adam

How about Houston? They were a great defensive team with no QB. They are at 22, which may be too far for us, but looking at the Draft Value chart, we could get a pretty good haul for moving down from 11 to 22: Bears 11 (1250) = Texans 22 (780), 52 (380), 120 (54), 159 (27.8)~1241.8 That would be the Bears 1st, for the Texans 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th rounders.

Taking a different look at this. I think we all know our biggest weaknesses, but what about improving our skill positions? With the projected loss of Forte, questions about Bennett, and question marks at WR, what about some of these younger skill position UFA's: RBs Lamar Miller, 24, MIA, 194-872, 4.5, 8 TD Ronnie Hillman, 24, DEN, 207-863, 4.3, 7 TD Chris Ivory, 27, NYJ, 247-1070, 4.3, 7 TD Alfred Morris, 27, WAS, 202-751, 3.7, 1 TD WRs Travis Benjamin, 25, CLE, 61-893, 5 TD Marvin Jones, 25, CIN, 57-745, 4 TD Rueben Randle, 24, NYG, 51-638, 6 TD Rishard Matthews, 26, MIA, 43-662, 4 TD Mohamed Sanu, 26, CIN, 29-359, 0 TD TEs Dwayne Allen, 25, IND, 16-109, 1 TD Ladarius Green, 25, SD, 37-429, 4 TD Jermaine Gresham, 27, ARZ, 18-223, 1 TD Coby Fleener, 27, IND, 54-491, 3TD

Jason, nice comparison, I agree that the 85' Bears would beat the Panthers or Broncos. Now what about the Seahawks? I know they got pounded in the 1st half, but I think they match up, player for player a little better with the 85 Bears.

Jack, Stanley, or Ramsey seem like the logical choices, and there is a chance one of them will be there at #11.

Of the 76 kicker/punters in the database, Gould finished 75th (in terms of Value-Added) with a -13.4 and O'Donnell finished 42nd with a -1.6. The part that most were concerned with was Gould's kickoffs and that was clearly illustrated in this database as he finished dead last in that category. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-ha...on-nfl-kickers/ So with a cap hit of $4.1mil next year, is Kicker an area we need to address this offseason? Gould has the 3rd highest average salary for a Kicker (behind Gostkowski and Janikowski).

I believe they tagged Demaryius Thomas last year (then signed him) and Marshall will be a Restricted Free Agent this offseason.

Manning has a $21.5 million cap hit for next year, so it seems like Denver's plans will come down to whether they keep Peyton on board or not. Otherwise, they will only have $13 million in cap space for next year which will likely prevent them from doing too much in the offseason.

Of all the teams in the playoffs, I wanted Minnesota, Green Bay, and Seattle to lose. So my postseason is complete. I can now point to the fact that all they got out of this season was a worse draft pick (which technically should benefit us). For your morning pleasure: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown...-043643190.html

With the amount of cap space we have and could potentially have with some other moves, that is somewhat hard to believe. I wouldn't rule anything out at this point. I just don't want to overpay to just get a name. Also, I don't think Pace is the type to show his hand.

Feeling pretty good as a Bears fan, Vikings and Packers both lose in epic, heartbreaking fashions in back to back weeks. GB didn't even deserve to be in the playoffs, then drew overachieving Washington by losing in Week 17. Cards should've crushed them, but as you guys pointed out, GB getting the lion's share of non-calls.

Now I don't know if this is a team thing or just the website contributors, but if it is a team thing, then this would seem to support the notion that Forte will not be back. Easier to justify to fanbase if rookie RB is your RoY over others. Just speculation. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...0e-5aa9e812b8f9

Jason, The first draft is hot garbage, yours is clearly better. Cardale Jones and no ILB? I am seeing a trend with these compilation sites (like Walter Football, etc) where they are really becoming watered down and the mocks have been for the most part unrealistic. I like the sites that have team "experts" or enthusiasts draft for their teams, as those at least seem a little better at targeting team needs.

I can't see any scenario where the Bears just release Bennett outright without compensation. If they lose him as a free agent after 2016, they would more than likely get a comp pick (5th-6th), so I don't think they are just going to cut and run. Owen Daniels compensation was a 6th rounder. With so much cap space already, I don't see his salary being an issue this year. Right now I see the TE position as a position of strength (Bennett and Miller), so I would do one of the following with Bennett before releasing him this offseason: 1. Trade for a 5th or 6th rounder this offseason 2. Trade before deadline for 5th or 6th rounder 3. Play out 2016 season on current contract and enter free agency (get comp pick)

Good to see at least one of our players be recognized. I think the offseason will drive more where Long ends up than anything else.

Some comments from Long in regards to Loggains: I like the fact that he mentioned accountability and illustrated it with the seeking out a little face-to-face comment.

Using DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) which is way better than QBR as it takes the defense into account, Cutler was 9th. Also, an interesting note about Cutler, look at these QB Rating splits for sides of the field: 72.1 QB Rating (Wide Right) 85.9 QB Rating (Right) 109.9 QB Rating (Left) 107.2 QB Rating (Wide Left) He was elite throwing to the left and mediocre/average throwing to the right. I thought that was interesting.

I agree, he didn't do much and was out on 3rd Downs.

Based on Pace's comments, it will be whoever is BPA at the time of our selection. If QB is the BPA, I wouldn't be shocked if he pulled the trigger. However, it is one of the few singular positions on the team. You can only have one QB on the field at a time, no other position other than Center can say that (and you can even slide them to Guard). So if there is BPA in any position other than QB, it can help us now and in long term. Going QB in the first would be a huge investment by the organization in a position we are already heavily invested in. If it was me, I would not go QB this year.

Here is the full list of offense and defense with their draft slot. QB: Jameis Winston (1) RB: Todd Gurley (10) FB: Michael Burton (168) WR: Amari Cooper (4), Stephon Diggs (146), Tyler Lockett (69) TE: Clive Walford (68) OT: Donovan Smith (34), Robert Havenstein (57) OG: Ali Marpet (61), Brandon Scherff (5) C: Mitch Morse (49) DE: Leonard Williams (6), Mario Edwards Jr. (35) DT: Eddie Goldman (39), Malcom Brown (32) ILB: Kwon Alexander (124), Eric Kendricks (45) OLB: Markus Golden (58), Preston Smith (38) CB: Ronald Darby (50), Marcus Peters (18) S: Landon Collins (33), Adrian Amos (142) Some interesting notes: Only 4 out of the 22 on this list were selected after pick 70 (Burton-FB, Diggs-WR, Alexander-ILB, Amos-S), and 12 of 22 were drafted in the top 40. A lot of names I remember from our draft discussions as potential Bears draft picks.

Yeah we will definitely hire or promote someone to QB Coach. I can't see Loggains dual-hatting it.

Alshon changed his tune this week and said he loved Chicago, so I believe this is all posturing. On BM, remember that his shtick grows old. He was actually a model citizen in the first year or two with the team, but then things started to deteriorate. With their Week 17 implosion, and Fitzpatrick's propensity to implode, their first extended losing streak next year will bring out the bad-Marshall.

I don't think he will do as good as a HC than as a OC. Especially in Miami. Too dysfunctional.

You said he passed way too much, which was not true at all. The only game in 2012 where they passed a lot when they were in the game was the Indy game. In the Houston game they were down 21-3 at half, so you could expect them to pass more than run, which they did. They were down 30-0 at half against GB, so again, they were playing from behind and passing more. So where did I assume wrong, in one game? The other games you listed completely supported my argument. They were balanced or even ran more than passed when they won, and passed more when they lost or were behind. Most teams do.

Johnson ran for over 2,300 yards in the 2 seasons that Loggains was OC. The problem was their defense was brutally bad in 2012 (so I would assume they were always playing from behind). In 2013, the defense was improved and their pass/run ratio was fairly balanced at 54/46. Fox already said they were not changing the scheme, so even the playcalling should be similar. I actually expect Cutler to have more control at the line this year with a full year in the system.

The Miami GM was talking about someone with experience, so they were expecting someone other than a 37 yr old OC with no HC experience.