Thread: A Summary of 3 FA WR Prospects of Interest...

Once again a layman's summary but a good one I think. I don't think that there's any doubt that most of us would like the Bears to target Sidney Rice once FA begins. Let's assume for a moment that, for whatever reason, we aren't able to do that. Which would be a better fit, Moss or Burress?

Two guys on the far side of 30 with distinctly different attributes as WR's. One the smaller quicker possession type guy Mike Martz prefers and the other the bigger, bulkier, taller kind of guy who could easily make Cutler a pro-bowl QB again just like Brandon Marshall did. It's a tough choice but after reading their respective strong points which would you sign is both were available?

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

We'll go after santana moss b/c are mentally challenged "genious" OC, Yagbag that he is, doesn't think size matters in the NFL. But I'd still take him over Plax. Rice/Floyd are the only two ones I'm really interested in. If we're going to get Moss; at least the upside is teams recpect him, and would game plan around him.

Maybe we should hire Pam Anderson. I know she thinks size matter, LOL.

I'm with you on the guys we should be looking at. Floyd and Rice are my top guys too. It beats me why Floyd is never mentioned as a player of interest anytime there's a discussion about Bears WR prospects. He's about the same size as Plax, hasn't got the baggage, seems to have better speed and has been pretty productive as a #2 type guy. So what is there about him that just doesn't pique the Bears interest?

The thing with Moss is that he's another version of Earl Bennett so where does he play and how do you use him? He's not a guy who'll stretch the field but I guess if we're gonna haul in our horns on the 7 step drops he'll as be effective as anyone on those shorter routes where precision is key.

Well, if you are asking me what I think the Bears will do? I think they will go after S. Moss or a WR of that type. What do Ithink they should do? One: go after Rice. Assuming the Bears don't pick him up in FA, then I would prefer a big bodied WR like Floyd/Plax. Why? Because I believe that no plan survives contact intact. How well will our O-line pass protect? Last year our O-line was, less than perfect. Now, i realize there were some injuries,that there was significant improvement late in the season (Webb), that we have added an excellent O-lineman (Carimi) in the draft, and that the Bears are in an excellent position to pick up a quality O-lineman in FA. All of this points to the Bears having a better O-line this upcoming season. But nothing is guaranteed. With the shortened off season the entire O-line will have had less time to train and integrate. Make no mistake, I have high hopes for our improved o-line. I would love for our o-line to be the rock upon which the waves of opposing defenses break, but if it turns out that the O-line holds less like a dam, and more like a sieve; what do we do then? In that situation another small rout-runner WR does not help much, but a big go-up-and-get-the-ball WR does. In a nutshell, I'm a "hope for the best, plan for the worst" kind of person. If I'm wrong, then our O-line will have no problems, our offense will take off like super bowl bound rocket. If I'm right, then Jay is going to need that Big Target WR.

I tend to agree with you. The difference between should and will is probably Moss. One of the issues we've all talked about here was the Bears WR's difficulties with the precision needed to run the route tree in Martz's offense. Even Earl Bennett, despite his glue-like hands needs work in that regard. Enter Santana Moss who has that part of the job down pat.

Signing Moss, who isn't much of a downfield threat, would signal a change away from 7 step drops and field stretching pass calls. It seems he'd be content to leave that part of his game in the hands of Knox and Hester and concentrate more on getting the ball to Bennett and Moss with 15- 20 yard throws off shorter drops. It also seems to signal that he will focus on using Olsen more this year as his bigger receiver and maybe that's not all that bad.

Olsen is up for a contract extension and we know he has the ability to be used as a WR as well as a TE. This is another situation like we were in with Hester two years ago. Olsen will want a bigger payday or he'll test the FA waters. If Martz doesn't get him more involved it'll be hard to justify paying him what he'll probably be asking for so just like we did with Hester we try to get more productivity out of him by moving him around to create mismatches.

I don't know if that's what they will do but I know it's what they should do. Anything but have him line up as a blocking back would be an improvement in my mind. Even though he improved his blocking that's not his long suit. Maybe Martz will just concentrate on using Olsen, Davis, and Fantuz (if he even makes the team) as his bigger red zone targets and leave the other 80 yards of the field to the little guys.

I seldom saw K.Davis or Olsen running fade routes near the GL which I thought was disappointing for using size mismatches. Couple that with Martz saying he doesn't really give a hoot about a bigger wr and I think that is just foolish. I believe that we will win either Floyd or Rice in FA but how they use them leaves much to be desired.

I keep reading that there's no way Minnesota will allow Rice to leave, but I doubt Rice would want to stay with such uncertainty at QB in Minny

Originally Posted by soulman

I tend to agree with you. The difference between should and will is probably Moss. One of the issues we've all talked about here was the Bears WR's difficulties with the precision needed to run the route tree in Martz's offense. Even Earl Bennett, despite his glue-like hands needs work in that regard. Enter Santana Moss who has that part of the job down pat.

Signing Moss, who isn't much of a downfield threat, would signal a change away from 7 step drops and field stretching pass calls. It seems he'd be content to leave that part of his game in the hands of Knox and Hester and concentrate more on getting the ball to Bennett and Moss with 15- 20 yard throws off shorter drops. It also seems to signal that he will focus on using Olsen more this year as his bigger receiver and maybe that's not all that bad.

Olsen is up for a contract extension and we know he has the ability to be used as a WR as well as a TE. This is another situation like we were in with Hester two years ago. Olsen will want a bigger payday or he'll test the FA waters. If Martz doesn't get him more involved it'll be hard to justify paying him what he'll probably be asking for so just like we did with Hester we try to get more productivity out of him by moving him around to create mismatches.

I don't know if that's what they will do but I know it's what they should do. Anything but have him line up as a blocking back would be an improvement in my mind. Even though he improved his blocking that's not his long suit. Maybe Martz will just concentrate on using Olsen, Davis, and Fantuz (if he even makes the team) as his bigger red zone targets and leave the other 80 yards of the field to the little guys.

I tend to think that if Martz doesn't get Greg Olsen more involved in the offense as a receiver, he won't have much grounds for demanding an arm and a leg when it comes time for him to be a free agent. At that point, he's going to be an unproven commodity, and also, people are still going to be questioning his blocking abilities, the latter of what I said probably being the least of his, and our, worries.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

I tend to think that if Martz doesn't get Greg Olsen more involved in the offense as a receiver, he won't have much grounds for demanding an arm and a leg when it comes time for him to be a free agent. At that point, he's going to be an unproven commodity, and also, people are still going to be questioning his blocking abilities, the latter of what I said probably being the least of his, and our, worries.

Who cares what you think! You're a damn Yankee fan. j/k. Oh by the way, I haven't been attacked by any angry purple llamas either but maybe with all of the rain we've had they drowned along the way, LOL.

Seriously though, there are plenty of other teams who have an idea of what Olsen may be capable of if used effectively in the right offense. If he hits FA he'll have plenty of teams interested so our goal should be to not let that happen. Martz may not be here a year from now and I don't want to lose Olsen in FA. He's the best TE we've had in 20 years.