jason

Forgive me. I got years and situations confused. It's just that Lovie has won a meaningless game at the end of the season and tanked draft position in multiple seasons. I forgot this miserable team was vying for a final playoff spot at the end of the year last year.

I can't imagine it happening any other way in the draft war room. Imagine sometime last year... Emery: "OK guys. Here are my thoughts. We need a play-maker to pair with Brandon Marshall. We need protection for Jay pretty badly at more than one position. A defensive end, too, I guess." Lovie (Raising his hand in the air, waving it frantically): "Ooooh. Oooh! Oooh!" Emery: "I already told you, Lovie, you don't have to raise your hand to speak." Lovie: "I think a defensive end is definitely what we need." Emery: "Are you sure? We weren't too bad in defense last year." Lovie: "Oh, yeah, definitely. That's why I think. And just because I'm thinking about it, we probably need a safety or cornerback from a small school." Emery: "We'll get to that later. Mike, what do you think." Tice (picking his nose with his thumb): "I like our guys. They did well. Showed a lot of talent." Emery: "You guys do realize the offense has been bad for a while, and Jay personally begged me to draft offensive linemen and wide receivers, right?" Tice (scratching his butt): "Yeah, but I like our guys." Lovie: "Agreed. It's about execution. We need to go out and execute." Tice: "Coach them up. I don't need a pro-bowler at LT to make my offense work like Martz did. (winks at Lovie)" Emery: "Fine. If you guys honestly believe that, we'll go defensive end. Now, who fits our defense the best? We need a 4-3 guy, a perfect 5 technique for our defense." Lovie: "I think..." Emery (cutting Lovie off): "Rod? Your thoughts?" Marinelli: "Me and Lovie agree. He knows what I wants." Lovie (quickly): "Shae McClellin!" Emery: "Huh? The guy the Packers want as an OLB in their 3-4?" Lovie (smiling): "Yep." Emery: "You realize he is sorta light, and many have him going much later?" Lovie (excitedly): Yep. Gotta have him now." Emery: "Alright, it's your funeral. Phone it in."

I would love to see that happen. The talent this year is deep, and the 20 spot (thanks for winning that last meaningless game AGAIN, Lovie) is far enough down that the elite talent has a good chance of being gone. That scenario is basically a way of saying you hope a trade happens with either the 49ers or the Bengals, the only teams with multiple picks in the 2nd round. The #20 pick is worth 850, and the 49ers' two picks are 852, with the Bengals being a bit more pricey at 900. If that were to happen, which three players/positions would you like to see? The 2nd round appears to be pretty deep this year.

I like the idea of getting everyone's input on which available players should have been targets. From there it seems better that we either advocate individually or we arrive at a player ranking combination (since no site is all-encompassing). Having people advocate for their own guy seems like a better way to do it. Narrow that down to X number of choices. Vote. Top 3 go forward. Vote for the actual selection.

I think it would help, but I think the help would be minimal. I have said it for close to 6 straight years, and for that entire time I've been correct, but it doesn't matter what skill players you add if the OL sucks. The addition of someone like Austin would look great on paper, but Jay Cutler rarely had time for a second read with the blocking he received last year. And make no mistake, Brandon Marshall is the first read. Maybe with Bushrod, and hopefully a high draft pick (crossing fingers), all this will change.

Was it a picture of you getting past him?

HAHAHAHA. That one burns.

Playmaker? Sure. But I hope team need is factored in as we'll. you could draft 5 straight play making WRs, but it won't help the team that much.

Are you planning on quitting the board after the first pick, or after this year? Or maybe it didn't occur to you we could do this for future drafts and begin to form a better picture of the board>GM theory.

Exactly. It's something we've done before (not collectively). What's so difficult to figure out? If players X, Y, and Z are available at the Bears pick, and they select X, but the Board thinks Z would have been a better pick, we pick Z. Three years down the road, if Z kicks ass and X is selling tires in Detroit, then we can pat ourselves on the back.

After the draft the board is usually quiet. This off-season I propose we take on the challenge of acting like a front office and run our own draft. Once the draft is in the books we will know which players are available at our picks. We can setup simple votes for each pick. That's the easy part.

I like the general idea, but there is always one "what if" we can't factor. We never really know what would happen to player X on team Y if he actually ended up on team Z. For instance, Randy Moss would never have exploded onto the league if he were drafted by the Bears. The combo of Kramer, Stenstrom, and Moreno would not have been able to reproduce what Randall Cunningham and that offense did. Most likely, Moss would have seen a significantly smaller number of passes his way, and his attitude would have started much earlier in his career. With his emotion/attitude, it could have derailed his entire career. And that's just one of countless examples.

I think the original message is meant to imply that we can't select a player who is not available. Seems pretty obvious to me. The Bears have #20. Anyone >19 is up for grabs.

And my comment was in reply to a comment stating: "Thats a good comment, maybe he could win some biggest losers competition, but is to far removed from the NFL to be consider a thought." The simple fact is, he IS getting attention, and he's not that far removed.

That's why I'm saying it's my nightmare. If the two OGs are gone, I would have to look long and hard at who is left. I wouldn't be happy with any pick, to be quite honest. And I realize I'm setting myself up for disappointment. If forced to make the decision though, in terms of this year, I'd say DL > CB > LB. The DL will get more into the rotation, potentially win a starting job, and provides better insurance (better than a CB anyway) should the Bears be unable to resign Melton. Melton will demand franchise type money; Peanut and Jennings will not. Of course, this assumes Fluker isn't in the picture as RT (where Carimi ends up moving inside). If that's the case, I choose Fluker.

Um...about that. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000015...ts-nfl-interest

I respect that opinion because of your reasoning. That's why I always say it's a relatively risk-free proposition to pick up Russell as a 3rd stringer. There is a minor risk to the team if Russell were signed, then showed up fat and lazy. Monetarily it would be no big deal, but it could derail a current third string guy. The way I figure, however, if running a football team, you take these kind of risks. You always try to improve any position. If you have a solid starter, you get a solid backup. If you have both, you get a solid third-string guy with potential. If you have all three, you plant someone on the practice squad who you think could be the #3, or better. You simply never stop trying to improve your roster. And strictly speaking, aside from effort, I just can't see how Russell wouldn't be an improvement over Blanchard. FWIW, he sure does seem to have a lot of respected people in his corner who believe in him. As for the weight, it was always a discussion...but he was a big dude in college as well. He appears to be working hard to shed even more of it and to be in better shape than he was before.

It's a good point, but I hate the concept of drafting to dodge higher salaries. If you have a pro-bowl player, you keep him if at all possible. It's a pretty simple concept. To purposely draft a guy's replacement when the player being replaced is a pro-bowler is just not very smart in my opinion. Further, I don't believe it's smart to draft a guy in the first round if there is no intention of actually starting him. No team has irreplaceable players at all 24 starting positions.

Sigh. This comment again. I realize we don't sway decisions, but this is "TalkBears" not "ActuallyManageBears" for a reason. The point of this board is to discuss what we think about the Bears. And the simple fact remains, there is nearly no downside to the Jamarcus Russell as a third-stringer. He has more talent and skill than probably any third stringer in the NFL. The investment is minimal. He would be an interesting puzzle piece to have now that the Bears are talking about utilizing the read-option. On top of all that, it's not like the Bears can't do without a guy like Blanchard.

Your extension of my logic is a little too far. The two major differences: 1) Russell is actively trying to get back into the NFL. 2) Russell is much closer to his playing days. High rated players DO end up sucking, but like I said, even when he sucked he was better than the Bears current third stringer. Some professional athletes take several years to truly find their niche, their talent, their stride. IF this were to happen, it's a huge benefit to the Bears. There is literally no downside to this concept. I don't know why everyone is so against the idea. It's not like a TO or Moss situation from years ago where they could hurt the team with off-the-field antics and can't be cut because of talent. This guy could be cut for nothing. If a coach, any coach, doesn't like his effort one day, cut him. But, if he does actually try, then his skill level and talent is beyond the required cost to obtain him.

Change the name of this thread to "My nightmares about the draft." A DT would be very upsetting, and a CB would be not what I'd expect from a team whose CBs - BOTH of them - went to the probowl last year.

Agreed. Hate the idea. Especially if the team drops Hester from the offense. That would be contradictory.

Good thread. Wonder where the replies are?

Moore is better. Got in the doghouse. End of story.

But does he suck worse than the current third stringer? Doubtful. Regardless of his weight, attitude, and ability to read a defense, he was the number one pick of the draft for a variety of physical reasons. He has daily shits with the talent of Blanchard.