DABEARSDABOMB

When I say Rex is an accurate passer, I mean he's more accurate and puts the ball where he wants it. The problem is accuracy % is also related to reading the defenses and making the right throws, something Rex clearly has struggled with and such has really effected his accuracy %. However, as a pure passer, he's very accurate.

Lamont has proven that he's a serviceable starter and could definitely fill in the void if Forte doesn't live up to his hype or struggles initially to adjust to the NFL. I actually would like this signing more so than the signing of Kevin Jones.

Rex has a quicker release, stronger arm, and is ridiculously more accurate (Rex is actually a very very accurate passer). So that is more than one area where Rex wins. I also can't say that Kyle is more mobile than Rex (neither are mobile). Kyle is taller, which helps him see the field and obviously there are intangibles like reading the defenses but neither have proven to excel at that, at least not yet. And at the same time, neither have had great weapons to work with.

The number one key to the Bears defense is health. If I could point to any one player I'd say the most important player on the Bears defense is either Tommie Harris or Brian Urlacher. The Bears have been nothing short of horrendous when Urlacher is injured (just look at the record). However, a healthy, 100% Harris (we didn't see that Harris last year) is by far and away the best defensive tackle (if not lineman) in the entire NFL. When you mix that with the Bears playing an inexperienced DT next to him (whomever that may be...hopefully a healthy Dusty) he becomes even more key (as the Bears have Briggs/Hill at the LB core, who both are very experienced and a capable backup in Jamar Williams (Briggs would obviously slide to MLB) in the case that Urlacher went down. I can't even consider Mike Brown and if he really is the key this team is probably screwed given his injury history (Love the guy, but can't possible call him key, he definitely makes this team much better when healthy but do we really even know if he has the physical ability to be a difference maker anymore.

I like Rex for all the reasons mentioned in the article and so many more. The guy is a great teammate and very talented and I just hope somehow the light "switches" on for him. Even if he fails I won't have a negative taste about Grossman. Cade McNown, yes. Cedric Benson, yes. Rex Grossman, no. I feel similarly for Orton, but believe in Grossman's physical abilities much more than Orton's.

I don't think Urlacher has handled anything wrong. The only possible exception is that he probably should have spoke out against some of the rumors swirling around early in the off-season and put them to bed. Ie, the rumors of him demanding a trade and the like. If you want to knock Brian, knock him for his lack of true leadership, not what he's done on the field or in negotiations with the Bears. Brian has had some off the field issues and isn't always the best to say the right thing or toe the organizational line when interviewed but he's a heck of a player. The problem is, given his injury, it would be relatively foolish of the Bears to throw a lot more guaranteed money his way when there is little security that his play will hold up and be worth that extra money.

I will say this, he isn't going to come to the Bears because we clearly aren't a team close to winning a superbowl. For the Bears to win the superbowl, a lot of things would have to go right. If he became a FA, he'd strictly look at teams that are very good at every position with the exception of QB (clearly a season ago, the Bears would have been his best option, now, with no proven RB's or WR's and a line coming off a horrendous season, there isn't a chance in hell the Bears are one of his better options). The Vikings are easily the favorites in that department. Giants would have fit had they not pulled out a superbowl win with Manning able to get himself out from under his brother's shadow.

AJ Pyrzinski was as hated as it got when he played for the Twins who were a constant thorn in the White Sox side for a number of years (including this year). In fact, he was involved in a lot of disputes. He became a FA after a year in San Fran and signed with the White Sox and has now turned into a fan favorite. There is typcially a legitimate reason you hate a guy that plays on a rival team (its typically because they are a good player). Ask any Sox fan if they hate AJ now and they won't. Hell, he was a huge reason the Sox won a World Series in 2005. Torri Hunter was in the same boat and the Sox made a heavy push to get him and again, he would have been welcomed with open arms (why, because I don't give a shit what team you play for, if you are good and can help my team get better than once you join the roster and produce I'm gonna root like hell and start to like you). Favre is an extreme case, given his long long history in Green Bay, but if he wanted to leave and come to Chicago the only people that should be pissed are Packer fans because he's leaving them to go to the rival, not Bear fans, who are significantly upgrading the QB position with a guy that isn't just class, but very very good (he's still one of the better QB's in the league). It's one thing if a guy is a dick or a parole, but when all they did was play on your rival team, than if they are good and want to come over, sign em up. If Favre joined the Bears, you could bet your ass that I'd buy a Favre jersey.

Hope everyone has a fantastic 4th!!!!

Man, Angelo makes the beginning of training camp nice. You can focus on what is going on on the field as opposed to off it (ie, rookie negotiations/holdouts (although last year was an exception with the whole Briggs thing going on).

I would buy a Favre jersey as soon as he signed with the Bears. Thats how excited I'd be. However, there is absolutely no way he's going to come to a team with no proven WR's or RB's. If he's going to go somewhere else, look at Minnesota who has a tremendous defense, an improved receiving core (Berrian, despite getting overpaid, makes that WR core a lot better), and one ridiculous backfield (no denying that). Oh plus they have a tremendous oline. The one legit weakness on the Vikings is the young QB Tavarius Jackson and replacing him with Favre for a season or two could bring them to a couple Super Bowls.

I would also think a rookie salary cap would put an end to these ridiculous rookie holdouts.

Outstanding news on Forte. Looking forward to getting him inked so the Bears can turn there focus at hammering out Williams deal and than moving on to Hester/Urlacher.

I'm essentially saying that Angelo was the type of candidate that would have never taken this position had the Bears put any restrictions on whom he could draft and the day to day football operations. He was a very qualified candidate who was thought was one of the main guys behind the superbowl champion Bucs. In addition, he signed an extension here and if he wasn't in control and others were pushing the buttons or making the calls on the top selections he would have had all the opportunity in the world to go get paid and paid well to GM another franchise. Basically put Angelo's hiring was the opposite of a team hires a guy that no one things is capable of being a head coach or GM (Raiders and Cowboys have done this) and they end up being more of a mouth-piece for an owner but they accept that because its there only shot at getting a head coaching position.

Angelo could leave the Bears whenever he wants. Its not as if the Bears hired him and hold all the leverage (in the sense that this was the only GM position he could have possibly gotten (ie, the Bears hiring someone under-qualified so they could manipulate him). If they weren't going to let him have full say of the football decisions he wouldn't be here, therefor, he's 100% in charge of who we take in the 1st round and as a whole he's done a tremendous job drafting and managing the cap. I'd give him an A- or so as a GM, solely because he has gotten snake-bit on a few decisions (most of which occurred early in his career). I really can't blame him for the failure last year or even the failures of some of those first round busts (QB is a crapshoot and Rex has all the tools and thats what you can ask from your GM, to put a guy with the tools onto the roster and than let the coaches turn him into a quality player; Benson could be looked at as a failure if he had these attitude questions (But had we not taken him, someone else would have grabbed him in the first 7 or so picks so it isn't like we were the only team who had him that high on the board....hell, this guy belongs in a sentence involving the greatest collegiate running backs to ever play the game).

The reality is regardless he's going to get a big contract. The question is do you give it to him now (since part of the reason he'll get such a big contract is because he's going to be at WR) or do you at least wait a season to see if he proves himself or shows flashes (at which point it will cost more, but if he doesn't pan out you aren't totally screwed). I could see a lot of value in waiting another year, but JA better communicate things very well with Devon and make sure he's on the same page (and essentially present things that way so if he signs today we are talking about a fair deal based on what he's accomplished and some sort of projection but if he waits he could get a deal similar to Bernard Berrians). Either way, Angelo is very good at this part of the business and I have no doubt he'll do the right thing.

Here's a question, who can the Bears least afford to have a holdout with, Williams or Forte? Both are going to be counted on to start at key positions (Forte as the RB) and Williams at the LT. I'd personally lean towards Forte because the Bears have flat out done everything out there to hand him the job and that includes not filling the roster with the appropriate depth. In Williams case we are talking about a guy who would again be costly if he held out, but at least St. Clair can start at RT if need be (with Tait moving back to LT). Hopefully we don't have to worry about that and both end up signing, but given the Bears lack of alternatives Forte should have a lot more leverage than the typical 2nd rounder.

Nice, now it is time to hammer out deals with the top two picks.

Lloyd has reportedly looked very good at all of the OTA's.

Dan Pompei was on ESPN this morning and talked about the Bears QB competition and indicated that both Rex and Orton feel the competition is making them better football players. Orton has specifically told Pompei that he has grown more comfortable in Turners system as well as improved his downfield accuracy. I think its going to be one heck of a battle.

I'll go one farther, Peterson and Wolfe have proven they aren't capable of carrying that load and as such the Bears are making a massive mistake by not bringing in a back-up who is capable of such. Its one thing if you do it in basketball or baseball, but in the NFL, a league where injuries are plentiful it is just flat out inexcuseable to not have a solid backup at your key offensive positions (ie, QB/RB).

But if you think about it, at that point you are talking about a few hundred seats being held by those scalpers around the stadium and that isn't exactly going to be noticed out of a stadium that holds 50K plus.

I think it will be assinine if the Bears don't sign a RB. I have had no issues with the way Angelo has handled the QB situation, but if the Bears open the season relying on a 2nd round draft pick to be the guy they are making a huge mistake. I wouldn't tihnk so if I felt that one of the back-ups in house had a shot at developing into a league average RB, but we know they do not (Wolfe doesn't have the size or ability to run in between the tackles and Peterson is a change of pace back, nothing more). Because of that, it means either your rookie lives up to massive hype (plus we are talking about a 2nd rounder so its not as if he's a freak athlete who can make up for his inexperiences with pure athletism) you are going to have a poor backfield. You bring in Jones and all of a sudden if things go bad, you have a guy that when healthy is at least a league average RB and you can make a case that behind a solid line is an above average RB (and healthy). Bottom line, not bringing someone in whose capable of being a league average starter is just stupid.

I don't think Leftwich is a bad football player, in fact, if healthy and on the right unit, I think he can be a league average to a bit above average NFL QB. The one issue is that he would enter the season in a similar page as Orton and Rex and I don't know if the Bears have enough snaps to really handle this. Heck, if all three were on the roster I'd grade them all out evenly. I think the best thing the Bears could do is get a journeyman old time 3rd stringer or a young guy they really like (and just have him as the 3rd string in a role playing role under the concept that if it comes down to you relying on the 3rd stringer your season's done anyway so you might as well just turn things over to the kid and start preparing for the next season).

The Bears don't have a true pass rushing end (although Anderson could turn into that, but consistently he hasn't shown that he is that) nor do they have a DT who has proven himself that will play next to Harris. Bottom line the Bears have a stud DT (with injury issues), a potential stud DT (with injury issues, ie Dusty), and two rock solid (Ogunleye is close to a pro-bowler) DE's. I really can't even make the argument of the best dline in football. The Vikings have a superior line. However, if everything goes well, they could finish the year with the best line in football (healthy Harris, Dusty plays like he did for that one game in San Diego (remember, he has a whopping one NFL game under his belt), Anderson produces in the 3rd down sack role and Ogunleye/Brown are there consistently productive well rounded selves).