AZ54

I'm not happy with this at all, I don't think he hurts the team but I don't see him helping a whole lot either. Now we know he's sticking around for this year. So is Booker. So is Hester and I assume Bradley will be given every chance to show he's worth keeping around this season. That makes 4 WR on the team, two of which are also special teams returners (Hester/Davis) so it appears likely IMO that we'll be keeping 6 WR on the final roster. You got a draft pick coming soon, perhaps two if we grab one in Rd 7 too, and that means Hass, Lloyd, and Rideau get to fight to show themselves worthy of keeping around.

If Henne or Brohm are there for us in Rd 2 I think there's a good chance we take them but overall I still feel it's most likely that our next QB is chosen in Rd 3 or 4.

Nah, just say no and draft a RB.

I like the two QBs selected late on day 2 and I think Dixon goes on IR to "rehab his knee injury". Brennan needs at least a year or two to gain weight.

Unless Ryan falls to us at 14 (he won't) then we're taking an OT or Albert. (Did you hear that Jerry?)

I think Dorsey is the better pick but in the end putting the Vick saga behind them by selecting Ryan wins out.

Dmac, he'll create more buzz than any other player except perhaps Chris Long but this thread assumes Long is gone by then and I'm not so sure that'll happen.

Makes no difference to me either way, I just look for posts that were updated today as I read at night.

If you are a RB who needs good blocking to succeed then you are a RB with lots of company, and little value.

Just stay put and grab a top tier OT. I have nightmares we'll trade down and end up with the "Cade McNown OT" of this draft.

I'll be very happy if we take Otah at 14. Why? Because we desperately need OT help and Otah is light years better than Fred Miller because he doesn't fall down after taking two steps. For all the downside talk about Otah most if it is about his ability to play LT. In the end game if you have a guy who is a road grader on the right end of the line then that's where you run. Want to run a reverse? Go left first and then have Otah seal off the backside of the line. Otah will be good enough to anchor the right side in pass protection which means we'll be able to line up the TE on the left side (if needed) or the RB can focus more on the left side. That's a step up from last year where the RB had to focus on everyone missing their man.

Maybe if some of these position coaches turned some of these players into better performers they'd get a big pay raise too.

i'm taking Barrett. In the 4th round the higher floor doesn't mean as much to me. I watched Barrett in a lot of ASU games and he'll make boneheaded plays at times but when he does connect he connects in a big way. If we were talking about an earlier pick I'd take the higher floor.

Where Jake Long gets drafted definitely affects which OTs are available when the Bears pick.

I agree he was brought in solely as a change of pace back and we gotta have someone who can carry the majority of the load in front of him.

Clady. It's time to pick the cornerstone at LT that we've needed for years. I like Ryan but from what I've seen of him in games I don't like him enough to pass on picking up an elite LT.

With all the 3 and outs our offense had I don't think you can put together 7 hrs of film from last year.

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.