BearFan2000

He's definitly one of my favorites of recent memory. Others on that list: Curtis Conway, Bobby Engram, Tom Waddle (gritty WR always willing to sacrifice his body to make a play). There's others but those three stand out off the top of my head.

I've never been a Benson fan from the moment we drafted him. I questioned the pick at the time but decided to give him a chance. If he worked out it'd be one of those pleasant surprises. Then the holdout which opened the door for Jones to take over the starting spot. Ced was behind from the beginning. His body language said he didn't care and his comments often showed he didn't have a clue. The only time he showed effort was when he was fighting for playing time behind Jones. Jones is traded and he's handed the job having not earned it and doesn't produce or even act like he cares. In four seasons he's still not reliable in passing downs for blitz pickup. Having him leave the game just tips the other team that it's a pass play. Then we come to this summer and he has the boating incident, speeding through a construction zone, then the latest arrest where he failed a field sobriety test and refused Breathalyzer and blood tests (if you weren't over the limit why would you refuse?). As a Bear fan I am saddened by his behavior from day one. He's given me little to cheer about in the 4 years he's been here. Though I didn't it when we drafted him I tried and tried to give him a fair shake. Normally the term indefensible is a good thing to call a player but in Benson's case it's because it's become harder and harder to defend him. I do think the Bears did the right thing by letting him go. I don't believe it was going to work out for him or the Bears. For the sake of the team this give the Bears a chance to move on. While this is another miss by Angelo on a high pick I do give him credit for making the tough call and in effect admitting that it was a blown pick. I for one am more relieved than happy that he's finally gone and we can focus on the future and not the drama that has surrounded Benson for most of his time here in Chicago. I will say I was surprised to read the news that he'd been let go. I had figured they would let this season play out for now and if things didn't improve then make the move. I see us going for either Jones or Alexander. I highly doubt we bring in Henry it would make no sense to release one problem child only to bring in another one. If it's between Jones or Alexander my pref might be Alexander if he's healthy he's the better option. We have two young backs in Wolfe and Forte. Our lone vet is Peterson. Alexander likely near the end of his career but my have a good year or two left would make sense as Forte is likely envisioned as the future at the RB spot. Alexander would provide a proven vet to the mix. The next few days/weeks will be interesting.

if you look closely you can see John Madden kissing his butt. I kind of get the choice but at the same time I don't get it. It's always been a current player but I guess it makes sense that Madden would choose Favre for the cover. What's he going to talk about now that his true love has left the game?

LOL Sad but true

That has been my biggest knock on Grossman, when he's under pressure he retreats backwards. It's like he doesn't trust (not that I could blame him last year) that if he steps up there will be enough protection to get rid of the ball. The few times I've seen him step up it's worked for him but he's always seemed to have that tendency to back straight up. I'm guessing that with his history of injuries he doesn't want to get hit from behind. His overall pocket presence is what I want to see him improve on. I feel that as long as he can keep his cool in the pocket he has the tools to make all the necessary throws. To me this is the key to Grossman becoming that QB the Bears envisioned when they drafted him. As long as the competition is fair and both have a truely equal shot and the best guy starts I'm cool with it. I actually like them both for different reasons. I just want one of the two to step up and win the job outright and then take the position over and show they can be the long term solution we've been looking for.

Add to that even if that were to happen they would have more excuse to suck than Greise. For all the excitment following the QB change last year from Grossman to Greise it was pretty depressing to watch him come in and play the way he did. The thing about bringing in a vet as a back up is that to do this there is a reason he's coming in as a backup. No high quality starter grade QB is going to come into Chicago or any other team to be the third string QB. What you end up with is usually a Vet that had potential or was good once and has either declined in quality, gotten old, been on nearly every team at some point, or is coming off injuries, or has simply not panned out anywhere. Any QB who is good enough to start is going to want to be in a position to do just that. I think it's a stretch to expect the Bears to grab a vet QB to be our 3rd string guy who can come off the bench and light it up out there and be a stud and be the savior of our offense. We have to be realistic about this. I will grant that the sucess and failure of our QBs were greatly tied to the bad OL and RB play last season. We couldn't run the ball and our line couldn't protect the QB either.

LOL I'd nearly forgotten about that. Wasn't that back when Jim Miller, Shane Mathews, I forget who else were on the roster and they were both having injury issues. So Book was listed as the emergency QB.

For me this is what it boils down to. I'm sick and tired of excuses, QB changes, endless dabate over who's better, conspiracy theories, etc. Like most Bear fans here and everywhere we want someone to step up and take the job. If it's Orton, great, if it's Grossman, great, if it's someone else great. I'm just tired of the carousel. I want someone take the job by force rather than us settling or trying to pick who we think is least likely to drag the team down. I know this is the Chicago Bears and our past at the QB position is atrocious at best. It's time we change that pattern. I hope that Grossman, Orton, Hill and that other guy will compete hard, wouldn't it be nice for a change to see our QB's performing well during preseason and making it a choice of who impressed the most rather than who screwed up the least? Maybe that's too much to ask.

I agree, if Benson has shown anything it's that he's not a self motivated player unfortunately to the extent where I question his desire to play football. Having the tools is one thing, knowing how to use them or being motivated to use them is an entirely different thing. Bringing in a guy you drafted second round #44 overall tells me that they envision him being more than just another warm body at RB but to push for the job. This is the only situation where Benson has looked good with any constancy. When Jones was brought in he pushed Benson. Overall I'm happy with the picks Williams strength at this point is his pass protection and he needs to work on his run blocking. That is the only concern I have with him. My memory may be cloudy about last year (possibly trying to block - no pun intended - it out) but we seemed to give up sacks with an alarming frequency last season regardless of who was back there at QB. Drafting Williams allows us to move Tait back to his natural RT spot, while Williams takes over LT, we pick up a guard and possibly another OL on day two. I think it was a need pick and one of the best OT was available and we grabbed him. Having Mendy there at 14 would have made for an interesting pick and a part of me wanted them to pull the trigger and take him but I'm happy with this choice. Round 2, I like what I've seen of Forte so I'm pleased with that pick as well. It brings competition to the RB table and will either push Benson to play to his potential or push him out of town (I'd prefer the latter, I'm tired of Seabass) Round three will be interesting. Do we take a QB. We currently have two QB's on one year deals so between the two it will be QB survivor Chicago style. The current situation concerns me a little. Both QB's have shown promise both have shown failure. Yet those are our only QB's on the roster and neither is signed long term. If one of the two pans out they get extended, the other walks at the end of the season. If neither look good do we let them both walk and pin our hopes on yet another young guy? And who's to back him up? There are typically 3 spots on the roster for QB. I realize that who ever they draft or bring in before the start of the season will likely be given the starting clip holder position and the winner between Rex and Kyle will be the starter and the runner up the backup. That's how it will be planned to shake out this season. What about the future? This is a let's hope one of these guys steps up and can be that future and we'll build depth later. It's just that thought that if neither Rex or Kyle work out we possibly enter the offseason with two guys we have no intension of resigning, leaving us with the clip board holder to compete with two other new guys. Giving us a selection of QB's of which only one may have seen some actual game time. This is the situation we are dealing with at that position. Question is is this something we address early in the third. We have 2 third rounders right?

Agree I don't think anything will happen contract wise with Hester till the season is underway or after the season. Once we've had more opportunity to see what he has as a WR. At this point what little we've seen of him at WR he's been spotty at best. Not always knowing where to line up (and this is considering he's only been in for handful of plays a game which means he's only likely worked in practice on a few plays/patterns) which should be a pretty basic thing. At this point we only know what he brings as a return man and as it's been pointed out earlier in this thread that a degree of his success can be attributed to top notch special teams coached by dave taub (sp?) As a WR the jury's still out. Which is exactly why a deal will not get done till during the season (I'd guess mid season at the soonest) or after the season. In some respects I could see him becoming a WR in the mold of a Willie Gault type. A burner who is your deep home run threat but beyond the speed is an average receiver. Not to knock Gault but he was more a situational receiver. I'm also not saying that's where Hester is but that is the role I think he could fit into. As long as Turner realizes maybe we should exploit his speed instead of running trick plays that require him to almost instantly beat several guys before he even finds open field. By the way Ron, you need to set up trick plays for them to work.

Interesting that they have now decided to include FG and Extra Points as reviewable plays. I wish they would consider making penalties reviewable, as much as a missed call on things that are reviewable now, a critical blown penalty call or non call can be huge. Not sure how you could implement something like that but It would be nice if penalties could be challenged. I'm iffy on the push out rule. But I think what they are getting at is eliminating the guess made by a Ref if the WR would have come down in bounds which is often hard to tell at best. I agree that it's probably going to lead to more DB's planting and driving. I think it's going to have big impact on red zone offenses. We'll know better when we one day get one. With the Face mask penalty now being only the 15 yard variety. My question is are they eliminating the 5 yard minor face mask as in letting those go or are they simply saying any face mask incidental or major will be flagged for 15 yards. Which in my mind isn't going to decrease the frequency of it being called, it's just that now instead of a minor infraction (where you briefly grab and let go without pulling) will now not be 5 but 15 yards. For quite a while now I've thought that the roughing the passer penalty should have a two tier penalty system like the face mask. There are times where the hit on the QB is very minor but still technically hitting him after the ball is released. Then there are the hits that are completely intentional.

I was browsing through some videos on Youtube and came across this one. I came very close to spitting up my pop when saw it. Enjoy Funny Grossman Madden Video

I've been watching the videos of Mendenhall on Youtube. Things I like. Good body control and balance. Uses blockers well Has the ability to run it inside and push for yardage. Has good speed and agility in space anticipates well. Has a good attitude a team guy Has good hands as a receiver. He does run with the ball in one hand a lot. even up the middle, he needs to be more carefull about putting two hands on the ball in a crowd. NFL Defenders are more adept at stripping the ball than college defensive players. Some of the holes I saw in the videos you could drive a truck through. But on the clips where the holes were much smaller and he was running between the tackles he does a good job of keeping his legs moving and keeps a forward body lean. I would not be disappointed if we grab him at 14.

That's one of the funniest comments I've read on this board in some time. Not only funny but relevant too. I've also had it with Benson. And can't remember a player I've disliked more as a Bear than Benson in a long time. Some of the guys in my dislike list include David Terrell, Cade McClown, Rick Mirer (however it's spelled), Brian "personal foul" Cox, Curtis Enis, Rashan Salami, Kordella... Of those the ones in Benson's class are Cade, Terrell, and Cox. The others on the list just sucked. These guys are in a class by themselves they not only sucked but did it with a bad attitude. I personally am done with Benson. We had a co-worker with an attitude and poor work ethic like Benson and that person was fired this month. Our team is now stronger even though we're one less person. The baggage, strain, and drag that person had on our team is more apparent now than it ever was. I for one want to see Benson gone. I've had it with him.

At this point it's hard for me to pick a side on which I'd rather be. Picking Mendenhall at 14 or grabbing an OL. I'm of the belief also that everything starts in the trenches. If your line is horrible every other problem on offense is either created by or magnified by it. It's tough to be RB and expect to be successful when often your first contact is in the backfield. For QB you can't have a lot of confidence to drop back and start your progressions when you often don't have the time to do so. When the QB is rushed the Receivers don't have the time to run their routes and get open before the QB is under duress. The offensive line makes an impact on every phase of the offensive game so it starts at the line. While a good OL doesn't guarantee success (see Atlanta) it does give you the best chance of success. With that in mind I'm tempted to think about drafting OL even if a guy like Mendenhall drops to 14. Which I don't think is a bad idea. The thing with drafting offensive line especially at 14 is you are counting on this guy to step right in or soon take over as a starter. Rookies can take some time to develop even the good ones. Sure there are those over the years who have just stepped right in and played. It can be a little convenient to think that we draft OL at 14 and maybe pick up another lineman or two later. That suddenly our Line will be fixed. Good offensive lines take time to gel. Even when you add free agents. The more the line plays together the stronger they will get. In no way am I saying it's a bad idea to look to shore up the drive by drafting OL at 14. I think we need to be realistic. It won't instantly solve the issues. But its a good long term need since our line is getting old fast. It's also possible that the line gels during the season and we're able to keep the ship afloat long enough for that to happen and make some noise this coming season. If we admit this is a rebuilding year then I think we need to focus on getting our line younger. We will need to do this at some point. This draft would be a good one to accomplish that and also add some RB talent. At the same time we have a running back Line up of Benson (rehabbing), AP, and Wolfe. One big back, one small, back and one tiny back. I was never on board with Benson when we drafted him, the hold out didn't endear him to me either. He showed little promise. The Super Bowl team had a solid line and Jones, Benson, and AP all had success behind that group. Last year I could say that none of our backs did much to write home about. For AP I think it was the worst he's looked as a Bear. Of the current group he's been here the longest so in some respect he's the best measuring stick for the running game. You could always count on AP to be plugged in for a game or two and have solid performances. Last year he had a hard time doing anything. I'm not saying AP is a great back or a true #1 guy but his struggling this season tells me it's not just the backs. That said I've been more often unimpressed with Benson than I have been impressed with him. Every once in a while he does something nice but for every decent run there's a dozen or more cloud of dust and a 1 yard gain. Benson looked as good as he ever did during that super bowl run. Which tells me if he's motivated he has the tools to be a decent back but I just don't think he has the desire and inner drive needed to find any consistent success in the NFL After three seasons his pass blocking is still suspect. Wolfe is more a situational back. So looking at our line up I would not be opposed to upgrading the RB position at 14 either if you can get a good value at RB without reaching. The way this draft looks it's going to depend on who's there at 14 when we pick. If one of the top tier linemen drops to 14 it would be awful hard to pass up considering our blatant need in that area. At the same time I don't want to reach for an OL at 14 when you can draft a similar guy later in the draft. If we get to 14 and we'd be reaching on an offensive lineman and Mendenhall is there. I think it would be awful tough not to take him and then pick a more value OL later. If we get to 14 and both a top tier OL and Mendenhall are there, that would be a difficult choice. There are quality backs that will be available later in the draft. There are also good options later in the draft for OL. Unless we do something crazy at 14 I'll be able to live with which ever way Angelo goes. Whether we want to officially call next year a rebuilding year or not that is what it will be. The two quarterbacks on our roster at the moment are on 1 year deals. It's quite likely we will draft a QB and ironically he'll have longer term deal than our starter. WRs.... what wide receivers. Yes we picked up Booker and I've always liked him. He is getting older and I see him in the role that we brought Moose in to play the veteran mentor. We have Bradley who is often injured, we have Davis who's nothing special, we have Hester the wannabe WR, Hass, Lloyd, and Rideau. The only proven starter is Booker. At TE we have Clark, Olsen, and Fontel. At OL we'll have a patchwork line of some sort. Realistically the offense is in full rebuilding mode and the Defense has it's own needs but not as many as the offense. I honestly don't know what to expect this coming season. I would not be at all surprised to see another up and down season. But it's also possible we may hang in there and things will come together over the course of the year and we make the playoffs. I'm preparing myself for a down year but however we go in the draft and other roster moves between now and the start of the season. Most likely these moves will be more for long term solutions. A high drafted RB may not see the field much early on as I'm sure Benson will be given every opportunity to succeed before we hand the reigns over to a Rookie.

In all honesty I have more respect for Favre than any other non Bear in the league. As a packer he was the enemy and I treated him as such. But he epitomized the way the game should be played. In so many ways he was a throw back. The type of player who would play as long as his legs and arms were functioning. He played for the love of the game though I do tend to think chasing records had something to do with it. Every time you thought surely he won't play next week, low and behold he's out there playing. You have to love the game to play through the injuries and problems he's had over the years. The type of guy you would have loved to have on your team but hated him on another team add to that it was the Packers. What I am looking for is now that Packers will have to deal with finding a QB the way the other teams in the league have. Only now will they realize just how spoiled and unusual their situation has been. They're going to find out that in the real world QB's don't have a starting streak that spans a large part of a 17 season career. Favre is the exception and now I'm glad the Packers will have to adjust to the rule.

Been listening to the debate on the Score. The whole Loyd angle about did he or did he not get told that Rex was the starter and simply wasn't supposed to let that slip. Was it an assumption and it is in fact an open competition. And if it isn't a competition what is there to gain by publicly stating that is when it isn't. If I were Kyle I'd be pretty peeved if I signed because I was told it would be an open competition. We'll see how this plays out. It almost wouldn't be surprising if it is a competition per say but Rex will start out as the fav. Which IMHO if that is the case say that. Let Kyle know that if he can beat Rex out in training camp than he has a chance at the starting job. Logically it could make sense to say it's Rex's job to loose (never liked that term) since he is technically the incumbent starter. Where I have an issue is that if everyone's being told it is a competition and Kyle doesn't have a realistic shot. IMHO throughout his whole time here with the Bears Kyle has handled the situation fairly well. Rex goes down in 2005 and he comes in and manages the games then the Atlanta game he leaves the field as the starter comes out after the half as the backup. From that point on he doesn't sniff the field till the end of last season when the season was over anyway. He performed pretty well in his opportunities last season. IMHO he's earned a right to a true open competition. As for Rex he started off horribly last year and got benched. Greise came in and struggled as well. After the Benching Rex looked much better in his return to the starting spot. Then he suffered a minor injury, enter Kyle Orton. I honestly believe that Orton would have started the following week anyway. With Rex he has the stretches where you see potential and you see a level of play that is as good as any QB in the league. At other times he can have stretches where he look like he is completely lost and has no clue what he's doing. After his benching he looked like it did him good as he looked more under control and kept the mistakes to a minimum. The question is, is that a sign that he's past the Bad Rex and looks to return to the pre Arizona game Rex that we saw in the 2006 season. With Orton he's done everything that has been asked of him he came in and preformed pretty well for a rookie in not loosing games for a Bears team that was predominantly lead by the Defense. He has sat quietly behind Rex and Griese over most of the past 2 seasons. You have to wonder what he was thinking while he watched Rex and then Brian stink it up out on the field and wonder what do I have to do to get a shot. I can't possibly do any worse than this. When he did get his chance he made the most of it and looked pretty good. Much better than I had even expected. I do like Rex but I also like Orton and sort of leaning his way as I think he deserves a legit shot at winning that job. I don't see him signing a 1 year extension to be a backup for another year. This year will be a winner takes all as far as the starting spot whichever of them wins the starting spot will ultimately get a longer extension and the other is likely looking for a new home on someone else's roster. I voted for Orton but I'm definitely on the fence. If Rex can play up to the level of the first several games of 2006 and the last few that he played after his benching that Orton's got his work cut out for him. What is working in Orton's favor is he hasn't embarrassed himself in the way Rex has in the past. Sure the Cincy game in 2005 was ugly but that was one game.

Though it's not out of the realm of possibility that he stays healthy and plays a full season. The reality of the situation is you can't count on that, experience has taught us otherwise. Which is why we need to have a solid plan that works with or without him. If he stays healthy all the better but we have to count on him not staying healthy. That is sad, what he brings to the Defense when he's on the field can't be measured just in stats. He brings attitude, smarts, energy, along with his skills. In many ways it's like having a coach out on the field the guy has a great mind for the game. I think he would make a great secondary coach when he does hang em up. Much like Grossman he's had problems staying on the field. Now grant that Grossman hadn't established himself as a stud at his perspective position prior to the injuries as did Brown. But one thing that would be nice if they both had in common would be that Brown would finally stay healthy as Rex did in 2006 and most of 2007 (the injury wasn't nearly as serious and the season was lost anyway). As for changing one piece of the Bears, it's hard to say after last year. There were so many problems and breakdowns last year after returning nearly all of the starters from the Super Bowl team. You have to think that the team was better than it showed on the field. 2007 was a season that never got off the ground. Fact is I found my self upset with most any player on the team at some point last year. But if I had to pick our weakest link I would have to say someone in the secondary.

Put me down in the Ray Rice in the 3rd round and address bigger needs in round one. Last year our Line was not only bad but is old. We need to infuse some youth. We do have Beakman who didn't get a lot of action last year. We cut Fred "False Start" Miller. Ruben Brown should be back and healthy, you've got Kruetz, Garza, Tait, and I can't think who else off the top of my head but Josh is the only young lineman we have. I would like to see us draft a couple offensive linemen, one early and one later on. As uncool as it sounds I'd like to see us use the 14th pick on an offensive lineman. Possibly grab Flacco in round 2 and grab Rice in Round 3. Being and ND Fan I wouldn't mind seeing Zibakowski.

You know you have a problem with your RB when you have to bring in someone else to push him or light a fire under him. With the Depth at RB in this years draft I think it's a good bet Jerry will spend a pick on a RB at some point and I would venture a guess would be in the early rounds. There just isn't anyone left in FA that I'm all that interested in. But then again maybe we get lucky like Green Bay and find someone out of no where. I would almost bet that Jerry is regretting the Jones deal. The position has to be addressed. I've seen enough to know that I'm ready to see Benson gone. Could Benson hold any trade value at all? I've not spent a lot of time this offseason looking reports and mock drafts to formulate any opinions who would be a good target in the draft. Jerry is under pressure to get the running game fixed and improved from last year. That means addressing the line and the RB position. But as far as Benson goes the only time he looked like he had potential was when Thomas Jones was here and he was fighting for playing time. You hand him the job and he fails. Right or wrong at some point you had to see what he could give you as the starter and it's been less than impressive. Just as one of the scouting reports on him prior to the draft mentioned concerns over commitment, work ethic, and attitude. Could Benson end up being part of a draft day trade or even traded prior to? Or do you keep him for depth and bring in a FA/Draft pick to compete for the starting Job. However this goes, I will be upset if we enter next season and Seabass is just handed the starting spot again.

I just got High Speed Internet today and went to check www.nfl.com and I get an Embarq (service provider) page stating it couldn't find the site.

My only high speed is at work. Amazon's unbox deal isn't Mac compatible, so that's out too. The episodes are sold on iTunes but you're still stuck watching them on the computer due the DRM protections. I know a few people who might have recorded them, and maybe someone on here has. I'm definitly hooked. I wasn't sure what to expect with the show, since it's not Linda Hamilton, Arnie, or even Furlong. The actress playing Sarah is growing on me. I still wish they'd have here dye her hair brown. Although the nature of the show it would make sense for her to not want to maintain appearances. I actaully like the actor playing John better than Furlong. I'm not sold on Summer Glau. At times she doesn't seem to fit the part. A terminator wouldn't just stand around looking stupid while trying to think of something appropriate to say. All in all I'm certainly enjoying this show and hope it lasts.

Hoping for some freak event in which they can both loose. Then moments later the remaining members of the '72 Dolphins are swallowed up by the earth, abducted by aliens, or rendered speachless (would us the term dumb, but with that group I figured it was a given), or any combination of the these. In all honesty I could care less. I hate the Pats, but I don't care for the Giants either. I can't stand the east coast bias, and I'm sick and tired of hearing about how the Pats are all that and a bag of chips. In a sick twisted way I long for the days when the Pats are reduced to doormats of the NFL and the Bears take their place among the elite by winning multiple championships..... I'm still waiting. Here's hoping that starts next year

By any chance has anyone happened to record the first three episodes of this show? After I hit stop while recording the 3rd Eppisode last night the disc had an error now the disc won't read at all. I figure it's an outside shot but worth a go.

If we enter next season with the same trio of back (Benson, AP, and Wolfe) I will be greatly dissapointed. Benson has yet to prove he can be durable and effective with any consistancy. AP is more the jack of all trades back, does well in many areas but excelles at none. Wolfe is the quickest of the three but also the smallest of the three. He does well in space and is elusive but just doen't have the stature to be a between the tackles kind of runner. I think they should bring in a FA back whever that might be and have a competition. The odd man out gets cut. It was mentioned earlier in this thread about predictability. Mone of the more maddening things about our backs and how we used them is that when Benson was in the play was likely a running play. When Peterson was in the play was more likely to be a pass play. You could litterally predict the play based on the player groupings. This goes beyond the backs but look back to last season. Jones wasn't taken out based on pass or run. This leads me to believe Benson either isn't picking up the pass protection and has yet to earn the coaches trust in those situation. IMHO a 4th overall pick should have by now taken over the position and made it possible for him to be on the field reguardless of the play call. If at this point he still hasn't made the necessary improvements in his game to stay on the field then I question whether he ever will. If you bring in a guy like Turner then my guess is that the odd man out would be Benson. Lovie has said many times that AP will always have a spot on this team as long as he coaches here. Wolfe is in his first season so he's likely safe. Why not have Wolfe and Hester back deep on kicks or have Wolf be the short man on the return game. If they're going to kick it short have someone there that can make things happen. But that's off topic. I don't know what the hit would be for cutting Benson or if there's much of any trade value for him. I get the impression he's not well thought of by the coaching staff or the front office. What I don't want to see happen is us enter the season with the same backs we started this season with. I want to see an open competition this offseason to improve the production from this unit. Improving the line will help a lot but all areas must be looked at.