BearFan PHX

Absolutely. Look at the situation. All the first round DTs will be long gone before 14, and another doesn't project in the first round. That means that if we were truly looking DT, we'd be looking to trade down out of 14. But if we're thinking about an OT, we're right on the edge, getting the last of 4 to go in the first 14 picks, with #2 and #3 going in the two picks ahead of us, so we'd be looking to possibly trade UP a few slots to get ahead of those teams. So how do you make calls around the league to teams ahead of the the two right before us who are also looking to get OT without getting them spooked into outbidding us, or leapfrogging ahead of our new position? You get 'em thinking that we're making the calls to trade DOWN for a DT. Realize that these are the same teams (picks 1-11 in the first round, also pick 1-11 in the second round) that we would be looking to trade down with to get a DT in the early 2nd. So speaking with them would be in sync with the smokescreen. Nice! Its not like its really going to work, but you can't blame them for trying. And hey, taking a value DT is never a bad idea, but there isn't one before we pick in the 2nd.

You don't understand. You are arguing that Angelo was afraid of a holdout, and so he made the "just one more year, please" weak comeback? This is not the case. Its more complicated than that. When you have a player making more money at the same position, with a contract that won't end for several more years, everyone KNOWS that the team has already made a decision to make the change. Even if TJ had been willing to play here for his fair market value, and I'm betting he WOULD have, we simply couldn't afford to pay both him and Benson what they are worth. You can't carry two starting caliber HBs under the cap at market value. So, even though we found out that it was a poor decision, we made the commitment when we drafted Benson that he would be the starter within a couple years. Finanically. And this is the only reason TJ wanted out anyway - he wants to start, and he wants his payday. This is reasonable given a #4 pick overall, no? When the writing is on the wall like that, and the decision to go with Benson is already far past the decision point, and Benson is flagging, you ask yourself - can I get TJ to play one more year while we develop Benson? That's all that was possible anyway. So Angelo did that in a gentlemanly way. Now I don't think he did it that way because he's weak. he had no problem tagging Briggs when Briggs wouldn't accept a similar offer. No, he did it because it makes for better relationships with Free Agents and players down the road AND he gets what he wants - another year of TJ, and the chance to get some draft value for him after that - the best move possible. This team has also decided that they only want Briggs back at a certain price, and it isn't the value of tagging him again, or what he will make in the open market. So it stands to reason that we would try similar moves with him. We ended up having to tag him, but if he goes, its because we didn't want to tie up so much money in him. We all bitched that Briggs (a 3rd rounder) could NEVER fill the shoes of Rosie Colvin. Now Briggs and his attitude are indispensable? Give me a break. The guy's stats are overhyped by his role in the cover 2, and we can get another guy to play for him without killing our cap on LBers. You see this as the team losing guys they want to keep. I see it as the team making mature decisions not to overpay for talent, and staying cap healthy. The one problem here is that Angelo guessed wrong in 2005 that Benson would be better than he has turned out to be, and secondarily, perhaps that TJ would not turn out to have been as good as he was. Based on the data at the time, it was a good play. It didn't turn out that way though. That's too bad, and fair to criticize him for. The rest is just a result of that decision though, not more errors. The real truth is that Benson, even having failed to live up to his potential, would be FINE if we had an OL that could run block. He'd get his 1,300 yards, which is really all you were going to get from TJ anyway. The real problem in all of this is that the risk on the OL DIDN'T pay off, and they got old a little faster than we hoped. We didn't feel that revamping the OL last year on the heels of a Super Bowl loss was the way to go - we opted instead to continue the run with what we had that was working. Had Angleo given up, and revamped the OL, you would have been screaming about rebuilding when we should have been trying to get to the next level. Had the OL stayed good, and Rex progressed, the running game would have been fine, and we might even have had the offensive rhythm to make Hester and Wolfe look good as situational role players to counter the kind of things that New England does. It was a good play, it was like betting big with three queens - a good move, but not a guarantee. The other guy just drew his straight is all, and the right play didn't pay off. Angelo is making good decisions, they just didn't pan out. Its fair to criticize him for it, but its hindsight, and at the time, they were sound moves. However, to say that he mishandled TJ, or was weak in the face of a threatened holdout is to misunderstand the situation he was in, and the move he had to make.

Well, we can evaluate one part of the deal, and that was that we were not going to be able to keep TJ anyway. With benson on the book, and impossible to cut as a cap casualty, TJ threatened a holdout before the 2006-2007 season. Angelo negotiated that if TJ played unselfishly for the 2006-2007 season, then we would trade or release him prior to this last year. Angelo needs to be able to make those sorts of promises, and then follow through on them, or we will be in much worse shape via Free Agents and cap management. I think that at the beginning of this season (2007-2008) everyone in the fron office would have taken TJ over Benson if the decision was simply to choose between them for the same cost. The problem was that Benson's cap hit was too much to take, and you could not afford to sign TJ to a new deal and keep Benson on the books. In other words, the decision was made the year they drafted Benson, and at that point, we didn't know what TJ was, or for that matter what Benson would become. So you may freely question the decision to draft Benson, but you must remember that TJ was not well defined yet at that point, and benson's college career looked fantastic. But you can't look at the TJ trade as a choice between TJ and Benson in early 2007. Ity wasn't. By then, the decision had already been made a year earlier prior to the 06-07 season. That we got anything for someone who was not coming back at all is a great thing. That is a good trade.

I don't mean to pick a fight with you, but I have to disagree vehemently. Without meaning to attack you, you must not really understand football. The offensive line is what allows the skill players to do what they do. Without a stellar offensive line, Tom Brady is ot a Super Bowl Winner. Check out Adrian Peterson of the Vikings - amazing talent yes? What about Shaun Alexander - he was league MVP and now is quiet. Why? Because Steve Hutchinson left Seattle and joined Minnesota. The truth is that YES a good offensive line WOULD make Benson a top 10 rusher. The right line would make him top 5. The Walter Paytonss and Barry Sanderses of the world, who can get yardage without holes are extremely rare. On the other hand, every RB in the league, and a few that can't even make the cut could get 4 yards a carry behind a great OL, and most if not all would do diddly behind our run blocking this year. You ask about dropped balls. If a WR gets time to get open, and the QB can deliver a nice catchable ball, most NFL recivers can make the catch. Both of those things happen when the QB has time. The most important positions in football are on the line. If you don't believe me, check out the Lions for the past decade. How many great WRs did they draft? How many did they put on the field at the same time? If the NFL were sandlot football, the Lions would have been the tops. But it isn't. There are running plays and pass protection, and the Lions have done crap with only skill players. The bottom line is the line in the NFL. It isn't sexy, and there isn't any (direct) measure of it in fantasy football, but if you want to win, you need to revamp the OL this year. If you want "stars" go root for Detroit, or the earlier versions of Snyder's Redskins. If you want to win football games, open some holes, move the chains, eat clock, rest the defense, make the opposing defense play you honestly, open up the play action passsing game and protect the QB on passing downs. All those things rest on the OL. I'd like to see Angelo grab a big name OL free agent, and make 2 of the top 4 picks on OL too. that's because I want to win more than I want to buy more rookie jerseys. But that's just me.

I voted trade down, and with the two picks gleaned from the trade down and the second rounder, I'd take two on the OL and a safety. So I guess I should have said OL, but honestly, I don't think we should take OL that high unless a true stud is available. The thing is, even true stud candidates sometimes bust in the NFL, so i like Angelo's usual tactic of picking multiple players for the same position, and letting the cream rise. This would be great to do with OL. I'd like to see THREE of them taken in this draft, two from the first four picks, and one later. Also, re: RB - There are only a VERY few great RBs, and you can't tell who is going to be one from the draft (see Benson, Cedric). From the fourth best back in theleague to the fortieth, they all share a common trait: without holes they will gain nothing, and with big holes they will get yardage. Therefore, leave that skill player alone, and pick on the OL.A good Ol will make any RB servicable - certainly good enough to keep the chains moving, and that will open up the passing game. plus, good OL help there too. OL is the obvious choice - the game is won and lost in the trenches, and our DL is pretty solid. Also, unlike QBs, and WRs who come and go, break ankles and have good and bad years, if you build a great line, it will help the team for a decade to come. Like it or not, a team with this OL and Payton Manning and Joseph Addai will win fewer games than Grossman and Benson would with a good OL. Of course a good OL, AND a new QB & RB would be best, but that QB is coming from Free Agency, and not the draft, and with holes, Benson will be good enough for another year.

I'm sure you're right, and I don't mean to suggest that the current software is awful or anything - it isn't. I just know that the vBulletin software is awesome, having used it for many years now, and I wanted to bring it your attention. I'm happy here, and if this is the software, then I will use it without complaint. I just wanted to be helpful!

Hey Guys, First off I want to reiterate how awesome it is that you got the site moved, and set up and working so quickly. That is a huge favor to all of us, and I am very grateful. I'd like to offer some small advice here, and if it rubs anyone the wrong way, then I apologize ahead of time. I don't mean to throw water on such a fantastic effort or anything, only to be helpful, so please take or ignore this advice as you please. I want to say that I don't particularly like the software you've chosen for this board, and that I think there are better choices. If you do switch software, now would be a good time, since we won't lose much - so better now than later (if at all). I'd like to report that I have had great experiences with vBulletin, which is used by several audio boards that I frequent. Check out http://www.3daudioinc.com/3db/ as an example of a really easy to use board with lots of options for email notification of threads, easy options for finding threads that have been modified etc. Apparently, vBulletin is made by Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. and the website is here: http://www.vbulletin.com/ The price is $160 to own the software, and I for one would happily donate $20 to this cause (or to the hosting). I suspect other folks might be willing too. if other members would check this software out, and see if they like it, and then post here, that could be cool too. I hope this was helpful. Again, if it was not, or we are set with this software, then let me again simply congratulate our administrators for such a quick move. I'm not trying to cause trouble! I'm happy with either software, although I do think that vBulletin is superior. Thanks! Kyle aka BearFan NYC

Amazing job guys! You got this up really fast. I'm glad to be here, and I've even ported over the Avatar you guys made for me years ago on bearstalk.com The Bears may suck this year, but our board and moderators certainly don't. Nice job! I'm proud to be a part of this community. Cool!