Lucky Luciano

how long will lovie smith and company be coaching in chicago?

kirkpatrick from what i have read sounds a lot like a younger version of peanut. a good to very good >>#2 a solid pick at 19 in my opinion but not that man-on-man CB we really need to give our defensive line the time to get to the QB. if converted to an excellent free safety he would be a killer pick at 19.

just to set the record straight... 2003 atlanta 8 games started at LG 2004 atlanta 15 games started at LG 2005 chicago 7 games started at LG - covering an injured reuben brown 2006 chicago moved to RG to replace the fabulous hole of fame player terrence metcalf when r. brown returned to LG. 2007-2009 chicago RG 2010 played LG and RG 2011 replaced an aging all-pro center in kreutz. garza in my opinion is an average center at the very best. we should have gone after a stop-gap center who was a lot better like wells or the guy from the texans. this would have improved the all important center position and moved garza back to guard where he is better and give us a lot of depth until we can draft a replacement.

which free agent left tackles were you looking at that could protect cutlers blindside? i went through the entire list and besides mcneill, these are the only left tackles listed that are not signed i could find: max starks steelers. 29 years old a starter at LT for the steelers. is recovering from various injuries including ACL surgery this last january. http://www.steelersdepot.com/2012/02/pitts...s-t-max-starks/ mark levoir an undrafted swing tackle who has started 3 games as a LT for the rams in 2011 sean locklear a 30 year old utility RT who has played 10 games at LT in seattle in 09 and 4 games at LT in washington '11. willie smith 25 year old undrafted rookie LT/T who started 3 games for the skins in 2011. tony ugoh utility lineman and tight end. played two partial seasons for the colts in 2007 and 2008 at LT. was a utility tackle in 09, out of football in 2010 and played for the giants as a tight end in 2011.

mcneill is 28 years old compared to chris williams at 26. the shelf life barring injury would have to be mid thirties in the nfl for offensive linemen. that is five + years of quality playing time left. he has been cleared to play football by his own doctors and states that his neck is 100% and has been working out since january. how can bringing him into chicago and giving him a physical to see what our doctors say not be a smart thing to do? what does it cost to do this? a plane ticket, lunch, a doctor appointment and some x-rays? who knows what salary he might ask for so how could you say it is costly? if he passes our physical to play football how much is a young, two-time pro-bowl left tackle who would protect jay cutler's blindside worth? especially when the option is what we currently have in webb? if i am reading your last paragraph correctly you don't think drafting a left tackle at 19 would be a good idea and we should look for a free agent tackle. quite frankly there are always an extremely limited amount of left tackles on the market for obvious reasons and this season only saw 2 left tackles that i am aware of whose age and quality were worth even consideration. gaithers and mcneill. gaithers is gone and you don't like mcneill so where would we get one to keep our franchise quarterback healthy?

i believe that winston is a RT is he not? i am not sure how you fill that position seeing how we have a first round pick whose quality has not been determined yet. if carimi is a real viable option for the LT spot it would be an excellent pickup. if not mcneill a two time pro-bowl caliber player is a very, very good option if he passes a physical to fill the biggest hot-spot on our offensive line that can get a right handed quarterback killed with poor play. also of note... the packers center signed with the rams so scratch THAT option.

even urlacher and peanut have a medical history and yet we resigned them. we are not drafting anyone that we have to eat a large contract and an offer dependent upon health is no big deal in todays nfl. the reward of this signing is certainly worth the risk. at the worst we have webb as a replacement swing tackle.

well, he states he was cleared by his doctors to play football, he says his neck is 100% and he has taken a physical from the lions and is scheduled to visit the chiefs and the falcons. http://www.nfl.com/freeagency?module=HP11_content_stream how costly is it for us to at least bring him in and give him a physical in chicago? if it looks bad don't sign him. if it looks like he can play he is a good LT and light years ahead of webb that would anchor our line and keep cutler off his arse for the next 5 years. there just is no downside to giving him a physical that i can see.

i am hoping that he can pull us out of the 10 year tailspin. i am not unhappy so far with what he has accomplished but i certainly would like some offensive line help hopefully in free agency and again in the draft.

i agree. the quality level of our offensive line is just not there. i also doubt than any one draft can cure all that is wrong with it. that leaves us looking for temporary upgrades in free agency. there are a couple out there that could help us on multiple levels and one that could set us up for the next 5 years at LT, mcneill if he passes the physical.

i don't get it. this should be one of the most important free agents on the market for the bears since gaithers was signed by the chargers. it would make this team more than just a little better. also the center, chris myers, for the texans is out there along with wells from the packers. picking up a good stop-gap center would hold us over until we can draft his replacement and free up garza to compete for the guard position. these can't be cap breaking contracts from any of these guys so why are we dragging our feet?

i still am not getting your point in this. you mention 4 and 6 win seasons in order to draft highly and give playing time to young players. what young players? at what positions? what does that mean? are you talking about purposely tanking an entire season to draft in the top 10? if so nobody has ever said anything like that including me. 1. the gist of the discussion of drafting players highly and groom them with little or no game time behind quality aging players is geared more at two very specialized area's... offensive linemen and the quarterback position. these specifically are positions unique in the NFL compared to any other. most importantly, the OL plays together as a whole, a unit, to protect the most important player in your franchise which is the quarterback. unlike any other position you do NOT rotate players into the lineup to give one player a rest, experience or to give a different look your offense. continuity is paramount. when you infuse a lineman who is young and inexperienced there is a risk factor involved that has a direct effect on the health of your franchises future. this is why, if it is possible, you give that player a space in time to acclimate himself to play in the NFL with a 'quality' aging OL player at the end of his career it makes sense to me that you sit that 1st or 2nd round pick for a season and let him learn not only the playbook and terminology of this new offense but adjust to the speed of the game. that said, of COURSE if the player this man is to replace is of inferior quality then sure, you do put him in but have the intelligence to compensate for his erratic play until he does get up to speed and save your qb some hospital time. if you are a good GM and judge of talent this should NOT be a factor in drafting a player that high and of that quality because he won't necessarily START that particular season!!! *see below... unfortunately we are forced in the position now, thanks to the horrendous drafts and incompetence by angelo, to draft and replace an entire offensive line (with the possible exception of RT) that would have to travel miles to be even average to protect our franchise qb. this is not a luxury but a solid must, top priority. if we lost cutler and ended his career due to injury how far does winning a superbowl get from here? it's basically non-existant. *examples of this? olin kreutz at center. angelo SHOULD have drafted a high quality center 2-3 years ago to replace him and please don't bring up josh beekman who couldn't even replace a one armed guard. kruetz could have played his career out while the young center learned the ropes and stepped in seamlessly. the minute we hired reuben brown as a guard we should have drafted a 2nd or 3rd round quality guard to replace him within 1-2 years. the minute we hired fred miller we should have drafted a RT if they couldn't find a replacement at LT for tait. our LT? we should have drafted a LT in the first round the minute we moved tait out of his RT position. in essence we wasted not just the LT position with average play we wasted very good to pro-bowl quality play at the RT position we paid dearly to fill. going a little further, if cutler were our franchise qb and he was in the 33 - 34 year old range how smart would it be to draft a first round qb to replace him in a year or 2 and let him learn behind a good qb just like the packers did with rogers? obviously too smart for this franchise to comprehend. 2. let's start where the entire focus on this begins. BECAUSE of poor drafting over a period of 10 years, thank you very much jerry angelo and mike mccaskey/ted phillips, we are at the point where we have absolutely nothing in place for our future other than one or two positions on our entire team and even one of those, cutler, was not even drafted by us. this is just one reason why i would have replaced the entire coaching staff at the very least this season with a coach like fisher or cowher instead of tying our GM's hands behind his back before he even arrived in chicago. finally, you mention urlacher, peppers and tillman (who is and has been a number TWO corner) withering on the vine. believe me, if we greatly improved our chances to be superbowl contenders for a decade by rebuilding for a year or two and letting these guys end their careers here or even elsewhere i would do it in a new york minute.

i guess i am not sure what the point is? rogers was drafted in 2005 while favre's age was going to become a problem in the near future. this is the perfect scenario for someone being groomed under an aging vet who is still producing while looking at the future. in 2005 rogers sat behind favre who threw for 3881 yards that season. no matter what the win/loss record was (4-12) those very KEY pieces were in play as favre was starting the downward spiral. this season injuries were also a major part of this teams problems with their offense losing walker, ahman green, franks. not to mention they lost both guards to free agency. favre also started talking about retirement. in 2006 favre threw for 3885 yards with an 8-8 season. by that time favre was starting to really show his age. still the packers first round pick was tutored behind favre but the rumblings were being heard. in 2007 favre makes yet another pro-bowl and throws for 4155 yards while dragging the packers to a 13-3 record. still the spiral was there to see but by this time the packers made the decision to release him and go with the younger qb. super smart move. rogers had a tone of knowledge behind favre and was more than ready by a year to take over the reins. note: the packers also made it to the playoffs that season in fact they lost the the NFC championship game in OT. in 2008 favre never played for the packers. he was a text messaging picture toting new york jet. so not sure if this counts at all.

agreed. maybe one of the best examples of this is in our own division. look how long they groomed rogers, a first round pick, to replace favre and look at the results. this is what smart run franchises do. they THINK past the 'now' and look at the big picture down the road.

that is not entirely true. if you have good personnel it can be a very smart move in the right circumstances. example: if you have an aging LT (for that matter any offensive lineman OR quarterback) near the end of his career who is doing at least a good job can still be your starter while your round #1 drafted LT (or other) is being groomed for a season to take over that position. this holds true unless your draft pick looks exceptional in training camp and outplays the vet. this for SURE can be said of round 2 players. in the case of your LT not thrown into the fire (IF you have a good veteran player starting) you just might keep your franchise QB off IR while your LT acclimates himself to the nfl. the bears problems over the past decades has been nobody wants to draft players that take time to develop. it's always "DRAFT A PLAYER WHO IS READY TO START NOW!!". this is how we ended up with "the most ready to start" cade mcnown and passed on numerous good + players in the draft to keep aging stop-gap veteran FA's in a virtual rotation on our offensive line.

mario williams? doesn't anyone get it? if we paired reggie white in his prime with julius peppers in his prime we still would get our arses handed to us by good qb's unless we can figure a way to circumvent the laws of physics! it takes X amount of time from the snap of the ball for ANY defensive lineman to reach the qb. a quick 1-3 step drop and fire the ball to an uncontested WR off the line of scrimmage in a quick slant or even a five yard curl where your CB is giving a 5-10 yard cushion can NOT be defended. we have proved this for the entire tenure of lovie smith!!! it eats up yardage AND the game clock that could be better spent with OUR offense on the field!!! we would be better off if emery drafted a kangaroo in the first round to play nose tackle. he could JUMP over the line onto the QB at the snap and knock the freaking @astard out with a solid right paw before the ball is released!!! if we shy away from the marsupial option we just MIGHT want to look at acquiring a good-plus #1 cover corner that can play bump-and-run man coverage. like maybe finnegan or carr? or TRADE our first round draft pick for RFA webb? but no, lovie has his heart set on yet ANOTHER former colt from the distant dungie era (hayden, another player often injured and at the bottom of the free agent cornerback quality list) to fit this idiotic cover-none scheme. a NUMBER TWO corner to compliment peanut our OTHER number two cornerback.

i vote for manning to go to the houston texans. their coach is an offensive minded coach who worked under shanny. a major plus for someone like manning who basically calls his own shots. their offensive line was ranked 7th overall in 2010 and 12th for sacks http://bleacherreport.com/articles/752574-...or-2011/page/27 gave up 33 sacks in 2011 which was good+ excellent receivers ranked 4th in run blocking in 2011 http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol they have a very good running back to take the pressure off manning they have an excellent defense to keep them in games it's a warm venue the dark horse here is the jets a good overall offense that with a good defense can put you in a superbowl if you jettison sanchez who plain out sucks.

here is what i would do... first, after a long talk with tice that confirms chris williams is not and never will be your starting quality LT, i bring in marcus mcneill TODAY for a physical. if it looks like he can play football i would SIGN him today. that way you know for sure the status of the all important left tackle position BEFORE free agency even starts. this move should not burn up a lot of cap space and give us some serious cash to pursue the quality players once FA starts. once free agency starts if mcneill is not healthy enough to play this season the first thing i do is call jared gaither's agent and get HIM in for a physical and sign him as a top priority if healthy which it seems he is. he should command a medium to medium high+ priced contract. either of these LT's should give us plenty of money to sign a second tier player like meachem or royle to be our#2 WR. in this scenario above i then go STRONGLY for RFA ladarius webb. we have to give up our first round pick because of his restricted status and this i would do in a heartbeat for a top quality young CB. his contract plus the others should just about end our free agency with maybe some minor pickups like the center wells from green bay if possible. i then draft our future #1 WR in round 2 or move up into the lower first round if a WR looks interesting and won't make it that far giving up our 2nd third rounder.

what to do this offseason and what is available... #1 priority should be a LT to keep our franchise player off of IR. what are the options? 1. convert chris williams back to his projected position as left tackle unless tice won't budge on his quality evaluation of williams at that position. if that's the case we have another angelo bust. 2. it's always a thin market for good, young, FA left tackles. the only options i have seen both come from san diego and both have questions in regards to health issues. as i have not watched many charger games i am basing this call mainly on what i have read and not seen so take that with a grain of salt. A) marcus mcneill: a huge improvement over webb but has had some serious injury concerns with his neck. at 28 years old he would anchor our offensive line for the next 5+ years. if he passes a physical it could be a great FA pickup for emery but somewhat of a gamble (one i personally would make if he passes the physical). on the plus side we have webb who 'could' fill in TEMPORARILY for mcneill. jared gaither: a 25-6 year old mountain sized guy at 6' 9" and 350 pounds. a waiver wire pickup in 2011 by the chargers who filled in pretty well for the injured mcneill. has 3 years experience at LT, two with the ravens, and again should be a big improvement over webb. if he continues to get better we could hit the jackpot and he should be a good+ LT for 7 or more years. he has had back and neck injury problems so that becomes a serious issue again for emery to make a decision on. with the health concerns and limited experience, gaither should not call for a break-the-bank payday which helps us in the hunt for a WR in free agency. using the same scenario as above, webb could be a TEMP backup if needed. some interesting notes: http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2011/7/11...n-jared-gaither http://bleacherreport.com/articles/698525-...offense-in-2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/jared-gaither 3. the draft: as i don't watch much college ball anymore since they and the nfl have tried to squeeze the last drops of blood out it's fans, i can't say if there is a true quality player in our range at LT or not. if there is or if we could give up both thirds to move up for that special LT player i would do it in a heartbeat with our first pick if we don't get the young high quality FA's at that position. #2 priority should be to get a quality #1 wide receiver in free agency. with the amount of quality FA's this is where emery should put his emphasis. if for some obscure reason a #1 WR can't be found in free agency then draft one in the first round ONLY if... A) a left tackle hasn't been obtained in FA and one of QUALITY is unavailable to us in the first round. or... a high quality cover CB is not there for us in round 1. #3 priority should be a #1 cover CB free agency: we let a very good one get away last season and one of that quality is not available this year to my knowledge. there is a couple who MIGHT still fill the bill. brandon carr of the chiefs, ladarius webb from the ravens (RFA), cortland finnegan of the titans. although i have watched a few games by these guys i never focused on them and thus am not sure of their quality or type of player. if they are a true cover type corner and do it well i am very interested. the draft: if none of the above work out then i am looking for a cover corner in round 1 if LT is not an option. #4 priority should be offensive line which specifically includes guards and centers. free agency: nicks the G from the saints would be a top notch pickup and make us better nearly everywhere on the line. even if we got one of the LT free agents listed above at a reasonable price we should be able to afford him along with it. my next in line would be scott wells the packers center. even at 31 he would be a big upgrade over garza who we could throw back to guard to compete for a job at that position making us stronger with more depth on the line. this would give us time to draft some good players to replace wells and garza in the near future. a great stop gap move not to mention if hurts the packers. another G possibility if reasonably priced would be grubbs from the ravens. the draft: with no quality LT's or CB's at our pick (and a #1 free agent WR covered) i would draft a killer guard in the first round (maybe even possibly an exceptional center). if not an all world first round center then look at a center in round 3. so if i were emery this is my draft (all dependent of what we did in free agency) if the quality was there... round 1: LT, CB, WR, G or C. round 2: LT (only if high quality potential), CB (high quality cover corner), #1 WR, G, OLB, FS round 3-1: G, #2 WR, C, FS, OLB, DE, DT round 3-2: G, C, OLB, SS, DT EDIT: what i would do in free agency 1. get one of the LT's if they pass the physical. if not try to draft a high quality LT in round 1 or 2. 2. get a #1 WR. I can't imagine this not happening but if not then draft a #1 WR in round 1 or 2. 3. if no FA LT and you can any possible way afford a FA #1 WR and nicks, get him!! 4. if no nicks at G, get one of the FA corners along with a #1 WR 5. if no nicks or CB get wells from the packers with a #1 WR

i am not jumping into this moss or not arguments but to set the record straight i don't think you are remembering this correctly. peanut was mainly drafted because of his size to cover moss and the big receivers from green bay. at the time he did this very well especially against moss whom he seemed to have his number. peanut had more quickness and a bit more speed way back then also, which helped on these bigger targets. when the league started to change to smaller and faster receivers, of course we didn't seem to get the memo and flushed out our supposed #1 corners (like mcquarters) and made peanut our point guy from that time onward. that said... i believe peanut is winding down his career as a corner and is at best a good #2 CB and has been in that role from the start (although our current coaching staff has never believed it). that is just one of the reasons we have gotten our brains beat in over the years against good passing teams and never came close to winning a superbowl. in my opinion, right now, we need a true #1 cover corner that can play bump and run, man, off the LOS even in this garbage cover 2 system we run. someone quick, fast and hopefully at least 5'10" or larger. since like IDIOTS, we chose to ignore the very good to excellent free agent #1 corners (woodson and the more recent kid from oakland) that were on the market when hop-along angelo was GM, i would like to see a corner drafted #1 (if the quality restrictions i listed are there) if no real LOT is worth the pick. a #1 CB is the most critical need on defense we have right now and would make this team exponentially better all around.

per the score website and bradd biggs: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/27/rep...rs-for-jaguars/

just curious... how did my thread and flea's get combined into one thread?

what a joke this franchise is. http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette....-going-to-bears

if i heard correctly on the score, this guy blew the bears off and is staying in pitt if so, this three ring circus just doesn't quit.

your link is broken. try this one: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,0,775292.story is it me or does t-t-t-ted, the brain, phillips look like rasputin or possibly a blood sucking vampire trying not to feed off of curious george while on camera? anyway, at least we got cliff stein helping t-t-t-ted the brain in his search for a GM. they had me worried for a minute that there was absolutely no-one who had a clue about the game of football looking for our general manager. silly colts. don't they know haste makes waste? they should model themselves off of our president of football operations and really take your time to get it right. after all, what is six months when you are making this important of a decision.