balta1701-A

Mother of God...

Probably a better chance of scoring on a fumbled punt than on anything the offense will do.

This is a solid O-Line setup. Losing your starting LG and RT would devastate most O-Lines, yet the Bears have somehow held together. They could use a Spencer level backup option this year to replace Omifail, but otherwise, the Bears have a solid, young O-Line with real good athletes that is under their control almost forever.

Sorry for the lateness of thread, I was traveling.

Earl Bennett is simply not a #1 WR. Earl Bennett is a complimentary WR. I'm quite content with where the Bears are on the O-Line, backfield, and QB spot, but Cutler needs people to catch the ball going forward.

One other thing not noted here, the Bears also gave up 2 mid-first-round picks for a QB named Jay Cutler, and since first round picks likely "Stick" more than any other set of picks, doing that trade would really hurt Angelo's relative stats, but everyone here would do that deal again.

If a quality one is available for a bargain, maybe. But this isn't a need right now...the need is for a better LT fill-in replacement than Omiyale. Omiyale should be off the roster, and $1-2 million should be invested in a Spencer-quality backup to give the left side a little more depth. WR is still need 1 to me, and the defense could use some more depth at a number of spots.

If the Bears go after any of these lower-cost veteran guys, which woudln't be a bad move...I would really like to see them invest a first round pick there still

Rodgers has been sacked 27 times, Cutler 23 times.

Supposedly at least 2 games suspension for Suh coming.

Wasn't there one year with the Redskins where Collins suddenly started winning games?

Caleb Hanie show: episode 1.

Even if for whatever reason the coaches decide to go with Hanie, the Bears still need a backup, and he's good enough to do that.

Right now, the Bears would play the #3 division-winning seed, on the road. This is because the Lions currently are 2-1 in the division and the Bears are 2-2, giving the Lions the "If the Playoffs started today" tiebreaker. However, the Lions still have 2 against the Packers remaining, the Bears have 1. In other words, that's a tiebreaker that should be expected to change. Right now the Bears would be on the road in New Orleans.

The problem is...Cutler puts up better numbers rolling out, but that's the case because Cutler's mechanics in the pocket get sloppy. Cutler moving out of the pocket on occasion is fine, but with his arm strength, Cutler ought to be able to mold himself into a better pocket passer than what we've seen so far.

The Bears' real problem is that they have a couple other needs, particularly WR, where big money can make a big difference too. I'm not sure on this team whether they'll be in on a player like this or not. They ought to at least put in a call, that would be a huge move if the Bears can pull the cap space off.

As the guy who usually defends the construction of this o-line...let me say... Yes. Absolutely. I'd rather use Forte on the line than see him in there again.

Link

There's a big difference here. Drafting someone in the first who should step in right away, but then who winds up needing 2-3 years of seasoning to turn into something really useful, versus Drafting someone in the first who is not ready right away, and then having to wait on them. The former case is still acceptable. The latter case is only acceptable if, for some reason, you think you have an incredible find. That's what the Packers did with Rogers, for example, a guy who dropped 20 spots. The opposite case is Willis McGahee, who would have gone #1 or close to it had he not tore up his leg, and the Bills gave him a full year of no football to recover, and would up with an average RB out of it. If there's an OT projected to go in the top 5 picks and he winds up twisting an ankle or having a terrible wonderlic score and is available at 30, sure, jump on him, if you think he's a legit top 5 pick talent, then sit on him if necessary, because you hope you just found a big score. But taking a guy at 28 who belongs in the late first with the expectation he's going to sit on the bench for several years, unless he's a QB, is not a winning strategy.

I have no problem drafting a lineman in the middle rounds. No problem at all. But if I'm drafting someone at pick 25, at any position other than QB, I'm doing that pick with the expectation that player will be starting for me that season. Think about it, you draft a RB at 25, you draft a D-Lineman at 25, you draft a LB at 25, you draft a CB at 25, you draft a safety at 25, you're doing that draft to find someone to start right away. The Bears have spent 2 first rounders on linemen in the last 4 years, and both of them came in with the expectation that they would start right away (prior to being knocked down by injury). "More depth on the O-Line" is not strong enough of a need to spend a first round pick. You can sign someone for $2 million to fill that role, as was done with Spencer, or you can fill that role in round 3-4 and still get talent. The Bears biggest 1st round level need right now is WR.

One other thing to consider when thinking about what spots to draft...at least last week, the Bears were already running into the problem of seemingly having more lineman than spots for them. If that was a problem it was rapidly solved by surgeries on 2 former first round picks...but really... If you draft a first round O-lineman, and Williams and Carimi come back healthy, the Bears have way too many lineman. C: Garza LG: Williams RG: Louis/Spencer LT: Webb RT: Carimi Now, it's possible that you might have someone plummet and find a draftee around 25-30 who is better than Webb. But you're not benching Carimi next year for another 1st round pick, you're not benching Garza who you just extended, you're not spending a first round pick on a lineman with the intention of putting him at LG, Louis has played great, and Spencer has been solid. Webb has at least been adequate at LT this year, if nothing else he's shown substantial improvement over last year, he's still young, and he'll be in year 3 in current system next year. He looks like he ought to be an NFL caliber lineman, even if he's not a pro-bowler. But on that list, he's the only one who looks like a candidate to replace if you invest another first round pick, and I don't think you're going to find a guy at the end of the first round who will make you want to replace him. OTOH: Bennett (Free Agent) Hester (Best at returns) Knox Williams (Free Agent) Sanzenbacher Sam Hurd Especially with the KR/PR there and 2 free agents in the list, even if the FA's return, there is room there for a 1st round pick.

They definitely spent most of the game against Philly in the cover-1, bringing up the safety to contain vick and McCoy and daring Vick to beat them over the top. He could not.

Except for the kickoff/punt returner who plays there.

Disclaimer; I didn't see the setup on the Forte throw yesterday. I don't dislike the idea of trick plays, but so far I haven't been impressed with Martz's setups for trick plays. If you're going to run the Wildcat, why waste the play by having the QB still on the field where he can get hit? Put another blocker in there. Forte throwing the ball makes a little sense, if he's been heavily used on the ground and you've got the entire defense keying on stopping him, but whether it will work depends on how it is sold. I think that's been Martz's bigest weakness, putting together a trick play that isn't some long, drawn out, obvious thing that the defense sees through.