BearFan2000

Thanks for the many years and memories as the anchor of our punt, FG, and Xp teams. Best of luck with the rest of your life. Great player, leader, teammate, and all around good guy on and off the field. You will be missed!

We have good reason to be excited for this coming season. And I agree that there has been a much more positive vibe since Emery took over but it's due in part that I feel he has a better handle on unity, and getting everyone focused on the goal of winning, and winning championships. Which is easy to say but it seems that he has the ability to unite the organization. It feels like there is more a sense of direction and organization with the Bears. From the top down everyone seems invested and that goes a long way from CEO down to the water boy. The players have bought in. When your working together and feel like there's a purpose to what your doing it give you a real boost. Then they bring in Trestman and he himself seeks to bring a positive, focused team atmosphere. It really does feel like they are building something special here. I think all teams (well most) try to sell the ra ra our team is going to be great mantra but often rings hollow and for some teams it's been hollow for so long that fans have given up as their team seems forever stuck in either neutral or reverse. What makes us different is the feeling that we are building to something big. We have reason to look forward to this season, the offense keeps going and takes a further step. and the D with the emphasis this offseason on D, it's natural to expect improvement there. Put an average or better D with this offense and lookout.

This one really takes some thought, we have been blessed over the history of the team with such great players who weren't only just good players but good men off the field as well. Right up to the current roster. Current fav player? I don't think I can pick one. But for me it's a 3 way tie. In no particular order: Marshall - came in with a mixture of excitement and a clouded past including the specter of a club incident hanging over him when he got here. He very well could have been a problem child that we took a chance on and proved to not be worth bringing in. But since coming here he has won the hearts of his teammates, the organization, this city and it's fans. Marshall has been nothing short of a blessing to this team, and community. He has overcome so much personally and it's made him a better man, a better player and a better teammate. I'm proud to have him here. Matt Forte - Has very quietly come in and become the best back we've had since Neal Anderson, he does it all well, he runs with speed and vision, cuts really well, catches really well, and is an excellent blocker. He's worked his tail off here and his low key personality gets him overlooked to an extent but he comes in every day, and brings it and will give you all he's got. Charles Tillman - What list of favorite current bears would be complete without Peanut. A hard working, humble man on and off the field. He makes stripping in the NFL a good thing. The man has made the ball punch an art form, and that is and will be one of his legacy's here in Chicago. He's created so much havoc and headaches for opposing offenses, ball carriers and receivers. He can do it all at CB and is a rare talent. A true game changer, and has been a pleasure to watch.

Unless the offer is really good and/or helps us this year, I'd say no. Simply because we are in a position to make a run this year. And sending Briggs away would weaken a position we already have a lot of question marks at. Like will SMC pan out at LB, will Bostic and Green prove to be solid contributor's or starters this year, does Williams stay healthy and solidify a spot in the group? Briggs really is the only known commodity we have at LB. So for me it would take a lot for us to ship him away.

gotta say it's nice seeing J. Allen in Bears gear It is interesting to hear that they are experimenting with Jennings moving to nickel backer and Fuller outside. I would have expected Fuller to come in as the nickel as I'm sure most of us would. But I'm sure they will be doing some experimentations at CB, and at some point they'll test Jennings staying put and Fuller at nickel. I'm glad they are moving parts around to see what works best on field. I like hearing that SMC is looking good at LB, he's definitely got the measurables and tools to be a very effective LB. This move could prove to salvage his career. Most of us were saying he's a better fit at LB than DE when he was drafted now we will get to see if we were right. Bummer about Hix torn ACL and subsequent early retirement. But thankfully he's not a key component to our team. Like the Cowboys loosing Lee again. Always good to get Bears news

and his game isn't built around speed, he uses good body control and sure hands, with the strength and agility to get run after the catch. The thing great athletes do as they age they learn to play smarter. Maximize what the can do and not try to be like their 20 something selves who just got drafted. I don't see any reason Marshall can't be highly productive for 3-4 more years. As also pointed out the fact that we aren't playing OC musical chairs like we had been under Lovie. Stability of the system will help everyone in our offense gain confidence and grow. Congrats to Brandon, I remember the trade and soon after hearing about a club incident allegation that seemed consistent for a player with a troubled past. But I couldn't be more happy, and more proud of how far he's come as a person and a player, and I'm glad he's a Bear!

After the historically atrocious defensive display we put on last season, I think 12 is fairly fair for us. That puts us a bit below the middle of the top half of the league. We made a lot of changes in both FA and the Draft that should positively impact and improve our D. The Bears look like a vastly improved team on paper till we consistently show it on the field I wouldn't expect us to be ranked super high. You can add a lot of talent but if it doesn't gel and work together in real life all you did is throw money and bodies at the problems. I think we will vastly improved and if our D can be average or above look out because our offense will be able to build on last years success hopefully taking the next steps. I'm drinking the kook-aid but at the same time want to see results on the field.

lots of milage but back on topic it does get old how Forte doesn't get the props he deserves, the Dude has been the rock in our offense since he got here. I still remember his first TD run as a Bear vs the Colts in Indy he just exploded through the line for a long TD run. His cutback ability and vision, soft hands, and versatility has been so valuable to our offense. His stats are right up there with the some of the best Bears RB's second only to Walter in total yards. He's been one of my favorite Bears, great guy on and off the field. Forte does his talking on the field.

That's probably what I'll end up doing, while I'd love to have Matt again this year, Charles has no real competition for carries other than to spell him from time to time. He's a dual threat. They did pick up De'Anthony Thomas in the draft who might play the role that McCluster did previously. Not many true feature backs out there so hard to pass up on Jamaal. Could even see taking McCoy even with sproles there, the amount of plays they run per game with that uptempo offense I can see another solid year for Shady.

Stein is the man. A true contract genius. Love how quickly he gets things done. And how creative he is in getting contracts worked out!

That will be tough. The tricky part is the guy who has the second overall pick, is the same dude that kept wanting trade for Forte no matter how many times I said I wasn't trading him period and they weren't even good offers like crap players for him. If it wasn't for him trading down might be easier, considering if I trade down to #3 he very well might take him at #2 after whoever I trade takes Charles at #1. He really wouldn't be more of a reach than taking Rice a few years back. My best choice may be to stand pat and take Charles, as I could see Carey eating into some of Forte's load, Same thing with McCoy potentially being effected by Sproles. Charles is the main man in KC but lots of miles on those tires.

so as far as Fantasy goes, would you: a. Stay at #1 and take Charles b. Stay at #1 and slightly reach for Forte c. trade down a few spots and take Forte there d. try to trade for a 2nd first rounder somewhere in the middle of the round and hope Forte falls and if not I'd still have a shot at another good RB. I know in our league there are several owners who always seem to go QB first. Which is partly why I got Lynch and Forte last year. Hard to pass on Charles but I like having Forte. Last year I was spoiled and had Forte and Lynch as my 1 & 2 because Forte dropped to me in the second.

plus year two in the new offense should also help Forte and the rest of our skill players. In my PPR league I have the #1 pick, and logic would dictate I take charles... but I would love to have Forte again this year. Too bad it's not a keeper league. I've actually thought about reaching a little to grab Matt, I think he's in for a bigger year than last year. We are going to introduce draft pick trading (it's a redraft league) Maybe I'll trade down a couple spots. But a few years back when i had the first overall and everyone assumed I'd take Peterson or Foster, I took Rice and he had a monster year.

I agree and I like what he's done as well. True the picks may not have been what I or others on this board would have taken, I think we got good players in the draft to add to the FA's we added earlier this offseason. I'm old school in that I feel you build a team starting with the front line and work back. Last offseason Emery focused on retooling the offensive line and it payed dividends by keeping our QB's upright, and opening holes in the run game. The offense was the best we've seen here in years and it will continue to improve. This offseason Emery focused on the front 7 and added some competition at the back end. I believe that improved D-Line play will go a long way to helping our secondary. A porous line like we fielded last season that couldn't stop the run, couldn't get to the QB, I think put a lot of pressure on the back end of our D to make up for the poor play in front of them. When your safeties have take on RB's with a head of steam, and pass defend forever because we aren't pressuring the QB, it makes it tough to do your job. Effectively. In general your safeties should be more focused on pass coverage than having to worry about everything since the front seven is stopping nothing. Doesn't mean our secondary is good as is and doesn't need improved, but I do think the situation had a negative impact on their play. This season we should see a marked improvement from the front 7, and that I think will provide a more realistic basis to evaluate our secondary. Last year it was really hard to properly evaluate any area on our D because it was just that awful all around. You have to start fixing somewhere, and I agree with Emery in fixing the line by adding players and getting healthy.

I agree with this too, and while like many of us who had our idea who the Bears should draft, I was frustrated with some of these picks at the time but having had a chance to go back and review footage of these guys, I'm liking our draft more than I did when the picks were taken. Watching Fuller play does remind me a lot of Peanut. He's a ball hawking cover corner, who appears to often know the route as well or better than the WR, but he also has that aggressiveness and nose for the ball in the run game. Let Peanut teach him the ball punch and we could have ourselves a solid corner to carry on when Tillman is gone.

Thank God they are in the AFC

would have rather had nix

ug… think I might throw up

our pick is in

we should take best punter available here

Maybe we should talk about the guys we don't want to draft seems whenever we throw a name out there someone takes them

not going to be much left when we pick

insult to injury the pukers take dix…...

meh…. I was not happy when Donald was off the board but then started hoping for HA HA

I don't necessarily think Emery is less inclined to listen to Trestman, I feel like there is more of a like-mindedness between them. I feel the whole organization seems to be on the same page rather than the chaos we've had in the past. I don't think Emery and Lovie saw eye to eye, and not sure how much give/take there was in that war room. But I do feel more confident in Emery and Trestman and his staff. Which is one big reason Lovie should have been canned a year earlier so Emery could start out with his guy.