***Official 2013 Chicago Bears Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[RBM]

Mosley should be a star in the pros, and I'd be fine with it. But, I would have some negativity to a 3rd high(ish) pick being used on a position where most of the time teams are in nickel package it seems.

I would rate the DL and CB as much higher priorities. I really want to see Tillman back, but at safety. I hope someone can convince him, because I have a feeling he could be a pro bowl caliber FS for a couple of years.

 

[Quez]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

 

[flapgreen]

I'd go DT if there is a good one available at 14. Melton will likely be very expensive and is just coming off an injury. We could save a lot of money there. I can't see them going LB early again.

 

[flapgreen]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

 

[DaveL]

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

$7.5M out of the $8.2M is guaranteed, we're not saving much cap space by cutting Shea

 

[flapgreen]

It is pitiful how they have used Bush. I don't understand Trestman there. He was always a good receive

It is pitiful how they have used Bush. I don't understand Trestman there. He was always a good receiver.

I just think he's a good RB, if they would send him in with a full playbook to rest Forte, he may not destroy worlds, but I think he'd be a good back. Just stop sending him out on x and 2 letting the D put 15 in the box and then trying to run it up the center! We should be able to get some productive plays for a series out of a second back.Besides that, I think I'd be done spending money on our number 2 RB and trying some rookies that can come in a run hard after his contract is up or he gets cut in the next couple years.

I think Bush is done. He was a solid back in Oakland in 2011 when he spent that season starting for McFadden. He was a fairly good receiver, but he didn't gain 1000 yards that season. He didn't average 4 yards a carry. That was his best season by far. Trestman isn't the only one who didn't use Bush's receiving ability. He only had 9 catches in 2012 under Lovie. Bush looked very sluggish this season. His rushing yards average has dropped every season since 2009. His average this season is only 3.1. There are free agents, or late round rookies that can do what Bush has done for a lot less money.

Bears backup RB Michael Bush is owed a $2.8 million base salary and $50,000 workout bonus in 2014.Chicago will need salary cap space if it has designs on franchise tagging Jay Cutler. After averaging under five offensive touches per game in 2013, Bush is shaping up as a no-brainer offseason release candidate. The Bears could stay in-house with Michael Ford serving as Matt Forte's backup next season. Bush is running out of gas going on age 30. He averaged 3.1 YPC this year.

2.8? That's an easy cut then.

 

[flapgreen]

Doubt it. They're not way under the cap as it is. Byrd would be nice, though. I doubt they go after any high priced free agents this season.

According to this, they have the second most cap space of anyone.http://www.overthecap.com/nfl-cap-space.php?Year=2014

Not taking into account all of the guys that have to be re-sign ed. I guess they do have a lot of cap space without Cutler's salary factored in.

 

[DaveL]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie's fine, aside from his terrible challenge rate and anemic offenses. JA? You don't want him

 

[RBM]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.

Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

 

[twistd]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is not a bad coach, certainly better than Schaino. Angelo is actually decent at drafting and evaluating defensive talent. Can't draft or evaluate offensive players to save his life. He did draft Forte but he had a lot of mistakes. His last two first round picks were Carimi in 2011 and Chris Williams in 2008. That should tell you something.

 

[Sweetness_34]

Angelo drafted Greg Olsen also. Olsen cannot block worth a lick but he can catch

 

[Sweetness_34]

Bears should keep Peppers. Cutting him and taking a $8M cap hit is just dumb, when we have absolutely no one who can rush the passer. He can still bring the heat and we need someone like that against Rodgers and Stafford. We should also bring back Tillman and Jennings. I would prefer we go into the draft not requiring to draft a particular position. Just like last year, fill holes in FA and then add to it in the draft.

 

[RBM]

Angelo drafted Greg Olsen also. Olsen cannot block worth a lick but he can catch

Yup Olsen was a good pick at 31. Such a shame we had to end the budding chemistry he was developing with Cutler because of that dope Martz.

 

[The Tick]

It is pitiful how they have used Bush. I don't understand Trestman there. He was always a good receive

It is pitiful how they have used Bush. I don't understand Trestman there. He was always a good receiver.

I just think he's a good RB, if they would send him in with a full playbook to rest Forte, he may not destroy worlds, but I think he'd be a good back. Just stop sending him out on x and 2 letting the D put 15 in the box and then trying to run it up the center! We should be able to get some productive plays for a series out of a second back.

Besides that, I think I'd be done spending money on our number 2 RB and trying some rookies that can come in a run hard after his contract is up or he gets cut in the next couple years.

I think Bush is done. He was a solid back in Oakland in 2011 when he spent that season starting for McFadden. He was a fairly good receiver, but he didn't gain 1000 yards that season. He didn't average 4 yards a carry. That was his best season by far. Trestman isn't the only one who didn't use Bush's receiving ability. He only had 9 catches in 2012 under Lovie. Bush looked very sluggish this season. His rushing yards average has dropped every season since 2009. His average this season is only 3.1. There are free agents, or late round rookies that can do what Bush has done for a lot less money.

Bears backup RB Michael Bush is owed a $2.8 million base salary and $50,000 workout bonus in 2014.

Chicago will need salary cap space if it has designs on franchise tagging Jay Cutler. After averaging under five offensive touches per game in 2013, Bush is shaping up as a no-brainer offseason release candidate. The Bears could stay in-house with Michael Ford serving as Matt Forte's backup next season. Bush is running out of gas going on age 30. He averaged 3.1 YPC this year.

Wow, didn't think his salary was that high this year. if we really get 2.8 mil back by cutting, yeah, I won't fight that, still think he's a viable backup, but as I said, when he's gone, I'm done with high paid vet backups at rb, we've blown WAY too much money there.

 

[The Tick]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

 

[The Tick]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.

Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

2 of his 4 were awful??? I'd say 3 of 4 were awful, only one I respected at all was Ron Turner.

Besides that, dead on, Lovie was a good coach who couldn't get a competent OC along with good offensive players from him GM. If he comes into the interview with a good solid OC ready to work with him, I'd say you got a shot of some good years, your D will be good, and division wins and otherwise will just depend on if he finally got a good OC.

As far as Angelo, oh god please no, he should not have a job again in this league. There were key stats about how many draft picks were still on the team a couple years later and it was terribly low. He did draft some great players, but way to many were washed out within a year or two and that is why the bears are revamping an old team with little good young talent.

 

[twistd]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

I don't know what his cap number is. So I think this depends on how much they can save by cutting him. I don't think they will try to move him to OLB. I think they may let him compete for a starting job at DE next year but bring in some stiff competition. I think this regime is not afraid to admit mistakes and move on. So it wouldn't surprise me if they cut him. I thought they could have waited and gotten something for Carimi. But everyone else saw the same thing the Bears did. Carimi went to Tampa and started a total of three games. So they were right in launching Carimi and I believe that McClellin will suffer the same fate, whether it is this year or next.

 

[twistd]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.

Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

2 of his 4 were awful??? I'd say 3 of 4 were awful, only one I respected at all was Ron Turner.

Besides that, dead on, Lovie was a good coach who couldn't get a competent OC along with good offensive players from him GM. If he comes into the interview with a good solid OC ready to work with him, I'd say you got a shot of some good years, your D will be good, and division wins and otherwise will just depend on if he finally got a good OC.

As far as Angelo, oh god please no, he should not have a job again in this league. There were key stats about how many draft picks were still on the team a couple years later and it was terribly low. He did draft some great players, but way to many were washed out within a year or two and that is why the bears are revamping an old team with little good young talent.

I'd be thrilled if Angelo was the new GM in Detroit, or Minnesota. Let him screw up someone else's team.

 

[The Tick]

Bears should keep Peppers. Cutting him and taking a $8M cap hit is just dumb, when we have absolutely no one who can rush the passer. He can still bring the heat and we need someone like that against Rodgers and Stafford. We should also bring back Tillman and Jennings. I would prefer we go into the draft not requiring to draft a particular position. Just like last year, fill holes in FA and then add to it in the draft.

Peppers had 4 maybe 5 good games this year. Another 4 he was ok, and the rest he was hardly even there. For that 8mil we could probably get one of the better FA DL's that are constantly making a difference. Maybe I'm wrong and if we could get starting DT's and get Wooten back where he belongs that would make a difference for peppers, but even he stated a couple weeks back that this year the mind knows what it wants to do, but the body just isn't doing it.

If he will cut his salary down to 4 mil, I could see that, just can't justify locking up 8mil to keep him.

 

[flapgreen]

JA built a dominant defense. I'll give him that.

 

[The Tick]

JA built a dominant defense. I'll give him that.

And he had one good offseason where he built that Superbowl line when Tate and those other two vets came in.

But just couldn't hit those mid to late round picks to give young backups that can hopefully take over someday. It just seemed like he would hit stars or flops.

 

[Statcruncher]

I know Shea getting cut is a pipe dream. He's a 1st rounder and all his base salary is guaranteed so Chicago would be eating it so there's no financial benefit to cutting him. IMO, he just flat out sucks. I realize I don't know his assignments and responsibilities on every play, but how many times can an untouched player take himself out of the play or simply get buried by a TE before you give up on him? He's not NFL calibre in my book.

As for Peppers, I was a big defender of him but it's pretty tough to overlook his performance this year. He has plays where he's all world, but there are others where he's just another body out there getting rolled. I'm too lazy to look up the numbers but I think the Bears would save 8m or so cutting him, I don't care if he returns or not, I won't be thrilled either way.

Bush IMO is still a good RB, but he's been getting the shaft. The lack of utilization and aforementioned "Bush enters the game and it's a dive up the middle" is ridiculous. He's still a good RB, but the money that can be saved makes it a no-brainer to cut him loose.

Decamillis (sp?) has got to go. Tucker? I don't care. Axe him or give him another year. Hard to run a defense when everyone is hurt. That being said, if he's responsible for the Bears D always standing around trying to figure out where to line-up while the ball is being snapped he needs to go. It was so maddening to watch 3 or 4 Bears standing up pointing and yelling at each other with their backs to the ball as it's being snapped.

Forgot to add, Podlesh needs to be gone as well.

 

[flapgreen]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

I didn't say cut him

 

[RBM]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.

Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

2 of his 4 were awful??? I'd say 3 of 4 were awful, only one I respected at all was Ron Turner.Besides that, dead on, Lovie was a good coach who couldn't get a competent OC along with good offensive players from him GM. If he comes into the interview with a good solid OC ready to work with him, I'd say you got a shot of some good years, your D will be good, and division wins and otherwise will just depend on if he finally got a good OC.

.

Martz hire would've worked if they had a legit OL. I respect him as an OC. We were inches from the Super Bowl with him running an offense that was pretty freakin devoid of talent.

 

[RBM]

I actually think Shea might be a good LB. He's pretty athletic for his size. But the change has to come this offseason.

 

[whitem0nkey]

the Angelo Bears drafts seemed to get worst as time passes. He liked to traded down in the draft, he rather have 2nd round picks for 1 late 1st round pick, he went the safe route over the bold one.the current bears roster is hurting with lack of depth due to the bad recent drafts. I think he is fine in the FA market, he got Cutler and Peppers.

in rounds 1-3 he did not do too well, bad picks like Colombo, Haynes, Chris Williams......then we had 2 years with no 1st round picks.

the highest pick he had was #4 and he got Cerdic benson with it. He could have taken a QB but he already pick his man in rex 2 years before so Aaron Rodgers went to the Packers.

he also is clever enough to direct blame on others to keep his job a long time, and the McCaskie family liked him.

2002

1 29 Marc Colombo OT Boston College

3 72 Roosevelt Williams DB Tuskegee

3 93 Terrence Metcalf OT Mississippi

4 104 Alex Brown DE Florida

5 140 Bobby Gray DB Louisiana Tech

5 165 Bryan Knight DE Pittsburgh

6 199 Adrian Peterson RB Georgia Southern

6 203 Jamin Elliott WR Delaware

6 210 Bryan Fletcher TE UCLA

2003

1 14 Michael Haynes DE Penn State

1 22 Rex Grossman QB Florida

2 35 Charles Tillman DB Louisiana-Lafayette

3 68 Lance Briggs LB Arizona

4 100 Todd Johnson DB Florida

4 116 Ian Scott DT Florida

5 139 Bobby Wade WR Arizona

5 143 Justin Gage WR Missouri

5 171 Tron LaFavor DT Florida

6 191 Joe Odom LB Purdue

6 206 Brock Forsey RB Boise State

7 261 Bryan Anderson OG Pittsburgh

2004

1 14 Tommie Harris DT Oklahoma

2 47 Tank Johnson DT Washington

3 78 Bernard Berrian WR Fresno State

4 110 Nathan Vasher DB Texas

4 112 Leon Joe LB Maryland

5 147 Claude Harriott DE Pittsburgh

5 148 Craig Krenzel QB Ohio State

7 215 Alfonso Marshall DB Miami

2005

1 4 Cedric Benson RB Texas

2 39 Mark Bradley WR Oklahoma

4 106 Kyle Orton QB Purdue

5 140 Airese Currie WR Clemson

6 181 Chris Harris DB Louisiana-Monroe

7 220 Rodrigues Wilson LB South Carolina

2006

2 42 Danieal Manning DB Abilene Christian

2 57 Devin Hester DB Miami

3 73 Dusty Dvoracek DL Oklahoma

4 120 Jamar Williams LB Arizona State

5 159 Mark Anderson DE Alabama

6 195 J.D. Runnels RB Oklahoma

6 200 Tyler Reed OG Penn State

2007

1 31 Greg Olsen TE Miami

2 62 Dan Bazuin DE Central Michigan

3 93 Garrett Wolfe RB Northern Illinois

3 94 Michael Okwo LB Stanford

4 130 Josh Beekman OG Boston College

5 167 Kevin Payne DB Louisiana-Monroe

5 168 Corey Graham DB New Hampshire

7 221 Trumaine McBride DB Mississippi

7 241 Aaron Brant OT Iowa State

2008

1 14 Chris Williams OT Vanderbilt

2 44 Matt Forte RB Tulane

3 70 Earl Bennett WR Vanderbilt

3 90 Marcus Harrison DT Arkansas

4 120 Craig Steltz DB Louisiana State

5 142 Zack Bowman DB Nebraska

5 158 Kellen Davis TE Michigan State

7 208 Ervin Baldwin DE Michigan State

7 222 Chester Adams OG Georgia

7 243 Joey LaRocque LB Oregon State

7 247 Kirk Barton OT Ohio State

7 248 Marcus Monk WR Arkansas

2009

3 68 Jarron Gilbert DT San Jose State

3 99 Juaquin Iglesias WR Oklahoma

4 105 Henry Melton DE Texas

4 119 D.J. Moore DB Vanderbilt

5 140 Johnny Knox WR Abilene Christian

5 154 Marcus Freeman LB Ohio State

6 190 Al Afalava DB Oregon State

7 246 Lance Louis OG San Diego State

7 251 Derek Kinder WR Pittsburgh

2010

3 75 Major Wright DB Florida

4 109 Corey Wootton DE Northwestern

5 141 Joshua Moore DB Kansas State

6 181 Dan LeFevour QB Central Michigan

7 218 J’Marcus Webb OT West Texas A&M

2011

1 29 Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin

2 53 Stephen Paea DT Oregon State

3 93 Christopher Conte DB California

5 160 Nathan Enderle QB Idaho

6 195 J.T. Thomas LB West Virginia

 

[The Tick]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

I didn't say cut him

That was towards twisted post where he said:

"I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it."

I think an attempt at LB is more than worth a shot. Anything to get him away from the D line. Kid works hard and is an athlete. Give him a shot at a position that he may have a chance at. He just doesn't have a prayer at 4-3 DE.

 

[The Tick]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.

Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

2 of his 4 were awful??? I'd say 3 of 4 were awful, only one I respected at all was Ron Turner.Besides that, dead on, Lovie was a good coach who couldn't get a competent OC along with good offensive players from him GM. If he comes into the interview with a good solid OC ready to work with him, I'd say you got a shot of some good years, your D will be good, and division wins and otherwise will just depend on if he finally got a good OC.

.

Martz hire would've worked if they had a legit OL. I respect him as an OC. We were inches from the Super Bowl with him running an offense that was pretty freakin devoid of talent.

Yes, but a good coach could make the changes to his system to fit what you can do. His inability to make necessary adjustments without being forced to by the head coach really says a lot to me. I can see what you would like about him, when his system works we have seen how amazing it can be, but when it's not working, as an OC you have to do something, and he really didn't.

 

[flapgreen]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

I didn't say cut him

That was towards twisted post where he said:"I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it."

I think an attempt at LB is more than worth a shot. Anything to get him away from the D line. Kid works hard and is an athlete. Give him a shot at a position that he may have a chance at. He just doesn't have a prayer at 4-3 DE.

Let's hope they see it that way. Phil was adamant about him playing DE this year. Terrible call

 

[flapgreen]

Can any of you Bears guys give me the low down on Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo. Since they are both rumored to be names the Bucs might target I am curious what Bears fans thought of them.

Lovie is a good coach. He gets a lot of the blame for the offensive failures but his offenses were really not talented. The OL since the '06 Super Bowl team was consistently in the bottom 5 of the league, and with that you're just not going to have much success. Two of his 4 OC hires were just awful. As for D, players will love him. Immediately instills the whole aggressive mentality to rally to the football, hit hard, and take the ball away. Speed is key over size. To be honest I would've loved to have him stay as HC with Trestman as his OC. Very even keeled too. You won't get much emotion out of him....he's hard to read. Almost always stays positive, but that leads to an unwillingness to make a change when it's obvious one needs to be made. I think Lovie would have that Tampa D in the top 5 the day he gets hired.Angelo is a whole can of worms I really can't get into right now.

2 of his 4 were awful??? I'd say 3 of 4 were awful, only one I respected at all was Ron Turner.Besides that, dead on, Lovie was a good coach who couldn't get a competent OC along with good offensive players from him GM. If he comes into the interview with a good solid OC ready to work with him, I'd say you got a shot of some good years, your D will be good, and division wins and otherwise will just depend on if he finally got a good OC.

.

Martz hire would've worked if they had a legit OL. I respect him as an OC. We were inches from the Super Bowl with him running an offense that was pretty freakin devoid of talent.

I thought he was terrible. 7 step drops are mostly a thing of the past.

 

[RBM]

In the Chicago Tribune today David Haugh wrote an article about what the Bears need to do to rebuild the defense. First of all, they need to launch Mel Tucker. He failed at every level. He has a reputation as a good teacher, but is anyone on this defense better after this season than they were at the start of the season? I would say no. Just the fact that you had such a historically bad season on defense means you have to launch him.

So his suggestions were resign Tim Jennings. Launch Conte and Wright. Let Tillman go. If Peppers won't renegotiate, let him go. Resign Wooten. Draft and sign a defensive tackle. Get a pass rusher. Try McClellin at OLB. Pursue a playmaking defensive free agent with the ample salary-cap space you should have after signing Cutler to a long term deal.

But first of all make the right decision about the defensive coordinator.

I would agree with almost all of this except I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it.

That's a great plan.

I'm on board with all that, but I still disagree with you about McClellin. I think he has a shot to be a decent to good linebacker in a 4-3 if they would give him a try. I'd easily attempt 2 years of that before just dropping him.

I didn't say cut him

That was towards twisted post where he said:"I don't think moving McClellin to OLB is going to make any difference. I would say cut your losses and move on. He is a bust and if you can open up some cap space by sending him packing then do it."

I think an attempt at LB is more than worth a shot. Anything to get him away from the D line. Kid works hard and is an athlete. Give him a shot at a position that he may have a chance at. He just doesn't have a prayer at 4-3 DE.

Let's hope they see it that way. Phil was adamant about him playing DE this year. Terrible call

Well now he's got 2 yrs worth of tape showing that it's just not going to work.

 

[RBM]

Two defensive coordinators I'd kill to get in Chicago, might be available with the firing of their head coaches. Ray Horton and Wade Phillips.

 

[flapgreen]

Be great to get Horton but Tucker ain't going anywhere.

 

[flapgreen]

Cutler, Jennings and Slauson signed. Great start!

 

[Mister Martie]

It is promising that those are the first three guys they resigned. It'll be interesting to see the numbers on the Cutler deal but they kind of had to resign him if they wanted to compete in the short term. Hopefully we'll see some development out of him with some continuity on the offensive coaching staff because I haven't seen much improvement since he's been in Chicago.

 

[DaveL]

I like Emery, he's great to listen to

 

[Mister Martie]

I like Emery, he's great to listen to

Calling himself out on drafting Harden.Edit: also calling himself out on playing Shea at DE.

 

[RBM]

Cutler, Jennings and Slauson signed. Great start!

Holy crap....that's good stuff.

 

[flapgreen]

Trestman noncommittal on Tucker...

 

[RBM]

So all I'm seeing on Shea is that he didn't make enough "impact plays". Nothing about his position.

 

[DaveL]

Trestman talked about his position, saying everything is on the table but it's not as easy as just saying "ok we're 3-4, you're OLB"

It feels like Shea has been talked about more in this press conference than Jay

 

[flapgreen]

So all I'm seeing on Shea is that he didn't make enough "impact plays". Nothing about his position.

Trestman just said it

 

[RBM]

Ok good. But this kid cannot go into another season as a DE. I don't care how they try to spin it.

 

[DaveL]

Ok good. But this kid cannot go into another season as a DE. I don't care how they try to spin it.

Emery just spun it pretty well, to be fair

 

[Mister Martie]

Was going from this tweet on the Shea comment:

@AdamHoge: Phil Emery on Shea McClellin: "Putting him at defensive end, thats on me. #Bears

 

[The Tick]

Trestman noncommittal on Tucker...

I'm not sure if it's still live, but what I'm hearing on the score now is pretty much supporting Tucker.

Doesn't sound like any coaches are going anywhere.

 

[DaveL]

Trestman noncommittal on Tucker...

I'm not sure if it's still live, but what I'm hearing on the score now is pretty much supporting Tucker.

Doesn't sound like any coaches are going anywhere.

Still live, but I agree on the coaches seemingly staying put. Emery said we're basically drafting all defensive players, said we need to get younger. Big draft for Tucker, assuming he's around

 

[DaveL]

If Tucker was gone, it would have been said first thing in the press conference.

 

[Mister Martie]

I'm kind of indifferent to Tucker staying or going. It seemed to me the issue with the defense was more the terrible defensive players all over the field rather than the scheme.

 

[Sweetness_34]

Great start to 2014....Cutler and Slauson re-signed means the entire starting O is almost back (Garza only remaining now). Re-signing Jennings to 4 year deal is awesome too. I hope they still re-sign Tillman and DJ Williams and keep Peppers. The clueless fans who want to cut Peppers do not understand we have no other pass rush alternative on the team and cutting him gives us a 8M cap hit that is unnecessary. Get better DT around Peppers and he will be fine.