A Bear to Watch On September 11: Adewale Ogunleye

[goldenster95]

Ogunleye Proving His Worth

By Bear Report Staff
Date: Aug 28, 2005

Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye refuses to believe the old NFL axiom that preseason means nothing to veteran players.

Adewale Ogunleye came into Friday night's game against Buffalo looking like the dominant pass rusher the Bears had expected when they paid him $33.4 million last August after trading for him.

“I made some mistakes, I jumped offsides today, but I gave 110 percent,'' he said.

Ogunleye still added his fourth preseason sack in the first half against Bills quarterback J.P. Losman. Ogunleye was fifth in the NFL in preseason sacks heading into this weekend.

He had another big play taken away Friday night by replay. He had chased down Eric Moulds on an end-around and stripped the football but replay showed it occurred after the Bills' receiver touched the ground with his knee.

Ogunleye has had a few scrapes in preseason -- a slight groin injury for one -- but has managed to stay healthy. Last year a torn ankle tendon caused him to play most of the season in pain and led to a sub-par five-sack season. That's all in his past.

“It just feels good,'' Ogunleye said. "You can doubt yourself after the season you had last year and you're hoping you bounce back with everybody and you've got critics here and there but the way I'm playing now, I'm just excited to contribute.

"But I think it's a sigh of relief for me to know I'm back from this injury. It's a sigh of relief for the Bears community and the Chicago community to know that this is the kind of guy that they traded for and this is the type of play that they're going to see for 16 games."

[Walking Deadman]

Like I said in the Orton thread.....the Bears D is looking good.
They will be tough to run on, I hope Patrick is ready.

[AllWorldSkinFan]

“I made some mistakes, I jumped offsides today, but I gave 110 percent,'' he said.



Where do they come up with this original stuff???? Why do people even bother to interview pro athletes anymore?

[laurent]

The entire Bears front four has been playing extremely well in preseason. They've kept blockers of their LBs and given Urlacher a chance to roam like he used to with the big uglies up front early in his carreer.

The opener is going to be a great test for our offense and they're not going to go away easy.

[goldenster95]

Like I said in the Orton thread.....the Bears D is looking good.
They will be tough to run on, I hope Patrick is ready.

What's the difference between this Bears' defense and the one we faced when Portis ran for 171 yards?

[chow184]

Portis stepped on Oguns ankle

[bulldog]

the best way to take Ogunleye out of the action is to run right at him and have him with his hands on his hips by the third quarter out of gas

I don't expect to see a lot of seven step drops from the Skins against a good pass rushing line, but I think the Bears secondary is vulnerable and we will make plays against them with RAC from Moss and Patten on the short and intermediate stuff.

[Mr. S]

I still think Portis can run through them, or Betts/Nemo since they tend to push the line. Ogunleye didnt seem to do much last season, but maybe he will now. Either way, only 2 weeks now!!!

[Mooka]

What's the difference between this Bears' defense and the one we faced when Portis ran for 171 yards?

Goldy, the Bears have a very young defense and it will get better each year.

They have 2 young D tackles that are excellent. Tommie Harris will be a pro-bowler for years to come and we havn't seen what Ian Scott can do yet.

At the ends Alex Brown is solid and is very quick. He will be a good challenge for Samuels. Ogunleye is a beast. Jansen will have his hands full trying to block that guy. He will need help from our T-Ends.

Thier LB's are very scary. You know what Urlacher can do. The sleeper is Lance Briggs, This guy is a sure tackler and gets better each year. This being his 3rd year should be a break-out season for him.

Thier secondary is young as well. Michael Green is a stud safety. Charles Tillman is a sure tackler and this is his 3rd year. He should have a break-out season as well. Azumah is flashy on special teams but personally I think he's over-rated. He can make plays but he has trouble with good route runners. Patten should be able to take advantage of that.

What the Bears lack is depth. When their D is fresh we will have problems moving the ball. As they wear down though they are lacking depth in the linebacker and CB positions.

I think they key to the game will be time of possession. The more our Offense is on the field the more thier starters will tire. When thier back-ups come in we should be able to take advantage.

[bulldog]

one thing the Bears are on the DL is SMALL. Brown is small for a DE. Harris is only 289 inside at tackle. Ogunleye is an average sized rush end.

the Redskins offensive line is going to out size these guys by quite a bit come the opener. man on man I don't think the Bears are going to last 4 quarters against the pounding.

the key is not to make early mistakes and give the Bears a chance to play with a lead on defense.

if the Skins can force the Bears defense to play things straight up and can threaten them with the pass or the run, the Bears are going to be going backward.

[scruffylookin]

Alex Brown is scarier to me then Ogunleye. Brown had a big game last year against us despite Clinton's huge day.

[bulldog]

again, go through the matchups THIS year and point out where the Redskins don't have the advantage if the game is close and the offense can use the threat of the run or the pass

the Chicago rush ends won't be playing against Ray Brown this time around at RT

[spanishomelette]

I thought PCS was filtering out Ogun threads...PCS this new software isn't working

[Hollywood2k3]

yeah, we have our work cut out for us