There were two popular Greg Olsen themes last offseason:
1. Olsen was on the trade block -- before and after the draft.
2. Mike Martz insisted repeatedly that Olsen would fit his offense, to the point that Olsen got tired of talking about the issue.
The actual season was a mixed bag. Olsen seemed to adjust to the system fairly well, but his production declined to only 41 catches and 404 yards before a big playoff game against Seattle.
Now that we’re back in the offseason again, we’re back to the Bears saying Olsen’s role is only going to grow.
“I thought he did a lot of good things, last year,” G.M. Jerry Angelo said to Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times. “But I think you’ll see a lot more things, more consistently, because of the familiarity that our coaches have with him.
More from Angelo later: “I expect him to make a big jump as well, next year. No reason to believe he won’t.”
Martz said that Olsen’s stats were “not what they could, and probably should be” in 2010. If the stats do improve in 2011, we’ll really know how the Bears feel about Olsen.
His contract is up after the season and Martz’s offense may not be the best fit for him, no matter what the Bears say.