| Andrew Perna & The RGM Chicago Bears Board. 18th April, 2008 - 4:28 pm
 Here at RealGM our hearts beat thanks to the thousands upon thousands of posters that frequent our forums on a daily basis. With the NFL season still months from kicking off, but the ever-important NFL Draft a little more than a week away, what better time than now to check in with the people who care about football even more than some of the players on the field?
2007 Record: 7-9
Additions: Marty Booker, WR, Brandon Lloyd, WR
Subtractions: Bernard Berrian, WR (MIN), Darwin Walker, DT, Muhsin Muhammad, WR (CAR), Brendon Ayanbadejo, LB (BAL)
Draft Picks: 14th
The Answers
1. What was the best thing(s) that happened in 2007?
Cliff Levingston: Considering not much good happened, I would probably say Brian Griese getting that slightly separated shoulder, forcing Grossman back into the lineup. The few games Rex played after that, he played relatively well, all things considered. That gives us a shred of hope for him this season.
SportsWorld: The nightmare of a season finally ending. More seriously, Devin Hester's two touchdown returns against the Broncos was my favorite memory.
CBS7: Sweeping the Packers or Hester's two touchdowns in a thriller versus Denver.
Chewie: Realizing that the league still hasn't figured out how to handle Hester. The game against Denver, that has already been mentioned, was Devin at his finest.
2. What was the worst thing that happened in 2007?
Cliff Levingston: I could name about 4,000,000 things here, but I’ll go with the discovery of Brian Urlacher's arthritic back. If it is going to bother him regularly, he'll no longer be an impact player, which really hurts our defense.
SportsWorld: Mike Brown going down in Week One, and watching him tear up during the postgame press conference.
CBS7: Injuries. If I had to point out a single one I'd agree with Cliff, discovering Urlacher's arthritic back.
Chewie: Injuries - particularly to Nathan Vasher, Dusty Dvoracek, and Brown.
3. Who had a breakout season?
Cliff Levingston: My first choice would be Charles Tillman. He played at a Pro-Bowl level all year despite a ton of injuries. Had he not gotten hurt in the first game, Dvoracek would've been a strong possibility.
SportsWorld: I am going to go with Devin Hester. I know it wasn't really a breakout season since he had a better year in 2006, but this year teams knew who he was. That made it even harder on him, yet he continued to go out and take kicks back for scores.
CBS7: The only guy I could think of is Tillman, who should have been a Pro-Bowler.
Chewie: I've looked the roster over twice, and I can't pick one person that fits this definition. Not one.
4. Who was the biggest disappointment?
Cliff Levingston: The entire offensive line. They went from one of the best to one of the worst in only one season, which is very surprising.
SportsWorld: Cedric Benson. We got rid of Thomas Jones to make room for Benson to be to our top back, but he stunk it up last year. Granted, our offensive line should get some of the blame for this.
CBS7: Our entire offense. We don't have great players on that side of the ball, but I'd say the majority of the blame goes on the offensive line. I would say Benson, but he played behind the worst offensive line in the league.
Chewie: Three way tie - Grossman, Benson, and Mark Anderson.
5. How could the team have been more successful?
Cliff Levingston: Better offensive strategy. Our system is predicated on picking up some yards every play, but we simply didn't have the personnel to consistently beat the defense. If we were more aggressive we probably would've had more negative plays, but also more big plays, leading to more scoring.
SportsWorld: Taking shots down the field on second and third down instead of weak screen passes. It seemed like every game in 2007 we were rallying with two minutes left in the game, down fourteen points. Ron Turner seemed to wait 58 minutes to open up his playbook.
CBS7: If we stayed healthy on defense, we still wouldn’t have made the playoffs. Getting a new offensive coordinator might have changed things, though, because Turner stinks.
Chewie: We could've kept Jones, as Benson clearly wasn't ready to carry the load. Also, some imagination while using Hester at receiver would've helped. If I see one more receiver screen for a loss...
6. What do you make of the team’s offseason progress at this point?
Cliff Levingston: Not much. We've gone backwards if anything, just from the loss of Bernard Berrian. We're not too far under the cap and we have lots of rookies to sign and guys to extend (Tommie Harris, Hester).
SportsWorld: Meh. It wasn't a good offseason, but it wasn't a bad offseason. We didn't do much overall.
CBS7: Nothing, really. We didn't make any big moves at all. I would have loved it if we could have brought in a big time receiver or a running back like Michael Turner. I It was a good decision, in my opinion, to not pay Berrian the money he got.
Chewie: What progress? While I'm glad we didn't pay Berrian what the Vikings did, we've lost our best receiver and special teams coverage player in Brendon Ayanbadejo. We've probably regressed more than anything.
7. Where are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
Cliff Levingston: Any offensive position except for tight end, but most importantly the offensive line. Defensively we could use an impact safety, since Brown can't seem to stay healthy.
SportsWorld: Offensive lineman, wide receiver, quarterback and running back.
CBS7: In this order: offensive lineman, guard, safety, receiver, running back and quarterback.
Chewie: Offensive tackle, guard, running back, wide receiver, quarterback and safety.
8. Who do you hope the team drafts with their first pick?
Cliff Levingston: Any good offensive lineman that can either play left tackle right away, or eventually.
SportsWorld: Either a top offensive lineman or Rashard Mendenhall.
CBS7: I’m hoping for an offensive lineman, but wouldn't mind Mendenhall.
Chewie: The best offensive tackle available.
9. Which player will be on the hot seat in 2008?
Cliff Levingston: Benson. He was given the keys to the car last season and failed, but his blocking was horrible. If the offensive line is improved and he still can't carry the load this season, he'll be out of here.
SportsWorld: Grossman and Benson. If they have solid seasons and lead us to the playoffs, the Bears won't have to worry about grabbing a free agent running back or quarterback next offseason.
CBS7: Whoever we start at quarterback and Benson. If we do shore up the offensive line, Benson has no excuse for stinking it up this time around. Whoever we start at quarterback is always on the hot seat.
Chewie: Tie - Grossman and Benson. Both very easy choices.
10. What are the realistic expectations for 2008 at this point?
Cliff Levingston: 9-7. Injuries hit us hard defensively last season, and that's our bread and butter. If we can stay healthier this season then that should be good for another couple wins, but our offense is still going to suck.
SportsWorld: Probably 8-8 and third in the NFC North, ahead of Detroit and behind Minnesota and Green Bay.
CBS7: I've said it over and over again; a healthy defense alone would be enough to get us back to the nine-ten win range. The list of guys who suffered injuries and missed a game/games and/or was severely limited last season is very long. If we have a good draft, we could be right back in it as contenders.
I'm going to say 10-6 and I feel like it’s a safe prediction (healthy defense assumed).
Chewie: 8-8. Anything more would be gravy.
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