AZ54

I'd be ok with St Clair as our starting LG. He can still be our backup OT but we gotta get some better depth at OG for the future and we must address OT in the draft, preferrably LT in Rd 1.

Lloyd only counts $485k against the cap on a one year deal that we can cut at anytime makes that a good pickup.

Why I don't like Flacco as a first or second round pick: 1) Left Pitt because he couldn't win competition against a guy nobody is talking about for the draft. Big red flag IMO. 2) When he left Pitt did he go to another big name school to prove himself? Nope, took the easy road where he could start guaranteed at a school that was basically back home. Makes me wonder if he's afraid of competition. How is that going to play out in the NFL where every pass is scrutinized? 3) Played against weak competition (William&Mary, West Chester, Rhode Island, Towson (has anyone besides me know where that is?), Monmouth, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Navy, James Madison, Richmond) all games where he had excellent completion % ~65% or better except James Madison where he had 55%. 4) Against better competition his completion % dropped significantly (Villanova 46%, and playoff games Delaware St 55%, Northern Iowa 55.6%, Southern Illinois 55.3%, Appalachian St 48%). I'm sure somebody will say he didn't have first rate WRs and for sure we're not talking about drafting his WRs. Then again we're not talking about drafting the DBs he faced either. Nor any of the players he went up against and the NFL is a huge leap in speed and scheme just from a top flight school let alone what he's seen on the field. 5) Slow release. I can rebuild a levee in New Orleans in the time it takes him to throw the ball. Ok maybe just a couple shovels worth of dirt but his release is about 3x of Rex's. 6) Not very accurate based on the Delaware St game but I'll admit one game isn't enough to make a full judgment. 7) Telegraphed passes (see slow release) will make it easy for NFL DBs to get a jump on the ball making any out pattern a gamble. 8) He's at least a two year project more likely 3 years with too many question marks in my opinion to warrant a day one pick. Our QB situation is terrible with Rex on a 1 year deal and Orton on a 2 year deal. Both could flame out this year. If we're giving up a day one pick I want a guy more ready to start next year or at worst after two years. That means someone who's faced better competition. 9) He runs ok but I don't see him as a great scrambler. Not so much a knock as he has better mobility than any of our current QBs. Does he know when to run and when to stay in the pocket? I just view this as part of his learning curve. 10) Beware the fast rising player in the draft who jumps up a lot AFTER the games are done!

I'd only trade down after seeing who was picked before us. If Williams is there I don't see why we wouldn't pick him. Sure we could use another pick on day one but giving up a big talent for what you think might be there later isn't worth it IMO. Then someone will trade up right before us and grab the QB or OT we wanted. If the top 3 LTs are all gone then I'd be happy with the trade down. In that case, the question is going to be: Who's there that's worth a team trading up for? I can see some teams making that move for Ellis. Perhaps Mendenhall but I doubt anyone would make a huge jump for him.

I only watched Mendenhall in one game vs. USC. He plays with more burst than Stewart and I saw both play against USC but I'd rather not base my opinion of Mendenhall to one game. I'll defer to others who watched him all year. However, the Ilini QB is nowhere near as good a dual threat as Dixon was for Oregon so I think the field was more open for Stewart to run. Having seen a lot of Stewart I don't feel he's a legit top 15 pick and so I don't want to pick him in Rd 1. If we pick him up in Rd 2 I can live with that. I think he'll be a good RB in the NFL but not great.

I hope JA cuts Metcalf. He's never even lived up to his first contract let alone the extension we gave him.

No to Flacco in Rd 2. Grab a RB there or an OG, or WR.

The league will have learned it's lesson when it sets up a salary scale for draft picks like the NBA has. Way too much money is spent on the top 10 picks, even top 20 these days. I agree that this year there isn't any QB worth getting excited about. Ryan will go top ten but I'm not sure he's worth it.

Flacco appears to be everybody's smoke screen for QB. It's amazing how little PR coverage all the other QBs are getting. I hear nothing about interest in Brohm, Henne, Woodson, or anyone else for that matter except Ryan who's expected to go top 10. You'd think there were only two QBs in this draft. I know more pro days are coming up and this will change but the Flacco PR machine still amazes me.

We need a #1 WR but there are many teams that can say that. We now have enough options from which we should be able to find at least a good #2 if not two or even three (among Lloyd, Hester, Bradley, and the rookie). Teams can survive in this league just fine without a bigtime #1 WR as long as there's good talent among the top 3 WRs. On top of that we do have two very good receiving options in our TEs. I do like the idea of Hester being out slot WR. He's got the quickness needed for the role and keeping him there instead of trying to develop him into a #1 or #2 would steady his development. It would also give him less reps so he'd be able to handle his KR/PR responsibilities.

If we take Stewart in Rd 1 I'll be pissed. I don't see anything special in him, he's a good RB but not a guy I want to spend a 1st Rd pick on. I watched him play a lot last year and he had some good games but I can't recall a single play he made that wowed me. I'm very cautious in RBs that come from spread offenses like Oregon's that had a good dual threat QB.

If it's just a 1st rd pick of course I'd take him but I'd prefer to give up next years 1st so we can still get our LT this year.

I don't see him as being worse than Rashied Davis and that's who I view him replacing. Or Hass replaces Davis. Or rookie replaces Davis. I never felt the Bears were that interested in keeping him around (me either) and I wanted Moose gone. I'm not ecstatic about where our WR corps is at right now but I do like the competition that's being brought in for the second tier of the WR roster without breaking the bank. A rookie will be added to compete for the first tier this year or next. Expect at least one of our young guys to have a breakout year in 2008 (Hester, Bradley, Lloyd, Hass, rookie). If two of them do, we're ok but this is a long shot. If not we add another WR next year. In other words, rebuilding the WR corps is a two-year project and since there wasn't anyone worth the money given to Berrian (let alone the other big $$ contracts) I think that's a good decision. Between Hester, Bradley, this years rookie and next years addition we should be able to have a decent first tier of WR (assuming we draft wisely) and a reasonably priced second tier.

About 4.9 million less after we pulled it off the table. After this many years in the league as a key special teams player the only reason Ayanbadejo talked up playing LB was because he felt it would help him get his big contract. Now that he's got that bonus in his pocket I bet LB is scratched off his to-do list.

When it comes to our offensive needs we are not in a position to reach for a player. Get somebody somewhere on offense that we can build around. I strongly prefer to get our LT for the next decade but if that's not a good option when we pick get me somebody else that can make a difference on the field. Reach for an average player to fill a need and your back to hoping you get a stud next year. Ask any Cubs fan how that's working for them.

Other teams draft Olineman in the later rounds and they turn out just fine. I'm not saying you'll get a prime time OG or OT that way because, like other positions on the field, you need to have a couple high round talents to make it work. In between we should be able to fill in the gaps with later round picks.

I take the player that is likely to become great...the RT. Defenses aren't entirely focused on pass rushing from the left side as much as they used to be so there's a greater need for better talent at the RT spot these days. Anyone that can anchor either tackle spot that well allows you to move your TE to the other side. Or at least the RB knows his first pass protection read is from the left side. On top of that I still say your always better off taking a longer term approach and any time you can add a great player you do so versus just filling a need.

Payne on D and on offense I wait to see who we have on the team. As far as Hester being used like Welker that isn't going to work because Welker has one thing Hester doesn't: Randy Moss. In fact, Hester is more of our Moss when he's on the field because he commands a lot of attention. Welker just has to run the underneath routes after Moss and others clear it out. What we need to do is use Hester a little more often like the Patriots use Moss and have him help clear out the underneath stuff. That doesn't mean he has to be on a fly route all the time but he can run some 15 yard out routes, or a skinny post from the slot position. Just do something with him besides throwing him the ball within 3 yards of the LOS and watching 11 guys run over to tackle him.

The Bears staff knows how he's doing and I prefer not to hear anything before the draft, or if they do I'd prefer they just say he's doing great. After we draft our next RB then the chatter can start.

I don't think TJ cares as much about a rookie being drafted as he's already gotten his last big contract. Plus there's no way the Jets would cut him as you need two good backs to make it through the year.

How interesting for the Bears to telegraph so much interest in a first round pick. Wonder what's behind that?

I can see Oakland drafting McFadden, he's their type of home run player and he carries the big name to excite the fans. They have their QB, they just signed Walker and yes they have Fargas signed too but his contract was reasonable. They can easily split time between him and McFadden.

Hester: Thanks for saving me the post but I'll add another point. He's too much of a project for a team with Grossman on a 1 year deal and Orton with only 2 more years. By the beginning of next year the Bears will be committing to a QB for the long haul, or at least a longer contract. Grossman and Orton both have enough question marks IMO that I think JA will want somebody with a higher chance of being at least an average QB at the start of next year.

No doubt, I haven't seen anything at all about his contract. I know he's not playing for free and I doubt it would be 3.5mil for 2 years. I could see 3.5mil/yr but how much is bonus?

While I am all for fixing the OL in the draft this year if the best LT prospects are gone when we pick we have to look at other options before reaching on somebody. If you can get a guy that has a chance to be a special player, or say has a ceiling of being a Pro Bowl players, then you have to take him versus reaching to fill a need position. We're all keyed in on having success this year but we also have to have some vision for the long haul. This all goes back to the draft strategy threads that always show up ....best player or best player for your need? IMO the value of who you pick has to have some correlation to where you are picking. I prefer great LT and average RB combo versus the other way around but if I can't get the great left tackle I'll take the great RB and put him behind an average LT. At least I've got one great and one average player versus two average ones. Elite players change the game for everyone around them and there are plenty of examples around the league where average players standout because the great player. Is Mendenhall going to be a great player? What he did against USC I didn't see anyone else do to them all year long. I never saw Stewart run like that and I watched him in a lot of games. I'm starting to prepare myself that if one of the top LTs in the draft don't fall to us JA will be content to just draft a very good RT prospect in Rd 2 and we'll see Tait at LT again. That means Rd 1 is wide open to fill one of many other needs.