lemonej

Like I just stated before it wouldn't hurt to bring Anderson in for a look and Barton to the practice squad might be risky.They kept him on the roster for a reason.He didn't look bad during preseason.

Thats where I'm at Chile. I saw where the Bengals cut Willie Anderson I hope that they bring him in for a look see.

I agree about Toeina and I am a little surprised they kept him with Harrison and Idonije in the mix inside. As for Bazuin when was he going to play? Ogunleye,A.Brown,Anderson and Idonije will get most of the PT at end so that points to depth in the middle being more important where the Bears rotate players a lot.With Harris and Dusty coming back from injury you need another body inside.

Agreed Pix This is what is making it hard to contribute to some of these threads because of all the unrelated posts.

When Marriotti showed up here from the Detroit Free Press he basically was under the radar until he wrote a colunm about Michael Jordon not accompanying the Bulls on their visit to the White House because of other committments. Since that article he has been the self proclaimed voice of the Chicago fan when most of us knew he was a transplant with stops in Ohio and Detroit before coming to the Sun Times. My problem with Marriotti is his articles were basically put together by his researchers since he was constantly trying to get into electronic media with failed radio shows on WMVP(Now ESPN Radio) and Sporting News Radio.If there is one thing you can give Mike North credit for it was his show that Marriotti was constantly trying to go up against and usually North's ratings crushed Marriotti's.So while he was pursuing all these other interests his colunms started to lose more credibilty with me because with all the production meetings involved in these various shows how could he possibly have the time to actually watch any of Chicago's sporting events.Give him credit for having a good research staff but also recognize the fact that he couldn't be in several places at one time. The best thing about Marriotti's departure is there is a guy at work who would read his colunms daily and believed every word he said and now this guy won't be able talk sport's without those colunms to quote.

I think this could be the projected cut list: Chester Adams Atterbury Baldwin Balogh Booker* Bowman Trey Brown Clermond Gafford Haas La Rocque Mines Osborn Peters Poles Polite Pope Rideau Stone Toeina

What has been over-looked as part of Idonije's value to this team has been his knack for blocking kicks which has become a lost art in the NFL.Since his arrival as an undrafted free agent he has worked his way into being a key contributor on defense and special teams.On a lot of Hester's runs you can see Idonije's number throwing a key block.I would put Idonije's value on special teams right behind Hester,Gould,Maynard,Mannely and AP. This along with his ability to swing between tackle and end may make a couple of guys expendable.

It would be hard for them to justify putting Bazuin on IR because he has played significant time in the last two games and he seemed to be moving well in both IMO.Dusty OTOH has had just a cup of coffee on the field so far.Right now Idonije is probably the 3rd down tackle in obvious passing situations alongside Harris with Ogunleye and Anderson at end. Don't be surprised if the Bears did cut him.They have cut 3 first rounders and 1 2nd rounder in Angelo's tenure.Remember Michael Haynes, Marc Columbo and Roosevelt Williams?

I've watched every PS game and the only impact D.Manning has had has been in the return game.He is supposedly being tried at the Nickel which I haven't seen him on the field much in that capacity.For that matter I haven't seen Ricky Manning Jr. that much either.The back ups at safety have been Payne and Steltz. What I meant about Tillman was prior to the Niner game he looked decent with a pick and a couple of pass breakups in two games.He also seems to be doing the best job of tackling of anyone on defense IMO.Its really troublesome when the best tackle of the PS was made by your starting RB(Forte) on an INT return.

The NFL has had a history of going after these guys who have held the title of world's fastest human.Bob Hayes had a HOF career with the Cowboys and won the gold in 64. Jimmy Hines the gold medalist in 68 had a tryout with the Dolphins but couldn't catch the ball. World class hurdler Renaldo Neamiah(Sp?) had a short undistinguished career with the 49ers.Little known to a lot of people but,Bo Jackson,Herschel Walker,Butch Woolfolk all Nfl running backs were top NCAA sprinters. Then there were guys like Johnny "Lam" Jones,Mel Latany(SP?) and most recently John Capel a Bear draft pick have had absolutley no impact in the NFL.Since the Olympics have started allowing professional athletes to compete it has been easier for sprinters and runners to declare their earnings and still compete on the world stage. As was stated their earning potential from endorsments can be very lucrative and the appearance fees that they may receive from the various sponsors of track meets mirrors some of what happens on the PGA Tour.Taking this option versus putting your body through the rigors of an NFL camp would seem more attractive.That is why this hasn't been debated too much recently.

Nfo I agree that the main problem with this defense is poor tackling and the safeties constantly being out of position.When I visited TC one thing that was eveident to me was that they weren't tackling.Now I don't believe they should be pounding each other into the ground but,I do recall in the past when Rivera ran the D Urlacher and Mike Brown put Benson out of commission with some tough hits in TC.Now the practices seem to be glorified walk throughs.How can you get acclimated to the physical nature of this game without tackling a little. As for McGowan and Brown at safety,they both may be able to knock your block off if they are in the right position but that has been the problem.They have been fooled a few times already.Nate Vasher has also looked medioctre.The only guy who has looked decent in the secondary is Tillman and of the backups Corey Graham.

Gattis looked lost in the game Thurs-nite so his departure was expected.I think the toughest cuts will come from the d-line and backup LB positions.

There are quite a few guys that are omitted from the list with the most glaring one being Tebow. Then there is Chase Daniels at Mizzou who is a little short.Wells from OSU at RB is also another.We could do this for days but it would be futile if the Bears continue to do things the way the have and put the focus on the defense first.I also think that Cinci's Ben Mauck who doesn't have any college eligibility left wouldn't be a bad QB choice to look at.He would come in probably older than Hanie is now.

He was drafted by the Texans and was 3rd string behind David Carr and I think Sage Rosenfeld(sp?)

I left out Rufus Mayes who ranks right at the top of Bears' draft busts.

Pix this doesn't surprise me since it was rumored that when he was in the draft the Bears had some interest. His name and Dave Ragone of Louisville were supposedly on the Bears' radar.

The first injury was actually in his rookie season against the Redskins when he hit his throwing hand on someones helmet when he rolled out to one sideline.I think it was the very last game of the season and he played just the first half. The injury against Minn was the very next year in game 3 a week after Mike Brown got injured(Achilles) against Green Bay. The next injury came in the preseason against St.Louis in Orton's rookie year. The Super Bowl year he took every snap and the following year he stayed healthy.Then the injury bug hit again last year.

Yeah I agree Pix but this staff maybe punishing him for not playing through a couple of his nagging injuries.You also have to take stock in the fact that whoever was the QB would prefer to have certain WRs on the field.Mark Bradley got most of his playing time as a result of Rex Grossman campaigning for the coaches to put Bradley on the field.

Since I have followed every one one of the drafts listed the one thing I noticed is that the Bears have have had some extreme bad luck drafting offensive tackles in the first round starting with Lionel Antoine who came out of SIU with the profile of being athletic enough to play TE well his knee injury limited his playing days. This trend continued with the likes of Dennis Lick,Ted Albrecht,Jim Covert,Stan Thomas,Marc Columbo and now Chris Williams.The only exception to this trend was Keith Van Horne who actually stayed with the Bears over ten years with just a few nagging injuries. The other thing that I noticed is the bad luck that they have had with QBs they have drafted from Virgil Carter and Gary Huff(The Rex Grossman of his day) to the two present draft picks at QB now on the roster. Also they have failed miserably on the two times they have traded first round draft picks for QBs Mike Phipps and Rick Mirer. In summary whether it was Ol' Man Halas,Jim Finks,Jerry Vanisi,Mikey and Wannie ,Mark Hatley or Jerry Angelo OT and QB have always been difficult positions for this team to evaluate.

Is this Mark Bradley you are talking about? He is not sitting on the bench because of coach's decision.Its because of doctor's decision due to numerous injuries.

The fact that Tank echoed the obvious about Grossman is not news with Rex's injury history.My real concern is if Grossman is gun shy.From all the times he has been injured while trying to play QB for this team makes me believe that he is throwing off that back foot because he is afraid of getting hit.In last Thurs Nites game he did that very same thing when the pressure got in his face. His biggest flaw is that his first step is back when under pressure and he throws the ball with all arm. I hope that if he doesn't get the starting nod that the Bears do us and themselves a favor and release him.With the o-line in patchwork mode he wouldn't be able to succeed here anyway.This is very simple for all of us to realize.The Bears are going to play defense first,special teams second and ball control offense.If that is the case Orton and Hanie can hand the ball off and throw short passes.

Well not to dispute Clayton or who you trust but when I was at TC yesterday there was no clear cut leader IMO.I also didn't see Clayton standing anywhere around the practice field yesterday.

What I saw at camp was the same basic difference I saw from both since they have been here and that is the speed of the pass to the sideline.Orton seemed to throw his more on a line while Grossman put a little more air under his.Why is that important? The new rule change that says receivers have to have both feet inbounds even if pushed by the defender will factor in when you throw passes up in the air on the sidelines.Orton seems to be doing all the reads while in the pocket but has been throwing a few passes nose down which is a little more difficult for the receivers to catch. Grossman has been stepping up in the pocket to make throws and even taking off on scrambles but what I have noticed from him in the past is that he will do this in the TC practices but when the season starts he goes back to trying to force throws when he could pick up first downs by occassionally running.Orton OTOH reminds me of former Bear backup QB Steve Fuller a conservative close to the vest type QB that takes few chances.

Flea it is surprising if you see a first year WR come in to Bears' camp and look like he can make an immediate contribution. I can't remember the last one that came in with his type of skill set to a Bears' TC.

With all the new starters on offense they really can move forward and not dwell on last year's dismal showing.