AZ54

Trying to understand. Langford averages 3.4ypc in his first game and nobody is happy (for good reason). Forte leaves and averages 3.3ypc against Buffalo and that means he was a big loss to our offense. As I see it: Langford ends up as our change of pace back. Our bell cow will be Howard. Carey backfills when one is injured.

I know nothing about him but for Andy Reed to put him on the street like this is a huge red flag.

I'm glad Fox went with youth in this game. Whitehair did ok, a few misses here and there but considering the short notice and little practice at center, he'll be much better in just a few weeks. Floyd was ok but I can't understand why a player with so much short area quickness is always the last player off the line after the snap. He standing there reading the play before he goes into motion and he's not using his best advantage against OTs. Hopefully with more experience comes more understanding of how to read the play on the fly. Glenn might never relinquish the starting job to Fuller but at 185 lbs I doubt he'll hold up for the entire season. Hall impressed me too. For a guy with a slow forty time he finds a burst to get back in the play.

I like how Cutler and Massie are looking at Watt after this play. http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/09/12/w...rs-week-1-game/

Quietly it has slipped out that Whitehair will start at Center Sunday. I know there's a learning curve for him but I'll accept those issues and won't miss Ted Larsen one bit. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0908-story.html

Last year Eddie Goldman was out of shape too and he went through a learning curve as far as what the NFL is about. Floyd had no idea which team would draft him, for which scheme, and which role in that scheme. He was light for our OLB role when he came and I didn't expect he'd come in and be lights out right away. I think we're asking or expecting a lot for him to make that leap in just 4 months time. It took Cornelius Washington two off-seasons to get his body adjusted for the DE/DT role he's in now. Floyd is not being asked to make as big of a jump but it still takes more than a few months. As far as stamina I expected Floyd would be good with that, but then again he's now battling against bigger faster and stronger athletes than he's used to. That can wear out a smaller player but I haven't really noticed that much during preseason games. I always thought he was at least a year away from being a top contributor but I also think in the right sub-packages this year he's going to give us abilities in coverage and as an edge rusher that nobody else can do. If he falls behind Christian Jones on the OLB depth chart then I'll be worried. Could be worse: We could have Bosa with his leg wrapped up on the bench after 1 practice. Or Goff on the inactive roster as the 3rd QB behind players nobody knows.

I expected he'd get the start given the fact this is a road game and Whitehair hasn't had much time to adjust to snapping the ball, much less making the blocking calls. Then we've got a brand new LG who doesn't know the calls so having Larsen clarify things for him will help. Still it will be hard to watch Larsen getting blown up all game long. Hopefully Whitehair steps into the starting role within a few weeks.

How many extra points has Barth missed? In all honesty I think that's the death knell on Gould. It's not so much the extra point missed but the fact he is not getting the height off his kicks, or at least not consistently. IMO something changed and father time has caught up to his leg. I don't know that Barth is an upgrade but I imagine his price fits the performance a lot better. Gould will end up somewhere so we'll see how their seasons play out.

What they are telling us is this is his last season with the Bears and that other players like Bellamy and Meredith can now be productive 3rd/4th WR options, as well as Thompson out of the slot.

Fox said Center was Whitehall's best position. If you are Grasu recovering from injury that comment didn't feel good. Next year if Grasu becomes our backup OC and Whitehair is starting OC/Backup OG then we've done well for ourselves in terms of upgrading the interior of the Oline.

I didn't think Long's injury was that serious. I've heard he has a labrum issue but is torn?

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/robbie-...-barth-to-fill/ The timing of this is a bit odd a day after final cuts but I imagine they wanted to wait and see who was available beforehand.

Wow, never expected this. After all the turmoil we've been through with the Oline now we have Sitton, Whitehair, Long as our interior. Yes, I'm kicking Larsen to the curb/bench whatever. I like Whitehair a lot better than Larsen. Despite any rookie learnings on assignments he's just flat out better as a blocker even at C. With guys like Sitton on his left and Long on his right he'll have enough help early on until he gets it down. One training camp comment that stood out the most about Whitehair was when Eddie Goldman said that he thinks Whitehair is stronger than he is. Let's get this bus running! ------------------- http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/chi/chicago-bears Matt Bowen ESPN Staff Writer Josh Sitton is an immediate upgrade for the Bears offensive line. That gives Chicago one of the top guard combos in the NFL with Kyle Long playing on the right side. Key for a team that wants to lead with the run game. Pound the ball. ----------------- FWIW I went to a few Packers message boards to see what their fans were saying (mainly because of my concern that he's not playing as well as in the past). Sitton has had some injury issues especially last year. Most worrisome is his back which has caused him to miss a lot of practice. It seems it also kept him on the bench for much of their preseason yet even last year he always played through the injuries. Sutton lost weight this offseason so it would be less of an issue. Nobody said a single word about him not looking good in training camp, or what limited action he saw in the preseason. In fact, most said he was still their best Olineman. The Packers have a bunch of players needing new contracts next year and obviously Sitton was not in their long term plans. Why cut him now? They had enough cap space unless there are a couple deals they want to get done now versus next offseason. Packers are supposedly looking for a backup OG now so it's not like they had two good backup OG when they made this decision. As long as it is Whitehair going to C and Larsen going to the bench then I'm happy.

I couldn't find that on his resume but if true putting him in between Whitehair and Long would give us a lot of strength up the middle. With Massie on the right side as well I could see the run game taking off in a big way. I'm not a Larsen fan after what I've seen this preseason.

My only disappointment is that we didn't have competition for him in camp. These are kickers and it is easy to scout them around the league during the preseason.

LeBlanc profiles: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...146;von-leblanc http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/cre...lanc?id=2555305 http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/...leased-patriots http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriot...eblanc_s_corner The Bears got a good look at him for 4 days so they know exactly what they have vs. Hurst who was cut. It's hard to see a 4.65 CB but maybe those timed runs weren't indicative of his play speed. He certainly seems like a tough competitive football player and I don't mind having that on defense.

Khari Lee was released to make room for Logan Paulsen. I think that's an upgrade and it is expected we'll put Lee on the practice squad so he'll still be around if needed, Braunecker too. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-t...-logan-paulsen/

Love that deal. Less per year than I expected but a huge guarantee. He's one player you just don't worry about with the guaranteed money.

Which is exactly why this cut by the Packers makes little sense.

Kush is a center so might mean Edison gets cut and maybe heads to practice squad.

Major desperation move here. I'm glad the Vikings gave up the picks and I don't mind Bradford there at all. The timing of this does make it appear Bridgewater is looking at a more serious impact to his career than just this season. Yet even then they could have just traded up to draft a QB next year. With that, it appears they are going all-in on this season, perhaps because of AP's age and believing their defense is ready to fully carry the team. What a gamble. It's one I don't think will work.

I never understood this BS from Detroit players. Megatron was Stafford's bailout all the time. WE covered him with 2 or 3 players more often than not. Now he's gone and Stafford is suddenly going to spread the ball all over the place like Brady and won't miss Megatron? Tate, Jones, and Ebron are going to have more coverage than before and yet they'll be better players? Calvin Johnson can call up every team in the NFL and say he's ready to play and he'd have 32 job interviews. If he's in shape he'll have 32 job offers. I can't think of any team losing a Hall of Fame player that was better without the player when that guy was still performing at an elite level. This isn't Jerry Rice at age 37 when he was cut.

Cutting both Braverman and Mariane likes means Thompson should be back soon for KR. PR I don't know. We might see Eddie Royal returning punts. At this point the team will likely feel they have Mariani on speed dial, or Braverman on practice squad if needed. Plus with Bellamy and Meredith looking decent they might not worry quite as much about reserving Royal for all the 3 WR sets. Thompson is also on the roster and can fill in as the slot WR too.

Heavy focus on extra DBs for obvious reasons. I too am surprised to see Fuller on the PUP although I think that is best for him to get fully healthy. We're still rebuilding so from a long term perspective it wasn't clear if Fuller was part of the future or not. Seeing some of these younger guys like Glenn get experience could pay off down the road. Callahan is the guy I really want back on the field. While Glenn really improved in the last couple preseason games Callahan can solidify things for us. Having one weak spot (i.e. Glenn) means we can rotate safeties that way. Having two weak spots not so easily done especially with Trevathan nursing a bad hamstring. I'm very excited to see this Dline come together over the course of this season. We know what Goldman can do, and IMO Hicks has already proven himself in our scheme. Unrein and Sutton are both reliable and that's a good thing. I said I really wanted to keep Washington around to allow him to build on his upside and I like the idea of him and Bullard in there on 3rd and long. That's a lot of quickness out of the DT position for Oline players to deal with. Toss in Floyd and Willie (who has been our best pass rusher this preseason) coming off the edges. As the season moves along I see either Bullard or Washington getting more early down snaps in place of Unrein. Congrats to Cornelius Edison for making the roster. He'll be around for several years IMO. Congrats also to Meredith. Impressive for a guy with so little experience at WR to improve that much in one year. I like his physical traits on the field more than what I've seen out of Wilson and if he continues to improve he'll take his place. Bellamy as well has improved over last season. I feel more comfortable with our WR depth than I've been in the last two seasons. I expect we'll find Braverman on our practice squad as I doubt teams saw enough from him in the preseason to put him on their roster if they need help at WR. They should be more likely to grab a vet who got cut. There's potential for Braverman to take over for Royal in the slot next year (or next injury) but he's got some learning to do. Braunecker on practice squad makes sense too. I too am surprised the team cut J. Rodgers but I'm not disappointed at all. This bodes well for our future with Howard. It's hard to assess but the backup Oline weren't that bad the last couple games. I never tracked Silatolu or Adams much but reportedly they were ok. Both guys are working back from injury and steadily improved as they got back up to game speed. It's hard to be confident here but OTOH I don't think it's the disaster we all thought it would be after the first preseason game. -------- Overall I think team speed has improved from last year. Will Sutton has gone from being our quickest Dline (at least we hoped for that) to perhaps 6th on the depth chart. -------- More changes will happen, especially among the DBs, as players return from injury. It all depends how the injuries go but I won't be surprised to see someone like Moeaki return midseason and have us carry 4 TEs.

I'm not sure why he'd want to be here. I assume he still wants a shot at being a starter and he won't beat out Long. Are we going to bench a promising rookie in Whitehair? If he's willing to come in as a backup OG and wait while he learns the offense? If so, then this would be a good deal. Part Protecting rodgers is paramount to the success of the Packers offense. Salary cap issues aren't a big deal right now IF he's still the player he was. Reportedly the Packers had around $10mil in cap space before the cut. This means he's not nearly as good as he used to be. Next year is not a concern here as he was a free agent after the season. They got nothing in return now, but they could have had at least had him as a good insurance policy at backup OG. For a team expecting to compete for the Superbowl that seems like something worth paying for. So again, he's not nearly as good as he used to be.