DABEARSDABOMB

All - Apologies for the site outage. We should slowly be coming back online. The server the site sits on blew-up and DNS issues came through, which take a while to get resolved (as there were a variety of underlying domains behind the actual server). Everyone should start seeing the site come back online over the next 24 hours. Apologies for the outage and it will be good to start talking football (and thankfully everything is online prior to the 1st preseason game)!!!

Trubisky has evidently made some really special throws/plays. Doesn't mean he isn't really raw though, but nice to see the arm talent delivering. Shaheen has evidently beasted and Cohen has supposedly been like a nintendo game player in terms of his elusiveness (Without pads / tackling). White has practiced (plus) and appears healthy (plus), but has not really stood out in practice (negative). Defense hasn't generated much of a pass rush while corners have been surprisingly solid. Below is a quote I saw about White:

He underwent surgery today (knee scope).

McPhee probably won't make it through the season. Unfortunate, because he's a good player when healthy, but it would appear that knee is going to end his career.

Alright!!!

I don't recall major issues with Rex on the playbook side. I presume part of why he stuck around so long as a back-up was because he was all around a good mentor who always had a good handle of the playbook (in case he needed to step in). I'm not saying he was Brady, but I never remember work ethic being a huge issue with Grossman. I will say, so far I've liked what I've heard out of Trubisky.

We'll get a lot of fluff...hopefully Trubisky's body of work will make everyone a long-term fan of his (while bringing championships to Chicago)!!!

Yes. That said, I wish Shaw luck and wouldn't mind sticking him on the practice squad. That said, if he beats out Sanchez in training camp...may the best man win.

Yep...multiple weapons / styles allows you to attack multiple types of defenses / teams. With a young QB, I think we need to surround him with as much weapons as possible, so I truly hope our TE becomes a beast, Howard continues to be awesome, this rookie back becomes a poor man Sproles and that White / Meredith emerge as legit #1/#2 wideouts. Oh and that MT becomes a true legend in Chicago!!! A man can dream, can't he!!!

I thought I heard quite a bit of reports out of Dallas talking about how helpful Sanchez was with Dak. Sanchez is actually a really good mentor, given the spotlight he was in with the Jets (high pick who had a ton of initial success) and he can relate to Trubisky and truly help a young player deal with the adversity of becoming a starting QB, etc. I actually like Sanchez being around even more, now that we grabbed Tru. Sanchez can be the backup early and then become the 3rd string QB (maybe a year from now he is the backup after Glennon leaves).

The draft party thing was a disaster by the Bears. The bright side is, it seems like Trubisky is a pretty humble kid who should be able to learn and work with Glennon (and I'd hope Glennon can do the same and recognize that whether he is the long-term face of this franchise or not...he still has a real great career opportunity to start with the Bears and prove that he belongs as a starter). In an ideal world, Glennon kicks butt and Trubisky does awesome in practice and building confidence, etc....to the point that we find ourselves in a great position with two assets, one of which we can deal for additional picks. I would not be surprised if we could trade Glennon a year from now.

How good is he and what was his injury? I know he was a relatively big name last year and he would seem to fit a need? Does he have room in the tank to be a long term piece?

Between him at Gruden's QB camp and the below article (which I know is a puff piece), but I just get more and more excited about our new QB based upon everything his QB coach said in the Q&A with the tribune. Maybe the only down side is that he is a "quiet" leader, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. He seems like a humble kid who is going to come in and put in work and continue to put in work, which is absolutely what it takes to establish yourself in this league (and also to not overstep your bounds and make a mess with other veteran players, etc). The big thing that had me gushing was hearing how humble he was, how much work he put in, and oh, how freaking accurate he was (both on the run and in the pocket), including how well he does under duress (stats back this up). It is a big jump from college to pro's and its going to take time, but I'm really getting excited about Mitch and seeing if he can develop into our first successful "franchise" QB in my lifetime!!! http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...#nt=oft01a-6la1

Philly actually got ripped a lot during last year's post draft grades while the Rams were consistently praised. I saw Eagles getting D grades vs. Rams A- grades. Fastforward a year and those grades would be largely inversed. Wentz is no guarantee, but you can project him to be a good player. Cardinals didn't get ripped for the move they made (Chiefs have gotten a little bit of it). I think part of why Bears are getting ripped is no one thought we were taking a QB. Reality is if we took Allen 15 spots before everyone else, that would have been a mega overdraft.

Last year, if you were to evaluate the Bears draft now, I'd say we had one of the 5 best drafts in the league. Lots of things can change between now and then, but that is a grade that matters and 3 years from now it will matter even more. I won't judge Pace based upon his draft grade the weekend of the draft, I'll judge him based upon that draft grades in year 3 and year 5 (as well as our long-term record). We have a great cap position and at least a person who could be the franchise QB (and another guy who could end up being okay). Pats have two QB's that start across the league, one who they could have probably gotten a top 5 pick for (and the other being the greatest of all time at the respected position). Bottom line...this is a process and we need to continue to develop and maximize players. We do need White to break-out, cause if him, Shaheen, Howard, Simms, and Meredith can all become pretty good players (With maybe two to three being above average to well above average), we'd have some weapons for our young QB. Easier said then done...but hey, possibilities exist.

LT, I think the only option that makes sense, if Grasu is truly healthy and good, is that Whitehair slides into guard long term opposite Kyle Long as Sitton is the LT guy. I suppose Whitehair could also swing out to tackle, but my guess is next year, we will be picking early and probably will be moving down to accumulate some picks and with that, we might address one of the tackle positions.

I'm all over Desmond King. I can't see him falling to us, but if he does...awesome!!!

Rumor is that at least 5 different teams had Shaheen within top 50 of their draft boards (so he pretty much went where pegged). Cowboys wanted him badly and had him graded as the 2nd best TE in the draft. Heard an analyst who talked to numerous NFL scouts who implied that he was considered by many scouts (not a full majority, but quite a few) as the 3rd best TE in the draft. I am getting fired up over the pick. I also don't think he's as big of a project as some imply, mainly because he has such strong physical gifts. Yes, it will be an adjustment, but he'll kick butt!!!

I think at best, we were going to be a mediocre team, and more likely a bad team. That didn't change this year, but we have a guy who might be a future franchise QB on the roster now (and we didn't before). We also gave "said potential franchise QB" a person who could become a massive playmaker. Yes, we still have a lot of holes, but this is a process and we are still probably two years away from contending at best, so e have another two drafts before being in "contention" mode (it takes time to be a winning team with a young QB...unless you had a really good team already...which we didn't). Next year I expect us to be picking top 5 and I wouldn't be shocked if we moved down and accumulated more picks next year (to fill various holes). We also have been conservative on cap space and that should put us in a good spot when we get closer and more ready to take the next step.

I think we keep him, but you are right, with his health issues, you can't count on him for anything. He's still a solid vet to have around for our TE's. We are going to run the ball and between Simms and the rookie, we have two guys that can block and we think Simms can catch better then expected and Shaheen has potential to be a great weapon as well. We are going to run a lot of two TE sets and we are going to pass out of them. I am on record as saying I'd have waited to draft TE (because it was just so deep so I didn't think we'd downgrade that much waiting till the 4th round...but I love the idea of getting a big weapon like this who can develop with Tru). I also think we are going to suck this year (and thought that before the draft), so I like that we are taking the patient path and trying to acquire best talent possible. Next year, I expect us to have a high pick and wouldn't be shocked if we were moving down and accumulating picks in the 1st (vs. moving up). I'm betting we take a DB and WR with two of our next 3 picks...possibly 2 DB's. I particularly like Desmond King. I think he is underrated and is a good fit in our system. He also is a ball hawk.

Big physical TE. I like the position...I would have preferred to trade down, accumulate more picks, and then go on my TE / DB blitz.

I really liked Williams.

One more trade down...then take a DB and TE.

I can see us moving back one more time.

Watch us move down one more time in the 2nd...I see it coming. Accumulate a ton of late 2nd / 4th round picks.