AZ54

Me too and I'm happy he's back to his workout warrior ways.

I don't think Hillenmeyer goes anywhere. We have often kept a special teams ace and last year it ended up being Casey Shaw but in other years it was McClover or Ayanbadejo. This year Shaw is in the mix at backup LB with Jamar Williams gone. I don't think the Bears had anything to lose by bringing in Iwuh especially after all the LB injuries we had last year.

Pass, one he's hurt all the time and it's too risky for him to play. Two he hasn't done anything in two years and it's tough to come back from that at any age let alone his.

This is the right call. I've always liked Tillman, especially his toughness, which he isn't often given credit for. He was never the quickest DB and that showed last year. Hopefully he has more of a full offseason of workouts as opposed the limitations he had last and that will help but regardless he won't be nearly as athletic as Bowman.

Not even questioning if Knox is ripped and said as much last year when I saw the video of him dunking a basketball. I just hoped he'd appear to be a bit bigger as it looks like his frame could handle a few more pounds to help him get off press coverage without losing any quickness. It's just a couple photos of him catching passes so it's hard to tell we'll see what folks say during training camp.

My impressions from photos and videos (yeah it's the offseason and I'm bored): It's only two plays but from the Trib video I was surprised at the quick cadence of the offense in the first day of minicamp. I didn't expect to see the coaches push that sense of urgency so early on but I like it and the reporters seemed to confirm that it was that way throughout the practices. Forte has more quickness than I saw last year. Reporters commented on this and in the video on the Bears' site he looks quick and fluid moving through the D. Just minicamp so defenders can't hit but it still shows on his pass routes when DBs try to cover him. Mark Anderson looks like he's had another good offseason working out and appears to be bulked up a bit and stronger. I felt last offseason was the first time I'd seen him look like he had worked out hard and in general he played better than in '08. I hope that's true again this year. Maybe we'll finally see the player we thought we'd get after his rookie season. Johnny Knox doesn't appear to have bulked up much if at all. I was hoping to see him add 10lbs. Urlacher looks like to be in good shape too possibly a bit leaner than last year, same goes for Cutler.

I agree, leave him at NB and KR and he'll be happy and we'll be happy.

I sense a lot of excitement.

Url needs to man-up. Sayers has a right to his opinion and if Urlacher disagrees how about using some on-the-field performance or data to back up your disagreement. As Url said, it hurts getting criticized from a Bear insider. Yeah, well it hurts watching a defense give up TD after TD to the Vikings.

Yes, and you got that breaking news a month ago on this board courtesy of your Arizona Bears fans. Anyway I this is the dead part of the offseason where journalists are paid to talk about news even when they have none, so they grab an old item and recycle it. I agree with his assessment that the Cards will hold on for awhile to see if a decent bid comes in but I don't think they'll get much interest as most teams play the waiting game to evaluate their talent and also to see if Deuce gets cut. For the record I don't think Deuce is a great fit for what we need with Martz but he could provide some solid depth for us and/or be a starter.

Hell yes. I'm already nervous as it is about the Oline and if Shaffer isn't in the competition at RT then we do have a problem. Tice has film on Shaffer from last year and Omiyale from a couple years ago. Maybe they just want Omiyale to get more reps in the minicamps at RT so he gets back in his comfort zone. Then we open up the RT competition in training camp. Meanwhile Shaffer gets some minicamp reps at LG to see if he can fit in there for a backup role. If Shaffer is better there than Beekman and IF Omiyale is solid at RT you put your best 5 on the field. Given what we went through last year I'll take any improvement and I don't care where (or who) it comes from.

I've always felt in sports the guy who knows where he is going has the advantage on a slippery surface. If the field is slippery I'd rather be the WR than the DB who has to follow him as he cuts. The key in all this for a timing offense (for lack of better term) is the consistency of the WRs, formations, down/distance to disguise what they are going to do. Get predictable for any one reason and you have problems.

I don't know that we can go back in history and say this situation is due to the same leadership. We have Tice and Martz making these statements, and really I think it's all Tice at this point as far as the Oline. Yes, we do know Lovie supports and and all player rotations instead of focusing on one role but quite honestly I expected Tice to be different in this aspect. As always I'll wait to evaluate the results. 1) It could be this is a smokescreen to push Beekman to be better since he really has no competition. 2) There is another side to this too that just came to mind: The Trib reported today that we are likely to carry more than 4 WR on the active roster. That means some other position has to give up a roster spot on game days. Could it be the coaches want that spot to come from the Oline and thus they are asking Shaffer to get some practice at OG even though the reality is he might just be the emergency backup on gameday? Meanwhile they throw him a bone about possibly being the starter there if he's better than Beekman and conversely Beekman gets some competition. He could fill that role regardless of being the starting RT or backup. In this case Tice is saying that Omiyale is NOT an OG and he doesn't want him there even in a backup role. If this is the logic then I say Tice and Martz and doing what they'd be doing anyway but also finding a way to setup a competition at LG...nothing wrong with that IMO.

One thing about Cutler is he has outstanding arm strength. That means he can wait longer to throw than the average QB in this offense. It should help in the early games as players work to get on the same page but we still have to expect some INTs.

I totally agree there are different levels of athleticism and Iglesias is not at the top among our WRs. However, when I said talent I was trying to consider all the aspects of being a WR. Certainly Knox, Bennett, DA have a leg up on Iglesias in terms of playing time last year but as compared to Knox or DA I think Iglesias is a more polished WR with more reliable hands. It seems it was preordained that we wouldn't see Iglesias much last year as he was forced to do what Bennett did while Knox was given a very limited route package. As you said, Iglesias is a better route runner than Knox and DA and given the need to learn a new offense and Martz' demand for the WR to be in the right spot all the time I can't rule out Iglesias winning a job. Would Martz prefer the more athletic guys win the starting job? Absolutely. Did Knox struggle on routes and timing last year? Often but he got better later in the year. While he might not be the favored horse in this race our other WRs are not proven enough to rule Iglesias out of the competition. I prefer Iglesias' quickness and YAC ability over what Bennett brings to the field. Bennett is a good reliable WR, the kind of player you love to have fill out your roster behind the top talent, he's just not a difference maker and I believe you have to have some difference makers on the field to win.

Hmmm....Jerry vs. Jerry the draft skill battle brews.

We know Martz really likes Knox's athleticism but who starts is going to depend on who learns to run the routes the right way. It's quite possible our starting receiving corps changes during the course of the season. I think Hester is a given for the slot role. On the outside it could be DA, Knox, Bennett but if any one of those three struggles learning the offense it will open the door for Iglesias. While the first three all have some experience over Iglesias I am not sure they are that much more talented that they deserve the starting role over him. I am leaving Rashied Davis out of the discussion on purpose.

That's exactly what I was thinking...he just won't get enough carries to hit 1000 yards rushing. You just did a great job putting together the numbers to back up my gut feeling. What I like best about our RB tandem is that both are good catching the ball out of the backfield as they are running. It will help with the variety in play calling from the same formation regardless of personnel.

We still have beer!

I don't see Forte hitting 1000 yards rushing but he will have well over 1000 combine rushing/receiving.

Maybe it was predictable it's just that Forte was a better player his first year. He certainly was in better shape his rookie year.

Not served yet, more appeals coming.

Tice says he likes our guys and does not want a veteran on the Oline to compete. Then today it comes out that he says the LG spot is wide open and anybody can win it ("you, me, anybody"). I appreciate his honesty about the position being open but if it's that wide open you'd think he'd be interested in bringing in someone else to compete. He makes no hesitation at all about putting Omiyale at OT versus OG. Just another in a long line of bad decisions by our previous Oline coach/OC/HC/GM/somebody.

I admit to being very surprised by Tice's comments. At the very least I think he'd just state that it's all an open competition and use the standard Lovie line saying "we're always looking to make our team better." But he didn't.

Interesting discussion considering how far Dez Bryant fell because of his heart condition.