DABEARSDABOMB

I'd compare Rice to Emmit Smith. Ie, nothing really excites you but he's just a solid back. He finds holes and gains yardage and if you put him behind a solid line he'll be solid, a good line he'll be good, an above average line he'll be above average. Basically he's just one solid as hell individual. I can't speak about his blocking though. He doesn't have the measurables scouts like but he can play football, imo.

Broncos are either going to pass on Mendenhall (likely putting him there at 14) and take an oline or they take Mendenhall (which means another lineman is there for the Bears to consider and with Mendy off the board the debate should be between which OLT they like more and if they grade a couple of them even, see if some other team wants to move up to where the Bears are to grab a WR or another position player; but obviously only a couple spots so the Bears know one of the guys they like will still be there).

I actually like Ray Rice a lot. I think he's shown that he can play football and if you give him a solid line in the NFL he will be very productive and a good value pick. Plus picking Rice means that the Bears can address Oline and other key needs in the first two rounds. In regards to Ellis, putting him next to Harris would give the Bears a very strong interior front (to go with what I feel are good, but not amazing ends) and a good lb and cb core. The big question is how confident are they in Dusty and how confident are they in bringing back Harris (if they opted to draft Ellis I would think it would spell an end to Harris tenure in Chicago or at least that possibility occurring a year from now via trade). I still think the Bears will take a guard with one of hte 3rd round picks (as you can typically get a very quality guard prospect at that point) while taking Williams in the 1st, a RB with the other 3rd rd pick and the wildcard is the 2nd round pick (I think they go either QB or WR depending on whose available; If Flacco/Henne are there, they go QB, otherwise I think they really hope Hardy or Manningham is there and address QB in the 4th round or later (Colt Brennan/Johnson/Ainge/Dennis Dixon)

Cedric Ellis is the Bengals guy if he is on the board. Anything other than that would be foolish. Otherwise they will go Harvey, imo. RB is a need for them but they have used too many early picks on backs as of late.

Dave Attel rocks!!!

Let me know Pix. I know you had software or something involved but I can set up ftp access for you to whatever the domain was (or we can create it on talkbears, but IIRC you had a seperate domain in the past) and just throw it on here (no need to spend any money hosting it and the dedicated server has all kinds of space).

Does anyone actually know what Williams health concerns are (aside from his limbs being different lengths?).

Robertson wasn't very good for them anyway so this isn't like the Chiefs giving up a star and needing to replace a star. I believe the team will take McFadden if he is available but given what is left on the board there is no way the Jets pass on Matt Ryan. The club will take a guy who they believe can be the face of there franchise as they prepare to move into a new stadium next year. Given what else is on the board, I really don't even think they consider anything else (unless they take Ellis but I just don't see that as being something they target). I really see the Jets taking one of McFadden/Ryan/DE who has fallen (gholston or Long). No one other than those guys.

Because I quietly think the Bears believe they will still be able to get a solid tackle in the 2nd round and will instead move down and grab either Williams (who could very well be there at Steelers pick) or Felix Jones (I don't buy into this talk of Dallas taking Jones with there first 1st round pick). I think the Bears are real high on RB. That said I have zero problem staying put and taking Otah or Williams or whomever the Bears think is the best olineman on the board at our pick.

I think the problem is that the Bears will bring in another safety in the draft and at that point there really wouldn't be room on the roster for Cameron. However, if they didn't bring on a safety in the draft I would be for this signing because he is a legit special teams guy.

I'm predicting that the Steelers and Bears swap 1st rounders.

The reality is this team has too many needs to be moving up in the draft. In fact, I honestly would have zero problem moving all the way down to 27 (as I still feel you can get a starting caliber LT at that point or at least an RT like Cher..whatever from BC). Moving all the way down to 27 should also give the Bears additional picks on the first day which means we can draft WR/RB/QB/LT/G/S (all practically in the first three rounds, which means you have a better shot at getting quality guys at all of those positions, although you may miss out on the so called star but there is no guarantee of getting a star at 14 anyway). In fact, I have no idea what the value board is at, but if someone wanted to move up to 14 from the late 20's, I'd do it for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (or 1st, 2nd, and next years 2nd).

Benson is more North to South. In fact I think the two backs would compliment each other incredibly well. Mendenhall isn't pure speed though as he is very elusive and has much better "make guys miss" ability than Ced. Of course if Ced was healthy I wouldn't even think about picking a back, but I just don't think we can possibly consider Ced healthy (its too bad because I still think he has a world of ability (now that was pre-injury, who knows what form he is in now), despite his shitty attitude).

I think Mendenhall is a less explosive, stronger version of Reggie Bush. IN fact, if I were going to compare him to someone it would be Ladanian Tomilson. I really love Mendenhall's all around athletism, strength and vision. He also has good hands for a WR and game-changing speed. Bottom line he has the ability to be a workhorse back who can also take it to the house on any one play. I absolutely love this guy's upside. The only question is how good he will adjust to running between the tackles and just running in a pro offense (since he is coming from a more option ran offense).

I really like Thomas, but he's just skyrocketing up draft boards. I know people will say how guys that skyrocket up draft boards tend to be busts, but do I have to remind people of Brian Urlacher (he was a workout warrior that just skyed up draft boards despite serious questions relating to the fact that he had never played LB). Thomas has good hands, athletism and is just very talented in what I don't consider that good of a WR class. However, the reason I'd be semi upset with this pick is that while I think WR is a freaking major need (in fact, I think you could make a case that it is a bigger need than many think, but that depends on how highly you think of Bradley/Hester) when compared with OLT/RB (I do actually have it graded just a tad below RB, but I have Mendenhall graded much higher than Thomas).

Got both of your guys (Flea/Prophet)

Deadline is when the draft starts. So as long as the email comes in before the start of the draft, you are good.

So far: MadLith Nfo I'll shoot out an email through the board later on today which will hopefully get out to the loyal members (since I know this wasn't set up until last minute). I look forward to beating everyone and not finishing like a fool. On a sidenote, I will not open up anyone's excel spreadsheets until I have completed my own (I figure thats only fair).

TieBreaker: In the case of a tie, I will give the win to the person who had the most actual 1st round picks (ie, the total number of players in there mock that actually went in rd 1). 2nd TieBreaker: If there is still a tie, I will go by the person who had the most consecutive picks in a row correct.

It is a little late, but in honor of ITC3, I'll take over running the draft contest this year. Please submit a first round mock draft to me via email (preferably in excel) to Bullsback@gmail.com . Please list from the #1 pick in the round to the last pick in the first round (you don't need to put the team name down as I will solely be looking at where a player is picked, not by whom they are picked). The person who has the most correct picks (regardless of trades, I will just go down the list and if the guy is picked at the number you said you will get one point) wins. I have no idea what the tie-breaker would be, but maybe someone can come up with something. The prize will be a $50 gift certificate to NFL Shops or Amazon or something like that (basically whatever the person's choosing). Note: It will probably take me an extended period of time to actually score this (been working 11-12 hour days all week and have the same thing in store for me next week).

The trade of Allen means the Chiefs target 3 positions at 5 (QB/OT/DE). The sleeper could be Matt Ryan as the Chiefs clearly are not big believers in Croyle. However, the Chiefs have an even bigger need on the oline and the dline (and the oline is what you have to have before you can truly develop/evaluate offensive players such as Croyle). The key is there is a stud DE on the board who wouldn't be a reach at 5 and therefor I think after thinking heavily over Albert (who has just shot up all the draft boards) the Chiefs realize that the quality of lineman available at 17 (Minnesota's pick which is now the Chiefs) will be similar to what Albert grades out at while the defensive ends available at 17 will have a lot less upside as Gholston.

That is a lot to give up for a guy who may stay in trouble. That said if he gets his head on that turns into a steal, imo. Still, can't blame the Titans for just washing there hands of PacMan.

The Bears must like him more than we thought. I didn't mind him two years ago but last year I never noticed him. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with him, but regardless, if you are on the field as much as he was last season I expect to see more contributions.

10 special players. I think that means he either moves up or since he isn't going to get one of those guys opts to move down in the draft because he has a lot of guys graded in a similar spot (ie, maybe he has the Tackles graded all so closely that it would pay off to move down).

If we don't go with an oline man I will be more than happy with Mendy in the first round with the hopes of grabbing the best tackle on the board in the 2nd round. I'd also be happy moving down 7-10 spots and picking up an extra 3rd or 2nd round pick in the draft (as it will allow the Bears to still consider a back like Felix Jones or they can opt for a tackle like Cherilius) and they will have ammo to take a RB/QB/WR very early on as well.