So whats left for the Bears to do?

[Wesson44]

We we really dont have much left to do other than signing A. Okoye and Forte. We can also still look at an OT in Bell or McNeil or a CB maybe still look at LB with Hawthorne and Lawson still out there. We can be a great fast defense if we signed one of those two. I would think about Lawson and his speed and drafting Irvin with his speed then you have a strong side with two guys at 4.4 speed covering the TE and rushing the QB. We could draft and OT in the first RD, Trumaine Johnson CB in the second Irvin DE in the third Tomie Streeter WR in the fouth and BPA the rest of the way

[Stinger226]

We we really dont have much left to do other than signing A. Okoye and Forte. We can also still look at an OT in Bell or McNeil or a CB maybe still look at LB with Hawthorne and Lawson still out there. We can be a great fast defense if we signed one of those two. I would think about Lawson and his speed and drafting Irvin with his speed then you have a strong side with two guys at 4.4 speed covering the TE and rushing the QB. We could draft and OT in the first RD, Trumaine Johnson CB in the second Irvin DE in the third Tomie Streeter WR in the fouth and BPA the rest of the way

You are not always realistic in your expectations but you are right on with all that you posted, except I am not that sure of Streeter. I think there are other better choices at WR.

[Wesson44]

You are not always realistic in your expectations but you are right on with all that you posted, except I am not that sure of Streeter. I think there are other better choices at WR.

 

Thanks, but why i wanted Streeter as a pick is because IF we do get the guys or positions that I stated Streeter is a big, fast 6'5 guy that can be another weapon on the other side of Marshall that the defense will have to respect and have a mismatch against. Lets see if we draft him how many catches he will have in practice over the 5-9 Jennings....lol. It's all about creating a mismatch and taking advantage of it. Tall speed guys going deep, short speed guys going short or visa versa who do you or how do you game plan for that?

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

We we really dont have much left to do other than signing A. Okoye and Forte. We can also still look at an OT in Bell or McNeil or a CB maybe still look at LB with Hawthorne and Lawson still out there. We can be a great fast defense if we signed one of those two. I would think about Lawson and his speed and drafting Irvin with his speed then you have a strong side with two guys at 4.4 speed covering the TE and rushing the QB. We could draft and OT in the first RD, Trumaine Johnson CB in the second Irvin DE in the third Tomie Streeter WR in the fouth and BPA the rest of the way

So before the draft, you want the Bears to re-sign Okoye, extend Forte, and either sign Bell, McNeil, Hawthorne, Lawson, or a CB?

[Wesson44]

So before the draft, you want the Bears to re-sign Okoye, extend Forte, and either sign Bell, McNeil, Hawthorne, Lawson, or a CB?

 

Actually I said to re-sign Okoye,and Forte and look at the other positions and maybe sign one of the other players. Doing this would make us a way better team than last year and we can go into the draft and draft BPA in every round.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Actually I said to re-sign Okoye,and Forte and look at the other positions and maybe sign one of the other players. Doing this would make us a way better team than last year and we can go into the draft and draft BPA in every round.

That's why I said: "So before the draft, you want the Bears to re-sign Okoye, extend Forte, and either sign Bell, McNeil, Hawthorne, Lawson, OR a CB?"

 

With the recent acquisition of Michael Bush, the Bears don't have room to keep Okoye AND sign a corner, offensive tackle, OR a linebacker.

[balta1701-A]

With the recent acquisition of Michael Bush, the Bears don't have room to keep Okoye AND sign a corner, offensive tackle, OR a linebacker.

Marion Barber retiring might help with that a bit.

 

It would be really nice if the Bears could find 1 more rotation player other than Okoye before the draft. They've got 3-4 positions where it would be nice to add a borderline starter or rotation player, the ones you note + maybe WR or Safety or LB, and they're not likely to be able to address all of those in the draft.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Marion Barber retiring might help with that a bit.

 

It would be really nice if the Bears could find 1 more rotation player other than Okoye before the draft. They've got 3-4 positions where it would be nice to add a borderline starter or rotation player, the ones you note + maybe WR or Safety or LB, and they're not likely to be able to address all of those in the draft.

If they're going to get anyone, I'd rather see them sign Demetrius Bell over anyone else. Bell has proven that he is a solid LT if he's healthy. With Jonathan Martin being more of a RT or OG in the NFL and his stock falling, Mike Adams being a RT, and Reiff and Kalil being gone for sure by 19, the toughest position to come by in the draft will be LT. They can find an OLB, DT, DE, another WR, and a S in the draft.

[Stinger226]

If they're going to get anyone, I'd rather see them sign Demetrius Bell over anyone else. Bell has proven that he is a solid LT if he's healthy. With Jonathan Martin being more of a RT or OG in the NFL and his stock falling, Mike Adams being a RT, and Reiff and Kalil being gone for sure by 19, the toughest position to come by in the draft will be LT. They can find an OLB, DT, DE, another WR, and a S in the draft.

Bell would be nice, and Mating and Adams will be playing LT in the NFL

[Wesson44]

That's why I said: "So before the draft, you want the Bears to re-sign Okoye, extend Forte, and either sign Bell, McNeil, Hawthorne, Lawson, OR a CB?"

 

With the recent acquisition of Michael Bush, the Bears don't have room to keep Okoye AND sign a corner, offensive tackle, OR a linebacker.

 

They might have the roon to sign Okoye his market is not the high in the pay scale and Bell might be cheap too due to his past injury...who know we could get Pepper and a few others to restructure their contracts.

[AZ54]

Okoye was boom or bust. On some pass plays he'd blow up the middle. On most run plays he was blown out of the play often by as much as 5 yards back from the LOS. He's not on my short list of must sign players.

[Wesson44]

Okoye was boom or bust. On some pass plays he'd blow up the middle. On most run plays he was blown out of the play often by as much as 5 yards back from the LOS. He's not on my short list of must sign players.

 

So who should we look at then?

[lemonej]

So who should we look at then?

You take your time and focus on the draft for now and then there should be another round of veteran cuts just before TC that maybe based on those with significant reporting bonuses. there also may be a player or 2 who have workout bonuses that may kick once the OTAs start.

[balta1701-A]

They might have the roon to sign Okoye his market is not the high in the pay scale and Bell might be cheap too due to his past injury...who know we could get Pepper and a few others to restructure their contracts.

If there was a huge market for Okoye outside of Chicago I'd have to imagine he'd have signed elsewhere by now.

[Wesson44]

If there was a huge market for Okoye outside of Chicago I'd have to imagine he'd have signed elsewhere by now.

 

Yes I agree,but who would you look at other than in the draft....well in the draft too to fill that spot?

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Bell would be nice, and Mating and Adams will be playing LT in the NFL

I assume you mean Martin when you say Mating, so your statement is not a foregone conclusion by any stretch of the imagination. Martin had a bad pro day and has short arms. On top of it, he's not that big. Adams wasn't all that at Ohio State and has concentration lapses.

[bradjock]

We've got tons to do:

1. D-tackle--Okoye is visiting with the Bengals this week. If we lose him, how do we replace him? Anthony Adams?

2. DE--Peppers needs help. IMO we address the pass rush in round #1 of the draft

3. CB--Is Tim Jennings our starting CB? IMO, we'll address this in round #2 of the draft

4. O-line--can we PLEASE sign McNeil? Why do I get the feeling we'll say we're happy with the posiiton

5. Safety--Major Wright cannot stay healthy.

6. TE--We could do better than Kellen Davis

 

It's imperative we address at least some of these issues in free agency before the draft.

 

We we really dont have much left to do other than signing A. Okoye and Forte. We can also still look at an OT in Bell or McNeil or a CB maybe still look at LB with Hawthorne and Lawson still out there. We can be a great fast defense if we signed one of those two. I would think about Lawson and his speed and drafting Irvin with his speed then you have a strong side with two guys at 4.4 speed covering the TE and rushing the QB. We could draft and OT in the first RD, Trumaine Johnson CB in the second Irvin DE in the third Tomie Streeter WR in the fouth and BPA the rest of the way

 

[Mongo3451]

We've got tons to do:

1. D-tackle--Okoye is visiting with the Bengals this week. If we lose him, how do we replace him? Anthony Adams?

2. DE--Peppers needs help. IMO we address the pass rush in round #1 of the draft

3. CB--Is Tim Jennings our starting CB? IMO, we'll address this in round #2 of the draft

4. O-line--can we PLEASE sign McNeil? Why do I get the feeling we'll say we're happy with the posiiton

5. Safety--Major Wright cannot stay healthy.

6. TE--We could do better than Kellen Davis

 

It's imperative we address at least some of these issues in free agency before the draft.

I agree that all of the above plus WR need a boost. I'll rate it like this:

OL

DE

WR

CB

S

TE

If we can make improvements to half of these in the draft, it would be great.

[adam]

We've got tons to do:

1. D-tackle--Okoye is visiting with the Bengals this week. If we lose him, how do we replace him? Anthony Adams?

2. DE--Peppers needs help. IMO we address the pass rush in round #1 of the draft

3. CB--Is Tim Jennings our starting CB? IMO, we'll address this in round #2 of the draft

4. O-line--can we PLEASE sign McNeil? Why do I get the feeling we'll say we're happy with the posiiton

5. Safety--Major Wright cannot stay healthy.

6. TE--We could do better than Kellen Davis

 

It's imperative we address at least some of these issues in free agency before the draft.

I don't see TE as a need. Davis has shown decent skills as a pass catcher and is a good blocker. There doesn't seem to be much value in bringing in another TE as the upgrade would be marginal at best.

 

I would say OL, CB, DL, WR are the biggest need areas.

[Stinger226]

I assume you mean Martin when you say Mating, so your statement is not a foregone conclusion by any stretch of the imagination. Martin had a bad pro day and has short arms. On top of it, he's not that big. Adams wasn't all that at Ohio State and has concentration lapses.

I read many sites and they all have different opinions on these two, and from what I read think they will stay at LT.I have never read Martin has short arms.

[AZ54]

Yes I agree,but who would you look at other than in the draft....well in the draft too to fill that spot?

 

I agree with you in that we need to add someone else for depth. It could be Okoye and the Bears are doing their usual strategy of letting him test the market and then deciding if they will pay market value. If not, we'll have to go elsewhere but there should be someone else available after the draft.

[balta1701-A]

If there was a huge market for Okoye outside of Chicago I'd have to imagine he'd have signed elsewhere by now.

Okoye is visiting the Bengals today. Despite having a ton of cap space, the Bengals have been doing the bargain basement-depth hunting a lot this offseason, so they may make him an offer but it won't be unbeatable if the bears want Okoye back..