AZ54

When you read the comments of NO fans you find they don't miss DLP at all because he couldn't run block and wasn't all that great in pass protection either. Now with Kromer out of NO how much of that had to do with possibly a new approach to blocking last season? DLP tested the market and when there wasn't much out there for him he had no hesitation about returning to Kromer's system and tutelage here in Chicago. NO got back in the talks and likely would have taken him back for what we paid him and he said goodbye. We also know that with both centers available in FA the Bears (and Kromer) clearly chose to go after Garza first. Given all that (few bidders on the FA market) and his home team luke warm on keeping him I'm not sure what we have in him. I like having him on the roster for his experience in our blocking scheme and C behind Garza was a big question mark. Our OG depth was/is still somewhat of a question mark too. I think signing him to backup Garza was a great move and maybe he'll play well again and we end up signing him next year to a longer contract.

It's too early to get any inkling of how linemen on either side are doing. Pads go on today and that'll start to let us know what we've got. I had no worries about Sutton from a professionalism standpoint and so far so good there. The surprise for me has been Ego. In the summer when they went to the Hall of Fame he promised to study and win the competition on the knowledge test among all rookies…and he did. That in itself means nothing about football but it does show a man who is willing to work to succeed even in the little inconsequential things. Now we find out he's been taking yoga classes because the coaches told him he needed to improve his flexibility. All told everything he's done so far this offseason has been more than I expected. Now it's time to see how he does on the field but even if the early returns aren't great if he maintains this work ethic I think we'll have a good player down the road.

The bigger question in my mind is what will it take for the coaches to bench him if he's playing poorly. We're a long way from that point because the young players haven't shown anything yet but if it happens it will be a pivotal moment. First step in that process would likely be to see him end up as a 2 down player. If this is a possibility we'd likely some of that (Briggs not on the field) on 3rd downs in the 3rd preseason game. Coaches would certainly want to see the others (whoever they may be) on the field against the 1's.

Why would we want to invest anything in a guy who is willing to give up millions of dollars so he can retire? We cannot give him a contract anywhere close to what he walked away from with the Cowboys. I'm sure Emery has not forgotten his lesson from last season when that DT (Ellis?) quit on him the first week of camp.

Very disappointing to hear Briggs looks slow. He's has proven he is not a workout warrior and at his age it is much easier to go over the cliff in terms of athletic ability. We'll see if he picks it up as camp moves along. I also realize he's a veteran who is not going to put out much energy early in camp but this is something worth monitoring as we go through the preseason.

I always liked AW and while he did slow down and lose some of his edge during his last years in AZ he could still play in the box. I, sadly for the state of our roster, agree with your assessment. Maybe a year off might rejuvenate the body a bit and perhaps we get a little more than we bargained for. I'd love to have his experience on the roster.

The battle for LB is clearly going to be the most competitive position battle in training camp. I put the battle for safety spots right behind it because I think the talent at LB is better overall. We have Briggs as the only player slotted to a role. After him we have D.J. Williams, SMC, Bostic, Greene, and toss in UDFA Christian Jones. Reggie Herring was very complimentary of SMC and Bostic when he recently stated either could have started for him at MLB in Dallas or Houston. DJ says he's not going to the bench without a fight. ESPN's Michael Wright doesn't even have Greene making the final cut with the team preferring Jordan Senn's special teams abilities. http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-camp...n-out-among-lbs http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...rojected-roster

That would be a surprise indeed as Houston is a solid player but if he somehow steps up to the next level opposite Jared Allen we could be in for some great pass rushes.

I'm still fighting off the boredom of July so it's time to ask about what folks are expecting out of our players who didn't contribute much last year or who weren't even on the roster. Given how bad our D was there are plenty of opportunities for someone to garner attention in training camp. On offense it's a different story but there are some spots such as backup RB, 3rd WR, that figure to see some serious competition. I'm going with Kyle Fuller. I was very impressed by his highlight videos (game film not just highlights) and I think he's an excellent football player with outstanding instincts and smarts. I think he shows up early and often in camp, even against our WRs, and again during the preseason games.

The passing defense was decent only because teams could handoff all day long against us. If players weren't bouncing off Eddy Lacy all game long I'm pretty sure Rodgers would have thrown a few more passes for completions. Rarely do I thank the Cowboys for anything but at least last year they saved us from being the worse defense in the league. I like what we did this offseason to replenish the ranks on D so I know we'll be better than we were in the second half of 2013. However, I need to see some people getting the snot knocked out of them before I can feel like we have a proper defense again.

We have too many question marks on defense, new scheme included, for me to be confident we'll go far in the playoffs. I can see us winning the NFC North but to go beyond that I'll have to wait to see how the team is coming together mid-season.

I don't know that he's a huge upgrade. Of course the standard for upgrade is set very low in this situation but Wilson's last year in AZ wasn't great. He's older and coming off an achilles tendon injury, which most athletes say takes well beyond a year to truly recover from, is not going to help. I will be happy if he makes the roster but I don't even know that he'd be our starter. Then at the very bottom end of the roster he has to compete with the guys who will play special teams. I don't see him doing special teams but who knows what he's agreed to. If he were our starter I don't know that he can last a full season and the fact he beat out the other players would make me even more nervous about our backups. Signing a guy with the hope he can make it halfway through the season isn't an ideal spot to be in. I love having him in camp and I certainly hope for the best. I just think we need to temper expectations for his level of play even if he ends up our starter. His last season in AZ he wasn't even used in Nickel situations.

Adrian Wilson was a phenomal athlete and player for the Cardinals. Certainly he has lost some of that explosive athleticism displayed in the video but he is likely as good an athlete now as the other guys we have on the roster. On top of that he has a ton of experience and leadership which, if he makes the final roster, will help the entire group even if he is not on the field. He was always a class act here in AZ and I think this is another good signing by the front office to add competition to a weak area.

I've been watching this series. Most are nice to see how they transition the rookies to the team but there's not a lot of substance. However, part 4 has some good video of Pascaloni in the class room. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...2d-7fee93bbc874

Izzy was a class act and really had a great career. I suspect he will be around the Bears organization for a long time to come.

Very true. At this point all I'm looking for is that guys look the part. Meaning they are in shape and have been working on their weaknesses, as well as focused on learning their position if they are a young player. Wilson appears to have done both.

I liked Bennett but when you watch him he always looked pedestrian in running his routes. Good hands, knows where to be but some that quickness he had when he was younger doesn't (or didn't) show up the last couple years. Still you'd think Cleveland would have kept him around through camp to at least compete. He'd be far from their worst option at the bottom end of the roster.

I'm more excited because I think we've had two good drafts in a row, really two good off-seasons, despite being hamstrung by serious needs on either side of the ball and are well positioned for the future cap wise. Cutler's deal become extremely team friendly in a couple years. If SMC pans out at LB then the perspective on Emery's first draft changes quite a bit. I don't so much care about the draft rating rather that we just find a future starting LB because it's a big need. Emery said his goal is to build the type of depth that allows a team to compete at a high level year after year. Right now I think he's on the path to doing that. I'm not expecting things to be perfect this year but how we play this season will definitely go a long way toward proving that to be true.

More good news. OTAs and no hitting but still to have a bigger, stronger, and apparently quicker Wilson out on the field with Marshall and Jeffrey could turn into a great combination for us. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...r-chicago-bears

It is only OTAs... http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/jon-bostic...rs-no-1-mlb-job

I agree, we'll be staying with a 1-gap front for the most part. Which is why I have the question on the LB run fits and why it seemingly would change so much according to Bostic. Whatever they are doing it seems we're going back to a more conventional way for the LB reads.

This offseason I'm most curious about our new defensive scheme. Reading this article, along with Bostic's quotes, makes me wonder what differences we'll be seeing after a nearly a decade of the Tampa 2. Some of the board members have experience or knowledge of football well beyond my limitations. I'd like to hear thoughts on what changes we'll be seeing in our run fits (to use their term), or should be looking for players to do as I expect execution won't be perfect early on. Any ideas on what our LB assignments are now versus the old "get in your gap" of the Lovie 2? http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...ml#.U5Mu2MY8icM

After letting this simmer for a couple days…why not add one more guy to the mix, especially one who has experience? I'm not a big fan of Fales even if he ends up as our 3rd guy which at the moment appears to be his ceiling. Palmer, Clausen…let 'em go at it.

Agreed.

I know Trestman downplayed it but there is no way he didn't go back to his office afterward and smile a bit when thinking about this. His team is in voluntary OTAs and already players are getting after it. Tim Jennings comes on NFL Network afterward and says the D isn't backing down from anyone and they are ready to fight to get the D back to where a Bears' defense should be. Don't think the rookies didn't take notice of this…these veterans come to practice!