AZ54

The push-out rule will not only impact redzone plays but will also make it harder to complete a game winning drive inside 2min. I like it because I think it gives more credence the first 58 min of the game. So many games are won late that these days that it's become a mantra to just stay close until the end. As other stated all most of the rule changes in the last decade have helped the offense now we have one that equalizes things for the D. I still hate the ticky tack rules on how you can tackle a QB. The in the grasp rule needs to go away. It causes too much confusion and, like the push-out rule, it's way too much of a judgment call. Look at how Eli pulled away from a grasp in the Superbowl a great play. It's why I prefer to let the QBs fight to get out of a tackle if they want. If they don't want to fight they can fold up on first contact. If they want to throw a pass while getting tackled then so be it.

I can see things going down that way. If we end up with Williams I'll be content (at least for the first round). I still love the idea of getting Barrett in the 4th.

Mike Brown is made of glass. Why would Lovie even hint at having DManning start at SS when he still needs to learn his main position, FS. Since DM is the only backup FS we have on the team giving him any snaps at all at SS is a stupid decision IMSO. He already has proven he does not have great football instincts and that's backed up by his wonderlic score and perhaps the fact he couldn't quailfy for a D1 school despite his athleticism. There's an expression that a tiger never changes his stripes, so we should quit expecting DManning to become something he's not. Keep things as simple as possible for him and let him focus on learning one job. I think eventually he'll be good at FS. The fact Lovie comes out and states stuff like this publicly is why I think he's weak in how he handles demoting players. He feels like he has to throw this crap out to the public to help his player save face. OTOH you have decisions like last year when he demoted Alex Brown in the offseason instead of making it a camp competition. We just gave Brown a contract extension so you know how that worked out. I really wonder if Lovie is in touch with his players and knows them as well as he should. Film doesn't tell you everything you need to know in order to successfully manage players.

I'm sure Steve McMichael and probably everyone on that 85 Bears team would be laughing at this thread. I know I am.

I'm LOL thinking about any RB trying to pick up a blitz behind our Oline last year. Let's see I have 1 second to figure out who will get beat first: Fred Miller on the right side, he's always getting beat to the outside? Tait with his bad ankle on the left side? Or Tait's backup St. Clair? Or will it come up the middle where Ruben can only block with his left arm? Or are they gonna run right around his backup Metcalf, or will Metcalf just fall over before he even lays a hand on the guy? I saw Ced miss some pickups but I saw AP miss many more, of course AP got more 3rd down time than Ced. By the middle of the season I didn't see where AP was better as a blocker. He was probably better at catching the ball in the flat. In a one-on-one situation AP just doesn't hold his ground very well against any rusher. Ced can at least stop a guy cold.

Who said the team looks at him as a #1? This is Mark Bradley speaking and he said he feels he can be the #1 WR for the Bears. I have no problem with his statement, I much prefer to hear players be confident in their ability as long as they are willing to put in the extra work to earn it and don't bitch if you don't get it. I was no fan of what Lovie did last season and feel his decisions held this team back. I think he had a Superbowl team the year before, got his big fat paycheck (after throwing the team under the bus in negotiations) and then sat back and hung out with all the players who got him that big check. Moose was far from a good WR last year and there was no reason Bradley wasn't on the field for more plays. Especially at the end of the season. What was his crime? Messing up a play here and there? So did Hester. Dropping a sure TD? So did Berrain. Not fighting for a pass? So did Berrian. Dropping easy first downs? So did Moose. Asking for more playing time midseason? Well what was the offense doing without him? Then there's the performance of the Oline. The fact we didn't get the ball to Greg Olsen more often. I'd say Lovie threw all the offenses troubles on Rex's shoulders when he demoted him in week 3 and was too stunned (or clueless) to understand the issues were much deeper than that. On the D side of the ball he switched DManning to CB. RANT OFF.

I'm hearing a lot of chatter about Albert moving up into the top 10 on draft boards. If this happens it should mean we're able to draft one of the top 3 LT. If Albert is still there for us at 14 it sounds more and more like that's a solid pick for us too.

We choose that bust guy far too often in Rd 1.

This was during the season and the Bears were working on a trade with the 49ers before the trade deadline. SF apparently contacted Briggs about the trade when the Bears wanted to keep things behind the scenes. Teams often have trade talks and they typically prefer the players aren't aware of them until they have agreed on a deal. I suspect the Bears and 49ers didn't yet finalize the deal when they contacted Briggs. Then for whatever reason the deal didn't go through. That might have been because Briggs told them he wouldn't sign a new deal before the end of the season. Or he could have just flat out said I don't want to play for you and will just leave after the season. Nobody knows at this point except those involved but it seems clear the Bears felt they had a deal and the contact with Briggs nixed it.

The expected career of a RB is shorter than an NFL Olineman. Mendenhall might be special but how long will he be special? Rarely do you see RB who stay at the top for more than 3 years and there's just no way to predict that. How many RBs have their big season or two, hold out for a new contract and then we don't hear from them again? What happened to Adrian Peterson last year? I think the fact is that the NFL season is now so long that it's hard to rely on one back to carry the load for so many years. I prefer now to forego the search for an elite RB and just be content with a two back system with two good players who have different styles so you can attack defenses in different ways depending on their strengths. If you hit the jackpot and one guy turns into a stud, that's great. Instead focus on building your Oline which is going to be more dependable in the long run (a better return on your big signing bonus and makes RBs, WRs, TEs, and QBs perform better. JA takes this approach with his Dline and has put a lot of attention on that in his drafts. It's time he uses the same strategy on the other side of the ball.

If we got him with our new 3rd Rd pick I'd be happy. He will need to learn to stay lower as he runs through the hole or he's gonna get clotheslined a lot. I like his quick cut and burst once he gets past the initial hole. He runs well in the open field though and shows ability to make cuts at speed.

Harrison and Wayne have been in the same offense with the same QB and OC for how many years? I'm sure everyone has seen Peyton get mad at Wayne for running the wrong route in a game. At least I've seen it several times. Put either guy through the Bears OC carousel and lets see how they do. I don't want to diminish Harrison's accomplishments because he's had a great career but he's also had a great situation in Indy. Tommy Harris has to do one thing on every single play...swim move through the assigned gap and step forward toward the QB as fast as possible. It ain't difficult to know your assignment as a DT in our scheme.

I too am glad to say you were wrong. Kudos to JA and company for pursuing this. Not only did we move up we gained ground on an opponent by having them move back and lose a pick. Being the 7th pick in the 3rd round makes it easier to move up into the late second if someone is there that we want. Remember on day one they only have rounds 1 and 2 so if someone falls there might not be as many teams noticing it late in the day as they start to prepare for day two and they might simply assume he'll be there for them early in Rd 3.

Danieal Manning with a 14, no wonder he struggles reading plays at the safety position.

I missed on too many to make it public knowledge. I was really stifled on #14 (who scored our first TD?) because it was hard to remember any TDs in the first half of the season.

Found this while checking out the Bears website so since it's a bit slow I figured I'd put it up here. If nothing else it should give Nfol an excuse to add 10 more posts to his HOF quest. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4492 How well do you know the Bears? Take our trivia quiz By Larry Mayer 1. Who caught Rex Grossman’s first NFL touchdown pass? A) Marty Booker Desmond Clark C) David Terrell D) Dez White 2. Which Bears starter entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent? A) Desmond Clark Hunter Hillenmeyer C) Adewale Ogunleye D) John Tait 3. In terms of the Bears, what do former Lions running back Barry Sanders and former NFL defensive lineman John Jurkovic have in common? A) Both own Bears season tickets Both scored TDs against the Bears in 1994 C) Both had a brother drafted by the Bears D) Both made their NFL debuts in Soldier Field 4. Devin Hester’s longest TD return came against which opponent? A) Giants Packers C) Rams D) Vikings 5. Which Bears offensive lineman was a state heavyweight wrestling champion in high school? A) Roberto Garza Olin Kreutz C) John St. Clair D) John Tait 6. Other than Brian Urlacher, who is the only Bears linebacker to record at least five sacks and five interceptions in the same season? A) Lance Briggs Wilber Marshall C) Mike Singletary D) Otis Wilson 7. Lovie Smith’s first win as Bears head coach came against which team? A) Chiefs Lions C) Packers D) Vikings 8. Which Bears player won the Walter Payton Award in college? A) Cedric Benson Jason McKie C) Adrian Peterson D) Garrett Wolfe 9. Robbie Gould’s first career game-winning field goal came against the Saints in which city? A) Baton Rouge Champaign C) Chicago D) New Orleans 10. Which Bears player left college as the ACC’s all-time leading receiver? A) Marty Booker Desmond Clark C) Devin Hester D) Brandon Lloyd 11. Which Bears player was nicknamed “ESPN3” in college? A) Devin Hester Charles Tillman C) Brian Urlacher D) Nate Vasher 12. Who was the last Bears player to score three touchdowns in a game? A) Marty Booker Curtis Conway C) Devin Hester D) Anthony Thomas 13. Which Bears player played minor league baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers? A) Cedric Benson Rashied Davis C) Trumaine McBride D) Nick Roach 14. Who scored the Bears’ first touchdown of the 2007 season? A) Cedric Benson Desmond Clark C) Devin Hester D) John St. Clair 15. Which of the following Bears Hall of Famers was not a first-round draft pick? A) Dan Hampton Sid Luckman C) Mike Singletary D) Clyde “Bulldog” Turner

It's great to see LT back and this Bears community isn't going anywhere. It has to be one of the best moderated forums around with some of the best informed fans. How many times have we had topics posted here that ended up as the subject of articles in the Trib or Suntimes? We've been through numerous offseason tiffs going all the way back to the Shoop days and before. (It's always worse in the offseason) Let's get over all the man-hugs and get back to figuring out who we're drafting. Afterall, we only have a little over 30 days to get this info to Jerry.

Completing 80% of passes with no pass rush and no DBs out there? Doesn't sound great, and he throws a lousy spiral, not a total duck but definitely a ball that will not easily get through a windy day at Soldier Field. I'll agree that he does find a way to win games but he also forced a lot of passes last year. Was that out of necessity or is he the next Grossman?

Adams played well last year, Walker didn't. I think we go again with Dusty, Harris as starters with Adams as the #3 and I believe Toeina gets a shot at being #4. Idonije sticks around as #5. Then we'll see another young body brought in for competition either through the draft or some FA hanging around hoping to make a million dollars next year.

After reading 20 posts you hit the one point I wanted to make in this whole argument (and hadn't yet read) that the stud RB career expectancy is far shorter than that of a stud Oline player. Now I wish I had some stats to go with this thought but I don't. I do know that this is the reason most RBs hold out after one great year for a huge contract. They and their agents know that it might be their only chance at getting the big money. You don't see that often for Oline. I can't even remember the last Oline player to hold out on a team while under contract.

Which is why I like the idea of bringing in Jackson. I'd sign him to a 3 year deal and give him a bit more cash. Nothing too high so it's at least a manageable contract for us but it would stabilize the WR position for a couple years while we sort out who's who among Hester, Bradley, Lloyd. You've got Booker for next year too so adding Jackson could let us wait a year to draft a WR.

Starting to sound like we need to trade up in this draft to secure the player we need. I'm ok with that to get a Franchise LT as long as the price isn't too high. It's a cornerstone that that makes the rest of the Oline pieces easier to find. Now if JA and company feel the Cherilus or Albert can develop into a consistent Pro Bowl player at their position then sit tight and draft one of them.

No to Joe Flacco in Rd 2, yes to Josh Barrett at 107

I could live with Booker, Jackson, Hester, Bradley and Lloyd as our 5 WR going into the season. Take WR off our draft needs for Rds 1-3 and go focus on Oline, RB, and QB.

According to the article it was a midseason trade? When is the midseason trade deadline, I believe it's in Oct. That means we thought we had a deal with the 49ers to ship them Briggs in October. The Bears are contending that prior to closing the deal the 49ers engaged in contract discussions with Rosenhaus. What we'd have gotten from them I have no idea but the fact JA is pursuing this with the league is good IMO and not just sour grapes. He's paid to do everything he can to make the Bears as competitive as possible. First he could be engaged in future trade talks and I agree with him that the agents shouldn't be involved unless appropriately authorized by a team. Secondly, we might get something out of this from San Fran, if not, they will likely at least lose something. IF it's just a small cash fine no big deal but it might be enough to stop a future transgression.