[CBFF] Eager for test against the best :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears

[Tom Shannon]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/929756,CST-SPT-bear03.article#


  Eager for test against the best


      New left tackle Williams declares himself excited by chance to
      face NFL's top DEs

May 3, 2008
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BY BRAD BIGGS <mailto:bbiggs at suntimes.com> bbiggs at suntimes.com

Dwight Freeney, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Mario Williams, Gaines Adams.

Chris Williams started rolling through the list of right defensive ends 
the Bears will encounter this season. Fortunately, he wasn't rattling 
off names the way Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson did a 
couple seasons ago when he kept a hit list of opposing cornerbacks in 
his locker.

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Chris Williams (rear) stands out from a crowd of prospects the Bears are 
evaluating at minicamp.
(AP)


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As a matter of public service, we'll remind Williams that he left 
Carolina's Julius Peppers off the list. Peppers switched sides during 
the Panthers' minicamp Friday. And don't forget New Orleans' Will Smith, 
Philadelphia's Trent Cole and -- oh, yeah, Jared Allen resides in the 
NFC North now with Minnesota.

Welcome to the big leagues.

''I'm really excited about the schedule we play this year,'' said 
Williams, the left offensive tackle whom the Bears drafted 14th overall 
out of Vanderbilt last weekend. ''If I am given the opportunity to 
start, it will be all these great players.

''If you want to be the best, you have to play against the best. That's 
what I am looking forward to. I've looked at the whole schedule. I know 
every guy I am playing against.''

Williams got his first taste of life in the NFL on Friday as the Bears 
opened their rookie minicamp at the Walter Payton Center. It's a 
noncontact weekend designed to showcase the talents of skill-position 
players, but Williams didn't go unnoticed. There are high expectations 
for him as the Bears try to revamp an offensive line that went five 
drafts without getting a fresh body picked in the first three rounds.

''There's not a lot [of rookie starters],'' offensive line coach Harry 
Hiestand said. ''They're not lighting the world on fire. It can be done, 
but it takes a special guy.''

Which leads to the money question: Can Williams be that special guy?

''Obviously, we took him at 14 thinking he was the guy who gave us the 
best chance to have that player,'' Hiestand said. ''We look forward to 
getting him around the vets. Those guys are really going to help him 
with the adjustments, how to stay focused when things are getting tough 
and you're having a bad day and Alex Brown and those guys are blowing by 
you.

''It happens to everyone. They'll teach him to hang in there and keep 
working. That's what he does. If he keeps working, he doesn't get down 
and he doesn't get frustrated, he'll be fine.''

The veterans are every bit as much of the puzzle. Just as it's not set 
that John Tait will move to right tackle to clear the way for Williams, 
the situation at left guard is up in the air.

John St. Clair finished there last season after Terrence Metcalf was 
benched following five starts in which he never once complained about a 
broken hand. Both are in the mix again, though St. Clair likely would 
serve the Bears best as a swing tackle.

If Williams isn't ready, St. Clair will open at right tackle with Tait 
staying on the left side. If Williams can handle the left, it's unlikely 
he would be paired next to Josh Beekman, the fourth-round pick from 2007 
who played in only one game last year. Beekman's focus lately has been 
working as an understudy to center Olin Kreutz.

Hiestand hasn't had much in the way of young players to mold with the 
Bears. He helped develop the New York Giants' David Diehl, 
Jacksonville's Tony Pashos and Buffalo's Duke Preston while at Illinois.

''Work ethic is the key,'' he said. ''We think it's there. We'll see.''

For now, Williams resides at the bottom of the totem pole. The climb 
isn't that high, though, as there were only two tackles on the roster 
before he was drafted.

''I don't know if I am going to start yet,'' he said. ''I am trying to 
work my way up. I feel like if I am given that opportunity, they feel 
like it won't be a problem for me to adjust.''

BEARS MINICAMP


-- 
Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.
  - Douglas Adams