http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?STORY_ID=5797 Gilbert displays quickness, athleticism as expected LAKE FOREST, Ill. ? Even without pads, Bears third-round draft pick Jarron Gilbert looked the part while participating in his first NFL practice Friday afternoon at Halas Hall. The 6-5, 288-pound defensive lineman from San Jose State displayed quickness and athleticism in individual drills as the Bears opened their rookie minicamp with the first of three non-contact workouts. Bears defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert runs through a drill during rookie minicamp. ?It?s kind of what we saw through the evaluation process,? said veteran defensive line coach Rod Marinelli. ?For a guy that tall, he can bend, and that?s the key; you?ve got to be able to bend your knees. If you?re tall and stiff, you can?t bend down and you play tall and you have no power.? One of 43 rookies on the practice field, Gilbert was ecstatic about donning a Bears uniform for the first time. The 22-year-old was selected by Chicago last Sunday with the 68th pick in the draft. ?It?s great to be out here,? Gilbert said. ?I?m real happy to be with the Bears and real happy to learn from coach Marinelli. It sunk in today that I?m a Chicago Bear. It?s a good feeling. This is the first big step of realizing that I?m part of the NFL and I?m a Chicago Bear.? Gilbert feels very fortunate to be able to join a veteran group and be tutored by Marinelli, who?s considered one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL. ?I can?t wait to learn more from him and give him the chance to really mold me as a player,? Gilbert said. ?I?m coming into a great defense and I want to fit in where I can and contribute the best I can.? Originally a walk-on at San Jose State, Gilbert developed into a four-year contributor who really blossomed as a senior. He was named WAC co-defensive player of the year in 2008 after registering 52 tackles and 9? sacks and leading the nation with 22 tackles-for-loss. ?He?s got the movement, the short-space quickness you look for,? Marinelli said. ?He?s really coordinated. You see the power, but he also has coordination with his hands and feet. For a big man, he can make himself small, if that makes sense. He can reduce down and bend well.? Coach Lovie Smith mentioned Gilbert while praising the Bears? top six draft picks after Friday's practice. ?[It?s] good to see the players always for the first time,? Smith said. ?[It was] good to see your first pick, Jarron Gilbert; [he has] a lot of athletic ability. I thought he and [defensive end] Henry Melton both moved well. ?I liked what our receivers did. Juaquin Iglesias and Johnny Knox both have a lot of upside, both can run well. A guy like [linebacker] Marcus Freeman did some good things. [Cornerback] D.J. Moore, I thought he looked good in drills. The first time you see guys, they normally look that way.? During a brief 7-on-7 drill near the end of practice, Iglesias made a nice leaping catch and hung onto another pass in traffic, undrafted free agent cornerback Woodny Turenne broke up a pass intended for receiver Derek Kinder, and 6-4 receiver Maurice Covington reached up to bring down a high pass. Covington is one of 25 NFL hopefuls participating in the minicamp on a tryout basis. While several rookies flashed impressive traits, Friday?s practice was sloppy at times, which is understandable given that most prospects had possession of their playbooks for less than 24 hours. ?We set the bar today with them,? Smith said. ?There are a lot of things for them to learn. We?ve just kind of started the process. We have our rookies here for the minicamp without the veterans for a reason: they have a long ways to go. We realize they?re not ready for primetime yet. But they don?t have to [be]. "Hopefully [Saturday] will be a little bit better for them.?
True. I think this board is going to remember the 2009 3rd round for a long time if Gilbert turns out to be a player.
Yeh, which it is regrettable, but it was an exciting season. Also, just to be clear, I would have taken Greene over Gilbert as well, but ti would have been great to have both
yeah but the bears had less risk in drafting him, he'll be playing DT in their 4-3 right. and yes id take greene over gilbert anyday.
Rex Ryan personally ran his pro day, maybe he saw something in him that suggested he wouldn't be as successful a 3-4 end as a 4-3 tackle? At any rate, I'm glad we got Greene even tho we traded a ton to get him
As pissed off as I was after the Snachez move, I have grown to accept it. I doubt I will ever accept passing up on Jarron Gilbert.
In interviews Tannenbaum still says the Favre trade helped the Jets, would be nice if he could take his head out of his ass.
Big picture, no it didn't. We didn't make the playoffs and were left with an unsettled quarterback situation (until May 25th of course...say what you want about the trade the never ending debate of who our QB is settled for at least 3-4 years). However, if the team that dominated in Tennesse showed up and finished the job in the 09 season, our possibilities would have been endless in the playoffs. So, that trade is really a half full, half empty type of thing depending on your opinion. It's in the past and I'm ready to move on...even if he comes back and plays for the Vikings I really couldn't give a fuck less...I even said it in a thread a couple months back if we released Favre it wouldn't matter
While Gilbert would have been great, Greene is goign to be a monster for us. This is most likely Jones's last season as a Jet due to his contract. Greene will get some carries this year and step up into a true split with Leon next season. That combo should carry the load for the Jets offense for a several years to come.
I'm told there's some pretty amazing video of Gilbert jumping OUT of a pool. Maybe someone can link it from Youtube.
We did...until that POS rolled into town with his dinged-up dog and petulant pony show. God I hate that man.
I liked Gilbert as a prospect but think he went to a better place/system than he would have here. To me, he looked like a classic one gapper. He def. had the physical tools to play in a 3-4...but I felt his best place wouldve been a team like chicago or Indy.
And neither one was high enough to draft Gilbert where he went. We'd have had to move up with both picks in order to secure Greene and Gilbert, or give up on Sanchez and take one of them with our 2nd. In fact, the 2nd of our 3rd rounders was so far down, we'd likely have had to give up a 2010 pick in order to move up enough. There was no situation in which we were going to get Sanchez, Greene, and Gilbert without sacrificing next year's draft. Favre or no Favre.
Here's the link to the jumping out of pool--its incredible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXDSPbZ_OUw&feature=fvst
