jason

It would be very exciting to see him play at the end of this year. Especially if he looks super fast and gets s TD on his stat-sheet for 2015.

By the way, I do not believe I ever said "lose games on purpose." I just said they are meaningless wins, like the Lovie wins a few times at the end of the season. They get the team a W, but sacrifice the draft position. I would argue the draft position is more beneficial than any "winning experience" a 7-9ish team gets. Be as confident as they would like to be, the team with the biggest, fastest horses wins most of the time. And that has been statistically shown on numerous occasions to be obtained more often near the top of the draft.

No, it is relavent since a good team wins yesterday's games. A good team destroys the Niners from yesterday. An average or subpar team plays inconsistently, losing when they should win. What yesterday, and some other games show, is this team has fight. Heart. And they are well coached. But it also shows a severe lack of talent, something that cant be overcome when mistakes are made. And THAT is the point. To hover at .500 or so, and play above their level is self-defeating. I agree about the concept of making good picks and coaching them well, but your examples are poor. It has been provennumerous times that drafting earlier is statistically significant and advantageous. Overachieving lessns our chances statistically.

Guessing we'll be somewhere around 10th with a 6-10 record. Shouldn't deviate much from that. Having said that, it's time to start thinking about the draft. Here's my first go at a mock. 1. , DE, Ole Miss - Great fit for the D. Has all the measurables. Crazy speed, explosion, quick-twitch. He could be a nightmare pass-rusher for the Bears. 2. , ILB, Arizona - The Bears need a tackling-machine in the middle. Conveniently, Scooby can run sideline to sideline as well as rush the passer, and he has a great nose for the ball. He'd be a versatile player for Fangio. 3. , FS, Clemson - Add him to my man-crush list. Huge, rangy, great instincts, great pedigree. His total package allows the Bears to send more at the opposing QB. 4. Tyler Johnstone, OT, Oregon - The Bears still need OL help. Put him at RT, move Long back in at RG, and let him learn from the all-pro. Probably still need a LT, but I don't like many where the Bears would have to get them. 5. , WR, North Carolina - This is partly because he's a pesky Wes Welker type, but mostly because he's a dynamic, fearless returner. Cut Mariani, immediately insert Switzer in as punt and kick returner, and whatever spot on the depth chart at WR Mariani was keeping warm. 6. Noah Spence, OLB, Eastern Kentucky - I don't care about character concerns. Dude looks like a stud. Let him get his head straight in the NFL. Could be a monster on ST with the right motivation. 6. Nick Kwiatkoski, ILB, West Virginia - This guy is going to be a steal late. He's one of those guys who just knows how to play football. A leader. He'd also be a killer on ST. 6. - I saw this highlight and knew I liked him. That's pretty athletic for a TE. 7. Derek Watt, FB, Wisconsin - Yeah, yeah, a Fullback. Why? Well, first of all, I think the Bears need one. He'd help the run game, and he's a great blocker overall. Secondly, he's got good hands - could be a good outlet. Third, he was a stud LB in HS and that translates well to ST play (notice a trend?). And, maybe, just maybe he'd be a bargaining chip for future FA considerations with his brother, JJ Watt.

Redskins - Seems like this should be a gimme win, but that was before seeing the SF game. Probably still a win. Vikings - They've been playing better, but who the hell knows? Probably a loss. Bucs - They'll probably have trouble with Winston for some reason. Loss. Lions - Somehow this team always gives the Bears fits. Loss. 6-10, which puts us somewhere around the top ten. Smells like Robert Nkemdiche territory.

LOL! I literally laughed because I knew the punchline before it was made. Good one. Games like this make me completely uncertain about the 2016 draft. I have no clue which way the team should go. I could literally be happy with ILB, OLB, DE, FS, SS, LT, or RT in the first round.

That's basically what I would like. But the more they use him for returns, the less value I see in him.

And this thread is especially poignant after such a brutal outcome. Other than the GB win, which is 100% worthwhile, the other wins aren't really great wins for the future of this team.

This thread needs to be brought to top until it happens. He sucked ass again today. Bad decisions, poor vision, no speed. He's horrible. And now, apparently, he's gutless. That one where he just stepped out of bounds was pathetic. He should have immediately darted to the wide side to search for yards and blocks.

Agreed. Feels like typical Bears. Felt like the stomach-punch was coming the entire game.

The problem is, you have no sort of common sense when it comes to Jay issues. No middle ground. No objectivity. Want to know a bad throw by Jay? The one where he overthrew a wide open Alshon for the long bomb, sure-fire TD. That was huge. That, I believe, would have taken the wind out of the Niners' sails. But he overthrew it. Another one is the deep slant in the 4th where he overthrew Bellamy. Sorry, but that screen pass was not his fault. It's a trust route. He gets the ball, turns and throws. There isn't anything complicated to the route. He doesn't turn, look for the DB, then decide to throw it. If he hesitates to look for the DB, it's not a successful play. That play lives and dies with the blocks from the two WRs who do not get the ball. Bellamy didn't get a finger on Ward. It was Bellamy's fault.

There's virtually no read on that play. It's drop back, throw. As a QB it's the first read, an immediate read, and an immediate throw. The WR screen doesn't work unless it's immediate. Ward made a great play, but Bellamy blew that play.

That's a MUCH better analogy. And exactly what Bryant was talking about.

How was that a stupid throw? It's the definition of safe throw. Bellamy missed his responsibility. He was slow out off the line, and slow with his cut. The Niner player had a great break on the pass, but Bellamy absolutely has to get a body on that guy.

Yeah, except that has virtually zero bearing on the topic of discussion. The Bear Bryant video is him talking about taking lesser guys who try their maximum and beating guys who are more talented yet don't give their full effort, which is directly related to the OL and QB performances on the Bears this year.

Kind of replying in general... The OL is the key to the offense. I've always said it, and it will always be true. It doesn't matter what QB or skill players you have if the OL sucks. That is fact. For the Bears, their hasn't been a huge influx of talent. I've never said a line full of 1st rounders was necessary, but since every coach and front office the Bears have had in the last 20 years has either coached it poorly, drafted it poorly, or both, it's something I felt was necessary. I still feel like the OL has to be drafted early and often to improve the team. Regarding Cutler, it's said up above, but he's had to move around a lot this year. He's done a great job with that because I suspect he understands, trusts, knows the offense better. Speaking of that... The coaching all around - except ST - has been undeniably improved. With great coaching, low round picks look like high round picks. I believe that's what's happening. I'm reminded of the great Bear Bryant speech below:

DING DING DING!!! It doesn't take a genius to see this. Too bad our previous regime didn't. Comfortable Cutler = Better Cutler Rushed and beat up Cutler = Bad Mechanics/Decisions Cutler Fix the OL, and Cutler improves, the runners improve, the offense improves. Shocker. There is a reason my signature line says what it does.

Yeah, I was looking at several mocks, and it seems that there are concerns about Nkemdiche. I was thinking that might cause him to drop to the middle of the first. Maybe not.

You know how many points the Bears won by?

Make no mistake, I'd love some OL help. I think we need both tackles, to be quite honest. Move Long back inside to where he's the best in the NFL. Between Slaussen, Grassu, and Long, that's a solid middle. But OT needs help. The talent in the first at our position of defensive needs, however, seem perfectly suited. And I'm really a strong believer in Fangio. I think he's done so much with average D talent that if given elite talent he makes the Bears a true title contender. Ideally, I'd like to see the Bears go: 1. DE/OLB/ILB 2. DE/OLB/ILB 3. OT 4. OT/QB 5. If 4th Rd OT, pick QB. If 4th Rd QB, pick OT. 6-7. BPA

I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss Draughn. He looked VERY fast on a few runs. If their OL can open holes, he could bust off a long run. The Bears are better overall, but Draughn is dangerous.

Yeah, I said somewhere else that he seems to understand route-running and can catch the ball. He could be a surprise Wes Welker type of player for the Bears. Good option as a #5 WR after Jeffery, White, Royal, and Wilson. But he has no business returning any kick whatsoever.

Interesting thought... Now that the Bears are continually surprising people with lesser talent and depth, what should the Bears do in the draft? Part of me still wants to give Fangio everything. He's basically making chicken salad out of chicken shit every week. What would this guy do if the Bears got a few grade-A studs on defense? DL Sutton - Goldman - Jenkins appears to be the starting DL, and I don't think it's that terrible. They don't get a ton of pressure, but in a 3-4 that's not their primary focus. Jenkins could be gone because his contract is up. Gotta consider Ego in there as well. LBs So now the LBs. McPhee, McClellan, Jones, Acho. McPhee and McClellan aren't going anywhere. McPhee is the prime FA acquisition, and McClellan has done enough to impress Fangio. Jones has been less than stellar, and Acho, despite providing a glimmer of excitement early on, hasn't been impressing much either. I'd be happy with an ILB or OLB, but you have to consider Lamarr Houston and Willie Young in there somewhere. Houston doesn't seem to fit, and there is significant cap savings vs a minimal dead cap hit. He gone. Willie has one year left, hasn't been horrible, may as well let him ride it out as a pseudo-OLB. So that leaves ILB. DBs Porter-Rolle-Amos-Fuller. And Mundy, I guess. Porter has been a nice addition, and Fuller still has potential. That leaves us where we have been in the past, with questionable safety play. Amos has looked surprisingly good as a rookie. Draft So that leaves us with ILB and SS as primary concerns by pure depth-chart analysis. But we all know the Bears desperately need a pass rush in some way, so that means OLB and/or DE. Option 1: RD1) Robert Nkemdiche, DE, Ole Miss, RD2) Scooby Wright III, OLB, Arizona Option 2: RD1) Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama, RD2) Scooby Wright III, OLB, Arizona In case you can't tell, I love me some Scooby Wright. Option 1 would give the Bears a huge shot of speedy pass-rush, putting Nkemdiche in the hole left by Jenkins, and Wright takes over for Acho. Option 2 replaces Jones with Ragland, who is an absolute monster with everything you want in an ILB, and Wright stays in. Since the 3-4 is built on LBs, I'm more of a fan of option 2. Since I live in Alabama, and officiated Ragland from middle school to high school, I've seen enough of him to know he's a stud, and it just adds to my choice. If you had to choose one of those two very realistic options, which would you choose?

I agree. But in the meantime, maybe the kick returner can be someone other than a slow guy with bad decision-making skills, iffy hands, zero vision, and average speed. There are plenty of other guys who are available who can catch the ball and provide a bolt of lightning with the possibility of an actual return.

I can't see how he has the nerve to complain. I'm not the guy who complains about ref since I am one. The Bears have seemingly been on the wrong side of several 50/50 calls, but that's just bad luck. And it's more likely the less disciplined the team is. That is the Bears prior to this season in a nutshell. Having said all that, there is not another team in the NFL that gets more calls than the packers. There is not another OL in the NFL that gets away with more holds than the packers. It's unexplainable how Rodgers can have a 7-second pocket 20 times a game against every team. And the pocket is there longer vs the Bears. The only call the entire game that I definitely disagree with is the tripping call. No way a fat-boy lineman is that coordinated to fall, spin, flip his leg backwards, and try to trip someone the way he did. No way. The illegal contact I didn't like, but I can understand. But for the packers to complain about officiating is comical.