Thread: Barrett Jones or Manti Te'o

Originally Posted by GermansbombedPH

but as it is, we need Te'o in the 1st more than Jones with #20 overall.

Last 5 years:
4 MLBs taken in the Top20 only 2 of them went to the ProBowl, the other two have been busts so far
1 OG/OCs taken in the Top20 wrong, 2 were taken (Pouncey brothers). Both started all 16 regular games, one of them went to 3 straight ProBowls

coincidence? No, you can find good Guards and Centers later in the Draft.

You can say the same about MLBs. Guys like Te'o are there almost every year. How often can you draft an OL talent that can actually play EVERY position on the line?

Which position has been the Bears' biggest concern over the last 7 years? MLB or OL?

What was the reason the Bears have been humiliated so often on national television? MLB or OL?

What I'm trying to say here is that Te'o seems to be a good MLB but the offensive line is much more important than the LB situation. Jones is more useful as center than Te'o as MLB.

Besides, Te'o probably will be long gone before the Bears are on the clock. Jones is projected to be a middle/late first rounder. And Emery will definitely not trade up to pick up Te'o.

While I selected the "Jones" option, really I'm voting for the pick to be an O-Lineman. Personally, I'm of the opinion that the O-Line is in such a need of upgrading, that I'd rather "reach" for Lineman at 20 and get the "pick of the litter" rather than risk waiting until the 2nd round, seeing who is still there and ending up with a person with an issue that slows their development. Examples would be Injury (C.Will, maybe Carimi) or slow learner (Webb), mental/emotional problems (Rachal). Having to spend draft picks on long shot O-Linemen is part of what got the Bears to where we are now.

Of, course, we (the Bears) could also improve the odds of getting a good O-Lineman by drafting multiple linemen. I.E. 1st round: O-Lineman 2nd round: O-Lineman.

My 2 cents.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

If we had taken DeCastro last year at #19, then we wouldn't have a gaping hole at LG right now. We literally have NOTHING there. Is that a "waste"?

YES. If Emery did not waste 2 picks last year he could have taken a LG earlier and that player would be ready for next season. He picked a FB and traded a FB for a special teamer.... thanks to Lovie

DeCastro was seen as pro bowl rookie and generational Guard talent...

Originally Posted by JJ-30

I agree that if we really want to we can get one of these two LT in FA, but why are you stopping with just one FA O linemen, I am sure it won't be that hard to upgrade either guard or center in FA plus there are some real nice FA TEs that could easily be upgrades to what we have now. Then we draft another just in case Louis can't make it at guard anymore.

As far as Te'o goes I'm not that hot on him and from what I seen the other day he is far from being NFL ready. He would be a good pick up at 20, if he doesn't show more then he did the other day he could fall even farther. If BU signs a deal for another year or two, then draft him and have him work with BU the first year..

If Te'o turns out not to be our guy for what ever reason or drops to the 2d round then we need see what we can get by moving down or out of the first round. But at any rate we need to pick up in the draft what ever O linemen we didn't get in FA and if our PS WRs aren't going to work out it wouldn't hurt to get another WR either in the draft of in FA.

I agree that he shouldn't stop with 1 LT if we get him. Bring back Melton, Urlacher for 1 year, Sign that LT and a TE. See what you have left in Cap Space and then go and get the best OG possible.

Adding Te'o would be a dream for us. Take OL in the 2nd and 4th/5th.

Originally Posted by Grizzblue

Yeah German your way off saying that a top 20 pick is a "waste"

And jones is one of the better centers And T'eo showed flaws 2 nights ago

We go for the decade rock in the middle just my opinion

Olin Kreutz was a 3rd rounder... we can take a OG or OC with our 2nd when the best MLB is still available. Jones is not the best OL player.


a Top20 is not a waste. It's a waste when you reach for a player out of need and when you take a position you can find good players later in the draft. OG/OC or Saftey or TE are those positons. MLB is not. Just look at when the best MLB gets taken year after year and when the best OG/OC gets taken. MLB is 85% before the OG player.


We don't need to reach for a player again.


Don't forget that Garza will still play, Carimi played on 1 leg, Brown didn't look that bad for a rookie starting mid year. Louis will be back. Add a LT and 2nd Round OL player and it wouldn't look that worse.

Originally Posted by little bear

You can say the same about MLBs. Guys like Te'o are there almost every year. How often can you draft an OL talent that can actually play EVERY position on the line?

Which position has been the Bears' biggest concern over the last 7 years? MLB or OL?

What was the reason the Bears have been humiliated so often on national television? MLB or OL?

What I'm trying to say here is that Te'o seems to be a good MLB but the offensive line is much more important than the LB situation. Jones is more useful as center than Te'o as MLB.

We don't need a player that can play every position. He needs to play 1 position and that all the time.


You really want to bring THIS argument while we have a HoF MLB on the roster during that time, really?



YOU DON'T DRAFT BY NEED. NO NEED TO REACH BECAUSE OF NEED. If Te'o is gone, I'm fine with Jones or Warmack. If Te'o is available, that's the question here, you take him over Jones.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

I agree with you that the ERod pick looks pretty lame right now and seemed odd back when it was made. Of course, it would have been nice if the guy was actually a receiving weapon in the offense (did he catch what 4 passes all year?). Instead, he was used mostly as a backfield blocker (Bush & Forte were too much too) since our OL and Kellen Davis were as useful in pass pro as a screen door is in a submarine. This despite already having a damn good blocking FB in Clutts on the roster for cheap. Trading him, as I bitched about at the time, was effing retarded and emblematic of the Lovie-Martz-Tice era of cluster fuck personnel moves.

Garza is slipping quick, German. His play definitely declined this year (w/o injury by the way) and he will be in his mid-30s this fall. Replacing him at OC, however you do it, would allow him to be a backup OC/RG which we may need to start if Louis isn't ready to go by early September. I do agree there's hope that Brown could become something decent but will he be starting OG material at the outset this year? I dunno about that. If Emery can snag an LT AND a vet OG (Levitre?) in FA, then I agree it lessens the motivation to draft another OL in the 1st. We also need a TE and that looks to be available in FA too so the question will come down to one of cap space management and who we can get in FA.

BTW, speaking of "drafting for need", you are almost always looking to fill an important or key "need" in the 1st round. It's almost never "straight bpa" in the purest sense. If Urlacher were 28 y/o and uninjured, we wouldn't even be talking about T'eo, would we?

I'm in agreement. On a related note, I can't wait to get a new coaching staff in, to have them review the talent we already have. Not just the OL but all the roster. I really couldn't understand a lot of moves by Tice this season. Maybe the guy knew what he was doing, but maybe he misused some guys. I wonder why he didn't set the oline early, and stick with the depth chart - and not switching players to other positions. I really didn't understand the E.Rod acquisition, once I saw how they used (or didn't use) him. If they wanted a blocking fullback (H back) then they had that guy in Clutts. Clutts could catch too. E.Rod seemed like an undersized TE that was "a poor man's Clutts".....and just burned a draft pick on a guy that really didn't help us much this year. Nothing against the guy. I just don't understand it all.

And I also wonder if Tice was teaching a good blocking scheme and technique. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't. Our guys were big, strong players on the OL, but they seemed to get manhandled. And in short yardage situations, did you EVER see our OL move back a dline? The surge was always back into the backfield. Were are guys really THAT bad? Maybe. But maybe not. Can't wait for the new regime to sort it out.

I can't wait to watch the new coaching staff and see if maybe some of our woes (some anyway) is coaching related.