AZ54

Don't worry, Hester is exactly why Harvin won't be around when we pick. Some team out there is going to want a guy like him (Hester) on their roster and they'll choose him before we see him. Harvin was more accomplished in college than Hester too so that should help his cause.

Williams has experience at RT, and said the move isn't that big of a deal. I think he'll be fine in pass protection, far better than what we had last year with Tait. Run blocking I'm not sure about but then again we had no push whatsoever on the right side last year. That shouldn't be hard to match if not improve upon.

I hope Pace is listening!

The fact Ruben Brown came in at his age and was our best Olineman didn't say much for the talent he lined up with. Not to diminish what Ruben did here, he played great for us. At some point we have to start plugging in an occasional older vet with some younger studs. That's a plan I can live with rather than relying on the end-of-career vets to be the cornerstone for us.

Read today's article in the Sun Times about Rashad Johnson and the concerns over his size...around 185lbs. I watched the Path to Draft highlights of him and he doesn't look very fast. Of course with highlights being what they are he always seemed to get a great jump on the ball. His INTs and passes defensed is impressive but what I'd like to know is how good a pass rush Alabama had. It's a lot easier to defend passes if you know the ball is coming out in 3 seconds or less. Also were they playing zone or were these nice plays in man coverage? Similar comments were made about Steltz although not to the same high level but he was just another average college cover guy working behind a great Dline. All this is leading me away from taking a FS with #2 pick and just focus on WR. I like the idea of trading slightly up to get our guy, if none of our top guys are there trade back a bit and see if we can get another late 4th Rd pick or 5th then draft the best of the 3rd Rd WRs. http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/04/fo...april_10_a.html "Some consider him a possibility in the second round and others say he will be around into the fourth round. Here's why--he's small. One scout we spoke with said that Johnson played at 185 pounds last season. He was up about 10 pounds at the Senior Bowl and then checked in at the combine at 5-11, 203. It wasn't good weight, a lot of water weight, according to the BodPod, which measures body composition. The scout believes Johnson is a guy who will wind up playing at 185 in the NFL. That's probably too small and that would definitely give you concerns about durability"

What is interesting about Massaqoui is that he's supposed to be an excellent run blocker and he's a very good student of the game, lots of film study, and scored high on the Wonderlic. So from a character standpoint he's JAs type of player. He supposedly improved a lot in the last year although still has a way to go to improve his receiving skills. I know his value isn't near where we pick in Rd 2 but I'll say this: I like taking him with our second round pick a lot better than I liked taking Mark Bradley with a second round pick.

I don't think we'd be trading up that far, perhaps 5 places no more. However, it's possible JA is gauging interest in moving more players off our roster. In that case who knows. I can't see who we'd trade except Kellen Davis because of our need for a blocking TE which we could draft in the late rounds.

While I'm not a Harvin fan based on what we need, if he's there for our 2nd Rd pick take him. I think it's fair to say you can never have too many playmakers and this guy is definitely one of those. We'll have to fill the need for a bigger possession WR later in the draft or next year. For now we'll be relying on Olsen to fill that role.

I agree, Leftwich is going to look for greener pastures where he has a better opportunity to end up as a starter. With Cutler here he might get two games which is not nearly enough to showcase yourself (if you truly think you are starter material). One thing that's telling about Leftwich is that Minn didn't even look in his direction. I personally think this guy is still living on his college reputation (with fans) more than his NFL rep which is what teams seem to focus on. I say that not to dis folks on the board, but it just seems there is more to the Leftwich story than what we know. Good backup QBs are always in demand, heck Shane Matthews always found a job easily. Especially if one of them might have starter potential. Now it's two years in a row and this guy has dropped to the level where he's competing with Grossman for a job.

I'm only telling you what league officials say when they are out here. Weather is a big deal for them. It's not just being outdoors for the NFL Experience but you gotta get there too. That includes thousands of people flying in from all over the country during Superbowl week. Not just major airlines, you get enough private jets to fill up the tarmac at several regional airports. People don't want to spend thousands and then have their flight canceled or delayed.

I guess we know now why he hasn't flourished yet.

All I can tell from the video is that he seems to be able to track the ball in the air but he doesn't have blazing speed. Good speed, yes, but he doesn't pull away from guys like Maclin does, and that was before the injury.

The Hanie question has to be decided early on because if they are intent on him being our #2 he needs all the reps he can get in OTAs, training camp, and preseason. I still think it's likely we see a low tier FA vet being brought in for competition of some sort but it likely is more of a #3 with possibility to step in to the #2 role. A guy like a JT O'Sullivan for example.

It is refreshing to hear a young player with a big name and big contract openly admit he's still working to improve and willing to learn from veterans.

I wonder if somewhere in Minn Bernard Berrian is sitting in a corner counting his money and wondering what if it would be worth it to count a couple million less while catching passes from Cutler in a Superbowl.

Plax only becomes a Bear after he serves his time, whatever that may be. Probably including the league deciding what suspension he'll get although I believe he'd have to be a on a roster for that decision to be made. Once he's served his time JA can get up on the podium and give us the speech about how repentent Burress is and he's learned his lesson blah blah blah. Point is quite simply Burress is exactly the type WR we need on our roster and we'd be one tough offense with him. I'm not even sure how a defense would go about stopping us. There are guys you gamble on and they are called difference makers and there are a lot of guys you don't. As much as I support getting good character guys on the roster Plax could easily put this team deep in the playoffs if not the Superbowl. That's with our defense being average like last year.

The point because it's talking about the current value of a player versus draft picks. If the 2006 draft was held all over again there's no way Vince Young, D'Brick, AJ Hawk, Vernon Davis, Michael Huff, Donte Whitner, Ernie Sims, and Matt Leinart get picked before him. We could argue about Mario Williams and Reggie Bush who went 1 - 2 but I think given what Cutler's done teams would have been willing to trade up to the either of those spots to keep the Titans from getting him. If we had played Rex last year and not Orton there's no way this deal is made because Rex is not the "distribution" type QB that McDaniels wants. Orton often hit 7 receivers in a game. Rex usually didn't know he had 7 receivers available to him.

Seems like the marijuana charge adds some clarity to why it took him "forever to get it". As an UFA he might be worth a look.

NFL Network put together a list of the top 10 QB trades. It seemed that half of those trades were of veterans at the end of the careers: Montana to KC for example. There were a few like Favre to GB, Young to San Fran that standout because the QB was still young however, they hadn't yet played at a high level and certainly didn't go to a Pro Bowl. IIRC there was Fran Tarkenton trade in the middle of his career that brought him back to the Vikings. Bottom line is that it is extremely rare for a QB with Cutler's talent to get traded. Here's your link: http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80f94c35

What happened to green with envy? I guess that just me showing my age.

You might be right but considering the need we have at this position I don't think we can take the risk of waiting that long. We're are right on the cusp of where you pick up developmental prospects. Right now we have Hester, Bennett, Davis as our WR, that's it. If we could get Holt that would help immensely but we don't appear to even be in the running for him. After him the FA dropoff is significant. If we're going to fill this position right JA will have to be bold again and move up to go get his player.

Another article same topic. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,4477323.column "He knows how to get all of his guys up," said Bears offensive tackle Chris Williams, who played with Cutler at Vanderbilt. "He doesn't overreact. But if someone needs to be yelled at to get it going, that's what he will do." It creates a compelling dynamic on the Bears. For the first time in the 11 years Olin Kreutz has been in town, the player behind center is a bigger star than the center. Kreutz polices everything from locker-room code to sideline demeanor but never has had a quarterback with Cutler's combination of skill and swagger lead a huddle. And lead Cutler will. If an impressive first day at Halas Hall proved anything, it was how natural of a leader Cutler is and Bears players will have to adjust to him more than he will to them. This isn't an experiment, guys. This is a culture change.

Cutler isn't wasting any time taking the reins of our offense. I'm not used to hearing this type of stuff from any Bears QB. From all I've read in the last two days the offensive players are lining up behind him too. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...mully05.article Much has been made about the Bears' lack of weapons at wide receiver, and certainly the team needs improvement. The team still has a second-round pick, and it should be used on a wide receiver. But rookies can't be counted on for immediate impact. The Bears learned that last year when third-rounder Earl Bennett never saw the light of day. Bennett is a close friend of Cutler from their days at Vanderbilt. Cutler values the receiver so much, he went back to his old school for Bennett's pro day before the draft last year so the receiver had a chance to show off his stuff. ''I know what Earl is capable of doing, and I will be able to get it out of him,'' Cutler said. ''I am 100 percent sure of that. That is not going to be a problem. You are obviously going to see a different receiver this year because I think everyone is a little down on him right now.''

I agree with your point except Jordan wasn't a point guard. If you have a good point guard you usually have a good team. If you have a good QB you usually have a good offense. Maybe not great but at least good. I'm surprised nobody is giving props to Urlacher for his comments in today's news where I felt he really came out in support of Cutler and Pace. In particular I like the statement that he has nothing to explain to his new teammates and that Urlacher likes him being a bit cocky. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...T-url04.article ''Making this deal, plus we got Orlando Pace, our offense is looking really good,'' Urlacher said Friday on WMVP-AM (1000). ''We have some big names on offense, which we haven't had since I've been here. We have a franchise quarterback, which we obviously haven't had. We're going in the right direction. ''He's still young [25]. I'm sure he has a lot to learn, but from what I've seen he has all the skills you want in a quarterback. He can throw the ball on the run, he can throw it from the pocket. He's got a cannon. And he can play well in cold weather, having played in Denver, so that will be important playing in Chicago.'' Urlacher said Cutler's attitude is not a concern despite the quarterback asking to be traded because of hurt feelings. ''He's got nothing to explain to me,'' Urlacher said. ''They tried to trade him, and he got a little peed off about it. ''As a player, if a team talks about trading you, you would be a little mad, and he got really mad. I don't blame him one bit. ... I'm on his side, and most of the time players are on each other's side when these matters go down. He's got nothing to explain to us.'' In fact, Urlacher likes Cutler's attitude. ''He'll do a great job,'' Urlacher said. ''He's got a swagger about him which, personally, I love a quarterback who has a swagger. He's cocky, but not too cocky. I like that. I think you have to have that as your quarterback, somebody who's confident and will get the job done.''

The Superbowl is a two-week event. Chicago won't be on the host city list very often simply because there aren't many outdoors things people can do. For starters I don't know what they'd do with the NFL Experience sideshow. I guess it could be moved indoors. Beyond that, when the Superbowl is here in AZ there are a lot of activities all around our state designed to entertain Superbowl guests. It's not just weather on game day they worry about it, it's the entire week leading up to the game.