Thread: Andrew Brandt Analyses Free Agent Prospects; Wide Receivers..............

Originally Posted by short faced bear

Just to go on practical considerations:

1) first round wr's are gambles
2) We don't as of yet have a new scouting dept. that can evaluate talent (Emery aside if he can do it)
3) We don't have a wr coach that can develop these guys-Drake is god-awful
4) Add in the Bears history of wr drafting and getting 2 FA's is the way to go.

You can run every permutation, conjecture, and statistical analysis but unless you have premises that are based in practicality your going to run aground trying to resurrect the wr corps.

I agree with you shorty. Those are the two major reasons I'd rather not spend this 1st round pick on a WR. Unlike other years there is only one can't miss WR in this draft and that's Blackmon. All of the others have one issue or another and I doubt any of them could be a first day starter and like you I don't believe in Drake's ability to coach them.

This draft is deep enough in WR talent that there will be good second tier guys who will last all the way to the 3rd round so I see little need to push the panic button and reach for that position in the first unless there is no choice. If we could resolve the immediate problem in FA we don't have the need to pick a WR as high as we would otherwise.

I'm looking at NO for where that help most likely come from. Even if they work out a new deal for Brees they still have Nicks, Colston and Meachem to sign and only one tag to use. At least one or possibly both those WR's will hit FA. In addition I don't think Eddie Curry can get out of Denver soon enough to satisfy himself and if there's anywhere he'd prefer to be I would think it would be hooking up with Cutler again. Signing Curry and one of the NO boys would be the best arrangement I could reason out as far as restructuring the WR group is concerned.

We need a taller WR and either Meachem or Colston fit that need. Bennett needs to be moved out of the slot to the Flanker position. That leaves the slot with Sanz and Hester. Bring in Curry to compete there and also as a potential hedge against a possible delay in Knox's recovery. I can guarantee that if we lined up with one of the NO guys at WR, Bennett at Flanker, and Curry in the slot we've upgraded the starters and we have great backup in Knox, Sanz and Hester. Then going into the draft I'd be looking for taller guys in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to put in the hopper to develop as a starter in 2013 or 2014.

That would be my game plan going into March.