AZ54

Gven all the recent additions to the injury list, Bennett, Callahan, Jeffrey, McPhee, Porter, and Sutton, I'm not that concerned about the losses and I'll take the higher draft pick. Keep bringing up young players like Timu and let's see if they can contribute next year. Surprisingly nobody has mentioned Callahan as a significant loss but that man was playing good football for us and his replacements are not. ILB continue the merry-go-round but at least Timu put together a strong showing. SMC playing with a concussion is a concern and likely means we won't see him this week. I'm looking at nothing but future players and we're seeing good things from a few players: Unrein keeps showing up with a few good plays each game and I think he deserves to be back next year. Timu responded well to his demotion and returned to action by making a lot of plays around the LOS last week. I look forward to watching him this next game. Already mentioned Callahan but that kid should be back next year and hopefully we see him this week. The KR we've had out there the last month or so, Deonte Thomson, has done very well. I wish he could handle punt returns. Willie Young and Houston have both played some good football for us lately. Both should return, especially given our lack of depth here. Bring in some competition to the mix in the form some real edge speed. Acho can move on. I was disappointed Carey didn't get any snaps last week. We'll see how they handle the last two games now that playoffs are completely out of the question, I definitely want to see more from him so we can have an idea if he can share the load with Langford next season.

I agree, he was in great shape coming into camp. He's had so many injuries and time on the sideline doing nothing so it's hard to maintain that conditioning. I think his injuries all stem from the first one and I suspect he does not have a good program for stretching, although I never see him warm up before a game so it's hard to know. If that's an issue there is no doubt this training staff has it high on their list of priorities but that does not mean he is listening.

He was the best ILB today that's for sure. He still has room to grow but that's a good start to redeeming himself. Meanwhile Christian Jones' future gets cloudier as he was inactive.

I watched Ragland in games against Wisconsin, Auburn, and Georgia. He is faster are more mobile that I expected. I didn't see him cover anyone down field as Alabama mostly uses a zone so he'd just drop to his area. He generally did well covering players that were his responsibility although there were a few times he dropped into the same spot as the other ILB (one of them had to be wrong) leaving a huge gap in the middle of the field. That's a bit of a flag for me as far as assignment discipline. I never saw him turn and run with anyone down field but he has the speed and athleticism to do so IMO. Still, in the box is where he excels. He's good at getting through the trash to get to the right spot. When he diagnoses where he needs to be he gets there in a hurry and is very good wrap up tackler. In short, he is exactly what we don't see in our current ILB group around the LOS. Bonus for him is that he can put his hand on the ground and rush the passer a bit. My biggest dislike is that once a play moves away from him he loafs. He's not one to chase down a play from across the field, more likely to assume his teammate will make that tackle. He doesn't stop moving toward the play but he's not using his burst to close as quickly as he could. A coach might be able to improve that. Among the 3 LBs I still prefer Jack first because I believe his ceiling is higher than Ragland's. I know he can turn and run with any TE or RB 30 yards down field and he's stout enough to stand up Oline and shed to make a tackle. Ragland would be my 2nd choice and really is not far behind Jack. Adding a physical in the box ILB would be a huge boost for our defense. He's better than Jack at diagnosing running plays and getting where he needs to be but just not as fluid in coverage. I think in time with more experience Jack will close that gap around the LOS, and likewise maybe Ragland closes the coverage gap with better coaching. Smith is my 3rd choice, he's just not as physical around the LOS as the other two can be. He reminds me of Briggs in the way he diagnoses plays and bursts through a gap to make a tackle for a loss but he's not happy when the big boys get their hands on him. A trade back and grabbing any of the three is not bad at all but, as you say, the talent where we are drafting might be so much better that it's not worth moving back. It will be interesting to watch how the draft process plays out for these three players. Here's one mock with all 3 gone in the top 16 picks. I'm not a historian but it seems rare to be talking about three ILB in/around the top 15 picks. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock-dr...expert/rob-rang http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/positions/lb

If he's the player you described he will move up significantly as the draft process goes on, especially after the combine tests. Plus, if that's our biggest need at draft time we shouldn't risk losing him at all by moving back.

I need to watch more film on Ragland. What I've seen so far he seems a little stiff in coverage and I think he'd be a better fit in a scheme that asked him to focus on playing downhill towards the LOS. Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack can both run and cover. Jack is more stout at the point of attack which is why I prefer him over Smith (who prefers to use his quickness to get around blocks). The thing with Jack is that he played multiple positions for UCLA including RB and this year dedicated to playing LB was cut short by the knee injury. So you didn't often see the instincts you want out of a top 15 pick. Given a couple years to focus on one position I think he'll excel. Of course the flip side to that is the other guys, Smith and Ragland, may have the higher floor right now.

I saw Buckner's performance in that game the same way except I'll add that he is a beast and he's not moving anywhere he doesn't want to go. When a man is that physically talented over his college competition he'll get some good negative plays and his stats like sacks and TFL look very good. In the NFL there is much more needed to perform at a high level (what's expected from a top 15 pick). After seeing some very good plays there were others where it appeared he had a lack of fire or desire to get to where he needed to be. That made me pause. If the light goes on I think he can be a dominate player in the NFL, in the mold of Calais Campbell, maybe better. If he still plays with that same mentality of waiting for things to come his way he'll be a good player (on any team) but he won't be a household name. Is it Calais Campbell or Quinton Coples you are getting? Probably somewhere in between. I still prefer either of the top two LB: Myles Jack (1st preference) or Jaylon Smith

Okung has fought a lot of injuries in the last few years. Glenn is a no-brainer but he'll never see FA. I think Andre Smith is the more likely FA target among these three.

Cutler is a no-brainer. He's played well enough to earn his keep going forward and the options otherwise are not very good. The Bears will have teams calling them this offseason asking if they'll trade him. Looking at the draft QBs now don't you think Houston wishes they'd have made that deal last year? Saint Louis? Forte... I don't really care if he's back or not. While I still like him, he's replaceable IMO by the talent we have on the field today. I can't see us paying him more than $3mil next season and any contract has to be team friendly so that we can get out it of each season. While Forte displays good vision I just don't see any burst and that won't be better next season. We can grab another 4th Rd pick to put in the mix if he leaves but I feel comfortable with Carey and Langford going forward and if that $3mil is needed to sign a better RG/RT then goodbye Forte. Alshon...he has to be franchised. It makes too much sense for the team. We don't yet know what White can do so at a minimum having Alshon around for one more year gives us time to sort it out. However, I think we'll come to an agreement on a new deal that will work for both sides. Alshon will have to acknowledge his lengthy injury history and accept what that means in his new deal, and I think he'll do that ending up somewhere around $12mil/yr. If it doesn't pan out the next #1 WR is waiting in the wings. Bennett...I want him back. With so many needs on the roster I don't want to add TE to the list. Miller can replace his production as a receiver but not as a blocker. Despite his success this year it's hard to bank on his health for another full year too. There are some caveats here because if we went Jason's route and found a stud RT somewhere then we don't need that blocking TE nearly as much. I don't see that happening and I wouldn't place my bets entirely on a rookie. There aren't a lot of good options in FA either although some of the names might be up and coming players that can contribute. The flip side to the lack of FA talent might also mean a good trade market for Bennett. This one may be a topic of discussion all the way to the draft. Bushrod...I think his back injury isn't going away so that means he is. Montgomery...originally I thought we need him as a backup next year because he played well. Then I remember that Slauson did well enough there to be our backup next year, especially if we upgrade our backup OG as I expect we will. I think Monty is gone as he's not strong enough to be a backup C/OG. Long...already said put him back at RG where he's a Pro Bowl player. We can't ignore what that means for the interior of the line. It can't be too hard to find someone else who will struggle as much as he does from time to time at RT. I figure that's the worst case, and that new RT would have a Pro Bowl RG next to him so it's a better situation than what we have today. Best case is you get someone new who is more comfortable on the edge and that guy is also next to a Pro Bowl RG. Houston...played well enough in the 2nd half of the season to deserve to be brought back. Plus we have few options here. Young...we just might get someone to trade for Willie. Any guy who can get you 10 sacks, roughly the pace Young is on the 2nd half of the season, is worth quite a bit to a lot of teams. But that offer would have to be pretty good, maybe an early 4th Rd pick, or a 3rd Rd, because I just don't see any reason to let him go. He's cheap and he's productive. We're in a 4-3 front half the time so having one guy like him is a good thing, and he should be better next year. SMC...an obvious re-sign. Not because he's played great but because we have no other options. He's been consistent the 2nd half since returning from his injury. He's not irreplaceable but if he were next to a stud he'd be good. Sign him to a new deal, sign another good FA like Trevathan, and use an early pick to draft some competition for both. Rolle...I can't see us spending $3mil again for Rolle. I like him as backup player and think he's good for the locker room. I'd cut him and let him know to call us if/when he gets an offer from another team and we'll see if we can match it. We might save well over $1mil and maybe closer to $2mil and still have him around to lead the young guys. Jenkins... re-sign if we can because we have to get some competition at DT. Sutton...he'll be back but competing for a roster spot again because it makes sense to do so. I hope we do well enough in the offseason to see him move on (and I wanted us to draft him for the old scheme). OTOH I hope he does well enough to stick since that would mean he's playing well. As it is right now, he has competition from Unrein and Gaston and those aren't the names you want to be competing with. Porter... re-sign to a new 1yr deal, even if it has to be Alan Ball type money ($3mil) or if he'll do it a multi-year deal that doesn't have a huge bonus and is easy to cut. I don't see the $5-6mil/yr others have suggested because I'm still not convinced he's a good answer to the CB question. Acho...I think he's gone. Hasn't shown enough to warrant anything long term. Maybe we do another 1yr deal with him and let him compete in camp. Ego...I think he's in the same boat as Sutton, maybe with a little less water on board. I didn't see enough from him before the injury but then again that was so early in the season so he deserves another shot. He's relatively cheap and has upside so why not keep him around? Mundy...he got demoted from starter very quickly in camp. I'm not sure why but then again I'm not sure it matters. Clearly there was something these coaches didn't like about his play. I wouldn't be surprised to see us move on and let him go.

The Bears are doing exactly as they should and are starting to bring up some practice squad players to get a look at them. Timu moves up to the active roster to see if he can redeem himself from earlier mistakes. ILB is a definite need heading into the offseason and I like this move. We might even see Timu on defense sometime in the last couple games. I assume they'd give him at least a full two weeks of practice before putting him in that spotlight. Despite our depleted Dline Hood didn't show enough to justify keeping him around. We have had surprisingly productive play from Unrein and Gaston. They've done enough as part of the rotation that Dline has not been the biggest issue on defense the last few games. I'm not saying they are great players but they are making enough plays to justify keeping them around. These kind of personnel changes often go un-noticed but Pace really did a great job of finding talent that belongs on the field mid-season. That's not easy to do. In years past when we hit the streets looking for Dline players we didn't fare nearly as well. What's next? I think we'll continue to IR players that get injured and will either promote our practice squad players or we'll go after a couple players from other teams' practice squads. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...00-afc370581a32

Jerry Jones is asking the same thing!

Wilkerson has been at the top of my FA wish list and will remain there unless or until he gets tagged. I'd guess we will also have interest in Malik Jackson (Broncos DE) as a secondary option. Why not Eric Berry? If he's healthy that would be a huge plus for our secondary. Berry paired with Amos would be a pretty good combo. On the flip side I have no interest in the old and slow Eric Weddle. For what he offers I'd stick with Antrel Rolle. I don't like Bruce Irvin...pretty much a one-trick pony and don't think he fits what Fangio wants. I'd kick the tires (spare tire?) on Andre Smith once FA opens and see what kind of shape he's in. That will tell you much of what you need to know before any talk about signing him. If he's serious about staying in shape as he said a year ago then he could fill a definite need for us and maybe at a price that more or less offsets Bushrod's salary. ILB play is killing our defense. Much of the blame in the media falls on SMC but I think he's ok. The other guys Jones and Anderson are mostly lost on the field. We need to bring in a good FA like Trevathan to shore this up and we need a high draft pick in the mix as well. At CB I can see us having interest in Janoris Jenkins. As well as Porter has played at times he's had other moments where he's been easily beaten in coverage. He'll probably be back but look for the team to work to find a longer term solution. Fuller has played well lately and I like Callahan. There aren't many good options at CB in FA which likely means Jenkins will get a huge contract. I expect we'll be drafting one early.

He's done... http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...21-f856469f78a2

Bears are taking their time with this decision, I can't find anything in the media so far.

I agree, park Long next to Grasu and fix the interior of the line. I'm tired of watching Omameh get moved around, and Grasu doesn't have the strength to hold up. An athletic and strong RG like Long can fix a lot of what's wrong inside. What do you think about some of the FA RTs? Andre Smith (Bengals) could be a really good RT. I have no clue how well he's playing this season but he has the physical talent to excel but IIRC he's been a bit of a head case with regards to his conditioning. Mitchell Schwartz? He likely want to get out of the circus that is Cleveland and he won't cost a lot but he's also not a top tier RT.

He won't be available for us as all this means he's destined to be a Cowboy.

The only report I've seen on White being done for the year is from the Tribune and when reporters asked Fox about that (Trib report) he said nobody had made a decision.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...69-d272cd976d1d Still nothing clear about White's situation since we know they brought in a few WR for tryouts this past week. Hurst being activated seems more like coverage for Callahan's injury this week.

Usually if a decision like this (keep White out for the season) is made the Bears website has it posted fairly quickly. They did ask Fox about the Trib statement and he said this: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...65-4431aa86e3f3 Just the facts: Coach John Fox declined to confirm a Chicago Tribune report that the Bears have decided that rookie receiver Kevin White will not play in a game this season. The seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft completed his second straight week of practice Friday but remains on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from leg surgery. The Bears have until Tuesday to place White on the 53-man roster or put him on season-ending injured reserve. "I think I have expressed we have until Tuesday," Fox said. "We just take it a day at a time. There's always a lot of reports. Then there are facts."

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...e9-0aeb3937a916 If Royal has no issues and can practice Friday then we should see him paired with Alshon this weekend. I've seen no reported setbacks on White's practicing so far so he might be on track to play a few snaps against the Vikings. Marquess Wilson appears to definitely be out of this game.

Ravens fans will be in hiding this week.

We have apparently signed Rob Housler. I can't find a link to a story specifically about the signing but he shows up on our roster. From his years in AZ Housler is more blocker than receiver.

2016 Gould base salary $3mil, bonuses $1.1 mil, cap hit $4.1mil, dead money if he's cut prior to June 1st $1.2mil. http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/chicago-bears

Time to get healthy. Might explain why Rob Housler and some other TEs were in for visits lately.

If John Fox, who lists everyone as questionable and day to day with no timeline for recovery, is saying this then he is really close: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago-bears/post...s-leg-is-healed