AZ54

Or maybe he flew back to talk to Gase?

I agree on your assessment of him reading the defense and I don't think what I've seen will translate to the NFL well at all. However, saying he doesn't want to work for greatness and is dumb for thinking he's ready is wrong IMO. First, why can't he work to improve while he's in the NFL, with better QB coaching? Let's be honest about his college head coach…he did nothing that helped Tebow become an NFL QB. So why stay with that coaching when you are already 22 years old? If he's got any common sense at all he'd know this is the moment where his star is the brightest. He won't be in the national spotlight sitting on the bench next season and then going to the draft. I'd say his performance the last few games will likely earn him at least $1 million and maybe $2 million more on his first NFL contract than what he'd see after next season. Who will know he's improved if he's holding a clipboard? IMO he'd be wrong not taking the extra money that also comes with the opportunity to get the better QB coaching sooner rather than later.

When he was allowed to play he did well. I'm talking about the scheme allowing him to play because too often we sat back in that deep zone and it was horrible. Plus there usually was no underneath coverage from the LBs on the inside routes. He was definitely slowed by the knee injury mid-year and played through a broken hand. Not sure what more you can ask of a player in terms of putting his body on the line for the team. Later in the season he acquitted himself well against Calvin Johnson when allowed to play more man coverage. He wasn't great but your complaints about him echo the same things folks said about Tillman his first year. Most of the people on this board disliked Tillman his first couple seasons. Yes, I've been hanging around here for a long time. Tillman wasn't much appreciated until well into the middle of his career so perhaps you are right, folks won't forget Tillman for many years, but I already think Fuller was a good choice. I'll also add that he outplayed Jennings.

He was arrogant and petty when he was in Detroit. Might have worked with the stars they had in Buffalo but our young defense? Not sure I want to go that route.

Winning a playoff game with Tebow at QB is his best qualification. Losing two divisional playoff games with Peyton Manning, and again this year with all the big FA they signed on defense is his worst qualification. I'm on the fence with this guy but at least we know he won't let the locker room be run like we had with Trestman.

It's football, everything is linked and that's one reason I love this sport. We can differ on the priority. I prefer to fix the line and pass rush as a priority over fixing the secondary. Doesn't mean you can't, or shouldn't, do both this offseason. If I have two players equally rated in the draft, DE and S, available when I pick I'm taking the DE. We are no longer in a win now plan so I'll accept our new GMs belief in taking the BPA and use FA to backfill gaps on your roster. Short term that will leave some talent gaps on the roster. Long term we'll have better players we've drafted and it'll be easier and cheaper to fill gaps via FA since (in theory) we'll have our really-good to blue-chip players on the roster via the draft. Despite all the needs on defense I won't be upset one bit if he chooses a LT with our 1st Rd pick this year. I will be equally happy if he says BPA was Landon Collins and drafts him. Neither decision would change what I think is the biggest need on defense.

The biggest hole on our roster is a DE who can rush the passer. We can do whatever we want at S, CB, LB but in coverage if we give QBs 4-5 sec to throw the ball it won't matter. Jared Allen is not going to get faster this offseason but I think he can be more effective with less snaps. Willie Young mostly gets coverage sacks but just had a severe injury that will likely cost him some quickness and agility throughout 2015. Houston was never that type of DE. We are left with hope that Washington continues to develop and Bass. The most talented player available in FA is Greg Hardy and he's facing serious domestic abuse charges. I think our new GM will stay away from that media circus, besides when you need a roster overhaul you don't gamble on a guy like Hardy in your first year. Speculation on what we can do to address this really needs to wait on what scheme our new DC will be running.

No, he's not HC material. I think at this point he is likely headed to Arizona to replace Bowles and work with Bruce Arians.

I don't think our scouting department is all bad. I think that was one of Emery's strengths and obviously fit his background. Emery did a big overhaul and expansion of our scouting group after his first draft (with Lovie still having some personnel power) and afterward our drafts and UDFAs got much better. I expect some changes but i don't think we need to just push everybody out the door. If Pace does a clean sweep because of a need to change the culture then ok but I there is talent among our scouts. The Pro Personnel side deserves more scrutiny IMO. I haven't said it yet but I'm not ecstatic about Pace. I don't have any respect for New Orleans after bounty gate and that includes guys like Drew Brees who defended everyone for being good guys, Sean Payton who ignored what he knew was happening game after game, and the GM Loomis who ignored the situation after being warned sternly by the NFL. I hope our new GM was the diamond in the rough in that organization. Clearly Pace was not involved in any of that stuff, but Loomis is not exactly the first GM I'd want Pace to learn from. Add in that Sean Payton and Loomis are looking like Lovie in reverse….an organization that can run a good offense (with a HoF QB) but can't ever fix the defense. Lovie did ok with a Hall of Fame MLB on defense and I think would have won one Superbowl if Tommie Harris were on the field.

I don't care if we trade Marshall if the new GM and HC feel it's the right thing to do. I care a great deal that this rumor is out there before or around the same time as we hire a GM because that means ownership is meddling again and I don't want to see that. I think Marshall is fine if we get a coach who demands accountability from his roster and not just including Marshall in that statement. Briggs walking out on Marshall's rant…well Briggs walked out on his entire team to open a restaurant so he had zero credibility and was a much bigger part of the problem than Marshall IMO. Right now with our QB situation a mess I prefer to keep Marshall. He's a huge help in the redone and all over the field and not just as a receiver, he's a great blocker for running plays. We need to run the ball.

I have said that I don't care if Phillips stays or goes just keep him out of football decisions. He can manage the public relations, advertising, concessions, and other revenue streams while doing the accounting for the expenses of the contracts and so forth. Doesn't bother me one bit and I think a competent GM can handle all the football related decisions. I also think Ted has done a lot of good things on the revenue side that have benefited the team greatly since he came on board. There's a reason we aren't so cheap anymore with FA and our own players and it's not just the stadium deal. So I don't see that we must have a football guy as the President of the team. But you are close to being right because I think I'm the only one.

Who is the idiot reporting that he was arrested for a DUI? Sorry but the way reporters and some people treat pro athletes often pisses me off. Just jump the gun to get a story out so they can be first without any serious fact checking. Then everyone else piles on. Intentionally slandering people is also a criminal offense. That first headline is what people will remember a year down the road. In the interest of full disclosure I've been pulled over for criminal speeding (by 1mph) and my wife wasn't happy as she sat next to me.

That right there is the #1 reason to hire this guy. He backed off the Tampa job when Lovie came on board. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0107-story.html "He pulled out of consideration for the Buccaneers GM job last year with coach Lovie Smith coming aboard." http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10246329...ccaneers-roster "Lovie Smith's contract contains a clause that gives him final say over all personnel matters on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 53-man roster, according to league sources." He worked with Lovie and while I respect Lovie for being a good but not great coach, and I expect Ballard does too, things went downhill once Lovie got more control over personnel. Ballard saw that as it happened and he knew what working with Lovie was like as far as personnel selection and stayed away. Ballard knows what he wants in terms of control and he's definitely focused on that. That doesn't mean it will work out with the Bears giving him the job but I agree with DBDB; if he comes on board we know he's got the control he wanted. We also know he's a wise man who is not just looking to get the title, promotion, or big pay raise that sets him up for life. He wants to succeed as a GM, believes he knows how to do it, and is willing to wait for the right job to prove it. It's easy to find people in the first two categories but not the third.

Why then did Blank keep a GM who has failed to rebuild a defense for the last 3 years? A GM who gave up a lot to draft to get Julio Jones. Granted he's working out but that was an all-in move designed to get them to the Superbowl and it failed in a big way. I'm happier the Bears are being more decisive and cleaning out both levels at the same time. Start fresh.

I'd live with a trade of BMarshall if we go that route simply because I will defer to the new GM but I prefer not to do that. He's still a stud WR and we are going to have average to good Qb play, or worse if Cutler leaves, and having big quality WRs especially for the red zone situations is preferred. That should not stop us from adding more speed to the group and we will also have Marquess Wilson in the mix next year. I'm perfectly happy going LT in Rd 1. I don't see how that's coddling to Cutler, it's making our team better. Peat is a big man, the type who moves people backwards at will but he's got the quickness in his feet to handle speed off the edge. He also plays with the attitude I love to see on the Oline. Line him up next to Slausson right now and put Long/Bushrod on the right and we'll be running when we get off the bus. That's exactly what we need to do while we try to figure out this QB situation over the next few seasons.

Absolutely no to Bryce Petty. If we go mid-round QB I prefer Sean Mannion. Before that I'd prefer to drop back and take the risk on Winston. We probably would have to take Winston at #7 if we want him. At least the talent is there and maturity may show up down the road. That debate is going to rage for the next 4 months.

When you set it up so that your best candidate is your last interview you are setting the stage for a quick hiring decision should things work out as expected. Ballard canceling visits to other teams indicates there is a strong desire on his part to let the Bears know he's all in. Ballard worked with the team for 12 years, and at a very high level. That builds a strong personal relationship among owners/management and him. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears haven't already conducted an extensive phone interview with Ballard and Wed is really the second interview. It's odd twist that on one hand we've been frustrated that DeCosta wouldn't interview for other jobs yet our top candidate Ballard has taken a somewhat similar tact focusing solely on the Bears.

I wanted the guy from the Ravens, DeCosta. I think that's the best run franchise in terms of consistently putting a talented team on the field season after season. They have about 8 players left from their 2012 Superbowl team and they are still back in the playoffs. They do it with a QB who I consider to be on par with Cutler as opposed to organizations that rely on their superstar QBs to make it happen year after year.

When Emery came on board, and then when Lovie was fired, we saw some of our best talents leave the organization. Ballard was promoted then decided to leave a year later because he reportedly wanted to work with someone else. Marinelli was offered the DC job and after a week or so he chose to leave town for a lesser job with the Cowboys. Toub had our special teams at the top of the league year after year and when Lovie was gone he was offered a job to stick around. After a week or so he left town to take the same job in another city. Clearly something with Emery and Trestman made some good coaches and talent evaluators leave town. Now we have rumors of Ballard being our next GM and just as suddenly there are reports from several media outlets that Toub could be a our next HC. It's hard for me to have much of an opinion on any GM candidate unless they are experience because their work is behind the scenes and we only hear reports of their successes (i.e. drafted Tillman). If Toub ends up our new HC I'm ok with that. He always had discipline and good schemes on his special teams. I think he'd demand the same from an entire roster.

When I watched the press conference with George McCaskey and Ted Phillips I was surprised at how nervous Phillips looked. His behaviors as George spoke looked to me like that of man that just got smacked down. No words have been spoken but I sense Phillips has either been given a very short leash or more likely (since he's still there) he knows his role will be reduced once the new GM gets to town. Pure speculation on my part. Video is at the link. If you hit the link take a look at the photo and how George McCaskey is looking at Phillips. It doesn't appear to me that George wants to hand the car keys over to Ted. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...68-a96e96a1d0d7 If that's true the Bears would not and should not act like Kromer and go public with that announcement but rather just make it clear to your candidates what their level of responsibility will be and where Ted fits in the picture. I said before I don't care if Phillips manages the concession contracts, parking and sponsorship stuff, and the overall accounting for the organization. I agree with the rest here that he doesn't need to be involved in football decisions.

When I watched Petty thump my Cyclones I wasn't that impressed but I was also depressed. So I watched his game against SMU and while they scored a lot of points there is nothing on this video that says to me this is the future Bears QB. I realize that was his first game on the 2014 schedule and most teams don't look sharp in game 1. Ok, go look at the 3rd game on the schedule against mighty Buffalo. I see the same things. QB with little arm strength, inaccurate all over the field except on the short throws. Some of his throws end up in the dirt, some are over the head of his receiver. Quite a few throws off his back foot but we all know announcers only call that out when it's Jay Cutler doing it. Petty's best attribute is a quick release and that works great with all those track stars he is throwing to. When I see him play I see David Fales with one exception…Fales is very accurate on his ball placement and despite limited arm strength can fit the ball into tight windows on short routes. Unless we have Crowton as our OC again I don't want Petty. In any case we already have Fales on the roster if we go back to a college spread offense. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/bryce-petty-vs-smu-2014/ http://draftbreakdown.com/video/bryce-petty-vs-buffalo-2014/

When I watched Petty thump my Cyclones I wasn't that impressed but I was also depressed. So I watched his game against SMU and while they scored a lot of points there is nothing on this video that says to me this is the future Bears QB. I realize that was his first game on the 2014 schedule and most teams don't look sharp in game 1. Ok, go look at the 3rd game on the schedule against mighty Buffalo. I see the same things. QB with little arm strength, inaccurate all over the field except on the short throws. Some of his throws end up in the dirt, some are over the head of his receiver. Quite a few throws off his back foot but we all know announcers only call that out when it's Jay Cutler doing it. Petty's best attribute is a quick release and that works great with all those track stars he is throwing to. When I see him play I see David Fales with one exception…Fales is very accurate on his ball placement and despite limited arm strength can fit the ball into tight windows on short routes. Unless we have Crowton as our OC again I don't want Petty. In any case we already have Fales on the roster if we go back to a college spread offense. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/bryce-petty-vs-smu-2014/ http://draftbreakdown.com/video/bryce-petty-vs-buffalo-2014/

I liked Sean Mannion in the one game I watched mid-season. He looked like he had the arm strength needed to hit the out routes and was accurate in short to mid-range. Not sure about his long passes and since I only saw one game I don't know about his consistency which scouting reports say is a problem. I'd say he reminds me of Jim Miller.

That's not quite true. Lovie would trade down twice and with 4 picks in the 3rd Rd two of them would be safeties. The others would be DE and DT.

I'm pretty sure that only pertains to coaches.