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Gearing up for the draft

By Adam T

With only two days left before draft day, as you can imagine most media avialable is in regards to that.  With recent rumors that the Bears might be looking to trade down and also rumored talks with Indianapolis about trading Thomas Jones, the Chicago media has had plenty to write about.  This piece has a few interesting tidbits I thought I would point out.

On the draft:

A source said three or four teams have inquired about the Bears' willingness to trade down. The thinking around the league is that with all 22 starters returning, the Bears can draft for "wants and not need,'' as general manager Jerry Angelo puts it, and will be able to drop into the second round without a negative impact on the 2006 roster.

...and add some help in the return game. Miami return specialist Devin Hester -- a man without a position who could help at cornerback, running back and wide receiver with his sub-4.3-second time in the 40-yard dash -- said Wednesday that the Bears gave him a special workout last month in Florida and have called him four times since then to gauge his interest in playing multiple positions.

On Thomas Jones:

Grossman, like the rest of the Bears' players, values Jones as a teammate and wants him back. But he understands both Jones' desire to better his situation -- he might double his projected 2006 salary of $2.25 million if he's traded -- and the Bears' need to get Cedric Benson, the No. 4 overall pick last year, on the field. A deal with the Indianapolis Colts has been rumored.

"He's a great player, and we don't want him to go anywhere,'' Grossman said of Jones. "But the business is the business. At some point, you have to put yourself in the best position you can. When it is a position you drafted a player as high as you did, he's eventually going to take over, especially with a player the caliber of Cedric Benson.

"He's a motivated player, a hard worker, and you can't say enough about his pass-blocking,'' Grossman said. "He also might be the smartest player on the team, other than Olin [Kreutz], as far as understanding defenses and where the blitz is coming from. He'll pick up things he's really not supposed to pick up. He's a great running back, but when you talk about pass protection and attitude, he's invaluable.''

On Currie:


The draft is not deep at wide receiver, but Grossman said that's no problem because he's building an excellent rapport with slot receiver Airese Currie, a fifth-round pick in 2005 who missed last season because of a foot injury. Grossman said Currie is the fastest player he has thrown to.

"I have to quicken everything out,'' Grossman said. "It's good he and I are working together all offseason. I've got the timing down now, but it took an adjustment."

And just a quick something I read from an article I can now longer find, GM Jerry Angelo thinks that the Bears can get 6 future starters from this draft.  He must be pretty confident in himself.  The Bears currently only have 6 picks in the draft.  The chance that every one of them pan out is not that high.

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