The *Unofficial* Bears Offseason Thread

[ralphster 274]

Bears homer here. Been a rough few years seeing so much potential wasted, not to mention time outs, so I'm starting this thread to discuss the changes that have happened and should happen in order for the Bears to climb back into real NFC relevance.

 

Without further ado:

 

Marc Trestman?

 

I don't know if he was the right choice. I had wanted Arians or McCoy, maybe Clements. I was part of the fanbase that wanted the Bears to lose in order to force Lovie out the door. Never thought badly of him per se - his teams tried hard and the D was usually top notch - but ever since his blind devotion to Grossman I thought he was not the guy to make the calls that net another ring. I sure hope Emery knows what he's doing, but I respect him making the offense a priority. Our aging defense begins to slow and needs to win now, so scoring more points seems the obvious path to success. His work with Gannon is impressive, if that was mostly him. I don't discount the CFL as much as some - HC is tough and leading a team in any league would test his mettle.

 

I had unconfirmed news from a friend that said an oline coach from NO would be our new OC. If so I hope he brings Bushrod with him. Forte would seem to benefit.

 

Also unconfirmed is that the DC position remains Marinelli's should he want it. I sure hope that's true and that he stays - done a great job thus far.

 

Toub needed to go - great ST coach who thinks he can be a HC I wish him luck as much as I wish he'd have put his foot down to keep Hester strictly returning.

 

Dear wishes for the upcoming draft and free agency:

 

1. O Line - ignored it last year to steal GB's DE pick. We could've had Cordy Glen instead, who started well as an OT while Cutler got sacked nearly as much as last year. Bushrod or Long would be great too.

 

2. LB help - 54 is running around like a Ken doll; he can't bend at the knee much anymore. HOF mike backer we all love dearly. Let him slowly transition to the sideline by coaching up his replacement.

 

3. O line - yep, we really need it this badly. Dependable and slick slot WR would be nice, or impact D line would be ok too. Don't forget big fast pass catching TE!

 

Thoughts?

[Fantasy Noob 10]

Just a brutal conference to be in, everyone is always on the NFC east but wow the NFC north is to me the best division in the NFL by far.

 

If they have cap room they should add a couple offensive linemen through free agency, off the top of my head I think Jake Long could be the best available if he isn't tagged, but the media claims his play has slipped some this year.

 

I think one needs to be a left tackle and the other a veteran center this would let you juggle Camiri to guard and Webb to right tackle or backup, that with some time to work together should make tremendous difference. After that best player available with an eye towards defense. Although your #2WR/SlotWR/TE all seem to be underperforming but it could be Cutler forcing the ball to Marshall a bit too much.

 

If you could even out the offense a bit behind Marshall, and stabilize the O-line this team could be a real threat. I am worried your GM spent to much on a backup RB/QB and it is hurting your cap room (but I didn't look).

[lesjroza 70]

Ralphster I am a Bears fan also. I have been waiting to see others comment in this thread but they haven't so I wonder if some are like me. I am a bit unnerved by the Trestman hiring in the sense that I just don't know enough about the direction he will take the team to have much to talk about at this point.

I mean I know his general backround and that he was a QB coach at many of his NFL stops but what will he be bringing to the Bears in the way of a style of offensive attack? Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen much other than he is an "offensive guru" really.

 

Did he run a certain style of offense that he knows inside and out in his head coaching opportunities? I didn't watch his college or Canadian football teams so I don't know if he even ran the same style consistently. Without knowing what he is going to try to do it's hard to evaluate whether we have some or none of the talent we need. Sure we need better Oline play, but do we need quick agile lineman or big bruisers? Do we need blocking specialist TEs or multiple joker types?

Are we looking for the pinball little slot WR or the tall mismatch down the seam?

 

Don't take these questions to be combative I really want to know if anyone has a strong sense of what we can expect the Bears offense to look like under Trestman and then go from there so I can talk intelligently about where I feel the team currently stands and where it needs to go. For the moment I am in "wait and see" mode.

[ralphster 274]

Ralphster I am a Bears fan also. I have been waiting to see others comment in this thread but they haven't so I wonder if some are like me. I am a bit unnerved by the Trestman hiring in the sense that I just don't know enough about the direction he will take the team to have much to talk about at this point.

 

It appears many are sharing this view Les.

 

Mel Tucker? What kind of D is he really going to run and do our personnel fit?

 

We do not have the o line to run a NO style offense.

 

Trestman is a question mark.

 

We've got a serviceable (if bitchy) QB, one good running back and one who's shown ability. One excellent WR, one up and comer and a slot man (Bennett) who can be dangerous. Hester might still be able to run a few punts back. The Defense is still strong, with obvious needs at LB/DL. The o line is holding up the whole deal. I look forward to seeing Emery's draft and free agent strategy.