Benson has been nothing but a BUST since the Bears drafted him with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft. Benson was a workhorse in college at Texas, and been nothing but WORTHLESS with the Bears. This arrest helps Benson reach the low point in a career of low lights. Benson failed to beat out Thomas Jones in 2005, he also injured his leg. In 2006, Benson rushed for 647 yards and 6 touchdowns; however, Thomas Jones was the feature back that season.
In his first full season as the feature back, Benson rushed 674 yards, 4 touchdowns and average 3.4 yards per carry. The Bears were at the bottom of the league in rushing. Benson suffered a season ending injury against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11. Reports out of Halas Hall state that Benson’s injury was worse than reported; a local Chicago radio station also reports that Benson HAS NOT been diligent in his rehab.
The Bears have so little faith in Benson, that they selected his replacement in the 2nd round of this year’s draft. Matt Forte, out of Tulane, will be the starting running back this season, with Adrian Peterson being the backup.
This latest Benson blunder should spur the Bears to CUT him NOW!
The NFL draft came and went this weekend for all thirty-two teams. Teams were drafting based on needs and best available player. In this weekend’s draft, there were thirteen quarterback selected from Matt Ryan (Boston College…now an Atlanta Falcon) to Alex Brink (Washington State… now a Houston Texan). The teams that picked quarterbacks were: Giants (two), Packers (two), Ravens, Dolphins, Patriots, Steelers, Bucs, Vikings and Redskins. The Giants, Pats, and Steelers picked quarterbacks “because they could”. The Ravens, Vikings, and Dolphins picked quarterbacks out of necessity. While the Bucs and Skins fell somewhere in between the two groups.
The decision to not draft a quarterback was not negligent, but IDIOTIC! The Bears had a plan; the plan was to address the team needs. What is the biggest need on this Bears team and has been the biggest need of the Bears Franchise? The answer is: A FRANCHISE QUARTERBACK!!! The last Franchise quarterback for the Bears was Sid LUCKMAN. He was quarterback from 1939 to 1950! That is 58 years and counting.
The Bears management especially G.M. Jerry Angelo is convinced that the Bears do not need a “great” quarterback to win the Super bowl. It seems as the Bears are comparing themselves to 2001 Ravens team and the 2003 Bucs. The Ravens won the Super bowl with an average quarterback in Trent Dilfer, and good running game, Priest Holmes, and a great defense lead by Ray Lewis. While the Bucs were from the same mold, average quarterback, Brad Johnson, good running game, Dunn/Alstott, and a great defense led by Sapp, #### and Brooks. The fact that the Bears made the Super Bowl in 2006, with a similar mold, reinforced the point. Their management believes they can without a FRANCHISE quarterback.
The most disappointing thing is that Bears have not taken a quarterback since Kyle Orton. The biggest need in franchise history and three drafts in a row, there was not even an ATTEMPT to address it. Negligent and idiotic might not be the proper words to describe the Bears draft.
The only word that comes to mind is DISSAPOINTING.
The Bears have down nothing this offseason to improve their team. I should rephrase that: The Bears only added Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd this offseason. Those two additions will NOT put the Bears back in the playoff race.
Now I find an article about Colt Brennan and his pro-day at Hawaii. http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7987234/NFL- draft-Q&A:-Colt-Brennan I have already written about my feelings and thoughts toward Colt Brennan. Much to my dismay when I read this article, I find out that Bears have had extensive talks with Colt Brennan. I will add more facts to why the Bears SHOULD NOT draft Brennan.
If Brennan is to be successful in the NFL, he needs a team with an established quarterback. He needs to be able to learn from someone such as: Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. By landing on a team with an established quarterback, he can grow and learn the system under an experienced teacher. The pressure would also be less, if Brennan landed with a team who already had a franchise quarterback. He would not be looked at as the savior or the future of that team.
With the Bears, Brennan would have to learn from Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. These two are by no-means established or very good for that matter. Grossman is similar to Brennan in that they both came from pass happy offenses in college. If that is any indication of what Bears fans can expect, we will see Rex Grossman’s little brother in Colt Brennan.
Brennan is similar to Orton in that both played in mainly shotgun oriented offense in college. Orton has a TOUGH time adjusting to getting the ball from under center. Grossman has a similar problem. Grossman and Orton are not going to be with the Bears for the long term, which means that Brennan will have to be ready in a hurry. From what I have read on football websites, some scouts believe Brennan may never be ready for the NFL. Brennan will be viewed a potential savior to the Bears which is way too much pressure for a young quarterback, especially on a flaw team such as the Bears.
For the Bears sake and Colt Brennan sake as an NFL quarterback, they should avoid each other at all COSTS.
With the recent losses of Bernard Berrian (free agent signing with the Vikings), and Muhsin Mohammed (released), The Bears were down two wide receivers.
With Bears general manager, Jerry Angelo, touting Devin Hester as a possible number one receiver and Mark Bradley as solid number two receiver, the Bears were very inexperienced a wide receiver. The Bears were in desperate NEED of a VETERAN wide receiver.
The Bears brought back a familiar face in Marty Booker. Marty Booker has spent the last four seasons in the NFL version of hell, Miami. Miami has had more quarterback problems than the Bears as of late. That is why Booker did not enjoy the same success in Miami as he did in Chicago.
Marty Booker was in Miami for the last four years because the Bears sent him there in a trade for Adewale Ogunleye. Booker resented the fact that The Bears traded him away. It appears the Bears and Booker have made amends.
When new President of Football operations in Miami, Bill Parcels, released Marty Booker; it made perfect sense for the Bears to re-sign Booker. Bears had a need a receiver and Booker needed a team. Booker is brought in to fill the role of the veteran number two receiver. Booker enjoyed his best season with the Bears. In 2001, Booker caught 100 balls and in 2002 he made the PRO-BOWL as a Bear.
This signing is good sign for the Bears. He will bring experience to a VERY inexperienced receiving core. He will hopefully mentor Bradley and Hester. He play the role of the number two receiver better than Mohammed. Booker is a younger and faster version of Mohammed.
On behalf of Bears fans, Let me Welcome BACK Marty Booker!
Brett Favre has been flirting with the idea of retiring for the last several years. Yesterday that flirtation ended for Favre. Favre announced his retirement via phone call to Head Coach Mike McCarthy. This announcement comes as a shock to all football fans, but especially to Packer fans.
Favre retired after one of his best season’s in his career. This season Favre was not the gunslinger of old, but instead a game manager. His numbers reflected his game management; he threw for 4155 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Those numbers along with an overall team effort propelled the Packers to 13-3 regular season record and a trip to the NFC title game.
Being a Bears fan, I feel torn on the Favre retirement. I am envious that Packer fans had stability in a position that Bears seemingly always find ineptitude. I despised his ability to rally the Packers late against teams especially the Bears. I also respected his “greatness”. Favre was such a rare talent in the NFL. He was the most unorthodox quarterback, people will ever see. He would seemingly makes plays, when people were certain he would fail.
Packer fans always found comfort in knowing that they had number “4” behind center late in any game. All of Wisconsin took solace in the fact, regardless of how any season ended; they always had a chance next season with Favre at the helm. For sixteen years, Favre gave the Packer faithful hope.
I know now Packer fans will look at the negative in Favre retirement, but Packer fans should be looking at the positive they had sixteen years with the Great Brett Favre.
Good bye Brett Favre Wisconsin mourns your retirement, while all Illinois celebrates it; which in my mind is the ultimate sign of respect.
The Bears traded away backup quarterback, Brian Griese, to the Bucs for an undisclosed draft pick. This move was the best option for the Bears, because if they did not trade Griese, he would have been released. The Bears not only get rid of Brian Griese, but it also opens up a roster spot for a rookie quarterback.
That rookie quarterback should not be COLT BRENNAN. Colt Brennan had ridiculous numbers in college. He set 22 NCAA records most notably most touchdowns in a single season, 57 in 2006 and 146 career touchdowns.
His numbers were the product of many different factors in college: system, schedule, and talent. Colt Brennan played in the spread offense under June Jones, who produced Timmy Chang a prolific passer in college. Timmy Chang, however, did not catch on with any NFL team. Quarterbacks who played in spread offenses fail in the NFL; two prime examples are David Klinger and Andre Ware. Both were great passers in college, both were first round BUSTS!
Brennan benefited from playing for Hawaii. Hawaii had the WEAKEST schedule in Division 1A football last season. Brennan torched that schedule for 38 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions. During the Sugar Bowl, Brennan played against a very talented team in Georgia. Brennan looked inferior in all aspects of the game to a superior Georgia team.
Colt Brennan is a talented quarterback, talented enough to play at Colorado. He was recruited to play for them. He was involved in an “incident”, in which he was expelled from school. If Brennan would have stayed at Colorado we might have seen how he could have played against a tougher BIG 12 as opposed to a very WEAK WAC.
That is why I feel Brennan will not succeed in the NFL. Teams, especially the Bears, should not DRAFT Brennan in any round! I know some team will take a chance on Brennan in 5th or 6th round. One team might even be STUPID enough to take Brennan in the 3rd round.
Adam Archuleta was by far one of the WORST safeties in all of football last season. The Bears acquired Archuleta from the Redskins last season. When the Bears acquired from Redskins, he had been demoted to special teams. The Bears hope with Archuleta was that he would regain the form he enjoyed with Lovie Smith in St. Louis.
The word from both the Bears and Archuleta blamed the system in Washington. The Bears and Archuleta thought, he would be amazing in the Bears cover 2 scheme. Turns out, there were reasons why the Redskins demoted him to special teams.
The Bears learned those reasons the hard way. Archuleta cannot cover anyone, can’t tackle, and does know his assignments. I affectionately named him: ARCH-LET-THEM-SCORE .
All these reasons, brings me to the point of this blog, why have the Bears not cut him yet? The Bears should not be stubborn, they should admit they made a mistake and cut him today. They lost a 6th round pick and Chris Harris in the deal for Archuleta. Chris Harris was traded to make room for Archuleta.
He was a major reason why the Bears defense was so bad last season. The Bears counted a guy who is worthless!
Archuleta’s numbers from last season were: one cast, hundreds of missed tackles, and a 7-9 record.
I am a graduate student at Western ILL in Communication .
I have a BA in Communication from Monmouth College.
I ran CC and Track in College.
I interned with WGN Radio in Chicago
I love to share my feelings and thoughts on Sports.