AZ54

Lutui is not mean but he is a scrapper in the trenches. I'll do a little homework on what he's up to this offseason via some family connections. Last offseason in his little contract dispute he didn't work out very hard and showed up out of shape. If he's in shape he's a decent player but some of those other FA OGs are better at pass protection IMO and therefore are better fits for our offense.

This is Martz' pick. He went up to the school to watch this guy workout. He'll be sticking around.

Bowers is believed to need microfracture surgery. To my knowledge no pro athlete has ever returned to perform close to the same level after that surgery. If his knee is already that bad it's a huge risk. Even if he ends up not needing the microfracture surgery the fact remains he has a serious knee issue.

Yeah, not sure what folks expect out of 4/5/6 rd picks. If they contribute, and those guys did for some time, then you got something. Every now and then you hope to really hit on one of them but that doesn't happen often for teams. As for Conte, I never expected us to take a FS. It's very clear he's going to be our FS from Angelo's comments. I can't say a thing about Conte's ability because I haven't even watched so much as a highlight tape. If the Bears are right about his ability that is just what we need going against teams like the Packers so if the kid can play it's a very good pick. Additionally, this means Major Wright just became our SS, and I like him there. Chris Harris became backup extraordinaire (again assuming Conte can play) and that's pretty good depth and finally some pretty good athletes at the position. Even if it takes Conte a season to get the position down he's already better depth than we've had at FS since JA has been here...mostly because our FS depth has been horrible. Lot's of what-ifs but just like when we drafted Hester I'll wait and see what happens.

Always gotta have a WTF moment when the Bears draft.

Most importantly he can always get some push up the middle and yes, I agree, Peppers should love this pick. Give Marinelli some time to work with him on his hands and how best to use that strength. Plus as mentioned he's a high character guy with non-stop motor. There is one thing he might be a huge plus for us is defending 3rd and short. We haven't had a DT that could really anchor in those situations now we do.

I agree because if he's there when the Bears pick he's ours.

Yep. He may not be an elite LT but he's better at that spot than anyone else we have on the roster. Plus moving him requires moving JWebb to LT and/or Williams back there again. I suppose in an ideal world Williams would finally have his act together and be ready to hold the LT spot and we could put Carimi at RT. Kick JWebb inside and have Omiyale as backup OT. Grab a OG to fill in the LG spot and voila we have a new Oline. If we had JWebb next to Carimi on the right side that would be some serious muscle on the right side of the line. Hard to have confidence that will work out.

The Jets have financial issues and they can't keep all their WRs. Holmes would be a good fit on our offense even if he drops some easy passes.

No because no deal was done. The Ravens still had their pick although they put it in late and the Bears still had to pick at 29. If the league opens the door on this one you will see all sorts of issues where one team says another was going to trade and didn't complete the paperwork correcctly, or in time, and now we want their draft pick. How do you stop it?

It's a QB driven league...period. Don't protect your QB and it doesn't matter if he's Tom Brady or Peyton Manning they won't get the job done even if they have Pro Bowl players like Reggie Wayne to throw to.

I think he starts at LT. I can't really see moving JWebb over to the left side and I don't think Chris Williams is better at LT than Carimi. I prefer JWebb's size at RT over Chris Williams. I think the best bet is to leave Williams at LG and let him develop there. Draft a rookie to challenge for the RG spot. That should leave us with Omiyale as our backup OT, plus we'd have Williams available in an emergency. Assuming Webb improves in his second season that's pretty good depth at OT. The big question is if the Bears really think Edwin Williams can be a starter at C. If not, then we're going after a starting center in this draft moreso than an OG. I hope that's not the case and we can focus on OG.

Didn't realize Tice's son played up there with Carimi. Tice should have known everything you'd ever want to know about this guy before drafting him. If in fact the Bears were trying to trade up to get him, when you know that's not our style, it says a lot about how strongly they felt about him. I think we just drafted our next leader of the Oline (down the road of course). Not only should Cutler be happy so should Matt Forte. Now find a big RG to line up next to Carimi and the road to the playoffs will be paved.

Perfect fit both need and talent. Great pick.

We'll see what Fairley's work ethic is once he gets his big check. I'm always leary of one year wonders.

This would be all fine if the union wasn't still acting as a union. In that case we'd go back to the old days of each team fends for itself financially, as does each player. However, I don't believe the union wants that and would work very quickly to stop that if things started heading in that direction. It would mean a lot less benefits for players, both active and retired. When the union fires DeMaurice Smith and player reps quit acting and talking like player reps (player reps don't exist when you don't have a union) then I'll believe the union is serious about their actions. Otherwise it's just a scam to get owners to pay them during the offseason. I don't really care that the players don't like the offer from the owners, that's their decision. I just don't like this tactic. If the situation were reversed: The players went on strike and then the owners disbanded as a league it would be viewed as union busting especially once they formed a new league. At least the owners admit they want to continue with the similar setup of collective bargaining. I don't really know what the players want anymore but perhaps they should get their wish and see the anti-trust exemption removed and the league disbanded.

Either there is a union or there isn't a union. IMO because the players decided to go this route in court there is no union and therefore nobody to negotiate with except each individual player and his agent.

Hard to say what is a good offer when there's a reasonable chance these guys won't even work this year. If that were to happen or even a partial season there's no telling what happens to ticket revenues. We've seen this before in plenty of other sports to know that fallout from a prolonged lockout/strike (either) is not well received by fans. Anyway, it's early on in the negotiation process and these were likely just feeler offer the Bears put forth to get a idea what the other side is looking for. It always gets blown out of proportion, and it's done by those who want the negative publicity against the owners.

I can't understand the judge's logic. There is harm to the players but no harm to the owners in terms of loss of revenue and profits? It's ok for a union to strike and the players in essence can collectively bargain when they so choose, and disband whenever they feel it's beneficial, but the owners side can't collectively act on their behalf the same way with a lockout?

Sounds like business as usual to me.

I was mocking the fact you aren't sure King's opinion is worth much, it's not. I value your opinion far more than King's. I like what Don Pompei is reporting (link below) about the rush for QBs late in Rd 1 and that it could mean a good Oline prospect falls to the Bears. I can see that happening because there are so many teams in the top 15 of the draft that really need a good QB prospect but with Newton and Gabbert the only players worthy of top 10 picks (even that is debatable) teams will pass on them early to grab a better talent and then the hunt is on to grab the best of the second tier QBs. Knowing this the Bears should not commit to a trade down early, and JA admitted this is what appears to be happening. They must wait and see who falls to them before making any decision. JA seems to agree with this strategy but you know he gets antsy on draft day until he gets his trade-down completed. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,4698802.column

You're not sure? Really?

Yes, we all know the players are making a half-assed attempt to upstage the NFL Draft presentation. If the owners are trying to sabotage that event they are just as wrong as the players are. I'm ok if they publicly state they would like the players to attend the draft but going behind the scenes to influence agents makes no sense. Why would you want to do that anyway via the agents? Do I trust anonymous agents with these accusations? Not really. They might be just currying favor with some of their clients and / or future clients by way of saying they are supporting the union. For all I know this is nothing more than team reps expressing their personal feelings that the players should attend the draft if invited. I'll wait for more details on this one.

I agree the need is greater on Oline since we must protect our QB. However, you have to play the hand you are dealt and if there is a big run on Oline early in the first round then we have to be smart and take the better talent that still fits a big need. You know the second tier guys are more likely to be there later because many teams would have addressed their Oline needs early. I still think we'll be able to get either a good Oline or DT prospect with our first pick but that we should lock into one or the other because there is secondary talent that isn't that big of a dropoff at both positions.

Chose Dareus because he fits the biggest need with the top 5 talent. With a great Dline you average corners can play well and we'd have Peppers and Dareus. That's why Green would be my second choice but I just don't see him contributing as much to our Wins next year as Dareus would.