rawaction

You also failed to see that the Bears are getting a slightly superior player of the same age in lieu of Paea in my scenario. Bird in hand. It seems a lot easier to keep your slightly inferior player rather than bet you can go out and get somebody else to replace him. That plan most likely results in you coming away with neither guy. Don't have the bird in the hand though. Paea is just as available as Williams is. Granted, you can sign Paea before you can Williams, but you are then gambling on Paea's fit. And again, he's not a good 3-4 fit based on lack of length. And despite his skillset suggesting he can, he hasn't played 3-tech nearly enough to show he can be a full-time, long-term option there.

I've played out this scenario a bunch in my head. Here's a quick rough draft of the way I would play it, if I were GM and moving to a hybrid or 3-4. I really like Paea, but he wouldn't be a good fit, so I'd let him walk and spend the money I would've paid him in a 4-3 D, to Dan Williams the Arizona NT. Don't like Shelton at 7 for a bunch of reasons. Don't want a rookie NT in a scheme everyone is learning together. Still have Ego to develop at NT. Rather use 7 on a more important edge rusher. And I don't think Shelton is one of the 7 (or 15) best players in this draft. I know it doesn't save the team any money, but I'd probably cut Jared Allen. I don't see him as a good fit, although I guess he could play the Cliff Avril role in a Seahawks-like hybrid. The Bears wouldn't have to change much upfront to go hybrid or 1-gap 3-4 (which is what 9ers ran). Ratliff would still play the 3-technique. His responsibilities wouldn't change from last year. Williams would the NT who gives the Bears a better run defender than Paea, but they do lose in the pass rush. Houston would play the 5-technique, probably have to add about 10lbs from the 270 he was at last year, but he could certainly do it as he's played about everywhere in the 280-300 range in the last 5 years. The Bears would almost certainly have to add 2 completely different types of LBs though. They would need a potential stud pass rusher and a stout run stopper. Young would actually be pretty versatile I think. He could be on the strong side and really help shut down the run game or he could be on the weak side as the best pass rusher. On the other side, McClellin or Jones could put their versatility to use and rush the passer, cover TEs and stop the run. Bostic would be one of the inside LBs, along with either Jones or a FA or a draft pick. NT- D. Williams, Ferguson DE (3-tech)- Ratliff, Sutton DE (5-tech)- Houston LOLB- McClellin, Jones, 1st pick (Shane Ray?) ROLB- Young, Ray WILB- Bostic, Greene SILB- Jones, FA Ratliff could play some 5 with Sutton at 3. But would probably need to add another DL. Guys like Bass/Washington could get some time at OLB. In the nickel, you can have any combo of Young, Ray, McClellin, Houston, Jones, Bass/Washington all rushing from the edge. If you're plan is to have Ratliff as a 3T and not NT, not sure why you'd essentially choose him over Paea in that role. You could walk fully away from Ratliff and pay the younger Paea instead to play the 3T spot. Because Ratliff is a better player. Ratliff is under contract for next year for a very affordable 1.8Mil. Paea is NOT under contract and would likely require a 3-4 year deal over 4Mil/year. Paea also has predominately played NT, not 3-tech as a Bear. Not saying he can't do it, but it's not worth that much money to see if he can, especially when him playing 3-tech may just be short term while Fangio gears up for a more traditional 3-4. Not sure there's evidence to say Fangio will be gearing up to a traditional 3-4 two gap scheme with two 5T ends. I imagine his schemes will continue to include a 3T guy for which Paea has the skillset. Hence, the word "may". FYI, he ran both in SF. I think he ran mixed in the 1-gap because he had an undersized NT the last couple years and Justin Smith can do everything. If he runs some 3-4, he's going to likely run some 2-gap, because he always has.

You also failed to see that the Bears are getting a slightly superior player of the same age in lieu of Paea in my scenario.

I've played out this scenario a bunch in my head. Here's a quick rough draft of the way I would play it, if I were GM and moving to a hybrid or 3-4. I really like Paea, but he wouldn't be a good fit, so I'd let him walk and spend the money I would've paid him in a 4-3 D, to Dan Williams the Arizona NT. Don't like Shelton at 7 for a bunch of reasons. Don't want a rookie NT in a scheme everyone is learning together. Still have Ego to develop at NT. Rather use 7 on a more important edge rusher. And I don't think Shelton is one of the 7 (or 15) best players in this draft. I know it doesn't save the team any money, but I'd probably cut Jared Allen. I don't see him as a good fit, although I guess he could play the Cliff Avril role in a Seahawks-like hybrid. The Bears wouldn't have to change much upfront to go hybrid or 1-gap 3-4 (which is what 9ers ran). Ratliff would still play the 3-technique. His responsibilities wouldn't change from last year. Williams would the NT who gives the Bears a better run defender than Paea, but they do lose in the pass rush. Houston would play the 5-technique, probably have to add about 10lbs from the 270 he was at last year, but he could certainly do it as he's played about everywhere in the 280-300 range in the last 5 years. The Bears would almost certainly have to add 2 completely different types of LBs though. They would need a potential stud pass rusher and a stout run stopper. Young would actually be pretty versatile I think. He could be on the strong side and really help shut down the run game or he could be on the weak side as the best pass rusher. On the other side, McClellin or Jones could put their versatility to use and rush the passer, cover TEs and stop the run. Bostic would be one of the inside LBs, along with either Jones or a FA or a draft pick. NT- D. Williams, Ferguson DE (3-tech)- Ratliff, Sutton DE (5-tech)- Houston LOLB- McClellin, Jones, 1st pick (Shane Ray?) ROLB- Young, Ray WILB- Bostic, Greene SILB- Jones, FA Ratliff could play some 5 with Sutton at 3. But would probably need to add another DL. Guys like Bass/Washington could get some time at OLB. In the nickel, you can have any combo of Young, Ray, McClellin, Houston, Jones, Bass/Washington all rushing from the edge. If you're plan is to have Ratliff as a 3T and not NT, not sure why you'd essentially choose him over Paea in that role. You could walk fully away from Ratliff and pay the younger Paea instead to play the 3T spot. Because Ratliff is a better player. Ratliff is under contract for next year for a very affordable 1.8Mil. Paea is NOT under contract and would likely require a 3-4 year deal over 4Mil/year. Paea also has predominately played NT, not 3-tech as a Bear. Not saying he can't do it, but it's not worth that much money to see if he can, especially when him playing 3-tech may just be short term while Fangio gears up for a more traditional 3-4.

Depends how they run it, IMO. If they run it with a DE essentially in the typical 3-technique position like a 4-3 under tackle, it would be the same thing that Ratliff did very successfully last year (and what the Niners ran a lot with Justin Smith, who is about the same size as Ratliff). If they are running the D with both ends lined up over the OTs, then I think that would be a problem for Ratliff. I'm hoping Ego can bulk up to possibly be able to make it in the traditional NT mold, even if they run the 3 technique, Ratliff likely won't hold up. They'll likely go with some sort of hybrid with both 3-4 and 4-3 fronts. It would give Sutton a chance to have an impact. If they can get one of... Williams-AZ Knighton Ratliff with his age and the 1+mil will likely come off the books. Ratliff was really good last year, he needs to stay on the roster for next year. I do think you gotta worry about him holding up for 16 games, as he hasn't played 16 in about 4 years, but there's not reason to cut him for $1Mil in savings.

Depends how they run it, IMO. If they run it with a DE essentially in the typical 3-technique position like a 4-3 under tackle, it would be the same thing that Ratliff did very successfully last year (and what the Niners ran a lot with Justin Smith, who is about the same size as Ratliff). If they are running the D with both ends lined up over the OTs, then I think that would be a problem for Ratliff.

I've played out this scenario a bunch in my head. Here's a quick rough draft of the way I would play it, if I were GM and moving to a hybrid or 3-4. I really like Paea, but he wouldn't be a good fit, so I'd let him walk and spend the money I would've paid him in a 4-3 D, to Dan Williams the Arizona NT. Don't like Shelton at 7 for a bunch of reasons. Don't want a rookie NT in a scheme everyone is learning together. Still have Ego to develop at NT. Rather use 7 on a more important edge rusher. And I don't think Shelton is one of the 7 (or 15) best players in this draft. I know it doesn't save the team any money, but I'd probably cut Jared Allen. I don't see him as a good fit, although I guess he could play the Cliff Avril role in a Seahawks-like hybrid. The Bears wouldn't have to change much upfront to go hybrid or 1-gap 3-4 (which is what 9ers ran). Ratliff would still play the 3-technique. His responsibilities wouldn't change from last year. Williams would the NT who gives the Bears a better run defender than Paea, but they do lose in the pass rush. Houston would play the 5-technique, probably have to add about 10lbs from the 270 he was at last year, but he could certainly do it as he's played about everywhere in the 280-300 range in the last 5 years. The Bears would almost certainly have to add 2 completely different types of LBs though. They would need a potential stud pass rusher and a stout run stopper. Young would actually be pretty versatile I think. He could be on the strong side and really help shut down the run game or he could be on the weak side as the best pass rusher. On the other side, McClellin or Jones could put their versatility to use and rush the passer, cover TEs and stop the run. Bostic would be one of the inside LBs, along with either Jones or a FA or a draft pick. NT- D. Williams, Ferguson DE (3-tech)- Ratliff, Sutton DE (5-tech)- Houston LOLB- McClellin, Jones, 1st pick (Shane Ray?) ROLB- Young, Ray WILB- Bostic, Greene SILB- Jones, FA Ratliff could play some 5 with Sutton at 3. But would probably need to add another DL. Guys like Bass/Washington could get some time at OLB. In the nickel, you can have any combo of Young, Ray, McClellin, Houston, Jones, Bass/Washington all rushing from the edge.

Briggs on NBCSN live. Said Fox is a great hire for the Bears. Excited about Fangio getting the most out of the talent. Nothing major. But then when asked what his ideal scenario would be, Briggs said that he would like to have John Fox on speed dial and get something done to bring him back to Chicago. He's been pretty realistic about his chances of coming back, and had previously been pretty non committal on where he wanted to be. So this is something.

celebrities, their just like us. Yeah, good for them not relying on nannies all the time, I guess. But, my kids are the same exact age and if I had that kind of money, I would have a nanny on hand at just about all times that there was only 1 parent for more than a few hours. Bunch of good Twitter jokes when I read that yesterday. The typical, "doesn't she know Jay can't handle pressure situations?" and "Jay can't handle his responsibilities on or off the field". But I called out this dude for making a joke that made no sense. His "joke" was, "i'd throw jay some sympathy, but it would probably just get intercepted". So, I called him out because why would HE throw an INT, and not Jay. He called me a butthurt Bears fan. Still he blew the joke and I made sure he knew it.

Looks about right. To be fair though, the Bears do have a handful of players who are a year removed from being "good". Marshall, Jeffery, Jennings, Cutler, Houston, Allen. And I'm not sure how Forte is just average. But some resurgent years, improvement by young players (Fuller, Bostic, Jones) and a good draft and the Bears can compete for a playoff spot.

His brother Jeff is the special teams coach.

That is a great idea. To play 19 seasons in Wrigley's cold & wind and put up those numbers and have that positive attitude; it takes a tough person with true dedication to the game. R.I.P. Nah. Sept 17th, every year a scheduled DH. That was the day Ernie debuted as the Cubs first black player.

A 7-day break doesn't affect me nearly as much for NHL than a 4-day break for MLB. All the regular off days in the NHL familiarizes me to not having a game on. Plus MLB is the only thing going in mid July. Tougher to deal with those off days when you don't have NBA, college basketball, and Superbowl prep to watch.

2 MVPs when Musial, Mays and Aaron were all also in their prime in the same league. Frank Robinson was coming on strong then too. Ernie was more important to Chicago than Jordan or Payton, IMO. Jordan left town. Payton left the world too soon. Ernie spent 62 years in Chicago and around the Cubs franchise.

That's so cool.

Rose is much better when I'm not watching. I think I've seen him go 1-4 with 8 turnovers tonight.

Maybe, because he can't call a halfcourt play to save his life. The best thing about the construction of this IU team is they can have nights like this where every shot falls. Yogi was hitting step back 3s not even squared to the basket for God's sake! But the downside is they can also have games like Michigan St. where they shoot 17-60 from the field and 5-24 from 3 and get doubled up on rebounds. But consider me very surprised. 15-4. 5-1 is better than I expected going into the season, and especially after Eastern Washington.

Oh and apparently there are people who think Cutler really smokes cigarettes, and does so on the sidelines. Twitter is dumb as [expletive].

Do you really need an answer to that question? I guess I do since I'm asking it. I know people hate on Cutler irrationally, but its the first I heard of people believing that he stopped trying. Ok then, yes, there is a belief outside of Chicagoland that Cutler gave up on Trestman/the Bears/the season/pick your poison. The "don't care meme" went into overdrive. Ironically enough, these are the same people who seriously thought Cutler wasn't wussied his way out of the NFC championship game.

Refuse to call Vick by his name too. Call him QB Dogkiller or something like that. They also randomly give players hyphenated names that they don't go by. Like I believe they called the WR, Miles Austin-Jones or something like that.

Gase's scheme is pretty aggressive. About 60/40 pass/run the 2 years as Broncos OC. Obviously broke every offensive record in 2013, with him at the helm. I think his biggest asset is his ability to adapt the offense based on what the defense is giving him. I know he had a genius at QB, who checked out of bad plays and played matchups, but he also gets a lot of credit for helping Mike McCoy design an offense that helped lead Tim Tebow to the playoffs. Be interesting to see how much of it was Gase vs. Manning, and if Cutler will have the same ability to check out of bad plays and see the matchups. Also, to see how he adjusts for Cutler's arm strength vs. Peyton's noodle arm. My biggest issue with the Trestman offense was the lack of pick plays/rub routes called across the middle with huge WRs/TE to allow guys to get open with room to run. Hopefully, that will be changed.

Only care about the defensive positions and the Bears already have 2 really good defensive coaches who willcontrol most things.

Adam Gase is the OC.

I've had this thought and pseudo-concern, but when you think about it, is there much of a successful history of "having the next head coach on staff"? Belichick wasn't on the Patriots staff before he took the job. Tomlin wasn't on Pittsburgh's staff. Jason Garrett is about the only coach in waiting situation that I am aware of and is he all that successful? Jim Caldwell did it, but didn't last. That's very true. Belichick also didn't really succeed at the Jets (he had been at the Patriots in 1996, prior to taking HC job after leaving NY).

I don't like a whole lot Fox as a coach, but now I see why you hire a guy like him. It's looking like the Bears will be getting 2 previously hot head coaching candidates as coordinators, and a huge part of that is because of the pull and respect that a guy like Fox has around the league. Hopefully, this creates a scenario where Fox does well for 3-4 years and the next coach is already on the staff. Though, I doubt it would be Gase if the Bears are successful because he'll get a HC job before then. Edit: started this post before the previous post was posted.