lemonej

I agree 100% with that assessment because DHB's hands are a little suspect and that was proven at the Combine in drills.This is why I'm higher on Nicks and Robiskie than some of the other WR's.They both are polished route runners and both come from schools that like to run the ball which automatically makes them understand they have to block. Right now DHB reminds me of Troy Williamson.

If you have actually watched Hakeem Nicks play in a game like I have ,you wouldn't be talking about him having too many drops.This kid may not have blazing speed but his hands are outstanding.He is one of the guys that believes that the ball is his when its in the air. I think this guy could be similar to Donald Driver at Green Bay.I am a big fan of Nicks and believe he is the number3 WR in the draft behind Crabtree and Macklin.

Agreed and you might think that he might be a little more apprehensive since his to OT number one picks have had injury issues.There is only a couple of skill positions left that JA has not selected in the first round since he has been here and WR is one of them.He has not drafted any players on the perimeter in the first round be it WR,CB or OLB.

Here's a list of the WR's drafted in rounds 1and 2 since 2004:Bear Picks* 2004 Round 1 Round 2 Larry Fitzgerald Devery Henderson Roy Williams Darius Watts Reggie Williams Keary Colbert Lee Evans Michael Clayton Michael Jenkins Rashaun Woods 2005 Round 1 Round 2 Braylon Edwards Reggie Brown Troy Williamson Mark Bradley* Mike Williams Roscoe Parrish Matt Jones Terrence Murphy Mark Clayton Vincent Jackson Roddy White 2006 Round 1 Round 2 Santonio Holmes Chad Jackson Sinorice Moss Greg Jennings Devin Hester* 2007 Round 1 Round 2 Calvin Johnson Sidney Rice Ted Ginn Jr. Dwayne Jarrett Steve Smith 2008 Round 1 Round 2 No Wrs Picked Donnie Avery Devin Thomas James Hardy Eddie Royal DeSean Jackson Malcolm Kelly Limas Sweed Dexter Jackson Nine of these players were in last year's playoffs and two of them put on one of the best performances in the most recent Super Bowl. So why not draft a WR in the first or 2nd round? It seems like the most mistakes on this list have come from teams from the NFC North.

Nfo I know what JA has said about which franchise he has come from and has pointed to but that franchise has taken some of the aspects that one of the most cosistent winning franchises over the last 35 years which is longer than Tampa has even existed.The defense that both the Bears and Bucs run was the base defense for the Steelers when they were winning 4 Super Bowls during the 70's the Cover 2.This defense was learned by Tony Dungy as a member of the Steelers secondary and then as a coach on Chuck Nolls staff after his playing days. If we look at the way the Steelers run their franchise today I do recall Hines Ward getting deals renegotiated a couple of times during his career and this past season they franchised one of their OT's.Also they have made a couple of significant additions through trade with Jerome Bettis and Kevin Greene both coming via trade. The bulk of their roster is basically through the draft with a few additions like Charlie Batch,Tommy Maddux and Byron Leftwitch via FA.Back in those days all teams built through the draft and trade here and there because there was no FA.Back in the 80's when the Bears dismantled that team what franchise did they resemble more Tampa or Pittsburgh? When they allowed the likes of Gault,Marshall,McMahon,Dent,Duerson and Wilson leave the team.We still have the same ownership no matter who supposedly is picking the players

That uncapped year is what is really confusing the issue to me.If you sign a guy and give him a good bonus you should be able to spread it over this year and next and if he sucked this year and you wanted to cut him next year the cap hit shouldn't make a difference since there is no cap.I'm sure the uncapped year may have rules in place for salary guidelines but I wonder how much of Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall's signing bonuses are front loaded for this year and next to manage the cap for the Skins going forward.

Tampa under McKay went after FAs Simeon Rice,Brad Johnson and Keyshawn Johnson at the time all top tier at the time they went after them. They also did a tremendous job in the drafting of players like Brooks,Sapp,Lynch,Barber,Alstott,Dunn etc. The only top tier FA that the Bears pursued was Musin Mohhammed.Jon Tait was a sought after player that the Bears over paid for at his position which was RT which backed other teams off. All the rest have been minor deals.If I had to say what the Bears model is it would be more like the Steelers with an emphasis on the draft and resigning your core players.The Bears just haven't developed their talent as well as the Steelers.With both these teams being run by families whose sole source of income is the team you can see why they might be similar in how they approach business.

Guys position chnges are an NFL way of life and once again this is mini camp more than a month before the draft.Why not see what versatility your roster has before you make a final evaluation on players you have targeted in the draft. Bowman during his Senior Year was injured which is why he was a 2nd day draft pick last year.He spent the beginning part of the season on the practice squad and was activated for the Minnesota game when both Vasher and Tillman had injury issues.Since he was on the practice squad maybe they were giving him reps at FS on Scout team.Either way he played the one game and got injured for the season. To me when players are being asked to switch positions sometimes its a message being sent to current players at those positions. Like maybe Stelz and Manning for instance at safety. At DT moving Idonije back to DE only maybe a vote of confidence for Anthony Adams and a slap at Mark Anderson who has been invisible since his rookie year. I think desperation would be moving Manning to WR.

That is so true and the same can be said for assistant coaches getting HC jobs tied to that one guy's success.

The league cannot afford any kind of work stoppage because of some of the stadium deals that they are on the hook for including the Bears' stadium. IMO there will be some significant movement this year because of the impending uncapped year coming up.The small market teams don't want to compete with Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones for players in an uncapped year.A CBA must be in place for the following year in order to keep salaries in order.

Some of these trade possibities that are being proposed are interesting but,Im not so sure that a deal couldn't get done if the Bears gave up a 3rd rounder and a starting DE like Ogunleye. I wouldn't give up the first rounder unless I got Denver's 2nd in return.With that being said these head coaches whose reputations have grown because of their associations with star QBs is just hilarious.Holmgren and Shanahan had Montana.Mariucci,Gruden and Reid had Farve.Charlie Weiss had Tom Brady and now Josh Mc Danials has Matt Cassel a one year wonder who hasn't even reached the playoffs.So what does he do.He gets his new gig and immediately pisses off his Pro Bowl QB by trying to bring in a guy who he was familar with at NE.If I'm a rookie HC the first guy I'm trying to get on the same page with is my star QB.This is that NE arrogance.How's Charlie Weiss done with out Brady?How is Crennel done without Bruschi,Seymour and the rest of that bunch?Unless you are getting Belicheck who is running the show in NE ther rest of those guys gone along for the ride.I really want to see what the new Denver HC does without all those great players on the Patriots roster who made things easier for all backup players to step up their game when they are called upon to play.

Since the Bears have brought in two previous former Rams O-linemen(Miller and St.Clair), I wonder if the Bears might be going after Pace. I personally would like to see them draft and develop some linemen.That has been the one of the things that has been lacking with this coaching staff since they have been here the other thing has been developing a drafted WR.Beekman is the first O-lineman that was drafted by the Bears who started and played more than one game under this staff.In defense of this staff if we look back over the history of JA's picks you can count the O-linemen he has picked on 1 hand.He has always chosen to bring in FA or fringe OL and plug them in.This year its Omiyale.Rueben Brown,Fred Miller,John Tait,Roberto Garza and St.Clair all were similar in the fact that they were veterans that had limited shelf life left.I think they should blow the whole line up and rebuild it with younger players including Kreutz.

I had a little time on my hands so I looked up all the guys the Bears have taken with their second pick excluding Grossman since he was in the first round.Here is the list: 2002 Roosevelt Williams Tuskegee actually a 3rd rounder.What's he doing now? 2003 Charles Tillman Louisiana Lafayette 2004 Tank Johnson Washington 2005 Mark Bradley Oklahoma 2006 Devin Hester Miami he along with Daniel Manning were picked in the second round with Manning actually being the Bears top pick. 2007 Dan Bazuin Central Michigan What's he doing now? 2008 Matt Forte Tulane

Major point nfo! That coupled with the fact that his very first OT pick was Colombo and he too suffered injury issues.So much so that now he is the starter in Dallas .I don't understand what motivates his choices in the first round but your point is well taken and I could see him maybe laying off of an OT in the first round. If he decides to go first round WR I could see him maybe going OT in the second round but I'm not sure the guys from the lesser conferences at OT warrant a 2nd round pick.We know Angelo likes to go for a reach in the 2nd round so names like Sebastian Vollmer of Houston,Augustus Parrish Kent State and Troy Kropog Tulane come into play.

I also liked him coming out and its ironic that he gets a chance to replace another former Cornhusker. I watched the way Zack Bowman played in the one game he got a chance to play in and maybe what ever they teach at Nebraska may translate well to the Bears system.

There's got to be more to the story than just simply releasing him.I agree with you.Why not wait until mini camp?This only makes sense if the money is being earmarked to bring back St.Clair who is more versatile.

That would be 2 very good picks if it fell that way but if the Bears passed on Macklin who according to that mock was still on the board I would be sick.This guy could hep immediately in the return game and WILL develop into a number one reciever.

IMO he would fit right now on the right side where he would not encounter as many speed rushers which he does have trouble with.With Chris Williams penciled in on the left side he would seemed to be perfect to start off on the right.

Thats what I'm thinking and he should also have the necessary motivation to prove everyone that passed on him wrong. Plus we would be getting a top five talent for a bargain at 18.

Not surprising.He had plenty of opportunities to gain a starting position and never really came close.His suspension last season led me to believe that his days were numbered.

Last season all the close games that we lost in the 4th qtr was it because the offense or the defense not being able to hold the lead? Carolina,Tampa, and Atlanta are three games that the offense lead by Orton did enough to win the game come to mind.Why is there so much negative talk about the offense when the defense let this team down a lot. I think the Bears should consider one of the safeties at 18 also.Whether its Delmas,Cheung or Moore could all be in the mix at that pick.How about our inconsistent pass rush.Could the Bears be considering a DE? I wouldn't be surprised if they went that way.IMO they should get over their fears and draft a WR to give themselves another weapon on offense.I personally like Hakeem Nicks and think he will be a similar fit to the Bears offense as Forte was last season.

hey nfo whats up? Its been a while. Word from the Alabama Pro day is that Andre Smith only did 19 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press after he basically put all his stock into this workout.I can see his stock dropping even more and he may be in the mix at 18.Would you take a chance on this guy who up until his behavior just be fore the bowl game was atop five talent.

Repeatedly the Bears under JA have drafted small school guys in the second round with mixed results. He is another guy that looks like he gets a little overwhelmed at times. Remember Roo Williams? He was so overwhelmed that he felt he didn't belong.First of JAs questionable second rounders. The second one was Tillman. TT I know your passion for the Bears is outstanding but D. Manning is what he is a small fish in a big pond.Letting him do something simple like return kicks until he can get the hang of the Cover 2 might help. Why did they get rid of Chris Harris? he had the same problem of being out of position a lot. D. Manning is a good return man but he has had to play too many different rolls on defense for his football IQ to handle. Yes I said it I think D.Manning has trouble understanding the Bears scheme.

Why? I have been a Bear fan for over forty years and I have a more realistic view of what they can get accomplished.They lost the leading passer,receiver and rusher from last season and we had no clue who we were going to get production from on offense.We start a new QB and rookie RB plus 2 new receivers .What did you see that would make you believe that the Bears would win their first two games on the road win they haven't done that since 1963? Its okay to be optimistic but if you are a football fan you know the Bears had some major issues after a lackluster preseason and poor season last year.I realistically think 10-6 or 9-7 is an attainable goal for the Bears. BTW Didn't your original post say you had the Bears losing to the Colts and now you say you thought they would win the first two games?

Wesson relax man! This is just two weeks into the season and the Bears just played two tough teams on the road.Did you actually have them 2 and 0 after the first two games or 1 and 1? Now they come home after starting off with two straight road games for the first time since moving to Soldier Field in the 70's.Now they have a chance to play two games at home and they are facing a team that might have a little termoil going on in Tampa.After how Garcia played last season for the Bucs I don't understand the thinking of replacing him with Griese but, I'm not mad about it because I think Garcia would have caused the Bears problems with his mobility. So after two weeks the Vikings who a lot of the talking heads pick to win the NFC North are 0 and 2 the Lions who every one thinks should be a playoff team is 0 and 2,while the Bears and the Packers are 2-0 and 1-1 respectively. I like our chances this week with this defense going up against John Gruden's offense.If we can continue to stop the run like we did the first two games I don't see Griese being able to be the Bears by himself.He has always been a guy who could put up some decent stats but tends to have crucial turnovers when the game is on the line.If the Bears get some hits on him early in the game he will start throwing the ball up for grabs.We witnessed this very thing last season which is why the Bears put Grossman back in.