Bears
- Elliot Harrison at nfl.com constructs his all-under 25 team. Guess how many Bears are on it?
- Rob Demovsky, Green Bay blogger at ESPN, thinks the Bears signing of Pernell McPhee was the worst NFC North free agent move to date. Ben Goessling in Minnesota thought it was the Eddie Royal signing. Michael Rothstein in Detroit thought it was Ray McDonald. Clearly the Bears are making a great impression around the division.
- Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune sets a fan who continues to make excuses for quarterback Jay Cutler straight as he answers your questions:
“Will the Bears use more rollouts and bootlegs? It’s certainly a possibility. But the idea that the Bears didn’t do that under Marc Trestman, Mike Tice, Mike Martz and Ron Turner is flat out wrong. Everyone runs the boot game.”
“To expect Cutler to change dramatically as a player with more bootlegs in the offensive scheme would be a miscalculation in my opinion. Look at how many offensive coaches he’s already worked with. Do you think every offensive coach the Bears have hired as been inept and incapable of coaching offensive football? The answer to that is no. Cutler is going to be who he’s been. If he can cut down on the number of turnovers, he has a chance to remain on the field.”
I continue to be amazed by the number of fans who continue to make excuses for Cutler after six years of up and down play. Cutler was surrounded by about as much offensive talent as any quarterback in the NFL could reasonably expect to have. He had a head coach who believed in him at the beginning of the year and was as easy and as accommodating as any he’ll find to work with. He’ll never be any better than he was last year.
- Hub Arkush at chicagofootball.com likes Missouri defensive end/outside linebacker Shane Ray better than I do.
- Arkush also sings the praises of Bears general manager Ryan Pace‘s free agency moves but wisely ends the article with the critical question: “Now, can Pace draft better than his predecessors?” Pace is using free agency to set up the draft but the draft is where you really have to execute.
- I’m not entirely sure why Jeff Dickerson at ESPN thinks that Bears safety Brock Vereen doesn’t fit the “aggressive, hard-hitting mold that new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and secondary coach Ed Donatell are known to prefer in safeties”.
- Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune gets a little more information about the blocking scheme that the Broncos ran on the offensive line last year from new center Will Montgomery. It sounds like a little bit of everything depending on the situation.
Elsewhere
- Most of us think the Bears will take a quarterback at some point in this draft. Like virtually everyone else who needs a quarterback but can’t or doesn’t want to take one in the top 10 picks, they’ll probably be looking at taking someone in the third round. So its notable that the Packers are bringing in Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty for a pre-draft visit. Petty is widely considered to be the third best quarterback in the draft. The fact that the Packers are considering him may put him as a potential late second round pick for them. The Packers are probably looking for a quarterback to develop as their number three with Scott Tolzien likely to be their number two. Matt Flynn is apparently out of the picture. Via Demovsky.
- Rothstein says that the Lions are apparently taking a close look at wide receivers in this draft. They could use one but the odds that one is available that’s worth the pick are 23 in the first round don’t appear to be good to me. Perhaps Jalen Strong.
- John Clayton at ESPN agrees with me that the Vikings don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting what running back Adrian Peterson is worth in a trade.
- Matt Williamson at ESPN justifiably kills Tampa Bay for not bringing in offensive line help. What he doesn’t understand is that, just like the coaches he hires, Lovie Smith is going to be wary about bringing in any players he doesn’t know from past first hand experience. That leaves a very limited pool to choose from. Perhaps now that Roberto Garza has been released by the Bears, Smith will consider bringing him in to help. They have a need at right guard. Via Pat Yasinskas.
- Williamson also uses the magic words to scare the crap out of any team considering taking Jameis Winston (emphasis is mine). Again via Yasinskas:
“‘There is room for improvement there,’ Williamson said. ‘He has a little [Jay] Cutler in him in that he will try to force some things that just aren’t there.'”
- Marc Sessler at nfl.com makes me think that Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton might be even more hated than Cutler.
Nah.
- Chip Kelly is driving Philedelphia merchants crazy because they don’t know which jerseys to gouge you with. My heart bleeds.
One Final Thought
Chase Goodbread at nfl.com points out that the Bears trade for Cutler apparently benefited teams all over the league – seemingly everyone but the Bears.