Many of us believe that the Bears drafted Tulane running back Matt Forte to eventually be Cedric Benson's replacement.  Now whether you think he can do or not, might not matter.  Cedric Benson's name is just showing up too often with a negative comments attached to it.  Regardless of what happens at least Matt Forte is impressing in camp .  Not that that means anything, but with an offense that doesn't work, I don't need to be hearing our 2nd round selection is showing up out of shape and unprepared.

Tulane running back Matt Forte, the Bears' second-round draft pick, figures to be Cedric Benson's chief competition for the starting running back position when training camp begins July 23.

He impressed coaching staff during a three-day rookie minicamp that concluded Sunday. Benson was arrested early Sunday in Texas on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

"Matt Forte ... since the first practice, has stood out," Bears coach Lovie Smith said Sunday. "He looked like he's been here before and that's what you want to see."

The Bears have handed out jerseys and numbers .  If my assumption is correct the o and d at the end of some players jerseys signify offense and defense and will have to be sorted out later if both players make the squad.

Draft Class:

OT Chris Williams (74)

RB Matt Forte (22)

WR Earl Bennett (85)

DT Marcus Harrison (94)

S Craig Steltz (27)

CB Zackary Bowman (35)

TE Kellen Davis (87)

DE Ervin Baldwin (99)

G Chester Adams (72o)

LB Joey LaRocque (90)

OT Kirk Barton (69)

WR Marcus Monk (19)

Undrafted free agents:

PK Shane Longest (2)

QB Caleb Hanie (12)

WR Curtis Hamilton (14)

QB Nick Hill (17)

CB Leslie Majors (46)

DB Trey Brown (49)

DE Nick Osborn (67)

DE Joe Clermond (72d)

OT Cody Balogh (79o)

DT David Faaeteete (79d).

Ignoring the whole "didn't draft a QB" thing, post draft Mel Kiper has said that no team helped themselves more than the Chicago Bears.

Chris Williams is the left tackle the Bears need from a pass-protection standpoint, and he'll start as a rookie. Matt Forte is a hard-nosed running back. He's not flashy, but he's elusive. I like what the Bears did on Day 2, starting with Vanderbilt WR Earl Bennett, who reminds me of Hines Ward. Arkansas DT Marcus Harrison lasted until the third round because of some off-field concerns, and Nebraska's Zack Bowman is a big corner who was once projected as a first-round pick, before he suffered injuries to both knees. LSU safety Craig Steltz -- who reminds me of former Bear Doug Plank -- will be a solid special teams player and could push for a starting job. With his height, Arkansas WR Marcus Monk could be a red zone threat and he qualifies as a very good seventh-round pick. He looked like a second-rounder after his junior year, and ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash, which is excellent for a 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver. Tight end Kellen Davis has tremendous athletic ability but he needs to be more consistent.

I  know many are wondering why the Bears did not select a QB in this draft.  This very question was asked on the Bears site to  Larry Meyer and he quoted some lines from Bears GM Jerry Angelo.

The Bears entered the 2008 draft determined to land as many players they viewed as eventual starters as they possible could regardless of position, and they accomplished that with their first five picks in left tackle Chris Williams in the first round, running back Matt Forte in the second round, receiver Earl Bennett and defensive tackle Marcus Harrison in the fourth round and safety Craig Steltz in the fifth round. The closest they came to selecting a quarterback occurred in the fourth round, but general manager Jerry Angelo explained that he “didn’t want to pass up a player that was a starter to take a quarterback that maybe could be a good backup.” Another key factor is that it was a very poor quarterback crop (other than Boston College’s Matt Ryan, who was selected third overall by the Atlanta Falcons). Said Angelo: “By our grades, I will agree that I didn’t think it was a great quarterback class. I thought earlier on it was going to be pretty good, but the more we did research and evaluation, we just felt it was going to be very mediocre and I think you saw that on how the players were picked.” Personally, I’m glad the way it played out. I’d rather seethe Bears draft a Nate Vasher than a Craig Krenzel!

So we know that Angelo at least was thinking about QBs.  He obviously was more interested in Matt Forte than he was Chad Henne or Brian Brohm, but it is really hard to tell what he would have done had 1 or both of them been available with the Bears 3rd round pick.

Continue reading this post »

Our next scenario is looking at the Bears taking in the first the position that most deem to be their biggest need, offensive line.  The depth at offensive line is large, but it will run out quickly and could be questionable in the 2nd if we choose to wait until then to address it. This plan is by  Doctor Chicago

Continue reading this post »