bradjock

Nice! I enjoy this so much, I'm going to add more teams under the names of former "talkbears" guys. I'll going to start with Nick Foligno.

Just for the record, while Lovie has a record of helping people stay away from trouble, he's generally been unsuccessful. Here's what we should be asking: Janoris Jenkins is a top 10 talent. We won't consider him in round #1. What if he's there when the Bears pick in the 2nd round??? That'd be awfully damn tempting. I say yes.

Awesome!!! I'm in! I watch damn near every minute of the draft so making predictions is a nice extra . . . even though I'm never close. Last year I got off to a blazing start predicting Carolina would pick Cam Newton. Unfortunately I missed on my next 31 picks.

Damn good argument and nice analysis. I have to agree 100%. We don't need an ELITE left tackle. But we do need a good one. Ironically, of the 3 of the top 4 2011 playoff teams you mentioned that didn't have a pro bowl LT, 2 have former pro-bowl LT's: (New England--Matt Light & Baltimore--Bryant McKinnie) The Giants LT Will Beatty was a 2nd round pick. Most of the top teams had good LT's. There's exceptions: 2010 Bears who finished with Frank Omiyale---not good. I liked John Tait. He was never a pro-bowler, but he was damn good and the Bears broke the bank to sign him. It comes down to this: Is J Webb & Carimi any damn good??? It is possible to have success with bad tackles, but it's not easy. If they're bad, we're in trouble. More importantly: How do you find a good tackle? They are extremely expensive on the market and not readily available. That's why drafting one in the first round is so enticing.

I disagree with you saying Tice had no choice but to play C Williams at guard. In 2010 he started him at LT, then moved him to guard a few games into the season and kept him there. Omiyale & J Webb played the tackle spots. He kept C Williams at guard at the start of 2011 in favor of Omiyale, J Webb, & Carimi. When Carimi was hurt and Omiyale sucked, he kept C Williams at guard and put Lance Louis on the outside. Tice doesn't hesitate to move guys around. For some reason, he prefers C Williams playing guard.

Hayden did not start in ATL because he is true cover 2 type corner , Big sifference from what ATL runs. Good point. Although it's still a concern that no team was willing to pay him more than the minimum. Some Bears fans seem to be overinflating his value. WR to me out of it till later, Weems, Thomas and Marshall additions will make it tough for WR in the 2nd, Except Marshall is likely to miss at least one game and Knox is uncertain. Weems & Thomas are your #5 and #6 WR's. We could use another play-maker. Particularly because Marshall is so in the physical pass game, it would be valuable to have a guy who can stretch the field the way Knox did. I have no faith in Hester. We have 2 solid TE s Now Spaeth, and Davis will be starting TE's. Smith and Adams are the seconday TE. No need for TE pick this draft because it sucks Davis is average at best and Spaeth is a blocker. We need to add one more. Upshaw is a much different type a player then Anderson, Look at his tape he played the run well. He would be 3 or 4 down player. Just because he played the run well in college doesn't mean he can do it in the pros. At least not at the level of a typical 4-3 DE.

True, but the odds of finding another constant pro-bowl linebacker in the 3rd round are remote. More often than not, when it comes to drafting, you get what you pay for. Inevitably we will need to address the linebacker spot in round #1.

Yep. As you mentioned previously, he's an ideal #3 WR. We just need to not play him in the slot, where under Martz's system always meant him going across the middle. Get him on the field in limited doses and utilize him on special teams.

True, but why cut a guy in April due to a failed physical? That makes no damn sense unless he was due a roster bonus or something. Even then they can likely file an injury claim. It makes no sense unless they had other reasons for cutting him. On a side note, Stinger mentioned Lovie moving in an babysitting him. While Lovie has the reputation for that, ironically, I can't think of a single player he has ever successfully reformed. That being said, we need another safety. He's worth a look and he's supposed to be 100% by the end of the offseason.

Agreed. The thing is, with first round talent, chances are there may be a linebacker with a 92 grade and a DE with a 90 grade. In that case it's close enough to take the DE because they're pretty damn close, and DE is a greater need. Unless another talent is clearly above and beyond everyone else, you take the top player available to fit your need. You also have to consider economics. With the rookie scale, players are going to make "x" amount of dollars. Offensive tackles and d-lineman are worth far more on the open market than RB's, OG's and safeties. We have to take that into consideration.

Interesting. I will throw out that last yeart the "safest" pick in the draft by far was Danny Watkins. He was a 26 year old fireman. Coincidentally, he sucked his rookie season.

Somebody ALWAYS falls. For all the time we spend speculating on who should go where, there's always several WTF's??? Last year the QB's were the big shockers. Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, and Christian Ponder weren't projected to go anywhere near the top 12 where they were drafted. Seattle took OT James Carpenter over Carimi & Derrek Sherrod. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Heck, the Bears claimed they were going to take Paea at #29 if Carimi was gone. Then you have Da'Quon Bowers who intitially was projected as the best player in the draft, slip all the way to #51. Granted that was due to his knee injury, but that was still a shock IMO. Guys will slip and we'll have "WTF?" moments. The question is if it's a position we need.

What scares me about Quinton after reading that is he doesn't sound any better than J Webb. If you're going to spend a first round pick on a guy, he'd better be damn better then the guy you have. Sounds iffy.

Chris Williams--Tice loves him at guard, why do we think this would change? I'm just asking. Garza--we should consider Spencer replacing him. His age concerns me. Just a thought. Carimi--Can he stay healthy? Louis--he appears to be a beast. If nothing else, he could be the swing tackle. Everone forgets he started 11 games at RT this year.

Many said something similar when we cut ties with Kreutz last summer. He was the cornerstone of the offense for over a decade. Turned out he couldn't play. Thank christ somebody with the Bears had the sense to recognize this and yanked the contract offer before it was too late. New Orleans didn't see it. Unlike New Orleans, we would not have benched him. It sure as hell didn't hurt the Packers when they did it to Favre for Aaron Rogers. Worked out pretty damn good. This situation is well documented with quarterbacks. I'm trying to think of a situation where there was a future hall of fame defensive player has his replacement drafted. I'm sure it's happened many times. Briggs & Urlacher are 33 and 34 this year. I hate the idea because of the legacy those two have enjoyed and because it's not an immediate need, but if Kuechly slipped to #19, we should at least consider it very hard.

CB is no longer a need, Hayden will fill in nice Hayden didn't start for Atlanta. Why would he start for the Bears? He's here to compete with Tim Jennings which means CB is still a need. Not a great need, but a need. DT can be in the second round If you go DE in the first, shouldn't we go TE, O-line, or WR in round #2? If Upshaw is still there 19 I expect him to be a bear. I'd LOVE the Upshaw pick but we'd have to be careful not to misuse him the way we did Mark Anderson. We couldn't have him on the field in obvious running plays.

I hope like hell by the end of next season we're discussing franchising Melton cause he's that damn good. This year it always seemed like he would have 2 sacks and 5 tackles against Atlanta, and the next week be invisible against New Orleans. How much does he benefit from playing next to Peppers? I hope he can be great, I'm just skeptical.

While that's a definite need, I'd argue we currently have a greater need JUST on the defensive side for DT, DE, and CB. Urlacher & Briggs have manned the position for so long and they've always been healthy. We need to think about eventual replacements. How do you replace a future Hall of Famer and a constant pro-bowler with a 2nd or 3rd round pick? It's quite possible that next year at this time linebacker will be our #1 need. As of today, it'd down on the list.

Okoye's in Tampa Bay's mix now, not Chicago's. I meant to say we were in pretty good shape with Okoye. Okoye is still young with room to grow. He wasn't good against the run, but he could get to the QB. Based on what he did last year, I'm shocked we wouldn't pay 1.3 to 2 million (or whatever it was) for him to return. The way we rotated DT's, this leaves a gaping hole. Maybe we watched two different Anthony Adams, but I thought AA was pathetic in 2011. Anthony has never been a spectacular player, just solid. He looked pathetic at times, but so did the rest of our DT's. High floord. Low ceiling. With him gone, we are left with 2 incredibly inconsistent players in Melton & Paea, and Toeania who lacks talent.

Agreed with what it would take. That's still considered somewhat "crazy territory" where teams are willing to go all in for that guy they want. Considering all of our needs, that 3rd round pick is incredibly important for the Bears. I could see us moving down a few spots to recapture next year's 3rd round pick we gave up in the Marshall deal.

It's just frustrating because every damn year we use a high pick on a DT and have very little to show for it. Paea, Jaron Gilbert, Marcus Harrison, Dusty Dvoracek . . . just to name a few. I guess you have to include Melton in that list even though he was drafted as a DE. Those 5 were all picked in the first 4 rounds. To make matters worse, in big games against good opponents our DT's looked awful. Anthony Adams has been one of the more consistent Bears and Okoye was #2 in playing time. That means we likely need to add TWO defensive tackles. That being said, I wouldn't rule out Adams returning. I don't think he's signed. If we go DE in round #1 and if Wooton gets his head out of his ass, I wouldn't be shocked if Idonije moved back to DT.

AGAIN. When was the last time we didn't want to take a DT with one of our top picks? I like Melton & Paea's potential. Toeania is a veteran pro. With Okoye in that mix, we're in pretty good shape. I would not be shocked if we viewed adding a DT in the first round of the draft a priority over DE and OT.

Agreed. Getting a good OT & a DE that can get to the QB in rounds #1 and #2 help solve two of our biggest problems.

It sounds like it's not so much about championships but about $$$. The Bengals have more cap room left to spend than any other team. If you want to get paid, that's one of the few teams left.

Absolutely. Each year we keep 5 and and some point we'll have at least 2 injured. Major Wright has never been able to stay healthy for an extended period of time. Conte needs competition. While Steltz makes a nice back-up strong safety and special teams player, he's better in a limited role.