Balta1701

Just wish the colts had Wayne for this.

Help, I type too slow!

Everyone should stop sharing names.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 11:07 AM) Ahhh, OK. Maybe we should retitle this one and use it since its deviated from Karko anyway. If we renamed every thread when it deviates from the initial subject all the admins would quit due to overwhelming workloads.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jan 4, 2014 -> 11:00 AM) And just what is "it"? Well, IMO the first of many threads on who will replace Ventura after this season.

Xavier keeps getting mentioned in this thread, I'm going to blame it for marketing to me.

Very uninterested in those teams.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 09:31 PM) I think he will get the D respectable next year. Not beastmode, but respectable If he can pull that off while still providing things like a slot receiver and backup rb, I'll be seriously impressed. But I won't say its impossible.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 10:06 PM) I know. It's the joke that keeps on not giving. Just like the modern financial industry!! (/rimshot)

Obviously, since all those new posters are overwhelming us.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 09:00 PM) Dan Snyder continues to be disgusting. What, you say that as though that's not how were supposed to treat rich people. They're better than the rest of us.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 07:42 PM) We are a week past the final day of the regular season, I'm not projecting anything right now. I certainly didn't see Slauson, Mills, Long, Martellus coming in, I didn't see Alshon takin that huge of a step, Earl taking that much of a step back, and the offense producing the second most PPG in the NFL. Emery was extremely specific about fixing the defense, just as specific as he was when he was hired and said "I need to give Jay an offense". He did what he said he was going to do. I'm willing to let it play out and give the guy time to fix the defense. All I can say is that if Emery pulls off a serious defense upgrade over This year I'll be very impressed.

I'd be just about as thrilled as I was with Ventura.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 07:15 PM) A big step towards having a decent defense would be healthy defenders. Part of the problem with that concept is that the guys who weren't healthy for the Bears mostly aren't under contract for next year. Thus, as of right now, the Bears don't even have defenders, let alone healthy ones.

Maybe you have time to bleed!

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 06:36 PM) Didn't Peppers just restructure before this season? Yes, he has before each year. Each time it's given him a little bit of new money but moved some of the cap hit into the future. Now that is coming home to roost, with a large cap hit for him even if he's cut.

Kids, patience.

I don't have a lawn either.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 04:28 PM) If Clowney is given a clean bill of health, I give it a 99.9% chance he's a top 5 pick. He's Julius Peppers or Bruce Smith or whoever, an absolute monstrosity of a force whose potential some team will not pass on. It's really tough to see him going anything but #1, and my god that's going to be a defense I don't want to play.

Even California can get cold sometimes/someplaces.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 04:12 PM) if Clowney fell to 14, I'd eat a shirt Someone actually wrote that? Some joke site?

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 04:05 PM) I view it differently. I don't think they defense needs guys to come in and make a big splash. They just need solid players who can be dependable. With an average defense, this team is a playoff team. With an above average defense, they're a contender. I think that's very doable. Like I said, we need to wait until cuts are made before free agency (and then again after June 1) to really understand what will be available, but I expect there to be guys who get cut who could be good signings and not break the bank - i.e. DJ Williams last year. Add in a few new drafted players, and this defense could certainly be "above average" again. I don't think they're that far away. Right now, I think the Bears are extremely far away from an average defense. Farther than they were away from an average offense last year when they spent most of their $20 million in cap space on improving the offense. They don't even have the warm bodies there right now, and the ones they do have are guys like Conte and McClellan.

Bring it on.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 03:31 PM) And what does Keppinger have to do with player development. He's here because he has 2 years left on his contract. I've said the phrase "maximizing resources" repeatedly but you've seemingly ignored it.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jan 3, 2014 -> 03:26 PM) It's not great, but it's about like it is every year at this time. They're will inevitably be plenty of players cut for cap reasons who could still be solid contributors. Even now, there are some decent players that could help out. I wonder if the Bears would consider De La Puente from the Saints. They're in a tough spot with the cap, and still need to find room to re-sign Jimmy Graham. I could see him re-uniting with Kromer and he'd be an upgrade over Garza. The Bears problem might not be that they can't find tolerable players, the Bears problem could be that their defense needs guys to make a real big splash/big impact, and there might not be a whole lot of those guys available. That means the Bears are going to have to put together their defense almost piecemeal in an environment where there aren't a lot of guys to use up cap space of teams that have it. That's a rough situation and it's going to require Emery to have a whole lot of successful hits on the signings he does make to turn that defense into anything better than what it was last year.