This is a slow time where, I sometimes feel dead and bloated, so might as well throw some comments out there to stir the pot.
We all have our opinions about all that has been done by the Bears this offseason.
New coaches and GM--most people are in agreement that we have upgraded the decision makers to run our team. Pace is suppose to be an young and ascending personal manager of which I like what he has done so far, but truth be told, we will know more of his talents 3 years from now.
Fox, Fangio, Gase, ect. --the coaches we can see past history of being successful at their jobs and I think Fangio in the #1 defensive coordinator in the league . It will show up on the field and in player development. great hire
Free agency-- we look at all available and the first few moves show what is important to them. They rated McPhee as a breakout player on the rise and paid for him.
The antics of Marshall got him his 4th team in his career, so they went out and paid an average player(Eddie Royal) but what he brings is some needed speed and a true slot WR which makes us less predicable than we were last year.
Rolle was brought in for his leadership and consistent play. He is long in the tooth but has rarely been injured so they took the risk and it will pay huge rewards.
Ray McDonald is a successful player in Fangio's defense to add some substance to a lot of question marks.
Most of the other FA signings were upgrades to our roster at cheap prices. Foster, Ball and Rodgers will find roles to make us a better team in the coming year.
Draft--- I think we got 3 starters at some point in this year in White-Goldman-Grassi. I also think we got two future starters in Amos and Langford.
UDFA will give us two plums no one expected in in Jacoby Glenn/CB and Williams/NT.
We added a lot of prospects of valve that we now can develop with people that know what there doing
We have a lot of question marks but think we have answered many with our offseason acquisitions. I think the one unknown factor in our future success is how the new leaders view our roster from last year.
We viewed RT as a position of need but because we didnt add depth there, I think they have the answer on the roster. It could be Long moving outside or (I think) Ola taking over that position. The Oline was part of our demise last year with all the injuries. We added depth in Ducasse who could be the answer right now if we move Long to OT. Ideally what I would like done is Long move to LT, Bushrod to RT and fill the RG position with Ola. It will remain to be seen what happens but the arrow is pointing up.
It is always about Cutler, he is a an average NFL starter,15-20 rankings. Has been prone to TOs. His big money has alot of people complaining but the facts are he is our best option this year and maybe next. There just wasnt any FAs available to turn over the job to, and I think we would have taken Mariota, but just wasnt available to us.(heard Pace really liked him) Im down on Cutler over all, but would hate to think what our future would look like with a nobody at the QB position. We have no choose than to put him with good coaches and see what transpires.
Bennett is a stud, but nobody behind him, alas the reason we have 8 TEs on the roster right now. I think Miller stays healthy and plays the receiver role, with Pascoe as the blocking TE.
With White(a potential stud) and Royal we now have a diverse unpredictable set of WRs . The key is we added speed. Wilson could develop into a prime player but for what its worth, screw Marshall( we just didnt need the chaos)
Forte will be the #1 back but we will see alot of Langford and Rodgers to keep the chains moving.
I think our NTs will be Goldman and Williams, two new players. Ratliff can play there but will be a rotational player at the LDT and RDT positions on the outside. I always thought Ferguson was the NT of the future but with him getting down to 295 is primed to be the eventual starter on the outside with McDonald. Jenkins was just a depth move. Ratliff, Ferguson, McDonald will all end up being in a rotational situation to keep the older guys fresh.
We didnt draft any LBers in the draft for one reason, we have the players on the roster to fill those spots successfully. McPhee will shine with Houston holding his own on the other side. Fangio will be in the 2-4-5 65% (came out of his mouth) so players like Allen, Young, Bass, Acho will see plenty of snaps. I think Jones could be groomed for the OLB role also.
Inside we have Foster(great pickup) and I think Bostic gets the other nod, with Jones carrying snaps inside also. I really hope McCLellin gets his shit together but have my doubts.
Unfortunately I think Sutton and Washington dont make it.
We will be ok at CB with Fuller taking a step forward. I think Ball ends up playing the other spot with Jennings as the NCB. I also see Amos playing some at that spot. Glenn,McManis and Hurst will be our backups.
The wonderful spot of safety, Mundy and Rolle with start with Vereen and Amos seeing snaps along the way. Not what I envision going into 2015 but think it will be drastically better.
I think we will be suprised at what we get out of the Bears this year, at the worst 8-8 and the best 10-6 with a possible WC.
GO BEARS