DABEARSDABOMB

Thanks Bri....Nicks is who I'd have taken. Sorry guys, got caught up at work.

Oh and the heck with a schedule, super bowl teams find ways to win, tough schedule or not. Bears want this, they'll have to show up for each and every game, which is something they haven't exactly done the past couple years.

We have a weak schedule, but the start could be rough, just given where we play. Seattle is better than they were a year ago and the first three games will be tough. Any game in GB is tough, any game against defending SB champs is tough, and a game all the way out in Seattle will surely be tough (especially for an oline that will likely still be gelling).

Shit, I'm happy that he's bonding with his mates. Just don't be an idiot, have someone else drive for you.

I'll be checking in later today, since I should eventually be on the clock. Currently the Eagles and Ashkum are on the clock.

I don't mind Kipers latest 4 round mock. Bears nab the Clemson safety in the 3rd round and the Georgia wideout in the 2nd (Ideally we'd trade down and grab the Georgia wideout though).

Click on the link in the first page of the thread.

Awesome, I'm planning on going to the San Francisco game and possibly the Atlanta game. Didn't they already say the GB opening day game is the Sunday night game?

We got the exact same jerseys and used the 15%. Accts know how to do it, haha. You going to go up to the San Fran game?

If the top Wr's are off the board and the Bears have already signed a wide-out, than I would like them to move down in the 2nd round, potentially into the beginning of the 3rd round where they could than take the Georgia WR (I really really like him) and than grab a FS with the next pick or have the ammo to move up from the 4th round into the 3rd to than select WR/FS/Oline in any sort of order with 3 3rd round picks.

In Tanks defense, he seems to have cleaned up his act and I really hope he has. I also think the Bears making a statement probably helped Tank grow up as a man because it was probably one of the first times in his life he was actually punished for his actions.

Sorry guys, had birthday parties so I was away most of yesterday. With the 20th pick in the draft, the Detroit Lions go best available and take Brian Cushing, LB, USC.

I was one of those 1600 and currently those jerseys are on backorder. I'm in no hurry though, just want to sport it opening day

I'm actually a far bigger proponent in the team trading down because I think there are enough WR's that we could potentially land one later, plus be able to grab a safety early.

You got to admire the boldness. My guess is any move up would be to acquire a WR or tackle. Pompei later speculates how the Bears are very interested in Robisnkie. Robinskie definately would be a nice fit along with Bennett and Hester. My guess is that if they trade up, its to target a 1st round tackle that slides or to grab a WR like Robinskie/Nicks. Otherwise I could very well see them trading down if Britts/Robinski/Nicks are off the board (this would be easier to do if the Bears sign Holt cause they'd have even less pressure to grab a WR super early and could make adjustments of what they picked based upon the way the draft unfolds).

Great post. I agree with it. To add one thing, having Cutler here just gives everyone on the offense a lot more confidence and it seems lame, but more confident people are more likely to produce.

Yep, anyone with leg/back/knee issues prefers playing on natural grass than turf. Especially the turf the Rans use. I don't know if they upgraded it this past season, but prior to that the Rams were supposed to have some of the worst turf in professional sports.

Here's my breakdown of how Holt ideally allows the Bears to focus on the defense and oline for the next three years of the draft (sans a couple offensive selections) while still giving the Bear an elite offense for a while: Even with the addition of Holt, the Bears will be targetting a young WR. WR's usually take 1-2 years to truly develop into the league, with the third year typically being there breakout year. In a perfect world, the addition of Holt means that both Hester and Bennett should emerge this year and potentially breakout a year from now (Hester is closer than Bennett) and than your new draft pick is able to ease in this season, gain more time next season and than burst out two years from now. Basically put, Holt is the perfect stop-gap over a 2-3 year period. This year he's your best WR, next year he takes a step back, but is still very good and adds respect (not to mention he's a great mentor) and in year three he's more of a 3rd WR (if one of Bennett/Hester/Pick busts) or a 4th WR (and I think he sticks around because he's older at that point in his career and ideally the Bears have won a superbowl or are at least consistently competing for one so he sticks around to get the ring). Plus if you look at it, essentially the Bears have to spend zero picks on the WR or TE spot in the next couple years with really the only offensive positions you have to worry about being the oline (they can go heavy there) and RB (you'll want to make sure you have someone brought in that can step in if Forte goes down, imo, and given the importance of the RB position and the short life span, it wouldn't be a bad idea a year or two from now to take a back in the 2nd round again). So essentially, you go WR early this draft, than turn the attention the next 2-3 years to the defense, oline, and one RB pick (and maybe a WR or two later in the draft). Now someone will tell me that Clark is getting older, but I'll respond with our 3rd string TE being a freaking beast. The guy is a tremendous athlete, projects to be a great blocker, and has offensive ability and will be a great compliment to Clark (who I think will be gone after this season, unless he is willing to take a very reduced role). Bottom line, in one fell swoop, the Bears are instantly a player or two away from an elite offense (not just for one year, but a number of years).

If the Bears pick up Holt, than they are a superbowl contender and with that I don't think you can risk going through a season with one of Hanie/Basanez as your primary backups. I'm not saying our backup will be there to rescue us and win a superbowl if Cutler goes down for the season, but if we lose Jay for three or for games or just one or two, the backup could find a way to lead the Bears to a key victory or two that is necessary to get the Bears into the playoffs where Cutler comes back and dominates. I'm thinking one year stop-gap and here's my rationale for why it would be a good move for the Bears and the specific player. Leftwich would be a tremendous pickup, but that move won't happen for a while. If Leftwich is smart, he'll wait and see if someone gets hurt or if a QB job opens up where he'll have a pretty good job at competing for a starting spot. If he doesn't, Chicago wouldn't be a bad place for him to be just because he'd have a shot to win, but barring injury he'd have no shot at playing. However, if you couldn't find a spot where you could compete for a spot, Chicago wouldn't be bad because if things go well, they might sit Cutler one week and he'd at least be able to showcase himself at the end of the season. Plus, if Cutler went down for an extended period of time, he'd be on a good team which would help make him look better and hopefully if that did happen, he'd perform, win a few games, make himself more marketable while at the same time keeping the Bears a playoff team. Thats how I'd sell it at least. Than there is Grossman. With Cutler coming in, the Bears are going to have to give him a ton of snaps and reps in mini camps since it will be his first year in the offense and with the playoffs, which might make it a bit harder to bring in another QB who doesn't have a knowledge of the offense (ie, Leftwich might have trouble getting up to speed enough since Cutler would really need so many reps, more so than say a guy like Manning whose been in the same system for years). Grossman is also a very capable backup who doesn't seem to have any starting options and given his comfort with the offense he could be just fine with limited reps. Plus, as a pure backup I think the hate for Grossman would diminish because I believe most of the shots had to deal more with the Bears not having a good QB (ie, Orton/Grossman) than fans really hating Grossman. Grossman might not do it, but he wouldn't have to answer the same questions he did in the past and as a whole I think the players respect the heck out of him and as a classy fan I respect him for the way he's handled anything. I wouldn't blame Rex if he never wanted anything to do with Bear fans or if he just wanted a clean break, but I do think from the Bears perspective he would be a great #2 QB for one more season (giving Hanie a bit more seasoning).

I really think that the Bears hadn't shown much any interest and than after the Cutler move happened they opted to go that route. That move just changed the whole timetable of the organization and now adding a receiver like Holt could be the move that puts the Bears over the top (obviously ignoring the other moves that happened this off-season). Pre Cutler trade, the addition of Holt wouldn't have made the Bears a superbowl contender, imo, now, it might. Plus, realistically the Bears can now really present themselves as the very best option for Holt, although the Giants are another good option as well.

The three most attractive veteran WR options out there are Torry Holt, Plaxico Burress, and Matt Jones. Anyone else available isn't going to make the impact that these three guys can make. However, of the three individuals, Burress has had constant on the field and off the field problems and Jones has had very serious off the field problems. Suspensions are looming for both Jones and Burress and in Plax case you have jail to worry about. Holt is a similar age to Burress and his productivity slipped last year but you can point to a lot of factors that led to the decrease (Rams being horrific being numero 1 through 10). Given the fact that the Bears just made a huge statement, they do have the leeway to go out and get a criminal (ie, Burress/Jones), but they also have a history of staying away from those type of guys (especially those guys that don't have youth as an excuse and both Jones and Plaxico have been around enough that they should have learned by now). So with that said, it's becoming very obvious to me that the Bears guy is Holt. I've been screaming all off-season he'd be the guy and it just made too much sense with Lovie's connection. However, you now have Pace lobbying for him (see quotes below) and apparently the two are rather close and the Bears biggest competition, Tennesse and Jacksonville, don't have the QB's that Chicago has. To make matters even better, Lovie Smith was interviewed yesterday and was very glowing in how he talked about Holt (he was more up-beat than his usual self) and reading between the lines it sounds very clear that the Bears are in pursuit of Holt. I don't think its publicly out there yet, but now that the dust has settled with Cutler, expect the Bears to add another weapon for Jay to throw to and it will be Holt. It just makes too much sense. Also, I don't think this will put an end to the talk of the Bears taking a WR in the 2nd round, but it will at least allow them to consider other options if a better player were to fall or there WR was off the board. http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....cago-bears.html

Beautiful.

He's a non-option and I liked this guy coming out of the draft.

Describe this Brandon Tate.

No way is Nicks falling to the 2nd round. I'd be exstatic though.