By all accounts, Jerry Angelo is a good man who worked hard and consistently kept his focus on the organization's goal of winning Super Bowl championships. Unfortunately for Angelo, effort, focus and good intentions aren't enough. Angelo's record is decidedly mediocre.
I'm a firm believer that NFL football is won by having your big uglies beat up on your opponent's big uglies, that is, "in the trenches." I also believe that the secret to sustaining excellence in the NFL is by successfully drafting impact players with your early (rounds 1-4) picks. In his time with the Bears, Angelo has had 45 of these picks, but has only drafted one, count 'em, one Pro Bowl caliber lineman on either side of the ball (Tommie Harris in 2004).
His failed lineman picks from the first 4 rounds is enough to make any Bears' fan cringe: Marc Columbo, Terrance Metcalf, Michael Haynes, Ian Scott, Tank Johnson, Dusty Dvoracek, Dan Bazuin, Josh Beekman, Chris Williams, Marcus Harrison and Jaron Gilbert. In fairness, I didn't include anyone taken in the past two years (guys like Henry Melton, Corey Wooten, Stephen Paea and Gabe Carimi may still turn out to be players) and should give Angelo credit for his second-best lineman pick, DE Alex Brown (4th round 2002) who was a good, but never great pro.
These failures came home to roost with the sorry excuse for an offensive line the Bears have put in front of franchise QB Jay Cutler the past couple years. On the other side of the ball, of the top 6 defensive linemen on the team, only Melton was drafted by the Bears.
Angelo's record in acquiring linemen via free agency has certainly been better than his drafting, but in the NFL, free agency needs to supplement your draft. With Angelo, it was the other way around. Still, though extremely pricey, Julius Peppers was a terrific signing and Israel Idonije has developed into a very solid running mate for Peppers.
For most of Angelo's Bears' tenure, the "faces of the franchise" have been Brian Urlacher and Olin Kreutz, both players Angelo inherited. This said, Angelo deserves credit for the gutsy trade for Cutler and drafting Matt Forte and Devin Hester, who are likely candidates for future face of the franchise distinction.
Looking back over the Angelo decade, his most important contribution may have been the hiring of head coach Lovie Smith. Though many fans and media members aren't high on Smith, I've gained an appreciation for the man. His teams have consistently played above their perceived talent level. Until this season's 5-game losing streak, Smith-coached teams were known for following up bad losses with solid efforts. They've never quit on Lovie. I think that by consistently getting the most out of the limited talent he was given, Smith was sort of the Lysol to the musty odor of Angelo's failures. I'm glad Lovie will be back next season.
As for Angelo, I wish him well, but it was time for him to go.
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