Professor

Daily Herald | Chicago Bears

excerpt:

BOURBONNAIS — Saturday night’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans will help the Bears start to sort out a murky situation at defensive tackle.

Three of the top four players in the rotation — Darwin Walker, Dusty Dvoracek and Anthony Adams — didn’t play for the Bears last season. How they will be used to complement Pro Bowler Tommie Harris inside remains to be seen.

Harris is one of the league’s best 3-techniques (that’s a tackle who lines up on the opposing guard’s outside shoulder), and he will play more snaps than any of the others in the regular season. But he has been limited in practice recently and might not dress Saturday, so the others figure to get a longer look.

How and where they best fit in the rotation is still being evaluated. Walker, an eight-year veteran starter, was acquired in a trade with the Eagles the first week of camp. Dvoracek missed his rookie season last year with a foot injury, and Adams signed as an unrestricted free agent March 30 after playing four years with the 49ers, mostly as a starter.

Dvoracek is better suited to play nose tackle, stationed head-up on the center, where he usually has to fight off double-team blocks on running plays. Walker and Adams have played both 3-technique and nose tackle, but neither has ideal size for the nose.

“Walker has that ability (to play 3-technique), so he’s given us the option,” defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. “It allows us a little flexibility in there. We have a three-headed monster. Anthony Adams has done a great job, too. We feel very comfortable with those four guys inside.”

Dvoracek’s rookie season ended after one preseason game, so he’s still looking to prove that the Bears invested wisely when they used a third-round draft pick on him.

“It gets taken from you very quickly,” Dvoracek said. “I’m going to go out there and take every play (I get), go 100 miles an hour and not take anything for granted.”

Dvoracek and Harris played together at Oklahoma and were looking to reunite as starters this season, but the addition of Walker will somewhat alter those plans.

“I can’t worry about it,” Dvoracek said. “Darwin is a totally different player than I am. Darwin is a 3-technique. He’s a good pass rusher. I’ve played nose. Even if he plays nose, I’ve got to focus on me. All he’s going to do is help this team win games and help this front get better. To me it’s definitely a positive. I talk to him, he gives me little pointers and tips about ways to get better. He’s a vet. He’s going to make us better.

“Tommie and I were supposed to start this game together. I don’t know how much he’s going to go, but I can’t wait. We had a lot of success in college. We communicate well together. We know each other really well. We have a lot of fun. So we’re really looking forward to when we get a chance to go out there and wreak havoc.”

Most of the havoc wreaked by nose tackles goes unnoticed, since it occurs in the depths of the trenches, where big bodies collide in a sweaty scrum. But that’s where Dvoracek makes his living.

“It’s definitely dirty work, but I love it,” the 6-foot-3, 303-pounder said. “You’re going to get double-teamed 80 percent of the time. You’re not going to make a lot of plays, but the really good ones can still make plays there. I think it all starts up front, and I take pride in being a nose guard. I feel like it’s the most important position on the field because it’s my job.”

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