bear trap

Hopefully JA realizes that Benson wasn't the man last year when healthy, and now is even more unlikely returning from a broken ankle. C'mon mendenhall!! There will be just as suitable olinmen in the 2-7th rounds. http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2008/04/me...halas_hall.html

There's only 1 thing I don't like about lovie, and that is he doesn't have the Head Coaching balls many others have. He waits too long to make changes, and in the long run that kills us. Carolina in the playoffs a few years ago. The qb position whether it's with rex, orton, or greise, or orton, hutchinson, and remember quinn? I mean c'mon you see the guys in practice does it take the first 4 games to realize if he's "THE MAN". Many of us realized moose was in the decline, and should have been riding the pine much of last year in favor of bradley or hester. Now look at the mess we're in! Lovie needs to react faster at the little things with this team, cause he seems to always be too little to late when a change is made. ARCHULETTA is a prime example. He's on the decline and should have been cut, but lovie won't see that until arch screws up royally. In other words Lovie just needs to take a drink of coffee and wake the F up, because we do have a talented team on the d and s/t's but it won't stay like that long enough for him to see his errors.

That's funny I recall seing AP make many of our guys miss and break quite a few tackles. I think you need to rewatch the game cause saying a rb doesn't make a line better is bs. EVERYONE could tell the difference when AP was on the field as opposed to taylor. just like TJ made a difference as opposed to benson, heck look at ronnie brown, is the oline that good that their making him look like a stud, or is it the fact that he's making them look good? TJ found the holes and made the oline look better that's pretty darn obvious because our oline was exposed last year without him and that's not an opinion, it's a statistical fact. I find it hard to believe that in one year the oline can go from superbowl worthy to what we saw. It's called everyone knew that TJ was better and they didn't have any reason to fear the slower less shifty benson. Face it benson is a bust, he didn't have "NFL" speed.

I understand that and what I was trying to say to az is that it could go both ways. Pending who we view as the best overall talent left on the board we could go mendy then ot in the 2nd like tony hill from texas or baker from usc. If we see there is a talented rb on the board we should take him cause the top 2, maybe three ot's will be gone and there isn't much of a drop from williams to hill or baker. I said it before would minny drafted the talented player on the board even though it wasn't a "need" in AP look how that turned out for them. No one can say that it's all b/c of minny's line cause chester taylor would never have done the same thing to us that AP did. This draft is deep in both ol and rb, so it the top two of any are taken, why settle for the third or fourth best when you can get the 2nd best rb and not loose much in terms of oline with a hill or baker pick in the second round. Benson isn't proven and is coming back from a major injury I think staying put and taking a rb later may come back to bite us. Forte or rice may be good 2nd round options and if clady or some freak think happens and long are still there, yeah take forte in the second, however I think if those two are gone mendenhall should be the pick if he's on the board still.

And the season would be saved if we started two rookies at oline??? this is precisely what I'm talking about. No matter what we do our first rd draft pick more than likely wouldn't be a stud in his first year and my point was that if there is a run on oline and long,williams, clady, are all gone why reach for a player that was projected to be a late rd pick when a player whether it be rb or qb are on the board who were high on the draft board. Like it or not mendenhal is considered the second best rb in this draft, some experts even have him higher than mcfadden. So yeah we could draft an oline but all in all the production level will still be that of a rookie just like any other position. So like I said do you pass on a "potential" nfl starting running back of the future because you're weak at oline today? You say ray rice and plenty of others in later rounds, doesn't that also imply towards lineman like hill from texas or baker from usc? this draft is deep at rb and oline which just happens to be our biggest needs, and just like rb's, not all 1st rd olinemen turn out to be studs. For every enis there's a gallery, it's nothing more than sheer luck as to who pans out. I remember many wanting dockery when he came out. Where's he now?

Sorry, but I disagree with you. Fenom put it best in the other thread. Whichever need is of best value is on the board we'll more than likely take it. You keep saying that we lost rt and lg, do you really think JA would release those two if he didn't think other players like st.clair, beekman, metcalf were ready? Yeah oline is a priority, but no more than a rb in this year's draft. We let go tj before last year and stuck with benson. This year we let go of brown and miller to go with the other guys I just mentioned. Will we draft an olineman? I'm sure, however if the right value isn't there at oline why reach when a guy like mendenhal could be there. All this shore up the oline now is nonsense. How would you like to have passed on a difference maker to reach for an olineman just b/c of need. If walter was in this draft and we had the current oline do you pass on him because we need a rt or lg? Not saying mendenhal will be like walter, but just trying to get the point across that if a player you deem as "TALENTED" is on the board you don't pass on him for a guy who normally wouldn't get selected with the 14th pick. If that was the case minny would really be kicking themselves now cause rb wasn't really a "need" when the took AP last year seeing as they already had chester taylor. Same goes for us. You may say that the oline was horrible last year, and good the year before, but is that all their fault. Benson and rex sure don't command the threat to keep 8-9 guys out of the box. Not too many olines would do that well if they saw constant pressure and multiple blitzers like we did. Benson just doesn't have an nfl rb's first step. TJ had that and we knew it, but benson doesn't and he doesn't have the vision to make up for that.

Yeah, for some reason the defense comes out mad which is pretty scary. Remember before the injuries dusty really lit this team up emotionally. if he and brown don't go down we'd have one scary defense for the year. THey really stuck it to the chargers that day. I think a lot of the media forgot about that. That's why I think dusty will really prove his worth this year. Look for a Mean, nasty defense.

Watching the NFL Network and they did their own little sweet sixteen of this upcoming year's NFL teams. We weren't even mentioned. They had GB as a 11 seed, and mentioned minny as a snub. Wow I know we're not having a great offseason, but we ARE only 2 years removed from the superbowl! Minny???? cmon they have a worse qb situation than us. At least both of our qb's have shown a little something in this league. I hope that our defense stays healthy and we Bi### slap the entire league all the way to the big dance. With our d and s.t. we don't need much other than off in this draft. I bet we go all off. maybe williams or clady or otah in the first. trade up with our second and other third rder and snatch albert in the second and nab forte with the 7th pick in the third the 9ers just coughed up. that'd be a nice draft. go a wr like bennet or qb like dixon with our fourth rnd pick. then all off linemen with the rest.

I never said I wanted him to look like tj, all I said is that I can remember numerous times when benson would be running between the tackles and there would be a hole opened up two yards to the left or right and he'd continue to the spot that was closed off. To be a starting rb in this league whether a power runner or a shifty runner you must have the ability, no the vision to see the opening cause without that all you'll do is make it to the los before you're stuffed. This is what benson does. He thinks he can run over or through a 300-350 lb defensive lineman. Not going to happen. He don't have to shift clear to the other side of the field, but when a hole does open up he should be able to make at least one cut and try to hit it. All the great ones could do that, walter,terrell davis, emmit smith, tim brown, etc... its all about the vision and benson lacks it.

Mongo and everyone else who said our o-line sucked. Did anyone ever think that it's not just our players on the line but maybe the off line coach. Don't know what his scheme is, but it wasn't that our guys couldn't block, but missed their assignments. Numerous times I saw a LB'er shoot straight up the gut and no one knew who's responsibility it was to pick him up. That isn't only the player's fault but also if not mostly the offensive line coach's fault. Benson doesn't have what it takes, terra is right. How many times did we see a hole open up and benson didn't hit it. It's like the play call is the only thing he can run. Why did TJ have success? He deviated from the play call if he saw a hole or even a seem he thought looked like an opportunity. You'd be lying if you say you never saw a time where if benson would have made a cut to the one way or another he would have picked up better yardage instead of continuing on the play called and running to the sideline or straight at an opposing defender thinking he could run him over. Benson hasn't learned that he can't run over everyone in this league and that if he sees an opportunity to make a cut to take it, cause 90% of this game is improvising on the fly, if it weren't the game would be boring as hell. Peyton does this before he takes the snap, you know when he thinks he sees something. TJ did it all the time and that is why he was so good for us, but cedric lacks the split second decision making skills that most good running backs have in this league. When there is a hole where it's supposed to be watch out cause benson hits it hard,but if it's not there all he's screwed. You can't expect our line to open a hole up exactly where they're supposed to every time but if there is an opening our RB should be able to adjust to try to hit the opening instead of staying with the orginal place he's supposed to run. Should we go offensive line in the draft yeah, but if all the decent ot are taken why not try for a skill position like qb or rb. Reaching for the 5th or 6th best ot would be foolish if the best qb or rb are still on the board.

Green Bay is not a ? they do have a very young and talented defense, a great group at wr and a decent running game. Minny is all adrian and defense, so they'll be good this year. Detroit is doing a lot too, they signed both db's from tampa kelly and I don't recall the other, not to mention they have williams and johnson and furrey. We are really setting ourselves up to finish last in the division this year. We've made no roster adjustments that will make us potentially better this year, so we better hope, no pray the defense stays healthy this year and devin can work his magic again cause the points aren't going to come easy this year(especially with teams kicking it away from hester knowing we can't do anything with good field position). Not behind a line with 2 rooks and a turnover proned when paniced grossman or an injury prone border line bust benson. Face it we won't be scaring any teams this year period. That's okay though we'd be a high draft pick in a draft featuring beanie wells next year. You just have to look at the glass in an it's half full mentality.

If mendenhal is still on the board and we pass on him I would hope that we trade down and maybe select williams and take a guard with the second rd pick. Hopefully Mike hart is still on the board with the next pick, cause I really liked his determination and his tough attitude. He never asked to be taken out of the game like benson does. Besides I'm disgusted with the organizations mentality of taking a guy who's not used to playing in the type of weather conditions that we have to play in come playoff time. Benson just doesn't have the northern grit that we need. Hart's been there done that. So why not give him a chance considering he'd not be too high of a draft pick. Hart plays with heart and he pretty much carried the wolverines on his back. Yeah he may be small and may say some things that stir up the locker room, but should we be looking for someone like that offensively. He doesn't settle for mediocrity, and the sloppy soldier field in the month of december wouldn't affect his play. Benson still is the man, however hart would be a great way of telling him we have someone who will give it his all if you're not willing to. Yet we didn't go and throw money or a high draft pick at someone to prove it.

That's ridiculous, why would people be saying he was handed the job. The only way that would be said is if he goes out and throws for a qb rating anywhere from 0-30 a couple of times like he did numerous times last year. Let's get everything straight. Everyone says that grossman gets a bad rap, how many qb's A.) are injured the first three years and still annointed starter? B.) Have such horrible games consistently in one season, and C.) Throw as many int's or botch as many fumbles in one game? I don't hate grossman, however I don't believe he can consistently be a starting qb in the NFL. His mentality just hasn't grown in his years here. When he has a bad game he has a REALLY BAD GAME! That's why he is under such scrutiny. It's not undeserved nor uncalled for. He 'll go through a game without a pick then the next game you'd think that his receivers were wearing the other team's jerseys. So yeah you'll hear the Grossman was handed the starter job, but only if he goes out and throws 4-5 int's in a couple games. Why shouldn't you? Orton didn't go out and turn the ball over like rex has in the past. As a matter of fact in the t/o to td ratio I believe Orton was positive. That my friend is the reason you would hear the unfair competition argument. With a ball control, run the football first team you'll never get anywhere with a qb prone to turning the football over.

Jason, why do you think drafting a tackle with 14th pick and maybe more o-line with the other picks will help benson? Last I checked the BEST tackle in the draft last year didn't help. Fergusen was a very high pick and look what happened to jones. I believe if you want a good o-line you have better luck signing fa's who are experienced as to the rookies who have the "learning curve". Remember columbo? Where'd that end up for us and then look at dallas now. Get the free agents when they're past the learning curve instead of signing and puting up with mediocrity waiting to develop. I'm not saying sign old farts like we did with brown and miller, last I checked both starks and olivea are on the better side of 30 (26 I believe).

Exactly what I've been saying for two days now. Sign olivea cause he should be cheap, convert him to guard and poison pill pitt with starks. I would definitely have no worries what so ever going into the season. Heck then we could draft bpa with 14 whether it be a rb or wr. Mcfadd or mendenhall would def be tempting with that scenario.

Julius is schueduled to visit the lions tomorrow or wed, doesn't look good since they'll be looking to replace tj duckett. Do you think that we're intentionally not getting oline or wr help so that benson really sucks this year and we won't look like total morons for selecting him two years ago. I mean if he really sucks this year JA can say he gave him every opportunity in the world and not look as stupid.

Jerry and Lovie always say that we're a "running football team Maybe with two less o-linemen in front of benson he can actually find the hole. Maybe, just maybe if we play 3 o-lineman he might be able to squeeze his fat ass through the gap. Anyways I know it's still early, however with the expanded cap I'm starting to worry because the fa's are being inked a whole lot faster than ever, and soon we will be going into the season with st. clair at rt and metcalf at g, which would suck because our starters sucked last year and now we're going to play the ones who couldn't even beat them out. I'm not worried about wr as much cause we have a lot of potential there yet with bradley and hester and there's always going to be a booker or that type out there to sign, but if we are really going to be a run first team J A better do something with the o-line before there's no one left, cause starting two rooks is a recipe for disaster and neither grossman or benson are quality players who overcome adversity.

Now that pitt just threw down a ton of money on big ben I hope there's a way we can poison pill them with starks and steal him away like we did tait. NFL network listed them in bad cap condition. If we get starks and another fa o-linemen(olivea, or the guard from Tennessee) we'd be free to take someone like mendenhall or stewart with 14. The rb crop of fa is thin and I don't want a washed up j. jones. Go for the youth to compete with benson send him a signal that he's not getting it done, draft mendenhall!

I understand but we've got to look at the phins last year. T. Green is on the major decline, and cleo lemon is a turd. Booker hasn't had a great opportunity there and he actually WANTS to come back here. I'm just trying to think like JA and not break the bank on a player and maybe get a diamond that no one saw in the rough. Marty did catch over 100 balls for us one year and he's not affraid of taking the hit like moose and berrian were. Not to mention he's a "smart receiver" as in a guy who will break his route and get open if a play falls apart. Too many times I didn't see moose and berrian do that. I really see us bringing marty back at a steal of a price rather than throw money to an unproven and big risk johnson or a health risk walker who cries about his current team every year.

That's what I thought. Steal starks the way we did tait, sign olivea(since he should come cheap since he wasn't even a starter) and convert him to gaurd and draft mendenhall/stewart with 14. THEN draft two o-lineman for future grooming with the next two picks.Sign big hands booker to replace moose as well. We can always find a good safety with our day two pick, not to mention we don't know what we have with payne yet. Do we still have arch or did we drop his sorry butt? Let's face it fellas we're not going to drop big dime on a fa this offseason unless it's someone like starks who we can poison pill. These signings I can actually see us doing cause they aren't top tier fa, but very servicable in the right system. We'd shore up many of our holes and not break the bank. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is how it'll play out.

Are you kidding? You think that moose is better than booker. What I was saying is that booker replaces moose and hester/bradley/davis/hass duke it out to replace berrian although bradley and hester are more likely to take berrian's spot since they have speed. Don't forget berrian did have a lot of drops, so bradley and hester don't really have too big of shoes to fill. Booker is a heck of a lot more sure handed than moose was and would actually be an upgrade for the possession receiver spot. Losing berrian isn't the end of the world and we by no means have to compete in a bidding contest for johnson or walker, when a reliable possession wr who costs less and wants to come here and play is sitting right there in front of us. BRING BACK BIG HANDS, I WAS TICKED WHEN WE TRADED HIM!

I have a good idea of where we're going. I think we'll end up with Marty booker,shane olivea, and maybe one other fa o-lineman who won't break the bank. Draft medenhall with 14, then draft oline the next two picks. I would be happy with this for the fact that olivea is still young, booker wants to come here and he was productive as in never dropping the pass up the middle like moose did, and a good fresh youngster to compete with benson. Receivers would be Booker, Hester, Bradley, Davis, and Hass. Not too bad if you ask me. Berrian was overrated, and I think bradley can more than pick up his slack and don't forget we're heading into year two of the hester experiment he can only get better. Davis is pretty clutch as well. Just my thoughts though.

I could be wrong, however a huge reason why the bears are constantly ridiculed by the media and scrutinized by it's fans are for the obvious reasons. Look at the stupid decisions we've made. Benson for one, when drafted, was everyone thinking WTF!, then you have enis, then you have columbo, then you have salaam, haynes, then you have rex, then you have terrell, then you have the qb carousel with kordell, miller, mathews, krenzel, burris,greise,orton,rex,hutch, and I know I'm missing quite a few. Not only is this brought on by their own stupidity, but well deserved. For all the t. harris's and d. hesters we pluck from the football gods, it doesn't make a darn bit of good when you run into the most important position on the team blindfolded, deaf, with both fists swinging. The qb position this team has filled numerous times with pathetic players is down right sad. When you combine that with the fact that we continue to take our first rd draft picks and pick a bust (except for tommie and url.) you have to expect a lashing from the people who pay money to wear the team apparel and go to the games. It's human nature to feel like you've put so much into something ,and that something isn't even trying to give back to you. I for one hope that jerry either pulls his head from his butt when on the clock for the 14th pick and makes a good one, or just trades it away for a proven talent. Why select a benson when you could have gotten a vilma, or someone else who was on the trading block? Everyone wants to take a tackle with the 14th pick, screw that. Last time I checked robert gallery wasn't doing all that great for the raiders. I say we take a player that is a can't miss, and if there isn't a player still there at 14 who's a can't miss you make a trade for someone. I personally would like mendenhall. Benson was a risk because he was taken at 4 and technically we didn't need him. Mendenhall taken at 14 is a lot safer, not to mention if he becomes a bust we can say we were trying to fill a position of need unlike the benson situation. I for one would much rather sign proven o-line talent via fa like olivea and and starks than take a chance on a rook and end up with a columbo.