Carimi Should Be On Bears' Radar
Gabe Carimi was the best offensive lineman on arguably the best offensive line in all of college football last year. And he might also be the best option for protecting Jay Cutler.
Cutler was sacked a league high 52 times last season. In his first three seasons in the NFL he was only sacked a combined 51 times. If the Chicago Bears want their franchise quarterback to survive another season they need to add an elite talent to the offensive line.
In their latest mock drafts, both Chad Reuter and Rob Rang, of CBSSports.com, projected the Bears to draft the 6'-7'', 315-pound Wisconsin Badger with the 29th pick in the NFL Draft.
Reuter said that Carimi could "start immediately at either left or right tackle."
With right tackle J'Marcus Webb's improvement over the course of the season, Carimi would probably slide into the left tackle position as a rookie. Usually that's a very daunting task for a rookie lineman in the NFL, but Carimi, as a red-shirt freshman, took over at left tackle for first-round draft pick Joe Thomas and earned Freshman All-American honors. So he's proven he can handle a challenge.
Carimi won the Outland Trophy in 2010 as well as being named first-team All-Big Ten and being named to various All-American teams.
