2013-2014 NFL Thread

[clyons]

I hope HaHa Clinton-Dix is available for the Bears at 14.

 

They have so many holes, they may need to just take the "best defender available," but I'd prefer they go D Line first.

[Kyyle23]

They have so many holes, they may need to just take the "best defender available," but I'd prefer they go D Line first.

 

Eh, I think they could go DL in the middle rounds and find some good ones. If HHCD is there at 14 i wouldnt think twice about it, but thats just my preference

[clyons]

Eh, I think they could go DL in the middle rounds and find some good ones. If HHCD is there at 14 i wouldnt think twice about it, but thats just my preference

 

As bad as they need a safety (and they have the worst I've seen in 40 years of fandom), my thought is that a stud safety's not going to help that much against the run, which has to be priority one.

[Balta1701]

As bad as they need a safety (and they have the worst I've seen in 40 years of fandom), my thought is that a stud safety's not going to help that much against the run, which has to be priority one.

Based on Emery's history I think it's a good guess he'll plug players into most of the gaping open holes, whether it's resigning Melton and Ratliff or otherwise finding FA's.

 

The big worry is going to be Peppers until they deal with it. $7 million+ is an awful lot of dead cap room to leave while creating a hole at a position where the team already isn't deep.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Eh, I think they could go DL in the middle rounds and find some good ones. If HHCD is there at 14 i wouldnt think twice about it, but thats just my preference

 

Yea, and Melton/Collins/Ratliff can all potentially return. I think Melton next to Ratliff can be really good as long as Melton regains his explosiveness. Really think Micheal Bennett will be coming to Chicago next year as well. Martellus has already talked about "recruiting him" so I think they release Peppers and go with Bennett-Melton-Ratliff-Wootton on the DL.

[BigSqwert]

They almost lost to the Cardinals yesterday after being up 17-0. Green Bay will have a chance, although I still think the Niners will run all over them.

 

The same Cardinals team that would have won the NFC North division by several games with their record and the #1 rated rush defense?

[DukeNukeEm]

As bad as they need a safety (and they have the worst I've seen in 40 years of fandom), my thought is that a stud safety's not going to help that much against the run, which has to be priority one.

Here's what the Bears need, this assumes basically everyone walks and Peppers is cut.

 

2 safeties

2 CB's

2, maybe 3, LB's

1 DE

2 DT's

 

Right now, I'd say its likely one of Tillman and Jennings is back on a 1 year deal.

Perhaps Ratliff will stay in Chicago.

Bostic is a bust and Briggs is old but we really have no choice but to go with them.

 

So revised its

 

2 safeties

1 CB

1 LB

1 DE

1 DT

 

That is more than half the defense where entering free agency and the draft we have no literally nobody. And of the starters you do have its Shea McClellin (teetering on bust), Bostic (bust), old Briggs and an average DT that can beat a double team. I think Tillman is a good enough player to mask his age, so I hope he's back.

 

The point, you don't care what position the help comes from. You have not one above average defender coming back next season except maybe Tillman and absolute trash in terms of young guys who could break out (Shea). They need talent, the best talent they can get their hands on. If you grade Dix as a 90 and Louis Nix as a 84 (confusing names, also that's just an arbitrary grading scale I just made up) you take Dix. Bears can't afford to get cute with positions as they are weak everywhere on D.

[witesoxfan]

Byrd's gonna have to get away first. He was saying some good byes yesterday, but he can still be tagged for $8.3 mill, which is a perfectly reasonable amount and the Bills have plenty of cap space.

[Chisoxfn]

On the play GB scored the TD on the fumble, even they had no idea the play was still live, although there may be some merit in the Bears perhaps scoring there if Lovie was still coaching. Anderson was the guy who could have picked it up and ran. He wasn't coached by Lovie and his group.

 

I have bashed Cutler plenty, but I thought he played a really good game yesterday. There were a couple of throws a bit off, but conditions weren't ideal. He also had a couple of drops, and the final throw for an INT was nothing you could hold against him.

 

I don't know if Mel Tucker is an answer, but if you have to play guys like Conte and Steltz, and don't have much of a pass rush, I think there are a lot of coaches considered defensive geniuses who would look like fools.

Bostic and Greene were bad. I put that on Emery and our defensive coaches. Conte and Wright both regressed drastically this season vs. a season ago under Lovie. Why, I think a chunk of that has to do with coaching. We couldn't tackle properly and more often then not were contiuosly out of position/gaaps. Yes, that falls on the players, but that is very undisciplined football and has to do with poor coaching, imo.

 

PS: I will puke if Lovie ends up with Detroit. He'd be a phenomenal fit for them. I love Lovie and want him to win but not with the Lions.

[Chisoxfn]

The drop by Marshall at the 25 or 30 with ~10 seconds was huge. If he makes the easy catch there, they use the timeout and Cutler has time to likely throw two darts in the endzone, instead of one desperation heave. And shut up already, Brandon, with the Ray Lewis/LeBron analogies - those guys lost on the brink of championships, you didn't even make the playoffs, again.

I will also point out that the Bears dropped 2 makeable 3rd down conversions early in the game. Alshon had one, the other was a pass behind Marshall that was still catchable more often then not. Then you have Jeffrey's fumble plus the drop on a great ball late in the game (tough catch but one Alshon would say he should make more often then not). Jay put the team in position and really played well in poor conditions (outplayed Rodgers). Unfortunately it wasn't enough. I tip my cap to Cutler though cause the offense looked completely in rhythm and I buy that I want to see what Jay can do in year 2 in this offense. It will be great to finally give Jay some continuity.

 

I want Emery focused on the D, I don't want him trying to solve QB plus fix the D. Emery needs to prove he can draft too cause so far I've seen a lot of s*** picks the past two years. We have 3 pretty high picks that will likely be off the team in 2 years of Emery drafts.

[Chisoxfn]

No big surprise on either, but it did seem like Frazier had a lot of support from his players. I would have given him another year.

Bears should throw him some coin to run our D.

[Chisoxfn]

The unnecessary roughness call on Shea was a total crock of s*** too. I couldn't believe that.

 

The Packers played better and ultimately deserved the win, but the refs called that game in favor of the Packers.

I really don't think the Packers played better. They won but I don't think they were the better team that day. Going forward, they are the better team in the postseason (once Rodgers rust wears off).

[clyons]

Greene and Bostic played poorly, but I'm hesitant to label them "busts" after their rookie seasons, when they were put in positions well over their heads. If they truly are, then the Bears may be in big, big trouble with Emery drafting for defense, because I think it's fair to label McClellin one after two years, and that would be a pretty big 0 for 3. 0 for 4 if you count Brandon Hardin, which I guess you should.

Edited December 30, 2013 by PlaySumFnJurny

[clyons]

Bears should throw him some coin to run our D.

 

I like this idea.

[Jenksismyhero]

Greene and Bostic played poorly, but I'm hesitant to label them "busts" after their rookie seasons, when they were put in positions well over their heads. If they truly are, then the Bears may be in big, big trouble with Emery drafting for defense, because I think it's fair to label McClellin one after two years, and that would be a pretty big 0 for 3.

 

I'd be interested to see how rookie LB's normally do. Both guys made some big plays, but more often than not they were way out of position. That's just not knowing the game. I think not knowing the game is coachable. Not being the right size or athletic enough like McCellin is a bigger problem.

 

 

[Kyyle23]

Bostic and Greene were bad. I put that on Emery and our defensive coaches. Conte and Wright both regressed drastically this season vs. a season ago under Lovie. Why, I think a chunk of that has to do with coaching. We couldn't tackle properly and more often then not were contiuosly out of position/gaaps. Yes, that falls on the players, but that is very undisciplined football and has to do with poor coaching, imo.

 

PS: I will puke if Lovie ends up with Detroit. He'd be a phenomenal fit for them. I love Lovie and want him to win but not with the Lions.

 

Meh, their defense wasnt bad this year. Undisciplined, sure(which he would clean up of course), but their problem is Stafford and Co totally imploding down the stretch, even with Calvin Johnson getting 10 catch 300 yard games(ON ONE LEG).

 

I dont see Lovie going in there and fixing their offense

[2nd_city_saint787]

I likes me some Bill Sheridan at DC if they fire Tucker(which I think they should).

 

With Lovie being the leading candidate to take the Tampa job I can't see Sheridan returning as DC....Here's what sold me on Sheridan after looking at his bio...

 

"In his first season as the Buccaneers defensive coordinator, Sheridan helped turn around the team’s run defense. After finishing last in the league in run defense in 2011, the 2012 Buccaneers finished first in that category, becoming the first team since the merger to go from last-to-first in a single season."

 

Would be nice if he could work that magic again.

[Chisoxfn]

Meh, their defense wasnt bad this year. Undisciplined, sure(which he would clean up of course), but their problem is Stafford and Co totally imploding down the stretch, even with Calvin Johnson getting 10 catch 300 yard games(ON ONE LEG).

 

I dont see Lovie going in there and fixing their offense

Lovie wants to bring Jeff Tedford with him. Lovie is a tremendous fit in Detroit. They'd play disciplined football and that would be a top 3 defensive unit when you take the stupidity out of it. And there offense isn't exactly bad.

[Chisoxfn]

Based on Emery's history I think it's a good guess he'll plug players into most of the gaping open holes, whether it's resigning Melton and Ratliff or otherwise finding FA's.

 

The big worry is going to be Peppers until they deal with it. $7 million+ is an awful lot of dead cap room to leave while creating a hole at a position where the team already isn't deep.

His draft history with the Bears leaves a lot to be desired. You have some big hits (Jeffrey / Long / Mills) and also some big misses (Shea / Hardin / Greene / Bostic / Evan Rodriguez).

[farmteam]

His draft history with the Bears leaves a lot to be desired. You have some big hits (Jeffrey / Long / Mills) and also some big misses (Shea / Hardin / Greene / Bostic / Evan Rodriguez).

Pretty silly to call Bostic a miss after one season.

[bmags]

I'm a big bostic hater, but you can't write off him and Greene yet. They need to get smarter and stronger.

[Chisoxfn]

Pretty silly to call Bostic a miss after one season.

I'm not saying he's a bust yet, but he was horrific all season. Easily one of the worst starting LB's in the NFL last year. There is no f***ing way I'm giving Tucker another year to show that he can't develop players. But unlike others, I'm not about to talk like Emery is some god. I think he's done some pretty good things and also some pretty bad things in the draft. I hope Bostic / Greene learn a lot from this season and grow into good players but Bostic regressed during the course of the season.

 

Reading between the lines, a lot of people think Cutler is going to sign an extension with the Bears pretty quickly. I am hoping that is the case and the Bears have already had some solid talks and the QB situation can get addressed quickly. Emery has a lot to work on as this will be an extremely busy off-season given how many guys are free agents. Bears are reportedly in talks to sign Slauson to an extension, which would be great.

[Kyyle23]

28 players off the roster after today. Thats a pretty big turnover

[Chisoxfn]

I'm a big bostic hater, but you can't write off him and Greene yet. They need to get smarter and stronger.

As of now...Bostic is a miss. I didn't say he's a bust yet but he was freaking awful. To be frank, given what he has shown, I'd have a hard time thinking it would be a great idea to hand him a starting job next year (we should at least try to bring DJ Williams or another veteran to push him in training camp). This is the NFL, not MLB where you sit around and wait years for guys to develop. Bostic did nothing but get worse and linebacker is typically a position where rookies can excel. Thankfully he has some real nice physical tools.

[Chisoxfn]

You got to love Marshall. I hope Marques joins Jeffrey and Bennett (and I also hope Martellus and Cutler are there too).