Windy City Gridiron: FanPosts

Hester Holdout!

rahulsriram — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:09:10 -0000

The tranquil start to Bears training camp disappeared faster than a Devin Hester touchdown return today when the Bears special teams ace refused to show up for the opening practice in a contract holdout.

Hester did not report to camp on Tuesday night before midnight as players were required to do and missed team meetings this morning, but he officially became a contract holdout with the start of practice at 3 p.m.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1070830,hester072308.article

this cant be good.

Different Williams #'s from NFL.com

#23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:38:01 -0000

And at the last hour Chris Williams is now ready for camp. It was getting pretty close. It doesn't seem like that huge of a contract, so it looks like we'll get a good deal on a good OL for 5 years

The Chicago Bears have signed first-round draft pick Chris Williams to a five-year worth $16 million, including $10 million in guarantees, NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports.

Williams, an offensive tackle out of Vanderbilt, was the 14th overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft. The team announced the deal two hours before the opening of Wednesday’s first training camp practice.

The Bears now have all 12 of their draft picks signed.

Fantasy Football Signup

WCG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:47:50 -0000

So you probably have already noticed the ads all over the site, now be a part of it.

SB Nation has partnered with AOL Fanhouse to create SB Nation The Fanhouse Leagues. Each SB Nation football blog has created a league specific for their blog. This allows you, the readers, to log into the league and play fantasy football with me and other Windy City Gridiron readers.

Once there choose Windy City Gridiron and register your team.

Help Needed!

WCG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:09:57 -0000

Here we go again. As you may have noticed the involvement of Doctor Chicago has dropped of as of late. He is dealing with personal business and I don't know if or when he may be back, but this again leaves me with needing help with the site. I spoke to a few people back when I was looking last time and I haven't seen them around a lot recently, but I have seen a lot of new faces, so maybe we can find somebody.

I don't have anything structured in mind, but here are some general guidlines of what I need.

1) Someone who can reliably put up 3-5 posts per week. I will handle most news items, but they are not exclusive to me.

2) Someone who get help with post ideas when news and activity is low

Here are some things I know I can use help on.

1) Someone who can break down a game and would be able to post a review of each Bears game in a timely manner.

2) Someone to start looking into bringing some Bears history to the site in one form or another.

Those items withstanding I am open to hearing any ideas you have. Drop me a line at WINDYCITYGRIDIRON AT GMAIL DOT COM

Thanks

Urlacher agrees to new deal

thecubreporter — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:32:36 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3499320&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

According to sources, Urlacher and the Bears have come to terms on a revised contract, which includes a one-year extension, thus ending their offseason contract squabble.

Urlacher, 30, had four years and approximately $25.5 million remaining on his contract. Under the terms of the upgraded deal, Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an additional $500,000 in a workout bonus in 2012.

That's a total of roughly $43.5 million over the next five years, with $18 million in new money for the six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All Pro.

Can this soap opera get any better?

kuech — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:10:02 -0000

Packers are accusing Vikes of tampering with Favre.

Ap - Packers: Vikings tampering

So lets recap - Favre is tearing apart Packerland with his selfish and ill-considered actions, pitting fans against front office - dissension in the locker room next?

Vikings are indicating their faith in their QB by showing interest in grampa Brett.

1 week till training camp and our 2 biggest rivals are showing some turmoil. I just gotta laugh.

(Adding a couple more words here)

Matt Forte on NFL Network

JohnnyTruant — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:51:52 -0000

Terrell Davis interviews Matt Forte and Maurice Jones-Drew about training camp and running styles on NFL Network.

Matt Forte is a whisperer.

Hopefully his play will be louder than his voice.

An overview is that Matt Forte believes that he can make an impact in Chicago and that he has a running style that is smooth with quick feet. MJD says that he has many different styles and he does whatever he has to in order to win the game.

Link to Video

Peyton Manning out 6 weeks

MuleTrain — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:04:48 -0000

Peyton had an infected bursa sack removed from his knee. Will be out 4-6 weeks. He'll play against da Bears, but might not be 100%. Some REAL news! If his mobility (what little he had) is afffected, then the Bears pass rush could get after him and cause trouble. Now, all we need is for Dwight Freeney to stay on the shelf and Bob Sanders to go down in the preseason and we'll have a chance....maybe.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3487657

simms maybe in chicago

rahulsriram — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:32:43 -0000

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/NFC/NFC+South/Tampa+Bay/WWHI/2008/wwhi071108.htm

Bucs QB Chris Simms may be on the verge of receiving his year-long wish for an escape from Tampa, the way we hear it. Reports recently surfaced that the Cowboys were interested in trading for Simms to make him a backup to Tony Romo. Sources tell PFW the Bears and Lions have shown interest in acquiring the fifth-year veteran, as well. Word is there’s a good chance Simms will be with another team around the time training camp begins.

Bears Fantasy Draft

WCG — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:50:18 -0000

With things being so slow and training camp still a bit a little while away I have been toying with things to beef up posts and viewer interaction.

I was considering doing some type of a Bears Fantasy Draft. Initially I was thinking just using players from the last 25-30 years, to tighten things up.

The concept would be pretty simple.

4-5 Teams

Snake Style draft order

You fill a full roster

Any player picked must have played on the Bears for 2 full seasons since 1980? (the year is negotiable).

We would do the draft off line and then post the results along with some write ups. I would need a fair commitment from the people involved to respond quickly and be able to provide decent (not necassarily lengthy) reasons for their pick.

Would anybody be interested in something like that?

WCG Fantasy Football

WCG — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:48:30 -0000

Alright chaps, it is time to man up again for some fantasy football.

What we need:

1) Someone willing to be the commisioner and willing to do the leg work to setup the league and contact everybody interested. You will need to drop a weekly update on the status in the Fan Posts section.

2) Verbal commitment of wanting to play.

Leave your name if you are interested in playing and/or being the commish. If the list of people goes over 20 we can break down and run two leagues if need be.

We can work something out for the winner. If anything we can at least do a front page post touting your FF superiority.

That is all.

Fantasy Football MMORPG

whitebearsox23 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:18:24 -0000

If you like playing football games, this is the game to play. In this game, you can build your own player, own your own team, GM teams, and so much more. You start by creating your own player, finding a team to play for, and build your player up to become one of the best in the league he is playing in. This is by far the most fun football game I have ever played. Oh yea, it doesn't cost a thing! Just try it out. You will not regret it.

http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=4777562

Favre's got the itch

thecubreporter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:23:21 -0000

to keep playing, so says Chris Mortensen and Al Harris. Poor Aaron Rodgers...

http://deadspin.com/5021546/brett-favre-seriously-considering-unretirement-nfl-live-says

Please correct the following items:

Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 25 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead.
Please correct the following items:
- Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 70 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead.

This Can't Be Good...

thecubreporter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:48:22 -0000

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Juggernaut-Index-No-32-Rex-Grossman-is-proba;_ylt=AqUo6W6kwW5nTs_cOZWT50lNC5kB?urn=fantasy,91153

I know it's just fantasy football, but the Bears are ranked #32 in the "juggernaut index"

The Juggernaut Index is our annual attempt to rank every NFL team for fantasy purposes. We're not concerned with real-life wins and losses here. No, here we just care about imaginary winning. If an NFL team gains lots of yardage, limits turnovers, and scores when they reach the red zone, then you'll want to own their skill position players in fantasy leagues.

2 simple FA signings that can improve the team

SackMan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:45:16 -0000

1. LeCharles Bentley

With hopes that he can play LG next to our rookie LT: He's a 28 year old former pro-bowler recovering from injury... and at this point, it looks like a low cost signing, as apparently nobody is in a rush to ink him. Plus, honestly... with our piss poor guard situation, you could grab a traffic cop off State Street and line him up at LG, and still be better than Terrence friggin Metcalf. Thus, if Bentley is healthy enough to get on the field, he's already better than Metcalf.

2. Najeh Davenport

Have the 240lb+ RB play FB again... giving you a good insurance policy at RB, if something happens (injury or poor performance). The guy can play ball... and he racked up some nice yards last year in Pittsburgh behind a good line. The Bears should be familiar with him, from his days in Green Bay, and it's not like Jason McKie is going to any pro-bowls anytime soon. Give McKie the competition, and if both players are worthy of a roster spot... then maybe you decide to carry 2 FBs. But, you can cross that bridge later... and besides Davenport would likely beat McKie out for the job anyway.

Who would you rather have as your starting fullback? Davenport: a versatile football player who's played fullback on some darn good running teams, and can carry the rock at a 4.7 avg... or McKie: who can only do two things: block and catch the ball in the flat?

Bears sign Harrision + 2 more!

bs1220 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:32:26 -0000

This is awesome. We have just two picks left to sign. I'm really excited about this draft class!

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4838

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears on Tuesday signed third-round defensive tackle Marcus Harrison and agreed to terms with third-round receiver Earl Bennett and fifth-round cornerback Zackary Bowman, all to four-year contracts.

Harrison is a first-round talent who dropped in the draft because of durability and character concerns. The 6-3, 310-pounder tore his left ACL last spring, but rebounded to register 76 tackles, 6½ tackles-for-loss and 1½ sacks while starting 10 games at Arkansas. He also batted down 10 passes and forced one fumble.

"He’s got some talent and some ability and some strength,” said defensive line coach Brick Haley. “There are a lot of things that we like about him.”

Highly competitive and productive, Bennett finished as the SEC’s all-time leading receiver with 236 catches despite playing only three seasons at Vanderbilt. The 6-foot, 209-pounder is the only player in conference history with at least 75 receptions in multiple seasons.

Playing with current Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, Bennett caught 79 passes for 876 yards and 9 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2005. Bennett continued to prosper after Cutler left Vanderbilt for the NFL, catching 82 passes for 1,146 yards and 6 TDs as a sophomore and 75 passes for 830 yards and 5 TDs last season as a junior.

“From Day 1 to now, he’s improved tremendously,” said wide receivers coach Darryl Drake. “He’s just an outstanding young man. He has a great deal of ability. He’s very deceptive with his speed. We just need to continue to work him and bring him along. I’ve been impressed with him as a person—his work ethic and his ability to pick things up.”

Bowman showed promise in 2005 at Nebraska, recording 27 tackles, 14 pass breakups and two interceptions while starting five of 11 games played. But the 6-1, 197-pounder tore his left ACL in spring practice and missed the entire 2006 season.

Bowman then tore his patellar tendon in his right knee in spring practice in 2007, but returned to record 29 tackles, six pass breakups and one interception while starting four of 11 games played.

The Bears have now signed or agreed to terms with 10 of their 12 players chosen in this year’s draft, the most in the NFL. To date, 67 picks from the 2008 NFL draft have signed or agreed to terms with their respective teams.

Bennett (70th overall), Harrison (90th) and Bowman (142nd) join fourth-round choice Craig Steltz (120th), fifth-round selection Kellen Davis (158th) and seventh-round picks Ervin Baldwin (208th), Chester Adams (222nd), Joey LaRocque (243rd), Kirk Barton (247th) and Marcus Monk (248th) as Chicago’s draft picks who have signed or agreed to terms.

The Bears’ two picks yet to sign are first-round choice Chris Williams (14th) and second-round selection Matt Forté (44th).

Proof JA reads WCG!

#23 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:15:20 -0000

I told you guys that JA better watch out and here is the proof that he was paying attention. About 80% of the off season moves mentioned were made out of these two articles. The ones he didn't make are the ones that are going to haunt him.

The only things he did not do was:

-sign a free agent OL (He'll regret that)

-sign Michael Turner (Obviously he would be nice to have now, we probably would have drafted another OL if that were the case or a QB. I'm happy to have Forte, but we needed the extra pick.)

-sign Berrian (he should have been franchised so we could have 2 drafts to find a replacement, but we'll move forward)

-I may have missed the boat on Rueben Brown

-I couldn't find it, but somewhere I posted about cutting/trading Ricky Manning, Jr.

-He should of traded Benson, now we got nothing

How much better would this season look with a FA G, Berrian, Turner, and possibly Brohm at backup QB. The only thing I couldn't say for sure is whether we would have been able to resign, Briggs & Harris which were very important. I'm pretty sure we would of had the cap space, but maybe the owners didn't want to spend that much.

________________________________________________________________

Cut or Trade Immediatel - Jan 7, 2008

Personally, I think we have learned all we need to know about a few of our players.

Benson is a very expensive backup running back. Trade him immediately and save his salary to put toward someone else. I would love to see us go hard after Michael Turner. I do realize that it won't be easy to trade him, but we need to do whatever it takes. Give some dough up to to get rid of him and get a 3rd round pick or something.

Moose served his purpose, but is now old, slow and only catches the ball when life is good. Anyone remember the Orton season. The guy couldn't catch a cold. There were signs of that this year too. He played well last year and was a mentor this year. We don't need him anymore. He commands too high of a salary and only plays well when the offense is good. Cut or trade. I don't know how the penalties toward the cap work on a cut, but he is taking time away from Bradley, Davis, and Hester who all are fast and could actually break off a big play.

Fred Miller has to go. Someone has to take the fall for this line and Fred you are the man. I remember watching the Giant game and seeing 4 straight plays a guy running right you and not even being touched. Hello you block for a living. I don't know if he is hurt, but I think the writing is on the wall and his career is over. Oh and the penalties this guy racked up. Get rid of this guy, way too much salary.

Adam Archaletta was a huge mistake. The guy can't cover a pass. He hits pretty well when in position, but how many times was he out of position. Then he missed so many big tackles. That was suppose to be a strength of his. This was the worst move we have made in the last 3 years. Wasted money. It even ended up costing Chris Harris. Bye, bye, Adam. Good luck at your next stop.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angelo Better Watch Out! - Jan 8, 2008

by #23 on Jan 8, 2008 10:47 PM CST

Jerry I hope you're reading this. This would be my approach to this year;s off-season. Jerry if your bosses see this they may offer me a job for my clever use of draft picks, free agency moves, and financial decisions. If you use them though, I won't tell.

Here's 10 things I would do to put this team in position to bounce back.

I would sign Grossman to a incentive based deal. If he does well, he see the money, if not he becomes a decent backup QB.
Give Orton a chance to compete for the job. He's not pretty but he doesn't turn the ball over. His pocket presence was decent. Hopefully, he can learn not to lock in on one receiver and improve his accuracy.
Trade Benson for a 3rd round pick or better and/or Moose for a 4th round pick or better.
Acquire Michael Turner! This is so huge I can't even describe how much. This would be the #1 goal. If we can't get Turner, look for a value pick at RB in either the 3rd or 4th round.
Cut Fred Miller and pick up two new good offensive lineman. Definitely pick-up one through free agency and two if possible. If not draft one in the first round. If we pick up two through free agency, then trade the #1 pick for more picks or draft a QB if available, or safety, or RB (I love Mendenhall being an Illinois fan).
Draft a safety day 1, but also make an attempt at Atogwe from St. Louis. The guy is a stud and realistically we probably couldn't get him, but at least I would explore the option.
Sign Bernard if he is being reasonable or else let him go. Honestly, he could be very good, but his inconsistency isn't worth the big bucks.
Sign Briggs if he will give us a hometown discount. I don't see this happening. He obviously care about the Benjamins, but I think it is worth it to offer him a good deal, but not an outstanding deal. If not thank him for his contributions and let him go as well.
Sign Rueben Brown and Brendon Ayenbedajo. Rueben will sign cheap and I believe Brendon wants to stay. He may get a little more than desired, but he is a valuable leader to our special teams. This is the year of saying good bye if anyone tries to break the bank.
Finally, make the smartest move of the off-season and make sure that we sign Hester to a huge contract now. The guy is getting faster every second. I think he hits 88 mph, travels into the future, checks to see where all the players are going to be during the kick-offs, then comes back to the present, and blows our minds. How much do you think he is going to be worth if he gets any better at all as a receiver? He's already priceless, sign him before he takes every dime we own.

Final notes to the sceptics: Realistically we need to prepare for the future at QB and RB, but I really believe that improving the line is more important this year. I think QB's and RB's will perform significantly better with an improved line. It would be nice to get a QB in the draft this year, but I wouldn't be opposed to waiting one more year if the right guy wasn't there.

I think we will be fine at DT with Harris, Dvoracek, Adams, and the guy we got from Cincy's practice squad. I would consider a second day pick at this position and also WR if we loose Berrian.

You can't do everything in one year, but I believe that this would give us the best chance to improve all the areas hurting.

Is Kevin Jones worth a look?

chacks — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:25:54 -0000

I've been reading reports that Kevin Jones worked out and four teams took a look - Miami, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Detroit. There is a report that Tampa may sign him. All these teams are pretty solid at running back...we are putting all of our faith in a rookie? Isn't Kevin Jones worth a look? We could probably sign him cheap, he reminds me of a slasher like Thomas Jones and has speed. Obviously after the knee surgeries, it's a risk, but I think it might be worth it?

Where Do Olsen and Clark Rank?

#23 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:35:28 -0000

So I head over to Mocking the Draft to read something different and I come across this list of all the TE's in the league. It is ranked according to who you would want to start on your team. Since we have a couple TE's I thought I'd see where they fell.

Olsen - 16
Clark - 42

OK, I know that Clark is down to 2-4 years, but he isn't even considered a starter in this league. Give me a break. On our offense he still shines and that is saying a ton. Give him a real offense and that guy is a stud. He does nothing but make big plays every time you need it. He is clutch, a great blocker, good hands, gets open, and what else do you want.

Well that is my opinion. Does anyone else think that is bogus?
Where would you rank each?
What does your top 10 look like?

Running game optimism

gillrowdy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:54:23 -0000

There is this article http://chi.scout.com/2/764573.html that gives reason to be optimistic about the Bears running game, mostly because Cedric Benson is gone. While chemistry is important on a team, its still difficult for me to envision a much improved run game by the Bears in 2008. The other players may not have liked Benson as much as they will like Matt Forte, the "heir apparent" main RB, the blocking effort should be the same regardless. The Offensive Line will have a slightly different look, with Ruben Brown replaced by either backup Terrance Metcalf or Josh Beekman. Fred Miller(whose strength was supposed to be run-blocking) will be replaced by rookie Chris Williams, moving last years LT, John Tait, to RT this year. The main blocking TE duties may also be relegated to rookie, Kellen Davis, and a new mix of WRs dont exactly stand out as great blockers either.

So while the attitude may be a little better in the locker room, it could be argued that the blocking talent has gotten even worse. The aging John Tait will be counted on to psuh the defense back and open more holes this season, and he's not exactly the strong, heavy, mauler that teams rely on for a good run-blocking RT. Ruben Brown was once a Pro-Bowl Guard who could pull and open holes in the second level, but career backups(who couldn't win the starting job even while Brown was injured) will be expected to step up improve on that. While rookie Chris Williams was touted as an excellent finesse-blocking LT, it likely will take a year or two to master the run-blocking aspect for him.

That leaves 2nd roundpick Matt Forte, replacing former #4 overall pick Benson, as the only significant improvement in personnel. Benson was no slouch athletically when healthy, so Forte wont be that much faster or stronger. We must hope he is shiftier and has more heart(which wont be hard to imagine). Does anybody buy that the Bears would always run with Benson in the backfield and pass when Peterson lined up because that was all they were good for? I believe any predictability came from Ron Turner's play-calling, not the RB lined up in the backfield. Was Wolfe really not used because Benson was too valuable to take off the field, or because he may not have what it takes? Are any of you optimistic about the situation?