Alex44
Chicago Bears GM
My opinion and write up about this off season, hate it or love it be honest. Don't completely bash me or call me crazy though, I'd like some intelligent discussion here you know? No refund on minutes lost of your life. :tongue:
The 2006 season was a disappointment at best. We finally had a franchise QB, Ronnie Brown was going to dominate, and we had finally made the offensive line at least suitable enough to make the playoffs. However it just wasn't meant to be. The season ended with a miserable 6-10 record, a QB situation as cloudy as ever and a head coach showing his true stripes by walking away from his team. There was one bright spot however, with a top five defense maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel....maybe our luck is starting to change. If last season taught me anything though it's that I want to see improvement before I assume it will be there but lets take a quick look on what we have to look forward to.
The Coaching Search:
After Saban walked away there was a rush of panic through fans. There were no big name coaches out there, and our interviews consisted of mostly inexperienced candidates with only one or two years of coordinating experience. After a long and tedious interviewing process we ended up with the rumored final three. Jim Mora Jr., Chan Gailey, and Cam Cameron. Of the three I wasn't excited about any of them, but I wanted Gailey. I wasn't impressed with Cameron and his play calling in some games, and Mora Jr. was just out of the question. Understand that Gailey didn't excite me either at the time...he was just the lesser of three evils. Soon after this Cam Cameron was hired as head coach and I wasn't exactly exited, but I decided to hold off judgement. The press conference was soon after and Cameron nailed it out of the park. I now fully support Cameron and believe we have a coach dedicated to making this a winning football team again.
The Bright Spot:
Perhaps the lone bright spot in 2006 was the defense, lead by the play of Jason Taylor and the crushing blows of Zach Thomas was as potent as ever. Shutting down offenses and finishing top five in points allowed without the ideal players to run a 3-4 defense, honestly I believe their performance was amazing if nothing else we have something to build on and look forward to next season.
Defensive Needs:
Although the defense was great last season I could see a lot of room for improvement, the defensive line was responsible for most of the units success and the linebackers weren't really ideal for a 3-4 defense and resulted in a lack of pressure sometimes. Wilkinson is counting at about 2.1 million against the cap and with Traylor as a free agent the team lacks an inexpensive big man to clog up holes. The secondary was picked on at times resulting in big plays but improved as the season went along. As it stands now here are my three needs for this team on defense.
OLB: The main idea of the 3-4 defense is to create pressure and cause the QB to make bad throws. The only man that is good on the blitz at linebacker for us is Jason Taylor but most teams know he is coming on every play anyway. That really just makes what he did this season even more amazing. The point stands however that it doesn't confuse an offense if they know JT is coming, know that Zach and Crowder aren't good on the blitz, and know that our other linebacker is almost a non factor (or so it seems). An OLB that can rush the passer would really take this defense to a new level and make the corners look that much better, this is a need that should be addressed via free agency in my opinion.
DT: As I said before Wilkinson is counting against the cap at about 2.1 million this season and Traylor is a free agent who may even retire. A young space eating DT would be another huge piece to this defense. As many of you know in a 3-4 you need a big DT because with only three defensive lineman it can be easy for the offensive lineman to get up-field and block your linebackers which results in getting run on over and over and over. In a perfect world we would cut Wilkinson, resign Traylor and draft a big DT in the later rounds. This isn't a perfect world of course but that is my hope for the situation. Rod Wright and Fred Evans are 4-3 DT's and would be very ineffective in a 3-4 defense so we need to look elsewhere. Evans will rotate in when we play the 4-3 and be a factor this year in my opinion, this is a need that should be addressed via draft.
CB: In a 3-4 you don't need shutdown corners, if your asking your corners to cover a receiver for an extended period of time your doing something seriously wrong elsewhere on your defense. However you do need guys who can play the ball. Honestly I haven't seen that out of any of our corners. I like Will Allen as a number two man and I also see Daniels as a number two man. So I'd like to see us pick up a corner that can play the ball, but not a high priced corner like Samuels or Clements. If we can find a steal at corner somewhere in the draft that's great. If not I'd like us to sign a guy who maybe isn't the best cover corner over an extended period of a play, but has a nice break to the ball and good hands. This is a need that could be filled either by free agency or the draft.
The Offense:
Wow where to start....from a QB on injured reserve to receivers that didn't make plays to an offensive line that looked horrible at times. There are so many questions and needs and I'll try and go over them for you all.
Questions/Needs
QB: Will Daunte Culpepper come back healthy? Will Joey be released or traded? Is Cleo Lemon a rising star? Sadly I don't know the answer to any of these questions but I do have faith in Cam that he will make a good decision for us moving forward.
WR: Booker is solid, Chambers is streaky, Welker isn't a true number one, Hagan showed a great ability to get open but had trouble actually catching passes. So where do we go from here? Well first off I think either Booker or Chambers should be shopped for a draft pick. Not only to rebuild our WR core but also to free up cap room for free agency. Looking at cap numbers releasing/trading Chambers would save us about 5.4 million, while releasing/trading Booker would save us about 3.1 million. Chambers is younger and has more talent however Booker has been more consistent. Which will go? Both? Neither? Again I don't have the answers but I think we would benefit from addition by subtraction in this case.
O-Line: The whole line is a question. No-one gets into the end zone without these guys all around improvement is needed and I believe everyone but Vernon Carey is replaceable. In particular LT, C, and LG should be given the most priority. This should be addressed via free agency and draft.
Free Agency:
Just a short list of positions I would like us to look to fill in free agency.
LG
CB
OLB
FB
The Draft:
These are the guys I'd like to see us pick up in the draft.
1) Levi Brown: LT
2) Ryan Kalil: C
3) Kevin Kolb: QB
4) David Ball: WR
6) DT or CB
7) CB or DT
The result of free agency and the draft:
If we do pick up Levi and Kalil that leaves us with a very young very solid line for years to come. My dream would be to sing LG: Steinback in free agency and leave us with a line that looks like this:
LT: Levi Brown. LG: Steinback. C: Kalil. RG: Shelton. RT: Carey
David Ball takes care of our WR situation and the kid will be a stud. I really think he could step in and be our number two guy next year. He is move of a Booker mold than Chambers. Possession WR that knows how to get open and has great hands. Because of that it may be better to trade Booker in this situation.
Trading for a pick:
If we are able to move Booker for a 3rd rounder I'd love to use it on Merriweather. He and Allen would make for a great safety combo for many many years.
In conclusion:
There are some holes that need to be filled, but I really think we have a good core in our defense to build off of. If the offense improves even slightly we should be a 8-8 team. If Culpepper comes back and plays like his former self we could be a 10-6 or better team but I'm not counting on that happening....hoping though.
We should go as far as the defense takes us. If we commit to the running game that alone will improve our offense. If Chambers or someone else really emerges at WR it will greatly improve our offense, and if Daunte comes back 100% and plays well....the offense may carry us to many more wins that we expect.
Whether those things will happen I don't know, as of now none of us know. We all know one thing though....In Cameron we trust.
The 2006 season was a disappointment at best. We finally had a franchise QB, Ronnie Brown was going to dominate, and we had finally made the offensive line at least suitable enough to make the playoffs. However it just wasn't meant to be. The season ended with a miserable 6-10 record, a QB situation as cloudy as ever and a head coach showing his true stripes by walking away from his team. There was one bright spot however, with a top five defense maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel....maybe our luck is starting to change. If last season taught me anything though it's that I want to see improvement before I assume it will be there but lets take a quick look on what we have to look forward to.
The Coaching Search:
After Saban walked away there was a rush of panic through fans. There were no big name coaches out there, and our interviews consisted of mostly inexperienced candidates with only one or two years of coordinating experience. After a long and tedious interviewing process we ended up with the rumored final three. Jim Mora Jr., Chan Gailey, and Cam Cameron. Of the three I wasn't excited about any of them, but I wanted Gailey. I wasn't impressed with Cameron and his play calling in some games, and Mora Jr. was just out of the question. Understand that Gailey didn't excite me either at the time...he was just the lesser of three evils. Soon after this Cam Cameron was hired as head coach and I wasn't exactly exited, but I decided to hold off judgement. The press conference was soon after and Cameron nailed it out of the park. I now fully support Cameron and believe we have a coach dedicated to making this a winning football team again.
The Bright Spot:
Perhaps the lone bright spot in 2006 was the defense, lead by the play of Jason Taylor and the crushing blows of Zach Thomas was as potent as ever. Shutting down offenses and finishing top five in points allowed without the ideal players to run a 3-4 defense, honestly I believe their performance was amazing if nothing else we have something to build on and look forward to next season.
Defensive Needs:
Although the defense was great last season I could see a lot of room for improvement, the defensive line was responsible for most of the units success and the linebackers weren't really ideal for a 3-4 defense and resulted in a lack of pressure sometimes. Wilkinson is counting at about 2.1 million against the cap and with Traylor as a free agent the team lacks an inexpensive big man to clog up holes. The secondary was picked on at times resulting in big plays but improved as the season went along. As it stands now here are my three needs for this team on defense.
OLB: The main idea of the 3-4 defense is to create pressure and cause the QB to make bad throws. The only man that is good on the blitz at linebacker for us is Jason Taylor but most teams know he is coming on every play anyway. That really just makes what he did this season even more amazing. The point stands however that it doesn't confuse an offense if they know JT is coming, know that Zach and Crowder aren't good on the blitz, and know that our other linebacker is almost a non factor (or so it seems). An OLB that can rush the passer would really take this defense to a new level and make the corners look that much better, this is a need that should be addressed via free agency in my opinion.
DT: As I said before Wilkinson is counting against the cap at about 2.1 million this season and Traylor is a free agent who may even retire. A young space eating DT would be another huge piece to this defense. As many of you know in a 3-4 you need a big DT because with only three defensive lineman it can be easy for the offensive lineman to get up-field and block your linebackers which results in getting run on over and over and over. In a perfect world we would cut Wilkinson, resign Traylor and draft a big DT in the later rounds. This isn't a perfect world of course but that is my hope for the situation. Rod Wright and Fred Evans are 4-3 DT's and would be very ineffective in a 3-4 defense so we need to look elsewhere. Evans will rotate in when we play the 4-3 and be a factor this year in my opinion, this is a need that should be addressed via draft.
CB: In a 3-4 you don't need shutdown corners, if your asking your corners to cover a receiver for an extended period of time your doing something seriously wrong elsewhere on your defense. However you do need guys who can play the ball. Honestly I haven't seen that out of any of our corners. I like Will Allen as a number two man and I also see Daniels as a number two man. So I'd like to see us pick up a corner that can play the ball, but not a high priced corner like Samuels or Clements. If we can find a steal at corner somewhere in the draft that's great. If not I'd like us to sign a guy who maybe isn't the best cover corner over an extended period of a play, but has a nice break to the ball and good hands. This is a need that could be filled either by free agency or the draft.
The Offense:
Wow where to start....from a QB on injured reserve to receivers that didn't make plays to an offensive line that looked horrible at times. There are so many questions and needs and I'll try and go over them for you all.
Questions/Needs
QB: Will Daunte Culpepper come back healthy? Will Joey be released or traded? Is Cleo Lemon a rising star? Sadly I don't know the answer to any of these questions but I do have faith in Cam that he will make a good decision for us moving forward.
WR: Booker is solid, Chambers is streaky, Welker isn't a true number one, Hagan showed a great ability to get open but had trouble actually catching passes. So where do we go from here? Well first off I think either Booker or Chambers should be shopped for a draft pick. Not only to rebuild our WR core but also to free up cap room for free agency. Looking at cap numbers releasing/trading Chambers would save us about 5.4 million, while releasing/trading Booker would save us about 3.1 million. Chambers is younger and has more talent however Booker has been more consistent. Which will go? Both? Neither? Again I don't have the answers but I think we would benefit from addition by subtraction in this case.
O-Line: The whole line is a question. No-one gets into the end zone without these guys all around improvement is needed and I believe everyone but Vernon Carey is replaceable. In particular LT, C, and LG should be given the most priority. This should be addressed via free agency and draft.
Free Agency:
Just a short list of positions I would like us to look to fill in free agency.
LG
CB
OLB
FB
The Draft:
These are the guys I'd like to see us pick up in the draft.
1) Levi Brown: LT
2) Ryan Kalil: C
3) Kevin Kolb: QB
4) David Ball: WR
6) DT or CB
7) CB or DT
The result of free agency and the draft:
If we do pick up Levi and Kalil that leaves us with a very young very solid line for years to come. My dream would be to sing LG: Steinback in free agency and leave us with a line that looks like this:
LT: Levi Brown. LG: Steinback. C: Kalil. RG: Shelton. RT: Carey
David Ball takes care of our WR situation and the kid will be a stud. I really think he could step in and be our number two guy next year. He is move of a Booker mold than Chambers. Possession WR that knows how to get open and has great hands. Because of that it may be better to trade Booker in this situation.
Trading for a pick:
If we are able to move Booker for a 3rd rounder I'd love to use it on Merriweather. He and Allen would make for a great safety combo for many many years.
In conclusion:
There are some holes that need to be filled, but I really think we have a good core in our defense to build off of. If the offense improves even slightly we should be a 8-8 team. If Culpepper comes back and plays like his former self we could be a 10-6 or better team but I'm not counting on that happening....hoping though.
We should go as far as the defense takes us. If we commit to the running game that alone will improve our offense. If Chambers or someone else really emerges at WR it will greatly improve our offense, and if Daunte comes back 100% and plays well....the offense may carry us to many more wins that we expect.
Whether those things will happen I don't know, as of now none of us know. We all know one thing though....In Cameron we trust.
