Bears' St. Clair getting job done, proving critics wrong

To say outside expectations were low for the Bears' offensive line in the preseason would be a major understatement.

Rodney Dangerfield got more respect than the Bears' blockers.

A former NFL player who visited training-camp practices at Oliver Nazarene University in Bourbonnais watched the group working on individual drills for several minutes and offered a common opinion: "Garbage, total garbage."

Even observers who didn't condemn the group were concerned about the future of a unit that featured new starters at three of the five positions.

But the Bears are tied for second in the NFL in scoring and are at least respectable in most other major categories, including No. 11 in passing yards, No. 17 in rushing yards, No. 14 in total yards, No. 9 in third-down efficiency and No. 16 in sack percentage after allowing just 4 sacks over the past three games.

Much of the early skepticism focused on John St. Clair, the left-tackle nominee who had started just nine games for the Bears in the previous three seasons, four at left tackle, three at left guard and two at right tackle.

The 6-foot-6, 315-pound St. Clair hadn't been a full-time starter since 2004, when he was with the Miami Dolphins, and all 14 of his starts that season were at right tackle.

St. Clair's only other season as a full-time starter was in 2002 with the St. Louis Rams, when 13 of his 16 starts were at right tackle.

But the nine-year veteran wasn't cowed by the challenge of protecting the blind side of quarterback Kyle Orton.

"It wasn't really difficult from the aspect that I've been playing all these different positions, and I always said if I could concentrate on one position I think I could be efficient at it," St. Clair said. "And that's what happened."

That task has included a matchup in the opener against Dwight Freeney, the only player in Indianapolis Colts history with four straight seasons of double-digit sacks. Next was Julius Peppers, the Carolina Panthers' all-time sack leader with 56 in just six seasons; he had none against the Bears.

Then there was Gaines Adams, who leads the Tampa Bay Bucs with 4 sacks this season (1 against the Bears); the Atlanta Falcons' John Abraham, who is second in the NFC with 7 sacks (none against the Bears) and has four seasons of double-digit sacks, including 10 last year; and the Minnesota Vikings' Jared Allen, who led the NFL with 151/2 sacks last season and had 2 against the Bears.

"I think he's proven a lot of people wrong," said Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner of St. Clair. "Those questions were more from the outside.

"Whenever he's played, he's played well. He's a great worker and we're not surprised at how he's playing, but I think everyone on the outside is."

St. Clair and the offensive line haven't been perfect, but they've kept Orton upright for the most part, especially in recent weeks.

Because the line is playing so well, there doesn't appear to be any rush to get first-round pick Chris Williams into the lineup now that he's almost completely recovered from August back surgery.

The Bears don't want to fix something that isn't broken.

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