jlarimore

I agree that the Bears do a poor job of developing players. Mainly on the offensive side. Defense we've done pretty good. The only guy on D who has really been weak developing is Manning. He got thrown in earlier than they wanted, I'm sure. On the offensive side, I think that the coordinators are not the problem. Their job is to manage the offense. It's the position coaches who sucked. We've drafted a bunch of WRs over the past 10 years, but how many have fully developed? As much as some of us like Berrian, he's the only one you could really claim and he still has a lot of holes in his game. Most of our best offensive players were FAs we picked up. The only O-lineman we drafted and worked out was Kruetz. QB? Our most successful guys have been Jim Miller and Erik Kramer. They were dumped by other teams who didn't exactly have superstars at the position. Rex is probably the most talented QB we've had in recent years. Nothing seems to be happening in the brain area though. Can't throw the fly pattern on every down, but sure seems to want to. Running back, I think the rest of the league has shown how little importance development is for this position. The biggest thing that effects RB success is talent, and overall offensive capability. People were down on Thomas Jones before our passing attack showed life. Now we're down on Benson, even though there were no holes to run through for most of the year. I didn't agree with drafting a RB so high back when we got him, but now we're stuck with paying him.

Here's a question for those who are arguing over taking a QB or Lineman: When was the last time the Bears developed a star at either position? They are great on the defensive side, but no matter what the talent level, they have no idea on developing QBs. Our best linemen have been either FAs or freaks like Big Cat Williams, who converted from DL (That was like 15 years ago). Kruetz is the only guy drafted who worked out, and he'd have been a beast anyway (Bears just didn't screw him up). Our biggest need is coaching staff who can TEACH a QB or lineman. We bring in system guys every year, but don't build the players. So, anyone we take will need a much better position coach than we obviously can offer now. I'd be happy with a Lineman in the first (pretty even group available at our pick). QB in the 2nd or 3rd (assuming we can develop them, we aren't getting a can't miss in the 1st either). QBs I like are Henne (makes good decisions, above average arm), Ainge (Big, strong arm, played well in big games, had no running attack to take pressure off him), Flacco (arm strength looked good to me, don't know what type of offense he ran), Dixon (Accurate, above average arm, played big in big games). Any of these guys that ran a spread offense is probably not going to be drafted by the Bears. Most spreads are run from shotgun, and when was the last time the Bears ran a lot of shotgun? Spread QBs take time to develop and learn to operate from under center (again, we don't have a good track record of that). So, I see Henne and Ainge as the front runners, based off the offenses they ran in college. A suprise candidate might be JD Booty (not that I want him). He ran a pro offense in college. All of his bad performances have excuses. He was the big QB prospect before going to USC. He has the physical tools. If he performs well in workouts prior to the draft, I see him shooting up boards, if for no other reason than he was QB at USC.

If your scenario played out, I think we'd all be happy with the results. I just don't see all of that happening. Johnson for Moose is awesome. If Berrian comes back, we need a big, possesion-type receiver across from him. If he doesn't, we'll finally see what Bradley can do. Faneca or Starks, we need a younger/stud Olineman. Don't think both are doable, but one and a lower tier FA would work. Draft picks were good, position-wise. Only one I'm not sure on is the WR from Oregon. Just don't know much about him. If we get Johnson and keep Berrian, I say go somewhere else, like QB (Second round should have some good QBs, like Ainge (I like him more than most people) or one of the top 3 (Woodson, Ryan, Brohm) if they slip. Brennan in the 3rd is reasonable though.

I just picked the guys who need to leave. Everyone else is a keeper/need. Archuletta - Dead horse being kicked...never understood why they signed him in the first place. Bradley/Davis - Either get them on the field or get rid of them...Bears traditionally hold on to WR "projects" for 3-4 years too long. If they are ever going to start, give them a chance soon. M. Brown - The best when he's playing...heartbreaking season ending injury every year. I hope he comes back healthy and plays great again. Just tired of Bears not having a reasonable back-up plan. Walker - Just depth, and they have/can find young talent cheaper. St Clair - Shouldn't even be a backup. Polite - Who??? What does this guy do? Too much clutter at this position to hold on to someone nobody is excited about. Miller - Time is up. Do what we did a couple of years ago and get a quality Free Agent. Grossman/Griese - Not the answer. Not now, not ever. Too much bad feeling from the fans, so get someone serviceable to play next year or 2 and draft a stud this year. Not like there's a complicated offense to learn, someone should be able to hit Berrian on a fly pattern and not throw 3 picks a game.

My name's Jason. I saw all the Bearstalk guys bashing on NFLFans and decided to check out the site. Never was much consistent Bears talk going on over there. I am 30. Originally from Carpentersville, IL. I am in the Air Force and stationed in Altus, OK (Just East of Nowhere). I am surrounded by Cowboys fans, so I need a dose of real fans every now and then. Don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home, and the AF is now blocking us from other AF sites (much less messageboards)...so I don't know how often I'll post, but I will check in often. Question: The terms of agreement said posts could not be sexually oriented. If I call my cousin (the Packer fan) gay, is that breaking the rules?