2013-2014 NFL Thread

[witesoxfan]

I drafted for the Bears with them switching to a 3-4 Defense:

 

Round 1: CJ Mosley, ILB, Alabama

Round 2: Kyle Van Noy, OLB, BYU

Round 3: EJ Gaines, CB, Missouri

Round 4: Anthony Johnson, DT, LSU

Round 5: De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon

Round 6: Jimmie Ward, S, Northern Illinois

Round 6: Aaron Lynch, DE, South Florida

 

That was really fun, ha. I was going all D until I saw Thomas in the 5th round still there. I think Hester goes this off-season, and Thomas can replace Hester as well as add multi-use speed burner on offense. And no way Jimmie Ward lasts until the sixth round.

 

Thomas in the 5th would make a lot of sense.

[Chisoxfn]

Right now, I think the Bears are extremely far away from an average defense. Farther than they were away from an average offense last year when they spent most of their $20 million in cap space on improving the offense.

 

They don't even have the warm bodies there right now, and the ones they do have are guys like Conte and McClellan.

I agree with you Brian. They need to have some major hits to become an above average defense by next year and would need to have a really good offseason to just be average.

[Chisoxfn]

They're gonna have to hit on a couple picks and pick up a FA or 2 but I think they can be "average" next year.

That is quite a lot to ask for and isn't all that easy. We have zero pass rush....zero. It isn't going to be easy to fix that. The dline is an expensive position and all this talk of taking a safety in the 1st round is absurd. We need to address the dline (DE and DT) prior to touching safety (and yes, safety is a major need but our dline was the worse in football). We also need to address the LB spot where we were horrendous. Basically Dline, LB, and Safety play was all well above average. Bostic/Anderson were bad; Conte/Wright bad; Entire dline, but Wooten bad, and Wooten gets a pass because he played out of position. Now you hope Bostic can get better but I don't think you can pencil him and Shea as starting LB's and we obviously keep Briggs. I buy keeping Peppers if he restructures to a more friendly deal, but think we'll make a push at Bennett and if that happens, you probably go Bennett/Wooten (and say buh bye to Peppers) but that means we have huge voids to fill in the interior line. Now if we can't sign a DE in FA, then it means we most definitely have to consider drafting one early.

 

I would not be shocked if our 1st two picks in the draft are DT/DE. I fully expect the 1st 2 picks to be DT/DE/LB (a combination of such). I think at least one of our safeties will be back to be honest.

[farmteam]

I didn't expect Emery to be able to produce an 80% new offensive line that wasn't half-terrible, but he did. I'll give him a little faith to get the d-line right, too.

[Brian]

Didn't Peppers just restructure before this season?

[Balta1701]

Didn't Peppers just restructure before this season?

Yes, he has before each year. Each time it's given him a little bit of new money but moved some of the cap hit into the future.

 

Now that is coming home to roost, with a large cap hit for him even if he's cut.

[bmags]

That is quite a lot to ask for and isn't all that easy. We have zero pass rush....zero. It isn't going to be easy to fix that. The dline is an expensive position and all this talk of taking a safety in the 1st round is absurd. We need to address the dline (DE and DT) prior to touching safety (and yes, safety is a major need but our dline was the worse in football). We also need to address the LB spot where we were horrendous. Basically Dline, LB, and Safety play was all well above average. Bostic/Anderson were bad; Conte/Wright bad; Entire dline, but Wooten bad, and Wooten gets a pass because he played out of position. Now you hope Bostic can get better but I don't think you can pencil him and Shea as starting LB's and we obviously keep Briggs. I buy keeping Peppers if he restructures to a more friendly deal, but think we'll make a push at Bennett and if that happens, you probably go Bennett/Wooten (and say buh bye to Peppers) but that means we have huge voids to fill in the interior line. Now if we can't sign a DE in FA, then it means we most definitely have to consider drafting one early.

 

I would not be shocked if our 1st two picks in the draft are DT/DE. I fully expect the 1st 2 picks to be DT/DE/LB (a combination of such). I think at least one of our safeties will be back to be honest.

 

I share your pessimism. I don't believe we require the total restructuring though seeing the Saints turnaround the way they have. I think schematically Tucker does not know how to create pressure, and it exposed us in the passing game, but I think in general they aren't awful in pass protection. But it is a problem that where we need the most talent is where it costs the most money. We aren't really getting good production on a cheap contract anywhere beside Jeffrey and I'm hoping Long.

 

So the key is obviously drafting Mizzou dlineman because they are effing NFL BEASTS.

[cabiness42]

That is quite a lot to ask for and isn't all that easy. We have zero pass rush....zero. It isn't going to be easy to fix that. The dline is an expensive position and all this talk of taking a safety in the 1st round is absurd. We need to address the dline (DE and DT) prior to touching safety (and yes, safety is a major need but our dline was the worse in football). We also need to address the LB spot where we were horrendous. Basically Dline, LB, and Safety play was all well above average. Bostic/Anderson were bad; Conte/Wright bad; Entire dline, but Wooten bad, and Wooten gets a pass because he played out of position. Now you hope Bostic can get better but I don't think you can pencil him and Shea as starting LB's and we obviously keep Briggs. I buy keeping Peppers if he restructures to a more friendly deal, but think we'll make a push at Bennett and if that happens, you probably go Bennett/Wooten (and say buh bye to Peppers) but that means we have huge voids to fill in the interior line. Now if we can't sign a DE in FA, then it means we most definitely have to consider drafting one early.

 

I would not be shocked if our 1st two picks in the draft are DT/DE. I fully expect the 1st 2 picks to be DT/DE/LB (a combination of such). I think at least one of our safeties will be back to be honest.

 

Absolutely. DL, and to a lesser extent LB, is much more important than safety.

[2nd_city_saint787]

I want in on the fun....

 

1R- Louis Nix III DT- Big hoss who is gonna demand double teams which makes the rest of the DL and LBs jobs easier.

2R- Craig Loston SS- Draws comps to last years LSU safety Eric Reid...Obvious need

3R- Jackson Jeffcoat DE- A DE that racked up 80 tackles has got to be good against the run.

4R- Dion Bailey FS- I was gonna add a point about adding a FS in FA but with Bailey here I say fug it, they should be better than what they have.

5R- Deion Belue CB- Depth/Prospect at CB

6R- Russell Bodine OC- Sounds like they want Garza back, here's someone to groom behind him

6R- Marcel Jensen TE- Depth behind MartyB is pretty bad. Jensen would be an intriguing 6R pick

 

Bring in a Vet safety to compete with the rooks and get Michael Bennett in here.

Edited January 3, 2014 by scs787

[southsider2k5]

A big step towards having a decent defense would be healthy defenders.

[Balta1701]

A big step towards having a decent defense would be healthy defenders.

Part of the problem with that concept is that the guys who weren't healthy for the Bears mostly aren't under contract for next year. Thus, as of right now, the Bears don't even have defenders, let alone healthy ones.

[Kyyle23]

We are a week past the final day of the regular season, I'm not projecting anything right now. I certainly didn't see Slauson, Mills, Long, Martellus coming in, I didn't see Alshon takin that huge of a step, Earl taking that much of a step back, and the offense producing the second most PPG in the NFL.

 

Emery was extremely specific about fixing the defense, just as specific as he was when he was hired and said "I need to give Jay an offense". He did what he said he was going to do. I'm willing to let it play out and give the guy time to fix the defense.

[farmteam]

Dan Snyder continues to be disgusting.

[Balta1701]

We are a week past the final day of the regular season, I'm not projecting anything right now. I certainly didn't see Slauson, Mills, Long, Martellus coming in, I didn't see Alshon takin that huge of a step, Earl taking that much of a step back, and the offense producing the second most PPG in the NFL.

 

Emery was extremely specific about fixing the defense, just as specific as he was when he was hired and said "I need to give Jay an offense". He did what he said he was going to do. I'm willing to let it play out and give the guy time to fix the defense.

All I can say is that if Emery pulls off a serious defense upgrade over This year I'll be very impressed.

[Balta1701]

Dan Snyder continues to be disgusting.

What, you say that as though that's not how were supposed to treat rich people. They're better than the rest of us.

[Kyyle23]

All I can say is that if Emery pulls off a serious defense upgrade over This year I'll be very impressed.

 

I think he will get the D respectable next year. Not beastmode, but respectable

[Middle Buffalo]

I'd say the same thing to Phil Emery that I said to my daughter when she was being potty trained - "front to back."

 

A good d-line (specifically good tackles) will make it easier for everyone else. Conte's bad, but I don't know that I've ever seen a safety one on one with a running back running untouched by the d-line and linebackers as much as I've seen Conte.

[LittleHurt05]

Leslie Frazier the new defensive coordinator for Tampa Bay.

[Balta1701]

I think he will get the D respectable next year. Not beastmode, but respectable

If he can pull that off while still providing things like a slot receiver and backup rb, I'll be seriously impressed. But I won't say its impossible.

[maggsmaggs]

I share your pessimism. I don't believe we require the total restructuring though seeing the Saints turnaround the way they have. I think schematically Tucker does not know how to create pressure, and it exposed us in the passing game, but I think in general they aren't awful in pass protection. But it is a problem that where we need the most talent is where it costs the most money. We aren't really getting good production on a cheap contract anywhere beside Jeffrey and I'm hoping Long.

 

So the key is obviously drafting Mizzou dlineman because they are effing NFL BEASTS.

Kony Ealy would be a nice building block for the Bears D-Line.

[Kyyle23]

If he can pull that off while still providing things like a slot receiver and backup rb, I'll be seriously impressed. But I won't say its impossible.

 

Marquess Wilson and Michael Bush are your guys next year. He doesn't need to be going after those two positions

[maggsmaggs]

Marquess Wilson and Michael Bush are your guys next year. He doesn't need to be going after those two positions

I think Bush gets cut. Ford probably battles a cheap veteran sign for the back-up RB position. Cutting Bush saves about $1.8 million.

Edited January 4, 2014 by maggsmaggs

[Kyyle23]

I think Bush gets cut. Ford probably battles a cheap veteran sign for the back-up RB position.

 

Possibly, I don't think Ford gets a real shot though

[BigSqwert]

16 Reasons You Should Be Rooting For The Seattle Seahawks To Win The Super Bowl…if your team didn’t make the playoffs.

 

[maggsmaggs]

16 Reasons You Should Be Rooting For The Seattle Seahawks To Win The Super Bowl…if your team didn’t make the playoffs.

They also seem to have the most players suspended for banned substances.