The Chicago Bears Preseason Thread

[jersey cubs fan]

Why are we assuming he won't be a #1 or #2 receiver? All indications from camp are that he came in knowing the playbook, and will be moved around between the receiver spots to keep the D from keying on him the same way they did last year. Given the ability that he's shown, I don't see why we need to be down on his prospects as a WR.

 

I don't think people are assuming he won't make it, if you read the posts, most are saying something along the lines of, "If he doesn't progress into a #1 or #2..."

 

Personally I highly doubt he'll turn into a #1 - meaning he won't be catching 90+ passes for 1000+ yards. But he doesn't have to in order to still be a very big threat and worth every penny spent.

[David]

if Hester never develops on the offensive side, then they just paid a guaranteed $15M to get other teams to kick the ball out of bounds

 

Umm, what?

 

if he doesn't develop into a #1 or #2 WR, then his value is limited to returns, where most teams will kick the ball away from him or, on punts, just kick it out of bounds

 

Teams aren't going to risk kicking it out of bounds on kick offs and the trade off for squibs on kick offs and kicking out of bounds in punts is great field position to the Bears. Despite the bigger emphasis on stopping Hester/kicking away from him last season, he returned 6 punts and kickoffs for touchdowns.

 

 

Exactly. And even if he doesn't get the TDs, the field position provided by their reluctance to kick to him is huge.

[Keener98]

 

Yeah, the extension is through 2013, so we're going to be seeing a lot of Devin for Seven in the coming years.

 

I was listening to McKie on the radio last night, and he was saying people really have no idea how much Hester has progressed this offseason -- that he knows way more than he did last year, he's going to be in on a ton more plays and knows most of the offense now. I hope he's right.

 

I'm tired of propaganda. Under his last contract, the Bears and the us fans could be patient with Hester developing into a NFL WR. But given the new contract there is no patience. He must developed.

 

 

 

 

Well, about a week in and from what I can tell, training camp has been a disappointment. The offensive line, a huge problem for well over a year, does not appear to be any better yet, and they are missing important parts - with no clear idea when those parts will return. I just hope this offense isn't as bad as it looks like it could be.

 

Well maybe the Bears will do the exact opposite of how last years camp went. Remember how we kept hearing how the offense was taking it to the D, and it looked fluid etc. etc etc... I dont have my hopes up but just trying to show a little how the first few days/weeks of camp can be overhyped

[jersey cubs fan]

Well maybe the Bears will do the exact opposite of how last years camp went. Remember how we kept hearing how the offense was taking it to the D, and it looked fluid etc. etc etc... I dont have my hopes up but just trying to show a little how the first few days/weeks of camp can be overhyped

 

Yes, it's hard to judge after a week. But the problem I have is that the line is in shambles. Kreutz and Williams have missed a week. Kreutz himself should be fine, but he's already shown signs of decline, and with a new RT and LT, there's been no chance for the assumed starting five to practice together yet. And the offensive line is the most crucial component for determining how well this offense runs. This, by no means, ruins any chance for the team. But it definitely makes things more difficult. The Bears coaches have a tough enough time figuring out how to make an offense work, I don't like their chances of figuring it out with spare parts on the offensive line.

[Soul]

So many positions are up in the air on O. That's my problem with how things have shaped up so far.

 

We don't have any idea who the #1 or #2 WR is. The #1 RB is a rookie, and therefore susceptible to being changed out.

 

We don't know who the #1 QB is.

 

We don't know if Williams will work out at LT for the opener. Might be St. Clair. We aren't sure about Olin's achilles -- could be Beekman. Metcalf is struggling. Yikes.

 

TE is set. Whoohoo! 8-)

[jersey cubs fan]

So many positions are up in the air on O. That's my problem with how things have shaped up so far.

 

We don't have any idea who the #1 or #2 WR is. The #1 RB is a rookie, and therefore susceptible to being changed out.

 

We don't know who the #1 QB is.

 

We don't know if Williams will work out at LT for the opener. Might be St. Clair. We aren't sure about Olin's achilles -- could be Beekman. Metcalf is struggling. Yikes.

 

TE is set. Whoohoo! 8-)

 

I don't care very much about numbered designations for receivers. 3-4 WR sets and frequent rotations/replacements can make such distinctions all but meaningless. The rookie RB is fine. And Grossman is probably going to be the starter with Orton ready at any given time.

 

The real problem is the line, and that is mostly on Williams' shoulders now. If he does the job, the line should be okay, if he doesn't the line could be a disaster.

[David]

If the line is decent, I don't see much difference between this team and the 06 team (other than the competition in the division)....

 

If it's not... then it's 2007 all over again, but with better defense.

[Soul]

 

The rookie RB is fine.

 

All early indications are that he looks good. I just think there are more variables in play simply because you haven't seen him under the stress & strain of an NFL season yet.

 

APete would probably be able to do the job well enough if Forte can't. To me the running game is more about blocking anyway -- but you already know that from my previous postings.

[Banedon]

Why are we assuming he won't be a #1 or #2 receiver? All indications from camp are that he came in knowing the playbook, and will be moved around between the receiver spots to keep the D from keying on him the same way they did last year. Given the ability that he's shown, I don't see why we need to be down on his prospects as a WR.

 

I don't think people are assuming he won't make it, if you read the posts, most are saying something along the lines of, "If he doesn't progress into a #1 or #2..."

 

Personally I highly doubt he'll turn into a #1 - meaning he won't be catching 90+ passes for 1000+ yards. But he doesn't have to in order to still be a very big threat and worth every penny spent.

 

I realize that they were "if" scenarios...they just all seemed to be "if"-ing the worse case scenario. I'm just suggesting the idea that he might turn out to be a pretty decent WR...he may not be a #1, but if he ends up as a #2 and his punt/kickoff returns stay at their high level...I'm perfectly ok with that.

 

Just nitpicking the pessimism a little. :P

[jersey cubs fan]

If the line is decent, I don't see much difference between this team and the 06 team (other than the competition in the division)....

 

If it's not... then it's 2007 all over again, but with better defense.

 

I see it more like 2005 on the upside, and 2004 on the downside. I don't see anyway they finish 2008 as the 2nd highest scoring team in the league. Perhaps they won't rank as low as 2005 did offensively, but it will be closer to the mid-point than the top, and I really doubt they win 13, even on the upside. The line would have to be fantastic, not decent.

[David]

Valid points but a big part of the reason the 2006 team led the league in scoring was because of the defensive scores and Hester, right? Wasn't the offense statistically still low-middle of the pack? A mediocre offense was enough for that team to dominate with.

[jersey cubs fan]

Valid points but a big part of the reason the 2006 team led the league in scoring was because of the defensive scores and Hester, right? Wasn't the offense statistically still low-middle of the pack? A mediocre offense was enough for that team to dominate with.

 

They were still pretty good offensively, at least for half the season. I think if you took out the ST scores, the offense still ranked high. The yards weren't huge, but part of that was the field position they got, which, obviously, also helped with scoring.

 

My point is that I don't think a "decent" offensive line results in a top ten scoring offense or 13 win season. I think they will need to be pretty darn near excellent on the line to see those rankings.

[David]

I agree. I guess what I'm saying is, if the offense on the whole can manage to be mediocre, this should be a good team. I figured a "decent" line would be enough to help this offense be mediocre, but who knows what decent really is.

 

Either way, I think the team can be a lot better than people are expecting, but that really hinges on just how much getting rid of Fred Miller and Ruben Brown helps and how much better, if at all, we are with the expected upgrades at LT and RT.

[jersey cubs fan]

Either way, I think the team can be a lot better than people are expecting, but that really hinges on just how much getting rid of Fred Miller and Ruben Brown helps and how much better, if at all, we are with the expected upgrades at LT and RT.

 

I guess that depends on who the "people" are that are doing the expecting. If you pay attention to most media types, you'd think this team was going to finish with the top 5 draft pick again. But Vegas still has this team with an over/under of 8 wins, which to me, is suprisingly high. I've said before I don't have a great feeling either way. I fear they could be really bad, but I also think 10-11 wins isn't out of the question if a few things break their way - namely, defensive health and offensive line quality (not to mention Grossman being decent). Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of room to play with, as it wouldn't take a lot to make the bottom fall out.

[David]

Kreutz in pads and in practice after passing a physical today.

[Wilson A2000]

Kreutz in pads and in practice after passing a physical today.

 

Yep. I was at practice today. Kreutz looked fine. Williams still watched. Tommie Harris limped to the practice field. Is he still hurt? I have been a Bears fan all my life, but have never been to a game, so this was the first time that I have seen the team in action. It was pretty neat. The TE Davis is an extremely large man. Olsen was a lot bigger than I had imagined. Hester is really small. It was quite the sight to see exactly how far Maynard can punt the ball. The sound that it makes coming off of his foot is about three times louder than anything I had heard before.

 

If Orton gets the starting role, does he have the arm strength to get the ball to Hester deep? Hester signed a hefty contract, but he isn't going to go over the middle. He has to be the deep threat, but do we have a deep threat type of QB with Orton?

 

Listened to Boers and Bernstein live. Terry was pretty sweaty and smelly.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Valid points but a big part of the reason the 2006 team led the league in scoring was because of the defensive scores and Hester, right? Wasn't the offense statistically still low-middle of the pack? A mediocre offense was enough for that team to dominate with.

 

They were still pretty good offensively, at least for half the season. I think if you took out the ST scores, the offense still ranked high. The yards weren't huge, but part of that was the field position they got, which, obviously, also helped with scoring.

 

My point is that I don't think a "decent" offensive line results in a top ten scoring offense or 13 win season. I think they will need to be pretty darn near excellent on the line to see those rankings.

 

 

2006 O was ranked about 7, if I remember correctly. (edit: the OFFENSE, not team, was ranked #2 in scoring, about #15 in yards) They were pretty good, and that was with a decent O-line (not great). If (or when) Williams takes the LT pos, and the guard position is settled, the o-line agian will be decent, at least. Part of what 2006 had that 2007 didnt was more bynamic offense. Berrian deep, Jones in the flat, Benson up the middle. we didnt have a "true #1" WR then either, but it didnt matter. Mushin was passible, but not brilliant. Berrian basically caught the league by surprise by going deep, and Hester just did his best Hester. The D was the key. They were healthy and tee-ing off on the opposition.

 

I think the biggest question for the Bears is their health on D. The o-line is a funny thing, sometimes the biggest surpirse is offered by the least likely to succeed. We dont have a deep pool of talent their, but they arent the picture of demise some make them out to be either. Just having Tait back at RT is a step in the right direction (it means there are more viable options or an option at LT-2 pos upgraded in one move). But this team only goes as far as Mike Browns MCL and Tommies motor. Grossman or Orton, I dont care (although I have a preference). Either can win...

[David]

Kreutz in pads and in practice after passing a physical today.

 

Yep. I was at practice today. Kreutz looked fine. Williams still watched. Tommie Harris limped to the practice field. Is he still hurt? I have been a Bears fan all my life, but have never been to a game, so this was the first time that I have seen the team in action. It was pretty neat. The TE Davis is an extremely large man. Olsen was a lot bigger than I had imagined. Hester is really small. It was quite the sight to see exactly how far Maynard can punt the ball. The sound that it makes coming off of his foot is about three times louder than anything I had heard before.

 

If Orton gets the starting role, does he have the arm strength to get the ball to Hester deep? Hester signed a hefty contract, but he isn't going to go over the middle. He has to be the deep threat, but do we have a deep threat type of QB with Orton?

 

Listened to Boers and Bernstein live. Terry was pretty sweaty and smelly.

 

 

He can throw a deep ball, but not consistently and he'll often underthrow it somewhat. It doesn't really matter, though, because I'm almost positive Grossman is winning and will win this job.

 

Orton isn't really helping his case, either, with another two picks today. He has thrown more picks than any of the QBs in camp by a good margin.

[Banedon]

Tommie Harris is hilarious. The video of this cracked me up on Sportsrise this morning...

 

Someone recently asked Harris about training camp, for example, probably expecting a stock answer about how it helps forge toughness and solidarity.

 

"You go from a nice big ol' house to sharing showers and having stalls and having to see dudes' feet underneath while you're trying to handle your business," Harris said. "Training camp is an amazing place to be, man."

[ctcf]

Tommie Harris is hilarious. The video of this cracked me up on Sportsrise this morning...

 

Someone recently asked Harris about training camp, for example, probably expecting a stock answer about how it helps forge toughness and solidarity.

 

"You go from a nice big ol' house to sharing showers and having stalls and having to see dudes' feet underneath while you're trying to handle your business," Harris said. "Training camp is an amazing place to be, man."

 

Funny, but not nearly as awesome as Chris Cooley's description on KSK.

[Banedon]

Tommie Harris is hilarious. The video of this cracked me up on Sportsrise this morning...

 

Someone recently asked Harris about training camp, for example, probably expecting a stock answer about how it helps forge toughness and solidarity.

 

"You go from a nice big ol' house to sharing showers and having stalls and having to see dudes' feet underneath while you're trying to handle your business," Harris said. "Training camp is an amazing place to be, man."

 

Funny, but not nearly as awesome as Chris Cooley's description on KSK.

 

You mind pasting it? I'm trying to limit my work based internet surfing :)

[ctcf]

Tommie Harris is hilarious. The video of this cracked me up on Sportsrise this morning...

 

Someone recently asked Harris about training camp, for example, probably expecting a stock answer about how it helps forge toughness and solidarity.

 

"You go from a nice big ol' house to sharing showers and having stalls and having to see dudes' feet underneath while you're trying to handle your business," Harris said. "Training camp is an amazing place to be, man."

 

Funny, but not nearly as awesome as Chris Cooley's description on KSK.

 

You mind pasting it? I'm trying to limit my work based internet surfing :)

 

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2008/07/ksk-guest-post-chris-cooley-takes-you-to-f-k-town.html

 

Warning: Some fairly strong, hilarious language.

[SpongeWorthy]

So is not hearing about how great the offense looks in camp a good thing? Last year's media reports--and not just the Chicago area media--made us sound like the 2nd coming of the Greatest Show on Turf. I drank that Kool-Aid pretty deeply too. I was envisioning all sorts of exotic packages, gadget plays involving Hester, and Grossman marching us up and down the field.

 

What I got was a dreadful running game, tons of mistakes in the passing game, poor line play, and not a single well designed/executed screen play all year.

[UMFan83]

So is not hearing about how great the offense looks in camp a good thing? Last year's media reports--and not just the Chicago area media--made us sound like the 2nd coming of the Greatest Show on Turf. I drank that Kool-Aid pretty deeply too. I was envisioning all sorts of exotic packages, gadget plays involving Hester, and Grossman marching us up and down the field.

 

What I got was a dreadful running game, tons of mistakes in the passing game, poor line play, and not a single well designed/executed screen play all year.

 

I don't think its a good thing....

[Banedon]

Frustrated Packers consider trading Favre to Vikings or Bears

 

A source close to the situation told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that the Packers were considering seeking a deal with one of their division rivals, most probably the Minnesota Vikings or Chicago Bears, if backed into a corner by the National Football League and public sentiment.

 

On Monday, general manager Ted Thompson said flatly that the Packers would not trade Favre within the division.

 

But having no prospects of trading Favre anywhere else and under increasing pressure from Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Packers are considering doing almost the unthinkable: not only trading Favre, but also to the Vikings, a team that will be their opponent Sept. 8 on opening night at Lambeau Field.