Positive vibes for Blanchard in advance of training camp

(Adjacent photo courtesy of Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

For most UW-Whitewater football fans you also either a Green Bay Packer fan or fan of the Chicago Bears, With former UWW quarterback looking for a regular season roster spot with the Bears again this summer all Warhawk fan’s eyes will be shifted towards Bourbonnais, IL. when training camp opens on July 25.

Blanchard spent much of last season on the Bears’ practice squad prior to being released in December as part of roster moves due to late season injuries to players on the active roster. Blanchard was resigned in January to a 2-year, $900 thousand deal.

Blanchard got a second chance to be part of the Bears’ rookie minicamp in May along with veterans’ minicamp in June followed by OTAs.

Lovle Smith was fired following the 2013 season with Marc Trestman moving from the CFL to Chicago to be the Bears’ new head coach. Trestman is a former quarterback and has been known as a “guru” in developing quarterbacks during his professional coaching career.

Young quarterbacks.

Trestman has been impressed at what he has seen so far from Blanchard.

"He's articulate in the verbiage of our offense," Trestman said of Blanchard following rookie minicamp. "Getting the reps has really helped him. He has very good fundamentals. He needs to improve like every quarterback does. But he's got a very good base. The ball easily comes out of his hand as you can see when he's over the top on his throws it's very natural throwing motion. He doesn't have to squeeze the ball hard. He doesn't have to what I would say 'work the ball' -- it comes off his hand very easily and very naturally.”

"He's got some mobility. He's got a long way to go. We're in shorts. I think we'll see a little bit more out of him getting into camp with some pads on when we get into the preseason games we'll see more of what he has."

Blanchard’s helmet. Why? Apparently the footage will be used to evaluate Blanchard and give coaches a better idea of what of what the quarterback sees during play development. According to Chicago Tribune Bears; beat writer Brad Bigge, “For Blanchard, his camera footage could mean a roster spot as he’s currently behind starting quarterback Jay Cutler and back up Josh McCown.”

Some Bears’ “Insiders” say that a strong training camp by Blanchard will likely result in the former U-Dub-Dub quarterback secruring a spot on Chicago’s regular season roster.