141st Edition - 5/2/07

• The Special Guest: Mark Lubbat

Officially, Mark is the biggest Bears fan I know. Season tickets, jerseys, reworking vacations to watch the games, and an undying hatred of Bret Farve ... he's a big fan. So there was no one else that should speak on the Bears' draft besides him. Mark, the floor is yours ...

Chicago Bears 2007 NFL Draft thoughts

Heading into the 2007 Draft, the Bears were fortunate to not have any glaring holes to fill in their roster. The main concerns were adding youth to an aging offensive line, adding linebacker depth or a possible replacement to Lance Briggs, getting a 3^rd RB and adding depth at DB and WR. Jerry Angelo, Greg Gabriel and the rest of the scouting department have a proven track record of uncovering talent and making prudent personnel decisions as shown by the results of previous drafts. Only time will tell how well the current draftees will fare, here is a brief analysis.

#1 – Greg Olsen, TE, Miami (#31 overall)

In many mock drafts, Olsen was projected to go in the mid- to high-teens. The Bears were fortunate that he was available at #31. Olsen should be able to contribute immediately this year as a receiving TE, though he will have to work on his blocking if he wants to play full-time. Olsen is fast (4.5 in the 40), athletic and has great hands. His ability to stretch the field and create mismatches will benefit the offense, especially slot receiver Rashied Davis, who should see more room on his quick crossing patterns and skinny-post routes. Olsen can also be another viable deep threat for Rex Grossman which should help Bernard Berrian get more single coverage. Overall, an excellent pick that should be able to contribute immediately.

#2 – Dan Bazuin, DE, Central Michigan (#62 overall)

The Bears had the #37 overall pick in the Thomas Jones trade with the Jets (Bears traded Thomas Jones and the #63 pick for the Jets #37 pick). At the time, the trade looked rather lopsided in the Jets favor, but if we analyze the trade after the draft, it ended up being quite advantageous for the Bears. We ended up trading this pick to San Diego for an additional 4 draft picks (3 in 2007 and one in 2008). So, the Thomas Jones trade netted us 3 additional picks, and allowed us to move up one slot in the 2^nd round of this year’s draft. In addition, the trade also netted us two back-to-back picks, which can be quite advantageous. That Jerry Angelo can be pretty crafty.

Bazuin has been labeled as a “reach” for the Bears at this point in the draft. Hopefully he will be as much as a reach as Devin Hester was tabbed as last year. Bazuin is a little undersized and his production his senior year was down a little from his junior year, but he was dealing with an injury and the death of his younger brother. Bazuin should be able to get into our DE rotation and possibly allow us to deal one of our 5 DE’s if necessary. It never hurts to have too many good defensive linemen in the cover-2 defense.

#3 – Garrett Wolfe, RB, Northern Illinois (#93 overall)

Very fast RB (4.4 in the 40), though small (5’7”, 186 lbs), Speed, speed and more speed is a common philosophy for the Bears when seeking out players. Wolfe should be able to contribute as a 3^rd RB, and could possibly push for the 2^nd RB slot which would allow Adrian Peterson to play on all our special teams units. Hopefully he will produce like other RB’s that have been “too small” such as Warrick Dunn and Emmit Smith. In reality, Wolfe should be a nice change-of-pace back and a good receiver out of the backfield. Let’s hope Ron Turner can utilize his speed to create mismatches when splitting him out as a receiver. He can also contribute as a returner if we choose to have two deep backs on the kickoff return team.

#4 – Michael Okwo, LB, Stanford (#94 overall)

Okwo played well on a bad team, and according to Greg Gabriel, stood out when you watched the film. Okwo and last year’s 4^th round choice, Jamar Williams (ASU, #120 overall) will provide depth and a possible replacement for Lance Briggs after this season. Williams was on IR for the majority of last year with a chest injury, so more getting another LB does not hurt in this case. We’ll see what Okwo can do at 5’11” and 232 lbs. He should fit our cover-2 defense well though he is not as fast as Lance Briggs. Briggs tends to miss a few tackles in space, so hopefully Okwo or Williams will be a better open-field defender. Either way, Okwo should contribute on special teams at worst, and be a quality replacement at the Will LB sport at best.

#5 – Josh Beekman, G/C, Boston College (#130 overall)

Beekman should add much needed depth to our guard rotation as Reuben Brown may call it a career soon. Beekman can also play center which adds a lot of value to this pick. Boston College has produced some quality lineman in the past so hopefully Beekman will follow that tradition. He’s a big man (6’2”, 313 lbs) and should only get stronger/bigger with Rusty Jones’ workouts.

#6 – Kevin Payne, S, Louisiana-Monroe (#167 overall)

Big hitter that converted to Safety from RB after Chris Harris graduated. Plays well in the box and will backup Archuleta and Harris at Strong Safety. Will contribute on special teams as well.

#7 – Corey Graham, CB, New Hampshire (#168 overall)

He is coming off an injury, but will be ready by the time training camp starts. Went to the same school as former Bear Jerry Azumah. We needed to get some CB’s as both Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher will be free-agents after this season and it is doubtful that we will be able to keep both of them. You Northwestern fans may recognize him as he had a solid game against NU this past season.

#8 – Trumaine McBride, CB, Ole Miss (#221 overall)

More CB depth. Played in the SEC against solid competition, will have to make the team as a special teams contributor.

#9 – Aaron Brant, T, Iowa State (#241 overall)

As much as it sucks to have players from Iowa State on the Bears, we needed to address our OT depth. Both John Tait and Fred Miller have a lot of mileage on them, though Brant will not be targeted as an immediate replacement. Most likely, Brant will compete with Mark LeVoir (undrafted free-agent from 2006, Notre Dame) for a spot on our practice squad.

Undrafted FA’s:

The Bears made some nice moves (on paper, that is) by adding Florida QB Chris Leak and WR Dave Ball (New Hampshire, Div 1-AA). Ball broke Jerry Rice’s 1-AA record for career touchdown catches. They also added some other stiffs from the undrafted crop, though it should be note that about 20% of the NFL’s rosters are undrafted FA’s. All these guys are a long shot to make the team. Their best chance is to make our practice squad and possibly develop in NFL Europa.

After analyzing the picks, the Bears took the “best player available” with their first and second picks, then were able to address the 3^rd RB, DB depth, LB depth and some offensive line depth. Hopefully we drafted a couple of future Pro-bowl players, but if most of these players can contribute as starters or solid reserves, then we can consider this a quality draft class.

• Stuff ( j is back in the driving seat )

*John Cusack just signed on to star in "Stopping Power," where he will star as a test pilot who sets off on a series of high-speed chases to save his kidnapped daughter from an escaped thief. Prepare to be underwhelmed a year or so from now.

*Visit Shel Silverstein today and feel like a kid. http://www.shelsilverstein.com/html/home.html

*Your guide to season finales... funny, I don't see "Studio 60" anywhere. Click here

*The cow wins.