Simple question (and a bit of a series introduction) today, and yes, a poll that isn't part of TJ's Febearuary Fever. I know it's been a little receiver-intensive today, but it's probably the best spot to start with, given the receiver situation and the fanbase's clamoring.

So, the question is... How many new faces will break the 53-man roster at the receiver position? Last year the Bears had Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Sam Hurd, Roy Williams, Earl Bennett, Dane Sanzenbacher, and Max Komar all at receiver. One of those slots (Komar) was a practice squad player, and one of them (Hurd) got, shall we say, snowed in and couldn't stay with the team any longer.

Earlier this week, Sam dropped an excellent article on us unwashed, pantsless Internet masses about the dangers of concussions and what they mean to the NFL and professional sports as an enterprise, and more specifically, how they could eventually lead to "the demise of football." While the NFL has taken extra measures to protect players from concussions and other serious injuries, that hasn't stopped a group of former New Orleans Saints players from throwing their names in a class-action lawsuit, saying the NFL should have known for years about concussion dangers and risks.

Continue reading this post »

This shouldn't come as any big surprise to anybody - the Bears' wide receivers in 2011 were not productive this season. There are going to be a few numbers after the jump illustrating this, but it isn't going to be anything that Bears fans haven't figured out for the last two seasons. You know, the last thousand-yard receiver for the Bears was Marty Booker, Matt Forte led the team in receptions the last two years, all that good stuff. We've also heard that Jay Cutler was supposed to make the receivers better and that a downfield passing attack of one Mike Martz, which led to then-record seasons in St. Louis and strong improvements in the passing attacks of the other teams he stopped at, would also improve the numbers of the quarterback and receivers.

Continue reading this post »

Because are we really even sure if he's a Round 1 or 2 prospect?

Mohamed Sanu Highlight Reel (BEAST) (via Haighster43)

Here at Windy City Gridiron, we have some of the best writers on the web producing countless numbers of articles daily, but we also have many great contributors that come from our readers.

It seems high time we start pointing some of them out.

This week's Fan Post of the week is Assembling a physical offense in offseason by NigerianNightmare.

He should probably have earned this one for the sheer amount of images and videos he pulled together.

Nightmare gives his take on how to beef up the physical mentality of the Bears offense.

Jump on in, if you haven't already. Great work!

On Wednesday, we handed out the first of the offseason Big Three awards, and today we'll be handing out the second. Frankly, I'm not surprised as to the... ahem... "variety" of players voted on for the Offensive Player of the Year (Cutler, Forte) and I'm not really surprised as to the winner of that one. This one will turn out just as close, possibly even closer. How close? Hit the jump for our Defensive Player of the Year votes...

Continue reading this post »

Thankfully we're less than a month away from free agency, and the first move in the offseason tango between teams and players is the designation of the franchise tag, which starts February 20th. Last year a record fourteen players were slapped with the franchise tag, and that number could rise this year. ProFootballTalk has a list of potential franchise tag recipients, but while they look at the overall NFL landscape, let's take a look at potential franchise tag players and how those moves could affect the Bears offseason plans.

Continue reading this post »

There has been no shortage of speculation this offseason so far about what the Bears should do about this, that and the other. If new general manager Phil Emery reads this forum as often as his predecessor Jerry Angelo did, then he is aware that fans want to see him draft a receiver, sign another, find replacements for some of our aging defensive stars and maybe even swing some trades. I, on the other hand, have a more radical approach for our new GM; since there is no way to replenish the talent and set this team up for the next six to eight years in one offseason, why not just swing as many trades as possible, mortgage the future and make 2012 an all-or-nothing championship campaign?

Continue reading this post »