Thread: Do we finally have enough safeties?

Originally Posted by BearStuff

Cameron Worrell is listed 3 times and Todd Johnson is listed twice.

Still, quite a list, even once you eliminate the CB's (including Hester).

Good catch on the multiple listings of Johnson and Worrell. I edited the post to delete those extra names. Thanks.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

It doesn't show how bad Angelo was at evaluating safeties, it shows you just how hard it was to replace the talent that Mike Brown and Tony Parrish had. I have to laugh at some you guys because you think its so easy finding a sensational safety talent. There are only a handful of safeties in the NFL right now, who are cornerstones at those positions. Its easier said then done. Shoot maybe some of you guys should go become a scout or an assistant GM sicne you know so much about talent evaluation.

I agree it's not easy to judge talent well, but that is a skill you need in a GM of a great franchise. Under Jerry Angelo, it was more than just a problem finding decent safeties who could stick on our roster. There are are a number of reasons why we only have one Lombardi trophy in the history of the NFL (and the one we have is from over a quarter century ago). But one problem has been talent. We had great talent under a great GM (Hall of Famer Jim Finks) and that talent won us the '85 Super Bowl. There were other factors, but talent is key.

Can you imagine where we'd be today, if Jerry Angelo would have had a decent offensive line and wide receivers in place when Cutler arrived here in Chicago? I agree, it's not easy to be solid at evaluating talent - but that is what you have to do to build great franchises.

Aaawwww come on.... can't we beat up on JA just a little longer?

But yeah, I really miss Brown. He was GOOD

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

It doesn't show how bad Angelo was at evaluating safeties, it shows you just how hard it was to replace the talent that Mike Brown and Tony Parrish had. I have to laugh at some you guys because you think its so easy finding a sensational safety talent. There are only a handful of safeties in the NFL right now, who are cornerstones at those positions. Its easier said then done. Shoot maybe some of you guys should go become a scout or an assistant GM sicne you know so much about talent evaluation.

Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

Aaawwww come on.... can't we beat up on JA just a little longer?

But yeah, I really miss Brown. He was GOOD

I gotta let it go and realize JA's gone. I just get angry over some of the stuff he did, so I "beat the dead horse" here. He was a good guy (seemed like it anyway) who tried to be a great GM for us. He just made some real boneheaded moves.

Hiring Mike Martz was a head scratcher for me too. That experiment was doomed from day-1 especially with our personnel on offense.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

The way I look at it...how many 1st and 2nd rd picks did the Bears use during the Angelo era to solidify the safety spot after Brown got banged up? Off the top of my head, I can't think of them doing that one time. And how many can play effectively in the Tampa 2? When you're just using late rd picks year after year to address a key position in the Tampa 2, then you're going to get a turnstyle like lineup back there. Its just the way its been. If you're going to address a key position in the defense, then you need to use your top picks for that. And they simply avoiding doing that.

Excellent point. We all know that there is the possibility of getting a solid guy in later rounds, but it's the "exception not the rule" for the most part. This is why your GM has to be solid in bringing in a high percentage of "hits" with those high round draft picks. Everyone will have busts, but you can't have too many because it just cripples your team, because once you have too many holes to fill, THEN you are trapped into having to rely too much on overpaid/old FA's, trying to perform miracles with UFA's, lower round draft pick "projects", and hoping your coaches can make chicken salad out of chicken poop.

Of course you really just end up with a lot of chicken poop.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

The way I look at it...how many 1st and 2nd rd picks did the Bears use during the Angelo era to solidify the safety spot after Brown got banged up? Off the top of my head, I can't think of them doing that one time. And how many can play effectively in the Tampa 2? When you're just using late rd picks year after year to address a key position in the Tampa 2, then you're going to get a turnstyle like lineup back there. Its just the way its been. If you're going to address a key position in the defense, then you need to use your top picks for that. And they simply avoiding doing that.

Yep. Another thing JA did was drafting "athletes" like Manning and waiting years for them to develop. In Manning's case (which is the exception not the norm) he did develop but then later lost him to FA. If you have a cover 2 type scheme that relies on the safety and 3tech to be the foundational positions to make it work you go out and draft high or find a very good FA's to maximize your system. You can "make do" at other positions, something JA had a problem understanding.