Luke Getsy is a well-connected man. It was already revealed that he had previous relationships with several players down at the Senior Bowl thanks to his recruiting trips during his brief stint with Mississippi State. He can offer insight on them for the Chicago Bears in their efforts to improve the roster this April. As it turns out, there is another prospect on which he has some inside information or can get it if he wishes. That is Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz, arguably the best interior offensive lineman at the event.
Many view him as the best center in the entire 2023 draft class. His mixture of size and athleticism was apparent on tape, and it’s showing up again in Mobile. Defensive linemen have little success going against him. Getsy has had a front-row seat for this all week. Even better is he knows the people who helped turn the kid into what he is. One is Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, and the other is offensive line coach Brian Callahan. Chicago Tribune insider Brad Biggs reveals Getsy has ties to both.
“Not only can Luke Getsy get some insight on Schmitz this week, but Getsy worked with Fleck at Western Michigan for a season — and current Gophers offensive line coach Brian Callahan, a Gordon Tech product, was also on that staff. Callahan was a line coach at Akron when Getsy played there, so connections run deep. It will be easy for the Bears to learn everything they want about Schmitz.”
Luke Getsy can and should pound the table for Michael Schmitz.
The Bears have a glaring hole at center. Lucas Patrick was a free agent bust last year due to injuries. Sam Mustipher was hardly inspiring in his place. This team needs an upgrade in the middle. Michael Schmitz is an excellent fit for their zone-blocking system. The challenge will be landing him. After #1 overall, the Bears don’t pick again until 54th in the 2nd round. There is a strong possibility he will be long gone by then. Most predict his range to be somewhere in the late 1st to high 2nd rounds.
That means Luke Getsy and the Bears must find a way to secure a pick in that area of the draft. Trading down from #1 overall would be the easiest solution to that problem. Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Carolina all have picks at the top of the 2nd round. If one of them moves up for their QB of choice, Chicago will be in business. They could land a defensive lineman of choice in the 1st round and then hopefully turn right around and snag Michael-Schmitz in the 2nd. Sometimes it takes some good fortune to land such players.
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“Lucas Patrick was a free agent bust last year DUE TO INJURIES.” No — not quite, Erik. Lucas Patrick is another example of Ryan Poles’ incompetence as a judge of NFL veteran talent/value (see Alex Leatherwood, Dozier, Davenport, etc.). Patrick is a former UDFA, who at various times, was the “weak link” on a Packers’ offensive line that featured: David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Corey Linsley, Billy Turner and Bryan Balaga — but, he was always a back-up (until injuries and trades occurred). Patrick’s PFF grades with the Bears were: 55.9; 62.5 and 30.8(!) (overall grade; run blocking; and pass blocking,… Read more »
The more I’ve watched of Schmitz, the more impressed I am. He has a little nasty to him and lining him up next to Jenkins would be fun to watch for a decade. We definitely need more punch up front, to many times last year Fields had no pocket to step up into.
He’s at least a high second round pick that we don’t have right now.
Everybody hush your mouths about John Michael and hope he gets a bad cold this week. He has been listed as late second and even third round on the sites I have been watching and I have the Bears grabbing him in that range on my mock draft.
I really liked the sideline interview with Getsy at the senior bowl. Seems like a down to earth guy and very intelligent. He just laughed when asked if there was a quarterback there that reminded him of Fields.