AZ54

Which brings up the question of how bad was the 2005 draft class? That's 7/10 top picks that haven't done much, not nearly enough to warrant their contracts. I don't know the exact number but I bet in combined signing bonuses they garnered over $100 million. That's just bad for business. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...,1243940.column 6. I know that the 2005 draft already included nearly as many busts as the foyer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Benson joined the list. The group of misses among the top 10 picks includes Pacman Jones (No. 6, Titans), Troy Williamson (No. 7, Vikings) and Mike Williams (No. 10, Lions). The running backs sandwiched around Benson at No. 2 (Ronnie Brown, Dolphins) and No. 5 ( Cadillac Williams, Buccaneers) haven't done enough lately for various reasons to justify their high selections either. Throw in the No. 1 overall pick, shaky quarterback Alex Smith of San Francisco, and the top half of the first round in 2005 serves as Exhibit A in proving how inexact the science of the NFL draft is.

Bob Sanders equals Mike Brown. Key players for their respective defenses both hurt all the time. One difference, they had Sanders for the Super Bowl and we didn't have Brown.

He'd be a great fit for our team and I'm not so sure the Cards wouldn't deal him. I just don't think we'd be willing to pay the price.

For me the most important part of this whole process (watching high draft picks bust) is the fact the league absolutely must change the salary structure for rookies. There's absolutely zero incentive to work if your first contract is so high there's little financial incentive to work for the second one. Top ten picks should not be among the highest paid players in the game.

Pretty damning stuff but probably won't shock anyone on this board. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...SPT-bear15.stng ''Cedric has always been lazy,'' Haynes said. ''Cedric was lazy when he first got to Chicago, and I guarantee you he is lazy now. It's the work ethic that a lot of teammates didn't like. When I was there and things didn't work out, I always showed up and I always worked hard. I tried really hard, and I never complained.'' --------------------- For the first time publicly, Haynes acknowledged he was the source of a Sun-Times story in August 2006 that revealed Benson had left Soldier Field at the beginning of a preseason game against the Chargers. The story was confirmed independently with a second player still active in the league. It was the first time feelings about Benson inside the locker room leaked out. The common belief was he was a coddled player used to preferential treatment and he always would be protected by the club. ''That's the way it was,'' Haynes said. ''As an organization, I realized they had a lot of money invested in Ced, and they couldn't get rid of him right away. You knew he wasn't going to change. Everyone thought I was being too judgmental too early. I'm like, 'Look, people don't change. They are who they are.''' ------------- The proof, according to Haynes, can be found not only in Benson's body of work, but also in his body. ''He was cutting a lot of corners in the weight room, and guys notice that,'' Haynes said. ''He was never cut, and that was one of those things that surprised a lot of people when he first got there. You expect someone to be cut up a little bit, but the fact that he wasn't came to show you, at least us, that there was an issue here. Running backs, you're supposed to be cut.''

In reading through all this the common theme is how bad we were last year yet still managed to win 7 games.

I would love for one of the young OGs to step up and earn the LG starting spot but in the end I want the 5 best Oline players on the field. If that means St Clair starts at LG so be it.

Maybe Sayers wants a new contract?

I think it's common for defensive players to "send a message" to an offensive player. I have no problem with a guy having to earn his starting spot which is likely all that the defense was doing to Ced. He cried about it and I think that's where it became something bigger than what it should have been. Ced is more than big enough to dish out a solid hit on a defensive player too.

Hunter is pretty good in his own right. It would be very tough for JWilliams to unseat him. I do like the fact that we finally seem to have some depth at LB especially after what Url went through last year. And you never know when Briggs will have another accident.

Let's see if he can run first.

Teams are going to look at Ced's performance on the field like this: The Bears offense sucked, really hasn't done much in his first 3 years. They have never had a good QB and a consistent passing game to take the pressure off the running game. With TJ there they never really let him be the man so he couldn't get into a groove running. Last year their Oline was absolutely horrible and couldn't have opened a hole in a pinata. Given all that, it's hard to really evaluate Ced, let's bring him in and see what he's got. The risk is minimal, if we're wrong we can cut with no cap hit. Expect Ced to get signed by someone although I think teams would like to see him exonerated in this recent DUI case first. I just don't think they'll be able to wait that long if they want him off the waiver wire.

Halas never paid anyone the kind of signing bonus that Ced got, nor did he have to work within a salary cap nor Free Agency. He drafted a player and he owned the player and they didn't get so much money with their first paycheck (before they even set foot on the field) that they could walk away and never work another day in their life. Times have changed but I think if the league can get their hands around these ridiculous signing bonuses and get a better salary structure for draftees things could improve. Sayers also said that the players back then wouldn't have tolerated his selfishness either. That's another aspect of our culture that has changed.

Somebody will be calling Benson to play this year. First they may want to get a feel for what the league might do to him but he'll end up on a roster.

Wolfe isn't big enough to carry the load and given the weakness of our WR corps, and QB situation, starting off with him as the primary back won't work very well IMO. We're going to go with the mix of Forte and AP and Wolfe picking up perhaps 5-7 carries/game. Once the passing game settles in a bit I can see Wolfe picking up a bigger role but he can't be the focus of the offense in game one when nobody will respect our passing game. I don't see why Forte can't start for us. He's a running back find the hole and run through it. With our Oline finding the hole might be a problem but that wouldn't be his fault and AP and Wolfe would have the same issues. I certainly can see AP and Wolfe taking turns as our 3rd down back.

The player running the reverse needs to be the guy opposite of Hester. Hester attracts a crowd, let him go deep and draw defenders with him, then run the reverse into that hole. But what do I know.

Insane, he's the next Reggie Bush. A nice versatile player to have on your team but based on his stats he would never get the same contract he just got as a rookie.

DManning can't possibly be our SS because that job requires someone who can tackle, he can't at least not very well. He does have the athleticism to play as a nickel DB I'm not sure if he'll fit there or not. Certainly having his size in the nickel slot would be much better than having McBride play there. McGowan deserves to be listed as the starter at SS right now but I'm not ruling out Payne at all. Minicamp is not where this job is won unless a guy is just totally out of alignment on plays. How can you evaluate a SS until they start tackling people? As far as Payne playing special teams vs. being our starting SS refer to Charles Tillman who is a cover guy on special teams. I don't think that's a factor in the starting SS decision at all.

While your forecasted number of catches isn't close to what Berrian had last year the yards are in the ballpark. i think Berrian had 971 yds last year. If Hester can do that he will easily replace the big play threat we had with Berrian, especially since he'd be averaging 17.7 yards per reception. That would draw a lot of attention from defenses. That would allow the other receivers to make up the difference in receptions (Booker, Bradley, Olsen, Clark).

I gotta add that this article is the first time I can recall Lovie being directly critical of his team in a long time. A few quotes: -------------------------------------------------- Smith has given his team a similar message and follow-up relating to its running game -- it will be back full-throttle for the 2008 season. He is selling it. He expects it bought. "We talk around here about getting off the bus running the football, it is our philosophy, but we were not a good running team last year," Smith said of his recent 7-9 Bears. "We need to. We have to. We will. "I am the first to admit it didn't happen. The fault starts with me. So, we admit it. Now we're not going to do a lot of talking about it. We're going back on the football field to work. We're a 7-9 team with some big hills to climb. We've climbed them before." ------------------------------------ The organization knows that Orton or Grossman must produce enough difference-making pass plays for the Bears to be a special team. Smith said both are battling for the starting job and likely will into the preseason. "Right now they look like guys at the free throw line, shooting free throws, throwing the ball around here in shorts with no pressure in their faces, with no hits," Smith said. "I will do my evaluation when they get hit. I have told every one of our players that we are a 7-9 team. This is where you are. This is your role in the turnaround. Quarterbacks included." --------------------------------------- Smith said his team gets it. He is excited about this team. He believes it is preparing for a special season. If it can continue to compete and remain healthy, Smith sees a bigger Bears reunion. An even bigger Family Day. "We're a 7-9 team, one that finished in last place in our division," Smith said. "You're 7-9, it tests your character. You see what you got. I think our best football is ahead of us." ---------------------------------------

You can look at that in two ways. First he's being handed the job but there's also the possibility that we're starting to see the Lovie of old who made guys earn their playing time. Keep the carrot out in front of the younger guys and make them work for the job. I'm ok with it if that's the situation, however, if we just don't have the talent to challenge Metcalf then we're in a really bad spot. I fear the latter which is why putting St. Clair back at LG seems like a good idea to me.

It's way early to make a judgment but just watching the day two highlights from minicamp Ced appears to be quite a bit quicker than he was last year. I can't tell if he's any faster but his lateral cuts seem to be much crisper than what I recall last year. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...amp;PLAY_CLIP=Y Other observations... Olsen continues to be a QBs best friend with outstanding catches. Our QBs throw a lot of picks into coverage but this can just as easily be a blown route by a WR, still some very bad passes. Metcalf may have left a few biscuits on the table this offseason, it seems he can move a bit better than last year. Of course it can be argued he had nowhere to go but up so this isn't saying much. Williams has very good mobility, that's a good thing for a LT to have. Now about those 22 reps at the combine...

We've only had a minicamp but this is a good sign that Hester has learned where to lineup and what route to run on plays. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalkStory.asp?story_id=4768 I totally agree with you that Devin Hester will surprise everyone at wide receiver this year. What’s your guess on how many catches and yards he’ll have? Do you think 70 catches and 850 yards is out of the question? Eric H. Monroe, Michigan I’m going to predict that Devin Hester catches 53 passes for 848 yards. I think 70 is a little high just because the Bears will try to establish a running game and also spread the ball around in the passing game to their wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. From what I’ve seen, however, Hester is certainly talented enough to catch 70 passes in a season.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4766 LAKE FOREST, Ill. – When the Bears resumed OTA workouts Wednesday at Halas Hall, Terrence Metcalf lined up with the No. 1 offense at left guard as he has done throughout the offseason. The seventh-year pro is penciled in as the starter, but he knows that he must perform better than he did last season when he was benched after taking over for the injured Ruben Brown. Terrence Metcalf has played in 78 games with 25 starts in six years with the Bears. “It’s a huge opportunity,” Metcalf said. “I feel like it’s time for me to step out and play, just do what I know I can do, do what I know the coaches believe that I can do. That’s pretty much it. “I feel very prepared for it. All it is is putting in the work, putting in the time in the classroom, doing extra work and doing whatever I need to do to be physically ready to get on the field.” ....skipping ahead in the article.... Asked what Metcalf must do to cement the starting left guard position in training camp, Turner said: “Just being consistent with his techniques and fundamentals, and consistent with the mental aspects of it assignment-wise and adjustment-wise. “The biggest thing that Harry [Hiestand] will be working with him on is just his overall techniques and fundamentals with his hand placement, his feet, his sets and just the attention to detail, and Harry is as good as there is at zeroing in on that.” ==================================== After all these years our coaches still have to teach him his techniques and fundamentals? Realizing that maintaining solid fundamentals is always a good thing but in this case that's a joke. How many years with Turner's offense and (if you read the entire article) this guy still doesn't know his assignments on plays? If somebody doesn't step up and take this job from him we're in trouble. If none of the young guys step up I'm hoping at the very least Chris Williams is doing well enough that we can move St. Clair back to LG. It's too early to cut Metcalf but he seems headed in that direction.

Kyle is durable because he'll throw the ball in the dirt before taking a hit. Not that that is always a bad thing but it demonstrates the difference between Rex and Orton's personalities. Rex always wants to make a big play and in the end that leads him to force throws that have bad consequences. Orton plays like he's ok waiting for a big play later. There's a middle ground where you want your QB to reside the question is which of these two will get there first, if ever.