DABEARSDABOMB

On a sidenote, I know people call Flacco this fast riser, but isn't that similar to what Jay Cutler ended up doing. I know a lot of people had Cutler on the radars, but during the college football season I don't recall anyone having him jumping up the boards as much as he did. Its just he threw an impressive ball and had all the tools despite playing on a relatively poor college FB team (Vandy). Obviously Vandy is superior to Delaware, but from everything I've seen, Flacco has all the tools you'd want out of a QB.

THat I agree on. They clearly don't have any QB who they can develop and count on for the next 10 years. I thought Simms was going to be okay this year, but you are probably right. He had a pretty serious injury and for all I know he'll end up getting cut or not play at all.

They already have Griese, Simms, Gradowski, Garcia. Than again, that hasn't stopped them in the past (since they technially have the rights to Plummer as well) so maybe they will add yet another QB.

I agree with you. I think the Bears are in a spot where they should put the weapons around both QB's and see who wins the job. Whomever wins the job gets a fat extension while the QB drafted gets groomed as a backup who could potentially turn into a starter (you never know with the QB spot since your always one play away from having a new starter). Bottom line, I want to see the Bears rebuild the line, develop WR's (and find as much WR talent as you can, hopefully finding a legit #1 WR cause that can really help a QB), and find a running game. And that is also how I want the first three picks to go (OT/RB/WR in no particular order). I also want them to sign a FA guard and a safety who gets cut (I also have no problem with them drafting a safety in the 4th). Oh and the one position I don't want to see the Bears draft at all is the DE/LB position (with Jamar/Okwo the Bears don't need any more depth there, imo, at least not anytime early) and with Brown/Ogunley/Anderson I am happy at the end spot (plus Bazuin).

I do think Jerry has made one bad move, which was not franchising Bernard Berrian. I also expect them to sign a solid offensive lineman (no one old, although I could live with bringing back Ruben Brown and drafting both a guard and tackle within the 1st 4 rounds) and if he doesn't do that, it will be my 2nd knock. Otherwise I think you are spot on. Inking Harris to an acceptable deal could be next, but I'm really not in a hurry and I'd have no problem franchising him in the off-season and giving him whatever he wants (assuming he proves he can stay healthy). Really if you sign him now with his lingering injury problems it could truly blow up in your face (however, the team may have a lot of cap room so financially it could be smart to use some of that cap room in the CY, which may not get used, to ease the salary cap rammifcations in future years).

I think he's going to have to earn that start. He won't go on the first day and likely won't go till the 5th or 6th round (probably just after Woodson). I think in the right spot a year or two from now you could really see him pan out. Given that I don't mind Rex/Kyle and I feel the Bears have more important current needs than QB (we have a lot of holes to fill if we plan on competing this season, so I think taking a QB during the 1st 2 or even 3 rounds would probably be indicating that the franchise is looking more towards 09 than 08) I would have no problem holding off and taking Brennan (or Johnson from San Diego in the 4th as a couple year project).

I for one will miss Brett. He was the ultimate competitor and a true entertainer on the football field. He was part of the reason why I looked forward twice a season for the Packers/Bears games. I obviously still will look forward to that game more than any other regular season game in the season still, but I must admit it won't be quite the same without having to worry and think about how the team is going to shut down a player like Favre. Brett got the best of us most of his career, but late in his career it was great to finally start getting the best of him.

I don't think any one of those guys is capable of being an average to above average guard in the NFL and I truly hope the Bears plan on signing a FA guard and than draft a tackle (and another offensive lineman later in the draft) in the 1st or 2nd round. If the Bears make the mistake of keeping all of them I have absolutely no doubt that Metcalf would win the job. Beekman isn't very good, at least not right now (unless he's had one hell of an off-season) and Metcalf is superior to oakley, imo.

Brennan reminds me a bit of Drew Brees. I think in the right system, with patience, he could turn into an awesome west coast type of QB. I think he can make quick, accurate throws and make a lot of plays with his feet (not necessarily running for 1st downs, but running around to buy time and make plays).

I believe right now Orton probably is a 55/45 favorite on Rex. However, I think Rex knows the offense better and more importantly can make all the throws. Rex has a quicker release, stronger arm, and is more accurate. The only key is whether Rex is truly comfortable and willing to step up and be more agressive in the pocket (ie, be more willing to take off and truly forget about his leg injury). He showed a buttload of improvement late last season (prior to getting hurt against the Redskins) and I would really like to see him continue with that development. He really has the ability, a great attitude, and man would I love to see him fight through all his adversity and suceed. Kyle on the other hand showed a pretty good ability to take a hit and stick in and make a play. He also showed good accuracy at times and better arm strenght than I expected. He sees the field very well (better than Rex) but at the same time can't make all the throws, but if he can improve on his down field accuracy he could very well be a better QB (in the sense that with his height he can make plays to the strenght of our offense easier than Rex...ie the middle of the field where our TE's and Booker will be).

I completely respect that. I still say (and I said it at the time of the action on the old board, albeit far too late since I'm not always around) that issues should first be discussed privately and if at that point the person has a problem and feels the rule is unjust than they can discuss it with the peers (and if the membership agrees, I have no problem admitting a mistake). By all means, I don't know all when it comes to running something and I could very well make a mistake, but I think it is better to let someone discuss the mistake one on one with someone, than let it turn into a public berating or anything along those lines. Again, just my 2 cents on the issue.

You have to remember that one of the RB's we drafted, Wolfe, has absolutely no chance to be a starter in the NFL. His only option is to excel as a special teams player and as an ocassional change of pace back (both as a RB and a receiver). The problem is the Bears don't really have the luxury of such a player (given they have Hester/Manning/Rashied Davis, who are all return men). The Bears need to draft a legitimate, potential starter/pro bowl type running back and let that guy push Benson. I'm not implying using the first round pick either (although I would have no problem with Mendenhall at 14, but I prefer oline) rather the 2nd or 3rd round pick. One of Felix Jones/Jonathan Stewart could very well be there at 2 and that is a 1st rnd quality back who can really come in and push Benson. If Benson turns things on, awesome, you have two good backs, neither of which have a bad contract and you stick with it (its been shown that it really is an asset to have two good backs, since injuries happen). I just don't see how Wolfe fits in. Peterson is a better backup (better as a RB, better as a WR, better as a blocker). He's not as quick as Wolfe though, but it is ridiculous to carry 4 RB's, unless Wolfe is contributing on special teams (we know Peterson is a big time contributor there and with the Bears losing some key ST guys, drafting another RB which pushes and makes the rushing game better, plus allows Peterson to go back to ST's and absorbing some of our key losses there is a good thing, imo).

As an admin, it is possible to lock a thread when your clicking through other posts (if you double click on the post icon as an admin/mod the thread will be locked). The thread was locked on accident. No one meant to lock it. However, in the future, before creating a stir on the forums, please send the admins/mods a PM (as that is the appropriate way to handle such a situation). I am removing the other thread (the goodbye one).

I thought I saw like 1M.

Production wise, there weren't many teams out there with a worse backfield than the one the Bears had. Adrian Peterson is a 3rd string back, could be a 2nd string back if you have a pretty good 1st stringer. Benson proved to be terrible. Now the Bears line deserves some of the blame, Ron Turner's play calling deserves a chunk of the blame as well, but so does Benson who didn't seem to hit the hole or play with the urgency that he did during the super bowl season (where he looked extremely good down the stretch). He seemed to have an explosion and never go down when the first guy hit him.

I'd go with the Patrtiots front office/coaching staff coming here. I am one of Angelo's biggest fans and for the most part i like Lovie (I question some of his moves, but I think he's a great man and a good coach). However, there is no denying how great of an organization the Patriots have (cheating be damned) and while one player could help you win for a few years, that front office/coaching combo could help you win for a lot longer. If we are talking players, I'd go Tom Brady.

On one hand, I think Alexander could be pretty effective after he has the off-season to get healthy and if you were able to get him to agree to playing with limited carries. Ie, give him the ball about 15 times a game and have another back, who compliments him well, get the ball about 12-15 times a game. I also think having Alexander around could give Benson a serious kick in the butt. The only true issue is that I don't think the style of Alexander/Benson is all too different which would mean he wouldn't be the type of back that would compliment Cedric. I think a good fit if the Bears didn't want to go RB in the draft would be Justin Fargas. He has shown this past season that he is a pretty effective player. He's also got a lot of quickness and would be the perfect combo back. For all I know the Raiders have already resigned him. Of course I find it hard to pass up on some of the guys available in this years draft.

By all means, I think Graham showed that he could even be a quality nickel corner as soon as this upcoming season. I liked what I saw out of him in limited action, especially for someone taken as late as he was in the draft.

There has to be more to it if they are keeping it quiet. Ie, Johnson must not have been the only one involved or something. And if there wasn't, my god what a mess the Bengals are. It makes me feel even worse for any sane player that is there and has to put up with that crap for a course of a season.

Ruben Brown is currently a FA so there is no guarantee he will be back. In fact I haven't heard anything really at all come from Halas Hall indicating they even have interest in Brown. Personally I think you could do far worse things than sign Brown while you draft a guard who can spend a season developing under Brown. The price will be more than fair for Brown too.

I would never, ever, ever take a guy in the top 7 picks (maybe even top 10). The amount of money those players get, without proving anything is amazing. You have to hit big time for the pick to truly be beneficial (given how financially it severely cripples your franchise). This is especially the case because if you are picking top 10, it is likely you will be there for at least a year or two (even a well ran franchise takes a bit of time from going that bad to so good quickly) and that means you have 3 guys getting a lot of money and you better have hit well on all of them. Once you drop past that, the money drops significantly and you still have good talent there. Plenty of game breaking players have came in the middle of the first round, plus you are able to make two picks and still have plenty of money left over than you would if you had a top 5 pick. I'm sure fans would call me cheap but if I ever ran a franchise that is exactly what I would do every year I was in that spot. I probably would have traded Peyton Manning though and people would have called me an idiot, but for every Peyton there are a crapload more non-peytons that can set your franchise back years.

Exactly. That is also because I feel our defense will rebound greatly, plus I have faith in Angelo putting together a strong draft and making the right decisions in terms of who to sign, who to let go internally (because at times you are going to have to let a guy walk to give another player an opportunity for fiscal reasons). There will be a lot of pressure on this years draft though. Angelo can't have first day picks like Wolfe/Bazunin who don't end up really having much of an impact early on (Wolfe pick I still think is one of the worse picks I've seen the Bears make in some time).

Ya, Riddeau. He's on the active roster but won't be when the season starts next year (barring injuries or him having a ridiculous pre-season). I have been assuming Davis will be let go, but I saw where the Bears will match any offer assuming it isn't excessive due to his special teams play. Personally I could care less in regards to Davis because I think Lloyd/McCarens are both upgrades to Davis. I believe Booker is a slight upgrade to Moose (but I could see someone saying the opposite as well). The key is finding someone to do what Berrian did, which I think there are guys on the roster with the talent to do such (Bradley/Hester, but neither are guarantees) plus a day one draft pick. However, the Bears do have Olsen with one full season and Clark to help make up for the loss of Berrian. Bottom line, I think the Bears WR position is in a better place than people say it is. That doesn't mean it is great, by all means it isn't, but I think it is still solid.

The Bears are very well set at the CB position, so going after Asante Samuel would have been fiscally irrisponsible. I'm not doubting that he isn't better than the CB's we have, but Vasher and Tillman are both above average corners who are signed to long term deals (I think Tillman is vastly under-rated around the NFL and thought he was stellar for the most part last season, while fighting through injuries). In addition to that you have Ricky Manning Jr., who was dissapointing last year and proved he is nothing more than a nickel back (he'll also be gone after this season) and Trumaine McBride (who I think is going to be a great nickel back and has the ability to be a solid to above average starting CB in time). That gives me 4 corners that I am comfortable with. At the safety position you obviously don't know what to expect from Brown and I'm expecting nothing and than you have Payne (who got hurt early last year), Manning (I think he's going to have a great season, I just hope the Bears give him a god damn position and let him stick there), and not much else, imo. I'm guessing we will see a veteran safety released sometime in the next few months and the Bears will pick one up.

John Clayton reported yesterday that Alexander will be cut, probably note till after June 1st but he believes the Seahawks will inform of the decision very soon.