Not so fast on the defense my friend. Despite the poor safety play, the defense really stepped it up as the season went on. I don't think people understand just how good Nathan Vasher is, mostly because teams just don't throw at him when in man coverage. Tommy Harris should be completely healthy.

As for the signing, it's a good move. It doesn't change the balance of power or anything, but it's a good move. Considering the number of #2 TE sets the Bears should be running, along with how often they have two backfield sets, this team really doesn't need to go four wide often. Plus, this draft is deep at WR. I still say the best move is OT in round one and WR in round two.

Basically we are always gonna disagree on these couple things so I'll just leave it at this.

1. I agree that if the defense is completely healthy, they will be top 5. By completely healthy Im including Mike Brown. It's unrealistic to project no injuries though, and given the usual 2-3 that could happen during the year, I see them slipping and being around top 10. Like I said, they have no depth on defense. All their backups are really young, so maybe they learned alot in one year, but they were pretty awful last season when not playing Green Bay.

2. Marty Booker is not a solid #2, IMO. I guess you guys think he is. If he turns out to be, then I like the signing. But there's a very good chance he will be the best WR on your team this year. Combine that with Rex, Benson, Bradley/"X" rookie on the other side, I dont see this offense even sniffing the average mark.

_________________
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

Was that Curtis Conway I just saw duck down the hallway?
Oh, wait. That's Bernard Berrian. My Mistake.

Hey, Golden Richards! What's up, brother?

_________________
"Ditkith"? See that? That's your I.Q. Buddy! ZERO! ....I'd rather talk to HIM!"

"Paging David Terrell...."

There is a better chance of W_Z or (or me for that matter) "finding" his future wife tomorrow than the Bears drafting two offensive players in row with the 1st and 2nd round picks.

It will be OL or DL in the first.
The other in the 2nd
a QB in the 3rd...
and maybe....they will address the WR position in the 4th.

_________________
@audioidkid

If Olsen and Clark are the top receiving duo on this team (which appears a strong possibility), the Bears are in a shitload of trouble. Benson still can't catch, and I'm not sure Booker is a two...

Doug, this link just arrived in some spam:

http://www.blossoms.com

I think it's become fairly obvious that the Bears are going to spend this off-season attempting to lock up some of their younger players to contract extensions, and they won't be getting into any bidding wars for free agents. I believe they will make some additions, but we just have to be patient on that front.

As for sucking, they probably won't have a good offense. With a healthy defense getting back to holding teams to around 17 and under, the team will be competitve in the NFC North. If the defense doesn't hold up, then yes, this team will struggle greatly.

Agreed -he's basically a cheaper version of Muhammed.

The Bears are not going to make any other significant moves for a free agent WR. Maybe they surprise us with a trade for Chad Johnson, but that's highly unlikely. Chances are, some combination of Bradley, Hester and Booker will start, and they will mix in Rashied Davis and a rookie drafted somewhere in the first three rounds. Obviously, we can't forget about Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen.

If the Bears are going to have any semblance of a passing game, at least two players amongst Olsen, Bradley and Hester have to develop into competent NFL receiving options, meaning at least 800 yards and 5-6 TD's.

I know where you are going with this, but Muhammed's production is dependent on the QB being able to get him the ball. From a pure production standpoint, this is an interesting comparison that you make.

If they draft a WR in the first two rounds, they will get a very good one. That's what I mean by adding a WR.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

He does have extremely large hands. I'm sure Jerry Krause is in awe somewhere.

Well Kirk has been better than the Bears QB position as a PG, he still doesnt make his teammates better. We all remember Tyson offensively as someone with bad hands and who couldnt finish. Chris Paul actually gets him 20 point games semi routinely. So, they are analogically similar in that way also, it could be argued.

_________________
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

Regarding point one, this is a great defense assuming they are healthy next season, and it will need to be to support the offense. As for depth, there are some serious concerns at DT and S, but I feel ok with where they are CB, DE, and LB.

Regarding point two, Marty Booker is not a #2, but he may win that job with the Bears if Hester/Bradley can't stay healthy or underachieve. Regardless, since 3 WR sets are so common in the NFL, he'll be on the field quite often.

Unless we make upgrades on the offensive line, and add a RB who can be a difference maker, this is going to be an offense that struggles bigtime. Their only hope is for players to make unexpected leaps in production.

Oh and Ron Turner is still coaching your offense. Hopefully someone has informed him by now that two-TE sets are legal.

_________________
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

Knowing how much WR's tend to struggle though in their rookie seasons combined with some Jerry Angelo's questionable offensive drafting skills don't give me a lot of confidence that the Bears will get a lot of production out of a 1st year WR, especially if he's #4 on the depth chart.

I do like several of the WR's that should be available to them in the first couple of rounds though.

Given all the holes (or potential holes), I can see this offense being extremely conservative! Basically, a run the clock, stay close, and let the defense win the game.

_________________

Because Jerry Angelo is GM, Lovie Smith is head coach, Bob Babich heads the defense, and Ron Turner the offense. I think those four names sum up the problem.

You can have a great defense and a good offense, but the Bears have decided to sacrifice possible signifcant upgrades (Michael Turner, some of the WR's on the market, Alan Faneca, even Bernard Berrian) to the offense in return for having stability on their current roster with the focus being tieing up as many young core players to long-term deals. I'm sure there will be a thread created during the next football season laughing at some of these teams that overpaid significantly for what will be at least some busts. Angelo's strategy obviously is to lock up guys like Tommie Harris now - it costs more in the short-term, but as we have seen with free agency, the cost tends to sky rocket.

It is definitely frustrating to watch our offense last season, hear our GM tell us that he is aware of the problems/will fix them.....and then sit out the early part of free agency where most of the highly sought (and paid) free agents will be signed.

It is even more frustrating when you realize that we don't need much more than an average offense to supplement what I believe is a great defense when healthy.

The key is staying patient and hoping that Angelo is targeting players, but at a price that isn't with inflation. It paid off with Lance Briggs, and I'm guessing that he's going to add at least one offensive lineman in free agency.

Orton and Grossman are not going to have great skill players around them, and that's usually not helpful to younger QB's who will try and force plays. If Hester and/or Bradley develop, that will help, but to go into a season counting on that to happen is a bit on the risky side.

I'm not ready to call for Jerry Angelo's firing just yet. Let's see how this plays out.

From the looks of it I think this will play out poorly.

_________________
SideshowBob311: "Sadly enough, I think we're the "intelligent" portion of the sports radio fanbase".
"I make fun of whoever sucks, including me"- Harry 11/30/07

Possibly, but I'm holding out hope that the Bears will add some offensive line help in free agency.

As much as I'd love an offense that can score 30 points a game, I realize that's not likely to happen so my expectations are for an average offense and a very good defense.

I still may be aiming high, but I'm going to remain patient and see how this team looks heading into the draft.

You have a lot more optimism than I do, it seems like they have gotten rid of most everybody and are "rebuilding" now....

_________________
SideshowBob311: "Sadly enough, I think we're the "intelligent" portion of the sports radio fanbase".
"I make fun of whoever sucks, including me"- Harry 11/30/07

Most everybody they got rid of was crap. Good riddens to bad rubbish. I have no problem those moves. The others they lost was because of free agency and that's just business. I'm getting impatient waiting on the replacements though.

Here is a Q/A with the Titans GM, and I'm posting his first answer because it seems to close resemble what the Bears are doing:

Q: Will you be active in the free agent market going forward?
REINFELDT: We will probably not be big players in free agency. There is a reason we chose to be that way. I think the way to build a team in the NFL is through the draft. Get the young players at a premium — the really good players — and get your core players. We want to get 10 or 12 special guys and hold on to those guys. Whether franchising them or doing long term deals early, you need to have a group of 10 or 12 players that are your special guys. What happens in free agency is players that usually aren't those kind of guys are the ones that get out. They are good players, but they are not great players. What you see in free agency is good players get great money. What happens then is you have a locker room where your core players make less than those guys that they know they are better than. It’s not the right way to build a club long term. We will do some things in free agency. We’ll help ourselves and get through some areas, but unless we get the special guy, the guy that can make a difference, the guy that can get us over the hump, I wouldn’t see us being big players in free agency. At the same time, I can tell you that if you do get that special guy, I was fortunate enough to be with the Green Bay Pacers in 1993 when Reggie White came out in the first year of free agency and we signed him. He was the right guy in the locker room, on the field, and media-wise he was wonderful. Two years later we were in the Super Bowl, so it’s interesting how you play it. You see all these big huge deals where people waste money and they grab a lot of media attention, but I’m not sure at the end of the day if they were better than they were before. That is probably how we are going to play free agency going forward.

At least Im not the only one who thinks is obvious they are rebuilding. From the comments I heard yesterday, Mac, Jurko, B&B, and Larry Holmes(unfortunately ) agree with us.

_________________
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

I still have yet to see how not overpaying for Berrian who isn't a game changing WR, not resigning Ayenbadejo, and cutting a bunch of OL that weren't getting the job done is rebuilding. It seems to me they are trying to get better, with so far limited success on the OL.

It seems to me that about 75% of the league is getting rid of the bad players they have trying to get better ones. This isn't like Miami getting rid of Jason Taylor.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Its not the guys they let go of, its the guys they didnt get. I dont see how this is anything other than rebuilding. They still dont have a future QB. They still dont have future RB probably. They still dont have a future #1 WR. I think there is a very decent chance I can repeat all of those statements after the draft. They are going to need to be thinking about replacing Urlacher soon. Ogunleye and Brown arent getting any younger, and only seem to play well when the entire team is. They need many starting positions replaced still. They didnt get one significant FA on the market. So if they are planning on drafting like 7 guys and hope they all start next season, thats rebuilding in my eyes. If they are going with all their current guys, well.. I guess its not rebuilding, just sucking.

_________________
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