Can we possibly get into 1st Round?

[Guest TerraTor]

I know Ill get hell for this, But i absolutely am in love with Dez Bryant. I think we should get OL in Free Agency considering we cant draft one to save our friggin lives, plus, its so bad we need vets who can play right away. Im guessing we wont go after any decent WR knowing our past, like Brandon Marshall, if hes unrestricted and we dont pick him up I may be offically a chargers fan..... I woueam ld choose marshall over bryant for obvious reasons of course, but this team will never dominate offensively without a gamebreaker at WR

 

Anyways. just curious as to some scenarios????

[madlithuanian]

I don't see it happening in any reality. Only in Madden.

 

I know Ill get hell for this, But i absolutely am in love with Dez Bryant. I think we should get OL in Free Agency considering we cant draft one to save our friggin lives, plus, its so bad we need vets who can play right away. Im guessing we wont go after any decent WR knowing our past, like Brandon Marshall, if hes unrestricted and we dont pick him up I may be offically a chargers fan..... I woueam ld choose marshall over bryant for obvious reasons of course, but this team will never dominate offensively without a gamebreaker at WR

 

Anyways. just curious as to some scenarios????

 

[bowlingtwig]

I know Ill get hell for this, But i absolutely am in love with Dez Bryant. I think we should get OL in Free Agency considering we cant draft one to save our friggin lives, plus, its so bad we need vets who can play right away. Im guessing we wont go after any decent WR knowing our past, like Brandon Marshall, if hes unrestricted and we dont pick him up I may be offically a chargers fan..... I woueam ld choose marshall over bryant for obvious reasons of course, but this team will never dominate offensively without a gamebreaker at WR

 

Anyways. just curious as to some scenarios????

I would love to be able to trade into the 1st but in order to do so I think you will put us further behind because of what all we would have to give up.

[madlithuanian]

Yep. We have to pay the bill for Cutler and Adams... We could postpone it, but I think that would end up costing more as the picks would probably favor our trading partner as we would be the desperate one in the transaction. Not to menion, we'd be relying on the great mastermind of JA to pick a guy...

 

I would love to be able to trade into the 1st but in order to do so I think you will put us further behind because of what all we would have to give up.

 

[nfoligno]

We are not just talking 1st round. The suggested target was Dez Bryant. I have not really cared to look at many "boards" as we don't pick until day 2, but I have to believe Dez is considered not only a 1st round prospect, but a 1st half of 1st round prospect. That means we would be talking about going from mid round 3 all the way up to mid to early round 1.

 

This would be very expensive and difficult if we had a high 2nd round pick, but w/o even a 2nd, I think this would be near impossible.

 

We would have to trade Briggs, and hope to get a late 1st. We would then have to package that pick, along w/ likely a 1st round pick in 2011 and other picks to for the change to move into the 1st half of the 1st round. At that point, we still may not be high enough and would have to give up even more.

 

For us to get up there, I think we would be talking about giving up Briggs and basically our 2010 and 2011 draft picks. Not even Ditka would be dumb enough to do that.

 

Yep. We have to pay the bill for Cutler and Adams... We could postpone it, but I think that would end up costing more as the picks would probably favor our trading partner as we would be the desperate one in the transaction. Not to menion, we'd be relying on the great mastermind of JA to pick a guy...

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

We are not just talking 1st round. The suggested target was Dez Bryant. I have not really cared to look at many "boards" as we don't pick until day 2, but I have to believe Dez is considered not only a 1st round prospect, but a 1st half of 1st round prospect. That means we would be talking about going from mid round 3 all the way up to mid to early round 1.

 

This would be very expensive and difficult if we had a high 2nd round pick, but w/o even a 2nd, I think this would be near impossible.

 

We would have to trade Briggs, and hope to get a late 1st. We would then have to package that pick, along w/ likely a 1st round pick in 2011 and other picks to for the change to move into the 1st half of the 1st round. At that point, we still may not be high enough and would have to give up even more.

 

For us to get up there, I think we would be talking about giving up Briggs and basically our 2010 and 2011 draft picks. Not even Ditka would be dumb enough to do that.

The only way we could move up that far is if some team was really in love with Briggs and something else. And I would not trade Briggs for Dez Bryant.

[madlithuanian]

I'm just talking in generality. And we're pretty much coming to the same coinclusion. Ain't gonna happen.

 

We are not just talking 1st round. The suggested target was Dez Bryant. I have not really cared to look at many "boards" as we don't pick until day 2, but I have to believe Dez is considered not only a 1st round prospect, but a 1st half of 1st round prospect. That means we would be talking about going from mid round 3 all the way up to mid to early round 1.

 

This would be very expensive and difficult if we had a high 2nd round pick, but w/o even a 2nd, I think this would be near impossible.

 

We would have to trade Briggs, and hope to get a late 1st. We would then have to package that pick, along w/ likely a 1st round pick in 2011 and other picks to for the change to move into the 1st half of the 1st round. At that point, we still may not be high enough and would have to give up even more.

 

For us to get up there, I think we would be talking about giving up Briggs and basically our 2010 and 2011 draft picks. Not even Ditka would be dumb enough to do that.

 

[jason]

I know Ill get hell for this, But i absolutely am in love with Dez Bryant. I think we should get OL in Free Agency considering we cant draft one to save our friggin lives, plus, its so bad we need vets who can play right away. Im guessing we wont go after any decent WR knowing our past, like Brandon Marshall, if hes unrestricted and we dont pick him up I may be offically a chargers fan..... I woueam ld choose marshall over bryant for obvious reasons of course, but this team will never dominate offensively without a gamebreaker at WR

 

Anyways. just curious as to some scenarios????

 

1 - You can't be that in love with him to mortgage the future (which is what it would take to get him).

2 - This offense can dominate if the OL is fixed. Yes, dominate. The passing game, with nearly no OL, looked dangerous this year. If the OL could actually open up some holes for the running game, the passing game would become lethal.

3 - Everyone keeps talking about WRs, but getting a WR would be a stupid draft selection. Hester isn't going anywhere. Bennett looks like a solid possession guy. The Bears may have struck gold with Knox. Aromashodu exploded at the end of the year. And they STILL don't know what they have in Iglesias, a guy who was highly touted coming out of college. OL, OL, FS, DE, FB...those are the needs.

[nfoligno]

Jason,

 

How do you REALISTICALLY see us dealing w/ the OL. I am not saying how would you do it.

 

I have said this before, but I worry about what our plan will be. The fact is, our OL finished much better than it started.

 

LT - Pace started the year, and wow. I was never in favor of signing him, but I never expected him to be as bad as he was. Finally by the end of the year, Williams replaced him and it was like night and day. Yes, I realize we gave him a lot of help against Jared Allen we did not give Pace, yet at the same time, I saw us also leave Williams on an island against Allen, and he still held his own.

 

RT - Williams started out on the right side, and simply put, he was out of position. He didn't have the strength to matchup w/ the power rushing LDEs, and when he would try to cheat/compensate, he would be out of position/ off-balance and would then be easily beaten by edge rush moves. As bad as Pace looked at LT, at times Wiliams was just as bad at RT. But then Schaffer comes in. Schaffer was nothing special, but at the same time, I don't often remember DEs whipping him.

 

The simple move of Williams to LT had a dramatic effect on our bookends. He was a huge upgrade over Pace, and Schaffer was a big upgrade over Williams. Further, I would argue this move also improved our interior....

 

LG - Omiyale was about as bad as any OL I have EVER seen. It was just incredible how bad he was. But he was also playing a new position, and playing next to a LT that was as bad as he. Later, he was benched, and then returned. Thing is, he finished the year playing pretty well. He played well, even strong, against Minny and then again against Det. Omiyale showed some improvement, and playing next to a more stable LT I think helped also. That doesn't mean I have any level of confidence in him, but you have to wonder how Angelo views the situation here. Omiyale was a player he spent fairly big dollars on. It was known he would need time to develop, and I can see Angelo arguing he did in fact develop as he finished the year on a fairly good note.

 

Kreutz - Despite what many think, I don't see any change here. I believe this is his last year, but also believe he is still going to be the starter in 2010.

 

Garza - On a bad OL, he was actually a solid player. I still don't think too much of him, and believe his looking good is more relative to a weak group, but the staff really seems to like him. I do not see us even considering competition, much less replacement or upgrade.

 

Schaffer finished at RT. I am not sure I would consider Schaffer a long term solution, but are we confident Angelo will be quick to replace him? He played fairly well when finally given a chance.

 

So there is the problem. The OL was awful through the season, but did finish pretty strong. I think we could look to add a RT, but I am not sure we will do much more. Despite how fans feel, I think Angelo will view the LG situation as (a) Omiyale improving over the year and believing Tice can further that development and ( we have Beekman in reserve if needed.

 

I might do much more, but what are your legit expectations for our OL offseason?

 

1 - You can't be that in love with him to mortgage the future (which is what it would take to get him).

2 - This offense can dominate if the OL is fixed. Yes, dominate. The passing game, with nearly no OL, looked dangerous this year. If the OL could actually open up some holes for the running game, the passing game would become lethal.

3 - Everyone keeps talking about WRs, but getting a WR would be a stupid draft selection. Hester isn't going anywhere. Bennett looks like a solid possession guy. The Bears may have struck gold with Knox. Aromashodu exploded at the end of the year. And they STILL don't know what they have in Iglesias, a guy who was highly touted coming out of college. OL, OL, FS, DE, FB...those are the needs.

 

[Guest TerraTor]

The only way we could move up that far is if some team was really in love with Briggs and something else. And I would not trade Briggs for Dez Bryant.

 

I wouldnt trade briggs for anything

[Guest TerraTor]

1 - You can't be that in love with him to mortgage the future (which is what it would take to get him).

2 - This offense can dominate if the OL is fixed. Yes, dominate. The passing game, with nearly no OL, looked dangerous this year. If the OL could actually open up some holes for the running game, the passing game would become lethal.

3 - Everyone keeps talking about WRs, but getting a WR would be a stupid draft selection. Hester isn't going anywhere. Bennett looks like a solid possession guy. The Bears may have struck gold with Knox. Aromashodu exploded at the end of the year. And they STILL don't know what they have in Iglesias, a guy who was highly touted coming out of college. OL, OL, FS, DE, FB...those are the needs.

 

Ur right Hester isnt going anywhere... hes terrible

[Alaskan Grizzly]

"Realistically" I think the OL will pretty much stay the same, save Pace and maybe Omiyale staying on the team. I could see the Bears looking at getting one OL through either FA or draft.

 

I still believe if a strong candidate at WR is out there then that should be the Bears first play. Having a strong veteran WR can only better the young crop of WR's currenlty on the team. As far as this FS concern, I think the article recently regarding revamping the Def to a 3-4 stance and moving Tillman to FS could and should be a thing they seriously consider. (Think Mike Brown)

[nfoligno]

I'm not going to get into the WR thing. We have talked about that enough.

 

I do not see us moving Tillman to FS though. In that article you mention, it has Graham starting in Tillman's place. The staff seemed very down on Graham this past season. Future burger flippers were getting snaps over him. He finally got on the field at the end of the year, only due to injuries, but looked pretty bad.

 

I just don't see Tillman moving. We would create a huge hole at CB trying to fill the hole at FS. Further, Tillman has been suffered more and more injuries, and that would likely not improve if he moved to FS, where he would be expected to play the run more.

 

Tillman to FS is an idea fans have talked about for year, but the coaches just don't seem to have any interest in the idea.

 

"Realistically" I think the OL will pretty much stay the same, save Pace and maybe Omiyale staying on the team. I could see the Bears looking at getting one OL through either FA or draft.

 

I still believe if a strong candidate at WR is out there then that should be the Bears first play. Having a strong veteran WR can only better the young crop of WR's currenlty on the team. As far as this FS concern, I think the article recently regarding revamping the Def to a 3-4 stance and moving Tillman to FS could and should be a thing they seriously consider. (Think Mike Brown)

 

[Wesson44]

IMHO we should get in FA one of the Chargers WR(they both are 6'5') and Shepard (CB)from the Jets and let Vasher and or Graham go

[Wesson44]

From watching the Bears line GARZA is the weakest link aways getting pushed into the backfield never giving our runners a hole to run through

[jason]

Ur right Hester isnt going anywhere... hes terrible

 

Try to make semi-intelligent posts, please. He's not terrible and you know it. Is he great? No. Is he good? Yes. Is he a dangerous player who can take it to the house every time he touches the ball? Obviously. The key here is, he's still learning the nuances of the position, and the Bears put big money into his contract.

 

Therefore, he's not going anywhere.

[jason]

Jason,

 

How do you REALISTICALLY see us dealing w/ the OL. I am not saying how would you do it.

Realistically? I don't. And that's the problem. JA doesn't seem to like drafting OL. The previous coaches didn't know how to coach OL. And from their horrible decisions this year, it's evident they are MUCH higher on the current OLinemen on the roster than anyone else who actually saw the games could possibly be.

 

I have said this before, but I worry about what our plan will be. The fact is, our OL finished much better than it started.

Agreed; they are better.

 

LT - Pace started the year, and wow. I was never in favor of signing him, but I never expected him to be as bad as he was. Finally by the end of the year, Williams replaced him and it was like night and day. Yes, I realize we gave him a lot of help against Jared Allen we did not give Pace, yet at the same time, I saw us also leave Williams on an island against Allen, and he still held his own.

It was pretty clear early that Pace was washed up. Like you, I had hoped for more. Once it became apparent, the staff should have moved Williams to LT. They didn't, which is one of the several hundred reasons I'm down on them.

 

RT - Williams started out on the right side, and simply put, he was out of position. He didn't have the strength to matchup w/ the power rushing LDEs, and when he would try to cheat/compensate, he would be out of position/ off-balance and would then be easily beaten by edge rush moves. As bad as Pace looked at LT, at times Wiliams was just as bad at RT. But then Schaffer comes in. Schaffer was nothing special, but at the same time, I don't often remember DEs whipping him.

 

The simple move of Williams to LT had a dramatic effect on our bookends. He was a huge upgrade over Pace, and Schaffer was a big upgrade over Williams. Further, I would argue this move also improved our interior....

Agreed all around. The fact that it took nearly the entire season is a major indictment on this staff.

 

LG - Omiyale was about as bad as any OL I have EVER seen. It was just incredible how bad he was. But he was also playing a new position, and playing next to a LT that was as bad as he. Later, he was benched, and then returned. Thing is, he finished the year playing pretty well. He played well, even strong, against Minny and then again against Det. Omiyale showed some improvement, and playing next to a more stable LT I think helped also. That doesn't mean I have any level of confidence in him, but you have to wonder how Angelo views the situation here. Omiyale was a player he spent fairly big dollars on. It was known he would need time to develop, and I can see Angelo arguing he did in fact develop as he finished the year on a fairly good note.

 

Kreutz - Despite what many think, I don't see any change here. I believe this is his last year, but also believe he is still going to be the starter in 2010.

 

Garza - On a bad OL, he was actually a solid player. I still don't think too much of him, and believe his looking good is more relative to a weak group, but the staff really seems to like him. I do not see us even considering competition, much less replacement or upgrade.

 

Schaffer finished at RT. I am not sure I would consider Schaffer a long term solution, but are we confident Angelo will be quick to replace him? He played fairly well when finally given a chance.

More or less agree, but none of the three looked good for any stretch of time this year. Omiyale was atrocious, and the fact that he improved near the end is almost a guarantee since he couldn't get much worse. Kreutz is overrated at this point in his career, but he'll stick. Garza was OK at best, but probably a bit overrated...which is hard when you are only OK to begin with. I wouldn't be upset if the Bears found replacements for all three.

 

 

So there is the problem. The OL was awful through the season, but did finish pretty strong. I think we could look to add a RT, but I am not sure we will do much more. Despite how fans feel, I think Angelo will view the LG situation as (a) Omiyale improving over the year and believing Tice can further that development and ( we have Beekman in reserve if needed.

 

I might do much more, but what are your legit expectations for our OL offseason?

 

My expectations are that the team will ignore the OL for the most part like they usually do. They will draft a project in the 5th who will "challenge" for one of the starting OG positions (read: red-shirt most likely, bench warmer at best). Status quo will remain, and they'll "get off the bus running." Tice will be mentioned as "one of the best OL coaches out there," and we'll see bad OL play for several weeks. The praise will continue, the OL will continue to underperform. Williams will show why we drafted him in the first, but the other guys will be shown to be the liabilities they are. The Bears will need OL in the 2010-2011 draft.

 

Pessimistic? Yep. But it's probably true.

[bowlingtwig]

Try to make semi-intelligent posts, please. He's not terrible and you know it. Is he great? No. Is he good? Yes. Is he a dangerous player who can take it to the house every time he touches the ball? Obviously. The key here is, he's still learning the nuances of the position, and the Bears put big money into his contract.

 

Therefore, he's not going anywhere.

Note to everyone: Would you guys take a WR who would give you 80-90 catches, over 1000 yards receiving and around 6 TD's. Not saying as a #1, just asking in general. Now notice that this what Hester was on pace for this year prior to the injury. I understand that he is a bad #1 WR but come on these are good stats. He was having a good year, its not his fault the team failed to go out and get a #1 this year, he was put in as the #1 simply because he was the best that we had.

 

I am so sick of people saying how god awful Hester is and that he has no business being a WR and that we should cut him and everything. I don't get it.

[nfoligno]

While I agree, I would also point out that our staff is largely to blame. It is they who hyped Hester as a #1 WR.

 

I remember when the staff would be asked who our #1 CB was (back when both Vasher and Tillman were playing well). Their response was basically telling how we don't have a single #1, but have two #1s, or basically just calling both of our CBs starters. I have heard Lovie do similar elsewhere as well. But for Hester, they went out of their way to declare him a #1 WR. Fans already had over the top expectations for Hester due to his playmaking ability as a return man, making comparisons to Steve Smith.

 

Hester is not a #1 WR, at least not in the sense most of us today in the fantasy football world have come to think of a #1 WR. But that doesn't mean he isn't good. I still don't think fans think enough about the develop of him. He was not a WR in college. He played some WR, as well as many other positions. Point is, he never really developed as a WR in college. When we drafted him, he was initially considered a DB. It wasn't until his 2nd year we even considered using him on offense, and even then it was for a gimick play here and there.

 

By his 3rd season, he was moved to WR, but really, he was still very raw in terms of development at that position. Still, he put up better than 50 catches and 665 yards w/ a solid 13 ypp average. He looked sloppy at times, but what do you expect for someone who is still learning the position. Most WRs enter the league needing to adapt to the speed of the NFL, but Hester had to learn a new position.

 

This year, expectations were very high after a full season at WR and Cutler at QB. It just never clicked. Not just for Hester, but w/ Cutler. I would also add in that Hester's key strength is downfield, and Cutler rarely had time to allow downfield plays to develop. Even still, Hester still increased both catches and yards, and did it w/ 3 missed games.

 

There is no question in my mind that Hester does have value as a WR. He is not a #1 Wr, but that does not mean he doesn't have value. The question, to me is, where exactly does he fit in? Should he continue to start, maybe opposite DA, or should he move to the slot, where he could really be dangerous. That may depend on how DA and Knox develop, not to mention Bennett and Iglesias.

 

I'll say this. DA opposite Hester, w/ Bennett moved to the slot and Olsen in the lineup looks like a pretty solid group of weapons to me. If we can work on the OL and give Cutler time, I really think the weapons are there to have a damn good, if not great, offense. The key to me is still the OL, not the WR.

 

Note to everyone: Would you guys take a WR who would give you 80-90 catches, over 1000 yards receiving and around 6 TD's. Not saying as a #1, just asking in general. Now notice that this what Hester was on pace for this year prior to the injury. I understand that he is a bad #1 WR but come on these are good stats. He was having a good year, its not his fault the team failed to go out and get a #1 this year, he was put in as the #1 simply because he was the best that we had.

 

I am so sick of people saying how god awful Hester is and that he has no business being a WR and that we should cut him and everything. I don't get it.