jason

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.

Welcome to my world. I've been tired of the school boy approach for a while. I don't give a damn if the dude has issues as long as he can play. Hell, Deven Hester was dumber than a salad coming out of college, but he could play. Vontaze Burfict had red flags all over the place coming out of college, but look at what he's doing in Cincy. This goes back to the epic "Should the Bears sign Terrell Owens or Randy Moss" discussions this board has had numerous times.

I mentioned something like this weeks/months ago. 1st - Jones 2nd - Fluker That'd be great. And if Jones happens to fall into the second because of his upcoming foot surgery, trade up and do this: 1st - Warmack 2nd - Jones 2nd - Fluker I'm joking...kinda...

Bingo. Who passes up free consultation from qualified experts?

Your points make sense. I agree that any exterior analysis is ultimately inconclusive, but I still believe a picture can be painted if it's done thoroughly enough. Very thorough analysis, no matter that flaw, is almost always better than just look and feel. This is particularly true in terms of OL analysis in football, because since our very first game we've been trained to watch the football. Hell, it's the same in any sport. Watch the ball. So when a quick out pass zooms to Hester in the flats, the OL is ignored. It's normal viewing tendency. But if someone were to actually watch the game the way I did those two games earlier in the year, where I went back and forth on the DVR, multiple times per player on the OL, to specifically watch their movement and performance, then even from TV a very good idea can be had about the player's performance.

As if the National Championship game couldn't have made my point any more clear. Jones > Teo' As a Notre Dame fan living in the heart of SEC country (Alabama), there is something entirely different about football down here. It's particularly true about Alabama since the fan base is so rabid and there are no pro teams to speak of in any sport. That, and the performance put on last night, is one of the reasons I previously said I wouldn't mind a trade up into the second round if it were possible for the Bears to pick Warmack, Fluker, AND Barret Jones. Of course, that's not going to happen, which is why I think the best possible draft start for the Bears (assuming no FA movements) would be Jones in the first, Fluker in the second. Until the OL problem is solved by more than bandaids, the offense will never perform and Cutler will get beat up.