So I went down a rabbit hole tonight. Seeing Briggs on the sideline, I was looking for the Bears active leader in games played (on the field). Not counting Gould, the Bears active games leader was Garza, but after that it dropped off a lot:

 

Briggs - 170 (t/13th w/ Dent)

Tillman - 154

Gould - 147

Garza - 145

Forte - 97

Cutler - 73

Jennings - 68

Conte - 51

Paea - 45

Marshall - 38

Jeffery - 32

McClellin - 30

 

- If Briggs plays all remaining 10 games, he would pass Singletary and move into 9th, 2 games behind Urlacher. What I found remarkable was the gap between Garza and Forte. Almost a 50 game gap is the equivalent to over 3 years in the league. Where did all the players go:

 

Since 2004 draft:

2004 draft - No active players in NFL (Harris/Johnson/Berrian/Vasher)

2005 draft - Orton only player in league left from 2005 draft in NFL (Benson/Bradley)

2006 draft - Manning and Hester only active players in NFL (Dvoracek)

2007 draft - Olsen, Graham, and McBride current active players (Bazuin/Wolfe/Okwo)

2008 draft - Forte only player left on team, Williams, Bowman, and Davis still active (1)

2009 draft - Melton and Louis still active in NFL (Gilbert/Iglesias)

2010 draft - Wright and Wootoon active

2011 draft - Paea and Conte on team, Carimi and Thomas still active (2)

2012 draft - SMC and Jeffery on team (Hardin) (2)

2013 draft - Long, Bostic, Greene, Mills, Washington, and Wilson still on team (6)

2014 draft - Fuller, Ferguson, Sutton, Carey, Vereen, O'Donnell, Leno still on team (7) w/ Fales on PS

 

Forte is the only player drafted from 2004-2010 still on team (7 drafts). That is just crazy. Now I understand we traded some picks for Cutler, but I didn't think it was this bad. Now obviously, the more recent years will have more players left, but you still have to be happy with the amount of impact players out of the last 2 drafts and Jeffery only 3 drafts ago. To me, we are quietly building a strong core of youth. This is also why we got old really fast. To me this really shows how well Emery has done and literally kept this thing afloat with smoke and mirrors over the last few years and retooled on the fly.

Yes, I'm optimistic about the future of this team. We are finally seeing signs of real depth all over the roster from DL (Ratliff missed 3 games, Allen missed 1), LB (top 4 out today), Oline (Bushrod out today, Garza, Slausson earlier). Secondary with Fuller filling in for Tillman with no drop off. We still need to add depth at WR, S, and some more speed at DE.

Dang Adam!

 

You are our own wiki!

 

Thank you for sharing yet again!

 

So I went down a rabbit hole tonight. Seeing Briggs on the sideline, I was looking for the Bears active leader in games played (on the field). Not counting Gould, the Bears active games leader was Garza, but after that it dropped off a lot:

 

Briggs - 170 (t/13th w/ Dent)

Tillman - 154

Gould - 147

Garza - 145

Forte - 97

Cutler - 73

Jennings - 68

Conte - 51

Paea - 45

Marshall - 38

Jeffery - 32

McClellin - 30

 

- If Briggs plays all remaining 10 games, he would pass Singletary and move into 9th, 2 games behind Urlacher. What I found remarkable was the gap between Garza and Forte. Almost a 50 game gap is the equivalent to over 3 years in the league. Where did all the players go:

 

Since 2004 draft:

2004 draft - No active players in NFL (Harris/Johnson/Berrian/Vasher)

2005 draft - Orton only player in league left from 2005 draft in NFL (Benson/Bradley)

2006 draft - Manning and Hester only active players in NFL (Dvoracek)

2007 draft - Olsen, Graham, and McBride current active players (Bazuin/Wolfe/Okwo)

2008 draft - Forte only player left on team, Williams, Bowman, and Davis still active (1)

2009 draft - Melton and Louis still active in NFL (Gilbert/Iglesias)

2010 draft - Wright and Wootoon active

2011 draft - Paea and Conte on team, Carimi and Thomas still active (2)

2012 draft - SMC and Jeffery on team (Hardin) (2)

2013 draft - Long, Bostic, Greene, Mills, Washington, and Wilson still on team (6)

2014 draft - Fuller, Ferguson, Sutton, Carey, Vereen, O'Donnell, Leno still on team (7) w/ Fales on PS

 

Forte is the only player drafted from 2004-2010 still on team (7 drafts). That is just crazy. Now I understand we traded some picks for Cutler, but I didn't think it was this bad. Now obviously, the more recent years will have more players left, but you still have to be happy with the amount of impact players out of the last 2 drafts and Jeffery only 3 drafts ago. To me, we are quietly building a strong core of youth. This is also why we got old really fast. To me this really shows how well Emery has done and literally kept this thing afloat with smoke and mirrors over the last few years and retooled on the fly.

 

Yes, I'm optimistic about the future of this team. We are finally seeing signs of real depth all over the roster from DL (Ratliff missed 3 games, Allen missed 1), LB (top 4 out today), Oline (Bushrod out today, Garza, Slausson earlier). Secondary with Fuller filling in for Tillman with no drop off. We still need to add depth at WR, S, and some more speed at DE.

 

The Bears biggest need coming into the offseason will be 1.) Safety, 2.) CB, and 3.) DT. I am liking the way Paea has played this season, so it would be nice to re-sign him. There is also a slight need for another TE, possibly a #3 RB, and depth at WR. DE is only a need if they plan on releasing Allen.