Bears4Ever_34

As Matt Bowen puts it, Rodriguez could fill the U/F TE position, but we still need a Y.

Love it. He or Eiffert would be perfect additions to the team.

I would say any draft that consists of OL or Safeties who come in with an extensive injury history. Always been a pet peeve of mine. I'm not going to name specific players because the last time we did that I put Shea McClellin and we ended up drafting him.. He could still turn out to be a good pick, but at the time I was furious.

This could end up being a mistake. He was bad this past season, but the previous two he was very good. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to catch on to a team and perform like what Corey Graham has done with the Ravens. Thought maybe with a coaching change he might stick with the team, but obviously they felt like he needed a change of scenery.

I'm a fan of Jared Cook. My original off-season plan was to sign him and Andy Levitre. Don't think that's possible now given the cap issues, but he's certainly an intriguing guy to look out for come free agency.

He was used all over. Slot, returner, running back etc.. He'll be a slot receiver at the next level with the potential to carry the ball out of the backfield 2-3 times a game. I think he will be used more on short crossing patterns like a Wes Welker than as a down field threat, though he will at times. He's the most explosive athlete I've seen in a college football player in a long time. The key to his usage is to get him out in space. If you do that, he will kill you.

Austin has a bigger ceiling in my opinion, but Eiffert could probably have a bigger impact year 1.

Austin is one my favorite players in this draft. Tyrann Mathieu being another. He needs to get bigger though. At 175 pounds, that's awfully small for a player who's going to be taking a lot of hits at the next level. It's hard to believe Darren Sproles is 190 at 5'6, just to put his size in perspective. Other than that though, the kid is dynamite as a skill player. So much versatility that he would bring to an offense just dying for productivity and excitement.

As of right now, I think they're going with an OL in the first. We sorta knew which position they were going to go with in the 1st round last year, but didn't know the player. A lot of it depends on free agency. We should hear more and more about our intentions as the weeks go by, but right now I'm thinking it'll either be a guard or a tackle.

I doubt we'll want Long. I did read a Sean Jensen article the other day stating that the Bears could pretty easily find a way to pay one of these top tier free agents, even with the Melton franchise tag. I don't think it would be an issue if we did want someone like him. I'm mostly worried about Long himself. If he was still a really really good LT Miami wouldn't have let him go. And yeah, the injuries are a huge factor. The last thing we need is a guy taking up a ton of cap room and not being able to stay on the field, and also bad.

I personally do not believe he's worth that price tag, but now this means they could technically trade him right? Not that they will, but if they could get something for him, that would be great.

The protection issues are well documented, but lets stop acting like he is this perfect quarterback, who is without some major flaws that have really limited his ability to be better than he is. The fact of the matter is that the franchise has included him on every important decision regarding the offense since he's been in Chicago. If he wasn't comfortable with Martz or Tice they wouldn't have been here. If he had any more power over the franchise he would be the GM. Last year alone, after he gave his support on the Marshall, Bates, and Tice additions, they gave him complete control over the offense, even going as far as to give him a say in what plays would be included in the play book, and also the ability to audible, which wasn't allowed under Martz. Fuc.k, man, they fired the head coach because he couldn't get enough out of Cutler! Why do you think they hired a guy that has a background in teaching quarterbacks? They have practically bent over backwards for this guy to make him feel comfortable within the organization, and thus far, he has nothing to show for it. Not everybody gets to play in perfect scenarios. He needs to step up and be a better quarterback.

I was in the middle of editing my post, but my point on that was that the team always made sure to include Jay in virtually every important decision when it came to the offense. He actually did get along with Martz at first, but that relationship soured at some point in the second season when he grew tired of the play calling, and the miss management of the timeouts that happened at least twice a game. The Bears did everything they could to make him feel as comfortable as possible, and when that failed, people will still use the offensive line as a scapegoat for his performances. Some of that is fair, but he is not exempt from being a more accurate quarterback, or learning how to use proper mechanics. There are many things that he could, and should be doing now with the type of talent he has that doesn't have a thing to do with anything other than between the ears.

IIRC the Bears were in prime position to take Wallace, but passed for Jaron freaking Gilbert.. We were the most active, according to Wallace himself, before the draft even began. He thought for sure the Bears were going to pick him.. Dumb ass Jerry Angelo went for another bust instead. But back to the original topic, if you ask me today if the trade was worth it, I would say no. Cutler hasn't done nearly enough to warrant the picks we had to lose to get him. You trade that many 1st rounders for a guy, usually a quarterback, you expect that player to be able to take you to a Superbowl. Anything less in my opinion is a disappointment. To some degree Cutler gets somewhat of a pass early on because the team had nothing around him, which is the risk you take when you don't have any early round picks for 2 seasons. The Redskins took that risk when they drafted RGIII and the only thing holding him back from being one of the better QB's in the game is injuries. The Raiders took a bad risk in Carson Palmer and have, and will continue to pay for it. The Bears are somewhere in the middle. They know that they are only going to be so bad with Cutler, but you also don't know if you can be as good as you want to be with him. His play has been seriously inconsistent to say the least. This has caused a divide among the fans, in regards to their support for the Quarterback. Some believe he's simply not a franchise worthy quarterback that can ever lead a team to a Superbowl; citing his sometimes childish antics, and his gun slinger mentality on the field as some of the main reasons for why he isn't as successful as he should be. Others seem to have these built in excuses for him to shield him from the criticism that he may deserve. Some are fair, at first, but there comes a time when enough is enough. The guy has to perform. He is coming off the worst season of his career since his first season in a Bears uniform. If he doesn't work on his mechanics as a quarterback, he may never reach his full potential. There is no reason in the world why a guy like him shouldn't be better than he is. His decision making sucks. The off the back throws need to stop, the accuracy needs to get better, and the turnovers need to be lower. If Trestman can't get this through to him, nobody will. I'm of the belief that he will be given 2 more years, minimum, to prove he's worth investing in long-term. If he has a career year next season, he'll likely be re-signed. If not, he will probably be franchised and Emery may look to draft the future QB in that off-season.

If we don't re-sign Melton, we need to use that money to sign a top tier FA like Levitre. I would not be in favor of spending another first round draft pick on a DT unless he's projected to be this fantastic, can't miss prospect. I wish it was possible to trade Melton. I'd take a 2nd rounder and be happy with it if that's what we got.

Fluker didn't even do anything but Bench and run the 40 at the combine. Not sure where you are getting your information. Doesn't really matter anyways because we are talking about two different players with different skill sets. Fluker's area of strength is in run blocking, but his biggest deficiency is in pass protection. The arm length is really nice, but I'm not sure he's going to be able to play against speedier edge rushers in this league if he doesn't show he can get out of his stance and move his feet better than he has. Unless you are throwing Gabe Carimi out of the picture entirely, pairing those two together would scare the hell out of me.

I didn't screw up anything. I'm aware that Fluker was a RT in college, but many people say he's likely to be converted to a guard at the next level.

Do you even read posts? I'm not asking you what you think of it. I'm telling you what my hope is, and then I said those two players could very well be off the board before our pick is up, which you either overlooked or just blatantly ignored to make sure you can get in one of your annoying, premature declarations that can never be proven.

He was in college. He may be moved to guard at the next level. That's what a lot of scouts say, which I agree with. I not sure he's quick enough to play on the outside.

Didn't we start to hear McClellin's name being connected to the Bears pretty late in the draft process? Thought that was what happened.. Maybe I'm wrong. I do remember after the draft there was word that they really wanted Bruce Irvin, but Shea was the second guy on their list. I would be pretty upset with a Fluker pick because he's a RG only. Most scouts believe he'll have to move to guard over concerns that he's not quick enough to handle speed on the outside. So if the plan is to pair Fluker next to Carimi, my head might explode. Cooper is a LG because he's very good at pulling in the run game. Very athletic. He can be effective in a zone blocking scheme, which is what it looks like we will be running some combination of ZB and Power-Man. I'm still hoping for either Lane Johnson or Tavon Austin. The way it's looking now, both could be off the board by the time the Bears pick..

I like all three of the first 3 players you listed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your college position doesn't always = your position in the pros. If everything was equal then why isn't Denard Robinson playing quarterback in the NFL? He's played that position his entire career, so why are teams asking him to play receiver? Same reason applies to other players at other positions. Everything in the NFL is different; From the speed of the game to playing against better players, where everybody is good. Just because you can block some joe schmo as a left tackle in college, doesn't mean you are best suited to do it against the athletes at the professional level. That's why people scout. You find out what players are good at and then determine how their skill sets would be best utilized at the next level. Obviously the Bears felt Carimi was best suited to play RT where he could play to his strengths as a run blocker. He would have been going up against better pass rushers as a LT. His familiarity is only going to take him so far. He never possessed great agility in college, but it didn't matter as much because he was playing against COLLEGE talent in the Big 10 where Wisconsin had arguably the best line in football at the time, like they usually do.

The two linebackers that impressed me the most were Bostic and Gooden. Gooden has incredible explosion and speed to go along with a linebacker physique. I don't know where he's projected to go, but I like the way he showed up at the combine. I wish Arthur Brown would have done more than just the broad jump. He was one of the guys I was interested in seeing how he ran. Ogletree makes a lot of sense for our type of defense, but he's not as athletic as people think he is. On tape, he doesn't look like a freak athlete. He's still very talented and worthy of 1st round pick consideration though.

I'm not a big fan of Finley. He has all the tools to be great, but if he can't work for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense, he's not going to work for the Bears. Too inconsistent and too mouthy. Briggs already called him an idiot. Not sure he'd be the best guy in the locker room.

Also underwhelming in the broad jump, which is a good measurement for explosion. Pretty much validates what I saw in the Alabama game. He struggles with the short area quickness needed to get off blocks and tackle in space. Pass coverage won't be a strong suit either, which is a big reason why he's not a fit in a Cover 2 similar system.