Any congratulations for correctly guessing the Bears’ first two picks can be withdrawn now permanently. Day Two saw the Bears pick no one from my final mock draft. Still, many of the needs I felt the Bears would address, were addressed.

The Bears picked Vanderbilt wide receiver Earl Bennett and Arkansas defensive tackle Marcus Harrison in Round 3. After two trades, the Bears took LSU safety Craig Steltz in Round 4. In the fifth round, Nebraska cornerback Zack Bowman and Michigan State tight end Kellen Davis were the choices. The Bears exhausted their remaining five picks, all seventh rounders, on Michigan State defensive end Ervin Baldwin, Georgia guard Chester Adams, Oregon State linebacker Joey LaRocque, Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton and Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk.
(more…)

Well, look who is two-for-two. The Chicago Bears used the 14th and 44th overall selections in the NFL Draft to choose Vanderbilt left tackle Chris Williams and Tulane running back Matt Forte, respectively. If you remember correctly, I had the Bears doing exactly this in my final mock draft.

The props can stop there. Thanks to our friends, the cheeseheads, Kansas State wide receiver Jordy Nelson is no longer an option at 70. The Packers selected Nelson with the 36th overall pick in the second round.

Fortunately, there will still be some talented wideouts to choose from on Day Two including: Vanderbilt’s Earl Bennett, LSU’s Early Doucet and Florida’s Bubba Caldwell. Nabbing Arizona State strong safety Josh Barrett is still a strong possibility as well but the Bears may need to act quicker in order to take Rutgers guard Jeremy Zuttah. ESPN’s Draft “guru” Mel Kiper had Zuttah in the top 12 of his best remaining players as Day One came to a close.

According to Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chiefs, Eagles and Texans may be looking to leapfrog the Bears in order to steal one of the coveted first-round offensive linemen. The coveted includes Boise State’s Ryan Clady, Virginia’s Branden Albert, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah and Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams.

The news creates an interesting twist in this year’s draft and opens up the possibility that none of the remaining top four linemen — Michigan’s Jake Long signed with the Dolphins — will be available when the Bears pick fourteenth.

If this becomes the reality for the Bears, then what will they do with their pick? The options seem to dwindle to trading it away for two or more later picks or selecting Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall. Drafting Mendenhall would assuredly create a lot of buzz in Chicago Bears fandom and not to mention, tickle the belly of Sun-Times butthead columnist Jay Mariotti, who is calling for the Bears to get Mendenhall anyway.

A year after Bears Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs swore he would never play for the Bears again in response to receiving the franchise tag, teammate and real franchise player, middle linebacker Brian Urlacher is communicating discontent with the nine-year contract extension he signed in 2002.

Urlacher has four years left on the extension but believes now that he is underpaid. When he signed the deal, $57 million over nine years was presumed to be alot of money. Apparently, now, with the market as wild and generous as it is, the extension simply no longer offers the type of cash that is fair for a top-tier player. At least, this is the logic Urlacher will employ to sleep at night. (more…)

In keeping true to the history of mock drafts, my final version looks a lot different than the first or second one. That is partly because with just one week left until the NFL Draft, the foggy picture of who’s who, who fits what scheme, who has sleeper potential and all that other stuff is becoming clearer by the day. The Bears need offense, offense and more offense in this year’s draft. They also need to address issues at safety and add depth at defensive tackle. Make sure that you comment and let me know what you think. What you do anything differently? Without further ado:

Round 1, # 14

CHRIS WILLIAMS, OT Vanderbilt – 6′6 1/2, 317 lbs.

The knocks on Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams are that he is too soft and just a mediocre run blocker. While it is true that he is not as aggressive as another potential Bears first pick, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah, he was still very effective as a three-year starter in the extremely tough SEC. Williams will need to get a little bigger in the upper-body to improve as a run blocker but his pass protection skills are superb. He can take over at left tackle –maybe right away – and that would allow John Tait to move to the right side were he could add years to his career. (more…)

In the hype of free agency and the draft, many fans forget that you have to first, reward your own — something that Bears general manager Jerry Angelo feels very adamant about. With that said, the Bears are currently already in, or seeking to get in, contract negotiations with at least five significant players.

First on their list is defensive tackle Tommie Harris. The five-year veteran is in the final year of his rookie contract and, thanks to Raiders owner Al Davis’ complete lack of sanity, must garner more than Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly did in his record-breaking contract. In case you forgot, Kelly got $50.5 million over seven years with $18 million guaranteed. Yeah, I know. (more…)

Some of you may have noticed that Blog Down, Chicago Bears looks a little bit different. We have decided to go in the direction of a simpler, cleaner look allowing for easy and convenient navigation. We also think we’ll have fun with the customizable header so do not be surprised to see it change from time to time. Soon, we’ll have an e-mail subscription form that will make it even easier for you to get Chicago Bears content. As always, we appreciate comments and are continuingly looking for quality, relevant sites to swap links with.

In the second edition of my all-Bears mock draft, a couple of changes have been made from the first version. Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice and San Diego quarterback Josh Johnson have made emphatic moves into the third round. Both players’ stocks are rising so the Bears may need to act quicker now in order to nab them. Also, Vanderbilt wide receiver Earl Bennett takes the place of Coastal Carolina wideout Jerome Simpson as being the Bears’ first wide receiver selected — the Bears will take him in the second round. Additionally, much more emphasis is placed on offense in this draft as 8 of the 11 picks are offensive players. Hope you enjoy and as always, feedback is appreciated.

Round 1, # 14 (14 overall) – Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt

6-6 1/2, 317 LBS., 40 TIME: 5.15E

Losing veteran linemen Ruben Brown (LG) and Fred Miller (RT) only further decimates a line that wasn’t too impressive last season to begin with. The good news is that this year’s draft is loaded with talent at tackle. A lot of talk has been made to suggest current left tackle John Tait would benefit from a move to the right side. In that case, the Bears would be wise to select the player who could start at left tackle right away. Outside of Boise State’s Ryan Clady, who projects to be gone by pick 14, the best left tackle on the board is Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams. Williams is athletic, can handle edge speed, shows solid anchor strength and plays with great balance. In the last two seasons he has only allowed two sacks. (more…)

The NFL awarded three seventh-round compensatory picks to the Chicago Bears on Monday. Compensatory picks are given to teams that have lost more qualifying free agents than they gained the previous year in free agency. The Bears now own the 243rd, 247th and 248th selections in this year’s draft.

Considering quite a few prominent players have entered the NFL via the seventh round; including Packers offensive tackle Mark Tauscher, Saints receiver Marques Colston and Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the chances of snagging a gem or finding, at very least, a solid contributor in the seventh round are not as bleak as you might think.

The Bears have had their own share of success with seventh-rounders. Former Bears and current Seahawks safety, Mike Green, was the last pick in the 2000 draft. Mr. Irrelevant started at safety for the Bears from 2001-2005, recording over one-hundred tackles in a season on two separate occasions. More recently, safety Rod Wilson has contributed on special teams and second-year cornerback Trumaine McBride was arguably the Bears’ best rookie last year. (more…)