defiantgiant

Ugh, that sucks. I hope they're planning to replace McBride with somebody off the waiver wire...he HAS to get cut. He's been bouncing off receivers and running backs like a pinball.

Yeah, I really wanted him to be the answer, too, but he just hasn't shown it against starting-caliber players. I'm OK with the team keeping Davis for his ST value, as long as he's firmly stuck at #6 on the depth chart. From what I've seen in the preseason, I'm thinking Hester-Bennett-Aromashodu-Knox-Iglesias-Davis would be about right. Also, I'm thinking if Kevin Jones' injury is anything serious, we should probably just cut bait on him. He hasn't shown anything like the burst he had back in 2004. After watching him play last season and this preseason, I honestly can't think of any area where he looks better than Adrian Peterson. That's not to say AP's a real dynamic backup by any means, but if we're not going to keep 4 backs, I don't see any reason to keep Kevin Jones. I'd rather give that roster spot to AP and cross my fingers that Angelo drafts another running back next year.

Hood definitely sucked last night, if you're talking about a starting CB. He missed several tackles and blew at least one coverage that I saw. However, he's still a major upgrade over Trumaine McBride. McBride missed or slid off every tackle that I saw him attempt. I didn't count ONE TIME in the Browns game when he actually wrapped a guy up and brought him down. Even if it means replacing him with Hood, McBride's got to go. On another note: am I the only one who thought that D.J. Moore showed some signs of life in that game? He broke up two passes that I saw, both of which could have been interceptions. He also had a nice-looking TFL when he came on a blitz. I hope the Bears keep him on the roster and let him grow up a little; he seems like he's got some talent, and I doubt he'd clear waivers.

So for the entire preseason, Knox has 5 catches for 127 yards, and a 25.4 YPC. He'd have another catch for at least 30 if Hanie hadn't underthrown that one pass in the Browns game last night. Knox got behind both DBs, Hanie just needed to get the ball about 10 yards further down the field. I know it's preseason and all, but I'm thinking Knox could be a steal. From what I saw, he has great hands, runs the right routes, adjusts well to the ball, can break some tackles, has a little bit of shake-and-bake in the open field...he looks like a real receiver.

Yeah, I really hope that Melton and Gilbert turn into decent players, because the second-rounder we traded to get the two of them could have been Sean Smith. I haven't seen Melton at all this preseason, aside from that one kick return. Gilbert hasn't looked very impressive when he's been on the field. Maybe they can kick him outside to DE, but he doesn't look like he can get much push up the middle. Toeaina looks more disruptive on the interior line than Gilbert, thus far. DL is a problem, but not as glaring a problem as the secondary. At the very least, there's significant quality depth behind the starters. Idonije, Harrison, and Adams are all guys who I'd be comfortable giving a lot of snaps to. That said, if I were Jerry Angelo, I'd be taking a serious look at Corey Williams. The Browns are rumored to be shopping him for cheap, because he's crap as a 3-4 end. The last time he played 4-3 DT, though, he had back-to-back 7-sack seasons. He'd give a MAJOR boost to our d-line. A line that went Wale-Harris-Williams-Brown/Anderson would be pretty legit.

According to Rotoworld, the Jets are inquiring about Brandon Marshall and the Eagles are shopping Reggie Brown. Denver is making it sound like Marshall's not really available (read: they're trying to drive up their price) but I'm not sure we'd want a guy like that anyway. Denver probably wants a 1st and then some, and Marshall's not worth that much risk. On the other hand, as much as I like our young receivers, I could see trading a 4th or something for Reggie Brown. Before the emergence of DeSean Jackson last season, Brown was a decently big part of Philly's offense. He had 61 catches for 780 yards and 4 TDs in 2007. In 2006, he grabbed 46 for 816 yards and 8 scores. He's got decent size at 6'1" 197, and he'd be an experienced upgrade over Rideau or Aromashodu. I think Olsen's going to be our centerpiece in the passing game this season, regardless, but Brown might offer something as a complementary receiver. A depth chart of Hester-Bennett-Brown-Knox-Iglesias would look pretty good to me. What do you guys think?

Definitely agree on the first two. D.J. Moore hasn't done much yet, but I might keep him around just to see if he pans out. McBride and Hamilton definitely need to go. Once everybody gets healthy, Tillman-Bowman-Graham-Vasher-Moore wouldn't be a bad depth chart.

Note to self: do not high-five Adewale Ogunleye. ...seriously, I hope that Orton heals up OK. That must have hurt like hell.

Yeah, the Chiefs are REALLY hurting at WR behind Dwayne Bowe. Mark Bradley is looking like their #2 guy right now, which tells you something. If the Chiefs cut Toomer, he probably doesn't have anything left.

Right, most receivers don't make the jump until their 3rd year. And those are guys who played the position in college. Hester's going to have an adjustment period. I don't think he's nearly as dumb as everybody makes him out to be; by all accounts, he has a good grasp of the playbook. It's just that he has to learn all the basics of the position at the same time. Who knows how long that's going to take. I mean, Hester's a mixed bag at this point. On the one hand, he's already a nightmare to cover. On the other hand, he's not that great at tracking the ball over his shoulder, and he's not going to win any jump balls. I think an ideal playbook for Hester would consist of a lot of quick slants and screens, and probably some plays where he lines up in the slot. That way you could capitalize on his separation ability, get him the ball in space, and also put him in a position to make catches in front of his body, instead of over his shoulder or above his head.

Yeah, I think it's probably because either Tillman or Bowman is further out than the team thought. I'm sure they don't want to go into the season with Vasher/McBride starting. We saw how that went in Denver. Hood's not great, but he's better than either of those two.

If we were going to redshirt IR somebody, I'd think it would be Iglesias. Knox has looked like he's a better bet for an immediate contribution, and he offers as much or more special teams value. Iglesias' learning curve has looked pretty steep thus far; I'd be surprised if he made any kind of impact this year.

I think this is the whole issue right here. If the coaching staff is watching the same offense we are, they'll see that Cutler has a better rapport going with Aromashodu and Rideau than he does with Davis. I haven't seen him throw to Davis once, nor have I read about it. I really hope the depth chart ends up Hester, Bennett, Rideau, Knox, Aromashodu, Iglesias. I do agree that special teams value is important for backup WRs, but this team has proven that they can replace ST guys. We have one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL - I'm sure he can do something with Knox or Iglesias. EDIT: Also, as far as the Adrian Peterson stuff, I have to pipe up. He's not bad at all for a third-string running back. How many teams have a third-string back that you'd rather have? I can think of four: the Cowboys, Raiders, Giants, and Jets. Most teams in the league, their third-string back is just a guy. Look at the Bills and Vikings: they each have two very talented backs. Their third-string backs? Just some guy. That's how I feel about AP. He's not necessarily anything special, but he's not terrible either. He's just a guy, and for the #3 back, that's fine. I may just be biased because the alternative is Garrett Wolfe, and Garrett Wolfe sucks. The goal-line fumble for a touchback just reinforced what I've been saying about him from the beginning: he's not an NFL running back. He's too small, too easy to bring down, and that little juke move that made him a monster at NIU isn't working on anybody in the pros. Keeping Wolfe as the #3 RB just for the occasional fake punt or whatever would be a huge waste of a roster spot. At least with AP, you get a guy who's proven he can contribute, even if it's a kinda mediocre contribution.

Push. He had 8 on the ground and 4 in the air last season. I think 10 on the ground and 2-3 in the air sounds about right this year, as his rushing production will likely go up while his receiving workload decreases. Honestly, I'll be happy with his total production even if it stays the same; if he can put up another 1700 yards from scrimmage and a dozen TDs, that's good enough for me.

Yeah, that was his block on Forte's TD run. He seems like he has the LG spot sewed up now. I wonder if they'll give Beekman a shot at RG. The guy really was pretty effective last year; it seems like a shame to just stash him on the second team until Kreutz is done.

Yeah, this...Jacobs is bigger than Urlacher. When you're a 6'4" 258-pound linebacker, you're probably used to tackling guys a good bit smaller than you are. I remember Urlacher having some trouble with Jerome Bettis back in the day, too.

Orton was a little more than a throw-in. There were rumors that other teams (Cleveland and Washington, I think) were offering similar packages of picks. The clincher, apparently, was that McDaniels preferred Orton to any of the other QBs he was being offered. I mean, of course the two #1s were the bulk of the value offered, but Orton was probably the reason that Cutler's not a Brown or a Redskin. As far as his performance in Denver, I think he is what he is. He's never going to have a good deep ball, and he's at his best when he can sort of dink and dunk down the field, little passes to his RBs or to a WR/TE in the flat, that kind of thing. If that's what they want, they got a good guy to do it. I don't see any reason why Orton and Cutler can't both be successful in their new offenses.

Orton struggled, for sure. One thing that's gone (largely) unmentioned in the whole trade discussion is offensive systems: Cutler's coming from Shanahan's offense to Turner's, which isn't that different. Orton, meanwhile, is going from Turner's system to McDaniels', which is VERY different. McDaniels is running something more like what the Patriots run, and I wouldn't be surprised if Orton struggles to adjust. He had three years to learn the Bears' system before he began to look like a starter in 2008 - he could take a step backward as he learns McDaniels' offense.

I've been reading the thread on the Packers' new 3-4 defense and how our offense might stack up against it, and I figured there should be a thread about the Lions' defensive changes as well. Let's get one thing out of the way immediately: yes, they're the Lions. Yes, they're coming off a winless season. But they're also fielding an almost entirely different team from the one that went 0-16, especially on D. They're not only changing their defensive scheme (from a Tampa-2 to a blitz-heavy, Jim Johnson-style 4-3,) they're also fielding an almost entirely new personnel group. By my count, they could be returning as few as three starters on defense, which is a good thing for them. So I'm wondering what everyone thinks on the subject: could Detroit's D be any good this year? So far, they've added three new starters in the secondary: Louis Delmas at FS, Philip Buchanon at RCB, and Anthony Henry at LCB. They've added two new (presumptive) starters at DT: Grady Jackson and (as of today) Shaun Smith. Also, Jared DeVries is out for the season, which likely means Cliff Avril is going to start at RE. He tied for the most sacks by a rookie last season, in very limited playing time. Lastly, they've added two new starting linebackers: Larry Foote at MLB and Julian Peterson at SLB. All in all, they've had a pretty major infusion of talent this offseason, at least on the defensive side of the ball. So what do you guys think - will that D be any good? How do you think our offense will stack up?

I read somewhere (I think it was Rotoworld) that Bennett was getting some snaps in the slot, in addition to his reps at split end. It sounds like one possible scenario is that Bennett is the starting X receiver, then when we go three-wide, Bennett moves into the slot with Rideau replacing him on the outside. If Bennett can handle both positions (which is a big if,) I think that'd be our best personnel package, at least for the time being. Once Iglesias and Knox are up to speed, maybe that changes.

I still like Kreutz, too. He's still a great run-blocking center, and he really sets the tone on our offensive line. In my mind, it's a key part of the Bears' team character to have a nasty, physical o-line; I think that all starts with Kreutz. It's great to hear that he's working one-on-one with some of the younger guys. I wonder how much he's done that with Beekman, given that Beekman's (in theory) being groomed to be his successor.

I think this is spot on. It looks like the staff is going forward with a base secondary of Vasher/Bowman/Manning/Payne, which doesn't leave Graham a spot on the field. I can't imagine that the current scenario (with Manning doing both FS and nickel) is Plan A, so I guess it makes sense to move Graham to the nickel, if only so they can have a single guy at each spot. I don't really know why he isn't getting a shot at corner. It seems like the FS move is on hold with Manning moving back there, but Graham was a perfectly good corner last season. Nfo, I think you're right that the staff appears to be assuming that they can move Graham back to CB in a pinch. Given that Tillman, Bowman, and Vasher all have injury concerns, I really hope they're right about that. They may need him at corner before the season's done.

Yeah, some scuffles are going to happen at camp. Rashied Davis and Tru McBride got into it, too, not just Bennett and Bowman. I wouldn't tend to worry about it unless somebody really gets hurt or one guy keeps starting fights. By way of a for instance, Cedric Benson has gotten into not one but TWO fights in the Bengals' camp. He got into it with Dhani Jones and with Keith Rivers. From the photos I saw, it looked like Benson got knocked flat both times.

I think this is just a nominal change in the depth chart. As the #2 tight end last year, Olsen got a number of snaps nearly identical to what Clark got as the #1. We've used a lot of 2TE sets since Olsen came on board: if anything, we should use even more this year with the question marks at receiver. Clark's still going to get a ton of playing time as the #2 tight end. I'm glad Olsen's getting some recognition, though. I think he's about to have a HUGE year.

I don't know anything about this guy, but I'll say this: he's young, he's big, and most importantly, the team that waived him has a very talented and fairly deep group on the offensive line. Even with Arron Sears out indefinitely, Tampa has five exceedingly good starters and a couple of quality backups. Miller might not have gotten a shot in Tampa, but it's worth bringing him in to see what he's got.