The Bears Offseason Thread

[Chocolate Milk]

A McNabb trade (in theory):

 

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070520_Incites___A_McNabb_trade__in_theory_.html

 

Just a theory, nothing to back it up. Would anyone think the Bears might be interested in this trade?

 

The Eagles would effectively be tanking the season if they traded McNabb.

[Soriano12]

This is a BS rumors. No way it goes down.

[seanimal]

A McNabb trade (in theory):

 

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070520_Incites___A_McNabb_trade__in_theory_.html

 

Just a theory, nothing to back it up. Would anyone think the Bears might be interested in this trade?

 

Nope.

[David]

For the overload of attention he got the last 4 months of the season, I don't think I saw Rex's name mentioned anywhere this weekend.

 

I'm guessing you are exaggerating a bit. I read about him a couple times. It seems the writers are making a conscious decision to not talk about the so-called QB controversy though, realizing what a waste of time it is to ask for the millionth time whether or not Lovie is thinking about bringing in Griese.

 

Could be. I wasn't reading things very closely, but it seemed that everything was Hester-related.

 

Well it's definitely been limited.

 

I wonder how he's handled the Super Bowl.

 

I'd bet he's just been working his ass off with the new coaches to get better and gain the consistency that's keeping him from being a very good QB.

[sunnydoo]

The Eagles would effectively be tanking the season if they traded McNabb.

 

I am a diehard Eagles fan, and thats very much not the case. McNabb has been hurt most of the past seasons. Some guys are just continually bit by the injury bug (see Floyd), and it may be time to explore options.

 

Our division is not the greatest in the world. A run of the mill NFL team would do well in it. We run the West Coast offense, and it doesnt take tremendous effort to run it...only the ability to complete a high % of passes and the ability to read the defense.

 

Our defense was a sore spot for us last year. Adding Briggs would fill a definite need area and if we could get some picks for next year or the following year, it would really make sense for us to do it.

 

Since the days of Buddy ball in Philly, we have always pushed defense over offense, which is one of the reasons we have had pretty good success.

 

The fans also have tremendous confidence in Andy Reid and Tom Heckert in getting the stuff done that needs to get done, so if they do it, they would do it with most of the fans blessing as something good for the team even though we lose a "star."

[Soul]

For the overload of attention he got the last 4 months of the season, I don't think I saw Rex's name mentioned anywhere this weekend.

 

I'm guessing you are exaggerating a bit. I read about him a couple times. It seems the writers are making a conscious decision to not talk about the so-called QB controversy though, realizing what a waste of time it is to ask for the millionth time whether or not Lovie is thinking about bringing in Griese.

 

Could be. I wasn't reading things very closely, but it seemed that everything was Hester-related.

 

Well it's definitely been limited.

 

I wonder how he's handled the Super Bowl.

 

I'd bet he's just been working his ass off with the new coaches to get better and gain the consistency that's keeping him from being a very good QB.

 

I'm pretty sure any and all notions of Rex being 'emotionally scarred' from the Super Bowl are figments of the media & fans' imagination. He's a tough kid, and ultimately here's how he's going to think about it: I finally got a chance to start an entire season, and look I made it to the Super Bowl.

 

And really, why shouldn't he think that way? When he was on, he was good. We've had that defense for longer than Rex was the starter. Rex's good performances were much appreciated, and if he had 8 of them then that's exactly 8 more than we ever got with any of those other bozos we've had. Without Rex I'll guarantee we play the NFC Championship game in New Orleans, at the very least.

[Wilson A2000]

I can't believe the NFL took a bunch of the rookies and made them do promotional stuff for the NFL during minicamp. It was mandatory and Olsen and the RB from NIU were taken. I heard Dungy was quite mad at the NFL for this.

[Soriano12]

I wish I was a sportswriter so I could make up crazy rumors.

[Jon]

I wish I was a sportswriter so I could make up crazy rumors.

It's not a rumor. It's just a trade proposal.

[Soriano12]

I propose we trade Alex Brown for Reggie Wayne.

[KaiserCesar]

Hester has apparently looked pretty good at WR so far. Could be all fluff though. Too lazy to link. There are stories about it in the Chicago papers.

 

If I'm an opposing coach, I'd plan to counteract swings passes and reverses, but would not worry much about his route running and deep receiving threat until he shows it in a game. I'm betting Hester won't be much of an impactful receiver down the field, rather it'll be all about getting the ball in his hands.

 

Exactly. Hester won't be terribly effective as a wide receiver unless he can also be productive downfield, no matter how much speed/agility/vision he has or how many reverses and screens are run.

[Banedon]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2877493&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2

 

1. The Bears -- believe it or not -- are a faster team than last year.

Devin Hester was converted to wide receiver and he was zipping around the field, doing reverses and making sure-handed catches. Halfback Cedric Benson has a new spring to his step now that he doesn't have to worry about Thomas Jones competing for his playing time. Despite Lance Briggs' holdout, the Bears have some speedy replacements for the future in Jamar Williams and Michael Okwo. Adam Archuleta adds speed at safety. To make matters worse for the rest of the league, the Bears didn't have tight end Greg Olsen and halfback Garrett Wolfe at minicamp because they were attending the Premiere sponsorship affair in Los Angeles. This might be the Bears' most athletic team since the 1985 Super Bowl squad.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2877493&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2

 

1. The Bears -- believe it or not -- are a faster team than last year.

Devin Hester was converted to wide receiver and he was zipping around the field, doing reverses and making sure-handed catches. Halfback Cedric Benson has a new spring to his step now that he doesn't have to worry about Thomas Jones competing for his playing time. Despite Lance Briggs' holdout, the Bears have some speedy replacements for the future in Jamar Williams and Michael Okwo. Adam Archuleta adds speed at safety. To make matters worse for the rest of the league, the Bears didn't have tight end Greg Olsen and halfback Garrett Wolfe at minicamp because they were attending the Premiere sponsorship affair in Los Angeles. This might be the Bears' most athletic team since the 1985 Super Bowl squad.

 

 

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John Clayton wrote:

1. The Bears -- believe it or not -- are a faster team than last year.

Devin Hester was converted to wide receiver and he was zipping around the field, doing reverses and making sure-handed catches. Halfback Cedric Benson has a new spring to his step now that he doesn't have to worry about Thomas Jones competing for his playing time. Despite Lance Briggs' holdout, the Bears have some speedy replacements for the future in Jamar Williams and Michael Okwo. Adam Archuleta adds speed at safety. To make matters worse for the rest of the league, the Bears didn't have tight end Greg Olsen and halfback Garrett Wolfe at minicamp because they were attending the Premiere sponsorship affair in Los Angeles. This might be the Bears' most athletic team since the 1985 Super Bowl squad.

[Soriano12]

This could be a very exciting offense. IMO, the 07 team has a chance to be more talented on offense vs the 85 team.

 

I'm talking overall talent on offense. Of course nothing will ever top Payton, he is the greatest back ever. But Berrian, Moose, Bradley, and now Hester, that is some major talent at WR. Gault was just a burner who sucked going across the middle.

[Banedon]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2877493&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2

 

1. The Bears -- believe it or not -- are a faster team than last year.

Devin Hester was converted to wide receiver and he was zipping around the field, doing reverses and making sure-handed catches. Halfback Cedric Benson has a new spring to his step now that he doesn't have to worry about Thomas Jones competing for his playing time. Despite Lance Briggs' holdout, the Bears have some speedy replacements for the future in Jamar Williams and Michael Okwo. Adam Archuleta adds speed at safety. To make matters worse for the rest of the league, the Bears didn't have tight end Greg Olsen and halfback Garrett Wolfe at minicamp because they were attending the Premiere sponsorship affair in Los Angeles. This might be the Bears' most athletic team since the 1985 Super Bowl squad.

 

 

Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John Clayton wrote:

1. The Bears -- believe it or not -- are a faster team than last year.

Devin Hester was converted to wide receiver and he was zipping around the field, doing reverses and making sure-handed catches. Halfback Cedric Benson has a new spring to his step now that he doesn't have to worry about Thomas Jones competing for his playing time. Despite Lance Briggs' holdout, the Bears have some speedy replacements for the future in Jamar Williams and Michael Okwo. Adam Archuleta adds speed at safety. To make matters worse for the rest of the league, the Bears didn't have tight end Greg Olsen and halfback Garrett Wolfe at minicamp because they were attending the Premiere sponsorship affair in Los Angeles. This might be the Bears' most athletic team since the 1985 Super Bowl squad.

 

Whoops. Missed it with all the Mcnabb stuff.

[jersey cubs fan]

This could be a very exciting offense. IMO, the 07 team has a chance to be more talented on offense vs the 85 team.

 

I'm talking overall talent on offense. Of course nothing will ever top Payton, he is the greatest back ever. But Berrian, Moose, Bradley, and now Hester, that is some major talent at WR. Gault was just a burner who sucked going across the middle.

 

I wouldn't exactly call that major WR talent. It's above average, but hardly elite. Yes, it's better than the 85 WR, but 85's offensive line blows the current line out of the water, and Payton was still a 1500 yard, 4.8 ypa RB that season. Then you have the McMahon vs Grossman comparison. McMahon is overrated due to the hype and the SB victory, but he's still probably better than Grossman. I think the 85 offense, relative to their league, was much more talented than the 07 team will be.

 

Remember, in 07 they were 2nd in points and 6 in yards.

[Southpaw191679666239]

Whoops. Missed it with all the Mcnabb stuff.

 

That's twice in less than a week. Did jcf travel back in time too? :lol:

[rawaction]

This could be a very exciting offense. IMO, the 07 team has a chance to be more talented on offense vs the 85 team.

 

I'm talking overall talent on offense. Of course nothing will ever top Payton, he is the greatest back ever. But Berrian, Moose, Bradley, and now Hester, that is some major talent at WR. Gault was just a burner who sucked going across the middle.

 

I wouldn't exactly call that major WR talent. It's above average, but hardly elite. Yes, it's better than the 85 WR, but 85's offensive line blows the current line out of the water, and Payton was still a 1500 yard, 4.8 ypa RB that season. Then you have the McMahon vs Grossman comparison. McMahon is overrated due to the hype and the SB victory, but he's still probably better than Grossman. I think the 85 offense, relative to their league, was much more talented than the 07 team will be.

 

Remember, in 07 they were 2nd in points and 6 in yards .

 

What year is this?

[jersey cubs fan]

This could be a very exciting offense. IMO, the 07 team has a chance to be more talented on offense vs the 85 team.

 

I'm talking overall talent on offense. Of course nothing will ever top Payton, he is the greatest back ever. But Berrian, Moose, Bradley, and now Hester, that is some major talent at WR. Gault was just a burner who sucked going across the middle.

 

I wouldn't exactly call that major WR talent. It's above average, but hardly elite. Yes, it's better than the 85 WR, but 85's offensive line blows the current line out of the water, and Payton was still a 1500 yard, 4.8 ypa RB that season. Then you have the McMahon vs Grossman comparison. McMahon is overrated due to the hype and the SB victory, but he's still probably better than Grossman. I think the 85 offense, relative to their league, was much more talented than the 07 team will be.

 

Remember, in 85 they were 2nd in points and 6 in yards .

 

What year is this?

 

Yowzer, 85 they were that good. I don't see 07 doing the same. Of course they were up there in points, but I'm talking about the combo of highly ranked points and yards.

[Chocolate Milk]

I don't see why the offense wouldn't be better this year. Unless the offensive line takes a big step back or there is a significant injury, I can't imagine them being worse. Rex, Benson, Berrian are all developing and they have added Hester, Wolfe, and Olsen to the mix. The only significant loss was Thomas Jones who was only more productive than Benson because he received the bulk of the carries. Benson's DVOA was much higher than Jones' last year. I expect his production to be just fine this year and likely better than what we saw from Jones last year.

 

Factor in the field position the Bears will get with all the turnovers the defense created and their dominant special teams unit, the Bears will score a lot of points this year.

 

I'm not sure how significant the improvement will be, but my personal belief is that the offense will be noticeably better. If they can just be more consistant, we should see a uptick. The Bears had the highest % of varience in their offensive DVOA from game to game in the NFL last year. I don't think some consistancy is an unreasonable expectation.

 

BTW, just thinking out loud here. Not directing this toward anyone in particular.

[Guest]

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

I think Rex and Cedric will progress nicely, though.

[Chocolate Milk]

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

An injury to one of the tackles is my worst nightmare. I think we could survive an injury to one of the guards, though.

[Soriano12]

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

Smile....there still may be hope.

 

Bears | Team interested in Smiley

Mon, 21 May 2007 13:26:00 -0700

 

Matt Maiocco, of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports the Chicago Bears have called the San Francisco 49ers about possibly trading for 49ers OG Justin Smiley, according to Smiley.

Edited May 22, 2007 by Soriano12

[Handlebar McSkullet]

Things that I am excited about:

1. Rex becoming consistent, maturing as our qb.

2. Offensive Weapons Galore- A double te set of Greg Olson and Dez Clark, Garrett Wolfe, and the maturation of Bernard, Bradley, and Rasheed Davis.

3. Hester becoming good at what he does part 2. I dont know if I see him being a top of the line reciever or running back, but I can see him being a total playmaker like Bush was his rookie year.

4. Archuleta thriving in Lovie's system, again.

5. Jamar Williams proving most of us right... weak side linebacker next to Brian Urlacher and Hunter Hillenmeyer is the easiest position to staff in the NFL.

 

Things that I am very scared of:

1. Benson getting hurt/not producing

2. Tommie Harris being ineffective

3. Mike Brown getting hurt again... It is sad to think how dominate Brown was when he was healthy, and how it hurt the defense everytime he went down.

4. Robbie Gould waking up and realizing he was a mediocre college kicker.

5.The offensive line needing a walker to get on the field.

[Chocolate Milk]

Honestly, I'm worried about an aging offensive line. Wish the Bears could have brought in some depth from free agency, at least.

 

Smile....there still maybe be hope.

 

Bears | Team interested in Smiley

Mon, 21 May 2007 13:26:00 -0700

 

Matt Maiocco, of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, reports the Chicago Bears have called the San Francisco 49ers about possibly trading for 49ers OG Justin Smiley, according to Smiley.

 

I have heard about this as well and I think it could be a good move. It depends on what we give up, of course.