Yes, the season is still a brutally long four months away. We still have to endure OTA’s, training camp and the preseason but I still, somehow, felt it was a good time to ponder into who are starters (and back-ups) will presumably be for the upcoming year.
Quarterback
By all accounts, there will be open competition between Rexy and The Beard. As ok as Orton played at the end of last year, I don’t see him managing this team’s offense. Grossman starts. Back-ups: Orton, Caleb Hanie.
Running back
Do I really need to mention the Cedric Benson fiasco? Forget about his troubles with the law and whether he did or didn’t cry out for his mama, number 32 proved last year that he can’t do it by himself. He and Matt Forte (a.k.a. the savior according to overzealous people in Chicago named Zabrowski or bratwurst) will form a nice tandem running attack. Forte starts. Back-ups: Cedric Benson, AP. (more…)
With selecting Marcus Harrison in Round 3 of this year’s draft, the Bears showed that they were a team willing to take a chance on a character risk. Today they made that even more abundantly clear with the signing of two former players who, while possessing rare talent, are said to have a rampant “coke” problem:
Lovie: “Ok Adam, here’s the plan: In two years I’m going to be named head coach of the Chicago Bears. Are you following me, son? You, on the other hand, are going to overachieve here in St. Louis for one more season. Then, that one guy from the Redskins. Yeah, you know him. The guy who treats NFL free agency like a 10-year old does when playing Madden. Snyder. That’s the name. Daniel Snyder will ink you to a ridiculous, record-breaking contract. When we all know white safeties are only good at stopping the run. After blowing big time in your first couple of games, you’ll sit out the rest of the season. Following that year, we’ll trade for you. Yes, you’ll come to Chicago. Fans will immediately love you because you’re an 80 overall on Madden. We’ll even trade that lamer Chris Harris to get you here. The rest will be history. Adam, are you listening to me? Adam? God dammit, Adam!”
Amid conflicting reports of what happened Saturday night – Benson says he was roughed up, police say he was cocky and insulting – the Bears will assuredly be weighing their options of what to do with him.
One option that they won’t have is deciding if Benson will be suspended or not. NFL Sheriff…er…Commissioner Roger Goodell has already demonstrated his intolerance for players screwing up. A four or eight-game suspension certainly wouldn’t be out of the works.
If Benson were to miss the first half of the season, his already dwindling chances of repeating his stint as starting running back would go down the drain. Rookie Matt Forte was impressive at rookie training camp over the weekend and it seems the collective preference in Bears fandom is for Forte to start. (more…)
First were the questions about marijuana use. Then, there was the questioned ability to be a good teammate. Soon after, there was the sluggish running. Now, there is this.
Per Chicagosports.com, Cedric Benson was arrested late Saturday night near Austin, Texas and charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, both Class B misdemeanors.
Benson failed a sobriety “float test” – an abbreviated version of a field sobriety test – and then proceeded to argue with Lower Colorado River Authority officials over taking a second test on land and putting on a life jacket. When LCRA officials attempted to make an arrest, Benson refused to cooperate and consequently, was pepper sprayed. (more…)
Left tackle? A 14th overall selection of Chris Williams yells out a proverbial ‘check.’ Center? Six Pro Bowls and a mean-streak like Naomi Campbell tells me Olin Kreutz has the job. Right guard? Hell if I know if Roberto Garza is any good but he seems like a great guy. Who else would give those old people a ride to the doctor’s? Right tackle? Two positives on this one: John Tait makes the move to a spot that he plays better and that could add a couple of years to his career. So who’s missing, here? Oh, yeah. Left guard? Uh. Excuse me? Can anyone play left guard?
Sure, someone can. The question is who. As of right now, the frontrunner appears to be Terrance Metcalf only because he has more experience than any other candidate. Over his six-year career, he’s started 15 games at right guard but only 5 at left. And he’s never played consistent enough to be named a consensus starter. That in itself should raise a red flag. (more…)
Any congratulations for correctly guessing the Bears’ first two picks can be withdrawn now permanently. Day Two saw the Bears pick no one from my final mock draft. Still, many of the needs I felt the Bears would address, were addressed.
The Bears picked Vanderbilt wide receiver Earl Bennett and Arkansas defensive tackle Marcus Harrison in Round 3. After two trades, the Bears took LSU safety Craig Steltz in Round 4. In the fifth round, Nebraska cornerback Zack Bowman and Michigan State tight end Kellen Davis were the choices. The Bears exhausted their remaining five picks, all seventh rounders, on Michigan State defensive end Ervin Baldwin, Georgia guard Chester Adams, Oregon State linebacker Joey LaRocque, Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton and Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk. (more…)
Well, look who is two-for-two. The Chicago Bears used the 14th and 44th overall selections in the NFL Draft to choose Vanderbilt left tackle Chris Williams and Tulane running back Matt Forte, respectively. If you remember correctly, I had the Bears doing exactly this in my final mock draft.
The props can stop there. Thanks to our friends, the cheeseheads, Kansas State wide receiver Jordy Nelson is no longer an option at 70. The Packers selected Nelson with the 36th overall pick in the second round.
Fortunately, there will still be some talented wideouts to choose from on Day Two including: Vanderbilt’s Earl Bennett, LSU’s Early Doucet and Florida’s Bubba Caldwell. Nabbing Arizona State strong safety Josh Barrett is still a strong possibility as well but the Bears may need to act quicker in order to take Rutgers guard Jeremy Zuttah. ESPN’s Draft “guru” Mel Kiper had Zuttah in the top 12 of his best remaining players as Day One came to a close.
According to Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chiefs, Eagles and Texans may be looking to leapfrog the Bears in order to steal one of the coveted first-round offensive linemen. The coveted includes Boise State’s Ryan Clady, Virginia’s Branden Albert, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah and Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams.
The news creates an interesting twist in this year’s draft and opens up the possibility that none of the remaining top four linemen — Michigan’s Jake Long signed with the Dolphins — will be available when the Bears pick fourteenth.
If this becomes the reality for the Bears, then what will they do with their pick? The options seem to dwindle to trading it away for two or more later picks or selecting Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall. Drafting Mendenhall would assuredly create a lot of buzz in Chicago Bears fandom and not to mention, tickle the belly of Sun-Times butthead columnist Jay Mariotti, who is calling for the Bears to get Mendenhall anyway.
A year after Bears Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs swore he would never play for the Bears again in response to receiving the franchise tag, teammate and real franchise player, middle linebacker Brian Urlacher is communicating discontent with the nine-year contract extension he signed in 2002.
Urlacher has four years left on the extension but believes now that he is underpaid. When he signed the deal, $57 million over nine years was presumed to be alot of money. Apparently, now, with the market as wild and generous as it is, the extension simply no longer offers the type of cash that is fair for a top-tier player. At least, this is the logic Urlacher will employ to sleep at night. (more…)
