Chicago Bears News: Roster Projections and Much More
Good morning Bears fans, and thanks for checking out Bear Dawn, the latest Chicago Bears news and notes for Friday, July 24th. Actual news around the NFL is lacking at this part of the off season, but with training camp fight around the corner, it is sure to pick up very soon.
Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com put together a couple of interesting Bears roster projections, including taking his crack at the entire 53-man roster, and the starters on offense, defense and special teams.
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There are not too many surprises here, but it is interesting to look at nonetheless. Some highlights include Dickerson projecting that Kyle Long sticks at right guard, Will Montgomery beats out Hroniss Grasu and Sam Acho beating out the likes of Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston and Willie Young to start opposite of Pernell McPhee at OLB.
The most surprising move on either to me was Dickerson projecting the Bears to cut OLB David Bass, who is a big-time breakout candidate this season. The competition at outside linebacker will be fierce, but I have a hard time imagining the Bears not finding a way to get Bass on the roster.
Matt Eurich of Bleacher Report takes a crack at grading the strength of each Bears’ position group. The wide receivers grade out the best with Eurich giving the group an A. That may be a touch high in my eyes, but they are a talented group with a lot of upside.
The running backs also graded out well with a solid and fair B. On the down side, the defensive line and outside linebackers both received a D+. While that is probably fair due to their unproven crop of players at both positions, it seems a bit low to me. Especially the outside linebackers.
John Mullin of CSN Chicago has an interesting look at a past Bears coaching search. According to Mullin, “back in 2004 the Bears made a run at hiring (Nick) Saban, a friend of Jerry Angelo’s from the year (1977) that Saban spent as an assistant to Angelo on the Syracuse coaching staff. Saban was the first choice to succeed Dick Jauron after the latter was fired following the 2003 season.”
“After long hours of negotiations, Angelo and Saban had reached an understanding on the issue of personnel,” Mullin continued. “The situation blew up, however, when President Ted Phillips refused to commit the Bears to money in the range of the $4 million Saban demanded.”
Now, that would have been interesting. However, Saban’s time with the Miami Dolphins did not go well. He is a coach best suited for the college game, and I doubt him being hired by the Bears would have changed that.
The ChicagoFootball.com Bear Necessities countdown continued on Thursday with Matt Forte checking in at number two. Nate Atkins has the write-up on Forte.
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