AZ54

IMO this is the first time I've ever heard Ced admit any culpability for things going wrong. That's a big step, the first step, to understanding how to improve. Yes it's only June and nobody is getting hit yet so this is all we have to go on. On it's own it's a good step forward and I like it. That's about all we ever get in June.

The number one thing I got out of that article is that I like our QBs much better than Baltimore's. Of course they have Flacco who is just oozing the p-word (potential) but has never taken snaps under center.

I hope this is just him blowing smoke and given his $4 million salary he better be able to decipher which guy is the better QB before then. Whoever it is needs the last couple preseason games to work with the first team so we have some chance at scoring points against Indy.

Of course we have more explosion on the field. Aside from Mark Bradley's exploding knees we've got a lot of guys that are faster than Moose. Berrian was fast but Moose was slow enough to fully counter that. I don't think we're going to miss Moose in anyway except for his blocking on running plays...he was very good at that. Yet that's like praising the big man who is only good at taking up space in middle of the lane in a basketball game. In some ways it can help a team but it's not really what playing center is all about.

Never liked Simms in college and haven't seen anything in his career that would tell me otherwise. I really think there's more to his health issues than we know about or TB would have kept him around.

Graham was always touted as a good cover guy coming out of college but he was considered to weak and needed a year to beef up. He ended the season playing well on special teams though and it's good to hear that he earned some time with the first team.

I like Orton's last line about being confident in the offense and being able to take it to the second level when reading a defense. Then he proceeded to throw 3 INTs yesterday. So did his competition.

Besides "I'm here and ready to practice", what is any player going to say in minicamp that will make a difference?

At least Hester understands he needs to learn where to line up as a WR if he wants to get paid the big bucks. As for Calvin Pace upset over the fact the Cardinals needed to feed him and give him yoga classes...that's a joke.

It would be nice if our OGs can occasionally help the center too. Really if the strength of a team is a DT then you have 5 guys and you should be double teaming him. Likewise our coaches should be preparing for this as they game plan and practice during the week. Perhaps Kreutz is not making the right calls but then again when I see Metcalf stumble coming out of his stance while guys blow past him on both sides it's difficult for me to think that was a bad call on Kreutz' part. Or when Miller constantly gets beat on the outside? How do you protect against that? Of course you do it with the RB but then if they blitz up the middle what's the RB assignment? IMO there were just too many holes to plug on our line last year and no matter what call you made one of those holes was getting exposed.

I think Kreutz can still block well enough but he's not good enough to do his job and help others as well as he used to years ago. I'd hate to be in his spot knowing I've got to assist Metcalf and Garza on every play (and Miller is gonna get beat around the outside every pass play as well).

Try being from Arizona and heading to a wedding in Chicago on New Years Eve and then getting pulled over on the way to the hotel at 0200. Do a subjective field test in the cold when it was snowing. Cops asked me "why are you shaking?" Well let's see, could it be that I'm used to weather in the 80's and it's near freezing out here?

I liked Berrian and wouldn't mind at all if he was still on the team, for the right price. He's just not worth anything near what he's getting paid. Of course Booker doesn't replace what Berrian gave us as a deep threat but I don't see why he can't replace 71 receptions. That's a whopping 4.4 catches/game or as the Vikings would say $113,000 per catch. Booker won't have the yards/catch Berrian had but if he averages the same 11.1 as he did last year he'll give us about 800 yards receiving. More importantly by being a consistent short yardage threat that Moose wasn't it will help our other WRs. on intermediate routes. IMO it's the intermediate routes that really make an offense explosive and we can exploit that with our TEs as well as the other WRs. You need something of a deep threat to keep safeties honest but Berrian really didn't demand double coverage. I have no problem letting Devin Hester fill that role and even if he's not the first option he's a much better decoy than Berrian ever was. The only people saying Moose is a savvy WR are the folks in Carolina who just signed him. They're saying the Bears didn't know how to use him. Perhaps that's true but how do you use a guy who is too slow to run by anyone, can't make a cut without taking 3 or 4 steps, and when he does get open drops the ball at a high rate? Oh yeah, you have him run block.

Hey Calvin Johnson and his 42nd ranking 756 yards receiving would beg to disagree with you. That makes Moose's 570 yards look like a steal when you compare contracts. Or look at Berrian's 26th ranked 951 yards both of which were done with a pathetic Oline.

If this progresses to the point there is valid proof the league will have to hand out a harsher punishment than the forfeited 1st Rd pick of 2008. At that point the NFL's most recent dynasty team would have been proven to have cheated in two ways. That of course opens the door to everyone asking what else they did to cheat and that becomes a huge image problem that Goodell will seek to quell as quickly as possible. The fastest way to do that is to hand out an extremely severe punishment that everyone (except Pats' fans) can agree on. Don't do enough and people will keep talking about it.

As bad as our Oline was last year we know it will be better this year for a couple reasons. One, we have a guy who can actually play LT on his own. He won't be stellar this year but I think he'll be as good as Tait was last year which was adequate. Tait at RT is a huge upgrade over Miller. Garza and Kreutz should be as good as last year so that leaves the LG position. We know St Clair can play this spot better than Metcalf but we also have a few other guys competing for it as well. I figure St Clair is not the first option but he is our fall back plan. So with our starters I think we'll be better, what worries me is the depth. We must have one of the young OGs step up or we have problems.

AZBear you hit the nail on the head. I hear everyone talking about Noah because he hustles. I don't hear them talking about Noah missing practices, or being late for practice, getting benched for his poor work ethic, etc. Just focus on the fact he'll run when he's on the court, even if he doesn't know where he's supposed to run to. By the way, Noah's teammates actually VOTED to have him sit out one more game! I've never seen that before. For all the talk about how hated Ced is in the locker room Noah has certainly proven to piss off his teammates far more than Ced has. Bears fans are simply saying that if I think you can play well for us we'll forgive your indiscretions. The 85 Bears weren't all saints yet their indiscretions were simply considered part of the package you get with such a physical group of players. I find it ridiculous to say Ced put himself in a bad situation being on the lake that day. If he was drinking and driving the boat, then he put himself in a bad spot but just going to the lake to hang out with friends? Someone said that Ced should have been doing his partying in private like the Cowboys of the 90s. It's a well known fact those Cowboys were doing a lot of drugs at those parties. but because it was private I guess it's ok. Of course it must be, Michael Irvin just got elected to the Hall of Fame and we all know his arrest record. Speeding in a construction zone? There's a reason the cop was sitting there and it's because a bunch of people in Chicago are doing that. Funny how nobody has commented how Ced was out at 0300 and wasn't arrested for being drunk or otherwise impaired. Somebody should follow these holier-than-thou reporters while they drive around town.

McBride is good in coverage but his run support was severely lacking last year. Maybe that's a case of rookie inexperience, just plain fear of getting beat in coverage, or what happens when you are 5' 9" and weigh only 180lbs but he was almost always very late reacting to a run. DManning tackles like a girl but has the athleticism to play in coverage. We've never really seen Graham play and Bowman's just a rookie on bad knees. RMJ didn't cover very well last year but his run support is usually solid. I'm ok moving RMJ on if the kids are doing well in the OTAs and early in camp but I think our run support in the nickel D is going to suffer. This scenario is shaping up just like last years safety situation when we traded Chris Harris.

Catching a football when nobody is hitting you is easy. I'll wait until the preseason games to see who's doing what.

That's normal in construction zones here in Phoenix unless people will get out of my way.

Early returns are in and it appears Benson can at least run as well as last year. We need more feedback from the OTAs and the next minicamp but it appears Ced wasn't quite finished when he broke his ankle.

At first I thought I went to the Arizona Cardinals message board but nope, this is the Bears board. There are a lot of teams that drafted between 10 and 20 that can have the exact same thread. I only care about results although potential seems to be getting rookies some awfully nice money these days.

Trying to sum this up. Orton played almost a full season as a starter his rookie year yet has never been given a chance to practice with the first string. Never given a chance to prove he could be a starter. Rex sucked at the start of 2007 because teams have him figured out. Get pressure up the middle and he'll float the ball to your DB. Therefore he got benched. Passer rating at time of benching probably just above 50. Griese came in and had a 75.7 passer rating but he was not the answer. Rex comes back in and plays ok with only an 88.8 passer rating but he was not the answer. Orton came in and sucked in his first game back but then settled down and played decently. Passer rating 73.5 and he is the answer. Of course during his three games he didn't get a fair shake from the coaches who did not have him practice with the first string? I only want the best QB to win the competition even if it's Caleb Hanie. I think Grossman has proven more than Orton in terms of boom or bust. Orton has only taken the middle road and I've never seen anything from him that made me say sign him long term and nothing that made me say cut him now (ala Grossman). The way this argument is being setup on either side no matter who wins and starts game 1 the other side is going to cry foul.

Our kicker puts more points on the scoreboard than all our QBs combined. So does Hester.

Don't forget you need to be able to tackle the guy when you get to him (ref: Adam Archuletta and Danieal Manning).