Bears Roster Projection

This is what I think the Bears Roster will look like at the beginning of the 2012 season.

QB: Cutler, Campbell, McCown

Notable Cuts: Enderle

Analysis: This is a strength of the team and I see no reason to keep him around and develop him. Having a back up QB like Campbell makes this team far stronger than last season.

RB: Forte, Bush, Bell, Clutts

Notable Cuts: None

Analysis: The Bears now have one of the best RB tandems in the league with the dynamic Forte and the powerful Bush. Bell will fill in on special teams and provides really solid depth.

WR: Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett, Hester, Weems, Thomas, Knox [PUP]

Notable Cuts: Sanzenbacher

Analysis: The Bears now have one of the biggest and most physical WR cores in the NFL with Jeffery and Marshall and they can keep Bennett in the slot. Hester will have his sub packages and Thomas will be cut when Knox comes off of the injury list. Sanz is done as Emery clearly favors big WRs that can catch.

TE: Davis, Rodriguez, Spaeth

Notable Cuts: None

Analysis: The Bears primary TE will be Davis and Rodriguez will fill the Aaron Hernandez role and be moved around the formation to create mismatches. Spaeth is kept around for goal line blocking and special teams.

LT: Webb/C. Williams

The Bears should move Chris Williams to compete with Webb at LT so we can get the best out of one of them. If Webb wins the competition then Chris Williams moves back to LG.

LG: Louis/Rachal/C. Williams

The Bears will have a ton of big and athletic players competing at LG. I think that Louis will win out because he is the most physical of the players and the Bears suck in short yardage situations.

C: Garza, E. Williams

Garza remains at center because he played well and Jay likes him there, but we need to get E. Williams more reps and see if he is the center of the future.

RG: Spencer

The Bears could use an upgrade and I think Louis could be moved over here if Chris Williams starts at LG.

RT: Carimi

The most important player on the line and the one player I do not worry about.

Notable Cuts: Henry, Horn

Defense

RE: Peppers, Wootton

DT: Melton, Merling [FA]

NT: Paea, Toenia

LE: McClellin, Idonije

Notable Cuts: Gibson, Davis

Analysis: The Bears DE spots seems to be locked down with Peppers and McClellin starting and Izzy rotating in with both and replacing McClellin in short yardage situations. The spot that is missing someone is the DT rotation and I think the Bears should sign Phillip Merling who was just released by the Dolphins. Merling is big and athletic and has played DT and 5T for the Dolphins.

SLB: Roach, Costanzo, Trahan

MLB:Urlacher, Dicico

WLB: Briggs, Hayes, Williams

Notable Cuts: J.T Thomas

Analysis: The Bears are deeper at LB this season with the addition of Hayes and Costanzo. The Bears do not have a ton of developmental players on the roster, but Thomas has not shown enough to warrant keeping him over Trahan who is a special teams standout.

CB: Tillman, Jennings, D.J Moore, Hayden, Frey

Notable Cuts: Warren

Analysis: The Bears still have a solid CB group and have added some developmental players to the group. Tillman and Jennings start and Hayden is the primary back up on the edge while Moore continues in the nickle role. Frey will get some development time and if things get ugly Wilhite can move back from FS.

FS: Conte, Wilhite

SS: Wright/Hardin, Steltz

Notable Cuts: Vennable, Walter

Analysis: At FS the Bears have their starter in Conte and I think they keep the veteran Wilhite who payed at FS for the Broncos as depth that has player. At SS the Bears will have Wright and Hardin competing for the starting spot and Steltz as a veteran back up and special teams leader.

Specialist: Gould, Podlesh, Mannelly

Analysis: A solid group, but the Bears need to develop a replacement for Mannelly.

Practice Roster

OG Ricky Henry
OT Levi Horn
DT Ronnie Cameron
LB Adrien Cole
CB Greg McCoy
S Anthony Walter
RB Armando Allen
LS Kyle Wojta

Injured Reserve [Hidden Players]

LB Ronnie Thornton
OG James Brown

Two veteran qb's behind a franchise qb? That's ridiculous. Enderle stays and mccown gets cut.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

I think Ronnie Cameron has a shot at making the team. I know all UDFA are long shots but we need DT help and Merling is pure speculation.

Geez Windy, we're not even into OTA's yet and you want to mock the opening day roster??????? I'm sending you a case of valium....or do you prefer xanax???? :pill:

We haven't even finished with who we've got yet let alone who we'll have left. :rofl2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soulman

Geez Windy, we're not even into OTA's yet and you want to mock the opening day roster??????? I'm sending you a case of valium....or do you prefer xanax???? :pill:

We haven't even finished with who we've got yet let alone who we'll have left. :rofl2:

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Well, what else do us football addicts do until pre season?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

Two veteran qb's behind a franchise qb? That's ridiculous. Enderle stays and mccown gets cut.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

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I pretty much agree with what Windy wrote including about QB. I only see Enderle sticking on the PS not the regular roster (if that). He was a Martz-want like Manu, Roy Williams, etc and I see no reason for him to make the 53 man roster. Heck, he was on it last year out of necessity and when Cutler went down and Hanie flopped, the team signed and started McCown (who did a serviceable job) rather than play Enderle. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about what the team thought of his usefulness and potential. I wouldn't mind him staying on the PS since we didn't draft or sign a 4th QB but no way he should get dibs over McCown (whom we re-signed for cheap) unless Enderle somehow beats him out for the #3 job in pre-season...never happen, no way IMO.

A few other wrinkles...

A) I wouldn't mind seeing Unga battle it out with AAllen for the #5 RB spot (PS only). Best man wins.

B) Merling isn't particular appealing to me (how bad do you have to be to get cut by the Phins?) as he's had a very undistinguished career as a 2nd round bust marred by injury and off-field issues. I figure Izzy is going to see some DT time on run plays if Shea Mc can indeed play full time DE @ 270lbs as Soul & Lovie seem to suggest. Yeah, Merling would prob be cheap but still...why not give Jordan Miller and/or Cameron a shot over him? BTW, Chauncy D wasn't too bad a reserve DL...worth a PS spot?

C) Do you think we will keep 7 LBs? Can't argue against it at all--we lucked out big time last year with only 5 to not have any injuries until the 4th Q of week 17 and Costanzo is mainly a STer only, correct? Basically we have Trahan, JWilliams, JTThomas, and UDFAs battling it our over 2 backup roster spots.

I completely agree with you about the OL. CWill needs to be Webb's competition in TC for the LT job. If Webb wins, CW becomes an OG and maybe we keep udfa James Brown or Horn as a developmental OT. If CW wins, then Webb is the swing and Spencer & EWill can battle for the starting OG job that is opened up. However you slice it, I wanna see Tice really evaluate what we have and don't have in Spencer, CWill, and Louis because all 3 become FAs next year. Better find out this year who is worth extending/keeping and who is expendable (I have a feeling that Spencer won't be re-signed for 2013 unless he shows something promising this year). Keep 9 OLs I assume?

You nailed it on the secondary too. I hope Hayden is healthy enough to push Jennings or even win the job outright. I like TJ as a tackler but he's small and can't catch for s**t. I wouldn't surprise me in the least if Hardin takes over at starting SS at some point over Major whiff-master Wright. The Hardin-Conte duo looks formidable to me as our starting S combo (finally!) of the future. Maybe we can stop perenially allocating the 3rd round pick every draft for a new S...oh wait, we don't have a 3rd round pick next year anyway so problem solved!

As much as I hate to give up on him so quickly, I too see Sanz as a goner from the regular roster. He has zero chance if Knox is recovered and only a slim one if he's PUP/IR'd. DThomas is bigger, faster, and plays STs so he's gotta get the nod as it looks now. I would hope the team can find a way to sneak Sanz onto the PS because he's scrappy and showed some positive flashes before he caught a case of the dropsies from Roy (yes, I blame Roy Williams for nearly everything I can lol).

I think you're right that drafting ERod means bye-bye to KAdams so the only question remaining there is whether Andre Smith can beat out Spaeth for the 2nd in-line TE spot. I hope so because releasing Spaeth would free up ~ $1.5 million in cap space and it's not like Spaeth was all that great to begin with. I had hoped that we were going to draft an OG/C like Konz or Zeitler that would make Spencer also a cap-savings cut too but that didn't happen so he gets a one-year reprieve so to speak.

Other than a few minor tweaks, the D is set and looks really good. The O looks MUCH IMPROVED over the pathetic lack of weapons we have had the last 3 years. We FINALLY have put together a scoring attack that can rival the teams we need to beat to win the NFCNorth. Give me no worse than 2-2 vs Green Bay & Detroit with 3-1 a very real possibility...maybe some more Lions can get busted on drug offenses :laughing-019:.

Two stumbling blocks remain, both on O:

Will the pass pro in general (and Webb in particular) step-up and be adequate?

Will Forte be ready and playing by week 2 in Green Bay?

:18_1_205:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soulman

Geez Windy, we're not even into OTA's yet and you want to mock the opening day roster??????? I'm sending you a case of valium....or do you prefer xanax???? :pill:

We haven't even finished with who we've got yet let alone who we'll have left. :rofl2:

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Give the guy a break...September is a long way off yet and he has to mock something!

:drinking61:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MPBears68

Give the guy a break...September is a
long way off yet and he has to mock something!

:drinking61:

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Haha for sure were all excited...give him some time he may mock the entire colts game week one play by play...hah jk man but nice post/insight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

Well, what else do us football addicts do until pre season?

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(Sigh) Yeah I know and it's a good thing I have my guitars to alternate with. :jimi: :laughing-019:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

Two veteran qb's behind a franchise qb? That's ridiculous. Enderle stays and mccown gets cut.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

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The cap cost of either is a about the same so unless they figure Enderle has some potential now that Martz is gone we'd be just as well off to keep McCown to run the scout team.