bradjock

I think he'll give added depth to the practice squad next year.

Agreed AtHomeBoy. That and I still think we'll pick up an offensive guard from somewhere or another. Be it Faneca or someone else.

Under important topics on the main page there's a chat room link. I copied and pasted it below. Just type your name and your user name. http://pub25.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/2092760412

I was hoping Taylor Mays would come out last year and we'd have been able to draft him at #15 or wherever we were. I just don't see us having the ammo to go get him.

My best draft memories were being on the old site when: 1. The debate when we drafted Ced Benson over Mike Williams when guys were so pissed they were ready to travel cross country to kill each other, and 2. The following year when we traded out of the 1st two take Hester & Manning. Some were ready to burn down Halas. The Super Bowl seemed to lighten everyone up. Everyone was happy with Olsen and then Williams the following year. Either way, it doesn't feel like a draft unless someone calls JA a dirty rotten worthless cock-sucker. I'll be in the chat room all night and tomorrow. (I'm continuing my Al Bundy vacation in the garage with the Bud Light)

Guilt has nothing to do with it. Big Ben's bad publicity made himself, the team, and the league look real bad. Roger Goodell's #1 priority is to protect the product.

Um . . . this may be the stupidest question ever asked on talkbears, and I should know this, but you're really from Alaska? Sheesh, it's chilly here in Central Illinois. It's dropped down to 62 degrees. Good thing I got my Bears hoody on. I was just contemplating heading inside. I root for the Bulls but watching them play the Cavs . . .

Would you love the guy if he'd hooked you up with better seats? I only mention that since your situation does tell me much about his ability to help run a team. During the press conference they speculated that the team would remain owned by the Halas family for years to come. Although I'm not sure how you divy it up 11 ways.

I'm in. To be honest, this doesn't change much for me. I'm sitting in the garage on the lap-top with the TV on. I'm taking my annual Al Bundy vacation. (That's where the wife and kid have to pretend like I'm not home)

Damnit Trav D!!! Prioritize! Get your ass in the chat room and go out after. Who the hell do you think you are? Rothlesberger?

The only way we move up IMO is if we trade a player and our #3. Players we might consider: 1. Olsen (might not be worth enough) 2. Hester (leave us too thin at WR) 3. Dez Clark (not worth much) 4. Danieal Manning Okay, we ain't got much. But please note that we will not move up without trading a player.

The 4 starters is a misleading stat. You're ignoring all the incumbant players we either signed or drafted who are locked into their positions. Wale, Alex Brown, Urlacher, Briggs, and Peanut are all high paid starters. With the exception of Brown, none have even had their jobs in question. That's almost 1/2 the defense. Doesn't Angelo get credit for finding starters like Roach and Hunter off the scrap-heap? For signing Anthony Adams? Is he get blamed for the 6th & 7th round picks? I agree we need to draft better but calling it a 15% hit rate is misleading.

Yet that is sort of what surprises me about Scheffler. NE does like the TE, and from all reports, are looking to deal for a TE now. They sure have spent enough picks trying to find one. So it stands to reason the TE is very much a part of NE's offensive system, and thus you would think part of Denvers. But don't they want a TE who can block in pass protection and then roll-out? It could be Olsen is too much of a liability. I have personally always had a big issue with this sort of thing. I get that coaches have systems they like to run, but to me, if a coach is really all that, he should be able to adapt his system in order to fit players. That doesn't mean he must totally change his system for a medium level player, but if a team has upper tier talent, I just question getting rid of all that talent just to make your system fit. Talent is talent. You need to find a spot where a guy can succeed. Why can't Sims play SS? He's 6'0 225. Afalava is 5'11 215. Kevin Payne is 6'0 212. Sims has great speed. He'd be one helluva a SS. Detroit wouldn't trade within the division, but I'd love to have given our 5th rounder for him. Olsen isn't a blocker, he's a receiver. Instead of dumping him or trying to get him to beef up, he should shed a few pounds & play WR. Don't fit your system around the player. Find a place where the player can succeed. I don't see Antonio Gates doing much blocking. Honestly though, the one truly at fault here is likely Denver's owner. It was he who hired a coach who ran a system that didn't match the talent at hand, and thus began the changes. Agreed. Maybe McDaniels is the next John Gruden. But all he's done is dump assets for potential draft picks. Good luck with that.

Have all these teams gone retarded??? Detroit: Before '09, Sims put up stats comparable to Lance Briggs. A #9 draft pick, never missed a game and he's 25. They give him up for Sheffler? Is Millen back? Philly: They got a freaking steal but they're retarded by trading McNabb. All they did was win with McNabb. Now they'll see him twice a year. Denver: The plan is to blow the damn thing up and let McDaniels pick winners. I thought a 5th was weak for Sheffler. Denver could quickly become the new Detroit.

A few weeks back, the SCORES Boers & Bernstein show said that the Bears were having trouble getting a 5th round pick for Olsen. While I didn't believe this, I did believe his value wasn't what we thought it was. Today Denver received a 5th round pick for Tony Scheffler AND a 7th. I'd thought we might see a draft day deal in which the Bears moved up to the 2nd round. That ain't going to happen with trading away next year's picks.

Yea, I think it comes down to this. Last year and this year we addresses two of our biggest needs in such a big manner that we essentially "blew out wad" in doing so. After getting Peppers, there just wasn't a ton left to work with. Agreed. I do find it amusing that no matter what a team does, some feel it's never enough. Yet at the same time, we did add a RB (no question a need) and while TE is was not a need, he was essentially another OL which was. While RB was a need, I figured we'd up grade on the cheap while hoping Matt Forte returns to his rookie form. We could have signed a veteran for lots less, talked up how we believe in Wolfe & Bell, and drafted a guy. The need for a RB didn't appear to be great prior to FA. IMHO, we entered this offseason simply with so many needs, there was no way we were going to addressed them all. Every team says that every year. No matter how good you are, there's always room to get better. Plenty of bashing of Angelo over the years, and that is a key reason why we were in the situation we were in the last couple. But IMHO, some thought a little too high of this team's talent the last couple years. We had needs across the board, and when you have that many needs, you simply can't address them all. I would argue we have addressed needs a lot over the last two years (though those moves didn't necessarily always work out [Pace/Omiyale]). Most praised the Pace signing. I did. I figured he had a year or two left. Omiyale might still find his place. What I don't really get is why it took so long to see the sort of moves/plan/prioritizing that we have seen in the last two years. The difference is the sense of urgency. JA has always operated under the idea of building for the future. Whether it's the pressure to win or the realization that he's almost 60 and doesn't want to do this forever, we've switched to "win-now" mode. It could also be that our defense has gotten old very fast, and the window for success may be closing.

What bothers me about these decision makers is the lack of a plan to address needs. I will give them they went out and addressed DE, but still have questions at FS and OL. Manamaleuna is a great upgrade to the o-line. I still think we'll find a veteran guard to add. We seem content to upgrade FS via the draft. In other words, we ain't done. if you wish to buy into it, still need help at WR. Maybe, but I don't think Mike Martz thinks that way. We had a lot of money to spend. His 2 greatest needs were RB & TE, two positions we're pretty solid at. Someone like Philly will drop players, sign people, make trades, and address there needs in the draft anyway they need to. You can right or wrong, at least see a plan with what they are doing. Last year JA stated he wanted to fix the QB position. Done. He's said all along, the defense is predicated on the line. Obviously, getting a pass rush was more important then getting a safety. While it would be nice to go out and buy everyone, we do have a budget. I wish I could figure out what our leaders are doing, they have did some nice things over the last two years, but fall short with to many bad decisions. They keep repeating moves to make up for past mistakes. As much as no matter what I want the team to succeed, I want Lovie and Jerry gone, and dont know how both can happen at the same time. Every team makes mistakes. Last year at this time we were singing praises to Angelo. This year we're singing a different tune. The team is much better. If we stay healthy and the Martz offense is as good as I think it will be, we'll win the North.

You'll want to tune in regardless since the Bears do have a 3rd round pick they'll use Friday night (unless we trade down . . .) This new draft format's leaving me confused. I think it's safe to assume the Bears won't move up to Thursday night, but I'll still be watching the damn thing just in case.

Um . . . since I'm the Rams, do I go ahead and declare I'm drafting Sam Bradford? (Not original, but it seems already decided he'll go #1) Since we don't have enough yet, should we all agree to take 3 teams? I'd like to have the Raiders just so I can take players that makes everyone say "WTF???"

Why do you have a hard time believing this rumor? What we know is: 1. We used one of our visits on Nate Allen who's projected to go early in round 2. Lovie even took him to dinner. Why? Aside from trading away next year's picks, we have no other ammunition we'd want to part with. JA's taking grief for giving away this year's #2 and I doubt he'll do it again. 2. No Martz TE has had much success. The early indication was Martz wanted nothing to do with Olsen and Olsen wanted out. We paid a ton for a new TE. My guess is we're calling everyone making a similar offer. You might be right in that we might move up just so we can move back down. Either way, it's believable.

You have to wonder if we hadn't given up our 2nd rounder for Adams . . . of course I doubt we could pay him the 50 million he required. I can't imagine Denver would have traded him to us. They get rid of Cutler & Marshall & they're bad. McDaniels will get lynched if he keeps it up. I'm surprised Washington didn't make a run at him. Prediction time: Devin Aromashadu will put up Marshall-like numbers next season

Agreed Wesson. Last year he signed a one year "prove it" contract. He looked fast as hell in camp and was our 3rd best linebacker. Then he gets hurt . . . and hurt again. Hopefully, next year we'll be talking about whether or not we should spend the money it will take to re-sign him.

This explains why we over-paid to get Chester Taylor and Manameleuna.

Boers & Bernstein on the SCORE say teams have only offered the Bears a 5th rounder for Olsen. The problem is that: 1. He doesn't have elite speed, his hands aren't great, he's not a good blocker. There's nothing that makes him special. 2. He does not fit in Martz's system. This means his ass will likely be on the bench. 3. He's a free agent after this season so teams won't give that much for him.

I'll also take Indy.