AZ54

That's what Boldin brought to the AZ Cardinals who are a very pass happy team that happens to play indoors or if they open the roof in good weather. Boldin also has a guy named Fitzgerald who makes the secondary worry about a downfield threat and let Boldin run a bunch of short routes underneath the coverage. Devin Hester is not Larry Fitzgerald so Boldin is going to be the primary focus of the DBs and he's not running away from them anymore. He does still run through them which causes him to miss a lot of games every season. Perhaps you didn't notice that Steve Breaston who was their 3rd WR and who filled in when Boldin was hurt had 77 rec for 1000 yards. Is it the WR making all the yards or the QB and system?

I'd give up our 2nd Rd pick this year for Braylon. Our 2010 first round pick is already sitting in Denver.

I like it too except I'd rather have Melton in Rd 5 instead of the OT.

He seems more like a guy we have targeted at #99. I like him there.

I agree with AZBear, the more I hear the more I want to pass on him too. We have better options at either WR or FS to help this team without the distractions of having some punk messing up the locker room. On top of that, Harvin really hasn't played a true WR position so he's going to have a big learning curve and we already have that guy on our roster in Hester.

PASS ON THIS DEAL. He's not worth $9mil/yr and giving up a 2nd Rd pick or Urlacher. If Urlacher's injuries and age are slowing him down the same thing is happening to Boldin. As far the value of those two players to their respective teams I'll say this: When Urlacher is off the field our defense is noticeably worse. When Boldin is off the field the Cards offense keeps putting up points and getting to the Superbowl. If Boldin didn't have his injury history (only one complete season in his career) then it might be a better deal. I'd also be more in favor of it if he were coming in to be our complementary #2 WR instead of our #1, or at least if we had that bigger WR who was a downfield threat. We don't have that and so there's an opportunity cost in givng up that pick for an older player. Likewise, we have another opportunity cost when we give him that huge contract money that should go to a better player.

Wrong I bet he's not even playing until after week 6. They'll go with Culpepper the first half of the season and let Stafford learn a bit. Once the season is over (say 0-8) then bring in the rookie off the bench. By then they'll have had time to fix pass protection issues.

When you find it let me know. I have no desire for a part time college DE to join our team with the 2nd Rd pick. Johnson is lazy and it's naive to think Marinelli or anyone will get him to be different once he has lots of money to spend. The LB too would be another part time player (SLB), if he sees the field. Grabbing a WR in Rd 2 might also be a part time player for us this year but it's a lot bigger need. If that fails then grab a FS who is likely to be a fulltime player on D again where we have a huge hole.

If it's anything more than our 2nd Rd pick I'll pass and I'm not even that high on giving that up. Boldin's antics last year during a Superbowl run were childish. On top of that I don't like his BS attitude toward his contract situation given that the Cards gave him a new deal after just two seasons and then he threw them under the bus for it. Of course that puts him in the same club as guys like Urlacher. If his contract demand was in the $7-8mil/yr range I'd be more interested but not at $9mil/yr. He's not the same player he used to be (slower and more drops) and he won't have the wide open offense and good weather he had in AZ to produce big numbers. He'd make our WR corps better without a doubt but I just think that cost is a bit too high for what he'll bring.

If I had the money these guys everytime I go out there'd be a limo taking me and my friends all over town.

If he had good hands he wouldn't even be around for our pick. We're getting a WR with some imperfections and Barden certainly has his too. I'm wondering if our real target is Iglesias. We've certainly been to the Oklahoma well often enough to be very familiar with their players. Iglesias also had a workout with the Bears. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/563875 An instinctive route-runner who reads coverages well and has a feel for getting open, Iglesias started 39 of 54 games for the Sooners, including four as a slot receiver and 35 at flanker. He has reliable hands, tracks the ball well over either shoulder and is adept and elusive as a punt and kick returner. He is not afraid to go over the middle and will fight for extra yardage. Iglesias has better quickness than his combine-best 40-yard time of 4.50 might indicate. He is hard to cover because he has a surprising burst that creates separation. Last year he caught 74 passes for 1,150 yards and 10 touchdowns, and finished with career totals of 202 receptions for 2,861 yards and 19 scores. He averaged 26.41 yards on kickoff returns. - Frank Cooney, The SportsXchange, NFLDraftScout.com

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.