jason

You've severely narrowed down the data set by just using 1st round OLinemen drafted by the Bears. All it proves is the Bears have had either bad luck, or bad evaluations. The overall numbers for all OL players say an overwhelming number of better players are drafted in the first round.

I see potential problems with the schedule... 1 Indy 2 @GB Thurs - Short week, primetime game 3 Stl 4 @Dal Mon - Primetime game 5 @ Jax - Short week 6 BYE 7 Det MON - Primetime game 8.Car - Short week 9 @ Tenn 10 Hou 11 @ SF Mon - Primetime game 12 Minn - Short week 13 Sea 14 @ Minn 15 GB 16 @ AZ 17 @ DET That's 7 out of 16 weeks with either a short week, primetime game, or both. Also, three of the last four games are on the road. Both issues concern me somewhat.

Money with TO? I don't think it'd be as big of a problem since he's out of the league and virtually nobody is taking a look. Expectations? Minimal. It's a shot in the dark hoping he has gas in the tank. How much he needs the ball and the drama? If he whines, he's cut. What's difficult about that?

If you go, avoid the public transportation. It's great getting there, and great leaving, but from the stadium to the terminal is an absolute nightmare. They funnel roughly half the stadium in a tunnel that's about 10 feet wide and 60 yards long. That's 20 thousand (approximate) people all funneling together on a covered walkway (actually caged) where people are tired, hot, many drunk, some smoking, some smoking marijuana, and more than a few want desperately to live up to the Black Hole persona. Add in multiple vendors standing in the tunnel or fighting upstream to sell their BS and it's a recipe for disaster.

Oakland is MUCH worse...and it's not even the Black Hole mystique. It's the fact that the stadium sucks, everyone stands the entire game, the view is horrible, and getting out of the stadium is a fight/stabbing/murder just waiting to happen.

Agreed. It's different on every level. You have more headache, but you also have a nearly infinite talent and experience gap between those WRs and Rachal. In the end, however, it's still a simple proposition: They F up, cut them. They make a scene, cut them. Easy. Just like Rachal.

You could be right, but the fact that he was so good at first and then so average his last year, puts me a little on Burfict's side rather than being 50/50 with the coaches. That was a team supposed to do great things, and they all did poorly. They underperformed for the talent they had. That reeks of poor coaching. Points of agreement: -Better 3-4 ILB prospect than 4-3 In regards to the OL vs. LB comment, I don't view this through a single lens. Evaluation is a prism, and I believe a LB can be much less talented than many other positions and still be quite a big success. LBs, particularly inside LBs, can get by on toughness, the ability to read angles, the ability to anticipate, and being very sound tacklers. Call the package "football instincts." The history of the league is littered with guys who didn't have the measurables yet did well in the NFL at LB. Hell, if you go to google and type "NFL Undersized" the first thing it tries to fill in is linebacker. Funny you mention Haas though, because I still contend he should be in the league.

What's funny is that exact same, sound, fool-proof logic gets shot down when talking about future HoF diva WRs.

I'd say the draft is a gamble. However, just like in Vegas, there are safer gambles with better associated percentages. The first round is like craps, about 50%/50%. By the time you get to the 6th and 7th rounds, it's like a nickel slot machine. There are first round busts for all positions, but the likelihood of getting a all-pro at LT greatly increases if you pick one up early.

Exactly. Which is why it makes so much sense to consistently draft OL high.

This is exactly my thought process. The Bears tell him they are his last chance. If they cut him, he's out of the league for good. If he doesn't pan out, easy to cut him. But if he controls is extra-curricular activities, he could be a player. I have only watched a few, but when I did watch Burfict was a pretty decent player. Raw, but emotional. Big hitter, yet uncontrolled. The coaches aren't at fault for Burfict's poor draft prep, but they could easily be a contributing cause of on-field production. With the other players you have listed, you've essentially provided the Dez White paradox, where a less talented player gets on the field more, and produces more than a better player as a result of the coaches benefitting their favored player. As for 6th and 7th round draft philosophy, we couldn't be anywhere near different. I couldn't care less about a guy that late who has the right attitude or has NFL-translatable skills (whatever that really means). There is a good chance a 6th/7th rounder isn't making the team anyway, so it's better to take gambles on those guys. Look for the guys with attitude problems but high motors, the guys who put up numbers but got arrested for drugs, the guys who were all-American one year but blew out an ACL the next. The way I see it, maybe 1 guy in 10 from those later rounds makes the team, and even then he's marginal at best. If you're already going in with a 10% success rate, you might as well shoot for the moon and get that one guy who has the potential to be an all-pro.

I'm pretty sure Max Komar drove me in a cap a couple weekends ago in Atlanta...or maybe he bagged my groceries the other day? Either way, they could cut his ass five more times and it would still be inconsequential to the team's overall composition.

I don't live in TN any more, but I will be going to the TN game. Come hell or high water.

This is football, not a fashion runway. Favorites: 1. Bears - Classic, bad ass, relatively unchanged over the years 2. Raiders - Again, classic and simple, great color combo 3. Lions throwbacks Least Favorite: 1. Green Bay. The combo of putrid yellow and diarrhea green just doesn't work. It's ugly. 2. Seahawks new one. Ugh. Looks like a neon crayon package threw up. 2. Seahawks lime green. WTF?

Hate. Hate. Hate. The Bears have problems in primetime night games. It's been that way for a long time.

Correct answer. The DE/DT talent available when the Bears draft will most likely be higher rated than the #3 or #4 LT prospect.

Edwin Williams should be worried.

He sure as hell plays faster than his 40 times. I think he could be one of the biggest steals of the draft if he ends up going in the 6th or 7th like most mocks seem to think. The guy has explosion towards the ball, hits like a ton of bricks, has great anticipation for snap-counts, is pretty sound in gap responsibility, is a fairly sure tackler (more of a hitter like Briggs), fights off blockers well, and simply makes plays. The fact that he's immature and didn't prepare for the draft/combine should only be red flag warning, not a reason to ignore his production on the field. It wasn't too long ago he was an All-American and considered a first round pick. To be honest, the way he hits, acts, talks, and swaggers all over the place reminds me a lot of the characters on the 85 Bears team. I'd love to see the Bears use a 6th or 7th on a guy like him - it's not like those draft picks regularly amount to much anyway. And who knows...maybe his coaches DID screw him up?! It's not like we haven't seen our fair share of poor coaches in Chicago underutilizing or poorly using the assets in their control (*cough* Shoop doing everything *cough* Turner sending Wolfe up the middle multiple times *cough*).

Agreed. And if they do draft CB in the first, it's a stupid move.

Disagree. If it's a need, it's a need. Hell, the Bears took Wilbur and Rivera in the first and second rounds of the SAME draft.

Yep. For the Bears, there is virtually nothing to discuss for the players listed. Good thing they won that game at the end of the season.

Seconded. The draft value chart says it would cost too much.

Good points, especially number 2. But there's also a reason why "too far into the forest to see the trees" is a saying.

For the record, if OL isn't improved I don't think the Bears have a legit chance at the Super Bowl. They'll be a fringe playoff contender. However, if they strike gold and land a stud DE in the draft, maybe a guy who is from a smaller school or underperformed a bit at a bigger school, if the coaches can coach him up, the defense could offset whatever offensive deficiencies there may be. In my opinion, DE is really the only other legitimate first round need besides LT.

This is virtually identical to my thoughts on the subject if no OL is drafted. Williams-Louis-Spencer-Garza-Carimi makes too much sense in numerous ways. In regards to the original topic of this thread, I think shoring up the OL is the key, and has been the key, for multiple seasons. Cutler has a cannon and is accurate, but his mechanics and aim get worse when he gets beat up and tentative. Forte is a stud, but his ability is minimized when the OL lets DTs in the backfield. The WRs haven't been the best route-runners, but have raw talent and speed, and would greatly benefit from an OL that can hold blocks longer, thus allowing for more complex and deeper developing routes. All that points to the OL's deficiencies. Putting the players in their originally intended, and best suited, positions just makes sense. And the offense would have loads of improvement as a result.