AZ54

We might keep 4 RBs but I'm not convinced we will just because we drafted a RB. I posted this awhile back that I felt Wolfe would stay and get another shot almost for sure. We'd draft a RB and depending on the type of RB we get (I think it will be a bigger runner to carry the load) the competition will be between Benson and AP. If Benson isn't back to 100% from the injury and hasn't been rehabing (is that a word?) well why keep him? We have cap space, take the hit and move forward. Since he'd likely be getting cut during camp I think the cap hit gets spread out over 2 seasons so it won't be that painful. The Bears can also go into camp with 4 RBs and choose the 3 they want then seek to trade any of Benson, AP, or Wolfe for a pick. I'm laughing at some of the points made about Wolfe ...can't consistently make a guy miss....can't run over a guy...can't pass protect well...etc. All are things AP struggles with. I also think his special teams contribution, while key for us, is being a bit overrated in value for the team. Jamar Williams will be the heir to Ayanbandejo's role. Michael Okwo will also be out there, a guy who played well on coverage units in college. Corey Graham played well on coverage units late in the season. I think McBride was out there too and did some good things. Kevin Payne will also be out there, and we still have McClover who was brought here for special teams. So there are a lot of guys competing for those roles on special teams, they know they need to play on special teams to help them make the roster or at least to get playing time. With Ayanbandejo leaving it definitely helps AP's chances but I don't feel special teams alone guarantees him a roster spot.

Kruetz blocking someone in space is not a pretty thing and often does not involve any contact at all.

A 7hr meeting with Mendenhall during one of the busiest times of the year (predraft)? To go over what? This just seems like a huge smoke screen to me.

I don't think Kreutz is big enough to play guard that well. He's strong for sure but what makes him so good as a center is his quickness. Of course that's fading some as he gets older so I understand the thought but I just don't think it would be that good for him.

Does his 13 yards per catch average in regular season games count? It appears his 2.7 yards per rush does? I still feel he was misused as a rusher when they sent him up the middle. That's a run play that might work on 3rd and long but not 1st and 10. He won't even break an arm tackle there. He needs to be used in space so he can take advantage of his quickness and when he had outside runs we saw him have more success. It wasn't all good either as there were also times where he made poor reads leading to a bad cut into a tackler but I think with more experience he'll understand the speed of the game better. Get a passing game that can actually force safeties to respect their deep responsibilities and Wolfe will just have to make the first guy miss, which he can do.

The guy I see falling out of the top 10 and possibly all the way to us at #14 is McFadden. He's had a lot of hype early in all the predraft hype but his stock is falling somewhat and he has character issues. Other players at other positions are moving up (i.e. Albert). If the Raiders don't pick him at #4 who in the top 10 does?

I like Wolfe and expect him to fill the same role on 3rd down this year as he did last year but with more carries or receptions. The problem is for him to be effective we need an offense that doesn't routinely go 3 and out.

Tommy has to sign a bit under the market because he's getting his deal a year early. He can certainly wait another year and see if he gets injured again, or not, and then pursue Freeney money. I just don't think given his last two seasons he'd like to take that chance, or they wouldn't be talking right now. In the end he won't get Freeney money but he'll get more than the Raider DT and it will probably be two tiered with a second roster bonus in year two or three so the Bears can get out of the deal if he's not performing.

I'm always leary of making decisions based on a YouTube highlight reel but of the players listed here's my thoughts: Johnson: At first thought he was the typical speed rusher in college, all straight ahead one cut type, just run like hell. They usually don't fare too well in the NFL. Then they put in some clips of inside runs and he showed good balance and a willingness to put the shoulder down. He showed some inside moves as well and vision to see the back cut. Doesn't have much power though. Damn he's fast! He'd be a good complement to Benson. Doubt he can carry the load fulltime. Stewart: He'd be a good replacement FOR Benson. Can handle the whole package with enough speed to break the long runs, inside power runs, and vision. Jamaal Charles: Same initial though as Johnson but he showed a lot of patience when there was nothing there and often found a way to get free. Really craft runner in tight space and willing to put his shoulder down as well, not a lot of power. Made some very good catches in the open field and has the speed to make the long run. He'd be a great complement to Benson. Rice: Great balance, ok speed but not a lot of power in that little body. Seems like a second day pick versus Rd 2. Jones: Typical college speed rusher, give him a big hole and let him, at least that's all they put in those clips. Saw nothing much on the inside runs to indicate how he'll fit into our offense. I'd prefer Johnson or Charles over him. Forte: Can replace Benson. (when I say this I mean he can be the fulltime or at least primary RB, the role Ced was drafted for). So from what I saw I'd take Johnson, Charles, or Forte in Rd 2. Stewart is a no brainer there too but I expect he'll be gone by then. Which brings me back to my post weeks ago on the Bears RB situation. What we do depends on what we feel about Ced. While there's talk we won't cut him because of his cap hit we might since we have the cap space and if he's lost a step and isn't working hard at rehab why keep him? He won't be equal to last years performance. In that case we need a RB big enough to handle the load, splitting time with AP. Yet if there's good reason to feel Ced will recover fully by training camp, at least enough to handle 12-15 carries/game then we could go with more of a complimentary speed back. In this case we see what Ced has this year, and then if needed go get another big RB next year. In this situation AP is gone but don't be surprised if he gets traded ala Chris Harris during training camp. Knowing JA, all the predraft chatter with Mendenhall, Charles, and especially Forte probably means we want Johnson in Rd 2.

That's the reason I read this board daily. There's no news, not even on NFL Network that I'm not already ahead of the game with the facts of the situation. Even if some network breaks news I'm headed here ASAP to get some real opinions of people that truly care about the Bears being successful.

When did Ryan Grant and Earnest Graham become superstars?

More Flacco in RD 2. If it happens it's gonna rank up there with DManning in Rd 2 except this time around I'll have heard the guys name beforehand.

The push-out rule will not only impact redzone plays but will also make it harder to complete a game winning drive inside 2min. I like it because I think it gives more credence the first 58 min of the game. So many games are won late that these days that it's become a mantra to just stay close until the end. As other stated all most of the rule changes in the last decade have helped the offense now we have one that equalizes things for the D. I still hate the ticky tack rules on how you can tackle a QB. The in the grasp rule needs to go away. It causes too much confusion and, like the push-out rule, it's way too much of a judgment call. Look at how Eli pulled away from a grasp in the Superbowl a great play. It's why I prefer to let the QBs fight to get out of a tackle if they want. If they don't want to fight they can fold up on first contact. If they want to throw a pass while getting tackled then so be it.

I can see things going down that way. If we end up with Williams I'll be content (at least for the first round). I still love the idea of getting Barrett in the 4th.

Mike Brown is made of glass. Why would Lovie even hint at having DManning start at SS when he still needs to learn his main position, FS. Since DM is the only backup FS we have on the team giving him any snaps at all at SS is a stupid decision IMSO. He already has proven he does not have great football instincts and that's backed up by his wonderlic score and perhaps the fact he couldn't quailfy for a D1 school despite his athleticism. There's an expression that a tiger never changes his stripes, so we should quit expecting DManning to become something he's not. Keep things as simple as possible for him and let him focus on learning one job. I think eventually he'll be good at FS. The fact Lovie comes out and states stuff like this publicly is why I think he's weak in how he handles demoting players. He feels like he has to throw this crap out to the public to help his player save face. OTOH you have decisions like last year when he demoted Alex Brown in the offseason instead of making it a camp competition. We just gave Brown a contract extension so you know how that worked out. I really wonder if Lovie is in touch with his players and knows them as well as he should. Film doesn't tell you everything you need to know in order to successfully manage players.

I'm sure Steve McMichael and probably everyone on that 85 Bears team would be laughing at this thread. I know I am.

I'm LOL thinking about any RB trying to pick up a blitz behind our Oline last year. Let's see I have 1 second to figure out who will get beat first: Fred Miller on the right side, he's always getting beat to the outside? Tait with his bad ankle on the left side? Or Tait's backup St. Clair? Or will it come up the middle where Ruben can only block with his left arm? Or are they gonna run right around his backup Metcalf, or will Metcalf just fall over before he even lays a hand on the guy? I saw Ced miss some pickups but I saw AP miss many more, of course AP got more 3rd down time than Ced. By the middle of the season I didn't see where AP was better as a blocker. He was probably better at catching the ball in the flat. In a one-on-one situation AP just doesn't hold his ground very well against any rusher. Ced can at least stop a guy cold.

Who said the team looks at him as a #1? This is Mark Bradley speaking and he said he feels he can be the #1 WR for the Bears. I have no problem with his statement, I much prefer to hear players be confident in their ability as long as they are willing to put in the extra work to earn it and don't bitch if you don't get it. I was no fan of what Lovie did last season and feel his decisions held this team back. I think he had a Superbowl team the year before, got his big fat paycheck (after throwing the team under the bus in negotiations) and then sat back and hung out with all the players who got him that big check. Moose was far from a good WR last year and there was no reason Bradley wasn't on the field for more plays. Especially at the end of the season. What was his crime? Messing up a play here and there? So did Hester. Dropping a sure TD? So did Berrain. Not fighting for a pass? So did Berrian. Dropping easy first downs? So did Moose. Asking for more playing time midseason? Well what was the offense doing without him? Then there's the performance of the Oline. The fact we didn't get the ball to Greg Olsen more often. I'd say Lovie threw all the offenses troubles on Rex's shoulders when he demoted him in week 3 and was too stunned (or clueless) to understand the issues were much deeper than that. On the D side of the ball he switched DManning to CB. RANT OFF.

I'm hearing a lot of chatter about Albert moving up into the top 10 on draft boards. If this happens it should mean we're able to draft one of the top 3 LT. If Albert is still there for us at 14 it sounds more and more like that's a solid pick for us too.

We choose that bust guy far too often in Rd 1.

This was during the season and the Bears were working on a trade with the 49ers before the trade deadline. SF apparently contacted Briggs about the trade when the Bears wanted to keep things behind the scenes. Teams often have trade talks and they typically prefer the players aren't aware of them until they have agreed on a deal. I suspect the Bears and 49ers didn't yet finalize the deal when they contacted Briggs. Then for whatever reason the deal didn't go through. That might have been because Briggs told them he wouldn't sign a new deal before the end of the season. Or he could have just flat out said I don't want to play for you and will just leave after the season. Nobody knows at this point except those involved but it seems clear the Bears felt they had a deal and the contact with Briggs nixed it.

The expected career of a RB is shorter than an NFL Olineman. Mendenhall might be special but how long will he be special? Rarely do you see RB who stay at the top for more than 3 years and there's just no way to predict that. How many RBs have their big season or two, hold out for a new contract and then we don't hear from them again? What happened to Adrian Peterson last year? I think the fact is that the NFL season is now so long that it's hard to rely on one back to carry the load for so many years. I prefer now to forego the search for an elite RB and just be content with a two back system with two good players who have different styles so you can attack defenses in different ways depending on their strengths. If you hit the jackpot and one guy turns into a stud, that's great. Instead focus on building your Oline which is going to be more dependable in the long run (a better return on your big signing bonus and makes RBs, WRs, TEs, and QBs perform better. JA takes this approach with his Dline and has put a lot of attention on that in his drafts. It's time he uses the same strategy on the other side of the ball.

If we got him with our new 3rd Rd pick I'd be happy. He will need to learn to stay lower as he runs through the hole or he's gonna get clotheslined a lot. I like his quick cut and burst once he gets past the initial hole. He runs well in the open field though and shows ability to make cuts at speed.

Harrison and Wayne have been in the same offense with the same QB and OC for how many years? I'm sure everyone has seen Peyton get mad at Wayne for running the wrong route in a game. At least I've seen it several times. Put either guy through the Bears OC carousel and lets see how they do. I don't want to diminish Harrison's accomplishments because he's had a great career but he's also had a great situation in Indy. Tommy Harris has to do one thing on every single play...swim move through the assigned gap and step forward toward the QB as fast as possible. It ain't difficult to know your assignment as a DT in our scheme.

I too am glad to say you were wrong. Kudos to JA and company for pursuing this. Not only did we move up we gained ground on an opponent by having them move back and lose a pick. Being the 7th pick in the 3rd round makes it easier to move up into the late second if someone is there that we want. Remember on day one they only have rounds 1 and 2 so if someone falls there might not be as many teams noticing it late in the day as they start to prepare for day two and they might simply assume he'll be there for them early in Rd 3.