Thread: #1 threat to our 2012 season

The depth concern at LB is valid. One potential fix is cuts by other teams. Every year there are players who have made a name for themselves who get cut. Some of the names are surprising and are guys who still have good tread on the tires who get cut for salary / scheme fit / youth movement reasons. Hopefully the Bears will be smart and grab one or two.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

So who in the NFL has an Urlacher and Briggs sitting on the bench to back up their starters?

If Urlacher or Briggs were to get hurt than the younger guys will just have to step up. DeCiccio looks like he could be s decent player and Hayes is a quality backup. The best backup the Bears have had at MLB was probably Hillenmeyer but he wasn't all that. Urlacher is hard to replace. I don't expect him to get hurt. The guy takes care of himself and thankfully he's never had a serious leg injury that required surgery.

I understand your point and don't disagree. Obviously there isn't a backup equal to Urlacher or Briggs sitting on the bench. Just like we didn't have a backup to Cutler last season that was equal to Cutler. But you CAN do some proactive planning here. Don't "pull a Hanie" and wait for a season to tank because we have no credible backup in place. To the Bears credit they brought in a Jason Campbell this season so we CAN save a season if Cutler goes down. He's no Cutler, but he can perform well enough that our season doesn't end like last season. Same thing applies to the QB of our defense.

1. It's time to be grooming a gifted top tier talent youngster to be ready to be our QB of the defense in a couple of years. He doesn't have to be another Butkus/Singletary/Urlacher. But he needs to be one heck of a lot better than Roach.

2. I realize we were left with a lot of problems from the Jerry Angelo years of drafting mediocre talent, and we can't fix everything overnight. I get that. But certainly NEXT year we need to address the LB corps. And not with a 6th or 7th round pick. You don't get a Butkus/Singletary/Urlacher level player that way. Urlacher was 9th overall pick. Singletary was a 2nd round pick & Butkus was 3rd overall pick of the entire draft. And our Roach? He was undrafted. Nobody wanted him. At best he'd be a bench player on most teams (if not all teams) in the NFL.

Two keys to this season are keeping Urlacher and Briggs healthy. And our LT guy (Webb or C. Williams) need to step up and be solid. These are two areas of concern for me. And hey, maybe both issues will be non-issues. Hope so anyway.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Ok so since you're into proactive planning. Which players would you have added to the LB corp and through what avenue (FA or draft)?

I'm not slamming our draft this season. I guess my point is based on the fact our overall talent level atrophied under Jerry Angelo's watch - to the point we can't fix everything this first season under Emery. I get that. You can only fix so much this first year. And I believe Emery has done one heck of a job upgrading a lot in a short span of time. So there's really nothing we CAN do until next year's draft. I'd like to see us draft a young talented player who has a decent shot at continuing the excellence at LB that we've had for the past 50+ years.

Linebacker and LT are the two area's of concern I have. I'm hoping Webb/C.Williams can man the LT spot well enough for the rest of the offense to play up to its potential. I'm hoping Urlacher/Briggs can be healthy all season too. The train has left the station for this season. Nothing more we can do at this point.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Who would play for Urlacher if he was injured during the regular season?

We are "paper thin" at linebacker. It's the equivalent of last season's paper thin depth at quarterback. Yes, we can trot out the undrafted second-year linebacker Dom DeCicco (who is taking over MLB for Brian this off-season while he rehabs). But this situation is like trotting out Caleb Haney last year for Cutler - basically it's "season over" at that point.

We have 2 excellent LB's who are old and consequently more fragile (Briggs & Brian). Roach is a wannabe who probably wouldn't start on many teams. Behind them we have guys like Dom, an undrafted 2nd year guy who may not even be in the NFL a year or two from now.

How crazy is THAT?

Wouldn't be too worried about him returning period but the bigger question is will that injury cost him some speed and range. I'm still way pissed at Major Wright for jumping into him like that. He and Conte both made huge mistakes getting in Urlacher's way when he had the play made. One cost us a game and the other Urlacher's knee.

Losing him would hurt........a lot. Roach can play MLB but he's no Urlacher. DeCicco intrigues me though. He's another guy played a Safety type position in college so he knows the bit with the deep drops in coverage which is one area that Urlacher has to cover in that zone we play. The only question is whether or not he can do it anyhere near well enough.

DeCicco reminds me some of Hilly and when we needed him to fill for Urlacher the yeat he was hurt he actually did a fair job of it. I don't really care that DeCicco was an UDFA. The position he played in college and being a "tweener" LB/SS may have had a lot to do with that. All I want to know is whether or not he can handle that backup role and he's gonna get a lot of work in the preseason to prove it or disprove it. Let Urlacher rest. It'll prolong his days as a Bear.