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I’ll start by saying I am a Bears fan… But, here are my current thoughts on the Bears (subject to change over the next 6-12 months).

I wrote something asking if the Bears should trade Hester a while ago. My thoughts are trade him while he’s hot and get something better in return that’ll help the core of the team. The way I look at it, the Bears need SO much, a kick/punt return specialist is something a finished team should be looking for.

Face it the O-line is old and bad. The Running back and wide receiver positions are weak. Benson has no drive, Peterson is a number two, and Wolfe is a very limited situational guy. As far as the receiving core goes, Moose is fading fast, if not gone already, Berrian needs a real #1 in order to be effective, and the rest can be replaced as far as I’m concerned (seriously, who hasn’t been disappointed by Bradley or Davis?). The only bright spot on the offense is TE. Greg Olsen is legit, Clark is serviceable, but without a QB to get the ball there and an O-line to block for the QB it’s all for nothing. The way I look at it, when TE and special teams are your bright spots, you’ve got problems.

I think what the bears really need to look for are:

Offensive line

So, if the Bears trade off Hester for a top five pick, they could probably pick up and OT like Jake Long, and then maybe later with their other first round pick select someone like Cherilus (Boston College) or Baker (USC) to help strengthen the line. You can probably live with Kreutz at center another year or two, and look into more guards on the market as they become available.

#1 Wide Receiver

Finding a #1 WR is tough, I’m not sure what they can do about that through the draft, or who will be available in the off season. Maybe pick up Andre’ Davis from Houston? He’s no number one, but I think he’s a more capable WR than Hester/Davis/Bradley, so not a bad number three/four, assuming you keep Berrian at least.

Safeties

The Bears need safeties, Archuleta has been a bust, Mike Brown gets injured. There are the top two safeties and the rest have been rather disappointing too. I think right now you hope and pray Mike Brown will be healthy next year so you only really need to find one decent guy at that position. I wish the Bears would have kept Chris Harris this past off season.

Linebacker Depth

Maybe adding a LB for depth isn’t such a bad idea. Urlacher’s back problems worry me; arthritic problems aren’t the type that go away, as far as I know. Oh, and Lance Briggs and his apparent search for a big payday also have me worried that the Bears will either not be able to afford him, or simply not sign him.

Running Back

Michael Turner will be a free agent, Chester Taylor may be up for trade in Minnesota (but unlikely to be trade within the division, if traded at all). Outside of that there isn’t a lot of interesting talent there, to me anyway. Maybe Justin Fargas, but I don’t really know how I feel about taking a shot with another RB when you have Benson already; if you’re going to give a guy a shot, give it to your own draft pick you already control.

Quarterback

As far as the QB position is concerned, I’m willing to live with a Rex/Orton one/two if it allows the Bears to improve in other areas. I think Derek Anderson will be a restricted free agent, but if he left Cleveland I’d be interested in seeing him in Chicago. Other than that there’s not much I like for QB, and don’t waste a pick on one in the draft! I’ve given up on McNabb. He won’t play for the Bears with the lack of an offense, plus all the injury history that comes with him isn’t worth the risk.

Ok, so now let me know what you think. Post some comments and tell me why I’m wrong, or why you agree.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Chicago, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.