August 1, 2007

Bears look to turn heads with offensive additions

2007 8-17: Wolfe in Bears 8-17: Tightends 8-16: 'Peanut' 8-16: Linebackers 8-15: D-Day 8-15: Madden '08 gets 8-15: Mannelly known 8-15: Cornerbacks 8-14: A step ahead 8-14: Offensive guards, 8-13: Benson has clear More

By Jimmy Street
sports@daily-journal.com

The Chicago Bears are accustomed to answering questions about their highly-touted defense, but this year there is a buzz about what the defending NFC Champions can do on the other side of the ball, too.

In the 2006 campaign, the Bears combined a strong rushing attack with a break-out year from Bernard Berrian to become a high-powered offensive team.

Even after boosting its scoring averaging from 16 points per game in 2005 to more than 27 in last year's 13-3 run to the Super Bowl, several new speedy weapons give the Bears a chance to improve yet again.

One of those new weapons is rookie tight end, Greg Olsen.

Olsen had 87 receptions for 1,215 yards in three seasons at the University of Miami (Fla.), and now his speed and blocking abilities give the Bears several options on offense.

"The guy is great," Bears tight end Desmond Clark said. "For a rookie to come in and do the kind of stuff he is doing, I think the biggest thing is that he's able to understand what's going on. One thing I've been surprised with is his blocking ability."

Clark has noticed that the rookie is progressing at a fast pace, but Olsen knows there is more work to be done.

"We have a ways to go, but we have a lot of weapons," said Greg Olsen. "We're very fortunate."

Olsen and Clark have veteran wide receiver, Muhsin Muhammad, excited about what this offense is capable of doing.

"It will definitely create some havoc," said Muhammad. "Those guys are both big targets, both can block extremely well, both are good route runners and they catch the ball really well."

Head coach, Lovie Smith admits he is curious to see how opposing teams will try and match up against the dual tight end sets.

"I'm anxious to see exactly how teams will handle it," said Smith. "Whether they say it's a two tight end set or treat Olsen as a wide receiver. After you see him out running routes, you could easily put him out there as a receiver. He has those types of skills."

Devin Hester proved himself as an electrifying kick returner, but now the second-year player is taking reps with the offense as a receiver.

"(The transition) is going pretty well," said Hester. "Each and every day you learn something new, so we're getting better and better as a team and we're fighting to get to the Super Bowl again."

Hester's success last season is something that motivates him to continue to play well, but he hasn't gotten caught up in his past accomplishments, either.

"I'm coming off a good year, but I'm not putting any pressure on myself this year to try and go out and (match) what I did last season," Hester said. "I'm going to go out and play football and whatever falls into place, that's the way it's going to be."

Berrian is excited about the new weapons, but he is also looking forward to helping lead the way for the new-look offense.

"We've got some old weapons back here, but we're still looking forward to seeing the new ones," Berrian said. "We can't wait to see them play and give them a chance out there, see them touch the ball and see them do some things with it. We're going to try and lead the way and hope that everyone can play to their full potential."