AZ54

This is where the coaching staff screwed up totally last year. Bennett IMO should have been asked to learn one position, at least to start the year, so he could get on the field. Instead we went with Lloyd and Booker. Lloyd at first seemed like the right choice but Booker never did anything to impress me and in fact I wanted to cut him. Even if we started out with the "learn all positions approach" it should have been quickly pared down to get him on the field once they saw how bad the others were. Now we have a second year WR who didn't catch a single pass last year. Ridiculous consider how bad our WR corps was last year.

IF Pisa signs with us we will finally have a challenge to make the roster at LB on this team, with some guys who've contributed in the past hitting the street. It's been a long time since we've said that. I believe we will only keep 6 LBs. IIRC Freeman fell to us in the draft so even though he's a 5th Rd pick he might get interest if we try to stick him on the practice squad. I think if he shows the ability the team talked about having on draft day then we'll have to keep him on the final roster. Williams has proven to be a good special teams player so he has the nod in the backup role. He has also been used at both MLB and WLB but focused more on WLB. He has better mobility than Hunter and thus I think he'd that gives him one advantage. OTOH Hunter has the game knowledge to be in the right spot. I think Freeman is coached up at WLB to backup Briggs thus freeing up Williams to work mostly at MLB in camp. That should help his play inside improve and might be enough to give him the edge over Hunter for that backup role. Hunter would have to compete with Pisa and Roach for SLB. I think he wins that role, at least as the backup because of his versatility. If Pisa signs our final LB corps: SLB: Pisa/Hunter MLB: Urlacher/Williams WLB: Briggs/Freeman Both Willams and Freeman should be our special teams guys.

Gotta agree with that concept. At this point in his career Hamilton is a known quantity, he is what he is. Bowman on the other hand still has upside and after only one season if the performance including special teams is close (even if Hamilton is slightly ahead) I'd go with Bowman as long as his work ethic shows his desire to keep improving. With young players you can't just evaluate on abliity at the start of the season but you need to project what their ability will be at the end of the season. Since durability is a concern for Bowman you simply give him more snaps in the preseason games and see how he handles it.

I have no clue if Davis is eligible for the practice squad but I really wonder if in fact the coaching staff is so enamored with him. The knock on him coming out of college was a lack of work ethic. If that is the issue for sure I wouldn't mind putting him on the practice squad and seeing if he "gets it" but on the other hand if we got a conditional late round pick for him I'd probably take that too.

I'm going with the left side of our Oline. It might not be fair to take two players but Omiyale and Pace but I think these two guys really anchor our left side. You have a young guy with a reputation for hard work looking to make his mark in the league next to two veteran Pro Bowl players in Pace and Kreutz. I think he picks things up quickly and plays well for us. I also think his mobility (he's a tackle) combined with Pace on the outside allows him to pull and block like Reuben Brown used to do for us. We got a lot of mileage out of that play a couple years ago. Pace I feel is ready to prove he's not done yet and knowing Jay Cutler is behind him helps motivate a veteran who suddenly sees himself with another opportunity to get back to the Superbowl. I expect our pass protection from the left to be dramatically better than last year and equally important I think this will be our strong side in our run game. The play of these two Olineman elevates the rest of the offense. On defense...Kevin Payne. Last year was really his first year on the field. It wasn't all good but it wasn't all bad either. That experience combined with a complete offseason help him take the next step to becoming our SS of the future.

The injury history at these positions likely means we'll keep 10 DBs IMO.

I think the Bears are adamant about getting a solid run-blocking TE on the field and I think Davis is the odd man out. I don't see us keeping 4 TE but it's possible if Davis plays well enough they view him as Clark's replacement in a year or two. There's a big difference between Olsen's athleticism at the FB position and Gaines. So again Olsens versatility to do the H-back role there will also limit the times Gaines plays TE. Does Davis earn a spot? I'd say it's a 25% probability. I say he gets traded to someone for a conditional draft pick if he makes their roster.

It ocmes down to special teams for the last couple roster spots. I think we have: FS: Bullocks Graham SS: Payne Steltz Afalava CB: Vasher Tillman Manning DJ Moore Bowman I'm not a big fan of McBride as a CB. His coverage skills are marginal and he's not much of a factor in the running game. McBride played well on special teams as a gunner but we still aren't settled at the safety position so I think Afalava's hard hitting style will catch the coaches eye and warrant keeping his potential around. For Bowman it's more of a challenge. If he stays healthy he's bigger and faster than McBride and I think his athleticism stands out. Yet for both of these players (Bowman, Afalava have to show up on special teams coverage to earn the roster spot. I think they will.

Gaines is a TE, period. If he makes the team I can see him being a FB in a heavy or jumbo package that is used for short yardage situations (i.e. 4th and short) yet if we do that will we insert 3 OT such as we did with Williams at the end of last year?

Results were bad in terms of team performance. I'd have to spend some time thinking back over the last couple seasons for specific player situations. The most clear examples that come to mind quickly for me are Alex Brown (demoted in offseason), Adams not seeing playing time until late last year despite Dusty's rapid decline in performance early in the season. Aside from that, my point was more one of the fact that he was coddling his veterans and they no longer felt challenged to work hard. I think even Lovie himself was complacent after he got to the Superbowl and was handed his huge contract. He seemed to have an arrogance after he threw management under the bus to get it. The last two seasons there just hasn't been much passion on the field and I hold him accountable for that.

Just watched the OTA video and all I can say about Cutler's arm strength is that he makes a 20 yard pass look like a short drag route, that about how long the ball is in the air. I don't know about the WR but as a fan I can get used to it.

I wondered about that too but after giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that the staff did this because Steltz is the only safety with experience at FS. In the drills they wanted the first team defense to be a first team defense so they could get a better evaluation of what we had with our WR and Cutler. On top of that it gave Graham and Bullocks a chance to watch the first team D and see how it's done and then go out with the second team. At least that logic made sense for Graham. For Bullocks and why he got reps at SS I have no idea other than the staff definitely wanted Graham to get a lot of reps at FS yet they still wanted Bullocks to get on the field so he can start learning the D play calls and get accustomed to working with his new teammates. I'd certainly expect Graham and /or Bullocks to slide in with the first team shortly as they get more reps and Steltz to get more looks at SS. Outside of knowing their assignment you can't tell much at SS anyway because no contact is allowed.

Heading into last season I stated the IMO Lovie had lost his willingness to let players battle for starting jobs and simply gave too many veterans the nod. It was that way in 2007 and again in 2008 and the results were bad. This offseason I felt he was going back to the way he started with the Bears and keeping everything open. It would be a shame if he didn't give Buenning a chance to win a starting job, especially with how average Garza has played, but it would be in character for Lovie to do so.

Graham move to FS looking permanent: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-052109.article BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com The Bears didn’t waste any time getting a jump on moving Corey Graham to free safety. That’s where he opened the organized team activity Wednesday, running with the second team alongside Josh Bullocks, while Craig Steltz handled first-team duties next to Kevin Payne. If the experiment goes as the Bears hope, Graham will not be a reserve for long. ‘‘For now, it’s my position,’’ Graham said. ‘‘I don’t know beyond that.’’ Before the switch, it appeared Graham would battle at right cornerback with former Pro Bowl performer Nathan Vasher, but the move makes it clear the team has faith that Vasher will return to form. Graham has better range than anyone the Bears have had at free safety for some time, and he’s a willing participant in run support. It comes down to whether he has the instincts to make the transition. He played safety as a senior in high school and for two games at New Hampshire. ‘‘Once I start to learn what I am doing, I’ll play faster,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s more mental than anything. It’s a lot of different techniques, and there is a lot more stuff going on. You’re involved on the inside core, so it’s a lot different. It’s not only picking up what I am doing, but what everyone around me is doing, too.’’ Vasher has appeared in only 12 games in the last two seasons since his contract year. He was slimmed down in the March minicamp and looked good. He said he feels good, too, which is key after groin and hand injuries derailed him. ‘‘I’m coming out working every day,’’ he said when asked if he expects to reclaim his starting job. ‘‘We’ll just see what happens.’’

Can't answer that many questions but they bring up a few comments: Urlacher looks more ripped than I've seen him in years. He's had a full offseason working out and it shows, hopefully this translates to the field. Cutler, he'll be shaky early on and fans will have to temper expectations. However, we have lots of shiny new toys in the offensive toy box this year and we will see many more exciting big plays this year than in the last two combined. Backup RB, I believe Kevin Jones will prove to be a very capable backup for us. I expect he'll be lighter and quicker this year than last. IMO His willingness to play special teams at the end of last year showed a lot of character from a former first round pick. That type of character usually turns into hard work in the offseason with results on Sundays. editing post I just found this tidbit: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-052109.article • Running back Kevin Jones looked fluid running around with no brace on the right knee that he was rehabbing from a torn ACL a year ago. Hester's playbook will actually shrink this year and he will run more go routes than in the past.

I don't know a single Cards fan who regrets cutting this guy. He'd add experience and depth to our secondary so from that point of view I don't mind adding him but if he's a starter you have to live with a lot of his mistakes.

The fact the Bears brought in Rod Hood FA from Cards for a visit indicates some confidence in moving Graham to FS.

In one article was a comment that Johnny Knox made some impressive catches. Of all the WRs we have he's the one guy I think would struggle with the big change in arm strength and the speed/timing of the throws against NFL DBs. Then there's Greg Olsen: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-052109.article Earl Bennett was a popular target, and Cutler looked for tight end Greg Olsen often. Olsen bobbled one laser going across the middle and caught it as he fell. He had a drop later. ‘‘Yeah, no [kidding],’’ Olsen said when asked if there was some mustard on the throws. ‘‘Once you get adjusted [to the arm strength], it’s all the same pretty much. You just have to get your eyes around that much faster and expect it.’’

I live in a state where gun-carrying people are everywhere so I really don't care that Plax had a gun. I care that he was stupid enough to shoot himself, doesn't show much in the way of common sense. What concerns me the most about Plax is his lousy attitude toward practice and his teammates. Skipping practices for BS reasons, then when he gets suspended he runs around bragging about how it's no big deal, he's getting some time off. That kind of an attitude with our young WRs worries me.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/corey_graham/ Q: I am glad to learn that the Bears are considering Corey Graham to be the free safety this coming season because I have long felt Charles Tillman or Graham would be the best option on the roster. Why has it taken the team so long to reach this possible conclusion? Sometimes these things seem so obvious. Phil S., Concord, N.H. A: This isn't a revelation the coaching staff just arrived at, the possibility that Graham could fill a role at free safety. Steve Wilks, the defensive backs coach, said during training camp summer that the idea of trying Graham at safety and nickel back had been kicked around in meetings. Graham was actually introduced to safety during December 2007 when injuries were once again making a mess of the safety position. Well, injuries and the ill-conceived effort to revive Adam Archuleta's career. The Bears were short on bodies at the position at the end of the season. But how was the team going to get Graham up and running at safety last season? Remember, Tillman missed the bulk of training camp to be with his family as his daughter went through serious health issues. The Bears had to operate with what they had and that meant using Graham at left cornerback. He showed real strides from his rookie season. It was Trumaine McBride, who was drafted two rounds after Graham in 2007, who started as a rookie that season. But Graham moved ahead of him on the depth chart in training camp and made the kind of strides necessary for him to replace Nathan Vasher when injuries struck early in the season. We've given an awful lot of attention to the safety position--and for good reason--but issues at cornerback can be far more troubling. That's why the move of Graham to free safety will not be a possibility unless the team feels comfortable in Vasher or rookie D.J. Moore manning the job at right cornerback. There is going to be plenty of time to sort this out. OTA's begin two weeks from today on May 20, and this could easily carry into training camp and preseason but the hope would be the coaching staff would have an idea what the starting lineup will look like by then. It just seemed awkward going into the third preseason last summer when Brandon McGowan was benched and they started shifting parts around in the secondary.

As I stated earlier, the Bears typically like second tier FAs to visit other teams first to set the market. We'll see if they offer him a deal when he's here.

Something isn't right if this guy is getting cut so quickly. Pass.

No way the Bears are too cheap to pay a coach that much.

Defenders do have a choice in how to cover Hester because he still struggles with CB who jam him at the LOS. Sometimes all you have to do is upset the timing of the play to force the QB to look elsewhere. And if they have a safety playing over the top it's not a concern about the deep threat.

I dno't see that much for Knox, I agree he might see 25 receptions but not for 500 yards. If he can get on the field I'd say 300-350 yards is more likely. This kid is seeing such a huge step up in competition and complexity of plays and coverages that I think it's going to take him at least a year to adjust. However, I can easily see Garrett Wolfe getting those 25 rec with a 10 yd/rec average. You are only talking about 1.5 rec/gm.