AZ54

If Buffalo's defense is bad and they are trading their FS who hasn't lived up to expectations and this is a very weak draft for FS, exactly how bad is Ko Simpson?

Possibly, or he's doing the political thing and lowering expectations of the fans.

I don't see how his nightlife is a fiasco. I wish I had his nightlife and I have no problem with 20 somethings enjoying life. Just don't do stupid things like shooting yourself in the leg.

Dropping passes would be Moose-esque.

No way am I going to give you a Nfol argument, mine have to been less than 5000 words. I say he wouldn't make the same choice of Williams in the 1st Rd if he was able to do last years draft over again. I don't see where I said Chris Williams was a bad player just that he was flagged with an injury concern and we still selected him early and then paid for that mistake. That mistake alone might have kept us from making the playoffs last year because there were a couple rookie RTs who would have helped us much more than Tait did. I didn't say Harrison wasn't a good pick in Rd 3, just said he had injury concerns. I think we took him at the right spot. I feel the same with Bowman. Later rounds are where it's better to take a chance on a guy especially if you are not drafting a guy who has blue chip talent. Blue chip talent tends to make the decision much more difficult so those guys might only drop to late first round early second. DManning was drafted solely on his athleticism. He was a bad pick because he was chosen to be our starting FS and never panned out there. We spent 3 seasons moving him all over the place hoping he'd play well somewhere. Late last year he started to settle into the nickel position. That's a part time role but not what you typically expect out of a 2nd Rd pick. His KR ability was a nice bonus late last year but for a 2nd Rd pick he has not lived up to expectations yet. Bazuin. I don't think his skills ever fit our system so I agree, bad pick. I still think he'll end having a decent career in the right system if his knee recovers, similar to how Kyle Vandenbosch resurrected his career after he suffered a bad knee injury while with Cardinals. I think he's going to give more weight to injury history than he has in recent drafts and that may alter where we go in Rd 1/2. You think he's blowing smoke. I think he'll add more weight on the "football player" versus the athletic ability. In the end, he can't dismiss either category he'll just change the weighting system a bit and instead of Chris Williams we end up with Jeff Otah.

In reading today's articles about JA's interview it seems he's changing his strategy a bit from what he's done in years past. Recently we've taken players who fell a bit due to injury. Of course everyone knows what happened with Williams last year. In the past we've taken Bazuin who I believe had a bit of an injury pre-draft that was aggravated in camp. Of course we took Harrison in Rd 3 and Bowman in Rd 5 who both fell due to injury concerns. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/04/an...ss_2009_nf.html "Angelo on drafting players with medical concerns after the Chris Williams experience: JA: "Last year we made a conscious decision, we talked about it as an organization, we're going to be more disciplined in our approach to taking players with medical concerns. We hve to do a good job of being more disciplined because we have had some issues." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It appears this year he's going to give more credence to medical flags and push those guys lower on the board. Reading the tea leaves a bit I also think he's going back the film more to evaluate players versus the combine numbers: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JA: "It's a good nucleus of trait guys. I think it's a stronger group than in past years. You are really looking at the traits, the ceiling. If you're totally relying on the stop watch, that could be a misnomer. I only have to look at my bone collection to see that isn't an easy thing to do." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We only need to look at his boneyard of athletes in Mark Bradley (also fits injury category), Danieal Manning (you don't draft a nickel back in Rd 2), and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting to see that hasn't panned out very well. I'm not saying we won't take these type of players but it appears we're less likely to gamble early on them. I think that's a good thing. I have no problem taking a guy like Bowman in Rd 5. Just stay away from the Mark Bradley's in Rd 2.

In reading today's articles about JA's interview it seems he's changing his strategy a bit from what he's done in years past. Recently we've taken players who fell a bit due to injury. Of course everyone knows what happened with Williams last year. In the past we've taken Bazuin who I believe had a bit of an injury pre-draft that was aggravated in camp. Of course we took Harrison in Rd 3 and Bowman in Rd 5 who both fell due to injury concerns. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/04/an...ss_2009_nf.html "Angelo on drafting players with medical concerns after the Chris Williams experience: JA: "Last year we made a conscious decision, we talked about it as an organization, we're going to be more disciplined in our approach to taking players with medical concerns. We hve to do a good job of being more disciplined because we have had some issues." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It appears this year he's going to give more credence to medical flags and push those guys lower on the board. Reading the tea leaves a bit I also think he's going back the film more to evaluate players versus the combine numbers: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JA: "It's a good nucleus of trait guys. I think it's a stronger group than in past years. You are really looking at the traits, the ceiling. If you're totally relying on the stop watch, that could be a misnomer. I only have to look at my bone collection to see that isn't an easy thing to do." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We only need to look at his boneyard of athletes in Mark Bradley (also fits injury category), Danieal Manning (you don't draft a nickel back in Rd 2), and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting to see that hasn't panned out very well. I'm not saying we won't take these type of players but it appears we're less likely to gamble early on them. I think that's a good thing. I have no problem taking a guy like Bowman in Rd 5. Just stay away from the Mark Bradley's in Rd 2.

I'm not seeing much good in that story.

Seeing as JA loves to grab off the chart DBs here's a guy who might be on his radar if we don't go FS in Rd 2. I'm sure many would be thrilled to have another drafted player changing position if he comes to the Bears. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ati8...o&type=lgns FS DeAngelo Willingham, Tennessee (5-11, 217) No prospect in this year’s draft class has endured the type of roller-coaster ride that Willingham has been on since September. He started the year as a mid-round cornerback prospect and was ranked by Blesto and National scouting services as a top-20 senior corner. Willingham’s knack for the big play and timely hit early in the 2008 season got him flying up draft boards and moved him toward a possible first-day pick. However, after being abused by Alabama WR Julio Jones in late October, his stock began taking a significant dive toward the back end of the draft. He simply didn’t possess the footwork, balance or fluidity needed to play corner in the NFL, and his stock was affected by his weekly struggles. But during postseason workouts and the pro-day circuit, Willingham rebounded with an impressive showing, running a 4.46 40 and displaying good strength with 20 reps on the bench. Scouts started looking at his range, size and knack for the big hit as potential reasons to move him to free safety. In what’s considered a weak FS class, Willingham’s stock has once again seen a spike, and he is now projected to come off the board some time during the mid/late rounds.

I'll add this to my list of concerns about giving up draft picks for Boldin. I know the conversation died after we traded for Cutler but I still hope someone trades for him as it will make it more likely a WR we like falls to us. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rumors/post/Do...?urn=nfl,157402

Yesterday I scanned 10 different mock drafts from various sites and while it's not a scientific approach, in none of those drafts did RJ get chosen at or before #49. In some he got chosen as late at 77. I'm sure there are mocks out there showing him up there but on average it appears he's rated lower than that. At CBS sports he's rated the 80th best player in the draft. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospec...mp;start_row=51 While he could be our selection at #49 I don't perceive him as a value pick there.

I like the way Johnson plays centerfield but banking a guy who played safety last year at 185-190lbs doesn't seem like a long term solution to me. Typically smaller guys like this drop a bit relative to their numbers although some might say he is by ending up in the 2nd Rd. I won't be upset at all if we take him, we've needed a true ball hawk at FS for the last few seasons and I like his leadership. Regardless, based on his history I've just convinced myself that JA will pick up his FS in Rd 3 or 4.

Pretty good, thanks for posting that.

I don't want Holt at any cost. If the Jaguars are giving him something close to 7 or 8 mil/yr then so be it, I'll move on and so should the Bears.

I've been saying we need two WR for some time. Ideally I'd like to add a veteran to the roster with Holt at the top of my list. If we don't do something like that soon I think we're looking at WR in 2 or 3rd and then again in Rd 4 or 5.

The reason we'll likely have to grab a WR with our 2nd Rd pick is because our 3rd Rd pick is basically the first pick in the 4th Rd. Secondly, over his career JA has continually found DB talent later in the draft and I have no reason to think he'll do anything differently this year. Especially given the not so great FS prospects at the top of the list. Is the 8th best WR better rated than the 2nd or 3rd best FS? That just might be how it is on our draft board.

Anquan Boldin and Braylon Edwards will go a long way to deciding what happens with WR in the draft. In Edwards case if he leaves Cleveland I think it's clear they'd draft another WR very early in the draft to replace him. In Boldin's case the Cards wouldn't be likely to pick a WR early because they've already got their top 3 WR in place once he leaves and he will leave. That means we'll likely to see one less WR taken before us. I can't say that means we'll see all of the top 7 gone before we pick or not but if I were industrious enough I do a sampling of mock drafts to see on average how many WR were taken before us. Then subtract 1 and see what we get.

Nobody knows what is a weak schedule and a tough schedule until midway through the season.

I'd rather have Cook than Matt Jones.

Absolutely, Briggs knows his way around town.

If it'll make you feel younger .... my daughter graduates from ASU in May.

We need to draft two WR so he'd be a good option in the later rounds but he needs quite a bit of work, especially catching the ball: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/584314 Run After the Catch: Cook can get to top speed in an instant after he secures the ball after the catch, but that is also a problem, as he does have concentration lapses that leave the ball on the ground (29 of 70 passes thrown to him he failed to secure in 2008). You can see on film his ability to turn it up hard after the catch. He is not your typical one-cut runner, like most tight ends on deep routes, as he is faster and shiftier with outstanding speed and good hip wiggle. GRADE: 6.5

I would gladly take Mike Thomas over Rashied Davis hands down. He'd out perform him even as a rookie. I love his athleticism and he's one of those guys that is just a good football player. Thomas also has kick return ability so there'd be no loss there either and more likely a gain because he's a shiftier runner than Davis who is just a straight ahead guy.

Amazing how stupid these guys can be.

Freeman isn't ready to be a starter in the league. If he did win a duel with Leftwich it would only show how poorly Leftwich plays.