bradjock

Absolutely. I love the "trade downs." It's typically 2 for the price of one. That being said, it all depends on the players and the situation. In 2007 when we took Olsen, we had the chance to trade down and didn't. Damn good move. Ironically, that move helped the Brandon Marshall trade happen. In 2006 we traded down to Buffalo and drafed Hester.

Jerry Angelo gave us Mushin Muhammed in '05 who was a legit #1 (or so we thought) He signed Brian Griese in '06 who was a legit #2 QB (again . . . so we thought) Jerry did plenty of trading for players. Cutler, RMJ, Gaines Adams . . . Considering in his 10+ years as GM, Angelo made just about every move imaginable, I concede this is a silly argument. My point is that like Angelo, Emery is making moves based on the recommendations of the head coach. Based on that, I expect to see a continued emphasis on defense and think we'll go d-line early and often in the draft.

I thought Tim Jennings would have better stats. I was wrong. Although both guys have similar back-grounds. Both were 2nd round picks by the Colts. Hayden is a year older and bigger. Neither have put up impressive numbers. Hayden has 11 total interceptions and Jennings 7. Immediatel stats: Hayden only played 8 games last year. That gives Jennings an advantage. Ought to be one helluva a camp battle . . .

Agreed. Although I'd include DT with that cycle. Melton looks good 4 times a year, Paea did nothing the first half of the season, and Matt Toeaina is surprised he's still in the league. With Okoye & Adams both likely out, that's thin. While there is a new GM, we have NOT conducted business differently. We've loaded up on special teams, brought in back-up CB's to try and start, and swore publicly we love and believe in our o-line. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. I would not be surprised if rounds #1 and #2 were DE & DT or vice-versa.

I'd compare it to college coaches buying players (with the obvious exception that nobody gets hurt long term in that deal.) It's one thing for a coach to be accused of buying a player. It's another for him to get caught red-handed. In both of these cases the institutions would love to overlook the misconduct, but when it's this obvious, you have no choice.

The fact we signed two veterans on the cheap who hope for a chance to start tells me we ain't going CB in round #1. As I mentioned earlier, we don't put that much stock in CB's in Lovie's cover 2 scheme.

If the Bears signeed Steinbeck, doesn't that greatly reduce their chance of going OL high? The thinking is we'd kick Chris Williams out to tackle to compete with J Webb & Carimi. On the inside we have E Williams, Spencer, Louis, and Steinbeck. It is possible one of thse guys could get cut, but if we added Steinbeck, the need for an o-lineman would be diminished.

Damnit. I couldn't remember so you made me google it. Jeremy Mincey from Jacksonville. At one point the DE was rumored to be signing with the Bears and we had heavy interest. He inked with Jacksonville for 4 years, 27.2 million. We were also rumored to want Cliff Avril if available. He was franchised and signed a long term deal.

How do you figure he's the 2nd best CB on the roster? The Falcons wanted him worse than the Bears and he only started 8 games. He might be better than Tim Jennings and I hope he is.

While there is a cry for o-line, the fact is we've made no real attempt to upgrade. On the flip side, we really wanted to get the DE from Jacksonville and the DE from Detroit. Pending an unexpected player falling, I'd be shocked if we didn't go DE in round #1.

Why don't they release the exact dates? I've never understood that. I'm one of those guys who likes to have things on my calendar in advance. How many years in a row have we played the Browns? It makes sense because of their proximity. I'm surprised we don't play the Colts, Titans, and Rams every year in pre-season.

Last year all signs pointed to us taking an o-lineman in round #1. This year the signs point to d- end. I've seen Mercilus projected to go as high as 14 or dropping to round #2. If we're convinced he's not a one year wonder and he's available, he's our guy IMO. He can get to the QB. After round #1, IMO it's a pure "best player available" situation. With our 2nd pick, I could see us going o-line, DT, TE, WR, or CB in a non-discriminatory fashion. The best player goes.

Steinbeck is damn good when healthy. You say, "I wonder what the Bears are really thinking for a line-up next year." To that I'd answer Tice is unpredictable and he's not worried about consistency. It's like he sits down every week and says, "Who will be the best at this spot . . . " One year he spent all off-season bragging up Asiata & Louis. They get benched in favor of week 3 pick-up Edwin Williams. Last year he decides to play Louis at tackle over Chris Williams. Louis is a guard playing RT and C Williams is a RT playing guard. He's played Garza at LG, RG, and Center. Expect the unexpected.

Are those guys good or thrust into the line-up because they were drafted high? Chris Williams rookie season we were prepared to start him at RT and likely play him there every game if not for the injury. You've documented the confusion around Chris Williams and I'm with you. Now we believe in Carimi . . . I hate debating o-lineman. Part of my problem is I believe the Bears actually believe that J Webb can be good. I concede I'm stupid for believing that. The way they've bragged him and Carimi up, I can't believe we'll go o-line in round one. What sucks is we may have one of the best DE's in football and he's limited because he plays opposite of Izzy. God I'd love to see a pass rusher. That's just my opinion.

When has a cover two team after took a CB in round #1? I'm sure it's happened, but Lovie still has input. If we're goinog to go defense, our #1 priority is a pass rush. I do like taking Jeff Allen in round #2. The way Tice likes big lineman, we could start him at LG and kick Williams out to compete for the tackle position.

My point is that it's unlikely that we will be able to draft an OLT at 19, Good point. A few years ago there was the stat that 1st round o-linemen had a high success rate. It seems like since then, teams have reached for OT's, starting with the C Williams class. There's been a lot of bad/mediocre and depending on the drafted guard, they may not be able to beat out Edwin Williams. When did Edwin Williams get that good? I just keep seeing people suggesting that we throw resources at the Oline, By people, don't you mean Jason but unless they are a grade A stud, they might be a wasted pick and there really hasn't been a proven upgrade available in FA at a reasonable price either. The bottom line is that you can't really draft an Olineman and expect them to be an immediate improvement - unless they are REALLY NFL ready. - as in going in the first round. Agreed. Any OT left at #19 will be a reach. Unless we get a stud guard (which I don't see happening) I see us going d-line in round #1

Based on the other gear, I predict the jerseys will look pretty much the EXACT same only with the swoosh instead of the R. I'm thinking Puma had the contract before Reebok. Reebok took over like 12 years ago. There was little to no change. I had the Chris Zorich jersey . . .

Agreed. The key word was ultimately. The discussions are great and serious, but none of it is seriious. I view it as a nice escape from reality. No more, no less.

It really doesn't look much different than Reebok IMO.

My issue with the Campbell signing is he was too expensive and a one year solution. We'll be negotiating with Cutler, so there's no way we can continue to pay a back-up 3.5 million. That means next year at this time we'll be looking for another back-up QB. I like all the rest of our moves. It's easy to complain about special teams guys, but how many times have we won a game specifically because of our special teams play? With Bell, he was a former 7th round pick on a mediocre line. He probably wants top $$$. Is he that much of an upgrade over Webb?

Agreed. I was making light of how silly all these Bear discussions ultimately are.

That's a terrible example. We gave the most dynamic return man to ever play the game a big contract hoping he could be a #1. He's earned every dollar IMO. Just not as a WR.

Again I hate agreeing with you. We have a bad o-line and bad d-line (minus Peppers) We did add WR depth. Except depth doesn't equate to good. We replaced Sam Hurd & Dane Sanzenbacher. Not helpful. But I forget: Tice will be the guy who turns Hester into a good wr . . .

I'm guessing your suggesting that Wesson & Jason should either: a) Agree to meet at a mutual point where they will fight until death Cut out all this foreplay and . . . Either way, I've always advocated the occasional talkbears fight. At the very least, it livens things up a bit. At this point the two should agree on a mutual battle weapon . . . I'm thinking knives.

I hate agreeing with you Terra. But we had among the most cap space available and added exactly one starter. I do like the Michael Bush signing. We overpaid for a back-up QB. And we signed a bunch of filler players. That's it?