AZ54

Don't see why he'd be better than Clausen. Fales, ok but it wouldn't matter if we get down to the 3rd QB we're done.

No. Can't switch at the end of a career with no practice whatsoever.

One more roster option: http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/offensive-...r-keeping-eight Eight is thin; one likely scenario is to pick up an addition lineman (veteran Eben Britton is the leading candidate) once the Bears are able to protect Marquess Wilson on short-term injured reserve next week.

Things that caught my eye.. I'm not totally surprised they let go of Britton as Ola came on pretty good in his absence except they also kept Charles Leno who I expected to be a practice squad candidate. I can't complain if our 7th Rd pick was better than a multi-year veteran like Britton. Are we on the path to truly building some depth in our Oline? Very surprised to see Senorise Perry make the cut. This has to come back to special teams and in that he can return kicks and I'll assume, if he was out there, he was better than Chris Williams on kick coverage. What are we planning to do with 4 RBs on the roster? I didn't expect 10 players for Dline either, with 6 DEs. I didn't see Washington do much at DE but there were times on kick coverage where he got downfield in a hurry and made the play. Do we need both Washington and Bass? Kelvin Hayden cut in favor of keeping Demontre Hurst. Among all this there is easily room on the bottom end to free up a roster spot between RB or DE, or both if someone hits the street from another team that can help us this year.

Option 1/3: Kyle Orton agrees to tell Marrone everything he knows about the Bears and then signs with Buffalo, then Jordan Palmer gets cut. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-co...ffalo-bills.ece EJ Manuel looked really bad in the 3rd preseason game IMO. I don't understand why Orton would retire and then come back and play for Buffalo. He's going to see the field sometime this season so perhaps Buffalo gave him a good contract but he was also well paid in Dallas. Plus I'm sure he had other suitors.

Pass…don't feel the need to do anything on this right now and whoever the 3rd back is I'm sure there is an expectation of playing special teams.

Nobody really stood out among the bottom end DEs last night IMO. I didn't see Trevor Scott but might have missed him early and assume that's a sign he made roster. Other than that, I didn't see much from Lane, Bass, or Washington.

I agree on Fales playing well considering the position he was in with very few reps throughout camp and the preseason games. Most of the backup QB reps have gone to Clausen or Palmer and what was left had to be very sparse. His release is odd but he showed a lot of accuracy and a bit more arm strength that I thought he had. His timing in the pocket and for reading defenses was clearly poor but with little practice or game time, and being out there with our 3rd and 4th stringer players I can't expect much more than what he did. I'm not sure he makes the final roster though but I'd agree that he might have put enough good out there for someone to gamble on grabbing him if we cut him with intentions of putting him on the practice squad. Had Palmer not been signed so quickly we might have been more likely to take that gamble. I'm very curious how this final roster shapes up at the bottom end. It's hard to sort out the bottom 5-7 players we'll keep. One interesting thing I saw at the Suntimes was the possibility of putting Marquess Wilson on IR. I had forgotten that we now have the ability to have a player (or is it players?) from IR return to the roster mid-season. That makes it easier to keep both Bellamy and Holmes for the first half of the season.

I give Emery credit for setting up some good competition in training camp at DE this year. In watching the first few games I've been impressed with Trevor Scott at times, and the last game Austen Lane made me login and scan the roster list to see who he was. I didn't think much of either when we signed them but they've proven effective in pass rush at times. I won't speak for their run defense as I haven't watched for that as closely. We'll see how this shakes out very soon but players like Washington and Bass are not on solid ground. Not much of a shock with Washington as he did little last year but Bass looked to have a spot on the bench locked up heading into camp. We haven't seen much of Allen at all but I've been very happy with Houston's play and Willie Young has surprised me as well. I don't see myself missing Julius Pepper's one bit. In fact Houston looks like a steal in terms of his skill set vs. Peppers when compared to the contract Peppers signed in GB. I can't recall feeling like we had this much depth at DE in a very long time. DT seems set at 4 (Ferguson, Ratliff, Sutton, Paea). If they consider Houston as a swing player inside at DT do we keep 9 or 10 DLine and, if it's 10, does that mean 6 DEs? Someone would have to be a stud on special teams to force us to keep 6. I don't see it. I don't think anyone has seen a stud on special teams period. I say we end up with 9 and it appears Bass and Washington will be gone but this may well come down to how well they all play in tonight's game. None of these guys will be taking it easy. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...ml#.U_8-qlY8icM

Emery was hired so late that offseason he was forced to use the existing scouting department and their existing grading system. Of course he had his notes from his work at KC but that was offset by the need to keep Lovie (not saying he'd have done otherwise anyway that late in the game). Emery owns it all but his scouting organization and system was fully in place for the 2013 and 2014 drafts. Right now 2013 looks pretty good…Long Pro Bowl, Bostic still in that upside phase, Greene looking to be a good 4th Rd pick, Mills, Washington (might get cut), and our likely 3rd WR Wilson. So far 2014 has yielded effectively one starter in Fuller and punter who is faster than Earl Thomas.

I thought Mundy played well against Seattle and I think he'll get the job done for us this year. Comparing him to Earl Thomas is not realistic and he's certainly not going to cover pass routes for 4 seconds. We need serviceable play from our safeties this year and that I believe Mundy can provide it at SS. Just avoid diving into a play and completely missing the tackle like Major Wright often did and I'll be happy. He might give up a few more yards than someone like an Earl Thomas would but avoid the big gains and make their offense have longer drives. We have a new scheme with a ton of new and young players at all levels on defense. It seems clear to me this preseason that players across the board often aren't sure where they should be. We saw that on offense last season and it started to smooth out around the 4th game and was definitely better in the second half of the season. Nobody ever wants to hear it but it's a reality that players need experience against different offenses to get better. You just can't do that day after day going against the same Bears offense. FS remains the biggest question mark, right now it appears that it'll end up in Conte's hands with Vereen behind him…which means it'll remain our biggest question mark on D. I'm a big fan of Fuller and I think having him on the field is going to make a noticeable difference in our nickel package this year. He can cover the "move" TEs we'll be seeing keeping our safeties less exposed to the better athletes. Our defense is in the midst of an overhaul that is going to require another offseason to complete, at least to get quality players at all 3 levels. In year 1 the bulk of the money and the early draft picks went to the Dline. I think that was the right approach but it also means we're relying on them to get the job done on both run D and pass D via effective pass rush limiting the coverage time our safeties have to do. If we are to compare to Seattle's defensive overhaul it should be in the 2nd year of Carroll's tenure (2010) where they ranked 25th in defense pts/game. The following year they rose to 7th. 2010 was a young Earl Thomas' first NFL season along with Kam Chancellor. If our young LBs improve this season it will allow us to focus on the backend of the defense next year.

That might be one more reason the Bears cut him so early. We haven't yet started game planning for Buffalo so while Palmer might know the playbook what's he really going to say that they won't see from film of last season? The whole spying thing is overrated, just ask the Patriots.

Not much of a surprise I suppose but I expected he'd figure in the competition for the last safety spot.

There is that as well…good point.

I finally got to see the first half of the game. I don't quite get all the sky is falling comments especially regarding the offense. I saw lots of production and of course some mistakes but overall we moved the ball against Seattle, often making it look easy. WR looked good overall but Jeffrey missed the early TD catch. Add in Wilson and, as he gets up to speed, Santonio Holmes and this will be a very tough group to stop. Ola is not ready to be a RT in the NFL. He might have potential but he's not there yet. In the 2nd quarter there were some key ole blocks by both Ola and #85 Mulligan that led to easy sacks. Rosario whiffed on a block at the goal line that led to a tackle behind the LOS. Defense is a different story but the Dline actually gives me reason for optimism. We had good pass rushes quite often. Yes we lost contain many times but this is Russell Wilson, one of the fastest and quickest QBs, in the NFL. Adjusting to contain is a correctable problem but for the other QBs we will face they are going to give up sacks, and we really haven't seen the rush with Jared Allen yet. What worries me most is the lack of plays from the LBs. I expect SMC to still be learning but Bostic, Briggs, and especially Williams were ineffective. At times SMC seemed to diagnose the plays better than the other guys but he is still a step late getting to the right spot. With experience I think he'll be making those plays by mid-season. Bostic has the athleticism but still seems lost. I hated the coverage of the DBs but I trust Tillman and Jennings to sort that out once the real season begins. Getting Kyle Fuller back will help a lot versus watching Hayden out there. Safeties are what they are and if they don't give up the big plays this season I'll be happy. If we're talking about them as our primary defensive concern then it's really issues in front of them that are the problem. Right now I expect our 1st - 3rd Rd draft picks in 2015 to be S, TE and LB. Likely in that order assuming we see improvement from SMC, Bostic and the staff remains high on Greene and Jones. There will be no reason to pay big $$ to Briggs next year and DJ Williams will be looking for a new home as well. I watched the first half of Buffalo's preseason game. We will destroy them. EJ Manual can't go through his progressions if the first WR is covered and looked lost even when dumping off the ball. CJ Spiller is the real deal and they will also have Watkins out there to challenge us but our pressure will be effective against them. Their Dline is good but behind them there is little to note and they will not cover our WRs. Then the real schedule begins.

I think Jones is one of those guys with enough potential that he won't stick around long enough for us to put him on the practice squad. It might take him a year or two to develop but keeping him around is the right decision IMO as he could be a good starter for us for years.

Jordan Senn is cut as well. That's a positive IMO as it means Greene has played well enough to earn a roster spot, as has Christian Jones. Somebody is working overtime for the Bears website as their roster list is updated with the latest cuts, a departure from years past when it took days to get updated. http://www.chicagobears.com/team/roster.html

If we had someone with very good raw talent that could develop into a starter, or a cheaper #2 QB down the road to save cap space, I'd be open to keeping a roster spot for a #3 QB. Fales is not that guy IMO. The question comes down to keeping a #3 QB on the roster that will never amount to much or giving that slot (protecting) a good young talent at another position. I appreciate Palmer's response about the Bears after getting cut. https://twitter.com/JwPalms?original_refere...tw_p=tweetembed "I'll be wearing #bears gear and supporting the bears for the rest of my life. Regardless of what happens. This is the best org in the NFL." We are not the bottom of the barrel in the NFL as some in the media still make us out to be. Once again, kudos to the Bears for making a decision promptly and cutting Palmer early enough that he might get a shot with another team. If not, I'm sure we'll keep him in mind as we did last year should things go the wrong way with injuries.

Waiting on Jordan Palmer to be cut. I know he's slated to play against Cleveland but he's not nearly the QB Clausen is, especially considering he has 3 to 4 times as much experience with our offense. Fales doesn't inspire much confidence either but as a 3rd guy, likely practice squad player I'd rather keep him for the upside versus Palmer. Palmer often looks overmatched or confused after the snap.

Nope…and I'll bet he's our SLB starter in Week 1. Bostic remains on the bench while DJ Williams and Briggs start.

With two rookies at DT I figured he'd be a good 5th option at DT.

Yes but for one most KR are touchbacks these days. Half the PRs are fair caught or just hit the ground. I want to have that weapon for the returns as it can impact a game tremendously but the way the rules are today it's not as big of an impact. We know Chris Williams has done PR/KR before so he's capable just need to see it at the NFL level. I loved having Hester on the roster over the years but what he did for us was not worth $2-3mil. I wish him well in Atlanta but the fact they used him for a simple WR screen doesn't make me think he's suddenly figured out how to play WR. By the way, in a highlight of a Julio Jones play I noticed a guy named Weems on the sideline.

Agreed, Toub was special.

I agree there but it's preseason not the ideal time to be particular about who you can find. This is the same team that moved Peppers to LB.

No links so I had to dig around to figure out which Wilson…but it's not Marquess. http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-part...on-nate-collins I'm not so surprised about Adrian Wilson as he started improving then fell out of favor among the coaching staff. Collins I find surprising but on the other hand I also find it to be good news about our DT depth. This tells me the club is confident in Sutton and Ferguson as contributors going forward. They released both players in time to have them be picked up by other clubs before the wave of cuts hits, which I find to be a respectable approach. Could Collins sign with the Packers to replace Raji? I think at this point Ka'Deem Carey is going to be our #2 RB.