DABEARSDABOMB

Cromartie, the Chargers selection (2 years ago) was incredibly raw as well but his athletism was off the charts. I'm not saying Bowman is quite as off the charts but he has a similar checkered past health wise and a relatively similar skill set (size/speed combo) and with proper coaching and time could turn into a tremendous pick. However, given McBride/Manning/Graham (plus Tillman/Vasher) I have my doubts as to how much Bowman will play this year (I think the Bears will work him a lot in training camp and just have a longer term plan with him). The exception to that rule is if the Bears are comfortable enough in Graham/McBride to release Manning (but given last years injury problems with Vasher/Tillman that would be a mistake, imo).

That is a hell of a comparison. We can only hope that he becomes half of the player that Allen was.

The rumors of Williams having any serious injury are just that, rumors. The Bears have denied him and there has been nothing even relatively close to credible with information which substantiates such rumors. Bottom line, some team tried to leak false information to get him to slide and it didn't work.

I agree, but in general, its pretty much unless the guy is a 1st round pick it is pretty rare for the QB to end up being the starter of a super bowl champ anyway. The only exceptions to that rule tend to be late round picks who people completely missed the boat on (ie Brady/Warner (who was Undrafted). So really, considering what a total crapshoot QB's are, I have no problem going this route as both guys the Bears got have the physical tools to be a quality QB.

First off, want to say welcome aboard. Next, while I think the Bears have considered moving Urlacher, the time to move him would have likely been the week before the draft because it makes more sense to trade a disgruntled player and get picks that you can use during the current year. I personally am a proponent of moving Urlacher, however, at this point, unless you were going to make a trade for another probowl player (which is very rare in the NFL, due to the way the cap works with trdaes), it is not beneficial to move him until next off-season. The bottom line is both sides are negotiating and pulling out little ploys to try to get additional leverage but at the end of the day the Bears & Urlacher will make up.

This years class was considered a very weak one and next year's class is again considered to be relatively weak (however, there are two guys who Kiper believes could end up turning into top 15 picks). Louisville's QB and Purdue's QB.

You probably won and you definitely kicked my ass.

I still think the Bears got two undrafted free agents who have similar odds as any of the guys that we could have drafted in the 5th to 7th round (maybe not Henne/Brohm as those guys clearly have better odds of success). Now neither of them may even make the roster but Hill has a big arm and the Colorado State kid is someone Mel Kiper was continually talking highly about during the 2nd day of the draft. The Bears other two QB's, Rex & Kyle, are both what I'd consider fairly young (Rex a bit older obviously, but still, both are not even close to being on the downside of there careers). I also believe it was fairly obvious that neither QB got any help from the play-calling, offensive line, running game last season. I think Angelo believes one of these two guys may have what it takes to be the starter and he was more concerned with surrounding each QB with enough weapons to where you can truly evaluate them (because whether it was Rex or Kyle or Henne/Brohm, without making some early round offensive selections, pretty much anyone was destined to have trouble running this offense). Obviously the Bears will still need some pretty quick impacts out of there early offensive draft picks to be super successful next year (and that may be unrealistic), but if Kyle/Rex don't show anything, Angelo can address the position next year (knowing he hopefully has found a QB an improved receiving threat...Hester develops, Bradley, Bennet, Olsen, Clark and an improved rushing game (Forte/Benson/PetersoN) and a better line.

Awesome. It is a relatively easy process, write up a piece and email it over to me (Bullsback@gmail.com) or PM the piece. We are looking for creative pieces that can go from being relatively short (since it is a blog, it could be a short take on a bad move by Lou Pinella or something the Bears did). Basically just looking to have a lot of various opinions that allows people who read the site to get a fans perspective (as opposed to the recycled stuff you often get from the larger media, such as the ESPN's/SI's of the world where even there in depth pieces really aren't news to the more die-hard fans).

Forte looks real good. The only legitimate knock you could say is that he tends to run a little more upright than you would like, but he did a lot of his running in between the tackles and that is a big plus (because that happens more in the NFL). He also looked to have good speed and vision (he really found the cut back lines a lot). I like the pick, I like it a lot. I could have went with Mendy, but let me ask people this. Would you rather have Mendy and the best tackle available with the 2nd round pick (and remember, the run of tackles pretty much had all the top tier of tackles gone when pick #44 came around) or Chris Williams & Forte.

Hill is a good fit. He will come in with little pressure and compete and be given ample time to sit on the bench. He isn't as experienced as some or as polished as some but he has all the physical tools necessary to be a successful NFL QB. Given a lot of the guys out there, I like Hill more than a decent chunk of QB's who got drafted. That said there is no guarantee Hill makes the roster, but I believe they will keep him.

I wish I was in the chatroom more for the 2nd day (too busy being royally hungover) but it was a lot of fun being in there when I was discussing Bears football with everyone. Better yet the Bears look to have done a real nice job bringing in some good football players that can stablize the franchise and turn last year into a minor bump in the road to numerous superbowl championships during the Lovie/JA era.

Personally speaking I'll take the wins at the end of the season. While I know those wins don't get a team to the playoffs, it was a strong way to finish the season. Orton looked like a guy who may have a future and the defense appeared to awaken from hibernation. I think that sort of performance was exactly what the Bears needed to get some of the bad tastes in there mouths from what was one of the most dissapointing seasons in franchise history (given the high expectations). Angelo has done a tremendous job this season, he's been smart with the cap and while the only move I'd possibly criticize was his lack of using the franchise tag on Bernard Berrian (as I think it would have been nice to keep him here one more season as I want the Bears to surround there QB's with as much talent as possible). Angelo also had what I deemed to be a tremendous draft. Of course that is my initial grade and the reality is whether he got an F now or an A now from the experts the real grades come over the course of the next few seasons (you know, when the players actually take the field and PLAY).

Good stuff, lith. I'll have that up later today.

Hey Madlith...I would have responded to your PM but for whatever reason my internet isn't letting me type anything into the compose box, but I wanted to say I got your piece this morning and really enjoyed it. Will get it up on the front page by the afternoon.

I'll try to write Cubs stories until we can find a few people interested in writing on the Cubs (I also got to do what I can to get that forum more active).

I won't be done with it for a couple days (been busy working on some stuff for work as well as writing for the blog).

http://www.talkchicagosports.com/blog/?p=22 There is my analyst on the selection (including the rammifications of such pick). Forte is big, strong and fast. I love this pick.

I LOVE THIS PICK.

I'm guessing Henne.

Wow...Chris Johnson...didn't see that one coming.

Mendy to Pitt. That or someone traded with Pitt. Either way Mendy is going right here.

Lions took a RT. I think he'll be solid, but I was shocked they passed on Mendy. I'm really thrilled with this pick by the Bears. Williams will be either a rock solid LT or a stud RT, imo. He's a strong technical blocker and I hope the Bears will get him on a good strength program (if you can add a bit of muscle the right way to him, you are talking about a guy that could be a probowl LT as well).

With Mendy falling, does Dallas take him instead of Jones (meaning Jones could slide into the 2nd and if he slides into there, I swear the Bears should move up).

Man, I absolutely love this pick. I really really like it. Chris Williams....Welcome to Chicago!!!