Bears4Ever_34

He wasn't a starter because he was playing behind the #4 pick in the 2008 draft. He's not a superstar RB but he is more than capable of carrying the load for a team that needs him to. Did you not watch any Oakland Raiders football games last season?

How are the Bears treating him like crap? Good for them that they are being sensible with the situation and realizing that you shouldn't have to over pay for RB's in this league. The Bears offered him a fair contract. Look at what happened to the two best RB's in football that got paid last season. How did that turn out for Minnesota and Tennessee? These are the very reasons you never want to put all your stock in the most fragile position in football.

Matt has been getting some bad advice from his agent throughout this whole process. Should have just signed the offer the Bears gave him before. Now he has no leverage.

Multi dimensional player. Can run, catch, block etc.. Filled in for Darren McFadden last year and played well.

I assume Marion Barber will be cut shortly. Earlier on, I would have agreed but everyone has already signed. Michael Bush is a legit #1 RB in this league and he's signing here to be our #2. Also has been extremely durable throughout his career. It's a great move not only football wise but it also keeps us from worrying about Forte holding out.

Awesome! Now we have a real 1-2 punch. I'm excited for this offense.

Who gives a crap about his height. We have Brandon Marshall. Kendall Wright makes more sense now when you can pair him next to somebody with size. Steve Smith is a guy Wright is often compared to and for good reason. Smith was a 3rd round pick out of Utah and stood at a whopping 5'9 weighing 185 pounds who then went on to be a perennial pro bowler. Wright measured in at 5'10 195 pounds. Both have 38 inch verticals and the athletic ability to make spectacular plays. Being 5'10 doesn't really have to do with anything. If a guy can play, he can play. I don't think you can go wrong with either him or Stephen Hill. We have our #1, we just need a speed guy to compliment him. The Bears will have their options when it comes to their selection. I myself would love to see them add another quality receiver in the 1st but would understand if they went with a pass rusher or someone else that fell out of the top 10.

They lose two 2nd round draft picks as well. Goodell means business.

Don't you think Ryan is probably worth more than whatever we get out of our 4th round pick? I do. Sounds like a bargain deal to me, but Ryan is also a MLB.

That includes rookie pool I believe. The Bears also have a 3 mil veteran exemption that they can spend to add some extra space if they choose to.

Michael Bush is still out there, and Cutler and he have been texting back and forth. Wasn't that big of a fan a week ago when there were still other potential free agents available but now, everyone has pretty much signed with a team. Forte and Bush would be a pretty damn good combo of quickness and power. Basically an upgrade over Marion Barber. It would be more of a luxury than a need but if they're willing to spend some extra money, it might be worth it for a couple reasons. 1- Use him as leverage in case Forte decides to hold out during the season; meaning at worst, you atleast have Michael Bush, who proved to be one of the better running backs in football last year. Wouldn't be losing a whole lot. 2- Saves both Bush and Forte from having to carry the load over the course of a season. In this league, it is essential that you have atleast 2 solid runningbacks to get you through the season. After a while, using Forte as much as we have in the past will eventually catch up to him. He is a running back after all. These things tend to happen quicker than most positions in the league.

I didn't listen to the interview but I read about the Hester thing yesterday. I wonder if they will try and use him similar to how Minnesota uses Percy Harvin. I'd like to see if he can handle some carries in the backfield maybe once or twice a game as a change of pace.

The only part of the line that I'm overly concerned with is LT. If Carimi proves to be worth his draft selection and everyone can stay healthy, we should be okay for this season. I'm interested in seeing how the new offensive scheme plays out, which should be more offensive line friendly than the last one.

I found it interesting that the latest mock from Walter Football.com has us taking Coples at #19. Before free agency it seemed as if Coples was a lock to land in the top 10. But Cambell suggests it may not be the case. http://walterfootball.com/draft2012charlie_1.php Buffalo could always grab another DE in the first to pair up with Mario Williams, so that is always a possibility. But a team like Miami might have to take a quarterback now with Flynn and Manning both turning them down during the free agency period. It's an interesting proposition we'd have if Coples slips. He had a down year for a senior but his combine was impressive and the measurables are all there to be a solid pro. If he's there for us at 19, do we take him?

While he wasn't given an extended run at tackle (Due to injuries) I feel like he was incredibly inconsistent at it. He doesn't seem to have the agility to go up against speedy edge rushers and part of that is him being slow off the ball. You can see that now when he's in at guard and is asked to pull. I worry about guys beating him off the edge constantly if he were to come back in at tackle, but I suppose it can't be any worse than what we're already getting out of Webb.

A big reason Chris Williams struggled at LT was because his arm length was less than ideal for an offensive lineman. Great arm length is considered to be anywhere from 35 inches and upward. Ryan Clady's arm length measures to 36 inches. Good arm length is around 34 inches. Jeff Otah measures at 34 5/8 inches. Then you get to the bad arm length and that's where Chris Williams falls under. Only 32 and 3/4 inches. Robert Gallery came into the draft measuring out at 32 and 1/4 inches. While arm length certainly isn't the "Be all end all" measurable that qualifies someone as either a good or bad offensive lineman, it's something to think about whenever you are spending a high 1st round draft pick on any offensive lineman. It's like a boxer. The guy with the longer reach has the advantage over the other guy because he has an easier time getting off punches. It works the same way for an offensive lineman. The longer your arms are the easier it is to keep the distance between the defender and the quarterback.

The Packers are better than anyone at football when it comes to drafting talent. All it took was a little coaching up and two years playing under Aaron Rodgers to make him into a valuable commodity. Kid is going to be good.

Not sure why he didn't sign with Miami, given their head coach was Flynn's old QB coach and they will be running the same offense. Atleast I would think they are. It's a safer way for him to make more money in the future, but instead he will have to learn an entirely new system and may end up falling on his face without that quarterback friendly system they had down in GB. I happen to think Flynn is going to be pretty damn good. I was calling it at the end of last season after that Patriot game. Then he goes out and throws for like 500 some yards a 5 or 6 TD's against Detroit in the last game of the season.. All of his mannerisms are nearly identical to Rodgers. The way he moves, throws, throws on the run, improvises etc.. All similar to Rodgers. That means he got some terrific coaching and as I said, that came from the guy who is now running the show in Miami.

Yes but his strengths as an offensive lineman are that he is very skilled at run blocking. The knock on him has been that he struggles with leverage and his height sometimes can be used against him. His bad knee aren't really conducive to what you want out of your blind side protector. He certainly has the athleticism to play the position but you are going to get the most out of him by letting him run block as a RT and bring somebody else in that's more of a pass protector on the left side.

We didn't really have a place for him. What we needed is a left tackle. Right tackles are generally your best run blocking tackle and that's what Gabe is here for. Were going to have to find that LT in the draft somewhere in the 1st 3 rounds of the draft.

Well there goes all her credibility. Sounds like she's just trying to use Marshall's past and reputation as a way to make some money. Hopefully now this nonsense can end and we can just get back to football.

Did we decide not to talk with Laron Landry? Haven't heard anything on him.

Uhh, did we see what happened to us last season? There's a reason why we invested some of our money for Jason Cambell; to make sure the disaster that was last year never happens again if, god forbid, Jay Cutler ever went down again. This is probably the most comfortable I've ever been with our depth at the quarterback position. Also, nobody is trading a 3rd round draft pick for Jason Cambell, who's on a 1 year deal. Brandon Marshall was just traded for two 3rd rounders. You never get the type of picks you think you might from a player. Teams value their draft picks very highly. We are in a great situation right now at quarterback. There is no need to get cute with it and dangle our security blanket for what would be a very late round draft pick at best.

I also love the subtle swipes he took at Martz and Jerry. "I came in and told Phil that I needed an X" ---- He then went out and got one of the best X receivers in the game Asked about if Tice is going to change the protections from the offensive line----- "I hope so."

I would venture to say the offensive line is going to be addressed through the draft. No idea what we will do now with our 1st round pick. We could go WR, could go OL, or DE, or even CB. I have a feeling we will go after a pass rusher like Mercillus and then target a receiver in the 2nd round.