First, just a quick follow up to the discussion on the Briggs-Berrian post yesterday. Stompy said…well, he said this:
Just because you're in the top 30 at your position doesn't make you a No. 1. Cleo Lemon was a starter this year. Chris Weinke was a starter this year. I'm sure, at points, they were top 32 players in the NFL. You can be in the Top 30/32 without being a legit No. 1. Look at Wes Welker. He might be a Top 10 WR in this league, but to me, that still doesn't make him a No. 1.
He’s right, but isn’t it a little different for receivers then quarterbacks? Only one quarterback plays at a time, while seeing three receivers on the field simultaneously has become the norm. I’m not saying the Bears should have matched what Minnesota gave Berrian, because they shouldn’t have. Berrian isn’t the fourth best receiver in the NFL and shouldn’t be paid as such. But why not use the franchise tag on him? It’s not like the Bears are going to use it on anyone else this season and it was unlikely they would spend all their cap space in the first place unless they made a hard push for Al Faneca, who ended up signing with the Jets anyways. When the Bears didn’t tag Berrian I figured they had a long-term deal already in place. Losing easily your best offensive player when it wasn’t necessary seems foolish to me.
Well there is nothing they can do about it now as the Bears have lost their two starting wide receivers from last season for nothing. The unit wasn’t that good in the first place, but it looks like there is little help on the depth chart. The question now becomes who will be catching passes for the Bears next season.
At this point, the starting receivers are Mark Bradley and Devin Hester. I like Bradley, it seems pretty much every Bears fan likes Bradley, but the coaching staff has never given him a chance. There has to be a reason for that. It seems like whenever he’s on the field, all Bradley does is catch really long touchdown passes. In 2006, he scored on plays from 75, 57, and 38 yards out. Last year he never the field, and ended up with only six catches for 71 yards. While giving Bradley more playing time probably seems like a good idea to outsiders, there has be a reason he doesn’t play.
As for Hester, well, I’m not as high on him as a receiver as the coaching staff, who apparently thinks he can turn into the next Steve Smith. I love Hester as much as anyone, but I fear putting too much on his plate can only be a bad thing. Look, I’ve spoke with the man before, he may have the mental capacity of, um, someone with a really small mental capacity (I got nothing). I don’t really worry about him getting hurt as much as I fear him running a fly pattern when he’s supposed to be running a hook. How many times did we see Moose correct him on stuff like that last season? It happened constantly. Rex throws enough picks as is, he doesn't need his receivers making him throw more.
So the Bears need two new receivers coming from free agency and the draft. They’ve talked to ex-Cardinal Bryant Johnson, who would be an upgrade over Muhammad but huge downgrade from Berrian. The two most intriguing names are Javon Walker and DJ Hackett, and the Bears might need both of them if they don’t want their offense to blow as bad as last season. It’ll be interesting to see what Walker ends up signing for, whether in Chicago or with someone else, because when he’s healthy, he can be really good. Hackett was a guy who everyone thought could breakout last season, but he ended up only playing six games because of injuries.
Hopefully the Bears sign either Hackett or Walker, then they can turn their attention to the draft. The Bears still need a left tackle more then anything, but if Ryan Clady isn’t available in round one, they might as well take a receiver. I’m not sold on Jeff Otah as a premier left tackle (though he could probably make a good right tackle or a monster guard) and Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams is a late riser whose stock seems to be in constant flux right now. I’m not sure Williams warrants the 14th pick. I’d love Mendenhall, but he probably won’t be there and receiver is a bigger hole anyway.
The three best receivers are Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly, Cal’s DeSean Jackson, and Texas’ Limas Sweed in some yet to be established order. Kelly and Sweed are both big and run 4.5ish 40’s, while Jackson is a little guy who’s a major burner. If the Bears don’t end up with one of those guys in the first round, they pretty much have to take a receiver in the second round. Maybe Mario Manningham will drop (Stompy, give us a scouting report since you’ve seen him as much as anyone) because of a slow 40, and Indiana’s James Hardy, Michigan State’s Devin Thomas, or LSU’s Early Doucet are all options as well. All four of those guys won’t be available in the middle of the second round, so maybe the Bears can use their two third round picks to trade up somewhere and grab a receiver before all the good ones are gone.
The sleeper in this whole equation is Mike Haas, who has never caught an NFL pass but was awesome in college and looked great in the preseason. He’s got Mike Furrey written all over him.
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Comments
Hey Ricky - thoughts on the bears not going after Michael Turner?
Much to say about Mario...
The Good: He had that Braylon-esque ability to just dominate games sometimes. While Braylon did it more consistently, Mario had a fair amount, too. The Notre Dame game from his sophomore year is probably most notable. This year's Michigan State game was another standout. He could really just go up and get it if he had his mind set on it. / In defense of his sub-par 40 time, his bread and butter was never really his first step, but rather his double move. Manningham is a fantastic route runner, and his second gear was what destroyed defensive backs in college -- and this includes his junior year when teams knew this about him going into games and could use that scouting to create their game plans for him. / Hard worker / Competitive
The Bad: Injury prone, missed a helluva lot of time throughout his career / Possible-maybe attitude problems, though I imagine he could be put into check in the NFL / Disappeared through stretches when the coaches or QB didn't get him involved / Awful, awful hands in the Ohio State game -- maybe his most infamous college game
Yeah the point of that 1,000 word thing that i'm sure no one read was that the Bears are dumb for not franchising Berrian.
As for Turner, I'd rather draft a tailback out of a very strong class this year then pay him over $30 million. I'm not positive that Benson is complete garbage yet, he might be able to be useful still a two back system. I wouldn't mind Julius Jones either.
I'm still shocked that Berrian got that type of money. He was good, not great and last season showed a lot of holes that he needed to improve on, especially over the middle. He was underutilized mostly due to the inability to establish a running game and protection thus limiting his down field threat. I think a guy like Sweed and Manningham (or even Arrington?) could change the perspective at the wide out position quickly. Early Doucet is another guy that could help in a slot role. A lot of that will also be shaped around Bradley who as you pointed out rarely has been on the field and contributed to the offense. I wouldn't mind seeing Hester on the field in multiple receiver sets, but not a core portion of the passing game, seeing as he nearly accounted for 50% of the Bears points last year in special teams. As for a possession receiver, couldnt agree more about Hass. Tough kid that has great hands and something to prove.
I keep hearing about Devin Hester and Mark Bradley only and for once today I heard Mike Haas, But keep a eye on Brandon Rideau he's 6'3" 215 you might just be surprised.
Why didn't the Bears put the franchise tag on Berrian for this year? It gives them another to fill the void at the position then let him go next year!!!!!!!!!