DABEARSDABOMB

Williams and Louis is a very good potential guard combo. Add in Spencer who is a solid guard and I'm happy with the depth at guard (E. Williams is solid depth too). I'm also okay with Carimi as the RT and will trust in Tice who says he isn't an LT. Bears have never said he was either. Webb is the guy that needs to be replaced, but that doesn't mean you cut him, he has a lot of value as a swing tackle coming off the bench. Bears need to address LT and than I'll rely on Tice to draft a guard/center of the future (to replace Garza in time). People can complain all they want about the pass blocking but this team ran the ball fantastically this year and a big part has to do with the run blocking of the line, including the blocking of a guy like Williams who was huge at getting the initial block and than getting out down the field and making another down block. This created a lot of big plays and is not something most guards can do. The Bears have one of the more athletic olines in the league. Note: I'm not saying it is the best oline and pass blocking is important but when the biggest sack issues happened (and I'm ignoring the early stretch of football when Martz was hanging the line out to dry and they were still growing with each other) when Williams was down and you had Louis playing tackle for the first time ever (he's a guard) and other issues going on. Add in Hanie who was clueless and I was not surprised the line would give up a bagillion sacks.

I can't even fathom the logic in this. I've seen this proposed many places, however, it is very evident the Bears have decided Williams is not a LT. What he is is a very athletic guard who has shown a pretty damn good ability to run block and that is where he should stay. I have very little concern with our guards and truly think this line needs continuity, more experience, and an upgrade at tackle (Webb might be an athletic beast but he's proven he's nothing but inconsistent).

My big issue is I think LT is a bigger need than guard so I think my off-season focus would have to ensure we get a tackle, whether in the 1st round (if one falls) or via free agency (although I don't think any are out there). I'd probably spend my free agent money on wideout and end and would also probably throw a little more money at Briggs. He's an elite linebacker and well worth keeping for the time being. I would consider moving up in the draft if the top 4 tackles are gone, but I might also consider moving down if they are gone and nothing else the Bears really like is available. Stock up on additional picks and the Bears should still be in a position to find a few starters in this draft (given we have the extra pick from Olsen and would get another pretty high pick if you moved down 10 or so slots). Basically if a good DE or LT isn't available with our 1st rounder, I'd move down. Unless of course the Bears haven't addressed wideout, which means I'd have to add WR to that list.

If the Bears promote Ruskell after firing Angelo, than I really have to wonder what the hell is going on. No way is Ruskell the best guy out there. I'm not saying he's as terrible as some of these Seattle people say he is cause his teams made the playoffs the majority of his tenure but I just don't get how you fire angelo to bring in his best buddy. That makes zero sense, unless, the Bears ultimately have come to the conclusion that staying the status quo for one more year and if it doesn't work, you do a full overhaul, in which case I could understand, but they'd have really blown the pooch cause they'd have been better off sticking with Jerry one more year than. I'm not going to believe this is true, I just can't. It would be so assinine.

As I had mentioned, I've heard quite a few national guys talk about Chris and they say he has a very very bright future and that more of the smoke in Indy is just stuff they are throwing out there to better explain the firing and that really Chris has a really bright future. Basically put, the Polians are getting thrown under the bus. I just know the track record is fantastic. I also want to point out that I'm most interested in bringing in a college personell guy than a pro personell guy. I want the person with the scouting accumen running the draft and hopefully we can find a good pro guy. I wonder if the Bears would hire Gabriel back (he was the pro guy, correct?). Snead or the Giants guy (Ross?) are my new top choices.

They still got to bring Bates in but I saw your post and was like damn, great call Terra.

Cutler supposedly has recommended the Titans QB coach. Supposedly a young up and comer. Lovie has asked for permission to interview him but no one thinks they will grant the Bears permission. A lot of talk Bears would also be interested in hiring Koetter (Jacksonville) who is expected to be fired when a new coach comes in. Atlanta wants to hire Koetter as well. Both would be exceptional hires, but sound unlikely, which probably puts Bates as the most likely hire. Oline coach: Andy Heck? I have seen a couple posts on other forums suggesting this.

Another name I'd support hiring would be Chris Chandler or Rich Gannon as a QB coach. No idea what they are doing but both are smart guys that I know at one point in time wanted to get involved in coaching.

Its funny cause I've heard a lot of stuff in Indy about Chris but around the league it sounds like a lot of people think Chris is a really bright guy. I don't know what to think. Part of me says Indy needed a scapegoat but I still think the firings were more to do with ownership needing to seperate itself from Peyton to ensure an independent decision is made for what is best for the team and he feels that the Polians are too close to Manning and as a result might not make the best decision possible (hell the owner is probably in the same boat).

The Bears now need to add an LT and WR. I could support a guard too but I'm a realist and I can't see them getting a wideout, LT, and guard (two of which would have to cost big money via FA), especially when you also have a need at DE and in the draft the Bears have to start looking at CB and LB. I think if I were the Bears. I'd sign the DE/WR in FA. I'd than draft: 1. LT 2. Best available CB or OG (Or Best available, this could include DE/DT/LB/OG) 3. Whatever you didn't take above (or if you rate a LB/DT better, go with it) 4. Continue on this path

If they miss on him, they better do what they need to do to get Polian on board. Not many other names intrigue me.

I agree that the best approach is drafting the LT (since there are none available via FA) and signing the Wideout via FA. I have no desire to try and play russian roulette with this wideouts early in the draft (seems like there is such a bust rate). I'd much rather go the safer route of a LT or if a nice looking DE came our away, I'd go that route too. I do think we need a LT, DE, and WR. However, nothing is more important than a #1 WR in my mind. Nothing.

Not getting Decosta hurts but that Falcons guy sounded promising and the one major knock I had with McKenzie is he was a pro-personell guy vs. a scouting guy. That is what i really liked about DeCosta. The Falcons guy is solid and the ex Bronco's GM (Sundquist) seems like an interesting candidate as well.

I think it has more to do with the fact that the Raiders offered first and the Bears haven't even interviewed. Raiders had a head start and I'm guessing McKenzie is going to have full control with Davis no longer there. Plus I got a feeling McKenzie had an idea he wasn't the top choice of the Bears (although he might have been 1B) so he had no idea of knowing whether other opportunities were out there. Raiders have a solid team, although if I were the GM, I'd rather take the Bears job or Rams or Colts jobs as I think you have a lot more to work with. If you want a more established team, Bears > Raiders, plus we have draft picks (and cap space; not sure what the Raiders have but I'm sure they do too). Rams/Colts are both great options if you want to be part of a rebuilding team.

As soon as I saw they hired Tice I figured this would be the case. If it is true, I'm really happy about this. Tice is a very good coach and earned an opportunity to be an OC and having Bates in who knows Jay and has an idea of how to coach Jay up to his strenghts and I think we have a pretty good set of minds there. I am curious to see how it will work having two guys involved but as long as it is clear that Tice calls the shots and as long as Cutler is comfortable, I'm okay. I think it is huge because I see Tice having the courage to at times tell Cutler no, which is important. But it will be nice to have Cutler being able to audible at the line of scrimmage and I fully expect we'll see a lot more designed roll-outs. I think (although I can't confirm) that Tice was pretty involved in the change in play-calling during Cutlers very successful 5 week stretch this year.

Usually the coach hires his assistants. There is input from the GM but the coach almost always has the final say in hiring his assistants.

Tice is a perfectly fine hire and makes a ton of sense. Bears will be able to play a little bit more to Cutler's strengths and he'll have more input yet they wont' be entirely overhauling the offense. I expect Bates to be brought in as the Passing Coordintor. I could be wrong. I'm also very curious to see who Tice brings in as the Oline coach.

I don't disagree. However, I'd argue that almost any successful pass defense truly requires a strong front four. You won't see many pass defenses which are successful without getting to the QB. The Bears seem to have an improving Front 4 with Melton looking like a nice looking tackle to go with Peppers and Paea has some potential. I still think I target WR and DE in FA (Mario Williams and another wideout). Getting both is a pipe dream but I'll go for it. In round 1 I'm grabbing whatever LT falls to me. If the right one doesn't fall, I think I trade down and grab a guard. The good news for the Bears is about 4 of the top tackle candidates in the draft that were underclassmen went pro. This includes the Stanford guys, plus Riley Reif (Iowa), and USC's LT. I figure with all of these guys coming out, when you add in upperclassmen, the Bears might be in a spot where they can pick up a LT.

That is the point of the cover 2. You don't need to invest in high draft picks to get a good cover 2 as the system is different and allows you to get away with lesser talent at certain spots. It is pretty ingenius cause you can find good cover 2 corners later in the draft.

Ditka was a lousy coach who got very little out of one of the most talented teams in NFL history (1 superbowl was not enough with that kind of talent). I love him as a fan of the Bears but I want nothing to do with him being the GM. I wouldn't mind his involvement in some way, shape or form in the organization, but not as a personell guy. I most certainly don't want us to trade our whole draft for Ricky and a round of golf on draft day.

That is true. He missed bits and pieces of the season with rib injuries and some other ailments.

He still has to agree to interview.

Hasselbach was his QB last year and Lynch isn't a terrible player.

He has the exact opposite. He has had tons of coaches during his tenure.

I'll point out a couple of the negatives and make an argument hte other way: 1. Won't step on an opponents throat when leading a game - Has a tremendous record while leading at the half (42-8); League average (since 2002) was 71%. Lovie is at 84% at. Has a tremendous record when leading after the 3rd as well (far better than the NFL average). 2. Marinelli was regarded as the best Dline coach in the league. I don't care if he was a cronie or not, the Bears were lucky to have him and I've never heard of any player over his entire career saying anything bad about the dude. Mike Tice is also regarded as one of, if not the very best position coach as well. Martz was regarded as one of the best offensive minds ever. He failed but he had a track record and Martz didn't let his friendship get in the way of giving him the boot (and Martz was given the boot, they are just being nice saying he resigned). 3. Press conferences - Who cares. Belliceck doesn't say a thing at his press conferences; Whats it matter. Press conferences don't win games. 4. Believing not to lose - Has a pretty solid winning percentage in his history as coach. Plus this is all just speculation.