AZ54

It's exactly what I want from a Packer's safety.

Looking around on some of the Packers message boards is very enjoyable. I was hoping to see what they think of the $8.5mil they spent on Peppers but there is so much doom and gloom overall about their D they can't even focus in on one player. http://forum.packerchatters.com/index.php?topic=2630.135 From May 10th: We now have 6 first-round picks -- including 2 top 10 picks, on D (Clinton-Dix, D. Jones, Perry, Matthews, Raji, and Hawk). Julius Peppers is also a former 1st rounder (#2 overall). We also have 3 second-round picks (Heyward, Worthy, and Neal) and 2 third-round picks (Thornton and Burnett) on D. (Ironically, 3 of the 4 best defensive players currently are 4th rounder Mike Daniels and UDFAs T. Williams and Shields). TT has also devoted significant financial resources to the D (Peppers, Shields, Neal, Raji, Burnett, B. Jones) the past couple of years. Given this roster, is there any reason this defense should not be a top-10 unit in 2014? ………………………………………………………….. To Sep 4th: Giving up over 200 yards rushing and 100+ QB rating to an allegedly mediocre QB, oh my so much has changed on D. Perhaps we can wait until next season for another 1st round defensive pick to develop into a player because it will not happen in 2014.

When, or if, Conte does a complete whiff on an open field tackle the same as HCD did last night to give up an easy TD what will be said about him? That was not Percy Harvin he missed, it was Ricardo Lockett and it was not some crazy move he put on HCD. I said before the draft that there were some "Major Wright moments" from HCD. He has the speed and fluid movements you want to see in coverage but the "highs" were mixed in with a fair amount of "lows" that were covered up by his rather good teammates. I'll be watching and comparing him to Kyle Fuller as their careers progress.

I think if you are a leader in any sense, especially if you realize your team has a shot at going deep into the playoffs, you are there on the first practice with the young guys to help them get settled in their LB roles. It's not that he wasn't there for the practice, nor that Trestman gave him the day off. It's that Briggs himself does not feel the personal obligation to be there to help his teammates out. His response to the media questions confirms it. That says all I need to know from him. As for Trestman, I don't think he views Briggs to be a key component as far as helping the younger guys. Maybe he's more of a hindrance since he spent his entire career in a different system? If Briggs isn't in that meeting room then Reggie's message will be that much clearer to the rest of the group. I'm a manager and at times I've had people on my teams that made me feel that way. It was more about them at work than the team and they weren't committed to helping others except for when it helped them personally. I don't mind when they take days off because I can coach their future replacement without interference, or back-talking, on how to do the job properly. It's wild speculation on my part based on 25 years of experience but my gut feel in the non-chalance responses from both Emery and Trestman says there might be something here. I know if there is any hint of this behind the scenes that Trestman and Emery will never admit it because a) it would be unprofessional and Briggs is still in a position of stature among the LBs and defense overall, as he should be. They need to keep him in that stature so they can use it to their advantage when it's appropriate.

Terra may be an ass but he's our ass! He is Glum "we'll never make it" from Gulliver's Travels cartoons but he is observant and sees the details of play better than what he is given credit for. However, I am going to disagree with him and what seems like the rest of the thread here. I don't think we'll be mediocre at best, which I'd say puts around 25th in the league. I think we'll be closer to average. I really like our Dline. We don't have a great player inside at this point but Ratliff was definitely causing a lot of commotion and disruption, moving far better than anything we saw from him last year. Next to him we have standouts but I think Ego can develop fairly quickly into that guy who people can't move, at least not easily. Sutton will also pick things up quickly from Ratliff as the season goes on and we will come to love his hustle. I view Paea as a do no harm type…won't necessarily help but won't hurt things either. Nothing great here but we'll be solid at DT as the season moves on. DE is very good IMO. I know what Allen will bring every play but Houston and Young impressed me as well. They are both more physical than I expected and can get upfield quickly. Bottom line here for me is that this line is good enough to stop the run and get QB pressure. LBs…I'm definitely out on limb among Bears fans but I like the movement I see from SMC at LB. He fits far better than he did at DE. I've already seen on some plays when he "sees it" he gets through the traffic quickly and gets upfield to make the play. He's got a lot to learn but as he gets more playing time he'll show up more often making plays for losses. Bostic I'm less optimistic about but I do love his athleticism. I think Reggie Herring can get him to settle down. Until that happens DJ Williams can do enough to keep things reasonably settled in the middle, at least against the run. Briggs worries me because he looks slow and out of shape. He'll be ok on 1st and 2nd down and his experience will carry him for the most part. I know the LBs are going to miss some plays, especially early in the season, so we'll see some big plays given up here and there. I also expect we'll see some big plays from them as well. CBs is where we shine more than I think we're giving these guys credit for. I like Fuller a lot and I think having him on the field with Tillman and Jennings tips the pass coverage balance back in our favor. Tillman and Jennings are both bait and switch players who will give up yards but then make the play later in the drive. Tillman was still punching footballs loose during preseason and all throughout training camp. He's not great in coverage but he's good and he's good against the run as are Jennings and Fuller. Safety is a crapshoot but as long as they just play solid and don't give up too many big plays for TDs I'll be happy. I just think the other levels of the D will handle most of what needs to be done. As the season progresses I think we will have a decent run defense but will struggle with the elite passing attacks. That means GB, Detroit, Saints, and Patriots are going to be tough games and we're going to need outstanding pass rush to compete. I'm just expecting us to be average and average in scoring defense means we'll give up 24pts and ~350 yds per game. There is nothing great there but enough that should allow a good offense to win the game for us. Are we that worried about Gino Smith and the Jets that we can't attain that? Panther's WRs? Dolphins? Who is catching the ball for the Vikings? Who is throwing it? Buffalo? Stop Spiller and you stop them. I think we'll have 4 sacks in this game, maybe more, mostly because EJ Manuel looks completely lost reading the defense and he has nothing to prepare for against our team. Take away his first read and he wants to run. There's a reason they spent so much going after Kyle Orton. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...55-84fbbba529e3 "I think (EJ has) shown to have good mobility and be able to run at times," Marrone said. "He can throw with consistency at times, that's one of the things he has to do a good job of. But he'll have a great challenge going against Chicago." BEAR DOWN!

I'm a bit surprised they went after Hayden over Britton. Seems to indicate Hurst made the roster moreso for special teams play than CB play.

There has been a lot of chatter about Emery's first draft class and rightly so with only Jeffrey panning out so far. Since then he put together the front office the way he wanted it and at this point here is the result from the last two drafts: http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/wins-still...ears-foundation "On the other hand, all eight 2014 draft choices are among the 11 rookies placed on the 53-man roster. And all six of the 2013 selections were and still are on the roster."

According to Mark Potash via Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkPotash #Bears have waived long-snapper Brandon Hartson. Not a big surprise after Marc Trestman expressed dissatisfaction with Hartson vs. Browns. ReplyReplied to 0 times RetweetRetweeted 0 times FavoriteFavorited 0 times Issues in the last game explains why we waited for final cut downs to make that decision. Once you get to that point you might as well see all that is available before making a decision. Biggs is saying we are signing Cain to be the long snapper https://twitter.com/BradBiggs "I don't have anything official or confirmed, but two people I've spoken to hear #Bears signing Jeremy Cain as new long snapper. Stay tuned." 4 Hours Ago from Tw

Agreed.

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.