Alaskan Grizzly

I'd agree. Coming out of college he's listed as an LB/DE. That makes me think he's more suited the OLB role. It'll probably come down to him or SMC...at some point.

I can't read the link. It's stuck in the upper border .

After looking at a few clips on him, his mechanics are a little flawed. He tackles high. I wonder if its not a combination of his height (6'4") and/or the new 'heads up' approach to tackling? Heads up almost forces the tackler to hit higher since you really can't effectively drop your shoulder to do an effective tackle. I remember "back in the day" when I played in HS (our measurements are similar) I was always accused of 'bear hugging' people to the ground. I never really drove through tackles. Seems he does a lot of that.

Was reading a story in the Bleacher Report on "Top 10 undrafted free agents who could be a major contributor in 2014" and former FSU LB Christian Jones (now Chicago Bears) was mentioned. (Sorry can't post the link). According to some links in the story he was once a higher touted player but "failed a drug test at the combine" and dropped in stock as a result. Comparisons were of him to the Bills Manny Lawson. Anyone heard of him? I like what I see. Maybe an eventual starter in place of Greene or if SMC fails miserably at his conversion?

Can't say the 'need' is as bad as it were at the end of the year for a rookie to step in and start. Tillman will be back from injury (how long remains to be seen). The d-line (absent all the draft additions) is a lot different looking. You have Allen, Houston, Young and Collins and Ratliff will probably start the year as opposed to how things went last year. The l-backers will have another year under their belt (I think Bostic will come back this year and will look forward to meeting Bridgewater for a 'reunion'). And as someone pointed out before Mundy isn't necessarily a slouch and Conte might be good with the right front seven. So you see there may not be a need for the current rookies to have to step in and start. Although of the group I predict Vereen and Fuller will be before the season is over.

This times two (bolded). Most will blame your first line on the "Lovie influence" but how do you explain all the dissatisfaction on this year's #1? My thought is, and will continue to be, Emery is egotistical. Thinks he's smarter than most and will do most anything to be right. Having Tillman come back after what happened to Urlacher surprised me. But maybe that was more on Tillman's character than Emery learning from his mistakes.

So about that "good feeling"? Hmm.... So much for all the mocks. Glad they waited another month to drag this out. Hell even Manziel is still squirming waiting for someone to pick him. ROTfLMAO! On a lighter note, perhaps the thought is now Tillman is thinking safety? Or now that Wright is gone, we see his heir apparent? Because he's a corner in college does it mean he stays a corner? We shall see...

The Bears will pick a successfully collegiate player for their first pick. For their second pick they'll choose someone not quite as talented but still rated highly. And so on.... This we know with fair certainty. Why did they move the draft back? Ugh.

Buuut... At the same time the case is made for why several of the draft picks were ceded because they were exchanged for valuable FAs. (Gaines Adams excluded - he died). And...I might add... Half the FA example acquisitions in the article were with Emery as GM (Bushrod, Marshall, Bennett and Bush).

Buuuuut.... Anderson had 12 sacks in his rookie year and played opposite Ogunleye. Both of who were pretty good. Alex Brown was no slouch mind you, just a good rotational option in 2006.

So what you're saying is that because SMC improved himself he theoretically should be better? Because the "spare tire" you refer to was the 'before' not 'after'. If that be the case, then we agree(?).

So besides the creepiness of all you guys talking about the physical appearance of various players and making it worse by posting all the pictures of these guys in their shorts, I'll add my two cents. Lest we remember how misleading this infamous photo was of a future hall of famer: I don't think we can necessarily rate someone's potential on how they appear without their gear on. If we were to consider that alone then we would think Tim Tebow would be better as a QB than Brady. The question to ask is now that he's transformed himself, will he do better? Coming out of HS he measured 6'3", at 228# and ran a 4.8 40*. In the 2012 combine he came in at 6'3", 260# and ran a 4.6 40*. Now the article tells me that presumably he's still the same height but is 252 and runs a 4.5 40 ...and....lifts 365 in the bench press. So he lost 8 lbs from his combine day over two years ago but improved his speed by .1 of a second. Considering how fast a 40 yard run takes, and that normally you slow down, not speed up, I think that's pretty good. And, I might add, during the Combine Shea did 19 reps of 225 on the bench Press* Just for comparison; Urlacher did 27, Bostic 22, and Allen 13. As an extra note; our own Steven Paea set a near record of 49. So does the combination of strength, speed, agility and ripped abs equal a great player? Not necessarily. But the will to do better goes a lot better and from all indications SMC is doing all he can to improve himself in his new role. * (source: Wikipedia)

Not bad for an 8-8 non playoff team.

Move to Alaska. I rarely have those dilemmas.

Nice obscure GOT reference.

Funny, I tried downloading this same picture earlier. #lololololol Now after eating all day I'm taking Stinger's advice and going back to sleep. Wake me when the season starts.

You miscreants. Why did they have to move draft day?

Straight line speed and elusiveness are two different traits. That's why Hester ( and Deion for that matter) was so good. He had both. And the benefit of a good ST coordinator in Toub. What's done is done. If Williams can get through to the open field then all bets are off.

Hmmm... Intriguing. Major Wright, Bostic (jury's still out), Grossman to name a few. Although looking at the history you'll find Neal Anderson and Wilbur Marshall were drafted from there in the 80's. A whole generation ago.

Null

Gotta say Jason that I side with Cracker on this one. As one of the "idiots" who supported (and still do) Lovie I can't recall a time I thought Wolfe was properly utilized.

Funny, the other thread that Terra started specifically about Conte seems to indicate otherwise.

Yes I agree. Someone along the lines of MJD with North/South running capabilities. I'd like to see the Ford kid work out but recall seeing he's not really a direct line runner.

Playing Devil's Advocate how do you explain the draft/acquisition of Forte(2008), Cutler (09), Garza (05), Tillman (03), Paea (11), Briggs (03), Jennings (10), Conte (11), Peppers (10)and Wright (10)? All of whom were holdovers (and starters last year) from the Angelo/Lovie era. But you're right, at this moment we can't compare the 'success' rate of drafts but we can compare the "last 5 years" to know that "nothing to show" isn't entirely accurate. And just one fun little tidbit: There were 5 Pro Bowl selections in the 2011 season alone (source Wikipedia): Graham, Urlacher, Briggs, Forte and Tillman. All players drafted by JA.

Yes but I think this last year was telling. He no doubt was not able to close the hole in many a running game and with one on one coverage he lost time and again. And in those memorable one on one matchups he was paired against backs out of the backfield or TEs. A few times for TDs. On the positive side you're right he does have the athletic ability. He was successful in jumping in front of a few poorly thrown long pass plays and he can most times chase down a WR in the open field. But does that outweigh the other faults? Suppose it'll be dependent on what is in front of him with regards to the front 9.