jason

Great post. I have absolutely NO problem with Jerry and the crew getting rid of first and second round picks if it means they pick up proven all-star talent with the money that would otherwise have gone to an untested rookie. Bravo JA.

Once again, you post the ridiculous. Yes, the OL is bad/horrible...but the WRs are not. They showed great promise last year, and if not hindered by a horrible OL, a braindead OC, and a rattled QB, they would have done much better than what they did (which was still pretty good). Four receivers over 500 yards, Forte in an off year was damn close, and that doesn't even count Aromashodu who absolutely blew up at the end of the year. -- Today has to be considered an overwhelming success from even the most close-minded Bears fan.

Would I like to have Boldin? Yes. Do I think the Bears should give up a 3rd rounder for him when there are so many holes on the team? No. Do I think the Bears should trade Olsen for Boldin, giving up a first round talent at TE for a WR who is about to be on the back end of his career (who would also want to get paid some serious jack)? No. Pass on Boldin unless he can be had in FA for a decent price (which I doubt).

1) You can say that again. I'm sick of seeing players out of their positions just because Zombie and staff think a player has athleticism, or whatever. 2) Did you not see Bennett catch everything thrown his way, Knox turn into a legit deep threat, and Aromashodu emerge as a possible big WR threat? All this happened last year. Where were you? Players can't develop if they never get a chance to see the field.

Wondering? WONDERING?! Are you effing serious? If you're just now wondering, I don't know what games you've been watching for the past three years.

Two reasons, and two reasons only: I think he's still got major talent I think he can be had for cheap If either of the two aren't true, then pass. I'm not for adding a WR, but I don't think the Bears should put too much focus into it. If a top-notch WR falls into their laps for relatively little effort/money, then you have to make the move. Like him or not, TO's still better than any WR on the roster, and if he's on the trash heap you take a stab at him.

First, thanks for the links to the film breakdown. I don't know what program he used to do this, but I've done the same things with DVR copies of the games. Second, I think it's kind of ironic that you of all people would post these links in support of your argument (which I kind of agree with, BTW).

Clearly, yes. But I don't think RB is a position of need considering that Forte was obviously off his game this past year, Wolfe has never been used, and Bell showed a bit of spark. I always loved TJ, and never thought we should have gotten rid of him...let alone drafted Benson. But adding Westbrook or LT would obviously be an upgrade. Adding Sproles, however, I'd have a problem with.

Until he gets the carries, we'll never really know. What I have seen from him in very limited time has been borderline explosive. He has only had a few carries and receptions, yet there have been multiple WOW plays where he just breaks off a LB or someone else.I think you need to look the guy up on youtube to refresh the memory. He's much faster than you think. Better vision than you remember. Can cut on half a dime. He didn't just barely beat out people in college; he blew people away, ran away from them, spun off them. Besides, the leading rusher in NFL history (admittedly with the best OL ever) didn't have great measurables. Shows strength and speed Shows great cutting ability and speed Watch him destroy this LB and get Ditka's shorts in a bunch I haven't tried, but I'm willing to bet that finding three equally sick plays from Forte might prove difficult. I know it sounds blasphemous, but other than a few rookie year plays versus the Rams and Lions, I can't think of too many plays where I was wow'd by Forte. When he doesn't get blocks, he does nearly nothing. And when he gets blocks, he nearly never outruns anyone. Hell, his pathetic 09 stats are the reason this thread was even started, and if it weren't for gimme games against Cleveland, St. Louis, and two versus Detroit, he'd be getting destroyed by some on this board.

Pace, who has been contemplating retirement since mid-December, was replaced as the starting left tackle by former first-round draft pick Chris Williams with five games remaining this past season. Despite allowing only three sacks in 11 starts, it was clear he was nowhere near the dominant force he once was. I see the newer statistical categories were not factored in: 1) GBUs - Number of times an OL Gets Blown UP 2) RPs - Reverse Pancakes 3) PCPs - Pocket Collapsing Pressure (I think Pace may have led the league in this one) 4) GDWDTs - Getting Destroyed Without a Double Team

In order of desire/importance: 1) Rolle 2) Peppers 3) TO 4) Taylor But OL would obviously be #1 if there were any mentioned. Side note: I wouldn't mind TO on a flyer. People seem to think he has lost a step, but I watched several Buffalo games and I don't think he has. It's just that he was on Buffalo, with a garbage QB, with a garbage offense. He's still very fast, very strong, and more athletic than most. And the "drops" so often mentioned are highly overstated (i.e. bad balls that touch his finger are counted as drops).

I don't see the insult either. The WR corp showed potential last year with a bum at OC. With Martz - a guy known for prolific passing offenses - the WRs should put up much better numbers. There is serious potential for multiple 1000 yard WRs in a Martz offense QB'd by Cutler. In fact, I don't see how anyone disagrees with the article. Given that Martz is known for neglecting the running game in favor of the passing game, and nearly disregarding the TE in the passing game, it's almost a guarantee that the WRs flourish.

I agree that YPC can be misleading when the number of carries are low, but that's the point: We just don't know. And until Wolfe gets some more carries, instead of garbage carries going to our AP and/or Kevin Jones without much production, then we will never know if he could turn into a change of pace guy who can juke LBs and explode for big plays. The limited opportunities point to the very real probability that he can break big plays more frequently than most, and is easily as much of a weapon as the other backups who have gotten carries.

Why am I such a Wolfe fan? Because I think he can be what Sproles has been for SD. Unfortunately, we'll never know if he never gets a legit chance to play.

I'd say the yards gained has a lot to do with the fact that: 1) The Chargers have an offense, and the Bears do not 2) The Chargers had/have an OC that knows how to use a RB like the two, and the Bears have had that idiot Turner 3) The Chargers had/have a good OL, and the Bears have had a below average OL for several years As for earning carries, who can really say with this coaching staff? Hard to make people miss tackles when most the runs are up the pipe. Hard to break more big plays when you don't get the ball more than one or two times a game...which is what he has gotten. And, oh by the way, the inconsistency can't be proven if not given the carries, which kind of makes your two comments contradictory. How can he have the yards to compete with Sproles' yards if he doesn't have the carries? And vice versa? He can't. What I do know is, he averaged 4.6 a rush in 2008, and 5.5 in 2009. With a team that has struggled on offense for longer than I can remember, and especially a team that was horrible rushing last year, there is no excuse for not using him more often when considering his production during limited playing time. It would make much more sense to give Wolfe some carries to see if he can keep up production with more playing time, than it would to pay huge money for Sproles.

Sproles is 5'6". Google is your friend.

I can't believe anyone is even considering Sproles when the Bears have a Sproles-type back on the roster who has never been given a real shot to show what he can do. Signing Sproles would be stupid, IMO. Money would be much better spent giving the carries to Wolfe. Westbrook, on the other hand, is a different story since he's a taller, bigger back, and a vet. Of course, everyone knows his concussion problems could scare the team away.

Good post. I think the last four years are as big of an indictment on the coaching staff as JA. OFFENSE But I still believe Wolfe has talent unseen because of bad coaching. Never inserted into a position to excel, he was screwed by the VERY limited offensive minds in Chicago. Similarly, Bennett sat on the bench for no real reason, never getting a shot until last year. And he only turned into a very reliable possession WR, which is what damn near everyone knew he would be come. Let's not even get into Iglesias - a pick I wasn't ecstatic about because I knew the Bears had underused and misused talent at WR - because he's just stuck right now in a depth chart battle. DEFENSE Dusty had/has injuries, so that's just bad luck. Harrison and Gilbert have also been severely limited by coaching. Given that the staff favors the DT rotation so much, and the rushing/blitzing schemes are more vanilla than the handshake agreements in the pro-bowl, it's not wonder they haven't put up very good stats. Their job in the "bend but don't break"-style of D that Lovie likes is to keep their ground, get minimal pressure, and slowly push the pocket with the hopes that the QB is getting hit by the DEs who ALWAYS take the outside looping route to the QB. I'm not saying any of these guys would have been world-beaters, but with this coaching staff it's difficult to determine just how good a player on the Bears could have been over the past few years. The entire coaching mindset is "play not to lose" rather than "play to win," and if affects not only how players develop, but also the stats they get.

OMG!!! Where is azbearsfan!? Not in this thread??? WHAT A SURPRISE!!! I told you when Jaws said during a national telecast that he was talking out of his ass, but noooooooooo. What do I know? http://www.talkbears.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=74733 Oh, what is that? I said that Cutler couldn't be blamed for about 8-10 of the INTs. And lo and behold, what does Jaws do when he finally writes an article to make up for his foot-in-mouth move on national TV? Oh, that's right, he basically gives Cutler a pass on about 8 of the INTs. Seriously, it's time to realize that there is a lot of intelligence, passion, devotion, and analyzing power in the hardcore fan. Most average fans don't spend time posing on the internet, and that's why there's a difference. I was right - and there really was no doubt about it - and I hope the the crow is enjoyed. As for the INTs, it's still too many. But if the WRs were completely F'ing up for a good portion of the season, it may have been lower. And with those lower numbers, it's highly likely that Cutler would have put a few more TDs on the board. Statistics change drastically based upon previous results, and I expect a lot more (more TDs, less INTs) from Cutler in the Martz offense.

Easy: OL help. REAL OL help. Although, I'd be very excited if there were a surprise Lovie firing.

Agreed. Focus needs to be elsewhere.

What happened in Detroit? The team was terrible. That's what happened. The minute he left the team, they became the first 0-16 team in history. Let's also not ignore the fact that they were 30th and 32nd in defense during the Martz years. In San Francisco, it's essentially a team not living up to their potential. And their defenses have not been good (23rd when Martz was there with two bums [shaun Hill and O'Sullivan at QB]).

While the ending statement about execution and production may be true, the bolded parts are the most damning. If Lovie and Turner thought the garbage they were calling was going to be effective, then it's a bigger indictment on them than anything. I have never seen a most consistently ignorant combo of offensive and defensive play-calling.

Actually, Hester is open to stepping backwards in the receiving area and going back to the primary returner on KR and PR. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4886544

I can see someone debating any of the statistics one way or another, but there is no way in hell he has less passing TDs next year than he had this year. No way. I can't believe you think that.