Mamoscott

I am on board and have also switched to The Rally Crede. Every little bit counts.

I hope he's starting on Sunday, because I'll be at that game. Hopefully the weather holds up, and I get to see a pitching gem from B-Mac against Prior. If that ends up happening, I couldn't really fathom a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Apr 30, 2005 -> 01:06 AM) Zoom, I guess we will just have to see about who is right or wrong about this while they are playing on the field. Ok, be sure to remind us in 3-4 years once Mark Bradley has hopefully shown enough promise to get some significant playing time on the football field for the Bears. :

QUOTE(thomsonmi @ Apr 27, 2005 -> 10:53 PM) They are?!?!? How many can you count in the NFL? Jamal Lewis, Priest Holmes... who else? Benson is seen as an incredible red zone running back by scouts. He's never going to be a breakaway threat but hell neither was Walter Payton or Emmitt Smith. Angelo chose Benson because he felt a solid running back was a more important addition than a solid wide receiver like Mike Williams. Fact is, on numbers of touches alone in a game that belief is hard to argue with. I favored drafting Williams myself but in reality of Benson is the grinder he's expected to be we will be able to control the ball and make our defense even better than it already is. Lewis and Holmes were all you could come up with? Corey Dillon, Ahman Green, Rudi Johnson, Curtis Martin, Tiki Barber, Clinton Portis, Chris Brown, Sean Alexander, Edgerrin James, Deuce McAlllister, LD Tomlinson, etc. There are more, like Stephen Davis, but they got hit with bad injuries last season. Running backs are all over the place. In addition, the Colts were rumored to be trying to deal Edge, and the Bills were trying to deal Henry because McGahee has emerged as their workhorse back. We didn't need to upgrade our RB though, since we have Jones anyway. IF you don't like Thomas Jones, I'll just quote a post from another message board I frequent, which echoes my sentiments exactly: Also, the "Mike Williams can't get separation" comments are hilarious. Williams had 176 catches for 2,570 yards and 30 touchdowns in two seasons at USC. The Bears' round two stud Mark Bradley managed 34 catches for 7 touchdowns in his two years at Oklahoma. As TRU said, Williams is a franchise WR, and comparing him to a guy like Bradley is a joke.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Apr 27, 2005 -> 12:42 AM) It's not the top speed that is the difference (Scouts inc had 4.55 for Benson, 4.51 for Williams by the way). I'm not that one that buys into 40 times that much because you don't play football in shorts in a T-shirt on a track, you almost never run for 40 yards in a straight line, and no one is trying to rip your head off when you're running the 40. Physically they're pretty much the same, but their running styles are very different. Benson runs over and through guys a lot more, Williams is a lot more elusive. I'm not a fan of getting a 220 pound power back in the high first, that's my main problem with the pick. Most of the really good backs his size like Green and Tomlinson have very good speed to supplement their power. I wouldn't have had a problem if he were our 2nd or 3rd round pick, but when we take him #4 over someone like Williams, I'm not happy. Obviously I could be wrong, but my prediction is that we are going to wish we took Mike Williams. I think if things go well he's going to be somewhat like Eddie George- 2 or 3 good seasons followed by a drop off in production and some nagging injuries. I am glad you are here to do my debating for me, because that's exactly how I feel, especially the Benson/LD/Green/Cadillac comparisons. Admittedly, it'll be tough for Benson to be as disappointing as Curtis Enis was, but even if Benson does have some success, it doesn't change the fact that workhorse running backs are fairly easy to acquire these days. Thomas Jones was fine last year, and the Bears didn't need to burn the number four overall pick on another running back. They had greater needs to fill at other positions, and there were other players available with greater potential (Mike Williams). Minnesota signed Antoine Winfield last year and Fred Smoot this year to solidify their secondary. Both of them are under 5 feet 10 inches tall and under 180 pounds. Don't you think the potential receiving duo of Muhsin Muhammad (6'2" 217 lbs) and Mike Williams (6'5" 229 lbs) would give them and a lot of other teams some major problems? The NFC North is littered with terrible secondaries, and we play division opponents 6 games per year. Yet we're content to take a marginal upgrade at running back instead of taking a chance on a potential franchise receiver. I don't like it one bit.

Chicago Bears: D- Pre-draft needs: WR, QB, TE, LB, OL/DL Depth, Secondary Depth 1) 4th overall - Cedric Benson RB Texas - Curtis Enis all over again. As if the pick wasn't horrifying enough by itself, Benson's ESPN interview was an incoherent trainwreck of epic proportions. With Edwards off the board to Cleveland, this pick should have been a no-brainer: Mike Williams (or trading down for more picks). Instead, the Bears take Benson at #4 overall in one of the deepest RB drafts in years, ignoring the fact that Thomas Jones would have been fine with our offensive line FA additions and that there are quite a few backs on the trading block as well. Plus, GB, Minnesota, and Detroit all have mediocre-to-terrible secondaries, and adding a second impact receiver to complement Muhsin would have been a big help, especially against our division rivals. Instead, Ron Turner is intent on building a power running game around Benson, who I'm sure will have a lot of fun running into the likes of Grady Jackson, KGB, and a revamped Vikings d-line on a consistent basis. And now we'll have to deal with Williams/Williams/Rogers/Jones whenever we play Detroit. f***. 2) 39th overall - Mark Bradley WR Oklahoma - He's fast and has good size, but only 34 catches in two seasons at Oklahoma? That doesn't exactly scream "I can get open consistently at the next level" to me. Also, had an ACL injury a couple years ago but apparently has good upside. We are really counting on Bobby Wade and Justin Gage to blossom this year, since Muhsin will no doubt be double teamed on almost every play. High second round picks should not be projects who will only contribute on special teams for a few years. 4) 106th overall - Kyle Orton QB Purdue - Don't like him. He played well against s*** defenses, had trouble handling pressure, and failed to make plays when it mattered most in close games. I would have liked to have seen the Bears roll the dice on Adrian McPherson here, but of course we went with Orton instead, another "no balls" pick. That makes four Big Ten QB's on our roster now (George, Kittner, Krenzel, and now Orton). I'm sure we're desperately waiting for Denny G to cut John Navarre, so we can add him to our stable. If Denny is too stupid to cut him though, I see the much-sought-after Jim Harbaugh receiving a collect call from Jerry Angelo in the very near future. Grossman's still our guy though! 5) 140th overall - Airese Currie WR Clemson - Another speedy and undersized receiver to stretch the field. Bernard Berrian did that job for us last year - we just didn't have an o-line or a QB to get the ball to him with any kind of consistency. I probably would have liked to see a defensive guy selected here to add some LB, secondary, or d-line depth. I love Ogunleye, but who knows if Alex Brown will repeat last year's performance/effort after getting his new contract? Plus, the Bears seem to be adept at finding solid LB's in later rounds of the draft. 6) 181st overall - Chris Harris S La.-Monroe - Who? 7) 220th overall - Rod Wilson S South Carolina - Lovely. God, I hope I'm wrong. Thank God for the White Sox and Bulls this weekend.

QUOTE(Capn12 @ Apr 25, 2005 -> 11:40 PM) Welcome to Soxtalk Mamoscott I don't look for 6 runs from us tomorrow, lets hope Buehrle can grind through 7 IP or so, and we scrape a run or 2 out for him. Thanks. Yeah, Buerhle's gonna have to throw a gem tomorrow. I'd be more than happy with 2 runs from the Sox offense against Harden, but failing that, maybe our hitters can work some counts for a change to get to their bullpen sooner rather than later.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Apr 25, 2005 -> 11:32 PM) A little bit of concern though as Garland took a stinger winger off his leg for the 2nd out to Guch. Hopefully it won't be anything more than a bruise. I kid you not though. When you watch the Garland starts just keep watching as the inning ends. He waits for Uribe to thank him. That's the kind of team chemistry you want to see. That's the kind of thing that makes it more fun for both & gives them that little extra to give a little more next time. You don't see that on all teams. I never see Prior do it. The sad thing was that ESPN showed highlights of the game and followed it up with a segment on how well Barry Zito pitched (until the 7th of course), completely ignoring Garland's performance. 16-4. Hot stuff. Let's keep it going, boys! Buehrle/Harden tomorrow should be a tough one.