AZ54

Fitzgerald is a 4.6 guy and he's doing alright. Other big WRs run around 4.6 and do just fine if they know how to use their body to shield defenders and go up and get the ball. I watched one of his highlight videos and Floyd knows how to do just that. In his running ability he actually reminds me more of Anquan Boldin in his early years with Cardinals, not fast enough to run away from anyone but you better wrap him up when you tackle. His pass catching ability is better than Boldin, he makes better adjustments on deep passes. He definitely knows how to go after the ball and get it no matter what position the DB has on him. We could use that.

Like I said...Giants have had excellent Oline and Dline for years. Eagles claim to fame5-10 years ago...excellent Dline and their Oline was good (I wouldn't say excellent). The Bills, they just have exceptionally high draft picks year after year.

I prefer Cliff Avril over Mathis. He's younger (only 25) and faster and signing him takes pass rush ability away from a key division rival. Given the state of our Oline this is not a bad thing. Rumor is that Detroit is working on a deal with him but you never know.

Again, I don't see the logic in going all in on one player when we have so many holes. Add in a new GM who is going to be evaluated more on how the team performs in his 3rd and 4th seasons and it seems even less likely. Add in all the top tier FA WR available and it makes even less sense. This seems like more speculation than fact to me especially with no GM on board yet.

All of these articles only talk about the "hits" these candidates had. I want to see both sides of the story with hits and misses. There are however two things I know about the Giants that I really like....they have done well with both Oline and Dline for many years now. That has always kept them in the playoff hunt along with Eli being at QB. We have the QB now fix the lines and voila we should be consistently competitive. If Ross knows the formula for this success and can execute it on both lines hire him DURING the first interview.

Hell yes I enjoyed that game. The favorites to win it all, nearly a perfect season and then can't even win a single post season game against an opponent with a mere 9 wins in the regular season! The only thing missing was Madden explaining away the Packers turnovers. Absolutely I enjoyed reveling in their misery. GO BEARS!

No more one year stop gaps at WR....fix it for the long haul! We won't find a better year in terms of FA and draft talent so get it done right.

http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...lip=Y&rn=14

I'll take Avril, his 11 sacks look pretty good opposite Peppers. He has the kind of pure speed I'd like to have in at least one edge rusher, and really we'd have two with Peppers. He's not the complete answer at DE but his weaknesses should keep his price down while his strengths complement what we need. I can see Izzy and Avril splitting snaps with Avril out there on 3rd and long situations. Wootton sticks as our 4th DE. Aside from making us better signing Avril hurts a key division opponent. No to trading up for Blackmon. I love what he brings to the table but football is a team sport and you'd only make that trade if you felt Blackmon was the last piece needed to win a Superbowl. Ask Atlanta how well that works. In our case he's not and once again we have many missing pieces. On top of that there are too many good FA WRs out there so why sell the farm for a player when you can get similar production from a vet and add in the improvement from fixing OT, CB, LB, and even another WR.

Based on what? If that were true I think we'd have heard some rumors by now and if you have a link I'd like to see it. I don't see anyone trading for Manning given his injury plus contract status. They won't be able to examine Manning until a trade is completed. Now if Indy pays him the $28mil bonus and then trades him then perhaps teams will be interested. However, eating $28mil is not something I can envision any owner doing. I think Indy boxed themselves into a corner but at the end they decide to rebuild around Luck and Peyton will be the top FA this offseason. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/1493/peyton-manning According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Colts owner Jim Irsay "will never trade" Peyton Manning. Mort also reports both Irsay and Manning have emphatically denied discussing pushing back the March 8 due date for Manning's $28 million option bonus. The duo will "jointly determine" Manning's future, and the matter of Manning's potential release remains a "medical issue" for the time being. Our best guess remains that Manning will be released just before or on March 8. Jan 8 - 11:44 AM

I'm in agreement on this point but you have to also add that this draft is deep with WR talent so there's even less reason to trade that pick for a WR, proven or not.

I think if this were the Bears intent we'd have heard much more about it from the day JA was fired. Instead this feels more like a courtesy consideration being extended by the family run Bears organization. I don't mind that aspect but they made a decision to get away from the JA organization because it hasn't worked and they should stick to that goal.

On drafting LBs...even though it might have been unintentional that's one of the best backhanded slaps against JA's drafts I've ever seen. How many times did he fail to find decent mid-round talent at LB?

Thanks. I agree on Conte...I was very impressed with how well our deep coverage improved with him out there. When he went out with an injury it was night and day on the defense. Not saying he was playing at a Pro Bowl level, he didn't and he made his share of mistakes but it's the first time in a years I've seen a player back there that looked like he belonged. His speed was nice change compared to all the slower players we've had back there in the last decade. Consider that he had only played FS for one year in college and then the fact he had no offseason with the Bears and a shortened preseason to learn his new job and I think he did well. I have more concern with Major Wright, can he stay healthy and can he stop missing so many tackles but I do think we can win with both of these guys. We really need some speed off the edge at DE. Izzy isn't the answer although he's a solid player. If Wooten had his speed back then he's definitely not the answer. I have no idea how much his knee injury set him back but he was never known for his quickness. DTs should improve with Paea back of his knee injury and Melton in year 2 of being fulltime DT and having a full year to settle into that new playing weight. Unlike most LB is very high on my priority list. We made it through the season but we need to get some good young talent on board to get ready for the future without Briggs and Urlacher. Among JA's failure list was the fact he can't draft LBs.

We already know that Tice wants more chip blocking to assist the tackles: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8550 "You can’t pass the ball in this league unless the quarterback is protected, and you can’t protect unless you help the guys up front with chips, keeping tight ends in, play action, move the launch point, and move the quarterback. We’re going to do all of those things moving forward. We’ve done some of those things, but we’re going to make sure that our quarterback is protected so he can set his feet and throw the ball comfortably." What is interesting is the in the same interview (actually the same response) he makes it very clear we need a #1 target at WR: "With that said, if we’re going to be like that, we do need a [wide receiver] that when he gets one-on-one coverage he has to win way more than he loses." So there you have it: Within the same statement he makes no concession about needing to bring in new talent on the Oline but makes it clear he wants help at WR. I'm not saying this is definitive but it does indicate that perhaps he does have far more confidence in Webb than the members of this board, myself included. FWIW watching the Saints play the Lions it appeared they did a lot of what Tice wants to do and that was despite the fact they had 3 Pro Bowl players on their Oline.

Aside from a few star players Indy never had a really good defense, at best league average. That was never Polian's intent either. He always said with Peyton it was going to be about the offense. He screwed up by not having a decent #2 QB otherwise this wouldn't be a discussion. OTOH Peyton and his massive contract don't leave much room for signing a good backup unless you take the cash away from another position. He put all the dollars into one basket so to speak but it has worked for over a decade so overall pretty successful strategy.

As it worked in AZ (and got them to a Superbowl)....run game coordinator helps put together the package of running plays that will work against a given defense, make recommendations about what will work best. Passing game coordinator does the same for pass plays. OC meets with his staff early in the week to build the package of plays they plan to use during the upcoming game. OC calls plays during the game based off that week's cheat sheet. The OC isn't going to hire a guy who doesn't agree with him philosophically, or at least he shouldn't. I see nothing wrong with this and in fact Tice more or less played the run game coordinator for Martz and it worked out well. If a coordinator has a guy on his staff who has expertise in a particular area like the passing game, why shouldn't that OC leverage that knowledge and use it to build his game plan?

I prefer VJack over Bowe...more speed to stretch the field.

I don't think forcing Lovie for a year on the new GM is all that bad. For one it gives him time to come in and evaluate the coaches and if he makes a decision next year to move on then he's got another year to get his players (from first offseason) and his new coach successful. I understand the point about drafting for scheme but regardless the first year of the new GMs tenure the vast majority of talent on the roster will remain setup for Lovie's scheme. The offense, as long as you find a GM who likes to have a power running game then we're built for that now up front. Forte fits in regardless, as does Cutler. It all comes back to the D which is going to get a major overhaul in 2-3 years.

As much as I want help at WR I'd rather fix that position via FA. Our D is getting old we are in a very short window to win the Superbowl with that group. A vet WR is more likely to make a significant contribution than any rookie. OTOH recent history shows 1st Rd LT often come in and play well from the beginning. Even with our current WR group, Cutler has shown he can get a lot of yards out of them so adding a solid vet FA should be enough. What's most important is keeping Cutler healthy.

I like how Bell runs but he had two fumbles, one at a very critical scoring opportunity. If the rest of the team hadn't played so poorly that would be a major topic of discussion. He carries the ball away from his body while running through traffic. Once teams get tape on that the ball will be on the ground all the time. If he hasn't figured out how to stop doing that by now I'm not sure he will ever get it and there's no way I'd count on him to be a steady contributor until he fixes it. I'm sure the coaches will be all over it so we'll see what happens in the next game.

So did everyone else. Now his reality sets in.

I think this was the plan all along when they refused to let him interview for a promotion this past offseason. Lovie has always welcomed his assistant coaches pursuing promotions (as long as they don't stop game planning for a Superbowl) but Tice was quickly locked down with a raise and another year added to his contract while Martz was not.

The fact he's beginning any kind of therapy in just a few days is a great sign. Throwing in three weeks? Even better.

Welcome back to Josh Moore. Hope he spent his time off in the weight room.