Bears4Ever_34

I'm all for drafting the best available player from one of our positional needs. I don't think the Bears can go wrong in the 1st round this year. This years draft is not top heavy at all, so chances are we will be getting a good player at 20 who's not really much different from someone going in the top 5.

I think it's just Phil doing his due diligence. I don't anticipate either of those guys signing with us. I imagine it's just to see what exactly their asking price was in case one of our primary targets gets signed by someone else.

http://www.profootballcentral.com/category.../chicago-bears/ Says the Bears have basically contacted everybody, lol. Andy Levitre Eric Winston Mike Wallace Greg Jennings Brandon Moore Ramon Foster

If the Bears want Levitre they will find a way to create the money necessary to sign him, at the right price. It's also possible though that he may become too expensive. The report didn't say they're going to sign him, it said they are likely to be in the bidding.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5310/andy-levitre

True. I usually update my own board as we go along. Personally, I think with the exception of a big TE or WR signing, our needs will largely remain the same. Even with a Levitre signing, we'll still need help at OL. Same with Urlacher.

Curious.. Let's assume everybody was available for the Bears to draft. How would your draft board look like today? *Mine* 1- Luke Joekel, OT Why?: Best pipedream scenario. Best OL in this class. Would be best available player IMO. 2- Eric Fisher, OT Why?: Second best pipedream scenario. With Joekel gone, this guy would be the next best available. 3- Chance Warmack, OG Why? Best guard in the draft. Some say he's the best overall player in the draft. Would be an absolute steal if he fell to 20. 4- Barkevious Mingo, DE/LB (Would play him at LB) Why?: I really like Mingo as a 3-4 OLB, but if he somehow is still there at 20, which I don't anticipate, I would have to pull the plug and fit this kid into a role as an outside LB in our 4-3 defense, with the intentions of possibly one day switching to a 3-4. 5- Lane Johnson, OT Why?: Most athletic lineman in the draft. Bit of a project though. Raw. Still worthy of being very high on the Bear's draft board if he's available. High risk, High reward IMO. 6- Tavon Austin, WR Why?: Probably the 2nd best WR prospect available after Patterson. Why Austin ahead of Patterson? Positional reasons. Austin is a slot receiver, something the Bears need more consistency from (Bennett is never healthy, and a tad overrated for what he has done thus far in his career). Austin's size is a bit of a concern, and he's probably not going to give you the production you're looking for until year 2 or 3. He would be a huge weapon if his potential ever gets fulfilled. 7- Dion Jordan, DE/LB Why?: Think Mingo is a slightly better player than Jordan, but I could envision the Bears using him in a similar way. Better suited to play OLB in a 3-4, but perhaps he's a Julian Peterson? If anything, he'd be one tall, athletic LB who certainly would have the ability to be a factor in the passing game. 8- Jonathon Cooper, OG Why?: Probably the second best guard available in the draft, also the most athletic. I like him a lot. Shows great potential. 9- Corderrelle Patterson, WR Why?: Even though he's an outside receiver, he would be very difficult to pass up from a value standpoint. Raw as hell, but not many tall WR's possess the kind of size and speed like this guy shows. When I watch him, I see a little bit of Demaryius Thomas/Julio Jones in him. 10- Alec Ogletree, LB Why? The Bears will need a LB, regardless of Urlacher's decision. Ogletree is a former converted safety who shows that he has the ability to play the pass as well as he plays the run. He's not the freak athlete that many have called him, but he is still regarded as the best LB in the class.

I think the obvious answer is that it had more to do with the idiot coordinator we had running the show than anything else. The offensive line was better than it was the previous year yet we were a worse offense. Tice had no clue what he was doing out there. I said it at the end of the year. I don't know if there has ever been a offensive coordinator in recent memory do less with the talent he had at his disposal. It was a failure of epic proportions.

Too old for me. Rather have guys that'll be here for more than 1-2 seasons, not a band-aid.

He was much better last year playing on the other side. I don't know what happened to him.

Actually, If you look at the two drafts, you could make some very similar comparisons to the quarterback class and the overall lack of top end talent. I don't think Rodgers or Smith were all that different from Matt Barkley and Geno Smith this year coming into it. I actually think Matt Barkley is going to be really good. He'll be the best QB in this class before it's all said and done.

I don't have Insiders, but I read it off another forum, and it basically says a lot of nothing. Nothing we don't already know. - Trestman likely to run a pass happy, spread it out, motion offense, with shotgun and 3-5 step drops. - Defense will remain similar - The Bears have OG issues, Louis Vasquez is an OG, therefore they should sign Louis Vasquez..

That shouldn't really have an affect at all on who they draft. If they find a receiver they like, they'll draft/sign that receiver. Emery talked about him competing for the kick returner position this year.. Competing?? Further reasons for why it makes no sense to keep him around and waste a roster spot. I say just cut the guy and save yourself a couple million in cap savings, and use it to bolster your offensive line/whatever else.

One of the guards will fall. They always do. Last year, Decastro was basically the Chance Warmack of that draft and fell to 24. We know how much teams love taking chances on quarterbacks in the first round. If Geno Smith and Barkley go before 20, that means more good players may fall to the Bears.

As Matt Bowen puts it, Rodriguez could fill the U/F TE position, but we still need a Y.

Love it. He or Eiffert would be perfect additions to the team.

I would say any draft that consists of OL or Safeties who come in with an extensive injury history. Always been a pet peeve of mine. I'm not going to name specific players because the last time we did that I put Shea McClellin and we ended up drafting him.. He could still turn out to be a good pick, but at the time I was furious.

This could end up being a mistake. He was bad this past season, but the previous two he was very good. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to catch on to a team and perform like what Corey Graham has done with the Ravens. Thought maybe with a coaching change he might stick with the team, but obviously they felt like he needed a change of scenery.

I'm a fan of Jared Cook. My original off-season plan was to sign him and Andy Levitre. Don't think that's possible now given the cap issues, but he's certainly an intriguing guy to look out for come free agency.

He was used all over. Slot, returner, running back etc.. He'll be a slot receiver at the next level with the potential to carry the ball out of the backfield 2-3 times a game. I think he will be used more on short crossing patterns like a Wes Welker than as a down field threat, though he will at times. He's the most explosive athlete I've seen in a college football player in a long time. The key to his usage is to get him out in space. If you do that, he will kill you.

Austin has a bigger ceiling in my opinion, but Eiffert could probably have a bigger impact year 1.

Austin is one my favorite players in this draft. Tyrann Mathieu being another. He needs to get bigger though. At 175 pounds, that's awfully small for a player who's going to be taking a lot of hits at the next level. It's hard to believe Darren Sproles is 190 at 5'6, just to put his size in perspective. Other than that though, the kid is dynamite as a skill player. So much versatility that he would bring to an offense just dying for productivity and excitement.

As of right now, I think they're going with an OL in the first. We sorta knew which position they were going to go with in the 1st round last year, but didn't know the player. A lot of it depends on free agency. We should hear more and more about our intentions as the weeks go by, but right now I'm thinking it'll either be a guard or a tackle.

I doubt we'll want Long. I did read a Sean Jensen article the other day stating that the Bears could pretty easily find a way to pay one of these top tier free agents, even with the Melton franchise tag. I don't think it would be an issue if we did want someone like him. I'm mostly worried about Long himself. If he was still a really really good LT Miami wouldn't have let him go. And yeah, the injuries are a huge factor. The last thing we need is a guy taking up a ton of cap room and not being able to stay on the field, and also bad.