Bennett Helps Wide Receiver Depth
Earl Bennett was the Chicago Bear’s pick in the third round and will be an important part of the wide receiver team. A recent article called Bennett a steal from this year’s draft because of his stats. He is also good friends with the Bears’ first round pick, Chris Williams. Both went to Vanderbilt. The article also quotes offensive coordinator Ron Turner as saying about Bennett, “We’ll give him an opportunity to come in and compete right away. He’s a very intelligent young man, so he shouldn’t have any trouble picking things up. He’s very competitive, so I know he’ll enjoy coming in and competing.”
To see why Bennett is such a good addition to the team, here are some stats about the rookie receiver:
- In 2006, he had 82 receptions for 1,146 yards.
- As a junior, he became the all-time SEC leader in receptions.
- His sophomore year, he had at least four receptions in every game.
- He made the all-SEC team every year.
- As a junior, he was second in the SEC for receptions and receiving yards.
- He had 223 receiving yards in one game his junior year.
- He was named Vanderbilt’s MVP as a junior.
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Not Doomsday For Bears
An analyst at the Bleacher Report recently reviewed the NFL and gave his predictions for the upcoming season. He didn’t give the Chicago Bears much credit. He predicted that Chicago would see some eight wins during the season, thanks entirely to the defense and special teams. While the naysayers in Chicago may agree, I believe the Bears have a better offensive outlook than that.
First, Matt Forte could easily make good numbers his rookie year and will get enough playing time to learn early. Greg Olsen has matured and will be a more potent force at tight end. Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are an obvious weakness at quarterback, but the Bears camp must have a reason to keep them as the team and therefore must see potential for better numbers. Devin Hester is moving to wide receiver and could potentially be as dangerous there as he is on special teams.
All in all, there may be a lot of question marks on the Bears’ offense, but there are no black marks. Many of the questions could be answered in the most positive way possible- with wins. Unlike a certain analyst, I am excited about the Bears’ chances this year to make the playoffs and have positive contributions on both sides of the ball.
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Culpepper Bad Choice For Bears
The Bleacher Report is speculating the chance of the Chicago Bears signing Daunte Culpepper to increase their depth at quarterback. Culpepper is a free agent who has played for both the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders. According the ESPN, Culpepper has a career completion record of 63.8%.
Although his career stats are much higher than Rex Grossman’s at 54.3%, Culpepper’s completion rate last season was 58.1%, which isn’t that far away from Grossman’s numbers. He isn’t young either at 31 years old. On top of that, he has proven to be injury prone. Grossman also seems to have the injury thing covered for the Bears, so we don’t need another risky quarterback. Lovie Smith and the Bears camp have also been adamant about continuing with their current roster.
Culpepper doesn’t seem like the right choice for the Bears no matter how it is framed. He also didn’t take a $1 million, one year contract from the Green Bay packers. It seems like a pretty steep price for an older, injury-prone backup quarterback. The Bears can hold their own fine with the Grossman/Orton team they have had. My guess is the Bears won’t bite on this offer.
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A Look at Matt Forte
It looks like the Chicago Bears will be leaning heavily on rookie Matt Forte as the starting running back in the upcoming season. From his talks with the media, Forte seems ready and willing to step into the role. If he succeeds, he wouldn’t be the first rookie running back to put up big stats his first season. LaDainian Tomlinson had 1,236 yards his rookie year and Domanick Williams had 1,031. Since 1993, 44 running backs have topped 700 yards their rookie season. To see how Forte stacks up, let’s look at some facts about him from college:
- His freshman year at Tulane, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry rushing and 9.0 yards receiving.
- By his senior year, he was averaging 5.9 yards per carry rushing.
- He average 12.9 yards per reception his junior year.
- He had 2,127 yards rushing his senior year.
- He had five games with 200 yards or more also in his senior year.
Matt Forte has proved he can come out of the gate running and is ready to do so for the Bears. He is only getting better as he gets experience and will be a great asset for the Bears. See him this season with Chicago Bears tickets from StubHub.com.
Benson Has Roadblock to a Third Offense
Cedric Benson can’t seem to get a break these days. This time, the courts put the brakes on any attempt Benson would make to drive under the influence by requiring him to install an ignition-lock breath tester on his car. The order was a condition of his bail, and he must install the equipment within 72 hours. The device works like a breathalyzer and would stop his car from starting if any alcohol is detected. The lock is said to be common for people in Benson’s predicament, and the judge insisted the order does not mean a guilty verdict for Benson.
Benson was arrested twice in the matter of a few weeks. The first was for boating while intoxicated and the second was for driving while intoxicated. After the second offense, the Chicago Bears waived Benson and released him. He was a first round draft pick for the Bears, but never lived up to his big talk of stats. After being released, the rest of the teams in the NFL had a chance to pick up the contract he had with the Bears, but no one took him in. Benson is now an unrestricted free agent.
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Hester Equals Better Offense or Tired Special Teams?
There are many reasons why Chicago Bears fans can’t wait for the season to start. One is seeing star kick-and-punt returner Devin Hester on offense as a receiver. His speed and agility have been proven, but the turning that into receiver gold could be interesting. Last season, Hester led the NFL with five touchdowns off of kick and punt returns. He is also the first player ever to return the Super Bowl’s opening kickoff for a touchdown. He is tied with Bear Nathan Vasher for the longest play at 108 yards.
A question with moving Hester to wide receiver is whether or not it will compromise his ability to run back kicks and punts. While he has done an amazing job on special teams, he has had the advantage of fresh legs. Tiring him out with routes while the Bears are on offense may not be the smartest move. Then again, he is competing for a starting spot with players like Mark Bradley, Mary Booker, Brandon Lloyd and Rashied Davis. If he can’t beat them out, the point may be moot anyway. He may surpass everyone’s expectations and turn out huge numbers on offense while still having great stats on special teams. Here’s hoping the latter turns out to be true.
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Harris Locked In
The Chicago Bears tied up another loose end and signed Tommie Harris to a contract on Thursday. The deal was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times as worth $40 million over the next four years. Harris had been a great asset for the Bears with Pro Bowl invites and eight sacks in 2007. Harris missed the 2006 playoffs and the Super Bowl because of a hamstring injury. In 2005, Harris had 59 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Harris marks the eight Bear to sign a new contract this offseason. The others were Lance Briggs, Alex Brown, Desmond Clark, Rashied Davis, Robbie Gould, Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. The Bears are still working on deals with Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester.
While the Bears may disappoint some fans with draft choices and the lack of free-agent signings, they certainly do a good job of retaining the good players they have. Tommie Harris is a needed force on the defense and the Bears ponied up to keep him. If they can ink deals soon with Urlacher and Hester, they will be in a good place to focus on the best way to utilize their roster this season.
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Smith Optimistic About Success with Current Roster
Coach Lovie Smith does not seem to have any uneasy feelings about his current lineup. At the team’s voluntary workout on Wednesday, he told reporters, “For the most part we have our core back in place this year and I think this team we’ve seen here the last couple days can compete with anyone.”
He also answered questions about the possibility of the Bears adding a free agent running back after releasing starter Cedric Benson. As far as Smith is concerned, rookie Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson and others will do just fine. He reiterated that the Bears have no plans to add another running back. The Bears now have a break until July 22 when they head to training camp in Bourbonnais.
Although there are some obvious question marks in the Bears’ roster, I understand Smith’s confidence. The quarterback position isn’t solid, but it is the same team that took the Bears to the Superbowl two years ago. Benson is gone, but his stats weren’t that great to begin with. He has Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown back as the driving force on defense. This season may start out tough, but the Bears could turn the ingredients they have into something that works.
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Brown Denies Bears Hurt Benson
As many may have suspected, Cedric Benson didn’t need help to put up disappointing stats. Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that up to 10 Bears players tried to hurt Benson in practice. Former Bear Ruben Brown says no way. He told WMVP-AM, “Come on, that’s far-fetched. … I was on the team. I saw when Cedric got hurt. Cedric got hurt on his own accord. Why would Brian Urlacher care to intentionally hurt our starting running back that’s going to keep us from making it to the playoffs?”
He also said that all the players respect each other professionally and the players accused are some of the most upstanding members of the team. In the whole Benson debacle, any attempt at finger-pointing seems to end up aiming the finger straight at Benson himself. Thankfully, Matt Forte’s first few weeks with the Bears have been a polar opposite to Benson’s time as a rookie. While Benson ran his mouth about being the best and starting, Forte is telling the media he is ready to learn the plays and work hard. His humility is refreshing, and hopefully he turns out to be more of a team player than Benson.
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Bears Can Rest Easy With Tight Ends
Unlike the rest of the offense, the tight end position is well covered for the Chicago Bears thanks to Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen. Clark has been with the Bears since 2003 as a free agent from Miami. Since then, he has given the Bears 15 touchdowns including 10 in the last two seasons. The Bears got Olsen straight out of college and in his first year for the Monsters of the Midway he had 391 yards and two touchdowns.
By losing Cedric Benson at running back and Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian at wide receiver, the Bears offense is a little sparse. Add in the shaky quarterback combo of Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, and the Bears need some offensive stability. Not only do Clark and Olsen make the tight end position strong, they give Da Bears some needed wiggle room to play with the rest of the offensive lineup. Clark has been consistently good, and Olsen gave more than you can ask from most rookies. The 6’5” 255 pounder out of Miami is just getting his feet wet in the NFL and will more than likely put up even bigger stats this season.
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