AZ54

Odd you should post this because I was thinking about it too. I've watched Britton play quite a bit and I really like the way he plays the game, with attitude and he does have good athleticism just not that elite footwork for LT in the NFL. I will say that he's not the strongest guy but we have to keep in mind that he's coming out as a Junior. He might need a year or two to get his full potential but given all the positive things draftniks are saying about him I think if he stayed in school for one more year he'd be talked about as a top 20 pick next year. If that's true, why not grab next year's top 20 pick this year at #18? On the other end of the spectrum I am hearing more about Loadholt dropping down to the 3rd Rd. After Britton the OTs all have a significant question mark in either attitude, work ethic, footwork, strength. The fact he might need a year to get ready for the league could be hard for some fans to accept but IMO it makes bringing back a guy like St Clair key for us. St Clair is a good team player and will help a guy like Britton even if he knows he'll be taking his spot. We need that leadership and it will be helpful for Williams too. I am willing to overpay a guy like St Clair a bit because he knows the offense and is able and willing to help the younger guys. Now if we can find a WR to take on the same role...

Sure teams will wait but they also spend money in the meantime and the longer you wait the contracts that get signed become smaller and the teams bidding for your services become fewer. Every agent knows that. St Clair is simply not a hot commodity and his agent can tell him all he wants but the lack of team visits or even just rumors of teams being interested speaks pretty clearly. He was simply ok last year at LT but he's getting older and slower so will only get worse at that spot. In the end he's at best a backup OT or a starter for deficient team (i.e. Bears). This draft is deep with OT prospects, 5 potential first round picks and several more for rounds 2-3. Just how many teams will St Clair wait for after the draft? I'm betting none and he'll be signed before practice next week.

St Clair has only one offer and that's ours so that is his value in the league right now. He might not like it but that's the way it is.

I see Pace as a better fit for the Cardinals. He's always played LT and I don't see him making a switch to the right side now. He's got to be better than Mike Gandy.

I don't see us picking this kid at #18. His questionable work ethics could easily see him drop to us in the second round and at that spot I could better accept the risk/reward scenario. I haven't heard a single person who is high on him as a football player, just his athleticism. I'll also add this is a smart thing for the Bears to do because if we end up trading down he might be a consideration and then on top of that you get all the smoke screen stuff going for us. Having said all that, there are a lot of other players I much prefer to take to help our team than Johnson. There will be players with talent who actually like playing the game available for us at both picks on day one.

Great work, love to see those pancake blocks! I also like the way you finish blocks right to end of a play. Best of luck with your college aspirations.

We just fired or demoted our entire defensive staff, don't be shy about leaving the coaching criticism to just the offensive side of the ball

Seems like an act of desperation to me.

Hester will be alright as our #2 but we need someone opposite him to take some pressure off. Even if it's a guy who's just another #2 type who is consistent will help.

I like the Sanchez pick but I'd have taken Loadholt in Rd 2 and I like picking up Moore in the 3rd.

Where's the 33 drops he had last year (2nd in the league)? How does that help our offensive offense? How baliistic is he going to get when Orton throws to Davis and Davis drops the ball? Or when Orton misses Hester on a deep route and Owens was open underneath? This would be a huge boost for Orton's confidence. JUST SAY NO!

I disagree. I think a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. In other words sign St Clair. Of course if he's on the roster it does shape our draft in a different way because we don't have to be so desperate for an OT and it allows us to wait a bit and pick one up in Rd 2 or 3. However, I don't view that problem being JA as much as the fact there is no way to know how the draft will play out. If we knew going in that we'd get one of the top RTs at #18 then no problem but if they are gone do we want to be forced to grab a guy really early? I prefer to keep our options open in case there's a WR we really like at #18, or say a QB like Sanchez. It also keeps the door open for drafting Duke Robinson in Rd 2 instead of an OT, or a FS like Delmas in Rd 2. I have some thoughts on the St Clair negotiating process too. St Clair said he wants to be a starter. I think we've offered him a fair deal but JA did not guarantee him he'd be a starter. We want him back and will allow him to compete for a starting job. I think this was more clear when we signed Omiyale, a guy who looked decent in his one start at LT last year, and then said we want to move him inside. I don't think he was signed for the reason at all, instead I think that's a ploy to let St Clair think he'll have a better shot at starting RT for us. St Clair has proven he has value playing inside as well so I prefer him for that role (backup or starter) moreso than Omiyale. In the end it's the sum of the parts that makes the best team and as badly as I'd like to have a guy like Oher at #18 we might not get that option. Instead of reaching big time to fill a hole I prefer to keep some options open.

I like the signing and I think this completes our RB trio for the year. Why we would keep AP around anymore is beyond me. Take the roster spot and use it on a real hard hitting FB. If you get a FB with the right mentality he'll be a wedge buster too. We have Garrett Wolfe who was more effective on special teams than AP last year and then Kevin Jones did some special teams coverage and did well too. AP is what he is and IMO he's not quite as good as he used to be. I'm not saying there's been a big dropoff in his performance but it was never that high to begin with.

Hakeem Nicks and Robiskie were impressive. Nicks Reminds me a lot of Anquan Boldin and he seems to be the perfect fit for what we need, a big possession type WR who always catches the ball. However, I'm not sure what he ran at the combine and I don't know about his intangibles...character etc. Whereas Robiskie seems much more of a sure thing. ...it seems Nicks ran a 4.54 at the combine.

I used to enjoy watching Cowboy games and all the hype the announcers gave Roy Williams, only to see him make some real boneheaded plays that cost the game for his team. Anyone that can help the Cowboys lose is ok by me but if they are doing it from within I don't want him on my team (same goes for TO).

Same reply as I've had for the last 4 or 5 years...no.

I prefer to take an OT with our first pick but if it ends up being Maclin I'll be happy, as long as we get our RT in Rd 2.

After all we spent on our own players last year I'm not buying it. We might have problems in revenue going forward due to the economy but I'm not going to fault Bears ownership over that. There are many owners of pro sports teams who are cutting back now. I will add that the cap has expanded at such a rate that certainly owners like the Bears will have trouble keeping up with the Snyder's of the world. Yet spending money hasn't translated to wins. New England and Pittsburgh have been called cheap for years and they win year after year. Washington has spent tons and they lose. Maybe if there's a lesson here it's that money spent on draft evaluation is worth far more than money spent on FA.

It is possible but not probable simply because we have too many holes and fortunately a couple of those holes happen to be where there is good depth...OT and WR. However, since you are talking about first day picks that means 1st and 2nd Rd. If we end up with another 3rd Rd pick I could see us packaging our 3rd (can't trade a comp pick) with a 4th to try to get back up into the 2nd Rd. That might give us a shot at grabbing OT/WR/S or DE on day one. We could come back on day 2 with a late 3rd Rd pick to address S or DE that we missed on day one and then drop to the 5th Rd for BPA. As far as cap space I don't see us using up all our cap space this year for a simple reason....we don't yet have the talent that demands it on offense and our defense has already been paid; nor was that kind of talent available in FA although I think we could have done something better at RT. Whether or not Orton sticks around next year our QB slot is going to have a much bigger cap hit in 2010 so that space needs to be held back now possibly for an extension mid-year.

I wasn't expecting a big splash but I was expecting more interest in some the FA OTs. I still expect St Clair to come back to the Bears because that is likely his best option for getting playing time either at OG or OT. He already knows the system and we have needs. Yet waiting on him to accept that offer without even talking to any of the others is unsettling to me.

Maclin. We can survive quite well with Hester on one side, Maclin on the other, and Bennet working the slot. If/when we need a bigger WR we still have Greg Olsen who should be even more effective with two speed guys on the outside. I have no problem adding a bigger WR later in the draft this year or just wait until next year to fill that role. (gotta have a longer perspective on this one).

If Cutler is available we go get him. Pointing out his mistakes is fine but he's still young and he's better than Orton. It's true that franchise QBs don't come cheap but in Chicago they don't ever show up so IMO the price is worth it.

I've said it before but I'd be glad to have him back as our #2 RB because I think he'll be much better this year than last. I still want to see Garret Wolfe getting 5-7 carries and/or catches per game but there's no reason we can't use Jones for 7-10 carries too. Keep Forte to around 20 touches per game (he gets a fair amount of receptions too) and then let it play out throughout the year balance wise as guys get injured.

For some reason I can't help but feel that Barnes is a younger version of Fred Miller. That's not all bad as long as he signs for a reasonable price but on the other hand it's not quite the line upgrade I'd like to see us get by grabbing a guy like Oher in Rd 1.

I'd like to take Maclin but I'm going with Rey (which means king in spanish) Maualuga because Urlacher is in the tail end of his career. Nothing better than continuing the Bears great MLB tradition. Rey starts on the SLB spot for year and takes over the middle next year (we trade Url). In contrast we do have a quick fast WR in Hester and so I push the choice of WR to the 2nd Rd with Robiskie and pick up the RT Fenuki in the third and I should have clicked on Byrd with pick 3b.