Bears see improvement for offensive line this season

The Bears got younger on the offensive line late last season with 2008 first-round draft pick Chris Williams taking over at left tackle for 34-year-old Orlando Pace.

This year they hope to get better.

Williams started the first 11 games at right tackle then moved to the left side, where he is expected to remain for many years.

"To have Chris Williams finish up the season (at left tackle) was big," coach Lovie Smith said. "We drafted him to be our left tackle. He finished off the season strong."

The line is expected to do a better job of protecting quarterback Jay Cutler and opening holes for the running game, but that remains to be seen.

Expectations are that Frank Omiyale will be better this year than he was in an up-and-down 2009, his first season as a starter.

Omiyale struggled at guard through the first six games and was benched, but he played better when he was reinstated for the final six games.

It has yet to be determined whether Omiyale will be at right tackle or left guard, and that may depend on whom the Bears add in the draft or maybe later in free agency.

It's also possible that new offensive line coach Mike Tice already has decided what position is best for Omiyale, and the Bears will look for a draft pick to fill the other spot, since they didn't find one in free agency.

"If he ends up being our right tackle, that's a good thing," Smith said of Omiyale. "But going into (the off-season), we're not going to say for sure he's the right tackle.

"We'll see how some of the other players come into it, too. I haven't even really told Frank right now. He knows he can be in a couple different spots."

Roberto Garza is back for his fifth season as the starter at right guard. He's a blue-collar journeyman who works well next to Olin Kreutz, the six-time Pro Bowl center whose play was adversely affected by an injured Achilles' tendon that required off-season surgery.

Kreutz may not be 100 percent until some time in training camp, but he will be ready by opening day.

He has missed only one game in the last nine years, and that was seven days after an appendectomy. In his 13th year, Kreutz is no longer a Pro Bowl player, but he should be healthier this year, and he's a tough, savvy leader on the line and in the locker room.

After Williams moved to left tackle from right tackle, Kevin Shaffer filled in on the right side. But, while Shaffer is experienced, he is not considered a quality starter.

Josh Beekman, a fourth-round pick in '07, has started 20 games at left guard, but a lack of size may limit him to some day succeeding Kreutz at center.

James Marten spent most of last season on the practice squad, but the 6-foot-8, 310-pounder could contend for the right tackle spot.

Lance Louis, a seventh-round pick in '09 remains a project but could figure at one of the guard spots before long.