ASHKUM BEAR

Brandon Moore G resings with the Jets 4 year 16 million 10 guaranteed.

Jason Brown C signs with St. Louis 5 yr 37.5 w/ 20 guaranteed.

Stacy Andrew OT to the Eagles JJ Arrington to the Broncos Correll Buckhalter to the Broncos Fred Taylor to the Patriots

Please add any free agent updates here unless you'd like to have a broad discussion on a certain player.

With the Angler working on resigning St. Clair and Omiyale brought in to compete for a G spot, I fear we will have some upset posters coming April 28th. The writing on the wall is telling me that the Bears probably won't be drafting an Olineman on the first day. The best thing that can happen is for some team to sign St. Clair and leave the Bears no choice but to trade up and grab a day 1 starter quality RT. Here's our Offensive Line 2009: St. Clair - Omiyale - Kreutz - Beekman - Williams (Buenning backup G, 3 or 4 RD draft pick as backup T) I really like the Omiyale signing and commend JA for winning him over 10 other NFL teams.

I figured Jenkins would fall further than Oher b/c w/ Smith pulling his crap teams might grade Oher slightly higher. Oher/Smith will most likely be gone before 18, but Jenkins may end up making it to us. As of Thursday, walterfootball just updated there site and they have Smith @ 13 to WAS, Jenkins @ 14 to NO, M. Johnson @ 15 to HOU, and Oher @ 16 to SD. That leaves us w/ English, Moreno, Beatty, Britton, DJ Moore, Maualuga, Maybin, Maclin, Nicks, or Robinson to finish out the first. Thats also why I didn't have Robinson as a 2nd, b/c walter had him going as a high 2nd RD pick.

The guys I chose really stood out at the combine and even though having another young stud RB is a luxuary, he stood out the most when I selected. As for the selections, I used walterfootball.com and at the time they haven't updated since the combine. They just updated Thursday, so I'll do another one with these updates during the weekend. I like their site b/c they have 4 rds and are realistic IMO and as for this site, I can only do 3 polls (RDS) and 6 players per RD. I tried to give an option at positions we may be considering.

good condition Ditka RC's go for at least 200.00

The only reason Beatty was added was b/c he was the only lineman on Walterfootballs list within range of our pick. The kid for Arz was available too, just a few slots further than Beatty. Remember last year, teams like ATL/HOU took 2nd RD grade players in the 1st as OT's are higher value picks. I dropped Jenkins as they had him at 8 (yesterday) b/c he is bound to drop and V Davis should pass him as top CB. This is just for fun and I'd like to do a weekly/bi-weekly poll to see how we pick.

I would love this draft, I would consider drafting a G over Follett if a decent one was available. I also like the signings of both Wilsons to cover the Safety, Weaver sounds like he can do it all, and Floyd is a big body possesion type from SD. With all the cap space we have, we can probably afford a vet O lineman also.

I thought it would be fun to do a weekly or bi-weekly draft poll. I used Walterfootball.com to give us a choice of where they have them ranked. Walterfootball has decent rankings and they update every Thursday. Tomorrows version should be interesting to see where players shift to since the combine. I might post Talk Bears Mock version II over the weekend once the mock draft web pages all get updated. My votes as of today: Michael Johnson DE, Brian Robiskie WR, Donald Brown RB b/c they all were awesome at the combine. (Jarius Byrd was very close, but I hope David Bruton FS Notre Dame is there w/ the BB comp pick)

NFO, how about adding two of those three you mentioned. I would love to have Phillips, but like others have pointed out, he is more of an in the box safety. I am in favor of adding him b/c I think he is an upgrade over Payne/Steltz. I would also like to add a Wilson to man the FS spot. I like Eugene b/c I know more about him than Gibril. Payne has showed some promise, but he still has a way to go and Steltz hasn't had to much of an oppotunity to show his ability.

I'm more for Nicks/Robinskie/Britt, but I'd like to wait until RD2.

Looks like he can slide inside to play Guard in the NFL, I'd take him in 4-5 like Pix says. Here is a little bio on him from cbssport.com : Gerald Cardogan OT Penn State 6'-5" 309 Latest News 2/11/2009 - PRO POTENTIAL: OT Gerald Cadogan started for two seasons at left tackle and one at left guard. He has good size, good feet and almost never holds. He is a likely mid- to late-round selection. Overview Took over for NFL first-round pick Levi Brown at left tackle as a sophomore and never looked back. The 2008 first-team All-Big Ten pick was a major reason for the success of Penn State's "Spread HD" offense, keeping QB Daryll Clark clean. His run blocking is also solid, which makes him a late-round pick potentially moving to guard. Analysis Strengths: Strong in the lower body, and can get under the pads of taller defensive ends to drive them back. Has the length and anchor to keep defenders at bay in pass protection. Quick to cut his end on rush plays and screen passes. Gives great effort in the open field, and will latch onto defenders or just put a hand on them to widen the running lane. Plays with an attitude. Good teammate on and off the field. Weaknesses: Only adequate height and bulk for the left tackle position, and may move inside at the next level. Lacks the quick feet for outside pass protection. Inconsistent with his initial quickness off the snap. Loses his balance in pass protection and blocking on the second level because he overextends. Not consistently effective on pulls, and misses targets in space due to his heavy-footedness.

I like it! He's a real FS and shouldn't cost a fortune. We can bring him in and I'd also like to draft a FS RD3 or after.

If DHB jumps up ahead of 18, I'd be happy. Because like you said, someone else will become available. As much as I wouldn't mind a DE, my #1 preference is finding a OT. I'm still hoping Andre Smith or Michael Oher fall to us and if not we can find someway to trade down and take Duke Robinson.

Your right, Phillps is a SS. I'd still wouldn't mind adding him to our mix, he is definately an upgrade over all our other S's. I'm not sure what Housh will command. Berrian signed a 6 yr 43.4 million w/ 12 mil up front. Heres my offer which he'd probably laugh at 4yr 30 mill w/ 15 guaranteed. We pay him more upfront that way if he declines in 3 years it's cheaper to get out of it. OK, so the big names will for sure be gone after the first week of FA most likely. I'd still rather wait until after the draft on a RB, but we may need to go after a RT if we don't think one will be available in the draft and ready to contribute right away.

I think we need to make a big splash at FS and WR, the OL/RB and other positions can wait until after the draft. Targets: Jermaine Phillips FS - He has played 7 seasons in our style D, productive at creating turnovers TJ Housmanzadeh WR- yes he's 31, the top WR FA prospect, and nothing to get too overly excited about (like Moose), but we need a go to possesion WR and TJ has been that in Cincy for a while. If he can put up numbers with Fitzpatrick at QB and no running game, he'll be able to put up numbers here. With his age, I'd like to see a 4 year deal and nothing more. I'd also like to draft a RD1/RD2 WR and then maybe a late RD 6-7 flier. -------------------------------- After the draft, I wait to see who we end up with then go: Khalif Barnes RT Brian Dawkins SS Correll Buckhalter RB Nate Washington WR

I think the official times are now posted on nfl.com, DHB it show 4.30 official

Man, I've been glued to The NFL channel the last two days. I think with this years draft, we need to find a RT in RD1 and with all the WR's we can get a good one in RD2. Remember last year, there wasn't one WR drafted in RD1. The guys I would love to get: Kenny Britt-Built like TO Darius Heyward-Bey-Amazing speed Hakeem Nicks-Compared to Boldin Brian Robiskie - He could be the steal of the draft Mike Wallace - also impressed me not only w/ his 4.33 speed, but with his hands and other drills

Great replies and thanks!!! I see some replies for LB, but what would you think if the OT, WR, and DE were gone and Moreno/Wells were both available at 18. We do need a #2 RB and if one of those were availlable and we couldn't trade down, would you take one of those or reach for a bigger need?

Got this idea off another board and thought it would be interesting to see your thoughts. What one player would you like to see the Bears draft and why. Try to include some player information/draft profile. (Please keep to players that are reasonable at 18 and with no trades.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Oher OT 6-6 322 Ole Miss [RT] (Even though this scenerio is very unlikely, some mocks have had Oher sliding lately and the Bears have talked to him.) Oher would be a steal at 18, even though he is better suited to play the LT which the Bears filled in last years draft with Chris Williams. Oher has long arms to keep defenders off of him in pass protection and very good feet to help steer them away from the QB. He is also known as a good run blocker and can drive players off the line opening up huge holes for the RB. His durability is not in question either as he started all but one game in his 4 year career (and C. Williams also had a big streak intact also). The only question scouts/player personnel may ask is whether he can learn the plays in the NFL as he had a difficult upbringing. Drafting Oher in the first could have the Bears set at the OT's for years to come and can give them an opportunity to really evaluate the offense. A great line will give each skills player a higher notch as they will give them more time and keep bodies off of them. Once the line is set, then get your QB/WR combo.

I can live with that mock, but I think at least for this year we can pass on a CB or at least not a high RD one. Right now we have a decent group that can become better with better D-Line play. Tillman, Graham, Vasher, McBride, Bowman, Manning have all shown flashes and my sleeper to step up this year is Bowman. Heres my take: 1-Hakeem Nicks WR - He is really starting to grow on me and I think he can become a #1 threat that would complement Hester very well 2-Phil Loadholdt RT - He definately has some work cut out for him in terms of pass blocking, but the Bears can really use a mauler on the right side to open up lanes for Forte. 3-Trevor Canfield G - After Canfield, the next 2-3 best G prospects have had recent knee injuries. If Canfield still available, he'd be too good to pass up. 3bb-David Bruton FS - Has decent speed that Lovie likes and can possibly be insurance behind Atowge when we sign him 4-Phillip Hunt DE - A quick DE that has a knack for getting to the QB 5-Drew Willy QB - Decent size QB, Doesn't make a lot of mistakes, comes out of MAC conference. 6-Herb Donaldson RB - coming out of our far back yard at Western IL, Donaldson is 5-11 220 has good size/speed but played in Div 1-AA. With approx. 1800 yds and 21 TD's he outshined his small division which shows something. This will be JA's small school talent. 7-Travis McCall FB - known for playing as a FB/TE at Bama and he can definately block. He only had 8 carries last year.

Maybe Tait was told by the Bears he can save some face by announcing his retirement before they cut him, but if that was the case, we would have seen Booker to retire also instead of being cut. Losing Tait/St. Clair is a bright spot IMO. Sure they're both great guys, but there level of play hasn't been mind blowing either. This will force the Bears to compete in the FA market/Draft which I believe they have planned on anyway. I would make Jordan Gross my first priortiy as he is flexible at playing either OT spot. He is also one of the best OT's in the league and the Panthers have Otah/Wharton to replace him. The Bears are in great cap financial shape and can be in the market for 2-3 starter quallity players. 1-Jordan Gross RT 2-Oshio Atogwe FS 3-Michael Jenkins WR ATL 6-4" 215 / Michael Clayton WR TB 6-4" 215 / Reggie Williams WR JAX 6-4" 212

Looking at available QB's in FA and the draft, I think the Bears are stuck with Orton (and not that that's really a bad thing). What is kind of interesting is the 2010 potential draft class, this is were I think the Bears can land a possible franchise QB. Sam Bradford Colt McCoy - *like* Javon Sneed Tim Tebow Jimmy Clausen Pat Delvin- Joe Flacco #2??? Tim Hiller - Zac Robinson - *like*