scs787

Dude was horrendous last year. Of QBs with 10 or more starts, Josh had the highest INT%, by a lot. I still truly believe that Josh benefited from playing a handful of truly dreadful defenses. I wouldnt hate to see him back as the backup, but please, keep the starting talk outta here.

Just now noticed this....I took the Bears last year so I'll let someone else take them. I'll take the rest of the NFC North if thats cool with everyone else.

I think this is just his opinion, not something he knows. Would absolutely love Houston, but I got a feeling he gets franchised. Gipson like AG said is probably a pipe dream as a RFA. Jackson would be nice, but I got a feeling we'll see one of the SF CBs brought in due to their familiarity with Fangio and Donatell. Both Perish Cox and Chris Culliver fit in that same 2nd tier of CBs with Jackson. As for Suh, I wouldn't be surprised if they take a look at him, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they passed because of character concerns.

Some here are hanging their hats on the statement Pace made talking about building through the draft. This has lead me to wanting to re watch it and digest it again after the initial excitement of a new GM wore off. The statement was made about building in the draft for sustained success, and it's certainly understandable to take that quote and run with it, but there's more to it. When asked about whether this is a rebuilding team or a team capable of a quick turnaround, Pace brought up the 06 Saints. The 05 Saints were 3-13 and Pace talked about how everyone was talking about how the team was in need of a "Massive rebuild" and how the team was "Decimated", but they "Quickly put together a team and got to the NFC Championship game the very next year(06)". Then he started talking about the next 2 years where he said "We continued to build" and then in 2009 they won the Super Bowl. Then later he was quoted saying "In a perfect world, you're acquiring players in free agency that allow you to go with the best player available in the draft". That BPA comment has also been misconstrued by some here on the board when talking about the draft. IMO he's saying he'll take BPA if the holes are filled in FA. Me and Stinger have kinda gone back an forth on these topics and with Free Agency coming up soon I thought a refresher on some of these comments were needed. The scenarios tossed around about adding 3-4-5 new starters on defense, to me, sound like a more likely scenario with what he said. The building in the draft will come after a foundation is set through FA.

Misread the post, I'm saying Knighton and Ray...or... Shelton and FA OLB. Though Houston-Knighton-Shelton would be incredibly intriguing. Good luck running against those guys, and guards, have fun trying to get to the 2nd level to block the ILBs. But ya, doubt that happens.

All depends on FA for me of course. A free agent- 1R duo of either Knighton and Ray or Shelton and one of the many FA OLBs would go a long long way in fixing the defense.

If I remember correctly Aaron Donald started out the mock season pretty low, perhaps even in the 2r. Right now, II'm hoping to see either him of Knigton on this team. I don't apply to the school of thought that any ol fat guy can be a good NT.

Very interesting. Reading up on him he's said to be an excellent blocker which could be why he wasn't so productive as a pass catcher. He was also stuck behind Travis Kelce, who is now one of the better TEs in the league, for 3 years. He sounds a lot like a former Broncos 7th round who a lot of guys here wanna bring in, Virgil Green.....I wouldn't be surprised at all if the staff had that comparison in their mind with this extension. Reading some comments about Green, and his role as a blocking TE, it sounds like were gonna be needing to add a blocking TE like him. Maybe Annen is that guy.

Certainly understandable and I get where you're coming from. One things for certain and that's this offseason is gonna be very VERY interesting. If we come out of FA with 4 new starters I like our chances on a 1 year turnaround, a John Fox specialty. All I know is if Virgina McCaskey truly is pissed about all the losing then she should have the family do whatever they can to change that ASAP because she doesnt have many years left.

This years free agency is MUCH better than last years, perhaps the best ever. If they bring in guys like Rahim Moore, Terrance Knighton, Chris Culliver, and David Harris to go with guys like Kyle Fuller, Christian Jones, Lamarr Houston, Willie Young, Ego Ferguson, Jay Ratliff, and Jon Bostic then couple it with some high draft picks and better coaching the boom, you're cooking with fire. I don't remember where it came from but I truly believe the statement that came out awhile back that the linebackers and the secondary werent on the same page last year. Getting everyone on the same page improves the defense right away. I think with John Fox and Vic Fangio here we are gonna see a disiplined defense with everyone on the same page, and we see a lot of guys like Bostic, Fuller, and Jones improve. I think youre really underestimating what 3 or 4 new starter in FA and a few in the draft with improved coaching can do to this team. None of those FAs iI listed above are splashy names, but they would most certainly improve the D to a respectable level To put that into some perspective, add Harris, Knigton, Culliver and Moore to say Ray and Tartt in the first 2 rounds...thatd set up a starting lineup of DL- Houston-Knighton-Ego/Rat LB- Young-Harris-Jones/Bostic-Ray CB- Fuller-Culliver-Jennings FS- Moore SS Tartt/Mundy That, to me at least, looks like a fairly decent defense. All that at probably under 20 million dollars total.

Ya, the first guy that's been talked about that has applied was Michael Sam. It could just be a bunch of guys like him who were drafted late and never had a chance. I wonder if we'll even see a lot of veteran players do it. It'd be nice if a guy like Briggs did it. A guy who played out of shape last year. If he decided to go to it it would give him a reason to get back into the best shape he could to prove he's still capable of playing at a high level.

I see 1 starting DL, 1 FS, 1 CB, 1, maybe 2 LBs, and possibly 1 SS. With the DLmen I think there's some flexibility there with Ego and Ratliff being able to play the 5 or the 0. Young, IMO should be penciled in for OLB (and if he isn't healthy, one of SMC/Washington/Bass/Jones fills in in the mean time). Jones showed why he was being talked about as a 2R pick last year, and barring him getting into some kind of trouble, I think he starts. Bostic is somewhat of a wild card I guess. PFF pegged him as the definition of average last year with a 0.0 rating. Coached up and put in the right position to succeed I think he's capable of playing well above average. Even if we call it 6 starters needed, filling 3 in FA and 3 in the draft is absolutely doable.

If they dont plan on competing anytime soon then Cutler should be released before more of his contract becomes more gaurenteed. Hell they can go with a guy like Claussen or Matt Moore if they dont plan on competing. In my opinion the offense is gonna be more 2013 than 2014. You draft right and add some key free agents to go along with better coaching and the D very well could be turned around in a year. I think it'd be a mistake not to try to turn it around in a year....Esp since your new HC has already done just that twice now.

If you think we won't be good for another 3 years and not spend much money then we might as well cut Forte and Cutler while your at it. I of disagree with your logic but ya if you really think its gonna take 3 years we may as well start draft in qbs and seeing who clicks. I think we compete next year.

Ya, I think grabbing a LT at 7 would be huge for the offense. Also agree that Long should stay put. Addressing the D in free agency would be huge in allowing that to happen. As for WR, I wouldn't hate to see Royal one bit, but with how rookie WRs are transitioning to the NFL I think one can be snagged in the mid rounds and give us just as much as Royal at a few million dollars cheaper. A guy like Tyler Lockette in the 4th would be huge if he gets there.

Missed this post last night..uh yes plz. This would allow the bears to either trade down and build up even more talent or, and this is perhaps my favorite thing to do, grab an offensive tackle at 7.

Thats why I think its an absolute must to get a guy upfront who will demand constant double teams. A strong DL will help a lesser LB group out big time. Hell I wouldn't hate to see them add 2 guys that will cause problems on the DL. Games are won in the trenches folks.

Ya, defense is such a mystery at this point. There are quite few guys that showed flashes and/or have the athletic ability to surprise IF given a shot. The question remains to be seen whether or not they WILL get those shots or if they'll get thrown to the back burner in favor of free agents and draft picks. Guys like Bostic, Jones, Washington, Bass, Vereen, Ego, Sutton, and even SMC and Mundy(as a strict box safety who try to keep out of coverage as much as possible) could surprise/have roles on the D with proper tutelage. Remember Bostic in the preseason the year he was drafted? People were going nuts about him. Was it just preseason or was he merely hindered by bad coaching that hadn't really got to him yet? I do see us bringing in some familiar faces in one of Perish Cox or Chris Culliver to play opposite of Fuller, and Raheem Moore as well if they decide they don't wanna go all out on McCourty....The front 7 more than likely gets attacked in the draft. I'm kinda starting to think, after looking back at some scouting reports, that Ego will be better suited outside, and at his age I think JayRat is better suited out there as well. Which is why I'm so high on drafting Shelton.....Raji at this point isn't a starter. Pot Roast (Knighton) intrigues me more.

Meh, just because past GMs have somewhat failed in free agency doesnt mean you should stop all together. Especially in this years free agency, one that is being billed as the best FA class ever. Second teir guys like Perish Cox, Chris Culliver, Rahim Moore, and Louis Delmas are the guys I'm looking at. Though I wouldn't be shocked if we look at top tier guys like McCourty, Flowers, Maxwell, and possibly even guys like Suh and Houston.

Just an opinion here, but I think they lay down a foundation in free agency and then build on that foundation in the draft. I just got a gut feeling that this team isn't gonna sit on close to 30 million dollars or whatever the number is. Not when your HC is old and your owners are tired of losing. Again this is just my gut feeling here, but I think we'll be major players in FA. As for offensive players, I like some of the names you threw out there. I'm not sure I wanna move Long away from guard though.

I got into a conversation with one of the tenants at the building I work at and he's a huge FSU fan(I know this because I've seen him wear a few FSU sweaters, today he was wearing a Bears hoody). He brought up Christian Jones. He said that hes capable of being a monster as an OLB in the 3-4. Talked about how physically gifted he was and said with the right coaching (which he thinks the Bears have now) we may not even need a OLB opposite of Young. I admittedly hadn't seen enough of him, and thought of him as an ILB, but he said no, you want him on the edge making plays and utilizing his athleticism. What do you guys think of him? You can see in the video that he moves around a lot among LB positions, but I can certainly see what he means when talking about him on the edge, he looks dangerous. But he also looks great in coverage in that video which could make him better utilized in the middle (though OLBs do drop into coverage). He's certainly an interesting player who could very well find a home somewhere and flourish, but the question is where?

I'm Jays biggest fan and even I would trade him for 2 first rounders. 4 picks in the too 40 would be amazing.

Poe is a NT. Big "Nose tackles" often don't go early because theyre usually viewed as 2 down players who need a lot of rest. Guys like Poe, Raji, Ngata, and now Shelton are more than that, Shelton was an elite run stuffer who has a non stop motor as evidence by his 98 tackles, and again he ranked in the top 20 in both sacks and TFLs, so hes no doubt a 3 down player.

I really think one of the first 2 rounds they need to add someone on the DL. Houston-Ego-Rat isn't awful, but its also not very good.

Would be nice if this guy turns out to be the super bowl version of Chris Matthew, who was also came over from the CFL.