Full Court Press

First off, reading Peter King is about as nauseating as it gets. Who knows if Kiper is right but at least he does this full-time.

In general, I'd say they filled some needs. I must say this thing about Chris Williams not being "tough enough" is the biggest load of crap. We have a center is supposedly tough - this gets us 2 things: Lots of personal foul calls and we see him 2 yards deep in the backfield on most 3rd and short plays.

I'll take good over tough any day.

I used to have respect for Peter King, but not anymore. Besides the early picks Russell, V. Young, and etc, how many other quarterbacks are "franchise quarterbacks" are there? You can't argue taking Greg Olsen. And that's in three years with the jury still out on some of these can't miss QB's. I'm sorry the talent on this team is to win now. Forte is going to mean more this year to the Bears than a sure bust in Chad Henne or Brohm. I don't think its a love of Rex, but an idea that there is no better candidate available to help this team win this year or next.

THE BEARS GOALS OF THIS DRAFT WAS TO BUILD ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE AND TO ADD SOME PROTECTION AROUND THE QUARTERBACK. AS FAR AS DRAFTING A QUARTERBACK GOES I FELT THIS YEAR DRAFT LACK QUARTERBACK DEPTH COMPARE TO PREVIOUS YEARS GO. THERE WASN'T MUCH OF SELECTIONS TO WARRANT A DRAFT PICK FOR. THE BEARS HAVE A BETTER SHOT IN PICKING A EXPERIENCED QUARTERBACK VIA FREE AGENCY WHOM HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD IN THE NFL. EVERYBODY EVERY SPORTS WRITER IN THE NFL ARE SO CALLED EXPERTS WHEN DRAFT DAY COMES AROUND. LEAVE THE DRAFTING TO THE TEAMS PERSONAL DIRECTORS AND COACHING STAFF TO BUILD THE TEAM OF THE FUTURE.

King was right on the money.
The Bears continue to ignore their biggest weakness year after year and in return we get Rex Grossman looking like a deer in the headlights in the Super Bowl.
Now he is back again with a one-year contract in his pocket while Kyle Orton and a huge question mark wait in the wings. Does anyone really believe that Grossman will not be the starter on opening day no matter what happens in training camp and the pre season?
Who will be your QB next year or four years from now? We go through this year after year with no direction or common sense in sight.

Forte may have been available in the 3rd round or Angelo could have packaged some picks and gotten both a QB and Forte in the 3rd. He did have two 3rd round picks to work with you know.
He never even tries to be aggressive and get the players that they need.
Instead it seems that he goes into the draft with a list of players that he is giddy about and he sticks to those players no matter what happens in the picks leading up to his guy.
If his man is taken he then moves to the next player on his list and picks him one round too soon. How many times does it appear that Angelo drafts a guy that he could have gotten in a later round?
I would rather have three or four solid picks than two good ones and ten guys that will never be anything more than the answer to a trivia question five years from now.

I'm with Tommy on the "toughness" issue. Williams was branded because he refused to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a loudmouth DT at the Senior Bowl practices. Smart kid. Linemen who fight in the NFL risk two things: broken hands and 15-yard penalties. I'll take the guy who wants a long career over the guy who has to prove he's tough any day of the week.

Regrettably I have to agree with King on the QB issue. As someone who's been watching the Bears since the Sayers/Butkus era, I've seen only a couple of brief blips of decent (decent, not stellar) QB play (McMahon when healthy, Kramer's one record-setting season) on this team. You have to go back even further to the Luckman era to find a "franchise QB." It's the football equivalent of the Cubs' 100-year debacle - a total joke. Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith's stubborn refusal to address the issue via the draft is nothing less than utter hubris. These two have a "we know better than anyone" attitude about the QB position that is thoroughly arrogant. Why should fans believe them? There isn't a single shred of evidence that either Jerry or Lovie can identify or develop an NFL-caliber QB. Yet as fans we're just supposed to trust their judgment every year at draft time, while plenty of strong-armed, athletic, tall, experienced, successful QBs drop off the board.

Everyone knows the NFL draft is almost a total crapshoot (example: the "experts" gave the Bears an "A" for the 2005 draft, but now call the same draft an "F"). Considering how Jerry hordes picks every year, why not take a couple of chances? Frankly, if I'm GM of the Bears I'd go ahead and select a QB every single draft until one steps up and seizes the job. And then I'd continue to take QBs until I found another, because so few are able to stay on the field all season long (hello, Rex Grossman). I'm not necessarily talking first, second or third round choices, just someone. Anyone. It wouldn't be a wasting picks to take a few chances in the middle rounds. As is often said, it's the most important position in Football. If for no other reason than good PR (give the fans - we who provide the team the money to pay these players, coaches, front-office personnel, etc. - something to hope for!), the Bears should be showing some degree of urgency toward the QB problem until it's solved. Standing pat with Grossman and Orton (and tossing in a couple of long-shot FA signings) just doesn't cut it. Jerry and Lovie's arrogance disgusts me enough to stop paying jacked-up ticket prices to attend a home game or two each year, as has been my pattern. I hope more fans will follow suit until Ted Phillips realizes the mistake of employing these two stubborn mules.

Personally, I get sick of the QB argument all the time even when the Bears made the Super Bowl a couple years ago. The Rex bashing or Bears QB bashing, for that matter, has gone on for years even before our last Super Bowl and for me, it's old and certainly not worth arguing with another fickle Bears fan over with anymore. I actually prefer Defense over offense anyway so if the Bears are always a top 5 dominant defense every year, I'm happy. The bottom line is that not every team is going to find or get lucky enough to develop an elite franchise-type quarterback like Montana, Elway, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Many Super Bowls have been won with "average" quarterbacks before. There are just so many factors that make a QB great and football is the ultimate team game because there are so many positions involved. Of course the QB is the most important position on offense, I never said it wasn't, but you still need the pieces around him to make that entire offense great. In the Bears case, their needs outweighed the need to stretch on a QB THIS SEASON. Next year might be different, but who knows? In my opinion, I wasn't impressed with John David Booty (USC didn't go undefeated and they featured how many studs on offense?) or Chad Henne at all (Michigan was HORRIBLE last season), so I'm not at all upset that the Bears didn't draft them. In fact, MOST NFL analysts rated this QB class as one of the weakest ever. Why get bent over backwards about not drafting a QB in one of the weakest classes ever? Try next season then. If the Bears are bad enough again, perhaps they can try to draft everyone's next favorite College QB superstud like Tim Tebow or whoever. Point is, this wasn't the draft to whine about drafting a QB. It's all still a reaction to Rex re-signing with the Bears and the little faith in Kyle Orton, who was like everyone's favorite backup QB last season but no longer now.

I just remember last season when everyone called for Rex's head and then when Griese and Orton still stunk up the joint, people were still blaming Rex! Get over it already. The offensive line needed an upgrade, the WR position needed an upgrade, etc. And I'm not a die hard Rex fan either, but there were bigger problems in that position and there still are for this Bears team!

And regarding Mel Kiper, I don't exactly sing the praises of the Mel Kiper football bible like gospel, but he certainly does much more research on football prospects 365 days a year than all of us regular blog posters combined.

well, I really wish they would of taken Mendenhall...but in the end It's the Oline that make the difference between a good running back and a great running back. Why didn't Peter king talk about Cedric and our rback needs( I can assure you, Forte was not picked to be a running back at the pro level.)?
I do know one thing Chester Adams is extremely good, I don't know why he dropped to the 7th round, but he is definitely an excellent runblocker, and can make an immediate impact 'off the bus'. I imagine his passblocking is questionable, then again so is Williams.

The Bears made it clear in the off season that they were sticking with Rex and Orton for this season. With no "stud" QB in the draft, and the extreme unlikelyhood of any rookie QB having an impact in his 1st season, they addressed other needs.

I remember plenty of games the past 2 seasons where Rex had no time to throw the ball. Specifically, in 2006 against the Patriots. Brady had all day in the shotgun to pick out his receivers. Rex took two steps back from center and had 3 guys on him. Even Brady would struggle in that situation. Also, the running game was anemic last year as we all know. Drafting an OL and RB in the 1st 2 rounds should help improve those numbers, especially with Tait moving back to Right Tackle. The OL is the backbone of an offense. Witout a good one you have no passing or running game.

Lets see how Rex and Kyle do with better protection and a run game that opens up the pass. If they continue to struggle Angelo will draft or trade for a QB before long.

If the Bears are always a top 5 dominant defense every year you are happy? Happy about what? A one sided football team again?
If that is good enough for you then fine but I am sure that most of the fans want and expect a lot more than that. I know that I do.
And when the Bears are not among the top 5 dominant defenses? What do you expect from the team then?
This should be about winning football games and not some macho wrestle mania identity booster. If the Bears had a real QB in the Super Bowl or even a decent one then there is a really good chance that they walk away from that game with the trophy.

The whole smash mouth defense/no QB formula has gotten the Bears a grand total of one ring in the last 45 years and that one was over 20 years ago. This is not the 1965 NFL.
Saying that not every team can get "lucky" and have an elite franchise-type quarterback makes little sense. If those teams had never drafted those QBs then they would have had zero chance at having a franchise quarterback and that is what we are getting here. You have to start with taking that chance. If you can go out on a limb at every other position then why not on the most important one?
Come on. I am not even asking for a Hall of Fame player here. Just a very good, lead your team to the playoffs, don’t cringe when he drops back NFL QB.
The Bears QB position is weakest link once again and there is no chance of it getting even a little bit better unless you try.
You have to at least TRY!

I think the Question is how much did the Bears really help themselves? Williams is a safe solid pick but who plays next to him? Our guard rotation as of right now is Beekman who never even asked to dess last year and is undersized, Metcalf who has always been real bad and Garza who can't run block and gets pushed around. The guard position was not addressed and this will not help Williams who is a rookie adjust. Olin is on the downside of his career and Tait has bad ankles, is 33, and probably in his last season. So the line is not looking all that great to me.

At rb we have Forte he may be good but he may be bad, he runs upright and he does fumble a bit.

Harrison: He was brought in to replace Welker who had injury issues. Last I checked Harrison has major injury issues which means the top 3 DT's on the team all have major injury issues. I do not see how this helped.

Bennett: Should be a solid slot reciever, to bad the Bears where not in desperate need of a slot reciever, the Bears need a number one reciever ans still don't have it. Oh and spare me the Hester talk, the guy can run a go rout and thats it.

Bowman was a huge mistake for the Bears to take he has major health issues dating back to HS, multiple knee and shoulder surgeries.

The way I look at it, is after Bennett the Bears went for a all boom or bust draft. Given the history of the GM, Owners and the team I would say it is more than likely that it is a bust. If one player out of the top 3 picks fails to make an impact, the draft will be considered a bust. Williams will probably struggle this year because the line is still bad all around him, and Bennett will be a third and long player. So Forte really needs to shine. Given that the Bears like to run between the tackles, I think this will be hard to do with a trio of gurds that couldn't beat out Brown and an aging Center who struggles in short yardage situations. We also are hoping Bradley will stay healthy for a change and stretch the field, but he was not good enough to beat out BB last year so I wonder how good he can be.

Wrt Grossman the Bears did the right thing. We have all seen good Rex & bad Rex just as the Giants have all seen good Eli & bad Eli. Something clicked w Eli this yr & good hung around for a long stretch & won a SB. The Bears should at least cling to that hope for Rex for one more year.

As for Brohm, Henne, & even Booty I'll point out to Mr King that which is obvious to all but him: the competition in the SEC is a level higher than any other conference. The Bears did the right thing in tapping it for talent. If you're going to draft a QB, make sure he plays in the SEC.

I really like this year's draft. The two Vanderbilt guys should make a solid impact with their blocking for running plays,and the new back should help Wlliams on the pass protection front. I always have thought Rex was getting blamed for the line's lack of protection and his tight ends failing to get open. The Vandy tight end, Olsen, and Booker ahould also help a lot in that regard. The Bears maybe lack a speedster like Berrian, but Bradley and the new guys should tremendously help the offense.

Did you see Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of the superbowl. It looked like Giselle was scrambling in the pocket.

wtsw:

"I'm with Tommy on the "toughness" issue. Williams was branded because he refused to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a loudmouth DT at the Senior Bowl practices."

Nowadays, you never know. That ruffian may have pulled a tek-9 out of his jockstrap and started spraying, that is if our boy hadn't diffused the situation.

Bears fans are going to love Chris Williams. I was very surprised that he was still available at #14 pick.

If I'm still alive in 2022, I'll come to his "retirement party" in Chi town.

This team is still ready to win today. No Rookie QB would be able to step in and Make a difference. The guys we got are the best options to win.

Maybe picking a QB as a future backup would have made sense, but in reality all picking a QB would do is have people screaming for him to come in after the first bad Rex pass. Lets see what Rex can do with some line and some running game.

I would still like to see Chad Johnson too!!!

I keep seeing the preposterous defense that there was "no real franchise quarterback" in this year's draft. And Nick Hill is a stud? Everyone knows winning football teams build through the draft; sure, draft picks are a crap shoot at best, but it's impossible to win if you don't take a chance.

The lack of faith in Kyle Orton is disappointing, to say the least; he keeps showing flashes of promise, but doesn't get the level of patience (from coaches, players, and fans alike) Rex Grossman seems to have been anointed with. I still say Orton's got more upside than Sexy Rexy, but he's definitely going to have to put up or shut up in the ensuing months. Whether or not Smith will let him do that is another question entirely.

But, I digress. I have to go with Peter King on this one--the Bears have historically neglected the quarterback position more than any other franchise, yet no one in management seems to draw the connection between that and the Bears' inability to win a Super Bowl. What Angelo seems to be unable to realize is that the Armchairs (myself among them) aren't clamoring for him to find a magic bullet; we're not so stupid. All we ask is is that he at least keep trying to find someone who can get the job done, be it through giving Orton a fair shot to start, signing more than journeymen free agents or, gods forbid, throwing one of ten draft picks at someone.

To draft a qb in the first 2 or 3 rounds is a gamble. Look at Tony Romo, and Tom Brady. One was undrafted, the other came from the 6th round.
Who knows, maybe that kid from SIU is our franchise qb! You never know.
Doesnt mean an offensive lineman is a sure deal. But look at all the qbs drafted in the first or 2nd round that never amounted to anything in the NFL.

Angelo was right to not select a quarterback. This need will be addressed in free agency. O line and running back were the proper 1st concerns. However, passing on Mendenhall will come back to bite him in the butt.

As a chicagoan living out of state. I look to this paper to keep updated on wants going on in Chicago. I would like to give a grade for the Bears draft,but no where in the paper can I find the
Bears entire draft. Therefore it is imposible for me to give a grade.

Good solid draft by the Bears. The Bears need to run the ball effectively in order to give our average QBs the time necessary to be efficient in the passing game.
There is no reason to listen to Peter King. We needed to fix the running game now. Benson is a buster. Forte is going to push his lazy ass, and probably get take the starting job by game 4 or 5.
Run the ball, stop the other teams run game and pressure the quarterback (Dougie's Rule) is the recipe for success.
This draft was a solid B. No one gets an A grade until we look back three or four years later.

For angelo, mediocre would be a good result. If o line was the priority then why only one pick for o line??? Jerry couldn't find a decent olineman in the middle or later rounds when he was busy drafting projects and reclaimations. Instead of reaching he's hoping that players other teams let drop for various reasons are really sound. Well, this draft just shows the direction the bears are headed, that is in a 3 to 4 year rebuilding effort.

Besides why draft a qb if your only intention is to do everything in your power to give the job to you know who. Rex looks great in training camp and practice when no one is playing against him, once he's in a game it will be the same old same old and another lost season out of all of our lives. No wonder briggs and urlacher don't want to wind up their careers on this team.

I have to agree with Marriotti that maybe Brohn should have been taken at 44 and a trade up to get a decent running back between 44 and 64 could have happened with all the picks they had.
Lets face the fact that Grossman has huge talent and a great arm but isn't the sharpest pencil in the pack with his decision making, the turnovers he creates with his style of play, throwing into obvious coverage, fumbled snaps and lack of mobility.I would love to see him succeed and last year prior to the injury after he returned from the benching he seemed to be a little better, except for the 2nd half of the NY Giants game. Do the Bears make second half adjustments or is it just me that thinks they stink after halftime not only in the playoffs and in the superbowl but in many games. The fact that Steve Smith got so many yards in the playoffs against the Bears still makes me puke blood and I would rather get a sharp stick in the eye than watching the Bears not be competitive after half time.

the bears missed out on a great QB in Eric Sanders who was available at the end as a free agent and he would have been just what the bears needed for a future QB. all he knows is winning and he is a winner he set all sorts of records in high school in Iowa and also while he played at the University Of Northern Iowa.
Now your competion the Detroit Lions signed him. Just look at his stats on UNI'S web site. 75% pass completing in 2007. wow. undefeted season in the gateway conference and too much more to tell, you have to read about him to really understand what the bears missed out on , that is from a concerned BEARS fan from IOWA.

bculz,

"Lets see what Rex can do with some line and some running game."

We already DID a few years ago when they went to the SB and Rex fumbled the snap TWICE, threw TWO ints and sacked HIMSELF.

Its' time to lose the moronic "let's see what he'll do with ..." things he already had and failed with argument already.

"I would still like to see Chad Johnson too!!!"

Yeah, Ocho Droppo is EXACTLY what the Bears need - a divisive crybaby "me first" locker room cancer who caught all of ONE touchdown pass in the last 5 or 6 games vs the Steelers (a division rival) that has a pretty bad secondary outside of one Troy Polamalu.

Get a clue.

Actually, Curtis Enis, the city as a whole learned a very important lesson from whence we drafted you.

I heard Mr. Mel on the radio this morning. He said that a couple of teams told him that they would have taken Forte in the second round, so he would not have fallen to the 3rd. He also said that he liked what the Bears did as far drafting 2 players from 3 schools each (Vandy, Arkansas and Michigan State). Interesting take, I like it too now that he mentions it. Oh, and uh... screw Peter King. He is officially an enemy of the Pit Vipers. I mean, I respect the depth with which these "experts" study prospects, team needs, etc., but it's hard to take whatever they say too seriously. Their expert insight and knowledge is interesting to listen to for about a week before and a week after the draft, but that's it. Let's get these guys on the field and see what they can do in a Bears uniform. I've heard nothing but great things about Williams and Forte, so I'm excited to see what they can do. I do think it would have been smart to take a closer look at some of the QBs that were still available late like John David Booty. Who would've argued with drafting a QB from USC?

I was somewhat surprised that Brian B. or Chad H. was taken when Da Bears had a chance but I really like the quarteback from Colorado St. Caleb Haniejust could turn out to be special.

I was somewhat surprised that Brian B. or Chad H. was taken when Da Bears had a chance but I really like the quarteback from Colorado St. Caleb Hanie just could turn out to be special.

Ok anyone one answer me this question. Would brian or Chad be better and give the bears a better chance to win week one against the colts. Im going to answer that....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Draft experts please stop beating this dead horse. And anyways you cant judge a draft for a good three years. If they would have taken a QB in the first or second round we might as well have started thinking about what to do with a top 10 pick next year. In closing chad and Brian would not have helped us get to the Playoffs this year. SO good job jerry. Experts please shut your mouth.

Wow DA Bears draft,

I give the Bears a B- on the draft. I'm not a fan of Rextacy at all, he has had some bright moments. Rex runs scared and is too worried about making big plays. It would be great to have another option at QB and having Rex as backup. I believe that this is Brian's last year on the team. Yea we needed OL and picked Chris up, lets see what he does. The highlight of the draft is that we pick up players
most positions. I'm liking how the Bears are strengthening at CB and at S, two positions where injuries have hurt us in the past few years. I wish the Bears would of picked up Rashard Mendenhall, Chad Henne, Tom Zbikowski, and then picked up OL. It sounds crazy but it just seems there is always about of big OL available. We need some players on the OL that are crazy and play dirty. Tom Zbikowski has a great work ethic, kudos on the Ravens and their draft.

Me personally, I didn't think we needed a QB. The needs I thought we had were filled when we got a natural left tackle which means John Tait back to his natural position on the right side. And with the lost of Thomas Jones we needed another strong, fast running back. Petersen is o.k. but there's a reason why he can't crack the starting line-up, lack of speed. I like Ced Benson and with another fast strong guy we should be o.k. there too. New receiver new tight end let's see how things work out.

man, im about sick and tired of people saying we shouldve picked up mendenhall! yeah, he did good not great for illini this past season, but he only had one good season with them. not enough to prove himself a 1st round pick though. i would run scared to if i was rex and DIDNT have a line to protect me!!! rex is doing the best he can with ron turners system(which sux big time). im not saying chris willaims is our savior but hes going to do a hell of alot better there than tait, and tait will do a hell of alot better at right tackle than miller!!! the only concern i have is with the left guard position, lets hope they figure out what to do there.

Black Gold...lol...that nicname cracks me up. are we suppose to think your some kinda oil guy?

who is this really..is this a HITMAN post recycled from the garbage bin?

Good Philtration, attaboy for calling me out!

When I said that I enjoy watching the defense side of the ball, it didn't mean that I want the Bears to be a one-sided team. That's nonsense. I want them to win as a balanced team of course, but I just meant that I enjoy watching a dominant defense over a high scoring offense, that's all. Just a preference when watching the game of football! And by the way, the Giants Defense won that Super Bowl last year, not all Eli. They slowed down the vaunted juggernaught offense of the "unbeatable" Patriots. They just didn't get most of the credit because the offense ALWAYS grabs the spotlight in the media and SportsCenter highlights.

I never said I didn't care about the offense of the Bears. All I was eluding to was that out of the 32 teams in NFL today, I doubt you can't name me more than 5 teams today that has a Hall of Fame-type QB on their team right now. Let's see - so far I can name Manning, Brady, Favre (now retired)... maybe Romo, Palmer or Cutler down the road, who knows, but right now, just 2 big time QB's in the NFL today who fit that criteria. Yet, you wanted the Bears to TRY to draft a QB in this particular draft class that was considered one of the weakest by most football experts? No, you come on. The Bears had greater needs on the roster. They needed an O-Line upgrade and depth (which I still think they didn't address enough in the earlier rounds after the Williams pick). I was more concerned with Benson than the QB position. We needed wide receivers. Look at the QB names I mentioned earlier... they have much more big time receivers and players around their QB than the Bears do. We needed a safety because Archuleta is a bust. We needed a defensive tackle because Darwin Walker was a bust and Dvoracek is coming off a season-long injury. Who knows how many times Ricky Manning Jr. got burned last year and Tillman & Vasher aren't exactly durable either. I liked the Bowman pick. At least the Bears addressed their needs first instead of stretching on a QB class that was not too impressive to begin with. Maybe next season we can cry about drafting a QB again, but I'm taking a pass on the QB class this season and roll the dice with Orton, Rex or even Nick Hill who might just be the 2nd coming of Tony Romo.

Anyway, regardless of what I say or the counterpoints I make, I know I'm not going to convince Philtration or his buddy pal Hitman and others on this drafting QB topic. When guys like you complain about taking a chance on injured players with 1st or 2nd round talent in lower draft rounds, that's normal. I've had many heated exchanges with buddies and colleagues all the time about this draft and the QB position, but I enjoy the back and forth bantering if you call me out. As far as I'm concerned, Philtration and the