[CBFF] Angelo's 'pass' on receivers may take super toll (Mariotti)

[Victor Waldron]

(how could I think of *not* posting Mariotti??  I do think his base
point is correct, "all 22 starters under contract,"  but I don't think
he's giving JA enough credit. The WR is one thing I not as worried
about after thinking about it more, but I'm still surprised we didn't
get a TE somewhere. Yes, our young WRs are unproven but so would any
draft pick. So yes, I agree that JA is a bit arrogant, but my only
questions are why the picks were made where they were (Manning/Hester)
as opposed to what positions they play. Again, it was our D that hurt
us in the playoffs.)

Angelo's 'pass' on receivers may take super toll

April 30, 2006

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

All they needed was a pizza run, a stash of beer and a flick from
Blockbuster, maybe ''Anchorman'' in honor of Chris Berman. Then, Jerry
Angelo and the boys would have been no different than other draftniks
watching in their dens. While the drama atop the NFL draft swirled
elsewhere, the Bears sat in their Lake Forest compound, traded out of
the first round and kept repeating the same mantra to each other.

''We have 22 starters under contract! We have 22 starters under contract!''

Hey, did you hear the Bears have 22 starters under contract?

Halas Hall is smug, you see. Camp Angelo is convinced this team is
headed to a Super Bowl when, in fact, the Bears aren't as wonderful as
their leaders think and have more issues than they want to concede.
They are good enough to win a mushy division filled with rookie head
coaches. They are not better than NFC contenders Carolina, Seattle and
Washington, all teams with better offenses. Yet don't tell that to
Angelo, who used two second-round picks on kick returners Saturday and
instantly incurred the wrath of draft-savvy fans.

''We don't need anybody to come in and step in right away,'' he said
at the podium, visions of a Vince Lombardi Trophy dancing in his head.
''There are certain positions we wanted to improve on.''

Forgive me, but there is at least one area I would view as unsettled.
That would be receiver, where Muhsin Muhammad is an aging possession
guy surrounded by various projects at a position painfully influential
in the most recent one-and-done postseason ouster. I seem to recall a
spectacular performance by a certain Steve Smith, which not only
exposed Charles Tillman as a salty Peanut but reminded us that the
Bears lack a similar receiving gamebreaker. With the 26th pick in the
first round, Angelo and Lovie Smith had two impressive options in Ohio
State burner Santonio Holmes and Florida's gifted Chad Jackson. But
just before their turn arrived, they were one-upped by the Pittsburgh
Steelers, who are Super Bowl champions for a reason -- they identify
their prize and grab it. That prize was Holmes, leaving the Bears with
Jackson and his 4.32 combine speed as a delicious alternative.

Oddly, Jerry and Lovie passed, letting the New England Patriots take
him 10 picks later. Never mind that Bill Cowher and Bill Belichick
wear Super Bowl rings and help operate state-of-the-art organizations.
Our Man Jerry evidently knows something they do not. So he traded his
first-round slot to the Buffalo Bills, where old friends Marv Levy and
Dick Jauron were only happy to trade up and relinquish second- and
third-round picks. In the process, the Bears lost a shot at tight end
Marcedes Lewis of UCLA, another potential starter at a need position.

Safety in numbers?

When it finally was time to stop playing darts and video poker and do
some draft-day work, Angelo emerged to announce his selection with the
day's 42nd pick. Receiver? Tight end? Nah, he drafted a
safety/returner from Abilene Christian named Danieal Manning, whose
name indeed is pronounced ''Danielle'' -- I can't wait for the
talk-radio crowd to have fun with that -- and is no relation to Ricky
Manning Jr., the recent signee arrested for allegedly beating up a guy
using a laptop computer at a Denny's in Los Angeles. You might see
this as an insurance policy at safety, given Mike Brown's injury
history. But then you realize Danieal played at a Division II program.
And then you hear Angelo and Smith say he isn't ready to play. And
then you hear Smith, proud native of east Texas, say he grew up near
Lovie's hometown of Big Sandy.

And then you ask yourself: Why are the Bears drafting players who
might help them in two or three years when they still must prove they
can win a playoff game?

''He's gonna need a lot of work,'' Angelo said. ''He didn't get the
hands-on coaching he would get at a bigger school.''

''He's raw, we realize that,'' Smith said.

Even Manning was shocked, figuring he might be drafted today in a
lower round. ''I was very surprised. I saw the round and the pick I
was, and it's still settling in,'' he said, sounding humble and ready
to work.

It was dinner time when the other second-round choice, No. 57, came
around. Two more receivers, Sinorice (Brother of Santana) Moss and
Greg Jennings, were gone. Two more tight ends, Joe Klopfenstein and
Notre Dame's Anthony Fasano, were gone. Might Angelo trade down again,
giving him time to rent another movie?

Nope. He took a second return man, Miami's Devin Hester, who is
incredibly fast but doesn't really have a position. Because he started
only one game as a nickel back last season and merely dabbled as an
offensive player, no one knows what he is. ''You can say we drafted
him as an athlete,'' said Bears scouting boss Greg Gabriel,
emphasizing Hester is another project. Ugh.

Third round? Again, a bizarre choice. One pick after Arizona took
tight end Leonard Pope, the Bears took a defensive tackle, Dusty
Dvoracek of Oklahoma.

Things could be worse, of course. You could be in Houston.

The Texans, gulp, are the new Portland Trail Blazers. They were
foolish enough to reject Michael Jordan, setting themselves up to be
the eternal butt of sports humor and permanent retirees of the
''Houston, we have a problem'' cliche. Whether Mario Williams --excuse
me, Super Mario -- is the next Sam Bowie will be determined soon
enough, but for his sake and the sake of the men who made the pick,
he'd better be a hybrid of Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White and Julius
Peppers.

Because Reggie Bush, even with his family stuck in greasy-agent hell,
might be a hybrid of Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Gale Sayers.
The bane of the NFL draft is that Bush could leave the USC empire in
ashes if he is ruled ineligible in a stinky little deal involving a
house, allegedly unpaid rent and a marketing firm whose co-founder is
a documented gang member and convicted felon. But the beauty of the
draft is that Bush, after being spurned by the Texans, is headed to
New Orleans, where he can make a football nation gasp and bring fun to
a hurricane-ravaged city in one turbocharged, cleat-spinning,
hip-swiveling swoop.

Leinart's stock takes dip

His USC teammate, Matt Leinart, showed why it's not always a great
idea to return to school. Last year, he would have been the No. 1 pick
and signed for a guaranteed $24 million. This year, after failing to
repeat as a national champ or Heisman Trophy winner, he was bypassed
by Tennessee for the unrefined Vince Young and slipped to Arizona at
No. 10.

''I'm a much better quarterback and person for staying,'' said
Leinart, who got to pal around with Lindsay Lohan and Nick Lachey for
his lost fortune. ''No regrets.''

Funny how everyone feels great on draft day. The regrets come later,
I'm afraid, as we'll see this season when the Bears mope about having
no gamebreaking receivers.