jason

I would draft him earlier than that. I don't think there is any chance in hell he lasts until the 6th. I've seen some mocks where he is going in the 2nd. If the situation presented itself, and no other players the Bears liked were there, I could see a 4th for him.

Where is everyone getting this statistical breakdown of how often the Bears run the cover-2? I can honestly say I don't know how often it's run, but it sure seems to be run more often than 25-30%. That could probably be because when it's completely burned, they're usually in cover-2. Or that when Lovie would go into shut-down mode, and the field was there for the opponent to take, it was most likely the Bears were in cover-2, allowing passes all over the place.

That too. But I believe the QB position needs constant attention, year after year.

IDK. Will Marinelli change from last year?

Way to misconstrue things. From the thread: You: And for the record, I never said I "don't want to improve the O-line" just that it's a wasted pick at 1 or 2. See, that right there implies exactly what I thought you meant, an early pick, 1st or 2nd. And the time you posted this was when his draft stock was incredibly high, demanding a pick like that. If we disagree on what constitutes a late round pick, so be it. You could go back on this board from its inception and see I have always been a proponent of drafting QB consistently. Always have been. Just like I said in that thread. And if you go back to that thread, you'll notice I didn't post again once you conceded the late round draft pick aspect. Try again.

Kelly strikes me as a Coach K type of guy. He works in college because he can rant and rave, turn his face bright red, punish his players with extra laps around the track, hold their scholarships in doubt, but that crap doesn't fly in the pros. And it most certainly doesn't fly with the pampered bunch in Chicago right now. They've been living Club Med for several years now. They will not want a switch to Basic Training.

It's only awful because you hate the idea of OL early. It's philosophical. I can appreciate it. But I think you're dead wrong. You, and the other anti-OL guys, pretend like other teams just cut their studs in the offseason on a regular basis. "Yeah, I know you're a completely healthy third year player and went to the probowl as a LT the last two years, but we're gonna let you go." - Said no GM, ever. Your solution requires the same solution every two or three years, because that FA vet you hope to squeeze a few years out of, is much closer to retirement (see: John Tait, Rueben Brown) and/or uselessness (see: Fred Miller, Orlando Pace). There is no possibility of sustained success. There is literally no upside. It's time to stop playing checkers with the OL; it's time to play chess.

If contract status was included in the idea that there is "only one starting LB on the roster", then it's technically correct. But I don't buy it because there is no way in hell the Bears have a near overhaul with the LBs, keeping only Briggs because he's under contract. I fully expect Urlacher to be back, and probably Roach. It's funny that this is not even considered for those who want to draft LB early, but in nearly every discussion about the OL everyone says something about the need for continuity. As a former defensive guy, I'd say continuity is just as important, if not more important, for LBs than it is for OL. The reasoning is simple: LBs have to react more than the OL, the OL dictates action by their first movement.

I doubt it. But if I was, it was probably due to extenuating circumstances. You probably added a caveat I didn't like (e.g. trade/release Cutler) or drafted him higher than I would have liked. In general, however, I believe the Bears have been woefully inept at drafting and developing QB talent. And it's the primary reason why we searched for a QB for 20 years.

I think the important way this relates to the Chicago Bears is this... How many years have the Bears had tons of injuries? How many years have the Bears had a significant injury? How many years has the sod at Soldier Field looked like complete garbage? How can player safety really be a concern when knees and ankles are at risk on every single play?

Isn't that just a thicker bandaid than the one that's been used for several years now? Also, Beatty has an injury history with a broken leg in college and a bad back in the 2012 camp. Do you seriously advocate another OT with a bad back after what the Bears have dealt with recently?

I'm not as keen on the spending issues with the salary cap as I'd like to be. That's why I generally don't comment on those types of threads/conversations except to speak in generalities. But a quick search on KFFL turned up the list of FAs for the Bears. Of course, all this changes when/if the Bears go into the offseason with an idea of actually targeting a high-priced OLineman. Otherwise... Must sign: Henry Melton - FA priority #1 Brian Urlacher - FA priority #2, a "you can retire a Chicago Bear"-contract, that shouldn't get ridiculous Lance Louis - Should get a discount since he's coming off massive injury Should sign: Israel Idonije - Discounted since he's probably #3 or #4 on the depth chart next year at DE D.J. Moore - Very underrated in my opinion Jonathan Scott - Stepped up at the end of the year, shouldn't be pricey Nick Roach - Serviceable vet LB who knows the system Sign if possible, but drop if they get pricey: QB Jason Campbell UFA OG Chris Spencer UFA CB Zackary BowmanUFA RB Armando Allen ERFA WR Johnny Knox UFA Cut their asses QB Josh McCown UFA WR Joe Anderson UFA WR Devin Thomas UFA PK Olindo Mare UFA OG Chilo Rachal UFA DL Amobi Okoye UFA LB Geno Hayes UFA CB Kelvin Hayden UFA FS Anthony Walters RFA

Two pass-catching TEs on the Bears does not compute. Difficult question. Ideal. Ideal and realistic is probably a better way to tackle the issue. I like the idea of starting with Barrett Jones and DJ Fluker, as posted in the other thread, but after that it's difficult to say. And it also, obviously, depends on FA moves. I don't expect the Bears to sit still in FA. It all depends on which players drop. But if I were forced to throw one out there, it would be a draft with ideas of long-term instead of short term. It would be the first year of a transition from a stagnant, defensive-minded team to a high-powered, offensive juggernaut. Year two of my "plan" would give a better indication of what changes needed to be made on the other side of the ball. But since D is the obvious strength, the O needs major help this year. That's one of the things that kills me about all these mocks and everyone saying MLB early. The D was pretty good. The O was atrocious. Why not try to fix the O instead of putting the cherry on top of the D? And, it should go without saying, but I'm sick and tired of this OL being nickel and dimed, costing the franchise offensive output and wins, and keeping the talent of the skill players largely untapped. 1 - Jones, OG, Bama - Stud. Immediately starts at OG. 2 - Fluker, OT, Bama - Stud. Immediately starts at LT, puts Webb's ass on the bench where it belongs. 4 - Collin Klein, QB, KST - It's high time the Bears invested in QB, coached one up, and did what other successful franchises have done. 5 - Ryan Swope, WR, TX A&M - This dude is always open. I watched several of their games this year, and even when he doesn't get the ball he's wide open. 6 - Marcus Lattimore, RB, SC - HUGE upside here. 6th rounders typicall do nothing anyway, so might as well take a chance. 7 - Mario Benavides, OC, Louisville - He's tough, but a little injury prone. Very high upside here. I wouldn't mind James Ferentz, OC, Iowa, here either. **edit - I made a mistake when I was tossing around ideas. Fluker is supposed to be a RT, so he goes there. Carimi is supposed to be a LT, so he goes there. Either way, Webb's ass is on the bench.

If it were a Penn State RB, I'd agree with you. But they usually do pretty well at producing LBs.

NOW WE'RE TALKING! Although, I'm still firmly opposed to drafting a pass-catching TE when the pass-catching TE on the roster has never been given a chance to play as a TE.

Completely agreed.

My wife agrees. Which is why I only did it for two games.

I would absolutely hate that. A MLB first rounder who won't start and a 4th round pass-catching TE to replace...a 4th round pass-catching TE? That would be moronic.

I also think Teo' will have a successful NFL career, but I wouldn't say McShay and Kiper are really experts. They are wrong just as often as they are right. The only thing they really have going for them is that they have the time to remember obscure stats about LBs from NE Savannah State Tech College. Whereas you and I have other jobs that don't allow for this type of study. Given enough time, I'm sure most people on this board could have as successful a prediction rate as either McShay or Kiper.

See the other comments. Height isn't everything. It's possible to be a matchup problem for LBs if you're too fast for them.

My comment about the lack of opportunity to play LT was actually about Williams. But if you're talking about Carimi, it's probably exactly like what has been posted already. He was never even considered for the LT role, even though he should have been. Damn all the outside scouts. Walter football is wrong every freaking year. The Bears needed multiple positions on the OL for multiple years, and they definitely needed/need a replacement for Webb. Carimi was best suited for it since Williams was never given a real shot after being jerked around. Carimi may have been projected as a RT, but I still think that after four years as a LT he should have been given a chance there. If not, then growing pains are expected at a "new" position.

Teams do, the Bears seem to do it more often. And it's almost always unsuccessful. As for Williams, he was never given a fair shake at LT. This has been documented over and over and over on this board. Finally, the concept of "you're good, you won't get shifted" is completely false. Williams was moved specifically because he WAS good, and the Bears needed help elsewhere on the OL.

No it is not. Essentially you're replacing nothing, since both guys sucked. If you want to replace the fictitious pass-catching abilities of Davis, you give the job to the TE on the roster: Rodriguez. You know, the guy drafted to be a pass-catching TE. If you're replacing the supposedly great blocking abilities of Spaeth, you pick that up in the 6th or 7th round, because pass-blocking TEs are not players on which you waste high draft picks.

It's not outlandish, but when a guy plays a position for four straight dominating years in a big time football college, you should probably draft him for that position.

It kind of does matter since he was a LT coming out of college. He played there for four straight years. To him, RT may as well have been RG. Sure, RT is more closely related to LT than RG is, but ultimately blocking is blocking. He should have been put at LT to begin with.