jason

Easy. If HHCD and Donald are gone, I'm sure someone like Nix or Jernigan are there. If not, there was a huge run on DTs and something crazy might have happened where an absolute BPA falls to the Bears.

Pretty much. If there is a 1st round rated FS or DT there, then TE is a ridiculous pick in the first. Same goes for the second round. And for that matter, CB has to be in there. TE is just far too great a luxury when there are glaring holes and problems elsewhere, especially for a guy who drops 11% of the passes thrown his way.

Hell, I didn't feel that way after signing Young and Houston. But now with Allen as well? No way. If the Bears are only 20th in rush defense next year, which is not good but is an improvement, they probably win 5 of the 8 games they lost last year (excluding the NO, STL, and PHI games).

Are you ready to just dump Bostic already, or do you just not see him as a MLB? Dude was a rookie last year playing behind one of the worst DLs of all time...maybe he should be cut a little slack.

Bingo. He's an improvement over Peppers in just about every way except ear size. If he gets 10 sacks a year and creates havoc several times a game, which he will, then he's worth it.

Only time will tell at this point. But I fear this will be just like Urlacher. Had the Bears even negotiated, they could have probably kept their guy, and their guy would have undoubtedly helped the team. Maybe Hester agrees to 1.75-2 with performance escalators with the Bears? We will never know, just like the Urlacher situation, and according to Melton that's how it was with him too. The team wasn't actually there to bargain or negotiate. If the Bears do poorly on ST this year, and the Falcons do well, I won't be the only one that notices.

It would still be ridiculous in the first round. Backup TE, even the second guy in an Ace, is still a luxury behind several other needs. Some of which are desperate needs.

Honestly, I think at this point you could put a trained monkey at DC and improve over last year. The pieces are just that much better. Add that to the fact that the Bears will certainly draft defense high, and it gets even better. Allen is an upgrade over Peppers in terms of pass rush. Houston and Young are both upgrades over Peppers or SMC in rush defense. The LBs will be better and have more experience. There should definitely be a rookie starting over Conte at FS. Cohesion or not, this defense is undeniably better than last year. And at the rate the offense was scoring, all that's needed is for the defense to be a little better. Other than the Eagles and the Rams games last year, a slightly better defense likely helps the Bears get a W in various games.

I will be absolutely furious if the Bears draft a TE in the first round. It would be ludicrous.

Kind of my thinking too. Someone is losing out on this deal, and it ain't going to be Jared Allen. Either Young or Houston gets pushed into a rotational situation or moved inside.

I thought Houston was a DE?

The only question this leaves me with is, who loses out on the DL?

Yes. Or trade down.

There was similar angst for that HOF MLB...and rightfully so considering how much he was missed.

Exactly.

HAHAHAHAA! What an offseason by Emery. This guy does not F' around.

That's a little cynical don't you think? Couldn't it be possible that Hester was saying that because that's what he felt the coaches wanted? The team wanted? Maybe they said to him that is all he needed to focus on, and that's exactly what he decided to do? Seems pretty logical to me.

Dude, give it a rest. I was specifically replying to someone who mentioned previous OCs and their inability to get Hester involved. You act as if anyone who is not currently on the Bears is not worthy of discussion/debate/whatever. This site is talkbears.com, not talkcurrentbears.com.

I hope it's Allen. If the Bears manage to snag that much help up front, they can't seriously focus elsewhere. And it also makes it easier for the Bears to trade down, since it's not as urgent to land a premiere first rounder.

Hell, I reread it five times and can't figure out what was screwed up. I'll simplify: Rookie HHCD > Conte, in every possible way.

Gotta love inside information. I hope this all plays out like it's reported.

If you had started there, by calling him above average, then this entire conversation is moot. Your previous posts made it seem like you didn't think he was good anymore. He's good, maybe even great, just not super-human like he used to be.

I didn't mean to insinuate that Hester = Welker/Amendola. Not even close. It's just the "taller = better" thing that always irritates me. If that were true, Hixon would already be dominating in the NFL, and Welker/Amendola would be clawing to get on a team.

That's a good point. From the outside, it looks like the system can turn an average Joe into a productive QB. Maybe the coaches realize it was a fluke? Maybe they realize, like you said, it just highlighted what McCown does well?

Yeah, but how many of those offensive coordinators just plain sucked to begin with? It's not like Chicago has been synonymous for offensive success in the past three decades.