Blog Archives

The Bears have desperately needed to add someone at safety since the decision to part ways with Mike Brown was made early this off-season. It was obvious no one, perhaps outside of his immediate family and friends, was excited about the idea of Craig Steltz starting at free safety.

Unfortunately, Jerry Angelo’s solution to this problem is to bring in a guy – Josh Bullock – who lost his starting job in one of the worst defensive backfield’s in the NFL. Now Bears fans have to hope a guy who couldn’t stay on the field with Saints and never had more than two INTs in a season will be able to fix the team’s massive coverage void in the secondary.

In Bullock’s defense that entire defense is pretty messed up, with serious problems on every level. So there is a chance given he’s only 26, plus the move to a Cover-2, he could still make an impact. The scouting report on Bullock seems to indicate he’s at his best in coverage and specifically zone coverage.

That same scouting report also mentioned a tendency for Bullock to hesitate or jump routes on play-action, which seems dangerously similar to Danieal Manning’s problem. But the Bears wouldn’t be getting Bullock for 1yr/$1.2 million if he didn’t have some flaws, and even with those warts he’s still the best option currently on the roster.

——————————————————

As the Bears add to re-tool their secondary they also subtract to continue re-tooling of the offensive line. Terrance Metcalf, a former 3rd round pick who made 25 starts in 84 games, was released after seven years with the team.

Although Metcalf signed a six-year, $12.2 million deal in 2006 the addition of Frank Omiyale, along with the presumed return of John St. Clair, made him expendable. Metcalf had been penciled in for the starting left guard spot before last season but a preseason knee injury opened the door for Josh Beekman and Metcalf never really got back in the mix.

Metcalf was also suspended four games this year by the NFL for violation of the league’s policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances.

So with Omiyale, Beekman, Roberto Garza and Dan Buenning all in the mix at the guard position, and the likelihood the Bears will use another high draft pick on a tackle the offensive line transition would appear to be almost complete.

The Bears second move of the free agency was just as mundane and uninspiring as the first. On Friday the team agreed to bring ex-Lion Kevin Jones back on a two-year, $3.5 million deal.

Jones was a disappointment most of last season, failing to lighten the work load for rookie Matt Forte and with only 34 carries on the season. However, at the start of the season Jones was only eight months removed from ACL surgery.

Given that it normally takes at least a year to fully recover from a reconstructive knee procedure, Jones and the Bears are both betting they’ll see the player who looked like an emerging star back in Detroit. That player could take a hundred carries away from Matt Forte without the Bears offense missing a beat.

Jones signing also gives the Bears another draft pick to play with in April. Without Jones on the roster the Bears would be looking for a backup to compete with Garrett Wolfe somewhere in the draft. Now they can focusing on using all six picks on more pressing needs.

Additionally, Kevin Jones willingness to play special teams down the stretch last year might save the Bears a roster spot. With both Wolfe and Jones capable special teams contributor the Bears could afford to let long time special teams ace Adrian Peterson go.

But most importantly, as un-sexy as the signing of Kevin Jones is, it answers an important question of who’ll be splitting time with Forte. That may not fix any of the Bears glaring holes, but it could be one small piece to the final solution.

Omiyale signing doesn’t close door on St. Clair

Although the Bears hit the ground running in free agency with the signing of OT Frank Omiyale from the Carolina Panthers, they have not given up on their own free agent John St. Clair. Jerry Angelo says he intends to continue to pursue John St. Clair with the intention of having him replace John Tait at right tackle and moving Frank Omiyale inside to guard.

Omiyale could potentially start at either guard position: Josh Beekman is considered undersized and could be better of backing up Olin Kreutz, and coaches are reportedly unhappy with the performance of Roberto Garza.

So instead of his replacement, it appears the Bears are bringing Omiyale in to fill John St. Clair’s old role of super-sub, someone who could start and provides depth at four positions. If the Bears can resign St. Clair the odd man out will likely be Terrence Metcalf, and if not Omiyale will slide in at RT.

——————————————————————————————————–

Bears look to Darren Sharper for help at Safety

If you are tired of trying to beat them, why not ask them to join you? That’s seems to be the Bears approach to filling the void left by Mike Brown in the secondary with former Packer and Viking Darren Sharper.

A 12-year veteran and a four time Pro-Bowler, Sharper would provide a major upgrade over the default free safety at the moment, Craig Steltz. Not only would he fill the major leadership role left by Brown, but his career 54 interceptions are an indication of what sort of playmaking he could bring to the position.

While many Bears fans, including myself, would prefer to see the Bears spend the money to bring in a more long-term replacement, Sharper can be an adequate stopgap until a better solution can be found in the draft.

——————————————————————————————————–

Bears not closing the book on Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones first season with the Chicago Bears was a bit of a disappointment. After being brought in with the billing of someone who could take the starting job from rookie Matt Forte, he got only 34 carries the entire season with most of those coming in the first five weeks.

But there appears to be strong mutual interest in bringing Jones back for the 2009 season. While he is attracting serious offers from other teams Jones has given the Bears a ringing endorsement:

“I’ve been telling you all along, and you may have thought, ‘This kid is crazy,’ during last year, I want to come back to the Bears. I like the staff; I like all the teammates. If you want an example of what an NFL team should be like, the coaching staff, everything, that’s it. I’d love to be back, but sometimes business gets in the way.”

And that business is probably the main thing that could keep Jones away. In some ways it was a miracle that Jones was able to do anything for the Bears last season considering he was just 8 months removed from ACL surgery. If the Bears gave him a second opportunity there is a good chance they’ll see the back that looked to be on the rise in Detroit.

However, with Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe already in place are the Bears interested in carrying four running backs again? Jerry Angelo has already stated a desire to get Wolfe more playing time, as the former third-round pick is currently considered a bust. But Kevin Jones willingness to play special teams for the Bears down the stretch last year could be a big mark in his favor.

The Bears have made their first move of the free agent period and it’s one that no one, including my saw coming. Earlier this morning they agreed to a four-year contract worth between $11.5 and $14million with Carolina Panther free agent Frank Omiyale.

While Omiyale is undoubtedly not the big name most fans were looking for, at least he’s not John St. Clair. As a four year veteran with only one career start Omiyale fits perfectly with Jerry Angelo’s system of letting other teams develop linemen and then going after them in free agency.

He also brings two aspects the Bears desperately needed along their line. He should make the unit bigger at 6’4”/310lbs and most importantly younger at 26.

Some people might be shocked by the size of the deal, especially for a player with limited starting experience, but that’s the NFL. Omiyale oddly enough received a ringing endorsement from ex-Bear Mushin Muhammad, who was his teammate this past season in Carolina.

It’s hard to tell what this means for the rest of the Bears free agent plans at OT. It’s possible they could still bring St. Clair back and open up the competition for RT. One way to look at this deal is a response by Bears management to the added leverage John Tait’s retirement provided St. Clair in negotiations.

Frank Omiyale may not be the name most Bears fans were hoping to see come across the wire in the early stages of free agency, but he is also the kind of young cost-efficient signing that a team with as many needs as the Bears has to have.

Booker might go down at the most productive Bears receiver of the last 15 years, but his second stint with the team was something to forget.

Booker never regained his Chicago form after being traded to the Dolphins for Adewale Ogunleye following the 2003 season. Obviously management felt it had more to do with the environment than eroding skills…. obviously, they were wrong.

Marty is well represented in the Bears record book finishing 3rd in career receptions, 6th in yards and 8th in TD catches. He even managed to add a few highlights this year with the ridiculous catch in Detroit and the 51 yard TD against the Vikings.

But in the end the Bears needed and expected a lot more than 14 catches for 211 yards. Booker was expected to be a steadying veteran force and instead he kept Earl Bennett on the bench and pushed Mark Bradley out of town.

So as fondly as I and many Bears fans will remember Booker and as hard as it was to let him go the first time, I am certainly not the least bit sorry to wave good-bye the second go round.

Well mock draft season progresses as we see ESPN’s first two round mock-up by Todd McShay. While his hair might not be on par with Mel Kiper his analysis is top notch.

In this draft McShay projected the Bears to select WR Percy Harvin out of Florida with the 18th pick and OG/OC Max Unger out of Oregon with the 49th pick.

Both player are guys who would step in and compete for serious playing time immediately. Harvin would bring a very similar skill set as Devin Hester giving the Bears two burners on the outside and forcing teams secondaries to play back and letting Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark control the middle of the field.

Unger on the other hand has great versatility having played both OT and C in college. At just 300lbs he probably doesn’t have the size to stay at Tackle in the NFL but he could provide big time competition on the inside; pushing Beekman and Garza and providing a more legitimate back-up to Olin Kreutz.

I certainly feel a lot better about this option than what Kiper had previously suggested with the DE Jackson out of LSU. While DE is a need for the Bears it’s time for the Bears to start building this offense with speed and getting younger on the line.

There is a rumor floating around that ex-Bears coach and current head coach at Pittsburgh Dave Wannstedt is interested in hiring Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner to fill in the same position with the Panthers.

Why would Turner make was seems to be a step down? Well he may feel as those the Bears current staff is a sinking ship. If the current shake up doesn’t work this season they are likely all going to be out of a job. Turner also has a strong relationship and familiarity with Wanndstedt after serving as his offensive coordinator with the Bears from 93-96.

The biggest reason might be something completely unrelated to coaching . Ron’s nephew (Norv Turner’s son) Scott Turner is currently a graduate assistant on Wannstedt’s staff. The obvious family appeal could be hard for Turner to pass up if he is offered the position.

While I am generally a fan of continuity I wouldn’t be the least bit sad to see Turner go. Though I don’t think he is as terrible as some Bears fans it would be nice to get someone in here who could find some more creative ways to use Devin Hester. A change at offensive coordinator would also mean that whatever QB is brought in for competition with Orton would have a much better chance at actually winning the job.

In a jump start on the free-agent process the Chicago Bears signed former Northwestern quarterback and Big Ten 2005 offensive player of the year Brett Basanez to a two year deal. While Jerry Angelo did come into this off-season saying that adding competition at the quarterback position was his #1 priority, Bears fans are hoping this isn’t what he had in mind.

Basanez spent the last three year with the Carolina Panthers, two of those mostly on the practice squad and 2007 on injured reserve with a wrist injury. He saw action in only one game back in 2006 when he went 6 for 11 for 56 yards and an interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Prior to that Basanez set or tied nearly every major school passing record at Northwestern, which he left as the winingest quarterback in school history. His other claim to fame was falling just 4 rushing yards short of being the first QB in NCAA Div-I history to pass for 10,000 and rush for 1,000 career yards.

While Basanez has stated that he intendeds to come out and try and compete for the starting job, he also mentioned that where he fit on the depth chart was not part of his discussion with the team. It’s safe to say that he isn’t here to take Kyle Orton’s job and will more likely be competing with Caleb Hanie for third string, while the other will land on the practice squad. Other rumors persist that the main reason Baz was brought in is because the Bears have moved their off-season mini-camps up to March and wanted to be sure of having 3 QB’s on the roster at the time.

That said the Chicago Tribune reported that Basanez did draw interest from Jacksonville, New Orleans, Minnesota, and San Francisco. More than likely though getting a call from his hometown team was the deciding factor for the Arlington Heights native.

None-the-less Brett Basanez will get to live out the dream of so many other Chicago Bears fans, young and old. And from there who knows, if he make it on the field it wouldn’t be the first time a 4th string quarterback ended up playing for the Bears.

Well that time of the year is upon us, the time when every website and affiliate even remotely linked to the NFL and college football will be coming out with mock drafts. It’s a season that is rapidly getting worse then Christmas, starting earlier every year.

Sometimes the information can be overwhelming and much of it doesn’t go beyond educated guesses, but one man to take seriously is ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. So when his first mock draft of the season hit the pages of ESPN.com I took notice.

“With the 18th pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears select Tyson Jackson, defensive end LSU.” At least that’s what Kiper thinks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be saying in late April.

Now at first glance it looks like a pretty logical pick. With the Bears inability to get to the Quarterback being undoubtedly their biggest defensive issues it would make sense for the Bears to add a playmaker to the defensive line. Additional on Kiper’s board there weren’t any offensive linemen worthy of the 18th pick and Percy Harvin went to the Jets at pick 17.

But when looking into the scouting report on Jackson it no longer seems like such a solid pick:

Strengths: Rare size (6’4”, 295lbs) for the position… Durability with 27 consecutive starts… Outstanding run defender… Powerful hitter with good tackling in space skills for a defensive linemen… Good overall awareness and recognition skills.

Weakness: Needs to show more consistent effort on the field… can win some battles with power moves, but will never be a threat to turn the corner and rush off the edge… will always be better run-stopper than pass rusher.

Now all of that information comes off of ESPN’s scouting reports so the Bears or other teams might have a different take on him as a player. But if that is the report why in the world would the Bears be interested in Jackson? He sounds like a fine player but that description is more reminiscent of Alex Brown than the terrorizing pass rusher this team desperately needs.

Now some other options at defensive end that were listed near the Bears were Florida St.’s Everett Brown, NIU’s Larry English, and Georgia Tech’s Michael Johnson. All of those players would provide more of the speed pass rush component that Lovie has always targeted for his defense and are more likely candidate for the 18th pick.

In fact all three of those players will probably be linked to the Bears in future mock drafts along with half a dozen or so offensive players. But we can all give thanks to Mel Kiper and his hair for draft season is now officially upon us.

For those who have been long-time fans and listeners to Bearscast you know that we have a long held affection for a Bears unsung hero Israel Idonije. Well it appears that Izzy would like to see the Bears front office show him the kind of appreciation we have as he has switched representation to power agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Idonije is among a number of veteran players who have one year left on their contract and to this point Jerry Angelo has appeared very hesitant to extend anyone, a prudent move after the lessons of the last season. That’s likely the motivation behind switch for Idonije who would like to get the Bears to the bargaining table.

The team obviously values Idonije after matching the offer he received from the Buffalo Bills and ex-coach Dick Jauron in 2006. Since then Izzy has been a stabilizing force on special teams both covering kicks and setting the wedge on the return unit along with blocking a number of field goals and extra points. Those contributions alone would be difficult to replace.

In addition to his special team duties Idonije has provided essential flexibility on the defensive line moving between defensive end and tackle. Improving during each of his five seasons with the Bears and culminating this season with a career high 3.5 sacks and 6 pass deflections, big numbers considering he is only a part-time player.

So while Angelo may be hesitant to extend any players after the disappointment in last season he can’t let a blank move keep him from doing the right thing. Israel Idonije’s position flexibility as well as his multi-faceted contributions are too important to let walk away. His services will undoubtedly be valued and sought after next offseason so Angelo should keep from getting himself into a bidding war and losing a key contributor like he did with Brendon Ayanbadejo last year.