One of the biggest mistakes of the last 3 years

[Butkus]

Can you imagine what coud have been had we not taken CB in the draft? We could have kept Jones, had AP as a backup, used the 2nd round pick we used on Forte on Oline, Dline, or LB, and had a good laugh! Now, I love Forte, but the Cedric pick was a huge mistake in retrospect and the loss of TJ completely unnecessary....

 

WAS THIS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER NOT BEING ON THE LS ASS-LICKER LIST?

 

I am not sure of this issue whatsoever, but I really wonder how some of these players have gone on to prove themselves elsewhere after being exiled from Chicago.

[DrunkBomber]

This happened years ago, how do you know how everything would have went down. Thats a lot of circumstances to make assumptions on. Im just glad we got Forte.

[Bears4Ever_34]

Forte is already better than Thomas Jones, why would you want him back?

[Connorbear]

Can you imagine what coud have been had we not taken CB in the draft? We could have kept Jones, had AP as a backup, used the 2nd round pick we used on Forte on Oline, Dline, or LB, and had a good laugh! Now, I love Forte, but the Cedric pick was a huge mistake in retrospect and the loss of TJ completely unnecessary....

 

WAS THIS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER NOT BEING ON THE LS ASS-LICKER LIST?

 

I am not sure of this issue whatsoever, but I really wonder how some of these players have gone on to prove themselves elsewhere after being exiled from Chicago.

I don't think Lovie made the decision to trad TJ. I think that was all on JA based on the fact he wanted to put in his #1 pick. You want to be mad at someone, be mad at JA.

 

BTW - I love what we have seen from Forte and could care less about Benson and Jones.

 

Peace

[Mongo3451]

Can you imagine what coud have been had we not taken CB in the draft? We could have kept Jones, had AP as a backup, used the 2nd round pick we used on Forte on Oline, Dline, or LB, and had a good laugh! Now, I love Forte, but the Cedric pick was a huge mistake in retrospect and the loss of TJ completely unnecessary....

 

WAS THIS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER NOT BEING ON THE LS ASS-LICKER LIST?

 

I am not sure of this issue whatsoever, but I really wonder how some of these players have gone on to prove themselves elsewhere after being exiled from Chicago.

I think there is something to be said about players performing elsewhere. You can look at it two ways. Sometimes the coaches are poor motivators and the player really never gets it. Sometimes the players light does not come on until they are jobless. We can look at Wade, Gage, Benson, Bradley etc... I have my suspicions on Benson, as he has never been more cut than what he is now. (Dude wants a paycheck) The others, who knows...

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Forte is already better than Thomas Jones, why would you want him back?

Agreed. I'm pretty satisfied with what we have now.

 

Forte > Jones

 

BTW- you need to update your sig.

[Da Bears 88]

Forte is already better than Thomas Jones, why would you want him back?

No offense man, but no he's not. Sorry, i like Forte.

 

But, lets see this more next season and beyond.

 

BrianBear stop being a homer.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

No offense man, but no he's not. Sorry, i like Forte.

 

But, lets see this more next season and beyond.

 

BrianBear stop being a homer.

Thomas Jones hasn't even ran for more then 1340 yards in a season. Jones only has 33 more rushing yards on the year then Forte, and Forte would probably have just as many TD's had Turner not given those "1st and goal from the 1" carries to McKie. Also, Forte has more total yards.

 

What are you talking about? Homer my ass.

 

And, for the 8th time- GET A CLUE.

[Connorbear]

No offense man, but no he's not. Sorry, i like Forte.

 

But, lets see this more next season and beyond.

 

BrianBear stop being a homer.

I like to compare TJ as a rook to Forte as rook. In doing so, there is no comparison as TJ didn' have his first 1000 yd season until he was with the Bears some 5 yrs into his career. Further, TJ was a top 10 pick. Forte a second rounder.

 

Don't get me wrong - I like TJ. However, it took him several yrs to establish himself in the league. Forte is there in yr one.

 

Peace

[Bears4Ever_34]

For having "Pop eye like" arms and legs, Thomas Jones never used them as a running back. I don't think I ever saw him take on a tackler the way Forte does and get those extra grind it out yards. You could almost always bring Thomas Jones down on first contact and that's why I couldn't stand the guy.

[jason]

I like to compare TJ as a rook to Forte as rook. In doing so, there is no comparison as TJ didn' have his first 1000 yd season until he was with the Bears some 5 yrs into his career. Further, TJ was a top 10 pick. Forte a second rounder.

 

Don't get me wrong - I like TJ. However, it took him several yrs to establish himself in the league. Forte is there in yr one.

 

Peace

 

That could very well have something to do with the garbage Arizona team he played on during his first few years. And by "something to do with" I mean "the primary cause of poor performance".

[jason]

For having "Pop eye like" arms and legs, Thomas Jones never used them as a running back. I don't think I ever saw him take on a tackler the way Forte does and get those extra grind it out yards. You could almost always bring Thomas Jones down on first contact and that's why I couldn't stand the guy.

 

I never understood that argument. It's almost entirely based on internet gossip. This belief was disproven on more than one occasion in discussions while TJ was with the Bears, with actual play-by-play breakdown on the old board. He breaks a lot more arm-tackles than people give him credit for, but for some reason people expect him to be Jerome Bettis because he has huge arms. I think people hear something, like on the news, and just run with it without actually trying to determine if it's the truth. I'm sorry, but TJ is not the soft runner so many seem to "remember".

[Da Bears 88]

If Forte was better then why does TJ have more rushing yards per game than him?

 

TJ- 87.3

Forte- 79.6

[Connorbear]

If Forte was better then why does TJ have more rushing yards per game than him?

 

TJ- 87.3

Forte- 79.6

You could look at total yds per game:

 

Forte 109.9

Jones 99.9

 

Point being, you can spin stats anyway you want. Forte is a rookie. This is Jones 9th yr in the league. I'll take Forte.

 

Peace

[nfoligno]

Couple points.

 

One, I like what I have seen from Forte, and would take him over TJ.

 

Two, it is always easy to go back and say we should have taken someone other than CB, but I wuold also point out that pretty much everyone we were likely looking at would have also been a bust. Sorry Jason, but that includes Mike Williams.

 

Three, even if we had not drafted CB, that doesn't mean other picks we would have made would have panned out, whether we are talking that years 1st, or this years 2nd.

 

Can you imagine what coud have been had we not taken CB in the draft? We could have kept Jones, had AP as a backup, used the 2nd round pick we used on Forte on Oline, Dline, or LB, and had a good laugh! Now, I love Forte, but the Cedric pick was a huge mistake in retrospect and the loss of TJ completely unnecessary....

 

WAS THIS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER NOT BEING ON THE LS ASS-LICKER LIST?

 

I am not sure of this issue whatsoever, but I really wonder how some of these players have gone on to prove themselves elsewhere after being exiled from Chicago.

[Iguana]

If Forte was better then why does TJ have more rushing yards per game than him?

 

TJ- 87.3

Forte- 79.6

 

put Forte behind the Jets line and with Favre at QB, I'd bet dollars to donuts that Forte would have well over 100 a game.

[Bears4Ever_34]

I never understood that argument. It's almost entirely based on internet gossip. This belief was disproven on more than one occasion in discussions while TJ was with the Bears, with actual play-by-play breakdown on the old board. He breaks a lot more arm-tackles than people give him credit for, but for some reason people expect him to be Jerome Bettis because he has huge arms. I think people hear something, like on the news, and just run with it without actually trying to determine if it's the truth. I'm sorry, but TJ is not the soft runner so many seem to "remember".

 

Oh. Well I'm still glad he left because Forte is better

[Butkus]

I love Forte too, don't get me wrong. But I remember that when CB was taken he seemed a solid pick, but it was not a position we really needed with TJ already there and AP as backup. Now looking back at it, wouldn't it have been nice to have an Olinesman or something? I would also agree that CB seemed a safe pick at the time and I was not one of those that was crying for Pope or one of the great tight ends on offer....

 

Don't misunderstand, I really like Forte.....but I still look back at that decision and think we could have done better.

[Da Bears 88]

Nothing like comparing a rookie to a proven vet.

[nfoligno]

But who would we have taken? You mention how we could have used OL. I'll never disagree w/ that, but what OL should we have taken at #4? After we took Benson, here is how the top 10 rounded out:

 

Cadillac Williams Buccaneers RB Auburn

Pacman Jones Titans DB West Virginia

Troy Williamson Vikings WR South Carolina

Antrel Rolle Cardinals DB Miami (FL)

Carlos Rogers Redskins DB Auburn

Mike Williams Lions WR USC

 

Who on this list would have (a) filled a need more than RB and ( improved the team? Cadillac went the way or injury bust. PacMan has tried his best to be kicked out of the league. Williamson and Williams would have filled needs, but are both huge busts. I don't think Rolle was turned into jack. Rogers is a pretty good, not great, CB, but CB was not a need at the time anymore so than RB. Arguably, CB was less of a need.

 

Its always fun to talk hindsight, but the reality is, if we didn't draft Benson, we would have ended up w/ a bust just the same.

 

TJ looks pretty solid this year, but that is w/ a very improved OL and QB. Last year, we did not have an OL or QB remotely close to what NYJ have now. Last year, w/o that improved OL and QB, TJ looked very mediocre. So why does everyone think TJ would have looked so good for us last year?

[nfoligno]

If we wanted to go this route, how about:

 

2007 - We draft a DE in the 2nd round when few considered DE a need. Ryan Harris is the starting RT for Denver, and looking very good. He would have been a nice pick there.

 

2006 - We trade down, and out, of the 1st round, and take a small school DB. Mangold, Addai, Demarco Ryans, D'Qwell Jackson, Thomas Howard, Justice, Lutui are all solid players drafted between our original pick and where we moved down too. Few OL and LBs in that group that would sure look good for us.

 

Don't even get me started on 2003

 

Can you imagine what coud have been had we not taken CB in the draft? We could have kept Jones, had AP as a backup, used the 2nd round pick we used on Forte on Oline, Dline, or LB, and had a good laugh! Now, I love Forte, but the Cedric pick was a huge mistake in retrospect and the loss of TJ completely unnecessary....

 

WAS THIS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER NOT BEING ON THE LS ASS-LICKER LIST?

 

I am not sure of this issue whatsoever, but I really wonder how some of these players have gone on to prove themselves elsewhere after being exiled from Chicago.

[Da Bears 88]

If we wanted to go this route, how about:

 

2007 - We draft a DE in the 2nd round when few considered DE a need. Ryan Harris is the starting RT for Denver, and looking very good. He would have been a nice pick there.

 

2006 - We trade down, and out, of the 1st round, and take a small school DB. Mangold, Addai, Demarco Ryans, D'Qwell Jackson, Thomas Howard, Justice, Lutui are all solid players drafted between our original pick and where we moved down too. Few OL and LBs in that group that would sure look good for us.

 

Good ole Angelo.

[Butkus]

But who would we have taken? You mention how we could have used OL. I'll never disagree w/ that, but what OL should we have taken at #4? After we took Benson, here is how the top 10 rounded out:

 

Cadillac Williams Buccaneers RB Auburn

Pacman Jones Titans DB West Virginia

Troy Williamson Vikings WR South Carolina

Antrel Rolle Cardinals DB Miami (FL)

Carlos Rogers Redskins DB Auburn

Mike Williams Lions WR USC

 

Who on this list would have (a) filled a need more than RB and ( improved the team? Cadillac went the way or injury bust. PacMan has tried his best to be kicked out of the league. Williamson and Williams would have filled needs, but are both huge busts. I don't think Rolle was turned into jack. Rogers is a pretty good, not great, CB, but CB was not a need at the time anymore so than RB. Arguably, CB was less of a need.

 

Its always fun to talk hindsight, but the reality is, if we didn't draft Benson, we would have ended up w/ a bust just the same.

 

TJ looks pretty solid this year, but that is w/ a very improved OL and QB. Last year, we did not have an OL or QB remotely close to what NYJ have now. Last year, w/o that improved OL and QB, TJ looked very mediocre. So why does everyone think TJ would have looked so good for us last year?

 

I am not educated enough on the draft to say who we should have taken to be perfectly honest, and you make some excellent observations there. However, I think we would have been better placed to draft for need, ie OLine, and if we had taken the best available maybe we would have had a starter at the very least.....

 

I am not sure TJ would have looked that great last year or this one, and I love Forte, but we ended up taking a guy when we already had a solid player at the position and it all went tits up! And it is hard for me to understand why anyone would want to get rid of TJ at the point that he was released.

 

You are right about hindsight, it is very easy for me to sit here now and go on about the mistakes made... My main point is that I really wonder how much being on Lovie and/or JA's goodie list has to do with starting?

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Nothing like comparing a rookie to a proven vet.

Nothing like trying to make a case for the "proven vet" but making no sense.

[bowlingtwig]

I loved Jones when he was hear but I love Forte even more. I am not about to compare stats cuz they can be spun so many different ways. I just look at the fact that Forte hits the LOS hard and even when he is taking on several players his feet and legs are still trying to get several yards. My biggest point is that since we have drafted Forte has he even opened his mouth yet. TJ openly complained and even sat out part of training camp. I hate players that do that. I love players like Forte because you never have to worry about them. You can just tell that he is always giving 110% out there on that field. When Forte went down this week I immediately thought back to CB. CB gets even nicked up he is out for the remainder of the game. But with Forte he not only came back but he continued to work extremely hard.