[CBFF] No Jerry-rigging -- chicagotribune.com - Sent Using GoogleToolbar

[Phil DeNomme]

"Franchise is a strong word, [but] I'd like to think he could still be a
featured back," Angelo said. "But there will be strong competition at that
position. If something were to arise in the marketplace and/or the draft
that we feel can complement the backs or give us the type of competition we
feel we need, then we're going to look at that."

Guess he doesn't think Benson is all that special afterall.  I thought
that's why he saw the need to draft him while having Jones.

-----Original Message-----
From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com
[mailto:cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of Tom Shannon
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 8:15 AM
To: post at chicagobearsfanforum.com
Subject: [CBFF] No Jerry-rigging -- chicagotribune.com - Sent Using
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No Jerry-rigging -- chicagotribune.com




www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080103davidhaughchicagobears,1,3387548.colu
mn
chicagotribune.com
No Jerry-rigging
GM vows to solidify Bears' weak foundation

David Haugh

On the Bears

 January 4, 2008



Of all the answers Jerry Angelo provided Thursday in his long-awaited
post-mortem of the Bears' disappointing season, the one he couldn't
come up with was the most telling.

 Asked to identify the players on offense around whom the Bears can
build, Angelo singled out nobody.

 The Bears will spend the off-season in search of that missing identity.

 "Who are the building blocks?" Angelo said. "I can't sit here and say
I feel 100 percent about anybody."

 While it was interesting to note Angelo didn't mention offensive
linemen Olin Kreutz or John Tait, nobody on the Bears' offense had any
right to feel offended, with the possible exception of tight ends
Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen. The emasculation of the team's supposed
power running game was that complete.

 In between the verbal gobbledygook that often muddies Angelo's
message, the Bears general manager delivered a more frank and accurate
appraisal of what the Bears are-and aren't-than his head coach three
days earlier.

 "What's the optimum word? Honesty," Angelo said. "As long as we're
honest about our evaluation, which we will be, then we will get this
thing righted."

 The same guy who in a radio interview two weeks ago branded the
offense "inept" maintained that critical theme by promising "more
competition on the offensive side of the ball." In other words,
neither Cedric Benson nor Rex Grossman, whom Angelo said he hopes to
re-sign, will be assured anything but a battle at training camp.

 "In all likelihood, without sitting and talking to the coaches, off
the top of my head, it has to be competition," Angelo said about the
quarterback depth chart if Grossman is re-signed.

 He didn't rule out exploring the trade market for a veteran such as
Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson or-dare to dream-Donovan McNabb.
But given the late-season progress of Kyle Orton and Angelo's stated
interest in Grossman returning, those inquiries might fall under the
category of Angelo doing his "due diligence."

 "We have to get the position stabilized," Angelo said. "We would like
to have Rex back, in the mix. We'll talk through that. Rex showed good
play, particularly after he was coming back off his little
sabbatical."

 When it came to Benson, Angelo seemed to lower the bar considerably
for a player picked fourth overall in the 2005 draft. Running backs
drafted that high should qualify as franchise runners by the end of
their third seasons, injury woes or not. Benson clearly doesn't, but
at least Angelo sees that.

 "My definition of a feature back is sometime during the course of a
game you have to make two or three runs of more than 20 yards," he
said.

 Benson had three runs longer than 20 yards in 196 carries. All three
came in Benson's final two games before a leg injury against Denver
that might have cost him the last five games of the season but could
have saved his roster spot in 2008 because of the late flash.

 "Franchise is a strong word, [but] I'd like to think he could still
be a featured back," Angelo said. "But there will be strong
competition at that position. If something were to arise in the
marketplace and/or the draft that we feel can complement the backs or
give us the type of competition we feel we need, then we're going to
look at that."

 The Bears also will take at least a cursory glance at the three
players entering free agency likely to be the most sought after at
their respective positions: linebacker Lance Briggs, wide receiver
Bernard Berrian and special-teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo. But even if
the Bears have the necessary funds with the salary cap increasing to
$116 million, Angelo sounded realistic about the market steering those
players to pastures full of more green.

 "If we don't [re-sign them], then we have other players who can take
their place," Angelo said.

 Wisely, Angelo left open the possibility of sticking the franchise
tag on Berrian if the Bears conclude they might be too thin at the
position to let him flee.

 He reaffirmed belief in his core philosophy of a strong defense and
solid running game, freshly armed with a statistic out of the Dallas
Morning News that showed teams with a 100-yard runner winning 105 of
142 games this season.

 "We have to run the football," Angelo said.

 For the Bears' failure to stop the run, Angelo appropriately placed
most blame on the secondary for a bad defense prone to giving up such
big plays.

 Addressing Smith's desire to bring back every assistant from a 7-9
staff, Angelo defended his coach's choice to feel comfortable with the
people he works with daily. Note that Angelo didn't say he necessarily
endorsed the return of the entire staff.

 Angelo grew testier when pressed about the inexperience of a staff
whose experience he had just hailed. Three of the four defensive
assistant coaches were doing their jobs at the NFL level for the first
time this year.

 "That's a matter of opinion," Angelo said of the need for a more
experienced staff.

 It was Angelo's opinion that rookie guard Josh Beekman and reserve
wide receiver Mike Hass could have gotten onto the field after the
Bears were eliminated from the playoffs. But he understood why the
coaches kept both players inactive.

 There was only one thing Angelo really never understood about this
season, and still doesn't: Why it went south so quickly.

 "We competed but just weren't able to find that little something at
the end to finish the game," Angelo said. "What is that? If I knew
that answer, I would be in Canton, but unfortunately I don't really
see that in my future either."

 Now that's the kind of honesty the Bears need this off-season.

 dhaugh at tribune.com

Copyright (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune

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