adam

I just don't see us going 2-4 in the Division, or losing to TB.

Ok, we were 0-4 vs MIN and DET. That is not going to happen again. If we split with them, we are a 9-7 team. Also, look at the points. We let up something like 90 more than 2006 and scored 90 less. So we had a 180 point swing towards the negative in 2007. Also, of those 7 losses, only one was a blowout (DAL). We were basically in every other game last year. If we don't blow the game to DET and the one to NYG both in the 4th quarter, we are 9-7. SD, leading 3-0 at half, lose 14-3. DET, leading 13-3 going into 4th, allow 34 points and lose 37-27. MIN, tied at 31-31 late in 4th, lose 34-31 on last minute FG. DET, down 13-7, Griese throws 3 Red Zone INTs, we lose 16-7. SEA, tied 17-17 at half, lose 30-23. NYG, leading 16-7 going into the 4th, allow 14 points and lose 21-16 to SB Champions. WAS, down 17-13 in 4th, lose 24-16. MIN, leading 13-6 at half, lose 20-13. So in 16 games, we had the lead or was tied at some point in 14 games. Also, we were destroyed with injuries like no other team last year. That has to be taken into consideration (no excuses). With players returning to 100%, plus the draft picks there is no way we regress even more in 2008. At worst we stand pat at 7-9. I say 9-7.

That is true, but getting Thomas at 34 and Kelly at 51 were both good values. Also picked up a nice TE in Fred Davis and solid Guard in Rinehart at 96. They did all that without drafting in the 1st.

There were some obvious ones: KC, Miami, and Dallas. How about Pittsburgh, NY Giants or Washington?

I thought it was a good draft. With so many picks you are bound to get some decent players. Only 1 OL in the first 8 picks was a bit shocking, so was not drafting a QB (when GB drafts 2, lol).

I guess what they were thinking was in a year or two, Olsen and Davis become 1-2 for TEs. Basically lock that position down for the next 4-6 years. Also, with the trade that moved them from 175 to 158, he became a pretty good value. He was the 7th best TE coming in and the 12th drafted. Other than value, I dunno.

but 4 starts in 2 years? What are you basing your decision off of? The guy was the 22nd best CB in the draft. Harrison was the 5th best DT. No comparison. Bowman has played in only appeared in 22 college games over 3 years, and only saw limited time in a good portion of those. No way you take him over the other players that were available at the time (Schuening and Nicks).

Benson has a small plate in his ankle. How good could that be for a RB? That was a need pick. Could not chance on missing one of the top backs. Not much difference in terms of potential between Mendenhall, Jones, Rice, and Forte. So you take one of the two remaining backs. Rinehart instead of Harrison and Schuening instead of Bowman would have made it an "A" for me. I didn't like the Harrison pick, but I understand that they went with BPA at that point. I'm still questioning the Bowman pick. Yeah, 1 OL pick in the first 8 picks is questionable when it clearly was the biggest need.

April 2nd:

I just thought that at the time of the pick, and who was on the board, that it wasn't that good of a pick. Harrison was already a risky pick due to injury. Why make it 2 out of 3 instead of going for more of a sure thing.

1st Round - Pick #14 - Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt - With Clady off the board, the Bears had their choice between Williams, Albert, and Otah. These picks can be argued back and forth, but Williams seems to be the one most ready to help out this year. He is a stellar pass blocker (only 2 sacks allowed in over 1,500 snaps) who needs to improve on his run blocking. He only did 21 reps at the combine, but he can always improve his strength. Williams will always be compared to Otah and Albert. Reminds me of Tommie Harris vs Vince Wilfork. Grade: A- 2nd Round - Pick #44 - Matt Forte, RB, Tulane - This was one of those picks that can easily be disputed as much as it can be supported. With a run of OL after the Bears 1st pick, there was very little value at that position left. So the Bears went with one of their next biggest needs at RB. With Ray Rice and Kevin Smith still available, the Bears went with Forte. This seemed to be a little bit of a reach for Forte, but there was no way he would've been available by pick 70 (the next Bears pick). Brohm and Henne were also available. I would've liked to at least seen the Bears try to trade down and pick up an extra pick, but who knows if that was even possible. Either way, Forte is going to come in and compete for the starting RB spot. If not, he will at least be able to provide a different look compared to Benson. Grade: B- 3rd Round - Pick #70 - Earl Bennett, WR, Vanderbilt - The Bears were able to wait until the 3rd Round to address their WR position. At Pick #70, the Bears had Bennett, Doucet, Caldwell, and Manningham to choose from. I would've preferred Doucet, but I don't mind Bennett here since he can immediately come in and compete. At Vandy, he broke all the school receiving records and holds the SEC Career receptions mark, breaking it with only 3 years in school. He also can be used to return kickoffs making a formidable return duo with Hester. Grade: B+ 3rd Round - Pick #90 - Marcus Harrison, DT, Arkansas - This pick seemed to be strictly on value. Harrison was projected as high as a mid-late 2nd rounder who had fallen due to injury and off-field concerns. If he proves to be healthy, this could be another JA steal. This is definitely a high risk, high reward pick. The Bears passed on Guards Rinehart and Cousins to pick up Harrison. I would've liked to have seen a Guard picked up with this pick but the value was there. Grade: B- 4th Round - Pick #120 - Craig Steltz, S, LSU - At this point in the draft, the Bears had already addressed OL, RB, WR, and DT. They still needed to address Safety, so this was definitely a need pick. It turned out pretty good. Steltz provides the Bears insurance at Safety with additional help on their Special Teams unit. The Bears started the day at Pick #110, and ended up moving from #175 to #158, and acquired pick #208 while moving down to #120 here to still get Steltz. He has been compared to Fencik and Plank; sounds good to me. Grade: A- 5th Round - Pick #142 - Zack Bowman, CB, Nebraska - This was an odd pick. With Roy Schuening and Carl Nicks on the board, the Bears draft a CB who has barely played in the last 24 months? He missed all of 2006 (ACL) and played in only started 4 games in 2007, so I don't know how you use this pick on him with the other players I mentioned still available. He has 1st Round talent, but that was before his injuries. If he can show that type of talent, then this is a huge steal, but at the same time, can the Bears afford to use this pick on a very low need with a high risk player? I say no, please prove me wrong. Grade: D- 5th Round - Pick #158 - Kellen Davis, TE, Michigan State - At first I didn't like the pick with QBs Johnson and Ainge, and OL Nicks still available. However, with Schuening going in pick #157, the Bears may have shifted their focus to best available. With the departure of TE Gilmour, the Bears needed a 3rd TE, and Davis is more than capable of filling that need. This was also the pick that would've been a 6th rounder at #175. He was also the 12th TE taken, even though he was rated between 6-8. So the Bears got some nice value here. Grade: B 7th Round - Pick #208 - Ervin Baldwin, DE, Michigan State - With their "free" early 7th round pick for moving 5 spots in the 4th, the Bears pick up a decent DE from a big school. He was a JUCO transfer so he still has room to learn. Not much of a need here, but you can't expect much from 7th rounders. Grade: C 7th Round - Pick #222 - Chester Adams, OG, Georgia - Finally, the Bears draft a Guard! The Bears had a few opportunities to pick up a Guard earlier, but they waited until the 7th to pick one. Adams has played both OT and OG, so that is a bonus. He has the potential to stick around, but more than likely will just be a Practice Squad filler. Grade: B 7th Round - Pick #243 (Comp Pick) - Joey LaRocque, OLB, Oregon State - Doesn't seem to be more than a Special Teamer or Practice Squad filler, but you never know. Hamstring injury hurt his combine. He may surprise. Grade: B- 7th Round - Pick #247 (Comp Pick) - Kirk Barton, OT, Ohio State - Hard worker, but not very athletic. Never hurts to bring in competition on the OLine. Played against some strong competition. Grade: B 7th Round - Pick #248 (Comp Pick) - Marcus Monk, WR, Arkansas - With back to back comp picks, the Bears go WR. Monk was projected as a 3rd round pick before injuries limited him to just 16 receptions in 2007. Any WR that is 6'4" and can run a (4.45) 40 has some serious potential. With a late 7th pick, why not. Grade: A- --------------------------------------------------- Overall Grade: B- [/b]Time will tell on some of these picks, but the one pick that I am still scratching my head at is pick #142 - Bowman. Not that I would be too upset with a CB in that spot, but this guy has only started 4 games in the last two years. If the Bears went Schuening or Nicks with that pick, this draft would've been at least a B or B+. Best Pick: #120. Trading down twice, moving from 175 to 158, and picking up 208 while still getting Steltz was the best move of the day for Angelo. I would've like to have seen this more during the rest of the draft. Worst Pick: #142. Already discussed. Sleep Pick: #90 - Marcus Harrison, DT. This guy has the ability to be a starting DT on this team and could turn out to be the next Mark Anderson type of pick. Trends: One trend that I noticed this year: majority of the Bears picks were from big schools. This is somewhat of a different approach because the Bears always seemed to pick someone from one of the smaller schools. The other highlight or lowlight was the fact that the Bears did not draft a single QB even though they seemed to have an opportunity in every round. My theory is that they wanted Flacco and once he was gone, they didn't feel like there was enough value to just bring a guy in for competition. This also puts some confidence back in Orton and Grossman. Lastly, it seems like a good number of players (6) came off the Senior Bowl roster, so Angelo is at least getting to see some of these guys play first hand, which is always good. The draft in general was extremely fast, almost too fast this year. I would've like to have seen the 3rd round on Day One, but the 1st Round was so much better not having to listen to Berman and Kiper talk about the Patriots for 15 minutes between every pick. I really wish they would talk about the team on the clock instead of some random thought, at least in the 1st two rounds.

At least draft a Punter to replace Maynard. He doesn't have too much left in him.

Just package some 7th round picks and move into the middle of the 6th for Woodson.

So we pass on Schuening for Bowman and Ainge, Johnson, Nicks for Kellen freakin Davis? I would've rather taken a freakin Punter over those two.

I understand the frustration, but you are comparing Wolfe to Forte? Wolfe was a late 3rd round pick (93) and was actually a luxury pick. We got that selection from SD. Forte was projected around 50, so we take him at 44 because he would be long gone at 70. I don't see an issue with that pick. Who would you have rather had?

yeah, he is not listed on any draft board, and said he was a "sleeper".

Schuening, Schuening, Schuening - please.

True, but not bad for a team to pick him up at 97. Him and Mario dropped pretty far.

That's pretty messed up. Making fun of dead people?

Cousins gone.

For what round? Rinehart was a late-4th projection who I thought the Bears could snag with their #110.

Cincy getting Caldwell at 97 is a steal.

Schuening is our last hope at OG. Big drop off after him.

Damn, Washington got Rinehart from N. Iowa. Big time OG sleeper.

You said if Doucet and Caldwell are gone that we pick Bennett. They both were available, so they picked Bennett over those two. Not very hard to just pick a group of WRs. See: