Good point, rpb.



Awesome. I'm like at least 25_Guy now.

Don't be fooled, this is a significant upgrade. Sign Louis and draft another interior guy and I think the OL will be decent next year.

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That easy, huh?

I dont expect the line to be decent next year. It will probably be better though.

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This draft is Guard heavy from what I understand

Yeah, I've heard that. But IB knows this stuff a lot better than I do and he called that guy Pittsburgh drafted last year the best Guard prospect in a decade or something. And the guy got hurt in preseason and I dont think played a down.

I just think someone like dolphin, who is arguably the best Bears poster on this site, should be a little less naive to say "draft player X and pencil him in as a 16 game starter and upgrade at the position.

Wasn't a strength of Carimi's coming into the league that he was a really safe pick. Not the highest ceiling in the world, but a very high floor? And he looked awful last year.

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Injuries happen.

But I think dolphin is thinking, if you draft a guy in the 1st or second rd he should be able to start.

Now you have
Bushrod at LT (good)
Lance Louis at LG (good)
Garza C (decent)
Draft pick (hopefully good)
Webb, Scott, and Carimi competition for RT (winner should be decent)


I guess decent is a better description than good

Did they re-sign Lance Louis?

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I disagree with your evaluations on Garza(average at best) and the winner of Webb, Scott, Carimi(I'd say winner will probably still be awful). Is Louis definitely back?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not yet, hope they will

If not Lewis then Webb could end up at guard.

Yeah I never thought I would live in a world where I would much rather the Bears bring back Louis and get rid of Urlacher and Hester, but yet here we are

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Bushrod
Garza
Carimi
Draft pick
Scott
Webb
Brown


Should be able to make a decent line with those pieces

Both Cooper and Warmack are rated more highly than Decastro (who did play at the end of last year). Cooper was pretty much off the charts good at the combine. You cannot figure injury into the calculation. Decastro was and will be the starter in 2013 for the Steelers.

I said sign Louis, who I thought was playing well when he got hurt AND draft one of those two for the interior. Bushrod, Louis and Warmack/Cooper is a monumental shift over what was starting in the last half of last year. Then you get Carimi and Webb battling for RT, which should produce a better result than giving both of them jobs before the season started last year. I am confident that they can reach decent level with these changes.

Incidentally, there is an OG from Kentucky in the draft who should be available in the 2nd who is probably immediate starter quality as well but he is nowhere near Warmack/Cooper.

Carimi may have been considered a safe pick but he was the 6th OT taken in that draft, so that does tell you something about him. I still am of the belief he will come in and win the RT position next year.

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And men have lost their reason.

It's an obvious upgrade. There's no real way of knowing whether its a good signing until you know what the roster as a whole looks like, because spending money in one area keeps you from doing it in others (exception to this: you are one major piece away from being a legit championship contender, which I don't think describes the Bears right now).

I think Bushrod is basically John Tait-ish. They probably overpaid a touch for him but that's the way free agency goes, and you can live with it in places. I'm less keen on the Bennett signing but I don't think its a disaster. But like I said, you can't really evaluate until you have a full roster.

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Fire Phil Emery

That's an endorsement! BEARS!

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The thing about Bennett is that he is so much better than what they have had for such a long time that even if he is slightly above average he will be considered great (the Cutler effect). Looking at the Bennett signing, he is making about $1 million more than Delanie Walker and $2 million less thant Cook, so it seems like market rate to me.

The market on LT is still forming so I cannot speak to where Bushrod sits. I think based on the money the Giants payed Beatty, this may actually be a little better than market.

Both signings strike home the point that they have to start drafting better.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Thats good because he's the best LT they've had in the last....what? like 20 years?

So you feel better now about the Bushrod signing?

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