ASHKUM BEAR

BearSox is right on all. I just pointed some goods/bads to see who voted for what not based on name. I didn't mention Henne b/c he didn't have anything great that stood out and is a little bit on the shorter side.

. St. Clair was solid for a guy that spent the entire season preparing to fill either tackle spot in a pinch. When he played at guard, I didn't notice him make any mistakes, but I didn't see him blow anybody up either. St. Clair at G may be alright for a short term answer as I don't think he'll be a liability there (like Metcalf)

Prospect A. (+)Has all the intangables and leadership qualities. Tough and plays through pain and takes command of the team. Strong arm and can complete all the intermediate routes. Decent mobility and can throw accurate on the run. (-)Doesn't shine at any physical aspect, but not poor at any either. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prospect B. (+)Has it all from a physical standpoint. Perfect height and weight for a QB and can take a hit. Is athletic enough to avoid the rush and buy time in the pocket. Can make all the throws and has great arm strength. Makes smart decisions and doesn't turn the ball over often. (-)Durability is a concern as he suffered ligement tears twice in his college career. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prospect C. (+)Has perfect height and weight for a QB and excels in the pocket. Delivered many strikes with defenses collasping in on him. His arm strength is his strength as he can make all the throws. Very accurate and smart with the football as he had a 60% completion percentage in 4 yrs and a threw 79 TDs to 25 ints. (-)Lacks mobility and averaged 30 sacks a year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prospect D. (+)Has the height and weight to be a great pocket passer. Can withstand hits and make all the throws down the field. Very accurate on throws and nails his target. (-)Played in a shot gun offense so will have to learn to play under center. Puts alot of faith in his arm and forces the ball often. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prospect E. (+)Has decent height and is patient enough to sit in the pocket to deliver strikes. Has a strong accurate arm and can make all the throws. Is highly efficient throwing the ball and excels in the intermediate routes and hits the deeps routes on point. Mobile enough to avoid sacks and can buy time in the pocket. (-)Durability is one concern for him in the NFL. He'll have to bulk up to withstand the punishment. Also questioned is how he will handle playing a pro style offense.

Lets say we do move down and find a suitor in SF. The trade works out with our 1-14 + 5-137 for SF 1-29 + 2-40. The only way I'd like the move is if Clady/Williams are both gone at 14. Below are a couple of ways we could draft. We draft: 1-29 Joe Flacco QB~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1-29 Branden Albert OG 2-40 Sam Baker OT ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2-40 Sam Baker OT 2-45 Gosder Cherilus OT ~~~~~~~~~ 2-45 Early Doucet WR/Mario Manningham WR 3-76 Ray Rice RB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3-76 Ray Rice RB 3-91 Jordy Nelson WR ~~~~~~~~~~~ 3-91 Josh Johnson QB 4-107 Marcus Griffin FS ~~~~~~~~~~~ 4-107 Marcus Griffin FS/Wesley Woodard SS 5-traded ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5 traded 6-173 Keenan Burton WR ~~~~~~~~~~~6-173 Keenan Burton WR 7-205 Jacob Hester FB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7-205 Jacob Hester FB 7-245 comp. (Chris Horston SS)~~~~~~~7-245 comp. SS/FS 7-250 comp. (BPA)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7-250 comp. (BPA)

The Bears were god awful running the ball last year. Blame who you want, but this is an area that has to be fixed. IMO, we will be looking to add a RB to compete. The NFL is a funny place for RB's. Ryan Grant GB, was an undrafted FA and had an almost Probowl season in limited action (7 starts). He finsihed w/ 986yds, give him 9 more games and he breaks 2000. The point of this is, as much as we'd love to see Mendenhall/Stewart in a Bears uniform, it's not the best decision for the Bears. We have a first RD back in Benson for 1 more year with a solid back up warrior in AP. Wolfe will provide a nice change of pace if used correctly. The Bears first priority needs to be the Oline. Not a glorious choice, but an area that needs youth. The best place for the Bears to draft a RB is from the 3rd to the 5th RD. My draft board RD3-4 1. Ray Rice-Considered small, but so was Emmitt Smith. Rice plays with passion and was the work horse at Rutgers. 2. Kevin Smith-Has great vision/balance to go with his speed. Can play between the tackles, block, and catch. 3. Jamaal Charles- Will probably be the 5th RB taken somewhere in RD2, but he's 3rd on my board 4. Tashard Choice- Has speed, vision and balance and catches the ball well. 5. Matt Forte-More of a bruiser, bust it through the tackles type runner. Sizes and 40 times at combine: Ray Rice Rutgers-5-8 199 4.44 Jamaal Charles Texas- 5-11 200 4.38 Kevin Smith Central Florida- 6-1 217 4.43 Tashard Choice Georgia Tech- 5-10 215 4.54 Matt Forte Tulane-6-1 217 4.46 Steve Slaton W Virginia 5-9 197 4.44 Jalen Parmele Toledo 5-11 224 4.47 Alan Patrick Oklahoma 6-0 198 Mike Hart 5-8 206 4.67

I think Chad Johnson is really trying hard to get out of Cincy and he may just get his wish now. I'm not sure I'd want him on the team if he is a cancer, but thought I'd bring it up to see what you think. Bengals | Former teammate says C. Johnson punched Lewis Fri, 7 Mar 2008 12:09:26 -0800 Mark Curnutte, of The Cincinnati Enquirer, reports Cleveland Browns DL Shaun Smith, a former Cincinnati Bengal, said that Bengals WR Chad Johnson had an altercation with head coach Marvin Lewis and wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. There was reportedly a video on YouTube of Smith making comments about the fight but the video was removed. "He swung on Marvin. (Johnson) shattered the training room glass. He swung on Marvin (and) hit Marvin in the eye. Then he tried to swing on wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, who's now in Baltimore." Not sure when this altercation happened, but I'm sure Cincy will want to get rid of him after this. Would he be worth a 2nd RD pick?

Bears | Team showing interest in McCareins Fri, 7 Mar 2008 04:52:22 -0800 Jim Wyatt, of the Tennessean, reports the Chicago Bears have expressed interest in free-agent WR Justin McCareins (Jets). Awesome!!!!

I also see Stl passing on Jake Long. They drafted Alex Barron in RD1 to eventually replace Pace.

We should find out by the third week of March if we will get compensated for our FA losses in 2007. We will most likely gain (2) 7th RD picks for losing Boone, Worrell, Johnson, and Scott (IMO). 1 Chris Williams OLT 2 Devin Thomas WR 3 Chad Henne QB 3 Quintin Demps S 4 Matt Forte RB 5 Brad Cottam TE 6 Kory Lichtensteiger C/G 7 Jacob Hester FB 7 Jason Rivers WR 7 Lorenzo Williams DT

Latest I heard is Johnson met with Buffalo, but no contract was offered. He is supposed to meet with Washington, but he is really wanting to play in Buffalo and is hoping a deal could be worked out soon. Don't sound like he has a visit with Chicago at all. Maybe JA wants to bring back Engram so we can reunite all the old Bears.

I agree, Moose was really starting to fall, Book should be able to outperform the 2007 stats Moose put up. That gives us Booker, Hester, Bradley, Davis, Hass. I still see us adding another FA (Johnson, Hackett, McCariens) and then drafting one which would mean either Davis/Hass will be the odd man out. Marty Booker year rec yds avg td 2007 50 556 11.1 1 2006 55 747 13.6 3 2005 39 686 17.6 3 2004 50 638 12.8 1 Moose Muhammad 2007 40 570 14.3 3 2006 60 863 14.4 5 2005 64 750 11.7 4 2004 93 1405 15.1 16

We usually keep 3 TE's on the roster. Olsen, Clark, and ? If we don't pick up a blocking TE in FA, I'd target Cottam in the draft Brad Cottam, Tennessee Height: 6-7. Weight: 270. Projected 40 Time: 4.68. Combine 40 Time: 4.68. Benchx225: 24. Vertical: 33. Brad Cottam ran a really impressive 40 at his size and looked fluid in the drills. A monstrous tight end with decent size, Brad Cottam could be the best blocker at his position in this class.

Calvin Pace will play OLB in a 3-4 defense and the Jets weren't interested in a LB that's only played in a system defense that caters to the WLB. I'm guessing Pace's deal was more b/c he may have had other visits scheduled. Other teams that may have been interested would be NE, Miami to name a couple.

Plus, he was a huge Chicago Bear fan growing up.

I have a small feeling that JA really like the way St. Clair stepped up at the end of the season at G. Maybe he thinks were fine at G with Garza, St. Clair, Metcalf, and Beekman.

I think there' a slim chance McFadden could slide to us at 14. The front runner was Atl until they signed Turner. That leaves Oak who could go Jake Long or a stud DT (Dorsey/Ellis). Next up is NYJ, but they are invested in TJ and have bigger DE needs. Cincy might take RB, but really need help on defense. That leaves Carolina who IMO will select a RB, but may opt for the bigger of the two in Mendenhall. So if McFadden falls to us, do we take him...hmmmmm, or could we possibly call Jerry Jones and make a trade. It would have to be straight up, even though Dal's 22+28=1440 and Chi's 14=1100. With this move Dallas gets McFadden and Chicago get the safer picks they are used to. 1. Baker/Nicks OT 1. Phillips SS/FS 2. Flacco QB 3. K. Smith RB 3. D Avery WR 4. W. Woodyard SS 5. B. Cottam TE Ten 6. B Richardson OT 7. P. Hillis FB

Briggs didn't have much choice left. Teams said to have been interest were Tampa Bay who have Derek Brooks, Cato June, Quincy Black, Jerimiah Trotter, plus about 4 others at LB, not an option here IMO. New Orleans was also interested, but were spending big cash on Vilma, McCray, Gay, Stecker, Henderson. Washington was never really in the mix IMO, b/c they really don't have the cap space at the moment. Briggs realized he better sign quckly with the Bears before they brought the Atlanta FA in and before they started lowering the offer.

Going by #1 need, I'd say Clady. I'd truly think about McFadden/Mendenhall really hard though.

JA-Better call Bell's agent soon....... Rams | J. Bell to visit Monday Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:42:37 -0800 Jim Thomas, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reports free-agent OG Jacob Bell (Titans) is scheduled to visit the St. Louis Rams Monday, March 3.

It's great to see Briggs back, even though I was prepared to see him leave. So, what's next JA? The papers say your working on our own players to extend contracts, but shouldn't you be looking at adding an outside piece here or there? Or, are you trying to extend our own (Harris, Url, Hester, Anderson) to gauge what there mindsets for $$ is so you know where our cap space will be for the next couple of years. Those guys are players we want for sure to be around long term and if we can get them extended now, the better. If extensions cannot be worked out, at least we know what were up against next time at the contract table. Hopefully in the next week or two, we can find a O-lineman and a WR to add to our team. The WR pool is pretty deep compared to the OG pool. I hope we can land Jacob Bell to fill LG and then add DJ Hackett/J. McCariens and Patten/Booker. WR's {Moose=35yrs old} Randy Moss-31 will command a lot of $$ and would prefer a contender w/ a QB to get him the ball Bryant Johnson-27 set to meet Buf - Bears would put him at Moose's spot DJ Hackett-27 Could replace BB Javon Walker-29 -Once a proven #1, suffered some bad knee injuries and not sure about character Marty Booker-32- Once a beloved Bear. Would bring vet leadership and replace Moose David Patten-34- Solid vet, produces every where he goes Drew Carter-27- Has speed, but never proved much when given the opportunity when S.Smith was out Brandon Lloyd-27- A Turner guy at UofI, flopped at Was and showed gator arms Eric Moulds-35-A solid vet who still can produce Eddie Kennison-35 Sammie Parker-27 David Givens-28-A Domer who has been solid up until Tenn. Justin McCariens-29-A NIU grad who'd I love to see in a Bear uni. Showed glances of being a solid WR Keenan McCardell-38-A solid vet who seems to always have a knack at making the catch Peerless Price-31 Carlyle Holliday-26-Another Domer that can also throw the pass on a trick play Tim Dwight-33-a Senoir Welker anyone? Mike Williams-24 USC player many wanted instead of Benson, This is almost as bad a Ryan Leaf OG- Not many Olineman talent left so I'd hope JA would make this a higher priority. Jacob Bell-27 Would still cost a lot of dough, but the Bears need to make the Oline their strengh Jake Scott-27 Looked solid at Indy, but many say it's the system. Womack - 29 A solid G at Seattle

Starks was franchised by Pitt, and Olevia ended up on the Charger bench and is only a RT. The only way I would think about Mendenhall is if we know we can get a potential OLT in the draft b/c there are no OLT availble in FA. Since this is a deep draft for RB's, I think we will wait until the 3 or 4 round. Before we invest in QB's, RB's, WR's, IMO we need to have a young strong Oline.

Moose is truly a bus driver. If he was smart, he would keep his pie hole shut unless he wanted to say good things about the organization and city. By running his mouth, he is hurting his chances at returning to the city as a possible media man with Comcast. He seemed to spend more time on TV/Radio shows than he ever spent on becoming a better player.

I also have Patten as a target. Why not? He's a vet, should cost less, and still is productive. I have a feeling, Berrian will sign elsewhere and Hester could easily fill his role for the deep man. I'm not saying Hester will immediately become a #1 in the league, but he will be on plenty of espn highlights catching the hail mary's. Those deep plays is what gave Berrian a name 2 years ago and also made Grossman look like the Good Rex. I also hope we show plenty of interest in Bryant Johnson and Marty Booker. It would be nice to see Book be able to retire here and Johnson could become a true #1 if given the chance.

Olivea is a RT, could be worth a look, but I think we already have our RT (Tait) I think we should really look at bringing in FB Lorenzo Neal who was also released.