2009 Chicago Bears offseason

[jersey cubs fan]

Then go ahead and think it's ridiculous. I'm not saying Rex would have been shooting lightning bolts out of his ass and putting up 120+ QB ratings every week, but I can see how it would be difficult to keep your head under the conditions the man was presented with. Did he fail? Yes. Was it all his fault? No way, sir.

 

Correct, Turner played a role, as did Angelo by letting the line deteriorate. But it sure as hell wasn't the fans' fault that Grossman crapped the bed, especially when so much of that defacation was on the road.

 

Hell, he couldn't handle or execute basic QB - get the snap from the center - on a consistent basis.

 

That has been a problem with multiple Bears QB's, with the one connection being Kreutz.

[RedFlash]

Then go ahead and think it's ridiculous. I'm not saying Rex would have been shooting lightning bolts out of his ass and putting up 120+ QB ratings every week, but I can see how it would be difficult to keep your head under the conditions the man was presented with. Did he fail? Yes. Was it all his fault? No way, sir.

 

Correct, Turner played a role, as did Angelo by letting the line deteriorate. But it sure as hell wasn't the fans' fault that Grossman crapped the bed, especially when so much of that defacation was on the road.

 

Hell, he couldn't handle or execute basic QB - get the snap from the center - on a consistent basis.

 

That might be, but I have heard that Rex's hands are smaller then what teams prefer out of their QBs. Don't know how true that is, and it's not really Rex's fault, if it is.

[Soul]

Being smaller definitely hurt Rex but as Jersey said, you can still be successful.

 

My biggest beef with Rex's play was that he turned into a statue after his injuries. Small + Statue + no OLine = bad recipe.

[RedFlash]

That has been a problem with multiple Bears QB's, with the one connection being Kreutz.

 

I think this is more then likely a coincidence, seeing as in his career with the Bears Kreutz has only been credited with 6 fumbles (5 of them recovered) in 151 GS. (I know this stat may not tell the whole story, but it's the only thing I can find.)

[gflore34]

Caught B&B the other day, they must filter the callers seeking those that are going to say things for B&B to ridicule on air. One fellow claimed the Bears mortgaged too much of their future in trading for Cutler another was picking out individual Cutler statistics claiming the Bears were better off with Orton, in both cases B&B had a field day. All I know is it's sure going to be refreshing to see a Bear QB hitting his receivers in stride most of the time this fall.

[Soul]

All those shows filter callers for maximum effect.

[Banedon]

I turn off most sports stations when they start taking calls. There's plenty of stupid sports opinions out there from the general public. I don't need the audio.

[RedFlash]

You know what's interesting:

 

ESPN's John Clayton calls the Giants free agent Plaxico Burress' most likely fit if he becomes eligible to play this season.

 

The other options are Tampa Bay and Chicago, but both either have better receiver prospects or more experienced wideouts than the Jets. Burress would fit perfectly opposite Jerricho Cotchery in New York, giving the Jets a deep threat they've sorely lacked since Santana Moss in the early 2000s.

 

I don't get it. I know the Jets are in need of a WR that could help in the development of Mark Sanchez, but would Plax want to stay in NY and would he want to play for a team with either a rookie QB (Sanchez) or a mediocre QB (Clemens)? Not to mention the Jets have the tremendously big monkey they won't overcome Plax or no Plax. (The Patriots). That means playoffs are less then 50% for the Jets considering they would have to battle the loser of Pittsburgh/Baltimore, Houston (my sleeper pick for 2009), perhaps Jacksonville, Miami, Tennessee for the final two Wild Card spots. Whereas Plax not only would make the Bears a bonafid playoff contender (with help from Cutler) but he would make the Bears one of two heavy favorites to go to the Super Bowl from the NFC (lofty goals, but those expactations went up after acquiring Cutler). Tampa Bay is a non-factor, imo, cause I think they are a team in transistion and are most likely a one and done team in the playoffs, if they make it. So it would come down to NY and Chicago.

 

I usually respect Clayton's opinion, and my homerism for the Bears maybe showing, but I think Burress's fit better with a team closer to winning now then a team who might be a year or two away. Not to mention a deep playoff run (ala Fitzgerald) with the Bears, perhaps, would allow Plax to go back on the market for one last contract. The only reason why he would pick the Jets is if they give him a long-term deal.

[jersey cubs fan]

You know what's interesting:

 

ESPN's John Clayton calls the Giants free agent Plaxico Burress' most likely fit if he becomes eligible to play this season.

 

The other options are Tampa Bay and Chicago, but both either have better receiver prospects or more experienced wideouts than the Jets. Burress would fit perfectly opposite Jerricho Cotchery in New York, giving the Jets a deep threat they've sorely lacked since Santana Moss in the early 2000s.

 

I don't get it. I know the Jets are in need of a WR that could help in the development of Mark Sanchez, but would Plax want to stay in NY .

 

So do the Bears have more experienced or better WR than the Jets? I thought consensus was Chicago had the worst WR in the league.

 

I don't see why Plaxico wouldn't want to stay in NY. It's probably going to come down to money. If the Jets can and do offer more, why not? It's not like the Bears are perennial contenders who guarantee victories.

[RedFlash]

I don't see why Plaxico wouldn't want to stay in NY. It's probably going to come down to money. If the Jets can and do offer more, why not? It's not like the Bears are perennial contenders who guarantee victories.

 

A potential deep playoff run with Bears would=a huge payday in 2010. Not to mention would Plax want to have a rookie QB throwing to him?

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't see why Plaxico wouldn't want to stay in NY. It's probably going to come down to money. If the Jets can and do offer more, why not? It's not like the Bears are perennial contenders who guarantee victories.

 

A potential deep playoff run with Bears would=a huge payday in 2010. Not to mention would Plax want to have a rookie QB throwing to him?

 

But it's not like the Bears guarantee a deep playoff run. This isn't Marian Hossa going to Detroit, or Randy Moss going to the Patriots. I like Chicago's chances, but let's not kid ourselves about their perception around the league. They still have to show it. The Jets are a fairly high profile team. I don't believe he feels like NY has chewed him up and spat him out. Hell, I could see him wanting to show up the Giants by doing well in their stadium for another team.

 

Bottom line is I see no reason why he wouldn't go to the Jets, if they had the best offer. I'd like to see him wind up on the Bears, but I don't see that as a lock by any means.

[Soul]

I could see him staying in NY and playing for the Jets. I'm sure the Jets view him as a good safety blanket for Sanchez, kind of like he was with Eli & the Giants.

 

I'm not even sure how hard Angelo would be going after Plax.

[David]

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4246249&name=dickerson

 

Stock Up

 

Craig Steltz -- The former fourth round pick appears to have the inside track to start at either of the safety spots. On the surface, Steltz seems to lack the speed to cover the deep middle of the field, but coaches feel Steltz possesses the necessary athleticism to play outside or inside in the box. As we've stated before, only time will tell if that assessment is accurate, but for now, Steltz ranks very high in the secondary hierarchy. It also doesn't hurt to have the support of the front office.

 

 

Let's not forget that JA pegged Steltz as being the closest to being able to start among last year's draft picks.

 

 

Stock Down

 

Kevin Payne -- Until the Bears decided to move Payne to free safety mid-way through last season, I thought he was playing the best football of anybody on that defense. But moving Payne out of the box exposed some limitations with regard to awareness and quickness. Playing with a bad shoulder didn't help Payne's cause either, preventing the safety from wrapping up in several tackling situations. He now appears to be in a battle with Josh Bullocks, but since the Bears view safety as interchangeable, there's no guarantee either of those two will start. Lovie Smith will likely go with the two best overall safeties, and right now, Payne looks to be the number three, at best.

 

Just a little more info on the safety situation. There's some notes on other players in that blog entry, but I didn't want to post the whole thing.

[David]

Hell, I'll toss in this one too, for those too lazy to click.

 

Rashied Davis -- Davis falls into this category strictly because Johnny Knox has played so well during OTAs. If Knox continues to make strides, the rookie might push Davis for some playing time in the slot. It's still way too early to expect significant contributions from Knox, but Davis' average 2008 season has opened the door for some competition. I still feel Davis is an excellent special teams contributor, but the Bears need better play from their wideouts -- end of story. If it can come from a rookie, so be it.

[rawaction]

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4246249&name=dickerson

 

Stock Up

 

Craig Steltz -- The former fourth round pick appears to have the inside track to start at either of the safety spots. On the surface, Steltz seems to lack the speed to cover the deep middle of the field, but coaches feel Steltz possesses the necessary athleticism to play outside or inside in the box. As we've stated before, only time will tell if that assessment is accurate, but for now, Steltz ranks very high in the secondary hierarchy. It also doesn't hurt to have the support of the front office.

 

 

Let's not forget that JA pegged Steltz as being the closest to being able to start among last year's draft picks.

 

 

Stock Down

 

Kevin Payne -- Until the Bears decided to move Payne to free safety mid-way through last season, I thought he was playing the best football of anybody on that defense. But moving Payne out of the box exposed some limitations with regard to awareness and quickness. Playing with a bad shoulder didn't help Payne's cause either, preventing the safety from wrapping up in several tackling situations. He now appears to be in a battle with Josh Bullocks, but since the Bears view safety as interchangeable, there's no guarantee either of those two will start. Lovie Smith will likely go with the two best overall safeties, and right now, Payne looks to be the number three, at best.

 

Just a little more info on the safety situation. There's some notes on other players in that blog entry, but I didn't want to post the whole thing.

 

I refuse to believe any of that is true. Payne is the only safety on the roster who has ever done anything positive in his career as a safety. Steltz, as it said, doesn't have the footspeed to play deep middle. Unless a lot happened in the offseason, I don't see how Payne could be the 3rd best safety on this team and Steltz the best.

[Soul]

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4246249&name=dickerson

 

Stock Up

 

Craig Steltz -- The former fourth round pick appears to have the inside track to start at either of the safety spots. On the surface, Steltz seems to lack the speed to cover the deep middle of the field, but coaches feel Steltz possesses the necessary athleticism to play outside or inside in the box. As we've stated before, only time will tell if that assessment is accurate, but for now, Steltz ranks very high in the secondary hierarchy. It also doesn't hurt to have the support of the front office.

 

 

Let's not forget that JA pegged Steltz as being the closest to being able to start among last year's draft picks.

 

 

Stock Down

 

Kevin Payne -- Until the Bears decided to move Payne to free safety mid-way through last season, I thought he was playing the best football of anybody on that defense. But moving Payne out of the box exposed some limitations with regard to awareness and quickness. Playing with a bad shoulder didn't help Payne's cause either, preventing the safety from wrapping up in several tackling situations. He now appears to be in a battle with Josh Bullocks, but since the Bears view safety as interchangeable, there's no guarantee either of those two will start. Lovie Smith will likely go with the two best overall safeties, and right now, Payne looks to be the number three, at best.

 

Just a little more info on the safety situation. There's some notes on other players in that blog entry, but I didn't want to post the whole thing.

 

I refuse to believe any of that is true. Payne is the only safety on the roster who has ever done anything positive in his career as a safety. Steltz, as it said, doesn't have the footspeed to play deep middle. Unless a lot happened in the offseason, I don't see how Payne could be the 3rd best safety on this team and Steltz the best.

 

I also think the article is jumping to conclusions based on OTAs. We aren't even to training camp yet, to say nothing of preseason games and the regular season. OTAs are great, but TC is more illustrative, and then preseason games more than TC, and then the regular season games even more, and so on. I wouldn't feel comfortable drawing any kind of conclusion about what we will actually see come opening day just based on a few open-session OTAs.

[David]

I don't think they just conclude these things (I say they because Zaidman reported something similar last week) based on what they observe on the actual field in practices in terms of quality of play. It's not like they are experts. Most likely they're basing this on things they're told by players, coaches, etc. They're (Zach Z and Dickerson) around those people a lot.

[jersey cubs fan]

The Bears today signed their final two draft picks, defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert and wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias to four-year deals.

 

Gilbert is the team's third-round pick (68th overall) out of San Jose State. Iglesias, from Oklahoma, was taken in the same round, 99th overall.

 

The Bears are the first team in the NFL to sign all of its draft picks.

[JonJayCutler]

The Bears today signed their final two draft picks, defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert and wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias to four-year deals.

 

Gilbert is the team's third-round pick (68th overall) out of San Jose State. Iglesias, from Oklahoma, was taken in the same round, 99th overall.

 

The Bears are the first team in the NFL to sign all of its draft picks.

 

Good news. Now they can focus on bringing in a proven WR.

[Soul]

Not unexpected, but good to see we won't have an unsigned draftee as a distraction this year.

[Banedon]

Drew Rosenhaus's twitter:

 

Rex Grossman will be visiting the Houston Texans tonight. He will be taking a physcial and we anticipate agreeing to terms on a 1 year deal.

[David]

Good to hear.

[RedFlash]

Reports are Grossman is being signed to compete for the 3rd QB on the roster behind Schaub/Orlansky. Just wow.

[bukie]

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation/0-8-79/Ultimate-Building-Blocks--NFC-North.html

 

Apparently Jay Cutler lacks maturity and leadership, on account of what I can only assume is an inability to play defense.

[David]

I think it's got more to do with the way he left Denver than his W/L record.

 

But anyway, I'd take Cutler over Rodgers every day of the week and twice on Sunday.