Did the Bears make the right pick?

We've been talking about drafting a TE for forever. You can not complain about them finally doing it. Overall they've been needing this and I'm glad they did it. I still want a WR and A LB so I can go to bed happy.

This just in: BEARS 2nd round pick,# 37, traded to the team they face first this season. What in the world was that? So they trade Jones to switch places with the Jets and then trade that for what? Who's not gonna say that they just gave Jones away now? Next pick: #62 unless they do something else or other. This is like watching one of those movies about time travel and really trying to make sense of it.

Raiders are picking great players.

NO !!!! A tight end has value,only if you have a quarteback who can actually see if hes open or not...and by the way....Desmond Clark was just fine!....and NO TRADE FOR BRIGGS ??????????? So now they can watch him sit and leave and get NOTHING for him!! ?? ....why not Lamar Woodley ??? Or did I miss where we did so well in tackling the Colts ?? Like the 13-3 year under Jauron,they were lucky last year ( Arizone game...Robbie Gold kicking miracle field goal into the wind, etc)...and have only gone backwards since the Super Bowl...Virtually gave T Jones away !!

Yes with Olson but what is with Angelo always trading down in every draft? What the hell is he so afraid of? He could have drafted Paul Posluszny with the 2nd pick (who was projected as a 1st rounder) so they have some one to replace Briggs.
They could have drafted Aaron sears at tackle and can play any position on the O line because their current linemen are getting old real fast. They could have drafted DT Alan Branch to fill in for Tank Johnson and the recovering Tommie Harris. There were some very good WRs still available but instead Jerry once again trades down to lower everyone's expectations. Maybe next year the Bears can have twelve 5th round picks.

I guess. Of all the offensive players on the board, Olsen was the best one, thus making him the smartest pick for the Bears given their position, but I'm still trying to figure out the logic of trading the 2nd-round pick from the Jets to the Chargers for...more draft picks.

I suppose it could have been worse, but I guess there wasn't much there this year.

Im suprized Olsen was still available. I think the Bears made the right pick. Some of you are still being so negative. I think Lovie and Jerry knows a little about drafting. They have been succesfull the last couple of years. Come on Bears fans lets have a little faith in these guys!

Dan Bazuin? You have to be kidding me! He is a low 3rd round pick at best and this is what you get for Thomas Jones?

Are they going to address the O line any time before 2010?

Since Drew represents Olson maybe that wasn't such a great pick. Will Drew tell him to sign only for whatever money that the 1st thru 5th picks will make? Drew will probably tell him to say all the things all of his clients say to get the moolah. Will this guy report to anything to get in sinc with the offense or will he come on the 20th day of preseason? Tell me that the Raiders are not kicking butt? They have impressed me with all the wheeling and dealing they're doing. How bad have they been and why were they bad if they can make such shrewd moves on draft day 2007?

No they made the 'Left ' pick. As in pick from what's left. Oh, and I see the Cubs keep winning. Sweet.

"NO !!!! A tight end has value,only if you have a quarteback who can actually see if hes open or not...and by the way...."
-WDE
Beautifully spoken!!! However you should have ended your post there.

"but I'm still trying to figure out the logic of trading the 2nd-round pick from the Jets to the Chargers for...more draft picks"
-daryl m

Don't you get it? Their crafty trading will soon give them every single pick in the 7th round. Then and only then will they be in position to make their ultimate trade. They will get Thomas Jones
from the N.Y. Jets. Is it starting to make sense?

This would have been a really good pick... last year. Of course the angelo knew better then, and only took him a year to realize what people were saying was right. Hey, wouldn't it have been nice to have had a good tight end in the super bowl?

So another backwards bears retro pick. What next trade down again? sure, why not, then you can reach for a player no one has heard of, like last year.

At this rate, Angelo will realize that the bears need to replace rex with a nfl quarterback in only one or two more years. Bet Griese is glad he signed up with these visionairies now, he'll probably be the next bear player wanting out.

Hope they get around to drafting some O linemen and wr before to long, or it won't matter much who is the quarterback.

If you can get 4 draft picks for the price of the number 37 you have to take it. Paul P had already been taken by number 37 so he was not available. Dan B. is a stud and a very good pick. Let's wait and see what happens with the whole draft before everyone dawgs Angelo. Last year you all mocked the Hester pick and look where he took the team. I wish they would have found a way to get Q. Black.

I like getting the tight end. The rest of their moves are somewhat questionable to say the least; especially in lieu of trading Thomas for a pick that they then threw away by moving back down to 62.

Math obviously wasn't Jerry's major.

Olsen - Can't block and will hold out until 3rd preseason game due to agent (Grade = B-)

Bazuin - Too short for DE, weak conference, average competition, major reach by the Bears (Grade = C-)

Wolfe - Too short and too light, won't hold up in NFL (Grade = C+)

Okwo - Played well on bad team, played well against high level of competition, smaller size but will be productive player (Grade = A-)

Wolfe will prove big things come in small packages.

Hey cheesehead, your cub fan negativity is starting to cross over to the Bears now.The Bears have drafted 9 pro bowlers so far this decade.Let Angelo do his job.
How do you become stuck in wisconsin anyway?
I know it isn't more money better food or nicer looking women

I think the Bears blew a chance to fill some upcoming needs with some good players. They need a young tackle as both starters are over 30. There were also several good big wide receivers available early in the second round and they traded out of the slot. Muhsin Muhammad is 34 and Bernard Berrian and Mark Bradly are injury prone. The Greg Olsen pick was a good for the slot as most had him rated higher than the 31st pick based on his great performance at the combine, but it was a year late too. Desmond Clark had a breakout year last year. I don't see any tight end in this offense doing any better then he did last year. I was shocked they picked Olsen after seeing that Drew Rosenhaus was his agent. That just seems like they are asking for problems. Dan Bazuin and Garrette Wolfe were reaches for where they were drafted. Does this team really need a 5th defensive end at this point? Michael Okwo has had some injury problems in college. He is another short LB who is a cover 2 system guy. I see him playing special teams, but not the solution to the Lance Briggs problem. The Bears did a good job last year of trading down and filling some needs, but it's not something that you can do every year with success. At some point you have to use those higher picks on quality players who fill real needs. So far I give the team a C for not only who they drafted, but at what slot they drafted those players.

The Bears had Staley and Grubbs in their sights but chose a need and the best available. I like their reasoning. Branch and Blalock would not have ruffled my feathers either, but this TE was a top 15 in almost all eyes and Grossman has his best days when the TE does well and he can launch a couple long ones. Having a sibling at Northern gave me ample opportunity to watch Wolfe and the Bears plan to play him situationally. I can tell you guys; this kid has HANDS coming out of the backfield, has Chicago street toughness (NO FEAR), and blocks better in passing situations than Jones and Benson ever did, at 5'7". I would have preferred Pittman but this kid may fill some other needs in the future. Do not knock Bazuin until you see him play. This guy was all over the field when I saw him play. He and Spencer (PURDUE) had some phenomenal games this year where you would just say 'who is this guy'. Don't know anything about Okwo except what I've read, mostly positive, so I wish him well. Go Bears!

Did you guys hear? Angelo was trying to trade the 167 pick for the 168 pick until he realized that he was talking to himself on the phone. Did we get a wideout yet? Will they expect Berrian to do better since he's in a contract season? Will Airese ease onto the field since he's never been healthy for the first game even in preseason? Bradley maybe is expected to play 16 games like he never has. Moose is always healthy but he's too slow to be anything other than a possession receiver at this point. Everyone in the NFL has picked a WR and an OT already. Even the teams they didn't need one. I smell gun powder and a lit fuse but I just can't move away just yet and neither will Angelo this year.

Romo - you know a topic like this is a big hit for responses but sheesh...like any of us know today if this is a good draft or not.
I'm sure several of these gurus knew Mark Anderson would play better than Mario Williams, and that Devin Hester would make people forget about dante Hall. The only problem I have with the draft is that they didn't pick a rec with their 2nd round pick.

I think I heard that the Bears have 70+ starts out of their rookies in the last 3 years. Not bad for a team well over .500 in that timeframe.

Ok seriously. The tight end the Bears have needed since Mike Ditka was coach. Secondly Bazuin is not undersized given the fact that Anderson is smallish too. Thirdly, the Bears don't need a wideout given the fact that they have decent talent at the position with experience already. Yes Bradley tore an ACL, but he will be full strength this year and ready to unseat Muhommad this year or next. Plus they have Davis in the slot. The draft was good for the Bears. Not the best but good.......

Ok seriously. The tight end the Bears have needed since Mike Ditka was coach. Secondly Bazuin is not undersized given the fact that Anderson is smallish too. Thirdly, the Bears don't need a wideout given the fact that they have decent talent at the position with experience already. Yes Bradley tore an ACL, but he will be full strength this year and ready to unseat Muhommad this year or next. Plus they have Davis in the slot. The draft was good for the Bears. Not the best but good.......

Come on guys, stop with the "sky is falling" nonsense. Personally I like the first pick, the rest I don't know and reserve judgment for now (although I like the G they drafted later, I forget his name right now but I figured he'd go a lot higher than he did). The Bears had no idea Olsen was going to fall to them... there's no way you pass talent like that up when it falls in your lap like that. Remember last year when everybody was flipping out because the Bears didn't draft Pope and they "needed" a TE? All moot now. Plus I think Olsen is probably better.

As far as why Angelo traded down... he had his sights on WR Anthony Gonzalez, but the Colts took him with 32. So since he was gone there was no point in staying at 37, so they took more picks. At first I did a double take but hey, why not... it made sense. So does the idea of taking defensive linemen every year... anyone else noticed this? Rookies that produce are a whole lot cheaper and that frees up cap space to be spent elsewhere.

However my only real beef with Angelo is that he seems to be scared to death of drafting offensive linemen.

So is Angelo planning on staying with the Bears long term? How exactly is he going to rebuild our line with only three lineman picked from 2003-2007, two of whom are nowhere to be seen now?

Looks like Angelo was trying to be cagey and wound up just out smarting himself. And as my granny used to say"that ain't sayin much."

Course it could all just be a plan to keep drafting more and more undersized players from small schools until rex looks larger.

One of my cousins, forget if it was cletus or little cletus (he's back), said could be angelo is just playing both ends against the middle to make himself look good. See he sells the owners and fans the draft picks are all better than everyone else thinks so we think we're getting a bargain and outsmarting the rest of the league. Then he tells the players picked that they're lucky to be picked so high and they really should have gone lowere or undrafted, so he can sign them cheap and easy and make him look sharp to the pencil sharpener phillips. Jerry wins both ways and guess who comes out ahead?

This only works if no one knows no better and ol jerry's got it made with the bears. Lovie just keep wantin 4 or 5 more defensive players so they can finally get that darn cover 2 right and he can be smart too.

Oh well, looks like the circus will be in town all season this next year.

"Hey cheesehead, your cub fan negativity is starting to cross over to the Bears now.The Bears have drafted 9 pro bowlers so far this decade.Let Angelo do his job.
How do you become stuck in wisconsin anyway?
I know it isn't more money better food or nicer looking women"
Don
It IS more money AND nicer looking women. However ,I got nothing for you on the food. I haven't said anything negative just yet....only sarcastic responses to negative people....would you like one?

I would have chosen an OL or two before the fourth round, an NFL size RB, another DL in lieu of one of the CBs. We didn’t need a TE that early in the draft. Maybe he’s worth it but Desmond Clark made some significant improvement last season to become an adequate TE. Overall grade C+, not enough emphasis on the OL & DL, RB too small, no Briggs trade to get a blue-chip player, a monkey with a dart probably could have come up with as strong a draft class. For a GM & head coach that just signed big, fat new contracts I’m very unimpressed. Mrs. Angelo & Smith probably could have pulled off a C+ too.

Bears needed to draft a QB!Rex is Bears mistake by the lake! Bears most likely would be super bowl champs if they had a real QB!

Though the Bears didn't draft a WR they did get a decent one after the draft in free agency in David Ball, WR from New Hampshire. This guy catches everything. I have no problem trading their #37 for a lower #2, 2 #3s (next year's), and another #5. The odds are in the Bears favor that good players will come out of that bunch of choices. Next year Angelo is going for the all time record for number of picks in a given draft with more trade downs and a few compensatory picks coming to the Bears.

When are you all going to learn- The McCaskey family is cheap and has intructed Angelo to trade down to avoid paying higher salaries. Bears will never trade up for talent. Talent costs money!!! The Bears are cheap and will always draft quantity over qaulity. Accept that while McCaskey owned.

It amazes me to see all these people freak out about who the Bears picked in the draft. It was probably all the same people that freaked out over last year's excellent draft. none of the people commenting have done 1% of the research as the draft team did and have no frame of reference. Anyway, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. liked it well enough to give it a B - better than the Lions or Pack.

Good job getting Darius Walker in free agency too.

I shouldn't bring it up, but I will. Let's see how much guaranteed bonus money this gentleman gets as the 31st pick. I believe it will be very close to what Lance Briggs was offered for one year. Please do not tell me it does not matter. How ironic they have the same agent isn't it?

Yeah, I know many will say nobody wanted Lance, and didn't see the Bears making a block-buster deal on draft day. Which many will interpret as nobody wanted Mr. Briggs. I guess not when he was made out to be the next T.O.!

I am simply going to sit back and watch all of these never played ONE GAME in the NFL get fat contracts bozos, and see how many complain about them, but stated Lance is the cancer of the Bears team. He ain't no Urlacher many stated! okay, if you guys say so.

Have a good day with your new rich guaranteed moneyed tight end.

Lance go back get your seven mil, and retire after the 2008 season, open up a string of laundromats, go traveling and see the world my man.

I just don't see patting anyone on the back because they bring in a lot of draft choices. We still fail sometimes with a 2nd round pick. If other GMs skip players because they don't fit their scheme how can you pat someone on the back because that player was available. When the BEARS picked Stan Thomas over Zorich Ditka was POed but relieved to get him in the 2nd round. Problem was: he could lasted even until the 3rd round because he was too small and had no room to grow. He was a decent player but because he came from Chicago we propped him up for a few years. Bazuin was a player that was going to only 3 teams:Tampa,Indy or the BEARS. He wasn't a 2nd round pick no matter what he did in college. Not too many teams are playing the Tampa 2 or whatever it's called. The chance of taking players that someone else really wanted is not that great. We were too busy keeping players out of those teams grasp more than we were of getting solid pedigree players. I'm not gonna say that because we've gotten players in later rounds in the past that we will keep the tradition going. Eventually that magic isn't gonna be there. Every team knew about Mark Anderson. They didn't take him because he was a tweener and most likely wouldn't have had a position on a lot of teams. Not too many are deep that they have a guy sitting on the bench just waiting for third downs. The biggest fear about him is that he won't hold up well over a whole game. Who can say that those fears are unwarranted? All we know is in passing downs he's getting to the QB. How will he play if a team is running just about every down? We rotate our D line more than most so he doesn't have to play a lot of snaps. Even though he got 12 sacks last year most teams will view that as a fluke. How will he play when teams are actually expecting him more in the game? Indy play a Tampa 2 D but their offense wasn't put together like ours was. They ran well on offense because they didn't have to face our offense or their defense. They knew what to expect from our defense and our offense didn't have the same weapons that they did. Will someone who's effective on those cover 2 Ds actually be worth a darn on another team? These little D linemen always wilt against teams with a huge O line. Why keep drafting those guys when you have to beat teams with an offensive line that is big and stout. Why does the O get neglected so much? Clark was decent last year but imagine if we had a few more playmakers catching the ball with some sense. Someone said it earlier: why doesn't any receivers come back to the ball? If they did that more there may have been a few less INTs and sacks. But hey, "we like the guys we have", right? I like getting a TE because Rex need all the players he can get catching the ball. They got the best TE out of all the guys that came out the past two years, in Olson. At least we know what we're getting with him. I'm just not so sure about the other suspects.

4 you negative talkers, hush your mouth. This might b the best draft we've ever had. Olsen is an offensive weapon, think of shockey and winslow, but more humble. Bazuin is very good u will c, just as mark anderson has showed you. Alex Brown is 6'3, so he is not too short. We have a runningback in cedric benson, so to have wolfe on our roster is a blessing. Think of dunn or westbrook, he is a change of pace back. Like Bush to Mcallister in new orleans. The linbacker from penn state is all name and much like hillenmeyer, we needed another briggs, which is what okwo brings us. U must know what we can fit in offensively and defensively before we say who they should have drafted. I have always tried predict and say who should draft but this year i finally understand and im excited about what we have done. Those thay say more lineman we have young lineman and they are good but we have someone in front of them thats better. Those thay say we should hav made the trade and get blue chip, we still got a blue chip with no trade. The ones that say another WR we got Dave Ball in free agency and he is better than you think, more possession than speed, but we have plenty of speed now. But most of all my favorite pick up Chris Leak, which i thought would hav never happened. Chris Leak is a winner and should have been one of the top picks in the draft, but he is 5'11. I'm not worried about that lineman were the same height in college at florida, rex is 6'0 and so is drew brees. I cant wait till preseason starts. Get ready to bow down to these draft picks my fellow bear fans.

To the poster William R. Donald on 4-28-2007: Luck doesn't get you to the Superbowl. How can you even compare Jauron's 13-3 squad against Lovie's 13-3 squad? Jauron's sqaud was lucky. Lovie's squad was good. Yes, the draft moves made by Angelo are confusing, but it's always easy to criticze as a fan. Remember, Angelo has drafted no-namers before. Do the names Nate Vasher, Peanut Tillman, Mark Anderson, Lance Briggs, and Tommie Harris ring a bell? Let's just wait to see how the Bears do this season before we criticze Angelo's drafts.

yes, the Bears can certainly use a Todd Heap type TE given the scheme they run and given how Turner loves throwing the TE seam route.

btw.. this "story" about Olsen participating in the raunchy rap song is making me laugh (or perhaps cry) while shaking my head in disbelief over how much of a "story" this is. I guess Carol Slezak had nothing to write about this morning. Front page?

Don Imus is a national broadcaster. He had a right to say what he did, however "dumb", but the people that pay his bills, and not so much the corporate entity but the advertisters that buy space on his program also have a right to pull their advertising, ergo de facto "firing" Imus.

Olsen is a football player. He's broken no law and what he sings in his private time is his own business, no matter how dumb. I personally think the pendulum will swing back from the constant use of b's and hoes simply because it's been so so overdone, it's pretty boring now.

Nature has a way of taking care of these things by itself. The political correctness police can go fornicate with themselves.

I think Angelo's draft strategy makes sense. Sure he doesn't always make sexy picks that the fans scream for, but does that matter? He - and probably with a lot of input from Lovie - seems to put the priority on the pass rush. Keep depth there, and keep a steady flow of guys coming in and out because elite pass rushers don't come cheap, and the D-line is the anchor of the defense. And when you do come across someone that can be an anchor (Tommie Harris) they get the priority. There's the risk that one of the guys is a bust, but when you draft them every year the risk is mitigated.

Between Mark Anderson and Adewale Ogunleye which one costs more? A LOT more? Now... which one is more cost-efficient and frees up salary cap space? There you go. So I think I get what he's doing now. His approach to the D-line is like that of successful small-market MLB teams. But on the other hand, his approach to the offensive line is more like that of the Yankees, where he seems to prefer free-agent vets, which admittedly cost more. Which could explain why he drafts so few offensive linemen in comparison.

Angelo is playing to his strengths. Oh, and I forgot to mention, a guy is only a "reach" if he doesn't work out. Last year the Bears "reached" for Devin Hester didn't they? Does anyone care now?

Hey Hortence,wrong guy. I never say that anyone is lucky because that would imply superstition which I don't believe in. You have me mixed up with WDE. Poster name on the bottom. I was fittin' to go off but I realized that it wasn't necessary. I waited all day to use fittin' in a sentence. How'd I do?

Geez, all the negativity, I feel like I am in Washington DC listening to Skins fans.

1) We needed a great revieving TE. He's 6'5"+ and Rex can see him anywhere on the field. Also, we will be a POWER RUN team next year with Benson. IE two TE's will be on the feld at once. Desmond Clark still has a valuable spot on the team.

2) Not trading Briggs should be applauded. That guy is mad just becasue he wants to be mad. He turns down deals for long term payouts then pouts to his agent. Then Lance and Drew try to humiliate our GM at the owners meeting? YOU DON'T REWARD PEOPLE FOR ACTING LIKE JERKS....good for the bears for not trading him!! It's about time someone took a stand vs. these insane player/agent demands. (Too bad it had to be us first, but it had to be done)

3)Posluszny was gone by the time the Bears picked in round 2, but Harris would have been a nice addition. I guess they thouhgt he would have to be a WLB and couldn't fill Briggs spot better than Leon Joe.

4) The Bears have Drafted 9 Pro-Bowlers in the last 7 drafts. Most on day 2. Let them work! The last several years has shown these guys know what they are doing.

Question? Who should the BEARS try to trade between Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunlaye? Wale sometimes sucks and I like Brown a whole lot more. Whatever they think they have with Bazuin should not be the reason they get rid of A.Brown. A few years ago the BEARS couldn't mount a pass-rush to save their lives. No way is Brown making more than Wale. If you take out a few plays here and there where Wale shined you'd have to say that he hasn't exactly been worth much the last couple of years. Switch Alex to the other side. His modest contract is on par with what a 2nd stringer makes anyway. Another question: who was Bazuin playing beside when he had these monster seasons? Sometimes players don't translate from college because all the help they had helped them out a great deal. I'm not saying that he isn't a good pick, it's just that I've never heard of him. Not even in the other mags that speak only about draftees. Sleepers or first rounders. Out of all the draft picks he's the only one that they are moving a veteran player to make room for.