Official NFL 2007 Thread

[Cactus Drags]

Devin Hester is set to train with the Wide Receivers at minicamp, and the Bears are interested in playing him like Reggie Bush, a little bit of receiver, little bit of tailback.

[livid]

Which is where I think he'll get them the most value. He's a playmaker, not a shutdown corner.

[Cactus Drags]

I'm not sure he's of much value outside of special teams to be honest. He seems to do his best when he's got a few yards in front of him, time to plot his first move. Even if he's in as a halfback, he won't have the time he's used to on returns to make decisions and cuts. It will be interesting to see though, and I think it could be a threat that opposing teams are going to have to account for in their gameplan, which should give the Bears a bit more room elsewhere to make plays. I haven't given up on Sexy Rexy, but this has to be make or break time this season, and I think the first sign of a recurrence of last year's inconsistency, he needs to get yanked. Put Orton in for God's sake, the poor kid's been compeltely forgotten about.

[livid]

Because Orton doesn't really have the arm strength to continue being successful in the NFL. I do agree though, make or break time for Rex and I think it'll be break. I honestly think he has the talent, just not the brain/decision making process to be a successful QB in the league, much like Ryan Leaf was. He had amazing physical tools, but not the mental tools. And I think that Hester will be good, but not nearly as good as Bush, who is the reason why I think they're moving, because they saw what he could do against them and probably thinks that Hester can do the same.

[Trey]

If you line up Hester on one side ad Berrian on the other, Moose is pretty much guaranteed single coverage and the safeties have to account for their speed, also helping the running game if they decide to try and run out of a four receiver set.

[ACCBiggz]

Which is where I think he'll get them the most value. He's a playmaker, not a shutdown corner.

[livid]

Well they got him in the 2nd round, and at the time, had no intentions of turning him into a Bush-like guy. They drafted a corner in the second round who can do nothing more than cover a team's third/fourth option? Bad idea (most of the time). I was never saying that he has the ability to be a shutdown corner, but they drafted him high to begin with and while they have a lot of depth in the secondary, it wasn't a very good idea to draft a guy that you know won't be able to actually cover someone. That is, unless they drafted him purely for his return skills, which would be even worse drafting him in the second round. And if they were looking for a corner, the guy taken after him, Richard Marshall, is now a starter for the team that drafted him and he would've been a lot better if they were looking for a corner. But like I said, if they were looking for a special teams guy, drafting one in the second round usually isn't a good idea. It paid off for them, but the way they went about it didn't strike me as smart.

Then again, the whole draft process is a prediction contest.

Edited May 15, 2007 by Captain Cuntbag

[Cactus Drags]

Which is where I think he'll get them the most value. He's a playmaker, not a shutdown corner.

He was never supposed to be a shut down corner. He only played some nickelback for 3rd/4th recieving options.

I'm not sure he's of much value outside of special teams to be honest.

[livid]

Everybody did at the time. I'm not saying that it was a mistake now, because that's pretty obvious what kind of impact he had on a team who's offense couldn't score if someone had a gun to their head. But at the time of the draft, you have to wonder exactly what they were thinking. That's all I was saying. And if they did just draft him for his return abilities, then that's very uncharacteristic of a team to draft that sort of player so early. It worked, but if it didn't, Bears fans would be calling the GM (I forget his name) a dumbass. And everybody pretty much agreed at the time of the draft that the Bears probably could've gotten him a round later.

[Trey]

He was drafted as a return man with the addition he could turn into a decent corner.

[livid]

And what I'm saying is that you normally don't draft a guy to return your kicks in the second round. It worked out for them, obviously, but if it hadn't, everybody would calling for the Angelo's head. It's great for them that it worked out, I'm just saying that they reached for him a bit when they drafted him in terms of value coming into the league. I'm going to give it another year before I say that he's going to do anything major for the rest of his NFL career, because a few years ago Dante Hall was wowing everybody with his return skills, now look at him. He was traded for a fifth round pick to the Rams and he hasn't done much of anything since that season. And like I said, I think he'll have moderate success at what they're going to try and do with him on offense, but not nearly as good as they think he can be. And time will tell if he was worth that second rounder. He's only been in the league one year and I've always been a firm believer in waiting a couple of years to see if that player can consistently get it done like that. I'm not expecting him to keep breaking the record, but just not end up being Dante Hall 2.0.

[Trey]

I agree, but even if the Bears reached, they got the guy they wanted. I'm not sure if you're a Bears fan, but two years ago, we had Bobby "I can't catch the ball" Wade returning and it was, truthfully, our most pressing need. We also needed DB depth, and while Hester isn't a starter, given the time to develop he could still become a solid third DB as well as an excellent return man.

So, for most teams I'd agree, but I just think the Bears situation (in the fact they are talented at pretty much every position) allows them to take most talented player + biggest need.

[livid]

Problem is, he wasn't necessarily the most talented player. A guy by the name of Maurice Jone-Drew was still on the board and I think he'll have a very good career just from what I've seen of him. Again, only one year in, but I can see him being a lot like Barry Sanders (not exactly like him, or even close to how fluid he was) but just in general, his similarities are hard to overlook.

And no, I'm not a Bears fan , I'm a 49ers fan.

[Trey]

Why would we draft Jones-Drew, we already had two backs who wanted starting time and a possibly the best third string in the entire league?

[ACCBiggz]

Everybody did at the time.

Edited May 16, 2007 by ACCBiggz

[Typical Phenom]

Problem is, he wasn't necessarily the most talented player. A guy by the name of Maurice Jone-Drew was still on the board and I think he'll have a very good career just from what I've seen of him. Again, only one year in, but I can see him being a lot like Barry Sanders (not exactly like him, or even close to how fluid he was) but just in general, his similarities are hard to overlook.

And no, I'm not a Bears fan , I'm a 49ers fan.

[alldaws1]

Tickets go on sale today for the London game, well to the people the NFL sent passwords to (lucky buggers ). Apparently they go on general sale next Monday. Then after that the Americans get the scraps

[ACCBiggz]

Then after that the Americans get the scraps

[Cactus Drags]

Problem is, he wasn't necessarily the most talented player. A guy by the name of Maurice Jone-Drew was still on the board and I think he'll have a very good career just from what I've seen of him. Again, only one year in, but I can see him being a lot like Barry Sanders (not exactly like him, or even close to how fluid he was) but just in general, his similarities are hard to overlook.

And no, I'm not a Bears fan , I'm a 49ers fan.

[livid]

Not at all, I'm just saying that, at the time they definitely reached for the guy in the draft and that everybody praises him for being so uber good but his best ability is just that he's fast. He's a Hurricane and I'm actually a Hurricanes fan. I'm just saying that they reached for him at the time and he's had a really good year and they'll be moving him to a position where I don't think he'll be that successful. I can always be wrong and I can in no way tell the future, but I just don't think he'll give them the results they're looking for there (they saw what Bush can do against them and thought, well might as well move him to the same spot), otherwise it would've made more sense for him to start doing this last year, because it was kind of pointless for him to learn coverage schemes if they're just going to change his position a year later.