Soul

Strange the different impressions people have of the draft. I don't recall the Bears ranking much higher than C in the past few years, but alas, in the final analysis, the Bears have wound up having some of the best drafts of any team out there. The Lions and Cardinals almost always rate high, then all those great players they draft fail and it turns out they 'drafted' poorly. I think alot of this is what happens from here on out: good teams turn their players into productive components. Bad teams like the Cardinals could turn a crop of all-pros into a cavalcade of bums. I think that's part of what it is. There are 2 other big factors that come into play as well: 1) The good teams often have scouting departments that look a little deeper than the "big name" guys. They often take people that seem like reaches or that people don't really know much about because they realize that this person is great for their particular system. Teams like the Lions and Cardinals draft high talent players, but often they don't fit well into the system that they employ. 2) Good teams draft not only for present needs, but for future needs. Draft grades that go into the draft don't reflect that-often you'll hear a comment puzzled on why this team drafted a person where they are already strong. However, a good team has the replacements for possible FA losses already on the roster before that person leaves, and that comes through in previous drafts-unfortunately draft graders don't think that far ahead, so it always lowers their grade. I agree, plus I think it's important to step back and realize the draft isn't the only place a team's needs can be fulfilled. It's the biggest, but there are other ways. I hear GM's say all the time that they don't draft only for need, and that it isn't even the best way to approach the draft. Yet the analysis of team's drafts almost always focuses on whether they filled their needs. So it sounds like there's a bit of a disconnect there.

Strange the different impressions people have of the draft. I don't recall the Bears ranking much higher than C in the past few years, but alas, in the final analysis, the Bears have wound up having some of the best drafts of any team out there. The Lions and Cardinals almost always rate high, then all those great players they draft fail and it turns out they 'drafted' poorly. I think alot of this is what happens from here on out: good teams turn their players into productive components. Bad teams like the Cardinals could turn a crop of all-pros into a cavalcade of bums.

After Lovie slammed the SI reporters last playoffs, I think you can expect an unprecedented level of hatred coming from them this year.

I'm not trying to place blame on you here B, but the thing you could do differently there is not drive next to someone. Again, I'm not blaming, I'm just pointing out that we need to all change our driving habits and there are things you can do to be safer. Staying away from other cars as much as possible is a good start (especially trucks). I realize in Southern California that is very difficult to do. The other basic thing people can is slow down - particularly when there is lots of traffic, or no shoulder, or construction. The slower you are going, the better your chances. Sounds like that stretch of freeway is unsafe. Urban growth has created a lot of unsafe roads due to space limitations and budget contraints. The 15 between San Bernardino and Vegas is awful. They're doing all sorts of construction projects to help with the traffic and it really tightened up the space on the freeway but people still drive 85+ since they are in the middle of the desert making it really unsafe at times. Yeah, I remember driving out in that desert and you can be going 85 and not feel like you are going incredibly fast. It's only when you come up on something standing still that you realize how swift you're moving.

I say who cares if he was drinking or not. It's very tragic and very sad regardless. It is very sad and tragic regardless. But it's important to acknowledge the drinking and driving, if, in fact, he was drinking and driving. So, I would say everybody should care. It's an ongoing national problem that people can solve on their own with an ounce of common sense. It's nothing but stupidity that fails to prevent such tragedies. I see no reason why people can't speculate about the circumstances, considering what happened and what has emerged so far. Seriously. Obviously we don't know anything for sure at the moment, but imagine if the tow truck hadn't been there to act as a buffer and he ran into a parked car. Things would have been a lot worse, and if he was drinking, I doubt there would be so much heart break. I suppose. I would just feel bad if I got it wrong, so I'll wait for the tests. It does sound like it's leaning that way, but who knows maybe he refused the cab because someone had the wrong idea and he hadn't been drinking. Or something.

One time there was a very similar situation on the freeway between Milwaukee and Madison that I ran in to. I was fully sober, the weather wasn't all that great (rainy), and a tow truck had just pulled up in the left lane to move someone off the road. I almost smashed into someone -- not the tow truck, mind you, but all the other cars in the left lane that were waiting to merge back into the right lane because they had to stop quickly for the tow truck. I actually made the stop with plenty of distance to spare, but the feeling was pretty bad. I had not expected stopped vehicles so suddenly when everyone was doing 75 MPH seconds before.

I don't. I'm pretty certain he's not. But that's okay, he can still contribute by being a .360 OBP guy making $350,000 on the bench. I'd like to see a little more before settling in on the idea. It's too painful the black hole we have @ SS.

It just underscores what Quinn had to work with, i.e. very little. Yeah, a 1,000 yard rusher at running back, one receiver with over 1,000 yards and one with over 900. It was really Quinn and a bunch of scrubs back there. Just because they aren't pro prospects doesn't mean they weren't great college football players. Rhema Mcknight was a drop machine, and any RB on that roster could have gained 1000 yards. THe only weapon was Jeff S. If their drop machine WR came just over 90 yards short of 1,000 and "any" runningback could have gone over 1,000 yards, doesn't that sort of dispel the notion of having "nothing to work with"? No, it doesn't. For fairness, I want to add John Carlson-other then one bad play in the Michigan game, he was very good all season. Darius Walker had over 1,000 yards-that was entirely because of the passing offense. He's a guy who can get some yards if everybody is spread out enough-when ND needed to run, he struggled. I wasn't even sorry he left-with Quinn and everyone else leaving, Walker would have been awful next year, and probably would have lost his job to his backup. Rhema Mcknight was the quintessential good one play, horrible the next. He got his yards because ND threw deep a ton in order to try to make up points. His statistics are very deceiving-for example, the USC game. Mcknight had 6 catches, 109 yards and a TD. It sounds great-but I can tell you that Mcknight dropped 4 easy catches that cost his team the chance to keep up with USC's offense, and he was the goat. Every receiver is going to catch some balls given enough chances and accurate throws. The only things that could be counted upon last season were Quinn, Samardzija, and Carlson. The line, the rest of the receivers, and the runningbacks were all either incredibly inconsistent or simply horrible. i.e., very little to work with.

Eh? That's un-American.

At least it's refreshing to see a move made quickly, rather than the Dusty philosophy of letting a horrid player like Neifi start game after game with nothing being done about it.

Me too. I'm just gonna say it, even though I realize he's a 7th rounder and will probably wash out. Aaron Brant was picked by some draftniks to go higher: Maybe he's better than St. Clair in a couple years. We desperately need a top T now, and obviously this guy isn't it.

ESPN still has him listed on our roster.

He's not a free agent is he? I thought he was just having a little tiff with the Steelers. If he goes anywhere he probably ends up in Arizona with his ex-coach. No, I don't think he is a FA. And you're right, he has a strong relationship with his former coach, but as you know $$$ talks. Oh that and it's the Cardinals. We're in much worse shape @ T than G though depth-wise. We've got 3 pretty good G for this year, and another coming in. It's really about T now.

Miller was near retirement when the Bears convinced him to stay in the league. Brown had to be convinced to stay this year. They don't have a single decent lineman in his mid 20's. St. Clair is a turnstile. An injury to either tackle, and this line will falter. An injury to Kreutz and the line crumbles. This team has been extremely lucky to be as healthy as it has been on the line the past two years. Sure, proper conditioning and quality strength work can help prevent injuries, so it's not all based on luck. But the health of offensive lineman is always in doubt. They needed a tackle this year. Next year's first rounder won't be nearly good enough to get the best tackle out there, and probably not somebody who could start in 2008 either. They needed to start developing guys a couple years ago, but they've ignored the offensive line in the past few drafts, and are pressing their luck. I agree an injury to Tait and we're in trouble, but I don't think we'll falter nearly as much if Fred goes down. I agree we should have drafted T higher this time around. Now we'll either have to spend more $$$$ to bring in someone, or push the luck. On Kreutz: he rarely goes down, but I suppose it could happen. The point is though they've been counting on him to stay healthy for years & years and it's worked out. We could use that kind of luck on the rest of our roster.

Well, that is terrible. Ack, I'm going to just wait for test reports before going down this road.

Here's the breakdown of the Bears OLine age-wise: RT: Freddy Miller, 34 G: Roberto Garza, 28 G: Ruben Brown, 35 G: Terence Metcalf, 29 C: Olin Kreutz, 29 (amazing, I would have thought Kreutz was older) LT: John Tait, 32 T: John St. Clair, 29 So I imagine Beeks will be the backfill for Ruben Brown, stepping into that 3rd G role after he retires and eventually be a starter (his pedigree is excellent....many think he was a steal in the 4th round). As for Tackle, I think Tait can go a couple more years. Not sure about Freddy Miller -- he's a RT, so hopefully that'll buy him a couple more years. Next year I think we'd better spend that 1st rounder on the best Tackle available.

I heard one report say the tow truck was in the left lane, and then I heard another say it was on the shoulder. But then if there aren't any shoulders it can't be true I guess. Anyway, my understanding is if you block a traffic lane on a highway you must put cones or flares out immediately. Maybe that's not the case in Missouri? I can't imagine traveling 70 MPH and realizing too late someone is blocking the lane. Seems way to dangerous to me -- but then again, I don't know the facts about what really happened here.

Most interesting quote: LOL, 2 years ago we couldn't get a QB to want to sniff at the Bears because it was such a terrible situation to go in to. My how things change with a SB appearance.

It just underscores what Quinn had to work with, i.e. very little.

Looks like he made a bad career move. That and he's not an NFL-caliber back. There needs to be a resource other than a player's family and his agent to tell some of these guys the truth. Darius should have stayed to get his degree. I hope he can still go back and finish up.

Nobody expects Sosa to be a prime-time player anymore. It's pretty funny to watch all the Sosa haters squirm every time he hits another home run. Here's to hoping Sosa gets under your skin many more times this year.

Hester Syndrome. I'll be surprised if Ginn becomes a good receiver. You can't really play the "I'm just going to outrun the other team's slow cornerbacks and catch long bombs" ploy when all the cornerbacks are fast. Hester syndrome is a really expensive disease to contract. Considering the Bears pay Hester reasonable money and the Dolphins will pay Ginn mega-bucks, I'd say the Bears have a more reasonable approach towards staffing their return game.

I had heard Wolfe rated as a 5th or 6th-rounder, so I have no clue why the Bears scooped him there. I don't know that much about Bazuin but he looks pretty solid. I just don't understand picking a DE that high. Seems like there may have been other areas (OL) of concern. Well, for one thing teams repeatedly say they don't draft solely based on need. I don't know much about Bazuin, either, so we'll see what happens. The Bears did pick up a pretty good value pick at OG later on.

Maybe he's a long snap specialist? I really don't know.

Agreed. The Bears got the best TE in the draft, a playmaking DE with 26 sacks in the last 2 years, a All-American guard, and a speedy RB. If nothing else, Wolfe can make teams pay even when they kick away from Hester on kickoffs. Wolfe will be a good option on passing downs. Catching the ball isn't exactly Benson's strong suit. He adds a dimension that the Bears didn't have. He's a great change-of-pace/third down running back...and Booker and Irons were gone at the time. Bush wasn't an option in this situation - Pittman should have been since he's got a different style from Benson (and he's a great value there), but I can see why they didn't go that way. Wolfe wasn't going undrafted but I think the Bears could have gotten him in the 4th or 5th. They say his workout was the best they've ever seen in terms of a pass-catching RB. Alright, I'll go with it but I'm always leery about drafting a guy on the first day because of a workout in shorts and a t-shirt. They'll need to use Wolfe sparingly because the actual history says he's a midget and will wear down quickly with too much playtime.