AZ54

I doubt we'd go with 7 WRs because of special teams. It seems the Bears like to have a bigger guy (LB type) as one of their special teams aces. Thomas' best value on special teams is as a coverage man. There's no way a guy like this UDFA WR keeps up with his speed as a gunner so that definitely helps Thomas.

Teams can be easy to game plan for that doesn't mean your talent on defense can match up. Line up Bowman on the goal line against any Packers WR with Rodgers throwing to him and we'll lose every time even though every single fan on this board knows the game plan is the quick inside slant, or if the WR lines up outside it'll be the back shoulder throw. I give Lovie credit because he knows how to hold their offense in check although at times it is obvious players' execution isn't always good (ref. Zach Bowman, Major Wright missing tackles). Each time we've played them the last few years I thinking we're going to get blown out by halftime and we don't. That is despite having a pathetic offense that routinely went 3 and out so the defense wasn't getting much rest in those games. So giving up 22pts average given our offense's minuscule output is pretty good IMO. Clearly we don't have enough talent on D to keep them at 17pts or below consistently. Now we've added more speed off the edge to our pass rush and hopefully Melton will be more consistent in pressure up the middle. I don't think we've made enough of an improvement in our secondary to really take advantage of any improvement in the Dline forcing quicker throws. Have we made enough of an improvement on offense to outscore them? I don't know, they now have two good pass rushers coming off the edge.

There is no problem at all giving this kid a tryout. Nobody has anointed him a starter much less a roster spot just because he is tall. No different than the OT UDFA we brought in. Despite the link there is nothing in that Bears site article that says Thomas has been making people notice him on the field. At the end of training camp I just want the best 5 or 6 WR on the team and I don't care about draft status or experience. If Thomas can't beat out a UDFA rookie from a small school then it wouldn't say much for him, but I think he'll have no trouble.

For years everyone said our WRs were bad, now we add a good talent in the draft and he won't be able to get on the field. I don't see it, and I don't see him hurting cohesion. I'm not expecting him to be a starter but I find it hard to believe he can't be a significant contributor with at least 500yds, maybe as high as 700yds, receiving this season.

You can't switch the argument or statement from one of the Packers offense being dominant to one of the Bears defense being dominant. to borrow a term another person likes to use on this board: Read the post and the original statement. I don't consider scoring 22pts per game a huge offensive success. Pointing out plays where their players dropped passes is like saying Webb is a great LT once he gets his feet set and his hands on his man. Or should I simply state that if Major Wright didn't complete whiff on a tackle then the Packers wouldn't have scored? If Bowman doesn't line up 5 yards off his man at the goal line than that quick slant pass couldn't have been completed in the last game? If 22pts per game is your standard of excellence for offense then you should be ecstatic over the results of last year's Bears: 17 Chicago Bears 16 22.1 353 (as in 22.1pts per game average) I don't really care about other teams, because again, the statement was that all teams have struggled against the Packers offense for several years yet we have matched up well prior to last year. I simply provided some facts to show that was not the case for all teams. Remove the absolute and we are in agreement, most teams have trouble matching up with Green Bay's offense. However, it can be done.

Is your point that Thomas has been impressive in OTAs? Everything in the summer is just a fluff piece. At least they covered some details on Summers background and I think as a UDFA he's a good prospect for us. He should have a good shot at making the practice squad and might be able to compete for the last WR slot. After years in the league Thomas' best attribute as a WR is his ability to cover kick returns. That's not exactly what we want out of a WR. I don't view him as a lock to make the roster, the same goes for Sanzenbacher. At least for once we are no longer debating who will line up as the #1 WR, and even positions 2-4 are clear although I expect those players will be shuffled around. Why don't you like adding Summers as a UDFA?

"I prefer a balanced attack, but don't kid yourself, it was FAR from easy to gameplan against the Packers. They've been tearing the entire league a new ass for more than a few years." Although last year last year they ran away with it especially the last game of the season but other than that one I don't agree with your statement. Maybe scoring 10pts is getting torn up in your opinion but it seems to me one team has been right there holding their offense in check. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bears–Packers_rivalry 2009 Sunday, September 13 Green Bay Packers 21–15 Chicago Bears 70,920 Green Bay 2009 Sunday, December 13 Green Bay Packers 21–14 Chicago Bears 62,214 Chicago [edit]2010s (Packers 4-1) Year Date Winner Result Loser Attendance Location 2010 Monday, September 27 Chicago Bears 20–17 Green Bay Packers 62,179 Chicago 2011 Sunday, January 2 Green Bay Packers 10–3 Chicago Bears 70,833 Green Bay 2011 Sunday, January 23* Green Bay Packers 21-14 Chicago Bears 64,912 Chicago 2011 Sunday, September 25 Green Bay Packers 27-17 Chicago Bears 62,339 Chicago 2011 Sunday, December 25 Green Bay Packers 35-21 Chicago Bears 70,093 Green Bay

WR Chris Summers, seems like a good prospect. Seems clear there is going to be some competition for the last WR spot among Thomas, Sanz, and Summers. They had good words for Sanzenbacher but there really hasn't been anything of note said about Thomas as a WR.

Hester best PR?

Never heard of the guy and he's not even good enough to make it to a training camp with 90 players on the roster yet he's better than Webb? Webb is not that bad and I am not being generous in my evaluation of Webb.

Davis is still a big "if" after all these years. Spaeth is not a dynamic player at all but he can usually block in line. His problem is blocking on the move, isn't that right Matt Forte? Kyle Adams is a total question mark at this time although he reportedly looked pretty good in the OTAs. I think we had to add a player to the mix and create some competition. Are we going to be upset if one of these four players gets cut given the level of competition? Davis has $2.7million in signing bonus so he's not going anywhere but who are the next two on the depth chart? May the best two men win a job. Or could we keep all four and cut Clutts? If you're going H-back you probably don't need a FB. http://www.csnchicago.com/football-chicago...?blockID=669942 UPDATE: According to ProFootballTalk, Davis will earn a $2.7 million signing bonus, a $700,000 base salary and a $100,000 workout bonus in 2012. In 2013, he'll earn a $2.4 million base salary with a $100,000 workout bonus. Davis will roughly earn $6 million for his two-year deal.

Even my daughter knew enough to ignore Joe Flacco when she met him last summer but the national media?

Here's a little more insight as to why Emery made these changes: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8849 “We want the senior scouts to be in roles where they can see the bigger picture and see more of the better players in the country,” Emery said. “We want them to cross-check the best players so they can have a better overall take on the ability level of the best players in the country.” With a larger staff, more scouts will have seen the top prospects heading into pre-draft meetings. “In the past with six area scouts often you would go into meetings with only one evaluation on a player,” Emery said. “Now with our increased staff and their roles, we’ll have three and possibly even four evaluations of a player. That will give us a better feel for the players and put us in a better position. “Having four in-house Scouting Assistants will also allow us to do a deeper dig on background for character and medical incidents and will allow us to be more accurate and complete with our information.”

That is a huge increase in the size of the scouting department. There was a lot of loyalty as well rewarding many long time Bears scouts.

All that money and he can't afford to call a taxi? Rent a limo for the night?

I don't think Emery disregards the floor at all and nothing he has said indicates that. It appears his window of acceptability on floor-to-ceiling is probably a bit wider than JAs was. However, as MadLith said, Emery targets football players. JA always seemed to be more concerned with the floor in his first round picks than he was with the ceiling. The confidence in making these risk decisions comes from your scouting and Emery is going to be very involved in how that is done as well as doing some scouting himself.

As evidenced by our recent draft we are no longer looking for players with the highest floor. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8845 “I want the players with the high ceilings, with the largest capacity for growth,” Emery said in King's Monday Morning Quarterback column. “And I believe every aspect of that player is on tape. You can see him, you can read him.” I think this showed in our draft: Trading up for Alshon Jeffrey, taking Brandon Hardin in Rd 3. I can't see JA ever making the trade to grab Jeffrey especially if he had already made a deal to acquire Brandon Marshall. JA would have sat and waited to see who fell to him. JA might have taken Hardin as he took risks at DB with guys like Danieal Manning but with JA change on taking injury risks his last couple seasons I don't know if he'd have made that pick in Rd 3.

I'm sure the Patriots are worried about the exact same thing as they have a history of letting good players leave when they wouldn't pay their contract demands including the current battle with Wes Welker. Miraculously they still have good vet FA willing to play there, often bargain prices, just for a shot to win a ring.

I view this more as do the Bears (or we) think Forte will be highly productive for 3 years? More realistically if I take Forte's side on a 4 or 5 year deal can we get three of the four years at a high level of productivity, assuming one of those seasons will be marred by injury. Forte's arguing he will be the Bears don't want that commitment. I understand Forte's demands but from a business standpoint and that of what helps us keep the best team on the field long term I side with the Bears. If Forte is unwilling to accept less guaranteed than his reported demand of $20mil then I'd do the back-to-back franchise tags (if he's healthy and performing) and then move on.

Speed in the NFL is not a huge factor. You have to have it to compete in on the field but there are so many fast players in the league it doesn't guarantee success. If things go well it seems a player will get just a few chances to showcase their speed on a play. Then there's the whole team aspect of the game. How far from his coverage will Hester get before some DE runs past Webb into Cutler? That's where coaching and play calling comes into play....they have to scheme correctly to get more opportunities for players to use their abilities.

I never viewed Wootton as the type of quick twitch player we need at DE. He seems to fit more of a two gap style defense. I'd love to see him have a good year but I don't have high hopes. Izzy isn't either so I think the best we could expect is for Wootton to display enough to look like a solid 3rd DE for our roster and end up as a replacement for Izzy.

Bears concerned how 28-year-old running back's knees will hold up. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,4014548.column I think this sums it up for the Bears. Why is this out now? Bears releasing information to soften Forte's stance? Or is this Haugh doing some research on his own to find out why the two sides are so far apart and have remained that way through two GMs?

Don't get me wrong, I like having Hester and too agree that he should be able to thrive better now with two serious threats on the outside. Teams will have to respect the fact that Jeffrey and Marshall can break one tackle and then they are gone. It's not necessarily their speed that causes defenses to align differently. That should open things up inside for Hester, or even make it easier to work underneath outside routes. IMO this just means Hester will be more effective for us on a per snap basis, not necessarily that he'll be the focal point of the offense. I am not surprised at the fact Hester is having a great camp. He's a workout warrior and the last couple years has found the right balance in strength vs speed/quickness. The fact he's making plays all over the field is not only good sign how hell be as a receiver but also for his punt returns. I also have to think some of the reason for this is Tice scaling back what he has to do. Over the years we've said we'll have Hester line up all over the field, now is it just scaled back so he has 10-15 things to focus on and do well? It's not just for Hester either, several offensive players have already spoken up about how things were simplified and it will be easier to play faster.

Hester having the best camp. Marshall is learning a new offense. Jeffrey (who I think some are anointing to a starting role bit too quickly) is trying to figure out why there are so many pages in the playbook. Weems is a KR. The dude from NY hasn't been much of a WR either in his career and both of these special teamers are learning a new offense. That means Hester in the first 2 (yes 2) practices is performing better than Mr. Utility Earl Bennett (and I like Earl a lot but that is what he is).

That generated a lot of excitement.