dawhizz

There have been 5 true guards taken so far (Rachal, Zuttah, Rinehart, Murphy, McGlynn), and some of the top ones (Schuening, Young, Radovich, Thomas, Bernadeau) are still around. So apparently you would be happier if we took Zuttah in the 2nd, which would have been at least a round before anyone else drafted him? Then you'd just be back here bitching about "Angelo's reaches". If the Bears take a quality guard next, are you going to give him props or talk about how Angelo only gets guys no one else gets? "Iffy receiver"? Earl Bennett had more catches in the SEC (a passing conference) than anyone else ever has and he did it in three seasons. "we neeeeed fast safeties in the cover 2"? Mike Brown ran a 4.61 coming out of college. He seemed to do OK.

What makes these diamond in the rough picks? Forte and Bennett are consistently graded as 2nd to 3rd round picks. Chris Williams was also a first round pick universally picked in the middle of the round. Just because there are other players which some boards have going before them, doesn't make them "diamonds in the rough." I think the Bears have consistently got excellent value at every position so far. I know if you had your way every GM would sit around with their Sporting News guide and draft the highest player at every turn, but there's a reason NO NFL TEAM DOES THAT.

From Brad Biggs at Sun-Times. Not sure if this is informed speculation or just guesswork on his part: It was a departure from the best-available-player approach general manager Jerry Angelo has tried to follow in the past. The Bears will continue to go for need today with nine picks starting with No. 70, the seventh of the third round. USC quarterback John David Booty, LSU wide receiver Early Doucet and Arkansas defensive tackle Marcus Harrison are options.

Nolan Nawrocki, Pro Football Weekly: With the versatile Branden Albert still available, it's a surprise that the Bears would pass him, especially given the multiple holes that exist on their offensive line. However, Chris Williams has great feet and athletic ability and is very smart. He should allow John Tait to move back to the ORT position that he played in Kansas City. One pitfall that could eventually sting, however, is that the Bears now have two short-armed edge protectors and have to worry about both being injured, given that Williams was removed from some draft boards for back concerns and Tait is well-aged. Williams lacks the killer instinct, tenacity and nastiness that has definied traditionally tough Bears offensive linemen, but he does fill a huge position of need. Forte fits the Bears' hard-charging, get-off-the-bus-running style and should be able to fight for a starting job immediately with Cedric Benson coming off a career-threatening foot injury. Pete Prisco, CBS Sportsline: Comment: I would have gone for Jeff Otah here. There is some talk that Williams has back issues. That makes this a risky pick Comment: Forte is a stat machine. Great blend of size, speed and versatility, and he's a high-character guy. Think of a bigger Mewelde Moore, with slightly better speed. He's going to make Bears fans forget about Cedric Benson quickly. John Czarnecki & Pete Schrager, Fox Sports: CZAR'S FRONT OFFICE TAKE: The Bears may have been tempted to replace departed receiver Bernard Berrian, but Vanderbilt offensive tackle Chris Williams could start at left tackle and allow them to move John Tait to right tackle. I told you there was going to be a run on offensive linemen, probably the first round's strongest position. Williams played against very athletic defenders in the SEC and held his own. His stock went up with a very impressive Senior Bowl, where he dominated many a pass rusher. This is a solid pick for the Bears, who needed a smart and tough offensive lineman. Funny, but the Bears weren't really interested in a quarterback with this pick. To them, they have bigger issues trying to settle a contract hassle with Chicago's favorite player, Brian Urlacher. SCHRAGER ON THE SCENE: The Bears need pretty much everything on offense this draft, and they start it off by grabbing offensive tackle Chris Williams out of Vanderbilt. Williams is the first All-SEC lineman out of Vandy since Will Wofford in 1984. Go share that factoid at your water cooler on Monday morning. You'll look really cool, I swear. The Bears fans here do what I call "The D'Brickashaw Ferguson." What's that? It's a golf clap and a point to the head, as in "Smart Pick," made famous by the Jets fans' reaction to Ferguson's selection in 2006. The highlights of Williams on the big screen are of a giant man pushing a blocking dummy. Hard to get real excited about that. So you do "The D'Brickashaw Ferguson," and nod. Sage-like. Talk about a perfect match. Forte ran for 2,127 yards at Tulane last season, while the Benson/Peterson/Wolfe trio stunk it up in Chicago in '07. The addition of Forte's quickness and strength should help Chicago's offense immensely next year. Vinny Iyer, Sporting News: Chicago gets a dandy selection in the Vandy offensive tackle. They desperately needed a smart, athletic and sturdy lineman, and they got him. Good move to avoid the temptation of Mendenhall. Williams can start for the Bears at left tackle for a long time. Chicago will probably get criticized for this pick, but I like it. I didn't see Forte run the ball much at Tulane, but I did watch him closely in the matchup against Glenn Dorsey and LSU's top run defense. He ran tough, showing great versatility and competitiveness. He should be more motivated and more productive than Cedric Benson right away. Bucky Brooks, CNNSI: The Bears choose to address their sagging running game by adding Chris Williams to their aging offensive line. Williams, a first team All-American at Vanderbilt, will pave the way for Cedric Benson or Adrian Peterson on runs, and provide adequate protection on the backside of Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton in the passing game. Rashard Mendenhall was considered a viable option at this pick, but its hard to dispute the selection of Williams considering the Bears' offensive line woes from a season ago. The Bears bring in another physical runner to push disappointing Cedric Benson. Matt Forte, who rushed for over 2,000 yards as a senior at Tulane, is a smooth runner with deceptive power and pop. His crafty running style should mesh well with Ron Turner's power offense, and help the Bears improve a ground game that struggled to generate yards last season. If someone finds more, feel free to post them.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly recognize that Mendy is the better prospect, and the "hometown boy" and could very well be a better player in the pros. I was also a little disappointed we didn't get him. But as far as the skills they bring, they both are basicially one-year wonders who catch the ball well and don't have great timed speed. Forte is more suspect coming from a lower level of competition, but he's also coming from a more pro-style offense, from what I've seen. But, looking at the combine numbers, they seem pretty similar to me: Forte Mendy Height 6'1" 5'10" Weight 217 225 40d 4.44 4.41 20d 2.55 2.56 10d 1.49 1.53 Bench 23 26 20s 4.23 4.18 Would I prefer Mendy? You bet. But I don't see why Forte's getting dogged by so many people on this board.

If I were to guess, I'd say they take Jeremy Zuttah next and Josh Johnson after that, though I'd probably prefer one of thee WRs (Bennett, Caldwell, Doucet) next.

I would also add that Williams is easily the better OT right now. I keep hearing people concerned about his strength, but he only put up two fewer reps than Albert did (21 to 23). Williams was by far the more effective lineman as well. Williams gave up 1 sack last year while Albert gave up 5.5. And while I understand people were high on Albert because he played two good games at LT, I feel like it's kind of silly to weigh two starts against Pittsburgh and Middle Tennessee State more than Williams' consistently dominating work at LT every week for two years.

Make that Tulane.

There should be some nice choices at WR and QB.

I'd hate to see him go to the Cowboys. Wonder if the Bears might work the phones and try to get him...

Who is the other real RB?

Washington University in St. Louis.

I'll be around. The tyrants at law school decided to put finals right around the draft (one last week, two this week), so I'll be trying to balance studying and watching the draft. We'll see how that goes...

Since Lawrence Holmes is one of the few Chicago guys I really trust when it comes to the Bears, I made it a point to catch him this afternoon on 670. He says: -Word behind closed doors is that Benson's injury is worse than everyone thought and while he doesn't know if it means the Bears look harder at RB in the first, he says don't be suprised if the Bears are looking for a 3-down back instead of what would be a complement to what Benson would (at least theoretically) be. He did say the Bears really like Ray Rice. -He doesn't buy any of the "Bears are looking to move up" talk. -He says for all the attention on Jeff Otah in the first, the Bears may be even more interested in his teammate Mike McGlynn, hopefully in the third. -He thought there was a chance Sedrick Ellis fell all the way to 14 (a la Tommie Harris) and said, if he did, the Bears would take him. Interesting storylines to keep in mind this weekend.

Those of you who want Mendenhall over an OT, I have some bad news: So does Mariotti... http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/91...i042408.article

All indications are the Raiders are set to take McFadden despite having 5 decent to good RBs on the roster: Justin Fargas Michael Bush Lamont Jordan Adimchinobi Echemandu Dominique Rhodes I figure they'll keep Bush and probably Fargas. So, if you're the Bears, do you make a play for Rhodes or Jordan? They shouldn't cost much if they aren't released, and it might be a nice way to fill the RB position.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/ins...dmcshaymock0423 Some different players here than we've seen, but except for a blocking TE instead of one of the late round WRs, I would be THRILLED with these Bears picks: 1) Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State 2) Chris Johnson, RB, East Carolina 3a) Andre Caldwell, WR, Floria 3b) Andre Woodson, QB, Kentucky 4) Athyba Rubin, DT, Iowa State 5) Chad Rinehart, OG, Northern Iowa, 6) Jamar Adams, S, Michigan 7a) Travis Brown, WR, New Mexico State 7b) Ryan Wendel, C, Fresno State 7c) Mark Bradford, WR, Stanford 7d) Andrew Larson, P, California

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...1,3893194.story Don't really get it, but whatever. If you think Mike Hass is ever seeing the field for the Bears, you're crazy.

New O-line Coach:

Both players aren't happy where they are. The Bears need help at WR. The Bengals need a playmaker at LB. We all know this trade would never, ever happen. But if it was offered, who would turn it down and why?

John St. Clair v. Jared Allen = #14 + Bears = OT

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-bear22.article Expect the air to be thick with lies as Angelo talks about how his top three Bears needs are TE, DE, and CB and how intriguing a trade for Chad Johnson is. It will be interesting to hear to what degree he addresses the various contract issues that seem to be cropping up (Urlacher, Hester, etc).

That sounds great. The problem is, ceiling v. floor debates are much better in theory than they are in practice. Courtney Brown and Robert Gallery were widely considered "safe" picks. Ladanian Tomlinson and Brian Urlacher were both pretty big risks for different reasons (LT was coming from a lower level of competition, Url was changing positions). Michael Haynes was thought of as a "high floor" player, and we all know how that turned out. Certainly, if there are big red flags about character, the Bears have shown a willingness to do their due dilligence and separate the thugs from the misunderstood (with admittedly mixed results). But I'm not sure there's any definitve evidence to suggest that picking a "high-floor" player instead of a "high ceiling" player is actually the more effective overall strategy, let alone result in a better team.

Wait a minute . . . We don't take a RB until the 3rd round and you think it'd be a "great draft"? Where's the snarky comment about taking an OT in the first? Where's the overt "Benson sucks" comment? It's like I don't even know you anymore...

The Bears seem to be looking at or vistiting or working out just about every 2nd/3rd round RB there is: Jamaal Charles, Kevin Smith, Felix Jones, Matt Forte. But I haven't heard anything about them looking at either Ray Rice (though the Bears went to Rutgers pro day, all sources I have seen said they were looking at Jeremy Zuttah) or Chris Johnson. Are we really not interested in them, or is this more smokescreen fun? I'm thinkint particularly of 2001, when every report leading up the draft said the Bears were focusing on Lamont Jordan in the 2nd, then he's there for them to take, and they select A-Train.