ASHKUM BEAR

Here are some FA's the Bears should have on there radar: Nnamdi Asomugha CB Oak UFA - One of the best cover corners in the league ---->CB isn't a huge need for the Bears, but this can allow them to explore moving Tillman to FS Dawan Landry S Bal RFA - Young athletic safety, brother plays for Was. Laron Landry. ----->Showed big playmaking ability in limited time, could be FS the Bears have been searching for. Julius Peppers DE Car UFA - Has had 4 double digit sack totals in 6 seasons, still tearing up the league. ----->Ogunuleye's production hasn't been quite what they expected since trading for him, dump his salary and make a big bid for the best DE in the NFC. TJ Houshmanzadeh WR Cin UFA - A #1 option who has proven himself in the past. This year his numbers are down without Carson Palmer and with Chad Johnson not getting it done. I also think they should resign Mike Brown. He's proved so far that he can stay healthy and maybe with one year of staying healthy, he can take another step forward in regaining his ability. He is still my favorite Bear to watch on defense as he punishes defenders and once in a while gets the big turnover. Draft: Go in looking for: G, DE, WR, RT, FS, QB. Draft the best one available no matter what your greater need is. I hate to see us reach for Duke if we are at 12 and Crabtree was available. That won't happen, but my point is don't reach too far for a position with a higher need.

In regards to Earl Bennett, I would love to seem him get an opportunity. The question is, when and how do we use him. Coming into the draft, the scouting report on this guy is he has decent size (6-1 205), adequate speed 4.52, excellent hands, and great route running ability. Most teams had him on there radar, but since he didn't possess the speed to be a #1, he slipped on draft day. So when the Bears selected him, they knew he would either fit in as a #2 possession WR or #3 slot WR. Looking over the Bears roster, the whole team looks to be #2 or #3's. Devin Hester who Lovie insisted will be the Bears #1 really doesn't have the size or route running ability to truly be a #1. With time, maybe he can develop into a Steve Smith type WR, but the clock is ticking. Brandon Lloyd, showed a glimpse of hope against TB, but lately it seems he has trouble getting seperation. I would consider Lloyd as a teams backup #2. Marty Booker fits in the same category as Lloyd, so it comes down to who's the better backup #2. Rashied Davis is a typical #3 slot WR and has shown some glimpses of filling the role. If he can get over the droppies, he can make a decent starting slot WR. So looking over the Bears current roster, Lovie needs to bury his love for Booker and Lloyd and let the kid have his opportunity or decide to sit Davis and let Bennett work the slot. Bennett started off on fire in Vandy, which plays in a pretty tough SEC. Set SEC records and really only played with a talented QB for one season (Jay Cutler). He is very smart, which Vandy requires academics (Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, and Wake Forest) so I doubt he's struggling with the playbook. He is known for putting many hours of extra work on fundamentals (routes). So unless he told the coaches that he's not ready, it comes down to the coaches prefering to play a vet. and that's how I see it. I see Lovie being a big pus and that he is afraid to sit a Marty Booker or a Brandon Lloyd. For the Bears to ever get better, the players coach needs to grow some balls and not worry about hurting feelings.

Thougt it would be fun to start a Bears Big Board and how it will come together by April. This is not particularly the order the Bears would take a player, but the order they see the players ranked. How would you rank the players? 1 Andre Smith OT Alabama 2 Matt Stafford QB Georgia 3 Eugene Monroe OT Vir 4 Michael Crabtree WR Texas Tech 5 Brian Orakpo DE Texas 6 Michael Oher OT Ole Mis 7 Malcom Jenkins CB Ohio St. 8 James Laurinitis LB Ohio St. 9 Michael Johnson DE Georgia Tech 10 Rey Maualuga LB USC 11 Sam Brafford QB Oklahoma 12 Taylor Mays S USC 13 Aaron Curry LB Wake Forrest 14 Vontae Davis CB Illinois 15 Knowshon Moreno RB Georgia 16 Jeremy Maclin WR Missouri 17 Jason Smith OT Baylor 18 William Moore S Missouri 19 Chris Wells RB Ohio St. 20 Brian Cushing LB USC 21 Duke Robinson G Oklahoma 22 Colt McCoy QB Texas 23 Terrence Cody DT Alabama 24 Greg Hardy DE Ole Mis 25 Darius Heyward-Bey WR Maryland 26 Brandon Spikes LB Florida 27 George Selvie DE South Florida 28 Percy Harvin WR Florida 29 Myron Rolle S Florida St. 30 Alex Mack C Cal 31 Brandon Pettigrew TE Oklahoma St 32 Tim Tebow QB Florida

Below is were the "experts" have Orakpo going so far, also included Bears pick: . drafttek.com #6 to Oak (Bears select #14 Greg Hardy DE ---> Sam Brafford and Taylor Mays go right after) . walterfootball.com (1) #2 KC (Bears select #19 Everette Brown DE) . walterfootball.com (2) #12 GB (Bears select #19 Greg Hardy DE) . fantasyfootballjungle.com #3 Cin (Bears select #17 Colt McCoy QB -->Author thinks Orton is FA) . huddlegeeks.com #13 GB (Bears select #20 Brian Cushing OLB) . thehuddlereport.com #12 Buf (Bears select Eugene Monroe OT) . nfldraftsource.com #12 GB (Bears select #17 Darius Heyward-Bey WR) . footballsfuture.com #7 Oak (Bears select 19 Jeremy Maclin WR) As the Texas hype builds, so will Orakpo. He is going anywhere from 2-13 and has been climbing recently.

Thanks Bearsox, that's the same guy I was basing my opinion on. I say were almost guaranteed a 3rd for Berrian and worst case and that's if the NFL really hates us is a 4th. The contract Gilmore signed should net us a 7th just for the $/yrs he signed for and the same w/ Ayanbadejo.

I believe we will get the following: 3rd -Benard Berrian signed 4yr 42 mil (over 7 mil/yr) The first thing the NFL supposely looks at is contract length/amount, second is playing time, third is offseason achievements. With the order I have them carrying the weight in factoring the pick. Also, last yrs 3rd comps were: WAS from Dockery who signed a 7 mil contact, CIN from Steinbach 6.9, and BAL from A. Thomas 6.9 7th - Brendon Ayenbedejo signed 4yr 4.9 mil (probably nothing) 7th - John Gilmore signed 3yr 4 mil All of our FA signings were players that were released or cut by there teams and that has no factor. They have to be a true RFA, signed after July 22 and before June 1. Also needed is significant playing time and a salary higher than 750,000$. Ayenbendejo might not get us a comp b/c his playing time was mainly ST. So my guess is we should at LEAST get a 4th for Berrian and a 7th for Gilmore. At most 3rd for BB and (2) 7th's for BA and JG.

I guess we will picking 12th 1-12 Brian Orakpo DE Texas - Drafting at 12 left the Bears in position to take BPA w/ need. 3 OT's are already taken along with Mays at S and Maualuga at LB, so the Bears grab the top DE off the chart. Orakpo uses his strength to bull rush OT's to create pressure on QB's, thats something the Bears didn't see much of in 2008. 2-44 Herman Johnson OG LSU - The Bears tried multiple times to pound the ball up the middle to either cross the goal line or get a first down and have failed miserably. It almost seems like they've set a record for failed attempts. In order to increase that success rate, the Bears need to get bigger in the middle and Johnson will help in that area. 3-76 Phil Loadholdt OT OK - " see above " 3-97comp Curtis Taylor FS LSU - With the compensation for losing Berrian, the Bears get basically a 4th RD pick that they use on Steltz's old team mate Curtis Taylor. 4-108 Michael Jones WR Arz St. at 6-4 205, Jones will give the Bears a big target to work in at WR. Right now, Rideau is the tallest WR at 6-3 and everyone else on the roster is 6-0 and under. 5-140 Curtis Painter QB Pur - Even though Painter was benched, so was Kyle Orton. The Bears hope the two Purdue alum can develop into the Bob Griese mold and lead the Bears to a Superbowl victory. 6-182 Jasper Brinkley ILB S. Car - Brinkley suffered a nasty injury and missed the 2007 season. At 6-2 275, he has plenty of size to hold down the middle and his 40 time is about 4.6 - 4.75 pretty close to Briggs. 7-214 BPA

Here's one for you - the first all Oklahoma draft 1. Duke Robinson G OK 2. Austin English DE OK 3. Nic Harris SS OK 3b (comp) Phil Loadholdt OT OK 4. Juanuin Iglesias WR OK 5. Demarco Murray RB OK 6. Lendy Holmes FS OK 7. Jon Cooper C OK

Hopefully enough to make a big run on Anquan Boldin if ARZ decides to trade him. His contract extension keeps him under contract until 2010. I would rather spend a 3 or 4 RD draft pick on a proven vet then on a rook. We can then rework his contract to make another Rosrnhaus client happy. Anquan Boldin WR 6-1 217 Age 28 4.72 40 time 2003...101...1377.....8 2004...056...0623.....1 2005...102...1398.....7 2006...083...1203.....4 2007...071...0853.....9 2008...042...0514.....8

I think I'll go in the opposite direction. Start off with Steltz b/c I think he can bring more to stopping the run. Even though Manning showed some improvement, I would hate to seem him take the wrong angle on Johnson and get burned or try and strip the ball from White while getting dragged into the endzone. Either way, losing Brown will hurt. Maybe Steltz can continue showing signs he can make the big plays in this league. We seen it from Payne last year, let's see if another JA later round DB can play.

I think Orton saying he may play gives the Titans a little more homework to study on. They'll have to prepare there schemes to either A.) blitz the hell out of Rex or B.) Figure out what Kyle's kryptonite is. Hopefully that's all this is b/c I think having a healthy Kyle against division rival is much more important like slection7 says. Orton's a tough dude though and has played with pain before, so maybe he's not bluffing.

I like this post! I'm not sure if there are many contracts expiring after this season (Mike Brown, Rex Grossman). Otherwise we are in decent shape. As for drafting, I would go w/ either DE or Oline RD1. If Robinson is off the board, I think it'll be too early to draft H. Johnson, so DE may be a better option or possibly S. I do not want to see the Bears draft a WR early b/c they take too long to develop and there are going to be some big names available. I personally would like to see the Bears bring in Anquan Boldin, but my second choice is TJ Housh.

He also threw a nice pass to Thigpen on a "wildcat" play.

Lovie Smith today at practice said he is backing Barack Obama. Just thought I'd help "share the knowledge" with Cracker Hopefully I won't be "sharing the wealth" with him though, sorry Cracker.

I've been wondering also, but I think it has to do with Lovie not wanting to break up the chemistry the Oline has had. If he were to do it, this would be the best time to do so. I would also look at inserting Chris Williams. I think playing Detroit at home next week should allow us to test those postions to see how they play. It may be a boost, or if it doesn't work out, will those players demoted be able to suck it up and not hold it against the coaching staff if they think its best for the team to go back to them as starters?

Thanks for the answer. That's the reason why I posted the question. It seems maybe 3/5ths are on board to let him walk b/c just seeing his name turns up there body temp. I think we are all on board the Orton bus except for maybe 1, and we all like the potential in Haine. The problem lies in having a third QB as the #2. Half want to draft one and half want a vet and most likely our current #2 will seek a starter role. But will it be like last year, and not a lot of knocks on his door? Below is a list of FA QB's in no particular order. Matt Cassel QB NE 26 - not much exp., would be fairly cheap Kerry Collins QB TEN 35 - a little old, but could hold the fort down Jeff Garcia QB TB 38 - a little old, but still ticking. Most would approve Rex Grossman QB CHI 28 - knows the system, may look for starter postion Byron Leftwich QB PIT 28 - Can't even look decent at PIT, not sure if he lands a job after the year J.P. Losman QB BUF 27 - may look for starter opportunity, but couldn't cut it in BUF J.T. O'Sullivan QB SF 29 - Was a 5 minute wonder in TC, but where is he now? Patrick Ramsey QB DEN 29 - JA has always seemed to like him Kurt Warner QB ARI 37 - May resign in ARI, if they can afford him (Dansby, Boldin, and other big contract disputes) Kyle Boller QB BAL - Has had multiple opportunity in BAL, could never take it anywhere Charlie Batch QB PIT - Age may be an issue, but always does alright when called upon in PIT I like Garcia,Grossman,Warner, -maybies Ramsey&Losman. Other NFL teams that will be searching for a #1 QB: DET - they will draft one RD1/RD2, may look more towards exp. in Warner/Garcia MIN - should have alot of money, may look to unite Berrian/Grossman. I see Childress wanting Garcia KC - In rebuild mode, may also draft QB. SF - w/ Martz at helm as OC, maybe they bring in Warner Teams that will be in search of a #2 QB CHI ARI BUF CAR DEN

I just want to ask your opinion on keeping Rex Grossman. If JA offered Rex a contract that was set up to pay him as a #2, but with incentives that kick in with meeting certain stats, would you be opposed. I for one would not be opposed because I think we have our starter and franchise in Kyle Orton. Grossman would be considered a vet, he knows our coaches/system/players, has been very loyal, and has done good things at the helm. With some time on the bench, maybe a light will turn on, kinda like what happened with Orton. Also, I would hate to see him go to MIN and see him flourish with an offense already built and I have his jersey LOL. Thought this might be a good question to ponder over the bye week and since Orton is performing the need for a top draft QB is not as important. Finding a vet backup is the need IMO.

I'd also like to point out that Mike Brown is playing out of the box, I think this is a scheme to keep him healthy. Before, he was playing the SS (in the box) safety. So I can't hate on him as he is not playing his natural position which he was very sucessful in. As for Urlacher, I think the way we are scheming him is also hurting his stats. This is the first year I've seen him consistantly playing right on the line over the center. This IMO has helped shut down the opposing teams run, but it's hurt his coverage in the middle of the field since he has further to cover. Also, it's much harder to blitz when it's not disquised. Has it improved our team playing him on the line like that, possibly b/c we have shut down all RB's except purple jesus. But it has gave the opposing QB's the middle of the field. Once our Dline can get on track and pressure QB's, we may see this pay some dividends.

Not bad 5 out of 8 contributing. Like you said, we brought in Roach and thought he was a better option than Okwo. If Roach didn't pan out, you can bet Okwo would probably still be here. Whether or not he'd be contributing, we will never know. Also, at the time when we drafted Bauzin, we had no idea if we'd have Alex Brown or not. He was upset with the Bears and they were trying to trade him. Bauzin would've been more important and maybe have contributed, but injuries and his slowness to learn led him to be cut. Looking at the draft last year and now this year, maybe JA has a somewhat of a clue. Williams -/+ yet to be seen, but he is now ready to step in. The question is, do we break the chemistry the oline has created. Forte + Looked great early on, but hasn't been getting those rushing yds we want lately. Still a great pick, and the experts thought we should have taken Brohm instead. 3rd string Brohm sitting behind Flynn. Bennett - Hasn't had his chance yet, but looked great at times in TC and also looked poor. I think once the team/coaches give him a chance and Kyle hits him w/ some passes, he will come along. Harrison + Has stepped up and shined in a crowded DT crew. Future looks good for him. Steltz -/+ got a little playing time against MIN, looked alright. He is basically a SS and as long a Payne stays healthy, Steltz won't see much time on the D. Bowman -/+ Looked pretty good in his one game (Dusty II ?) Named co-NFC player of the week. Too bad he is out for the year b/c I think with our brittle CB's he'd see a lot of time. Are we blessed or cursed with our CB's Tillman,Vasher,Graham,Manning,McBride, and Bowman. I can see a future w/ Tillman at FS and Vasher at Nickle. Kellen Davis -/+ Looked great in TC, but is behind some pretty good TE's right now. Once he gets his footwork down on blocking this kid will be a steal. Baldwin - on the practice squad right now, but he may develop, still some hope. Adams - showed promise in TC, but got hurt. Right now, I believe he is not signed, but once healthy we get first dibs. LaRoque - on 53 man roster and playing ST, if he can get some big plays, maybe he gets a + Barton - Was waived with intentions to sign to practice squad, but MIA claimed him, then SF claimed him from MIA Monk - was waived and then signed with NYG which they cut and he is currently not in NFL

I am not completely satisfied with our defense as we expect them to completely shut down every offense. But looking back, the defense hasn't been as bad as some a saying. IND - Top offensive team, at least at one time they were and we shut them down at home. I thought our D was great that game. CAR - Our D did pretty good this game, I'd put it on the offense for blowing this game. Olson fumble in 3rd Quarter really shifted the momentum. CAR just marched 52 yds down the field, but the Bears held them to a FG. After the kick off, Hester runs is out of the endzone 24 yds and the first play was to Olsen who fumbles giving CAR the ball at the 26 yd line and Stewart blows us up for 19yds and a TD. After that our O couldn't do anything and only got one first down. TAM - We shut there run down almost 100% allowing Griese to dink/dunk. He did throw for 407yds, but don't forget Kyle through the pick 6 in the 2nd quarter and an INT in the endzone when throwing to Forte. Also, with 3:11 left in the game it was 3rd and 2 and we ran play action and no one was open, another 3 and out. Thats when Griese marched 79 yds to tie it up and put it into overtime. PHI - Another good offensive team, held McNabb in check. Once again the D was pretty good. DET - We should have shut them out, D was pretty good though ATL - Our game plan was to shut down Turner and put it in the hands of a Rookie QB, we shut down the NFL leading rusher at the time, but the rook tore our secondary up. I think we would have won this one if we wouldn't have squibbed kicked it. Lovie also agrees. MIN - Game plan once again was to shut the run game down, I think if AP didn't break off a 54 yd td we would have accomplished that part of the game plan. Once again, our secondary allowed Ferrotte to throw for almost 300 yds. In the end, we won and we should be happy. Looking over the first 7, I think our D has done well. We've changed our D game plans unlike what Hampton says (keys:Manning, McNabb, Delhomme, Turner, Graham/Dunn, Peterson). I still don't see alot of changes during the game, but have we ever in 5 yrs w/ Lovie? Our key will be to get healthy on D during the bye week and to game plan on shutting out Detroit before facing Ten. The TEN game plan will be like ATL/MIN by concentrating on defending the run. Hell, lets talk about Rex Grossman or Cedric Benson bahahaha

I would love to get Taylor Mays, I just don't see us drafting high enough to get him, but if there's anyway he falls or we can trade up, I'd be in favor. As much as we need to get a future dominating DE here, I think we can wait until the middle rounds, and hopefully we can find a gem like Marcus Harrison, Mark Anderson, or Dusty Dvorecek. I wouldn't put it past JA to grab one high b/c he knows you have spend the high draft picks on the DL. But you also have to spend the high draft picks on the OL too. Urbik in the third would be a steal if we landed him, I think he would be a perfect pick for us in the third round. If we land Mays, then RD2 I would draft a RT (Ciron Black, Phil Loadholt, X. Fulton), RD3 Urbik, RD4 hopefully a fallin DE. JMO

That's why it put it as: "The Monday morning winning formula" I really think it show's that Lovie and Co have a hard time making the quick decisions. Even Lovie himself admitted he should of kicked it deep. Oh well, hopefully losing these close games keeps this team grounded b/c once they think there they bomb is usually when they get lazy and fall apart. Plus I give ATL a lot of credit, they kept the Bears D on the field, making all the plays when needed. If it weren't for some bad penalities on the ATL offense, we might not even been close.

Metcalf on steroids would explain his rude behavior at Bourbonnais. Not sure whatever happened to this tool, but the first time I met him he was a rookie. He was very polite and focused. My last encounter with him, he was very cocky and had a different personality which didn't seem to follow the mode of the other offensivie linemen. Metcalf seemed to be the open mouth for the squad. My favorite and most personal was St. Clair, I'm glad he has his shot at starting and is doing a decent job, Beekman also. Metcalf on the other hand, has not lived up to a 3rd RD selection and as much as I would of liked to see him suceed, I think he drew his last straw.

Thanks Lucky for that find. With 11 seconds, the clock does not start until the ball is legally touched (unlike at the start of the game it starts when ball is kicked), so maybe Lovie gambled on the ball bouncing off of an opponent starting the count down. I'd prefer kicking the ball deep and forcing ATL to decide to run with it or get out of bounds. If they decide to run with it, figure Norwood would of made it to the 25 yd line (thats avg) With a 20 yard return, take 4-5 seconds off the clock. That gives ATL possesion at the 25 with 6 or 7 seconds to go. With that time frame, there is maybe enough time to get two plays off before a FG attempt. Odds would of been definately in favor of the Bears to kick it deep. I couldn't believe they squib kicked it with only a 2 pt lead giving ATL a shorter field to work with and a chance to win it. The Monday Moring winning formula: 1 Kick it deep, but not into the endzone and keep it as close to the middle of the field. 2 Norwood has no choice but to either run for the sidelines or run for the endzone. a.) runs out of bounds - approx 20 yards to the sideline = minus 3 or 4 seconds - ball approx 15 yd line b.) run for endzone - most likely he would of been tackled somewhere around 25 yd line = minus 4 or 5 seconds - every 10 yds is about another second. If Norwood was to get to the 40 yd line, that would of left ATL with only 5 seconds to make the same play to put them in FG position.

Actually the whole trade thing is: Chicago Bears have the 17th pick Washington Redskins have the 24th pick. Washington wants a LBer really bad so they trade us the 24th along with the 3rd and 4th RD picks to move up. It works out on the trade value chart. The select Ohio St. James Laurinitis