bears hired Harry Hiestand to work the magic he had during his earlier time in Chicago. So far, he’s doing just that.
One of the biggest frustrations with Chicago Bears fans during Jay Cutler‘s time was the play of the offensive line. He took a beating in Chicago. In his 8 seasons with the Bears, he was sacked 251 times. That is about 31 sacks per season (and he had some partial seasons).
With the addition of Mitch Trubisky, many felt it was imperative that the team improve the offensive line. General manager Ryan Pace went out and drafted James Daniels, a center/guard, and made moves to solidify the depth.
That depth is getting put to the test. Eric Kush missed the Week 8 matchup against the New York Jets. Additionally, during that game, Kyle Long hurt his foot/ankle and may be out for a good amount of time. He was helped off the field of play and carted off to the locker room. It didn’t look good.
The Bears still did a good job protecting Trubisky. The Jets sacked him twice, but on both plays Trubisky took off running. On one of them he just went down and the other he ran and got tripped up a yard short of the line of scrimmage. He had enough time to throw for most of the day.
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The offensive line is performing well this season. They rank 11th in sacks allowed (16) and 7th in quarterback hits (29). Part of that is the fact that head coach Matt Nagy’s system is designed for the quarterback to get rid of the ball quickly.
However, Hiestand has done a good job with the linemen. Charles Leno Jr. has steadily improved (though many fans never acknowledged that). This season, though, he is better. Last season, he committed 13 penalties, which was second-most by offensive linemen in the league. For comparison to his teammates, no other Bears lineman had more than 7. All the other Chicago Bears linemen combined had 25. This season, however, he has yet to commit a penalty.
Bobby Massie is a player I just did not want to see on the field. There were times he looked absolutely useless, reaching out for pass rushers who passed him by. He had five penalties last season and has two so far this season. None of those penalties was for holding. He still has his moments of getting blown out on a play, but they are at a fewer rate this season.
James Daniels made his first start against the Jets. He did well, since we heard nothing about him. He’s played in every game, but in a rotation. He was the lead guy in Kush’s absence and he did well.
Before Kush’s injury, Daniels was progressing to the point of playing more snaps than Kush. He credited Kush and Hiestand for helping him, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
"When I get to the sideline, he’s [Kush] giving me coaching points, and it’s the same thing with [offensive line coach Harry Hiestand]. It’s nice to be able to have that."
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Hiestand definitely has his fingerprints on this unit. They are playing with much more discipline and are doing a good job of protecting Trubisky and giving him time. We need to wait and see what happens with Long, but I feel Hiestand will have it covered.