AZ54

I think it's something we should do but I don't think it's something JA will do. If Sanchez falls I can see him taking him and saying he was too good to pass up. If he trades up and goes after him then it's saying that we don't think Orton is the man. That doesn't match the retoric coming out of Halas Hall. A 2nd or more likely 3rd Rd pick on a QB fits in easier while giving him the option of going after one in Rd 1 next year.

In that case he fits what JA wants: A guy who has starter experience but not good enough to start a big QB controversy yet at the same time being good enough to have Orton looking over his shoulder. Not to mention that Alex Smith can run and that's a good attribute to have behind our Oline.

What's the deal with Alex Smith? Are the Niners going to keep him or would they move him for a late round pick? Is he worth looking at? The guy has had something like 4 offensive coordinators during his time in San Fran but he has some good athletic skills. Seems to me if we're looking at using a later round pick on a QB he'd be worth a shot as much as any college QB.

If, as shown, Oher is still on the board when we pick I say we take him and park him at RT. Grab a WR in the second round.

How bad do you have to be to get cut by the Raiders? That's not exactly something you list at the top of your resume. I'm not saying he isn't worth looking at but I can't possibly think he's a guaranteed solution to our problem at FS. When I see cuts like this I often wonder how long before we hear about a league suspension for violating the substance abuse policy or some other issue along those lines.

I'll be ecstatic if we get Maclin at #18. Aside from the obvious physical skills I see a player who is tough (played hurt last year even though he had the draft to worry about), he goes over the middle, he doesn't shy away from contact at the end of the play, and can get yards after contact, and he can make the tough catches. I'd love to see him lined up opposite Hester. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA619-10IIM

I bet nobody bites on a trade for either guy and then end up cutting them.

What we don't know is how Brady's knee is. That is the wild card in what NE does.

I hope AP to fullback = smokescreen Now if it's a question of him being a backup FB that might be possible if for no other reason to save a roster spot and keep him as a special teams player. That helps a lot for the active roster on game day and keeps Olsen out of the backfield if McKie goes down. There's no way I see AP being good enough to replace McKie and that's not much of a challenge. So late in this draft I hope we'll be picking up a FB, let AP work at FB to see if he's worth keeping and somewhere we need to find a true #2 RB. Maybe another year of rehab brings Kevin Jones back to form and I'd be ok with that. On Wolfe not being good at pass protection...doesn't he have to get on the field to show whether or not he can do it? And if he isn't that good at it how will he get better if he never gets game experience? I keep hearing the same crap from these coaches but at some point it is their responsibility to gives young players some playing time so they can actually learn how to play the game. I'll sign off now because I feel another Bennett rant coming on...

I don't like Ramses that much at least in terms of what we need. I watched that collegiate competition and he seemed too methodical when he was running (i.e. no explosion or quickness). I don't know what his straight line speed will be but for me that is less of a factor if a guy doesn't have the quickness to get in/out of cuts ahead of a DB. I realize it's a lousy backyard competition and not enough to base an evaluation on but it's all I have at the moment. Back to need. IMO we already have a similar player on our roster, one who is pretty good in Greg Olsen. When there is a need or desire to have a taller WR we can split him out (as we do). The thing is, using Olsen this way creates more mismatches among the defense that someone like Ramses might because he lines up in some many positions. I know someone is going to point out how tall the guy is and all I can remember is how so many said the same things about Leonard Pope when he came out. Pope has never materialized as a good receiving threat for the Cards and please don't say it's because of their WR. The Cards throw plenty of passes to their TEs. If Ramses puts up good numbers at the combine in the quickness drills then I'd say he's worth a look.

Interesting that there wasn't much feedback on the Oline other than Williams. Maybe it's just me trying to read the between the lines too much because I think it was a big problem for us. This is the time for information and disinformation.

I didn't say we'd be trading for Fitzgerald, I said Boldin is not in the same league as those guys and you are giving up too much for him.

I can't see Vasher going anywhere with his salary, the cap hit we'd take, and his low trade value right now. Why wouldn't a team think they could get the same player in Rd 4-6 of the draft? And that would be a player with "upside". Therefore, at this time (predraft) I agree with Nfol (damn that hurts) that our best course is to wait it out and see if he plays better this year. Remember McBride has turned into a good special teams player so he seems likely to remain our 5th CB. We'll probably draft a CB late or sign a second/third tier FA for competition. On top of that we have the annual question of what to do with DManning, is he our nickel CB or is he our FS, or is he our KR who backs up those roles? Bottom line for Nate is that he really needs to end up as one of the top 3 outside CBs to stay on this team. I will add however that if Bowman and Graham are playing far better than him he could be cut or traded in camp. There's always a team getting hit by injuries or piss poor play and they become desperate for some help. At that time, as long as we can absorb the cap hit, we might end up letting Vasher go for a conditional late round pick. Which basically means you are cutting the guy but hoping he sticks on the other team so you get something out of nothing.

I agree, for Minn it makes sense to put all their marbles in the Cassel basket. They have the defense, the running game, just need someone to make a few passes.

No way I give up that much for Boldin plus the huge contract he'll demand. I've watched him for years and while I love him he is not an elite #1 WR. He can be a #1 I just don't see him in that elite area like Fitzgerald is.

Bienvenidos from Phoenix, and yes, I'm still and always will be a Bears fan.

Simeon Rice and leadership in the same sentence, now that's new. He's certainly worth a look but I don't have my hopes up.

He's worth $9mil/yr but we have too many needs on offense to make him happy here.

I agree on a couple calls were terrible, especially the roughing the passer. How many times did Ben pump fake the ball and then pull it down and run. It's all just part of what I call the pussification of the NFL. Then you get guys with hands all over Fitzgerald in the endzone and no flag is thrown. Somehow Fitz made the catch but come on. In the end it was Warner's bad throw at the endzone and the Cards inability to hustle downfield and tackle a guy that made the difference.

I'm one of the guys willing to draft WR in Rd 1 (Maclin) but I also would like to add Boldin but don't want to give up our 1st Rd pick. The difference for me is the $8-10 milllion/yr salary Boldin wants. It's not that he's not worth the salary that Berrian got, he is. But giving up a 1st rd pick plus giving up all that cap space when we have so many needs is not something I favor. In particular if we added Boldin I really want to use #18 on Oline in a strong draft for 1st Rd OTs. Bottom line is the old economics idea of opportunity cost. It's not necessarily what it costs to get Boldin but what I lose the opportunity to add when I do that. If I were to simply draft Maclin I would not have a WR as capable as Boldin, at least not at the start but I will also have enough extra money available to get the best FA FS on the market. Breaks down like this: Boldin + 2nd Rd Oline IS NOT GREATER THAN Maclin + 2nd Rd Oline + best FA FS

Just because Dallas made bad deal doesn't mean we must follow in their footsteps. Consider also that Dallas had a ton of draft picks and at the time of the deal they still felt they were a team capable of competing for a Superbowl. In other words they aren't looking at adding a bunch of young talent to their roster. JJ figured Roy would put them over the top, Bears fans knew better. Read carefully...I didn't say they would do that deal I said I'd give up a second round pick for him and but if it were to make Rod Graves smile we could throw in a 6th and 7th because IMO those picks as pretty much inconsequential. I agree this is a deal that is not likely to happen if only because we have too many holes to fill on our roster. Because of that, right now I'm not willing to give up more than our second round pick and perhaps those late round picks. If you want to start a thread about what the Cards will ask for Boldin I'll tell you it's a minimum of a first round pick. Boldin has two years on his contract so most likely they will make him a decent contract offer but not great and tell him take it or leave it. Fitzgerald also stated the other day that he'd restructure his deal to help resign Boldin. However, sometimes s*** happens and in this case there could be a lot of acrimony between these two sides. If the Cards truly feel Boldin might brecome a huge distraction who knows what they'd do last minute to cut a deal. To make things more palatable for both sides perhaps the Bears would trade first round picks with the Cards and then I'd be giving up a 3rd and maybe 5th pick. I'm not sure where all that would be on the value chart.

I'm not a big fan of using a first round pick on guy whose stock rises so much after the season. There are too many question marks for me. He only had 3 sacks his last year in college? Before I'd take Ayers I prefer to grab our future RT (Oher if there) or a WR in RD 1.

I would not trade those picks but I'd trade a 2nd Rd pick. I've watched him play since his first game in the league and he's exactly the type of player Bears fans will love, tough, fights for every yard and he's strong going after the ball.

I agree there have been some extenuating circumstances affecting the WR position but nonetheless the success of a guy like Gage after he leaves has to make us wonder. He didn't sign a huge deal with the Titans after he left the Bears. Was that a deal we couldn't match? It didn't really bother me when Gage left so I'm not trying act as if I knew something nobody else did. It didn't bother me when we cut Wade either. However, our coaching staff is right there with these guys day after day, they watch film of these guys they have to know a guy can or is developing and will get better with another year or two. Better yet, why is their development taking so long? Now we are once again in the same spot with Bennett. He was drafted in part because he was smart, studious, and hard working yet he couldn't get on the field because he didn't know the plays. To top it off, our WR corps was horrendous last year. I can't believe it was that hard to break though among that group. If Bennett truly was that bad we should have just cut our losses and brought in someone else, or given Rideau or Hass a shot to see if they could take his place. It's this trend that makes me wonder what is going on with our coaching staff.

I'll just have to agree completely with post.