bradjock

A big reason it won't happen is that Marv Levy's gone from Buffalo. He helped the Bears out on 2 different occassions. In 2006 he traded the #42 and the #73, for #26--D Manning & Dvoracek for John McCago. I'd STILL make that trade today in a heart-beat. The HUGE part was it gave the Bears the flexibility to draft Devin Hester at #57. There's no way we gamble on him without the extra pick. The other trade was Darwin Walker for a 5th round pick. Still a steal IMO. Levy's a Chicago guy and I have a feeling it made dealing with the Bears easier, and to our advantage. That being said, I HATE the trade-ups. In 2006 there was talk about trading up for Vernon Davis. He sucks. (so far). Last year there was talk of trading up for Greg Olsen. There was talk Olsen would go at #14 last year. Half the guys in the draft are busts. I'd be happy as hell trading down.

Honestly, unless we tag Berrian I believe we do lose all 4. Berrian's the only killer of the group. Moose is pretty much done and the coaches have realized that. The 2nd half of the season you rarely saw him in during the 4th quarter of meaningful games. Which means we're potentially losing two starting WR's and there are few available in free agency. Mark Bradley's proven nothing and Rashied is a nice #5 (I think we'll resign him). Lovie said Hester can be a legit #1, but we'd be crazy to think he'll remember the playbook. I don't want to see him on the field too much since it seems to take away from his kick/punt returns. That's the only real problem of the bunch. I see us letting Rex or Griese go and drafting a #3 QB. Briggs is replaced by Williams/Okwo, and we'll look to sign a guard. Hell, John St. Clair was our best starting LG this season (which ain't saying much.)

Agreed. What track record??? Norm Chow is known for his work at USC, but what's he done at the NFL level? The two don't often translate. Granted I will give him credit for making Justin Gage look like a #1 receiver for a couple of games. I still don't get where all the hate for Turner comes from. Two of his 3 years here have been good. When your 0-line sucks, your running-backs consist of a confused rookie, a nice #2, and a guy who will be out of the league in 3 years (I won't miss you Cedric) . . . oh, and your damn WR's can't hang onto the damn ball. Meanwhile, your #1 offensive weapon is too damn stupid to remember what he's doing. I almost forget his quarterbacks are color blind. I give Turner a pass on the 2007 season.

There's not much out there yet. NFLdraftcountdown.com has 3 rounds, but they currently only have one round-up. Since it hasn't been updated since December 20th, it still has the Bears drafting 12th. I don't think time has expired for the underclassmen to declare but I could be wrong.

Great post. Agree with most of what you said. As for Rex, IMO after JA came out and said "there will be competition at quarterback" for the first time since Rex's rookie year . . . Rex ain't getting much love from us. I'd be shocked if he returned. 1. JA needs to rebuild the line. I would look to add two new linemen this year, and they'd need to be extremely strong run blockers at the point of attack. I guess I'd try to find guys that Rex could see over without sacrificing pass blocking ability due to short arms. LOL. That's great in theory, but I can't imagine we'll spend the money to sign TWO extremely strong run blockers and whoever we draft will likely sit a year. Rex seems to only hit the very outside stuff on them, and ocassionally a fade. He's gotta pick up the middle of the field, especially the TE and the slot guy cutting across. It's going to be easier if we're taking people's legs out. Everyone else does it. Why don't we do more of it? Isn't that because Rex can't see over the big d-linemen who know if they go at him with there hands up they've got a good chance of tipping it? .....C. More running plays (do we have ANY?) from the shotgun. I believe we need to step up to the current ways of attack, having designed runs from the shotgun, and I don't just mean the draw. I mean running a shotgun spread with a back on each hip that you can toss to, criss cross in the backfield, run stretch plays and especially designed cutbacks like other teams are doing to our defense. If the defense KNOWS we're gonna pass only from the shotgun, they're going to kill us with blitzes. The problem I see is the other team kills with blitzes anyway. You can get away with this if your Brady or Manning, but it looks like a damn jailbreak coming at the QB when we use the shot gun. Until we establish an intimidating pass game, our running back will get dropped quickly on that play. 3. Better run to pass ratio. Too much passing overall this past year. Sure, our running game was pretty anemic in ypc, but there were plenty of games where we saw no comittment to running, even when it was working. Heck, Turner had a real problem with sticking to a script instead of sticking to what's working in the flow of the game. Agreed. I wonder if Turner wants to be a "run-first" offense. I hear Lovie & JA talking about "getting off the bus running" but not Turner. 4. I don't care where you find him, but I'd look to get a real slobberknocker at FB. If that's the case we should resign John Gilmore and play him at full-back. For whatever reason, we want our FB's to be receiver's 1st, and blockers 2nd.

I checked http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/...;draftyear=2008 I have Insider and the experts take came up blank. They gave him a grade of a 30 out of 100. Sounds like a home pick to me.

Angelo says he's happy with his WR's and I have no reason not to believe him. IMO the X-factor in the WR discussion is Greg Olsen. He's a guy who shows the potential to be a legitimate game-changer. That's true of Hester also. I anticipate we'll resign Rashied Davis, while Moose and Bradley will also be back. I wouldn't be surprised if we tagged or resigned Berrian. With all those guys in the mix, we have far greater needs then WR. It's so damn hard to predict the draft at this point. If Rashied Davis & Berrian are gone by draft day, that could change things. But right now I just don't see it.

I figured I'd throw out what I think we'll happen. It's pretty damn boring right now. Other then rooting for the Patriots to lose, there's not much to look forward to until free agency begins around the first of March, and then then draft which begins April 26th. : #1: Angelo will do exactly what he said (which is about like interpretting the Bible at times, but that being said . . . ) #2: He will try to sign all our free agents: IMO JA has a set $$ amount, & when guys like Rex & Briggs get better offers--they gone. #3: RB will be priority #1--He seems pissed about our RB's. He'll break the bank for Turner. If not him, Jones or Fargas. #4: Orton will be our #1 QB--If you listen to JA he's all about defense & running the ball. Orton doesn't get sacked or throw picks. #5: Our first 4 picks (in any order) will be o-line, safety, WR, & QB #6: We tag Berrian--Teams have Monopoly money & he's the #1 WR. #7: We resign Ayanbadejo--(Remember that closed door meeting JA had with Rosenass back in November. Things got done.) #8: Along with Briggs & Rex, Ruben Brown, Arch, Gilmore, & Metcalf are gone. #9: Griese, Darwin Walker, Fred Miller, and Cedric return. #10: Other then RB, no major free agent signings.

It couldn't hurt. More importantly, I wonder if Berrian would have any trade value? Most teams aren't stupid enough to trade for AND pay for a player they know will likely be available in a year. But the free agent market is pretty damn sparse, so who knows? I was surprised when the Redskins made an offer for Briggs. What we do with Berrian may depend on: a) How good/bad is Mark Bradley? Can Hester be more of an every down receiver? c) What do we think will be available in the draft? I suspect the answers are: a) bad, No, c) No immediate help. If that's the case we definitely should franchise him.

You're REALLY arguing against yourself. Roethlisberger been an average quarterback on a great team with good blocking, good WR's, and a great running game. He was pretty bad in the Super Bowl, going something like 7 for 17 with no touchdowns. Yet because he won a Super Bowl, he gets "great" status. The guys you mentioned above are really just all crappy, and it's tough to distinguish which one is better then the other. Cutler's had a good quarterback rating, but on bad teams and Denver hasn't made the playoffs with him in command. If you draft a QB in round one, those guys damn near all get to play no matter how bad they are. San Fran sucks, and there's not much they can do because they made Alex Smith the #1 and paid him a ton of dough. When you draft a guy high and they are bad, it sets your franchise back. If you draft a bad QB high, it sets your franchise back for years. (like drafting Cedric only much worse.) Don't you want to win now? If we draft a QB in round one, it likely means rebuilding. No thanks.

I watched their playoff gave specifically just to root for them to lose. It's mind boggling how damn stupid they are, bringing in guys who don't fit their system, and then letting their own players walk just to free up cap room. I wonder how long it will be before they've paid off Arch? The way they trade off draft picks, it always surprises me they're as good as they are. In a league where having depth is so important, they simply ignore it. At some point they're going to have to do what the Titans did . . . basically dump everyone and start over.

He's had some unbelievable catches the past two years. Granted I'm still pissed at him for a few of the drops. But last year TO led the league in drops and still put up some fantastic numbers. If Berrian leaves our offense immediately becomes much worse. That's a scary thought.

Damn I can't believe we wasted a 3rd round pick on him. Maybe "wasted" is a harsh word, but he was projected to be around in the 5th, and you expect to get 3rd down back/special team guys in the 5th. You want every down starters in round 3.

Drunkbomber, I agree we'd be much better with Faneca, but how much can we spend on the o-line? This 2007 we spent 15 million on Kreutz, Tait, and Miller alone. As hard as it is to find good line-men, there's a damn good chance that even Fred Miller will be back next year. As for our o-line needing a complete over-haul, I disagree that it's that bad. Kreutz is widely reguarded as one of the best in the look. Tait is good, but struggled this season with the high ankle sprain. Garza had a bad year, but should bouce back. The top guards are fetching 50-60 million. With the rising cap, it might be more then that. I simply can't see spending that much for a guard.

Good point with the defensive guys. I see your argument. I still wonder if we hate to play offensive rookies. While Olsen did play a lot, is there any one of us who didn't think he should be on the field more? Meanwhile, Wolfe, other then a random carry here or there, didn't see any meaningful action until Cedric Benson went down. He was frequently inactive. The first game AP started, I expected to see a lot from Wolfe, and he didn't see the field. Orton might be the exception, but he began starting out of desperation when Rex went down and Hutchinson played his way out of the league. Berrian's rookie year might be another exception, but when the guys in front of you are David Terrell and Bobby Wade . . . It also could be that the offensive players we drafted flat out suck. But either way, we've demonstrated a tendency to bring offensive players along VERY slowly. I can't see any offensive draft pick, like running-back for example, having any significant impact.

He'll be just another guy for the 80 man training camp roster. MAYBE he'd make the team as a special teams player. It's good to hear we're scouring all possible options to improve this team.

This is something I can't remember anyone bringing up before (which means it's probably been brought up 1000 times.) But as we talk about bringing in impact players, our history would indicate that we wouldn't give a rookie the chance to play. Yes it's happened before with this staff but only when there was nobody else available (Kyle Orton & Trumaine McBride). Probably the most blatant examples of this were how long it took us to get Hester involved during the 2006 season. Hell, the season was half-way over before we let him start returning kick-offs. Not to mention the way Greg Olsen often dissappeared this year. This theory could also explain why we never saw Hass or Beekman. Knowing this leaves me very doubtful that we can expect anything immediatel from the guys we draft in April

Good. I hope like hell we sign him. It's not that I think he's that great, but Griese appears to be done, Orton looks like a good #2, and the only guy who has the potential to be a top tier QB is Rex. What's bad is Rex will arguably be the best FA QB out there. Derek Anderson is likely to be franchised. The other turd QB's available include Dante Culpepper, Josh McNown, and Quinn Early (whoever the hell that is . . . he's from Jacksonville and probably has Jonathon Quinn ability.) There's no way we can count on any rookie. It's in our best interest to bring Rex back.

I was going to add that I'd inadvertantly left Duckett off the list. My response? Blech. I'd rather stick with Adrian Peterson. The idea should be to bring in an upgrade, not just a body.

What you say about drafting a mid-round running back makes sense, and a lot of teams do it, but I can't imagine this coaching would want any part of that. One thing that's not been talked about enough is we do not like to play rookies. Running-backs alone, Cedric was a 3rd year player and we STILL don't trust him with blocking schemes. Our season was damn near over with before Garrett Wolfe saw any meaningful action. Olsen didn't see as much time as he should have and we didn't insert Trumaine McBride into the line-up until we had to. Angelo was adament about bring in competition, and I can't believe that ANY rookie would have a realistic chance.

Angelo basically said he was pissed about our running game. He said you expect your featured back to break off a couple 20+ yard runs per game, and we didn't do that. He didn't blame the coaches or the o-line, he put it on the running backs. Considering since Angelo has been with the Bears, he's had pretty good luck with FA running backs (Thomas Jones), and pretty bad luck with FA draft picks (Cedric Benson, and probably Garrett Wolfe). Here's a list of some of the running backs available (as per the Peoria Journal Star). I was just wondering who you guys want or think JA will target. #1. Michael Turner, San Diego--(I know he's a favorite here, but I don't think I've ever seen him play.) #2. Marion Barner, Dallas: Restricted--(If Jerry Jones wants him, we won't get him.) #3. Jamal Lewis, Cleveland--(As explosive as Cleveland was this year, I could have produce for them. No thanks.) #4. Julius Jones, Dallas--(The only thing down-side would be listing to Cedric cry about how Thomas's brother snaps him with a towel in the locker room.) #5. Justin Fargas, Oakland--(Not much talent, but he'd run head first into a brick wall. He made the worst o-line in the league look decent. I'd take him.) #6. Derrick Ward, Giants: Restricted--(The Giants had FOUR different running backs who looked awesome. Bad.) #7. Vernard Morency, Packers: Restricted--(If you lose your job to a full-back . . . ) #8. Chris Brown, Tennessee: Restricted--(The object is to bring in competition for Cedric, not collect bad running-backs.) #9. Mike Simoneau, New Orleans: Who???

Agreed. I was getting ready to post something similar. If Angelo says too much, he's an absolute jack-ass. I remember a few years back he praised David Terrell for being a good football player, and then DT was cut a few days later. A good GM doesn't say anything that will piss the wrong people off, and you sure as hell don't want to tip your hand by saying, "We're going to do everything we can to sign Michael Turner!!!" Angelo seemed honest and promised to work on fixing our problems over the next few months. That's about all we can ask for.

So the coaches know Beekman & Hass suck, so we should play them just to prove how bad they suck? I remember everyone was pissed early in the year we weren't playing Hester at WR more frequently . . . then as soon as we do, Hester's jumping off-sides, we're calling time outs because he's out of position, or Moose is shoving him to where he's supposed to be like it's a damn Jr. high game. I know there was at least one interception this year that happened this year when Hester ran the wrong route. Hester wasn't playing because he wasn't ready to play. Beekman & Hass don't have near his talent, so if they're not ready to compete at the NFL level, then I don't want to see them out there. Good franchises don't do that. (Although we might have done that with Cedric). In the press conference, Angelo said we were playing those games to win. Period. He added he was happy that Green Bay and New Orleans were both good teams that NEEDED a win, and the Bears beat them. I love to hear that. Forget the crap about "let's lose so we get a better draft pick." It was great seeing the Bears kick ass the last two weeks of the season, and seeing how dominant we can be.

I don't know if you listened to the interview, or simply read it, but his "How can I count on Mike Brown" was the only time he ever seemed to show any emotion. He then went on to say they would way and see how much progress Mike Brown makes in recovering and then they'd go from there. IMO it sounded like ammunition for at the very least asking Brown to restructure his deal. As for replacing Brown, there isn't much available on the free agent market other then Ken Hamlin, who is a FS. It would make sense to me to keep Brown and draft a safety with one of our 3rd round picks.