jason

Post your dream draft. Don't make it completely unrealistic, but allow yourself to dream about the what-ifs that happen every year in the NFL draft. Here's my dream draft: 1-16: Duke Robinson, OG, OU (I don't mix words. The Bears need OL, and with an improved OL the rest of the offensive players will be better, including the WRs that everyone seems to hate.) 2-48: Phil Loadholt, OT, OU (With the OG position taken care of, the Bears still need at the very least a OT, if not another OG. Getting Duke's teammate would be huge.) 3-81: Mark Sanchez, QB, USC (Projected as a 2nd to 3rd rounder, this would be perfect for the Bears. If Bradford, Stafford, Tebow, and McCoy are all in the draft, Sanchez has a chance to fall. If he's there, he has to be snagged. He's got the tools, the talent, and he's a winner from an established program.) 3-97: Derek Pegues, FS, Mississippi State (I only saw him once or twice this year on TV, and the kid looked pretty good from what I remember.) 4-112: Jorvorskie Lane, FB, Texas A&M (Meet the new Lorenzo Neal. This guy would be loved in Chicago, and create massive lanes for Forte. 5-145: Marko Mitchell, WR, Nevada (Saw him play once. Great size, good speed, makes good football plays. Great YAC.) 6-176: Willie VanDeSteeg, DE, Minnesota (Off the field problems [assault] will cause him to take a massive drop. He'd be a massive steal - a sack machine.) 7-209: Drew Willy, QB, BUF (QBs should be drafted every year until the Bears find multiple gems. This one is odd because I've seen him rated really low, but also as high up as the 4th.)

I can buy that. It's a slight disagreement, but something I could live with provided the Bears' went hot and heavy for OLinemen in FA, the Draft, or both. Orton can be good, if not great, behind a stud OL, but with the current OL we may have already seen his plateau. Here's the question: Do you think it's easier to find a late round steal to fill the DE athlete role, or is it easier to find the late round steal to fill the QB role? I'd say there are far more athletes in the late rounds than QBs, and the chance of finding a hidden gem is greater when simply looking for an athlete.

This draft won't completely anger me, but the first pick would. I don't think the Bears should go DE in the first round. DE isn't even in the top five need positions for the Bears (e.g. OT, OG, QB, WR, FS).

Good write up Noots...as always. A few thoughts... 1) The defensive coaching should be an F in my opinion. For this stat I keep seeing all over the place about the Bears blitzing more than any team in the league, their blitzes sure do get picked up regularly. Speaking of the blitzes... 2) The DL and LBs get nearly no pressure on a consistent basis. It sure would be nice to see something from the DL that actually tried to confuse the opposing offense instead of just saying, "Screw it! We're gonna run what we run BETTER!" 3) I wonder how well the secondary would cover if there was ever any sort of consistent pressure?

Agreed. I actually think that Orton has the arm strength to make the throws, but he lacks the accuracy. Of course, it's hard to really know when 3/5 of the OL sucks and there is a good chance that Kyle is scared of being disabled on nearly every snap.

I'd like to see the coordinators given the axe, with people brought in to bring in new ideas. Lovie seems like a guy everyone likes, and has had success, but there are definitely changes needed.

I'm in complete agreement. I think Kyle is like Rex in many ways. Some games good, some games bad. Kyle minimizes mistakes more than Rex, but he doesn't have the homerun aspect. Kyle is a great backup, but the Bears obviously need something more. I'd love it if the Bears got McNabb.

It's a difference of opinion of course, but I'm in near total disagreement with your statement. I don't think the negatives outweigh the positives 2 to 1. I called it preseason, during the season, and I will stick by it: The Bears are a 10+ win team, but their coaches are bad. Take out the Bears' coaches, and I don't even think it's close. There were 3 or 4 games just left on the field this year as a result of coaching, at least that many.

2.) Greg Olsen: He had 1 terrible game against Carolina, but he's established himself as a top TE and a great receiving threat. When you have a TE that NFL CB's have trouble defending, you have something good. I guess you missed his two drops today. I don't care whether he's covered or not, he has got to make those catches. Are you serious!?! I guess you have a different definition of "drop" than others. If any thing, I'd call those a "well defended". You can't expect the guy to come up with all the tough catches. He's made several this year, but those weren't drops. Those were two good defensive plays by a DB who got his hand in the mix.

It seems that the coaching staff has decided that Olsen is a mismatch in certain situations, and those are the situations in which he'll be used. However, they have yet to explore the type of routes I saw Owen Daniels use against the Bears today. Like a person first learning how to play chess, Turner sticks with what has worked before, seemingly never learning from his mistakes. Frankly, I'm amazed that any team in the league doesn't know that when the Bears are near the goal-line they are planning on spreading out Olsen and throwing either the jump-ball, fade, or slant to him simply because he is taller. The Texans' DBs showed today that taller is not all you need. Next year I'd like to see Olsen used on more long drag routes underneath the coverage, deep slants, and deep crosses...not to mention the skinny post that seems perfectly designed for a player with Olsen's size and speed.

1. Fans don't directly bring the coaches, but they do indirectly affect how the business is run. If you don't believe that, then you're naive. A coach I would bring in is the DC from Philly, Johnson, a guy who has consistently put a product on the field that has intimidated and troubled opposing offenses. On the other side of the ball, I have said for years that I'd love to get Alex Gibbs, the guy who has turned numerous average RBs into superstars while coaching for the Broncos, and seems to be have made a significant impact on the Texans this year. 2. Lovie has a good record after 85 games. I won't even bother to research it because I know it's true. However, that doesn't mean he's not without serious fault. In a skilled person's hands, one set of ingredients can be turned into a delicacy. In another's, the same ingredients can turn into something noxious. I'd say Lovie's somewhere in between because he employs lesser "chefs" and doesn't hold them accountable for failures. He could be putting out a much better product. 3. You clearly haven't heard/read my posts on this board about the offense. I may be the only one, but I happen to think the WRs are a lot better than most give them credit for, and with proper coaching they could be substantially better. I'd say this holds true for the past several years. I'd also say that the improvement by nearly every WR that leaves the Bears supports that concept. 4. As for your question, how they are going into the last game of the season with a chance to win the division? Simple, look at my answers for 2 and 3. I think there is a lot more talent on this team than most think. I think that the coaches have done some good and bad, but more of the latter. I think that the players have simply done well in spite of the coaching inadequacies, and under a different set of coaches the Bears would be doing even better.

If the Bears were to sign Jeff Garcia, he would be the starter. Well, any good coach, who actually has common sense and a bit of talent evaluation ability, would quickly realize that Jeff Garcia just seems to win...and would naturally beat out Orton.

Easy for me... If the Bears pick up a solid OT in FA, then I want to see the Bears draft an OG in the first and a WR in the second. If the Bears pick up a solid WR in FA, then I want to see the Bears draft an OT in the first and a OG in the second.

Hey tough guy...check out this link. Some of us actually thought the Bears had talent pre-season, and the coaches were horrible to begin with. I still stand by the thought that this team could be incredibly better if not for very bad coaching.

The main thing about this article is that it signifies how slowly this coaching staff makes decisions and adjustments. You know how you'll hear someone say something, and you have a incredibly hilarious, witty, sharp, biting comment as a retort...but you think of it the next day? Well, that's this coaching staff. Except they think of the retort weeks and months later. I'm quite positive Turner had his first child because he put the condom on after sex.

Regardless of whether or not JA makes his money in the later rounds, I will absolutely hate any draft that doesn't get the Bears an OLineman in either of the first two rounds.

That's scary. It reminds me of when Jauron the Moron "won" coach of the year, even though it was plainly obvious to those who actually watched all the Bears' games that the team won in spite of him rather than because of him and his horrible staff. And, just for the record, there were some on this board, who are obviously more informed of the Bears than the average media turd, who predicted that the Bears would win 9 or 10. Bears with 10+ wins? State of the Bears pre-2008

Bennett was in on another run play as a slot WR. He hit his DB, engaged him, and held his own very well, gaining ground even.

I've actually seen this a few times over the course of the last three or four games. Usually you can tell when it happens because it catches the other team completely off guard, and the Bears get a huge play out of it. It's almost as if Babich thinks he has to save up his "secret" play for a big moment, unleashing it when the opponent least expects it...which makes no sense of course. It's like a boxer having a great jab, but refusing to use it until the tenth round.

For the most part we agree. But I did see Davis out there a few times on offense.

Davis was out there a few times. I noticed him and yelled about it.

Agreed with the overall sentiments. Why bring in another guy when there are others in the pecking order before him. On the logistics of it, however, I disagree. I don't think it's that they can't crack the starting lineup. I think it's that the coaches won't let them crack the starting lineup. Big difference.

The Bears do, indeed, need players. However, they don't have an empty cupboard. A better coach would have done much more with this collection of talent. I'm convinced that with someone like Ditka or Cowher, a guy with fire (who would bring in a DC of a similar mold), the Bears would have 11 or 12 wins right now.

My thoughts: Booker - Gone Davis - Gone Hester - The team's #2, grooming for #1 Bennett - Should have been in before this game Lloyd - Gone, but shouldn't be. He has the talent to actually make plays and do well, if properly used.

The sign in question: