AZ54

Danieal Manning with a 14, no wonder he struggles reading plays at the safety position.

I missed on too many to make it public knowledge. I was really stifled on #14 (who scored our first TD?) because it was hard to remember any TDs in the first half of the season.

Found this while checking out the Bears website so since it's a bit slow I figured I'd put it up here. If nothing else it should give Nfol an excuse to add 10 more posts to his HOF quest. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4492 How well do you know the Bears? Take our trivia quiz By Larry Mayer 1. Who caught Rex Grossman’s first NFL touchdown pass? A) Marty Booker Desmond Clark C) David Terrell D) Dez White 2. Which Bears starter entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent? A) Desmond Clark Hunter Hillenmeyer C) Adewale Ogunleye D) John Tait 3. In terms of the Bears, what do former Lions running back Barry Sanders and former NFL defensive lineman John Jurkovic have in common? A) Both own Bears season tickets Both scored TDs against the Bears in 1994 C) Both had a brother drafted by the Bears D) Both made their NFL debuts in Soldier Field 4. Devin Hester’s longest TD return came against which opponent? A) Giants Packers C) Rams D) Vikings 5. Which Bears offensive lineman was a state heavyweight wrestling champion in high school? A) Roberto Garza Olin Kreutz C) John St. Clair D) John Tait 6. Other than Brian Urlacher, who is the only Bears linebacker to record at least five sacks and five interceptions in the same season? A) Lance Briggs Wilber Marshall C) Mike Singletary D) Otis Wilson 7. Lovie Smith’s first win as Bears head coach came against which team? A) Chiefs Lions C) Packers D) Vikings 8. Which Bears player won the Walter Payton Award in college? A) Cedric Benson Jason McKie C) Adrian Peterson D) Garrett Wolfe 9. Robbie Gould’s first career game-winning field goal came against the Saints in which city? A) Baton Rouge Champaign C) Chicago D) New Orleans 10. Which Bears player left college as the ACC’s all-time leading receiver? A) Marty Booker Desmond Clark C) Devin Hester D) Brandon Lloyd 11. Which Bears player was nicknamed “ESPN3” in college? A) Devin Hester Charles Tillman C) Brian Urlacher D) Nate Vasher 12. Who was the last Bears player to score three touchdowns in a game? A) Marty Booker Curtis Conway C) Devin Hester D) Anthony Thomas 13. Which Bears player played minor league baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers? A) Cedric Benson Rashied Davis C) Trumaine McBride D) Nick Roach 14. Who scored the Bears’ first touchdown of the 2007 season? A) Cedric Benson Desmond Clark C) Devin Hester D) John St. Clair 15. Which of the following Bears Hall of Famers was not a first-round draft pick? A) Dan Hampton Sid Luckman C) Mike Singletary D) Clyde “Bulldog” Turner

It's great to see LT back and this Bears community isn't going anywhere. It has to be one of the best moderated forums around with some of the best informed fans. How many times have we had topics posted here that ended up as the subject of articles in the Trib or Suntimes? We've been through numerous offseason tiffs going all the way back to the Shoop days and before. (It's always worse in the offseason) Let's get over all the man-hugs and get back to figuring out who we're drafting. Afterall, we only have a little over 30 days to get this info to Jerry.

Completing 80% of passes with no pass rush and no DBs out there? Doesn't sound great, and he throws a lousy spiral, not a total duck but definitely a ball that will not easily get through a windy day at Soldier Field. I'll agree that he does find a way to win games but he also forced a lot of passes last year. Was that out of necessity or is he the next Grossman?

Adams played well last year, Walker didn't. I think we go again with Dusty, Harris as starters with Adams as the #3 and I believe Toeina gets a shot at being #4. Idonije sticks around as #5. Then we'll see another young body brought in for competition either through the draft or some FA hanging around hoping to make a million dollars next year.

After reading 20 posts you hit the one point I wanted to make in this whole argument (and hadn't yet read) that the stud RB career expectancy is far shorter than that of a stud Oline player. Now I wish I had some stats to go with this thought but I don't. I do know that this is the reason most RBs hold out after one great year for a huge contract. They and their agents know that it might be their only chance at getting the big money. You don't see that often for Oline. I can't even remember the last Oline player to hold out on a team while under contract.

Which is why I like the idea of bringing in Jackson. I'd sign him to a 3 year deal and give him a bit more cash. Nothing too high so it's at least a manageable contract for us but it would stabilize the WR position for a couple years while we sort out who's who among Hester, Bradley, Lloyd. You've got Booker for next year too so adding Jackson could let us wait a year to draft a WR.

Starting to sound like we need to trade up in this draft to secure the player we need. I'm ok with that to get a Franchise LT as long as the price isn't too high. It's a cornerstone that that makes the rest of the Oline pieces easier to find. Now if JA and company feel the Cherilus or Albert can develop into a consistent Pro Bowl player at their position then sit tight and draft one of them.

No to Joe Flacco in Rd 2, yes to Josh Barrett at 107

I could live with Booker, Jackson, Hester, Bradley and Lloyd as our 5 WR going into the season. Take WR off our draft needs for Rds 1-3 and go focus on Oline, RB, and QB.

According to the article it was a midseason trade? When is the midseason trade deadline, I believe it's in Oct. That means we thought we had a deal with the 49ers to ship them Briggs in October. The Bears are contending that prior to closing the deal the 49ers engaged in contract discussions with Rosenhaus. What we'd have gotten from them I have no idea but the fact JA is pursuing this with the league is good IMO and not just sour grapes. He's paid to do everything he can to make the Bears as competitive as possible. First he could be engaged in future trade talks and I agree with him that the agents shouldn't be involved unless appropriately authorized by a team. Secondly, we might get something out of this from San Fran, if not, they will likely at least lose something. IF it's just a small cash fine no big deal but it might be enough to stop a future transgression.

Being fast enough to catch Ced from behind won't impress most Bears fans.

61 career tackles is why nobody has heard of him.

Tait fought through a bad ankle injury last year, or something like that. It wasn't widely talked about but it did affect his mobility and ability to block faster DEs. Yet he was still far from our worst problem on the Oline. I'm one of those who would love to be able to move him back to RT but I'm not so sure we couldn't get away with leaving him at LT this year. The biggest problem I have with that plan is how do we fill that spot in '09 because I think by then he'll need to slide over to the right side. It's a great point about the Patriots. They didn't win the Superbowl with all that talent. We all know how their fans feel since everyone one of us knows an arrogant Patriot fan.

Which begs the question why is Denver replacing him? If they can have this guy for a reasonable price and he's a decent player why wouldn't they just keep him around?

Never heard of him. 3rd best among who?

I'll agree with BearSox on the QB names but had no clue on who "C" was until I read his post. I voted for B.

I'd love to have Boldin but since we'd be giving him the big contract there's no way I'd part with our first rd pick, second rd yes. Not to mention that I'd love to use that pick to draft our future LT if things fall our way.

I always appreciated how he worked his way onto the team but I won't miss him if he leaves.

I'd be ok with St Clair as our starting LG. He can still be our backup OT but we gotta get some better depth at OG for the future and we must address OT in the draft, preferrably LT in Rd 1.

Lloyd only counts $485k against the cap on a one year deal that we can cut at anytime makes that a good pickup.

Why I don't like Flacco as a first or second round pick: 1) Left Pitt because he couldn't win competition against a guy nobody is talking about for the draft. Big red flag IMO. 2) When he left Pitt did he go to another big name school to prove himself? Nope, took the easy road where he could start guaranteed at a school that was basically back home. Makes me wonder if he's afraid of competition. How is that going to play out in the NFL where every pass is scrutinized? 3) Played against weak competition (William&Mary, West Chester, Rhode Island, Towson (has anyone besides me know where that is?), Monmouth, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Navy, James Madison, Richmond) all games where he had excellent completion % ~65% or better except James Madison where he had 55%. 4) Against better competition his completion % dropped significantly (Villanova 46%, and playoff games Delaware St 55%, Northern Iowa 55.6%, Southern Illinois 55.3%, Appalachian St 48%). I'm sure somebody will say he didn't have first rate WRs and for sure we're not talking about drafting his WRs. Then again we're not talking about drafting the DBs he faced either. Nor any of the players he went up against and the NFL is a huge leap in speed and scheme just from a top flight school let alone what he's seen on the field. 5) Slow release. I can rebuild a levee in New Orleans in the time it takes him to throw the ball. Ok maybe just a couple shovels worth of dirt but his release is about 3x of Rex's. 6) Not very accurate based on the Delaware St game but I'll admit one game isn't enough to make a full judgment. 7) Telegraphed passes (see slow release) will make it easy for NFL DBs to get a jump on the ball making any out pattern a gamble. 8) He's at least a two year project more likely 3 years with too many question marks in my opinion to warrant a day one pick. Our QB situation is terrible with Rex on a 1 year deal and Orton on a 2 year deal. Both could flame out this year. If we're giving up a day one pick I want a guy more ready to start next year or at worst after two years. That means someone who's faced better competition. 9) He runs ok but I don't see him as a great scrambler. Not so much a knock as he has better mobility than any of our current QBs. Does he know when to run and when to stay in the pocket? I just view this as part of his learning curve. 10) Beware the fast rising player in the draft who jumps up a lot AFTER the games are done!

I'd only trade down after seeing who was picked before us. If Williams is there I don't see why we wouldn't pick him. Sure we could use another pick on day one but giving up a big talent for what you think might be there later isn't worth it IMO. Then someone will trade up right before us and grab the QB or OT we wanted. If the top 3 LTs are all gone then I'd be happy with the trade down. In that case, the question is going to be: Who's there that's worth a team trading up for? I can see some teams making that move for Ellis. Perhaps Mendenhall but I doubt anyone would make a huge jump for him.

I only watched Mendenhall in one game vs. USC. He plays with more burst than Stewart and I saw both play against USC but I'd rather not base my opinion of Mendenhall to one game. I'll defer to others who watched him all year. However, the Ilini QB is nowhere near as good a dual threat as Dixon was for Oregon so I think the field was more open for Stewart to run. Having seen a lot of Stewart I don't feel he's a legit top 15 pick and so I don't want to pick him in Rd 1. If we pick him up in Rd 2 I can live with that. I think he'll be a good RB in the NFL but not great.