Pixote

While I also question at times the coaching on defense, I sometimes get the feeling it is ultimately the fact that players need to execute the fundamentals of the defense they are assigned and it appears to me they are not doing so, as well as simple basics like taking proper angles and wrapping up a tackle. So as I said, maybe a little on the coaching, but a whole lot on the players execution. I have no doubt the players are skilled enough to execute, now they just need to do so and stop thinking about the fat checks they are depositing. All that said, I think we will have a top 5 defense this year.

I love talking about an upcoming draft, but to talk about the 2009 NFL draft before the 2008 NCAA or NFL season has to get off and running, kind of crazy IMHO. I will wait until we see how we do this year, know what our needs will be on the basis of what we see this year, where we will be drafting, and know a whole lot more about the players that might be available in the 2009 draft once we see what they do this year in their respective conferences.

2001 draft as said by others, not JA's draft. 02 - Marc Columbo - good pick that got injured and we finally had to let him go with an injury settlement. Certainly not JA's fault. 03a - Rex Grossman - Good prospect that has never quite worked out - any QB selected is a potential bust, the hardest position to fill in the draft. 03b - Berard Berrian - an excellent selection by JA - not his fault that he felt he was worth far more than what he was actually worth, the Viking paid way too much for him. 05a - Cedric Benson - great looking prospect coming into the draft that was a bust because of his attitude and off the field behavior 05b - Mark Bradley - kid has a world of talent but can not avoid injury - hopefully he can shake the bad luck 06 - Devin Hester: best return man of all time - agree. 07 - Greg Olsen: i think hes a star - agree. 08 - Chris Wiliams - yes, he is injured, to call him baby huey is stupid IMO, he may still be the answer for us as LOT, he seems to have all the tools and a great work ethic and attitude. All in all,JA is a master in the area of drafting defense but is not as good at drafting offense, HOWEVER, I do not think he is as bad as many think he is, he just has had some bad breaks in areas of injuries (Columbo & Bradley) and attitude (Benson, nuff said & Berrian thinking he is worth more than he was)

Exactly, if I was called out in public as being a liar, then I would certainly want to set the record straight. I do not blame him for defending himself against what would appear, IMO, as false allegations.

I personally can not understand all of the criticism JA is getting. I think he is doing all he can to give us the best chance of winning. Does he do everything everyone on the forum wants, no. Does he do everything I would like to see him do? Of course not. However, I think he is doing his best to give us the "edge". Fans will always look to disagree with management when things are not so rosy. It is far easier to point out mistakes made in the past than successes. All GMs make mistakes in draft selections and personnel moves. This is not an exact science. In many cases it is a matter of the "best educated guess". Any time I begin to second guess JA I remind myself what it was like before we had him as our GM and "Mikey" was running the show. With that bit of flashback, I thank (insert who every you pray to, if you do so) that we have JA as our GM. (Trying like h*ll to be politically correct LOL).

When you consider all the signings we did locking up key players in the off season, I think it is amazing we have 9.2 Million left to sign FAs that might become available. Like I have always said JA & Cliff Stein are probably the best "cap managers" in the business. Now that we have basically all the major deals over with, this should make us even BIGGER players in the future with lots of cap space as the cap increases (or disappears). I think this bodes well for our future. While other teams are struggling with cap restrictions I think we will be very healthy financially.

No problem, sh*t happens at the most inconveinent times, LOL. Good luck this year! Hope you come in 2nd

I strongly disagree on two players you have listed, Booker & Bowman. Booker will, IMO, be on the 53 man roster. Bowman is suppose to have great postential as a CB. They will try to hang on to this guy. They might try to sneak him onto the practice squad, but it also would not surprise me to see him make the 53 man roster IF he can contribute on STs. The remainder of the list I agree with.

I think Kyle has good rapport on the field with LLoyd and Davis and I suspect they will be his primary targets when in the game. Booker, Bradley, & Bennett will contribute as well but LLoyd & Davis are going to be the big contributors if this offense is going to cook. Good article on Davis, thanks for the link. A "blue collar" WR who has no ego problems. My kind of Bear!

Good points, and I certainly agree, but you do know that he is no longer on return teams, right? Now that his role on the DL has increased, his role in STs has decreased. I still think he participates on STs when it comes to blocking field goals. He has had a great preseason showing excellent skills as a DT. I understand in the next game they are going to give him some snaps at DE as well.

Agreed, there will be some defensive players cut who will be immediately sought after by other teams.

I like Lovie as HC but I must admit I prefer HCs who show fire on the sidelines like Ditka did. I still think back to watching a PIT game where an opposong player was streaking down the sideline and about to score against PIT and Bill Cower stepped onto the field and drew his fist up like he was going to slug the guy as he came by. He obviously stepped back, but it was funny as hell.

I have had similar situations where I had to go heavy on WR because the elite RBs were gone before I picked. In one league I got Moss, Owens, and TJ "Housh" as my trio. You have a terrific trio of WRs that should score high. I like V Davis at TE in the new offense they will be running. McNabb is looking great in the preseason. Yes, your RBs are weak, but everything else looks really strong. I took CHI def in the 9th but then got lucky and backed it up with Jax later, defense scores high in the Yahoo leagues I created. Good luck ith your team!

Fixed, sorry for the bad links.

He was very good, this guy is going to make an outstanding DT. Great motor, strong, good technique, put next to Tommie, will remind us of Hampton/McMichael combo.

You must not have watched the game against SF, if you had you would definately know Dusty is alive and well!

I agree, SFO defense is a strong Defense and our offense did very good last night. This is indeed very encouraging.

Sorry to hear about Wilson. Fortunately, it seems our starters, unless you count C Williams in that group, have come through so far relatively injury free.

Reminders should be arriving from Yahoo. I have posted draft times and links in the TalkBears Fantasy Forum at the top of the page. Make sure you are ready for the draft! See you there! Good Luck!

Deadline to enter contests is: 9 PM (CST) Saturday August 30, 2008. The WebSite Address is: http://www.talkbears.com/Contests/index.htm To Sign up go to the rules page and follow instructions The Rules Page is accessable with the links at the top of the home page or go to: http://www.talkbears.com/Contests/rules.htm The Contest is FREE - Prizes for all 3 contests!! Sign up ASAP! You are offically invited to join, LOL. Thanks, Pixote - John

Deadline to enter contests is: 9 PM (CST) Saturday August 30, 2008. The WebSite Address is: http://www.talkbears.com/Contests/index.htm To Sign up go to the rules page and follow instructions The Rules Page is accessable with the links at the top of the home page or go to: http://www.talkbears.com/Contests/rules.htm The Contest is FREE - Prizes for all 3 contests!! Sign up ASAP! You are offically invited to join, LOL. Thanks, Pixote - John

Your live online draft is set for Fri Aug 22 8:30pm CDT Please arrive at least 10 minutes early since your draft will start promptly at the assigned time. The draft order will be randomly determined approximately 30 minutes before the draft begins. Managers, make sure to check your league settings before you draft http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/35927

Your live online draft is set for Sun Aug 24 8:00am CDT Please arrive at least 10 minutes early since your draft will start promptly at the assigned time. The draft order will be randomly determined approximately 30 minutes before the draft begins. Managers, make sure to check your league settings before you draft http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/35883

Your live online draft is set for Sat Aug 23 10:00pm CDT Please arrive at least 10 minutes early since your draft will start promptly at the assigned time. The draft order will be randomly determined approximately 30 minutes before the draft begins. Managers, make sure to check your league settings before you draft http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/35833

Have to agree with you on all points made. I really liked what I saw in the offense. I think having the QB question answered may have settled everyone down and Kyle certainly stepped up big time. Outstanding job by the OL. If they can play like that the entire year, no problems, we will have a vastly improved offense. Defensive analysis, we sucked. I am hoping it is just a bunch of vets walking through the motions and that they will show up when the season begins.