balta1701-A

I'll grant you the turnover part. Just looking through the stats, here's how some of the recent super bowl winners fared in offense during the season (looking only at total yards because I'm too lazy to compile it every possible way). 2002: Tampa Bay, 24th 2003: New England 17th 2004: New England 7th 2005: Pittsburgh 15th 2006 Indianapolis 3rd 2007 New York 16th

A lot of QB's look like that their first season or two of games. Rex has played roughly 2 seasons worth of games as a starter given injuries and benchings. At least to my eyes, when Griese got hurt last year and Rex came in, despite the O-Line being a cavernous hole in front of him, I thought he performed quite a bit better.

The way my eyes have seen the NFL the last few years...if you want to win a super bowl, or even make a solid run, the best formula has been an above average to great defense combined with an average offense. I'm not asking for greatness from the Bears offense. Sure it'd be nice if Hester could break Moss's record from last year, but somehow I doubt that's going to happen. But what the Bears need to be able to do is move the ball effectively enough to 1.) keep the defense off the field, 2.) sometimes make scores happen on their own, 3.) win the field position battle, and 4.) take advantage of opportunities created by the defense and special teams. If the Bears defense stays healthy, it's loaded. It was loaded last year but half of the starters went down early and the team never recovered. That defense can be right back at the top of the league with a little more injury related luck. If you combine that with an offense that simply does average...that works behind an O-line that isn't the greatest but opens some holes for its RB's and gives the QB's a second or two more than they had last year...this is a setup that can work.

If these guys stay healthy, this team will win 10+ games. In order of decreasing importance. Devin Hester Mike Brown Brian Urlacher Tommy Harris Nathan Vasher Charles Tillman Dusty Dvoracek Lance Briggs That list is several pro-bowlers and is easily good enough, if they all stay healthy, to give the Bears a top defense and top Special Teams again. In the NFC, that alone is worth 10 wins. If those guys start going down again, then it's anyone's guess.

Do you really think that Brohm is going to be all that special as a QB?

Mendenhall likely does have the better upside, that's why he went in the first. Here's the question though...which upside is better...Forte + a first round LT, or Mendenhall + a 2nd or later round OLineman? If your RB is on the ground, his upside doesn't matter.

You don't draft a RB in the 2nd if you don't at least have him as a solid candidate to be an every down back and a starter his first year.

Talk to me in a year or two. The Bears Super Bowl run was a direct result of a couple of good drafts, picking up basically bargains in guys like Vasher, Anderson, and Hester and other correct calls in guys like Harris, combined with a solid season by Grossman. The Bears collapse last year was a direct result of the failure of key guys, including the 05 and 07 drafts, to step up, and the failure to find replacements for the O-Line in those drafts. If a couple guys from this draft step up, especially on the O-line, or a couple segments of the 05 and 07 drafts step up, this team could be right back on top. If the key guys bust, then it's a rebuilding year next year.

Huh?

Tennessee really could use one of these receivers. Sweed? He might fit well with that Vince Young dude.

I don't think either one of them will drop to the Bears's pick...but I wouldn't trade up for Thomas. Mendenhall maybe, but Thomas is certainly not that much better than the other receivers in the draft, and the odds are 1 of the top 4 will still be there when the Bears pick at this rate. (Kelly, Sweed, Thomas, Jackson are all still on the board).

My instinct says he goes to Dallas right here.

Unless someone moves up, Dallas is the next logical stopping point for him.

I have much less of a problem with the Bears burning a pick on a RB if it's in the 2nd or 3rd round, now that they've done the important thing and hopefully massively upgraded the O-Line. I still hope they pick one more O-Lineman in the first 3 rounds also, find a guard somewhere for some depth, but now you've got Kreutz in the middle, Williams on the left, Tait moves back to the right, and the guards are some combination of Beekman/Garza/all the others/whoever else they draft. The edges of this line just got a lot more solid, we hope, and that makes everyone on the offense better.

And the Chicago Bears select...Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt. (Does happy O-Lineman dance)

Can I submit the Talkbears mock draft pick for pick? If nothing else just to see how we did.

Just in case anyone wanted to see the damage we did posted somewhere. 1 Miami Dolphins - Drunkbomber: (Jake Long, OT, Michigan) 2 St. Louis Rams - The Prophet (Chris Long, DE, Virginia) 3 Atlanta Falcons - Ashkum Bear (Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU) 4 Oakland Raiders - Ashkum Bear (Darrin McFadden, RB, Arkansas) 5 Kansas City Chiefs - Brletich (Branden Albert, OG, Virginia) 6 New York Jets - Soxfan1 (Vernon Ghloston, DE, Ohio State) 7 Denver Broncos (From New England Patriots (From 49ers)) - (Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois) 8 Baltimore Ravens - Madlithuanian (Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College) 9 Cincinnati Bengals - Fenom283 (Sedrick Ellis, DT, Southern California) 10 New Orleans Saints - Hester 3:16 (Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy) 11 Buffalo Bills - Balta (Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State) 12 New England Patriots (from Denver Broncos) - NeoBear (Keith Rivers, LB, USC) 13 Carolina Panthers - Brletich - (Jonathon Stewart, RB, Oregon) 14 Chicago Bears - Hester 3:16 (Ryan Clady, OT, Boise St.) 15 Detroit Lions - Pixote (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB Tennessee St) 16 Arizona Cardinals - ParkerBear7 (Mike Jenkins,CB, South Florida) 17 Minnesota Vikings - Pixote (Derrick Harvey,DE, Florida) 18 Houston Texans - DabearsDabomb (Aquib Talib, CB, Kansas) 19 Philadelphia Eagles - The Prophet (Kenny Phillips, S, Miami) 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Pixote (Malcom Kelly, WR, Oklahoma) 21 Washington Redskins - Balta (Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson) 22 Dallas Cowboys (From Browns) - The Prophet (Limas Sweed, WR, Texas) 23 Pittsburgh Steelers - Drunkbomber (Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh) 24 Tennessee Titans - ConnorBear (DeSean Jackson, WR, California.) 25 Seattle Seahawks - Hester 3:16 (Fred Davis, TE, USC) 26 Jacksonville Jaguars - Brletich (Quentin Groves, DE, Auburn) 27 San Diego Chargers - ConnorBear (Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College) 28 Dallas Cowboys - The Prophet (Felix Jones, Runningback, Arkansas) 29 San Francisco 49ers (From Colts) - MadLithuanian (Don Connor, OLB, Penn State) 30 Green Bay Packers - Pixote (Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt) 31 New York Giants - NeoBear (Sam Baker, OT, USC) Round 2: 1 (32) Miami Dolphins- Drunkbomber (Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville) 2 (33) St. Louis Rams - The Prophet (James Hardy, WR, Indiana) 3 (34) Atlanta Falcons (From Raiders) - Ashkum Bear (Joe Flacco, QB, Delaware) 4 (35) Kansas City Chiefs - Brletich (Chad Henne, QB, Michigan) 5 (36) New York Jets- Soxfan1 (Antonie Cason, CB, Arizona) 6 (37) Atlanta Falcons - Ashkum Bear (Carl Nicks OT Nebraska) 7 (38) Baltimore Ravens - Madlithuanian Chilo Rachal, OG, USC 8 (39) San Francisco 49ers - Madlithuanian (Calais Campbell, DE, Miami) 9 (40) New Orleans Saints - Hester 3:16 (Curtis Lofton, LB, Oklahoma) 10 (41) Buffalo Bills - Balta (Tracy Porter, CB, Indiana) 11 (42) Cincinnati Bengals (From Broncos) - Fenom283 (Andre Caldwell, WR, Florida) 12 (43) Carolina Panthers - Brletich (Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina) 13 (44) Chicago Bears - Hester 3:16(Matt Forté FB Tulane) 14 (45) Detroit Lions - Pixote (Chris Johnson RB East Carolina) 15 (46) Cincinnati Bengals - Fenom283 (Jerod Mayo ILB Tennessee) 16 (47) Minnesota Vikings- Pixote (André Woodson QB Kentucky) 17 (48) Atlanta Falcons (From Texans) - Ashkum Bear (Justin King CB Penn St) 18 (49) Philadelphia Eagles- The Prophet (Mario Manningham WR Michigan) 19 (50) Arizona Cardinals - Parkerbear7 (Lawrence Jackson DE USC) 20 (51) Washington Redskins - Balta (Reggie Smith, S Oklahoma) 21 (52) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Pixote (Patrick Lee, CB, Auburn) 22 (53) Pittsburgh Steelers - Drunkbomber (Early Doucet, WR, LSU) 23 (54) Tennessee Titans - ConnorBear (Martellus Bennett, TE, Texas A&M) 24 (55) Seattle Seahawks - Hester 3:16 (Jamaal Charles, RB, Texas) 25 (56) Green Bay Packers (From Browns) - Pixote (Brandon Flowers CB, Virginia Tech) 26 (57) Miami Dolphins (From Chargers)- Drunkbomber (Trevor Laws DT Notre Dame) 27 (58) Jacksonville Jaguars - Brletich (Pat Sims DT Auburn) 28 (59) Indianapolis Colts - Fenom283 (Earl Bennett WR Vanderbilt) 29 (60) Green Bay Packers - Pixote (Dustin Keller TE Purdue)) 30 (61) Dallas Cowboys - The Prophet (Charles Godfrey CB Iowa) 31 (62) New England Patriots - Neobear (Roy Schuening OG Oregon St.) 32 (63) New York Giants - Neobear (Tyrell Johnson S Arkansas St.) Also, the Pats picked up the Brocos 4th round pick (#108) in a draft day trade.

Ok. Hope y'all enjoyed.

With the 62nd pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots select Roy Schuening OG Oregon St. With the 63rd pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the New York Giants select Tyrell Johnson S Arkansas St. Drunkbomber and the Dolphins are on the clock. If anyone has time to do the updating of post 1 in here and in the Kiper thread, it'd be appreciated.

Brletich and the Jacksonville Jaguars are now on the clock. With Fenom283 and the Colts on deck.

Never mind. Received a pick via Hester 3:16 via PM, but upon checking, the person he asked for has already been drafted. I will PM him back, but he said he might not be on much in the near future.

Then the question in reply is...assume he's not cut/released. What do you give up for him?

So, here's your real question. What would you prefer if the Bears didn't draft a RB for whatever reason. 1. No Change 2. Alexander 3. One of the Raiders guys.

ConnorBear and the Tennessee Titans are on the clock, with Hester 3:16 and the Seahawks on deck.

I'd rather have him than spend my first rounder on a RB. I'd rather have a 1st round OT, 2nd round WR, and 3rd round Olineman along with Alexander than most of the other ways the Bears could draft a RB.