Check out this blurb on the Bears over on ProFootball Weekly:http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=nfcnorth
Have to say I hope what Hub & the boys are deducing from Angelo's press conference is correct. Orton deserves a shot to be #1, and at the very least is a much cheaper and equally effective #2 to what Griese offered this year.
I was especially pleased by what they had to say about the RB position. We have guys with talent, and while I would like to see someone brought in to compete with Benson, it has been proven time & again this decade that the success of a team's running game is not predicated on the RB, but rather on the o-line and the play-calling. Naturally the quality of the offensive coordinator's play calling has to be good for any aspect of the offense to be successful. But I'll take a great o-line with an average running back any day over a great running back with an average offensive line.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Coaching Staff Shake-Up: Hardy Nickerson Resigns
Saw this posted on the Trib site, and the Bears official site. On the surface, it isn't huge news, but it does raise some potentially interesting thoughts.
For one thing, Lovie Smith said just last week that he looked to keep his whole coaching staff intact. If someone was going to go, I expected it to be due to a firing (maybe Darryl Drake or Pep Hamilton) or a promotion (maybe Dave Toub, although I think both he and the NFL are a couple years off from a special teams coordinator making a legitimate run for a head coaching gig). Seeing Nickerson resign without anything else seemingly lined up is a bit curious.
More importantly, will this have any impact on the team, and if so, what will it be? I felt that Nickerson was probably the Bears' most irrelevant position coach in 2007. He inherited a starting line-up consisting of a future Hall-of-Fame MLB, a perennial Pro-Bowler WLB, and an intelligent SLB with no ego who's always in the right position, never takes plays off, and plays mistake free while doing all the dirty work that frees up the others to make the big plays. In short, Nickerson walked into a perfect situation for a LB coach. Did any of these guys improve noticably under his watch? No, but they were all veterans and known commodities, so I won't necessarily hold that against him. At best, he kept some veterans motivated & playing hard in a trying season. At worst, he was smart enough to stay out of their way and let them do their thing without interference.
Regardless of what Nickerson was or wasn't, his replacement will be an important hire for Lovie. Urlacher & Hillenmeyer can pretty much coach themselves at this point, but chances are Briggs is gone, which means our next LB coach's main task will be to help groom & mold Jamar Williams into a worthy replacement, and Michael Okwo into a back-up/potential future starter. The departure of Briggs, promotion of Williams from #4 Lb into starter, and promotion of Okwo from IR to the #4, will pose much bigger challenges to our next LB coach than anything faced by Hardy Nickerson, or for that mater anything faced by Bob Babich during his stint as our LB coach.
For one thing, Lovie Smith said just last week that he looked to keep his whole coaching staff intact. If someone was going to go, I expected it to be due to a firing (maybe Darryl Drake or Pep Hamilton) or a promotion (maybe Dave Toub, although I think both he and the NFL are a couple years off from a special teams coordinator making a legitimate run for a head coaching gig). Seeing Nickerson resign without anything else seemingly lined up is a bit curious.
More importantly, will this have any impact on the team, and if so, what will it be? I felt that Nickerson was probably the Bears' most irrelevant position coach in 2007. He inherited a starting line-up consisting of a future Hall-of-Fame MLB, a perennial Pro-Bowler WLB, and an intelligent SLB with no ego who's always in the right position, never takes plays off, and plays mistake free while doing all the dirty work that frees up the others to make the big plays. In short, Nickerson walked into a perfect situation for a LB coach. Did any of these guys improve noticably under his watch? No, but they were all veterans and known commodities, so I won't necessarily hold that against him. At best, he kept some veterans motivated & playing hard in a trying season. At worst, he was smart enough to stay out of their way and let them do their thing without interference.
Regardless of what Nickerson was or wasn't, his replacement will be an important hire for Lovie. Urlacher & Hillenmeyer can pretty much coach themselves at this point, but chances are Briggs is gone, which means our next LB coach's main task will be to help groom & mold Jamar Williams into a worthy replacement, and Michael Okwo into a back-up/potential future starter. The departure of Briggs, promotion of Williams from #4 Lb into starter, and promotion of Okwo from IR to the #4, will pose much bigger challenges to our next LB coach than anything faced by Hardy Nickerson, or for that mater anything faced by Bob Babich during his stint as our LB coach.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
State of the Franchise
While I've yet to see the video or hear the audio, I've had the chance to read & review the transcript of Jerry Angelo's speech to the media on Thursday. While alot of the speech seemed to be an imitation of Lovie Smith (using alot of words to basically say nothing), he did provide some insight into his off-season goals.
He seemed to indicate that, aside from the safety position, he wasn't going to put too much emphasis on the defense this off-season. His comments about Mike Brown were telling, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him cut, but he did phrase it in a way that might leave the door open for him to come back, albeit with a couple more talented players there for insurance. He seemed to iindicate that he saw injuries as the primary cause for the defense's decline in 2007, an opinion I share.
His comments about the offense were the highlight of the speech. I was most looking forward to hearing his thoughts on the o-line, which to me is the area in need of the most attention heading into 2008, but he basically avoided the topic altogether. my guess is this is one of his smokescreens (i.e. talking up Dave Ragone & Chris Simms to the media before selecting Rex Grossman in 2003). he ahs stated publicly that he believes in building a team "from the inside out," and establsihing solid line play on both sides of the ball.
His comments on the Qb & Rb positions were naturally the parts on which the media fixated, somewhat rightfully so. Establishing stability at the QB position was mentioned as his "#1 priority," so I'm interested to see what he does there. He mentioned that he would like to have Rex back, but the conventional wisdom these days is that Rex & Griese won't both be back. I have to agree - Orton proved down the stretch that he deserves a legitimiate chance to compete in training camp for the starting job, and that at the very least he's a capable back-up. He's younger & cheaper than either Grossman or Griese, so I think there's something to that thought.
I really hope we don't go after Derek Anderson. He's got good tools and looked great in some games this year, but he hasn't proven enough to be with what Clevelend will want for him. If we went after McNabb I'd be more ok with it, seeing as he's been a top 10 Qb for 7 years, and he WILL be better in 2008 than he was in 2007 (when he was still pretty good, while being noticeably hampered by his still-recovering knee injury).
Finally, Angelo discussed the running back position. I am really interested to see what happens here...at this point I think it's the most compelling issue facing the Bears. He said that there will be competition, and that they will look to bring in someone new at the position. While I'm not opposed to that per se, it's a hard scenario to figure out because of our current roster make-up. Benson was a #1 pick, who showed some flashes & improvement prior to his injury. Peterson is a steady back-up & stand-out special teams player. And Garrett Wolfe is a recent 1st day drafy pick who showed some gilmpses towards the end of 2007. His speed, quickness, & elusiveness in the open field are hard to ignore, and while I still think he was something of a "luxury pick" who we couldn't afford given some other more pressing needs, he does have alot of talent, and could be a nice complementary running back, provided we have 2 other guys who could be counted on as 25 carry-a-game 'bell cows' if needed.
Barring something unconventional (i.e. keeping 4 RBs on the active roster), it's hard to say who the odd man out will be if Angelo brings in a Julius Jones/Michael Turner/high draft pick.
He seemed to indicate that, aside from the safety position, he wasn't going to put too much emphasis on the defense this off-season. His comments about Mike Brown were telling, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him cut, but he did phrase it in a way that might leave the door open for him to come back, albeit with a couple more talented players there for insurance. He seemed to iindicate that he saw injuries as the primary cause for the defense's decline in 2007, an opinion I share.
His comments about the offense were the highlight of the speech. I was most looking forward to hearing his thoughts on the o-line, which to me is the area in need of the most attention heading into 2008, but he basically avoided the topic altogether. my guess is this is one of his smokescreens (i.e. talking up Dave Ragone & Chris Simms to the media before selecting Rex Grossman in 2003). he ahs stated publicly that he believes in building a team "from the inside out," and establsihing solid line play on both sides of the ball.
His comments on the Qb & Rb positions were naturally the parts on which the media fixated, somewhat rightfully so. Establishing stability at the QB position was mentioned as his "#1 priority," so I'm interested to see what he does there. He mentioned that he would like to have Rex back, but the conventional wisdom these days is that Rex & Griese won't both be back. I have to agree - Orton proved down the stretch that he deserves a legitimiate chance to compete in training camp for the starting job, and that at the very least he's a capable back-up. He's younger & cheaper than either Grossman or Griese, so I think there's something to that thought.
I really hope we don't go after Derek Anderson. He's got good tools and looked great in some games this year, but he hasn't proven enough to be with what Clevelend will want for him. If we went after McNabb I'd be more ok with it, seeing as he's been a top 10 Qb for 7 years, and he WILL be better in 2008 than he was in 2007 (when he was still pretty good, while being noticeably hampered by his still-recovering knee injury).
Finally, Angelo discussed the running back position. I am really interested to see what happens here...at this point I think it's the most compelling issue facing the Bears. He said that there will be competition, and that they will look to bring in someone new at the position. While I'm not opposed to that per se, it's a hard scenario to figure out because of our current roster make-up. Benson was a #1 pick, who showed some flashes & improvement prior to his injury. Peterson is a steady back-up & stand-out special teams player. And Garrett Wolfe is a recent 1st day drafy pick who showed some gilmpses towards the end of 2007. His speed, quickness, & elusiveness in the open field are hard to ignore, and while I still think he was something of a "luxury pick" who we couldn't afford given some other more pressing needs, he does have alot of talent, and could be a nice complementary running back, provided we have 2 other guys who could be counted on as 25 carry-a-game 'bell cows' if needed.
Barring something unconventional (i.e. keeping 4 RBs on the active roster), it's hard to say who the odd man out will be if Angelo brings in a Julius Jones/Michael Turner/high draft pick.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Game 16 - Bears/Saints
I don't feel compelled to say too much about a meaningless week 17 game, but I felt a strange little bit of satisfaction after the win. It was good to see that our coaching staff put some serious game plans in, and that our players played with a greater sense of urgency than a team who was still in the running for a playoff spot.
Orton showed me that he has made homself over physically and mentally. He looks stronger & fitter than he did in 2005; he exhibited better pocket presence than either of our veteran QBs; he ran the offense smoothly and kept mistakes to a minimum; and he showed a big play ability that he was sorely laacking in 2005. He should (and will) be our #1 or #2 QB next year. I'd like to see Grossman re-signed, and duel for the #1 spot with Orton in camp. At this point I wouldn't even consider Griese as a #1...he's a great guy to have step in for a few plays if your QB gets the wind knocked out of him, of even a game or 2 if it's nothing major, but he's not a guy who can make enough plays to justify giving him a shot to start.
Devin Hester is a badass, they need to sign him to a long term deal next season as long as he stays healthy.
I have a lot more to say about this team, but I'll wait until later in the week. Jerry Angelo is going to give his 'state of the franchise' address to the media tomorrow, and I'm both excited & apprehensive about what he's going to say. Whereas Lovie Smith is intentionall dull & non-descriptive to the point of rarely being worth listening to, Angelo has a tendency to speak in broad terms, but also to occasionally let things slip, or allow the media to goad him into revealing his thought process. This makes him a better interview, but can also work against him when he says too much.
Orton showed me that he has made homself over physically and mentally. He looks stronger & fitter than he did in 2005; he exhibited better pocket presence than either of our veteran QBs; he ran the offense smoothly and kept mistakes to a minimum; and he showed a big play ability that he was sorely laacking in 2005. He should (and will) be our #1 or #2 QB next year. I'd like to see Grossman re-signed, and duel for the #1 spot with Orton in camp. At this point I wouldn't even consider Griese as a #1...he's a great guy to have step in for a few plays if your QB gets the wind knocked out of him, of even a game or 2 if it's nothing major, but he's not a guy who can make enough plays to justify giving him a shot to start.
Devin Hester is a badass, they need to sign him to a long term deal next season as long as he stays healthy.
I have a lot more to say about this team, but I'll wait until later in the week. Jerry Angelo is going to give his 'state of the franchise' address to the media tomorrow, and I'm both excited & apprehensive about what he's going to say. Whereas Lovie Smith is intentionall dull & non-descriptive to the point of rarely being worth listening to, Angelo has a tendency to speak in broad terms, but also to occasionally let things slip, or allow the media to goad him into revealing his thought process. This makes him a better interview, but can also work against him when he says too much.
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