rawaction

If I'm Denver, I don't want the #1, and I especially don't want the #1 and use it on Stafford. That guy is not worthy of #1 draft pick QB money. I'd much rather take multiple picks and a player or two than the #1 overall. Without a Peyton Manning available in the draft, the #1 overall pick just is not worth what it once was. It costs too much money and risks too much cap space on an unknown quantity. agreed. even if stafford becomes as good as cutler, essentially, they just gave up their draft pick for nothing. and detroit has few desireable players that they could throw in. Yeah, then count out Detroit. I was just trying to see a way they might be in the running. If they're just going to offer up the #20 + players, I wouldn't think the Bears would have much trouble beating that. I think Detroit can offer the 20, a 3rd rounder, and Ernie Sims. Lose a great LB, but a great QB is more of an asset. Plus, any 2010 picks from Detroit will likely be better than any other team's '10 picks as they should be picking in the top 10 for sure again. You also have to take into account that Denver may be willing to take less to get back at Cutler by trading him to a crappy team like the Lions. I think if Detroit wants him bad enough, Cutler will be wearing a Lions uniform.

I'd keep Williams on the left side. Pace at this point is the perfect RT.

I highly doubt that. Some in the media have already gone on record saying they don't want that crybaby/quitter on the team. I'm sure there's a significant portion of the fan base that doesn't have any interest in "some primadona QB". Which is hilarious. Some caller on the Score this morning compared Cutler to Jeff George...but come on...this is one team that he's had an issue with...not like 8. And to be honest, I don't blame Cutler. Sure he is being a baby, but the team tried to replace him w/ a less proven player who is getting paid over $16M, and under contract for just the 2009 season. Its a slap in the face for your team to think a year older Cassel, with 1 year just on par w/ all 3 of Cutler's, is a better QB especially considering you will have to pay Cassel more money.

I'm thinking Orton, this year's 1st, and next year's 1st might be enough. I can't think of any reason not to give up whatever the Broncos reasonably request for Cutler. Just a guess here. Teams definitely NOT interested: NE, IND, PIT, SD, KC, DAL, NYG, NO, ARZ, ATL, Teams probably NOT interested: HOU, TEN, BAL, PHI, GB Mildly interested: BUF, MIA, CIN, OAK, WAS, MIN, STL Definitely interested: NYJ, JAC, CLE, CHI, DET, TB, SEA, CAR, SF I don't think any of the teams "definitely interested" have the great talent to trade, unless Carolina wants to trade D'Angelo Williams. SF isn't trading Willis. Denver probably won't be interested in WRs like Braylon, Bryant. Edit: supposedly the Jets, Bucs, Bears, 49ers, Lions, Browns and Jags have already shown interest.

They are nice backups or fine plugging in with 2 or 3 other solid lineman. But they aren't core lineman. Well, that's where Williams, Beekman and hopefully one of the top 5 OGs (in a good guard draft) come in. Beekman is an unknown, and quite frankly, so is Williams at this point. That's why I'm talking about 2010. Hopefully Williams will be "known" by then. I don't really know what your point is at this point, though. You say you want Pace, but then say the Bears have only halfheartedly addressed OL and signing stopgaps ins't addressing the long term question on the line. Of course they haven't wholeheartedly address OL because the draft hasn't happened yet and there was a bunch of crap FAs. The only good long-term option for the Bears was Vernon Carey, and he resigned with his team. Every other young OL that was available had major questions with ineffectiveness (Barnes) or injury (Andrews). I just don't know what you expected them to "wholeheartedly" do about the OL.

They are nice backups or fine plugging in with 2 or 3 other solid lineman. But they aren't core lineman. Well, that's where Williams, Beekman and hopefully one of the top 5 OGs (in a good guard draft) come in.

You should talk to Raisin. Raisin's C has been demoted. Ask for the world. But, wait until week 2. Yeah, it's been a banner week for me between Carlos Marmol and Jeff Clement. My Yahoo roto league staff has: John Lackey, Joey Devine, Brandon Morrow, David Price, and Gio Gonzalez. Only 2 DL spots and I can't cut Price and Gio or I lose them, and they are both free keepers beyond our 5. So, I'll be playing w/ 1 bench spot for about a month at least.

You said that before, and it didn't make sense then, or now. Tait was a highly sought free agent who was paid big bucks to pry him away from his team. Shafer was passed over by his team for JSC. If that's the Bears line in 2010, I predict they suck big time. Omiyale and Shafer are both backup caliber guys, or people you throw in to a line that is solid at the other spots. So, you discount Shaffer teams' stats in the run game and Omiyale getting interest from 9 other teams? I'm not saying that those are major things, but Shaffer has been one of the top run blocking OTs in the league for 3-4 years. Omiyale only had 1 start, and got rave reviews. Shaffer is probably a middle of the pack starting RT. Omiyale has as much potential as anyone the Bears could draft at being an elite guard. To say they are both "backup quality guys" is inaccurate.

Quicker bat, Sheffield or Bonds?

The Bears could field an OL next year (2010) of: Williams- 24, Omiyale- 27, Beekman- 26, Buenning- 28, Shaffer- 30 I don't understand how you think this is just patching up. Granted, none of them have proven to be great OL, but the 3 to the right have 8 years of starting experience between them at a league average to slightly above level. Plus, the Bears can draft a pretty good guard in the 2nd or 3rd round of this draft, and get even younger. Shaffer is not old by any means. Every year that Shaffer has started, his team has been top 7 in the NFL in rushing average behind his side of the line. His pass blocking is below average, but he can provide veteran experience for an otherwise young line in the future. He's only a stopgap if you consider 3 years a stopgap. This is similar to the Tait signing, and Tait gave the team 4 years (3 good ones).

Ken Lucas also visited with the Bears today. Lucas is pretty meh. Best known for putting his face against Steve Smith's hand and making him get suspended for 2 weeks and slip down fantasy draft boards. There are 2 positions where bringing in a veteran over 28 is pointless. CB and OLB. Both are loaded in the draft from year to year. Both require little adjustment to the NFL game from college. Lucas is pointless to even bring in. Pace on the other hand......that's interesting. I don't see it happening, but I'm all for Pace.

If I had a guess I would think the first 4 picks would be (in some order): WR, DL (DE or DT, not both), OL (OG or OT), DB (CB or FS). I wouldn't mind a SLB or QB in there though.

Team Stats & Scoring 1. Number of Cubs wins, 2009 92 2. Number of Cubs wins, Cardinals season series (16 games) 9 3. Number of runs scored, 2009 798 4. Number of runs allowed, 2009 652 5. Final Placement in the NL Central Division 1st Player Stats & Scoring 1. Number of Aramis Ramirez Home Runs 32 2. Number of Soriano Stolen Bases 22 3. Ryan Theriot's Batting Average .298 4. Milton Bradley's RBIs 92 5. Ryan Dempster's Wins 16 6. Sean Marshall's ERA 4.54 7. Carlos Zambrano's Ks 168 8. Rich Harden's Innings Pitched 128 Bonus Questions I (20 points each) 1. Lee's RBIs 2. Aaron Heilman's relief appearances? 3. Mike Fontenot's at-bats? 4. Fontenot 5. Harden 6. Bradley Bonus Questions II (30 points each) 1. Most HRs: Soriano 2. Highest OBP (min. 400 ABs): Ramirez 3. Lowest ERA (min. 150 IPs): Dempster 4. Most saves: Gregg The Annual Tiebreaker: Date of Lou Piniella's First Ejection: NEVER

A- R Howard B- P Fielder, M Cabrera C- Hamilton, Holliday, Bay D- Votto, Morneau, Ortiz, Konerko, C Davis WC- PM'd to Laura

I posted my desire for Milton Bradley on this board since 2005. I'm glad he's finally a Cub.

Yeah, he got hurt fairly consistently at Florida. He's an incredible talent with terrific speed and surprisingly good strength, but he was on and off the field quite a bit at UF. That said, I think he's well worth the risk durability-wise. As I said, he's a terrific athlete. I do wonder, however, if he'd be the best pick for the Bears. He's a more polished, stronger receiver than Hester, but they both have very similar styles. I would think a DHB, Nicks or Britt type would be better since you already have Hester. I've heard questions about DHB & Britt's hands. If that's true, there's nothing that can kill a WR prospect faster than dropping the ball. Yeah, they definitely have some concerns surrounding their hands. But, both are extremely physically gifted and, I think, worth the risk. I'd put them behind Crabtree, Maclin, Harvin though. Harvin completely missed 5 games in his college career (three years). He was very banged up in quite a few more, but a lot of that - like raw said - was because he played a lot of running back at Florida. You eliminate him running in between the tackles as much, I think the injuries would drop. How much is the question, though. The 5 missed games are misleading though. Was it twice that he got hurt between the final SEC game and the bowl game? I know last year he technically only missed the SEC championship. But in the NFL, he would have had a game every week between then and the bowl game. So, he could easily miss 6 games with the same injury in the NFL. Also, anybody clamoring to have Pat White to run the wildcat should be plenty happy with Harvin in the same formation.

You'd probably have to take the most technically sound good soldier type WR if the Bears are going to make it work. Anybody who might give off the impression of dogging it a bit, or freelancing too much, or being a little "head strong", is going to run into issues with the Bears. WR tend to be unique characters, and the Bears don't do well with that. Throw one of 'em first round bonus money, and the odds for failure with the Bears are probably as high or higher than any other team in the league. Yep, that's another reason why I'd prefer to wait til the 2nd.

Yeah, he got hurt fairly consistently at Florida. He's an incredible talent with terrific speed and surprisingly good strength, but he was on and off the field quite a bit at UF. That said, I think he's well worth the risk durability-wise. As I said, he's a terrific athlete. I do wonder, however, if he'd be the best pick for the Bears. He's a more polished, stronger receiver than Hester, but they both have very similar styles. I would think a DHB, Nicks or Britt type would be better since you already have Hester. yeah, the reason I like Britt and Nicks more is because they are more sure bets. There have been a lot of WRs that can fly and get compared to the next Steve Smith, and most fall short. Britt and Nicks are better bets to be good (maybe not great), and quickly. And the fact that you may be able to get one of these guys at 49 vs. getting a high risk/reward guy at 18, then I think you go w/ the more sure thing as the Bears have a lot of other needs. It's a lot more damaging to pick a bust at 18 than at 49.

Harvin also has ?s because he was a RB at Florida. He supposedly didn't run the "route tree" in college. While I do think his route running will be very raw, I don't see him being a similar player to Hester. I look at Harvin having played RB in the SEC as a positive, not a negative. He did get hurt, but he took some hits running inside the tackles. Because of this I think he can do a lot more damage in traffic than Hester, who clearly shies away from any kind of contact. Harvin will go from having to run thru his own line, defensive lines, LBs and then DBs to being a WR and not taking too many hits from lineman. That alone should help his durability. He's strong as an OX (22 reps of 225lbs). I think he's a lot more Steve Smith than Reggie Bush. That being said, to think he could be as good as Smith would be premature.

I like Harvin more than most Bears fans seem to. But I think this opens the door for the Bears to go completely off the radar with their pick. I still think that they think they can get a good WR in the 2nd. I don't think there's much difference in the WRs who will be there at 18 vs. those that will be there in the early 40s. Granted the Bears may have to maneuver or have someone slip, but I have seen mocks w/ Robiske and Nicks going in the 50s. I think you could see the Bears wait on a WR til the 2nd and OL til the 3rd. I think this signing opens the door for a pick like Peria Jerry at DT or Vontae Davis at CB if they stay at 18.

The Tait signing was supposed to be them signing a franchise tackle. They overpaid him in order to force KC not to sign the offer sheet. This seems much more stopgap to me. No chance Shaffer's actually good? I wouldn't say that. I'm just saying the Tait signing was much more of an aggressive franchise affecting move, while this guy is some sort of combo fallback/stopgap player. Plus, he's not young, he won't be around for very long. Versatility is not a bad thing. If Shaffer fails, Omiyale is only 26 and can move back outside to RT. And he's not getting paid enough to where the Bears can't justify using an early pick on an OT. I think this increases the chances the Bears go after an OG in the draft rather than an OT. Guard could also use some youth. If Beekman is the C of the future, you're looking at Garza (who's over 30) and Buenning (28, and couldn't get on the field last year) as the RGs. Neither are long term solutions. Shaffer allows the Bears to NOT start inexperience on both edges of the OL. It allows them to rebuild the line to potentially Williams, Omiyale, Beekman, 2009 draft pick G along w/ him as soon as 2010. Shaffer may not be a long-term solution, but even if he's only around for 3 years (til he's 32, about as long as Tait was effective), the Bears will hopefully have a good, experienced Williams on the left side and be able to bring in a young tackle down the road. Hopefully this time it will be before the last possible moment.

Bears just signed OT- Kevin Shaffer formerly of the Cleveland Browns. A very solid pickup. Similar to the Tait signing a few years ago. He's 29. Started all but 1 game in the last 3 years for the Browns. Was the LT before Joe Thomas was drafted and then moved to the right side. He was great in 2007 his first year at RT, but struggled some last year. Even still gave up just 3.5 sacks in 2008. Cleveland released him because he was due a 2.5M roster bonus and they didn't want to pay him after a decline in performance. They signed John St Clair

I think people who think Hester is just a fly route WR are mistaken. Obviously, he's only played WR for 2 years, and one of those years he was strictly a fly route type. But I thought at the end of last year, he showed he can run the entire route tree. I don't think the Bears did a good enough job of getting him the ball on crossing routes and slants, but I think you will see more of that in 09.

Well, Houston went CB- FS in rounds 1 and 2. Biggest needs remaining are interior OL and outside LB. I don't really like any LBs or true OGs on the board, but I am sure I am missing someone. Houston selects: Antoine Caldwell, C University of Alabama. He may be able to play OG, but C is also a need for Houston.

Here's Vaughn McClure's story that Seifert linked to. The Bears have really pigeon holed themselves in the draft. They don't have enough OL or WR to even field a complete team. If they don't sign a FA out of the blue, then they have to draft both positions pretty early. This is exactly how you end up reaching for players and screwing up a draft. That being said, I really like Britt. Rather him or Robiske or Nicks more than the more flashy guys like Maclin, DHB, or Harvin.