Chicago Bears star quarterback Jay Cutler is excited about the opportunity to work with Mike Tice and to reunite with Jeremy Bates and wide receiver Brandon Marshall, but he knows the offensive line is the limiting factor on the unit he leads. Mike Martz and his seven-step drop scheme are gone, but the threat of disrupted passing lanes and unlean passing pockets are still a concern at Halas Hall.
General manager acquired Brandon Marshall, signed running back Michael Bush and drafted wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, but he didn't do much to help improve a shaky-at-best offensive line during the offseason. Cutler is concerned about the offensive line, as he told Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday:
"You know, the offensive line is definitely going to be a concern and seeing where those guys are going to fit in and seeing what five we go with," Cutler said when asked a general question about the excitement for the upcoming season. "If Gabe [Carimi] comes back, if J'Marcus [Webb] pans out. Where are we going to put Chris Williams? There are some question marks there. Until we really get that resolved and get our front five settled in, we've got some work to do on offense."
Cutler went on to say there are still going to be third-and-long situations where the O-Line will be asked to protect on seven-step drops to allow longer routes to develop, so moving away from Mike Martz's scheme isn't the sole answer to the unit's problems.
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