AZ54

I agree on him having a good career, he's an instinctive player but just doesn't appear he'll be able to perform well in pass coverage at the pro level. Folks were talking about him as a good 2-down LB and you don't grab one of them in top 20.

I found one mock that had us trading back a few spots with the Colts and taking Arthur Brown. Nothing was said on what we'd get but if it got us a 3rd I'd be happy although I think we'd be tossing in something else to close the deal. Brown in Rd 1 seems like a reach. Bring back Url for a year, put this kid with his speed and playmaking ability outside him at SLB for a year to learn and Briggs on the other side and we'd have a pretty good LB corps, and our future MLB. Use next two picks on Oline and TE. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...84/arthur-brown The DBs are coming up at the combine and that will usually shake things up in the top 20. Hopefully enough to push some of the Oline down to us.

I think that threat is over-rated these days based on his past performance. If I had to choose between Welker and Finley I'd take neither. If we need one of these positions bad enough to spend that much money then filling either position via the draft with a younger more athletic player is the better option.

I may have only seen 8 quarters of ND football across a few games all season long (I made it through two in the championship game) but the 4.8 forty validates what I saw out of Te'o. He never had a play that made me say sit up and wonder who that was. In fact, if the damn media wasn't slobbering all over him before and after games I'd never have singled him out in any game.

You don't have any concerns about Albert's back issues?

I've seen several comments about how good a group (for receiving) the TEs looked. It appears we'll have more good options outside of the first round. http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFP-br...ys-workout.html

Likewise you are assuming they couldn't have learned the protections in the preseason. This isn't rocket science and six weeks seems like plenty of time for professionals to learn something like a protection scheme. I suppose they could "learn" schemes while blocking nothing but air in the spring but it's hard to see how effective that is. I also don't see how a protection scheme had anything to do with Spencer getting blown backwards so quickly on both running and passing downs. Or Carimi getting pushed backwards all season long in pass protection. If anything it's a further indictment of Tice's inability to get his players to learn the fundamentals in blocking. He got fired for that, as he should have.

After watching him catch the ball on that drill where they run across the field catching passes from the left/right alternately I'd say yes. It wasn't his pass catching that caught my eye, he isn't what I'd call a natural receiver with his hands, using his body quite a bit, and IMO that's a bit of a problem for a guy who isn't that big. Of course catching him will be the problem. It was his cut at the end of the drill, one foot planted and he was gone upfield at full speed. Second half of the first round seems reasonable. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000014...-learned-sunday

Yes he is: Cliff Stein VP of Football Admin/General Counsel

More smoke than fire here. The line had a lack of talent. People want the coach to focus on protection schemes in spring training when in fact he should have done just what he did...focus on learning and improving the fundamentals.

Too much money which is why we will only kick the tires.

Half the league has cap problems the other half doesn't. Which is why I said a bad team with lots of cap space would do this. There are always bad teams that overpay to bring in a big name player who is that end of his career to help sell tickets. Having lived through many years in the heart of AZ Cardinals territory I've seen it here with Emmitt Smith and Edgerrin James. Hester is not a bad PR/KR, he's just not as great as he was. Could even be a team that is middle of the pack like the Bears but has cap space yet prefers to trade the late pick for a proven returner versus drafting a rookie. Someone will bite for a late round pick.

Bears might have to take a wait and match the other offers approach to this.

The boss said it and he has to "compete" for the job: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...r-returner.html Along with this statement Emery also said losing Knox means we have a void in need of a speed WR. Pretty clear that isn't you Hester. Looks like trade bait for a late rd pick...where a team would be drafting a PR/KR anyway. A bad team with cap space that needs a big name to help sell tickets would fit the bill nicely.

The problem is unless you make a trade way before the draft you can't take advantage of that extra money early in FA.

I'll agree Saints pass protection always looked good but guys did get around the edges. They didn't get up the middle. I still think the organization goes inside to fix our line and Webb, with a better Oline coach and scheme to help him may still be our LT. If Cutler can step up, and he has that vision, those misses won't be as bad. Trying to read the tea leaves here it seem we're done with Spencer and EWilliams. Carimi being talked about as potential OG, team wants to keep Scott. Louis unsigned but I think that deal gets done. Cooper makes a ton of sense at 20, smart, athletic and can play OG or C. Wildcard here, and nobody has talked about him yet (at least not that I've seen) is James Brown. Is he OG or OT? Or is he off the team? I still believe there is a FA Oline headed our way soon just not likely the big name LT we'd like to see due to budget constraints. I'll guess we add a FA OG to the mix but I'm still sticking with Cooper in Rd 1.

Don't see us cutting Mannelly. Saves a some cap but at what risk? Why mess with a solid FG and Punt unit when with our traditionally bad offense has to rely on them at all times? Of course I hope to see things get better on offense but I'm taking a wait and see approach.

Cut or restructure and I think there is some restructuring coming up with Tillman and perhaps Peppers.

Don't like the deal. We have a playoff ready D and we have a lot of playoff ready players on the offense. We need to try to get it all right in this offseason and make a run at the Superbowl. Dropping back especially with so little in return this year makes no sense to me. If our team were more playoff caliber ala NE which sometimes makes deals like this then maybe. We need a big hit at either Oline, TE, or LB in Rd 1 of this draft. I'd consider the idea of dropping back into early second Rd and adding a 3rd and a day 3 pick but depends on what we do with FA.

Kromer certainly will influence things just like he did coordinating the running game for the Saints. But again, he and Trestman have said they are building the offense from scratch based on what they feel will maximize our players' abilities. It's not even Trestman's offense. Cavanaugh is in on the discussions too. Like I said in an earlier post, usually coaches and/or coordinators arrive with their playbook in hand. I can't recall any Bears coaches building something from scratch like this. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...6b-360d7dbe1983 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The team's new offense will be a compilation of multiple systems that first-year head coach Marc Trestman and coordinator/line coach Aaron Kromer have operated the last several years. The new Bears offense that Jay Cutler will operate will be a hybrid of a couple different systems. The two coaches were assistants with the Raiders in 2002 when Oakland led the NFL in total offense and reached the Super Bowl, while Kromer spent the last five seasons with the Saints, coaching running backs in 2008 before working with the line/running game from 2009-12." "Marc and I have a history together back with the Oakland Raiders and we had a lot of success there and obviously the New Orleans offense has been very successful lately," Kromer said Thursday at Halas Hall. "It will be a combination of a lot of things, and you don't want an offense to get stagnant, so you are constantly researching and finding new things that you can add to your offense to make it better and more versatile." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We will have some things in our offense that New Orleans does but we might have some things that Trestman and Kromer did back when they were with the Raiders. Trestman may even toss in some of his CFL stuff too, which I read on. We know now that Forte is going to have a bigger role than he did last year. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,7967807.story

If Cooper is good enough to be mentioned as being worthy of the first pick overall then absolutely he should join the Bears with our 20th pick. I know most teams won't have their board setup like Mayock's but if Mayock is right on Cooper's talent then he should be top 10 on any board. Can't wait for the combine to put some of this speculation to rest.

If Te'o ran a 4.65 forty and if he was best available player on the board then yes I'd be happy with the pick. I think the first IF is a serious reach based on what I've seen from him. Plus from what little draft coverage I've read, most analysts expect his forty time to be in the 4.7 range. I think he's going to run closer to 4.75 and that doesn't fit with what I'd want out of a 1st Rd pick MLB. I think Te'o is a good fit for a 2-gap 4-3 scheme, much less so for our 1-gap scheme. Even if he's not going to make plays on the outside like we used to see Urlacher do in his prime, in a 2-gap scheme he can definitely find the RB and make the tackle at the LOS. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospec...rch?name=Te%27o NFLDraftScout.com Prospects Last Name: Or Search By: Yr: Pos: School: Prospect Search Results NAME COLLEGE POSITION YEAR HEIGHT WEIGHT FORTY POS. RANK Manti Te'o Notre Dame ILB 2013 6-2 255 4.75 2 Key: * = underclassmen

Where or who? I'm a fan of Ogletree but I don't view him as better than Urlacher right now. Who is on your list of better/cheaper list?

I agree, Rodriguez seems to fit the wish list there. Adding one more TE like that works for me. We're likely adding a FB too according to what I read so that means 3 TE should make the roster versus the 4 we had last year.

I have no problem with his proposed contract for Louis. A contract for 5 years but that low dollar amount means little upfront bonus and we can cut him after a couple years with negligible hit. If he improves in 2014 then we have a bargain. I just don't see much risk in a contract like that. I like the draft minus a safety in Rd 3 as I think Hardin can fill the backup role for us along with Steltz. I'd go anywhere else in the 3rd from LB (still need depth even with Skov pick), QB (need depth and being honest Cutler isn't a sure thing might as well gt some young talent in the system), CB (replace Tillman in a couple years or solid NB), more Oline, DT, TE. and, to placate BTwig, I'd even prefer a WR here.