AZ54

I voted for Colston, not because he's my first choice but rather because I think he's the choice that makes the most sense in terms of 1) likely to be a FA 2) Salary. I think Bowe and VJack will command a higher salary by quite a bit and while I'd rather have either before Colston I don't think we lose a lot by going after Colston. He's a big target who has proven he can go up and get the ball in traffic, something we need. The more I look at it the talent at WR in the draft doesn't seem to drop off a lot going into the second round. Add in a good WR in either the first or second rd of the draft and a use the change leftover from Colston's lower contract to sign a second tier FA WR and we have a significant upgrade in the WR corps.

If he was cut by the Bucs this early in the process that tells you all you need to know. Haynesworth got his big payday from the Redskins and from that point on he has checked out.

In a copy cat league don't be surprised to see a team take him in Rd 2 thinking he can be a TE similar to what the Patriots have with Hernandez, or even Gronkowski.

No to Roy Williams. For all his experience he didn't add up to much more than what Sanzenbacher added to the team. In other words we can find his replacement with potential upside very late in the draft. Williams is all downside from here on out. We've got Earl and I like him a lot. He's not a #1 but he is the type of chain mover you must have on the roster. Hester is ok as a #3 or #4. We need to fill in the #1 WR role period.

I call it a guy doing his job and getting us some much needed Oline depth. Yes, we put Garza at C but it wasn't clear going into training camp how well he would handle that, nor was it clear how well Lance Louis would play. We needed another interior lineman and he went and got one. There were short deadlines and Kreutz knew that. He also had more than one hour, he had several days to make his decision. At the end, JA said look it's our final offer make a choice within the hour so we can move on. JA had to sign someone and the pickings were getting slim while we waited on Kreutz.

Had Brady been wearing #6 and a Bears uniform the media would be blasting him for his critical mistakes in the game that cost his team the victory. That was against a Giants team that couldn't get any consistent pass rush. Brady often had 4-5 seconds to throw. That included his first play when he intentionallly grounded the ball when he could have just escaped the pocket and threw it out of bounds. His INT was way underthrown and gave the Giants some momentum back. His pass to a wide open Welker late in the game was horribly behind and above him, nothing at all like what you'd expect from the so-called greatest QB ever. Eli on the other hand threw many passes into such tight windows I was amazed throughout the game, including the late pass to Manningham. To be fair late in the game Eli had several short passes the fell 5 yards in front of his WRs. It's all good, Tom's wife came to his defense and blamed the WRs who had 4 drops. Cutler had to smile when he heard that one and was likely thinking "and only 4 drops".

I am still ok with Hester as one of our WRs, just prefer to use him where we can take advantage of his YAC potential instead of how Martz and "he's my #1 WR" Lovie used him.

Vengeance? We needed some depth on the Oline and Kreutz refused $4mil. The he went off and quit in the middle of the season on the Saints. If that was a vengeance signing I only wish JA had wanted more vengeance.

Ocho cinco is horrible, we don't need that.

I didn't say Adams isn't a better talent than Webb. The first round pick is about getting a future Pro Bowl player, ideally at a position of need, and as it appears right now Floyd has a much better chance of doing that than Adams, especially when considering our need is at LT not RT. Some paraphrased comments I've seen from our new GM: It's a big mans game. Wants playmakers, guys who dominate their opponent. Focus on football smarts not just smart players. I don't see him using the old floor vs. ceiling analogy JA followed. JA seemed to be more concerned with the floor than the ceiling anyway, or at least he was better at finding the floor players. Emery has stated playmakers multiple times in several interviews and players who can dominate their opponent. It's too early to tell but it sounds like we're headed into more of a smash mouth style team.

No big hits in terms of Pro Bowl players but he did demontrate the ability to find solid players in the later rounds of the draft.

And your data to prove your position? From what I've read on this guy, one sample below, where do you see dominate LT? http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1620008 Pass blocking: Tall, long, athletic pass protector. Generally gets out of three-point stance with good knee bend and a wide base. Improving his ability to use his hands to redirect rushers and late blitzers away from the pocket. Power rushers lose most battles, good anchor in close quarters, will reset hands and move feet to sustain. Stops his feet after initial contact at times, relying on length but allowing defender to get the corner or spin inside. Run blocking: Solid positional run blocker who flashes some nastiness. Attacks his man when necessary, though he won't consistently dominate him and will lose his balance by overextending. Quick feet, can get inside of tackle to wall off inside and reach linebackers at the second level adeptly. Nice punch which he uses to knock down smaller defenders with one extension. Height a detriment in short-yardage plays, defender can get under his pads to hold the line. Flashes the ability to move his man with his hands, but is not yet consistent in this area.

Adams isn't that great of a talent and is more projected as a RT so with the team as it is right now I'm taking Floyd. Having him on the roster finally adds a consistent 3-step drop threat to the team and that alone negates a fair amount of pass rush. He also give Jay a guy he can throw open. Add in his help as a red zone target and I think the impact is greater. Now if one of the top 3 OT prospects are on the board then I'm taking one of them over Floyd.

You wouldn't want to trade for a guy who actively recruits players that could make his team better? Marshall is under contract, is he supposed to throw another fit and demand a trade? If he did how would that make him a better player and teammate for the Bears?

It seems there are a few others besides me who felt he played well. Admittedly there wasn't a lot of competition coming out of last years draft but nonetheless there were far lower expectations of Conte in just his second year at FS and first year in the NFL. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8589

I never felt Tice was interested in the Oakland job. Both he and the Bears were very low key after it was announced he was on their list of candidates. I also felt the process of sorting through 10 candidates is too time consuming and doesn't bode well for any involved. The Raiders went after McKenzie pretty aggresively you would think he'd have had a good idea who he wanted to be his head coach. Anyway, it's best for us and now we can move forward and fill our openings.

I've been watching Burfict since he started as a true freshman. He was a very physically player and I thought he'd really improve over the next couple years. He knows how to hit but he is not a very instinctive player. He has good speed but I don't think he has the kind of speed Lovie wants, and needs, in his D. I could be wrong so I'm very curious to see what his combine numbers are. I have doubts about his pass coverage skills too. The biggest risk with him though is his lack of discipline. He gets a lot of penalties and often hurts his team by keeping opponent's drive's alive. He'd make our LB corps better but I don't want him with our first pick. If he's there in Rd 2 then maybe depending on how he performs at the combine. In general I see him as more of an ILB on a 3-4 defense.

I'm good with Floyd at #19 but if he's gone, and the top 3 OTs are gone, and DeCastro is there I think we have to take him. From everything I've read and heard about him it seems like he'll end up a perennial Pro Bowl player. When you have a chance to get a guy like that on your roster, even if it's not your top need, I think you have to do it. With him at LG we'd be strong on the Oline from LG to RT. (Yes, I like Lance Louis at RG) With one weakness (LT) it's easy to scheme and help that side out from either RB or TE. Plus Cutler is pretty good rolling out to his right side. In terms of the running game I think we'd be hard to stop and that also helps out the pass blocking.

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.