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Yikes. I took a sabbatical from the Bears board after a move to FL and was hoping it would've taken off at some point. Doesn't seem to be the case (in spades!) but I want to talk Bears and this is the only board I frequent sooooo..........maybe I'll just be rattling off this to myself but hopefully the regulars will contribute.

The draft always gets me back into Bears mode and looking at our strengths/weaknesses. For me, it always starts with both sides of the line. If you're good in the trenches it can make up for weaknesses elsewhere. Defensive line can be a strength for us but it definitely has its question marks. The good news is that Tommie Harris is gone. Tommie was living off his rep and turned into even more of a part time player given his knee issues. He certainly wasn't anyone that required a double-team anymore which didn't allow Peppers to be as effective as possible.

So here's what we have :

J Peppers : Sacks went down for the third year in a row and he turned 31 in January but he still obviously performs at an elite level as sacks don't always tell the entire story. Consistently double-teamed in 2010. To wit, the Dolphins double-teamed Peppers on over half of the snaps on pass plays. JP is a complete player capable of hurting a team in a number of ways.

S Paea : Can play either the three-technique or the nose and if he's not starting right away it's going to be a disappointment. Doesn't look like he has the speed to get to the quarterback but he'll be expected to require double-teams, stuff the run, and flush out the QB into Peppers' loving arms. Looks to be almost 100% back from the torn meniscus.

A Adams : Likely to be re-signed based on comments I've read but who knows? Our vet Brian Piccolo award winner last year, AA is always steady playing the nose position.

I Idonije : Did he really have 8 sacks last year? I found that surprising when I looked it up even though I knew it was a career year. Always jerked around between DT and DE from year to year and asked to adjust his weight accordingly, he seems to have found a home on the opposite side of Peppers.

C Wooten : Big points for effectively making sure this was Favre's last year but are we depending on this guy to be our situational pass rusher? He's got the size, motor, and long arms you like to see but Bears need to figure out quickly if he's the guy.

H Melton : Converted from RB to DE and now it looks like he's being asked to bulk up and play DT full time. I keep hearing how the Bears love his potential so let's finally see something. Will be in the mix to see some time as the Bears usually have a 3-man rotation going at his position.

M Harrison : 2008 3rd rd pick was inactive most of last season. Classic underachiever. Best show up to camp in shape else he could be shown the door.

M Toeaina : Run-plugging Samoan took Tommie Harris' job for early portion of the season. Good depth. His game reminds me of Anthony Adams' actually.

So - lots of questions.

- Can Paea come in as a rookie and handle a starting spot? I feel good about his chances.
- Can Wooten continue to progress and handle the situational pass rush role? I have no idea and would prefer to find a FA that has a track record of doing so. Haven't looked over the options yet in free agency to be honest.
- Can Melton take the rotational DT role? If not, Toeaina will step in like he always does.
- Are we signing Anthony Adams who's going to be unrestricted if free agency ever begins? If not, go steal more talented Cullen Jenkins from the Packers and hope he can actually stay healthy.

Chewie is back! Now only if emporer were to make a return.

I like the addition of Paea to this line. He has played like more of a run stuffer than a pass rusher from what I've read but he has a real quick first step so hopefully Marinelli can help him in that area so him and Melton can rotate at that 3-tech for us. Resigning Anthony Adams is huge IMO. He is our best nose tackle and if we lose him that would not be good. Big Toe will likely backup Adams. Tommie out - Paea in. I think we'll rotate DT's much like we did last year and it worked well for the most part. I'm really hoping Melton can step up and show consistently what he did on a limited basis last year that he can provide pressure to the QB bc other than him we don't have any pass rushing DT's, namely run stuffers.

I hope we don't sustain any injuries to the DE position this year bc we don't have much depth there (Melton can slide to DE in a crunch I suppose). Wooton NEEDS to step up his game this year and he will get a chance to do that (barring any FA signings). It will be a steady dose of Julius/Izzy for the most part it's looking like.

Overall, not many changes to the line from last season. We replaced an aging Tommie Harris with a young Paea which I'm happy about.

ChronicKerr wrote:Chewie is back! Now only if emporer were to make a return.

I'm here! Never left, but the combination of the lockout and that jag off post asking if it was too late to become a packer fan just sent me off the cliff. But if were back up talkin' Bears football I'm all in boyz!

I love the 2nd round trade up. I'm pretty sure we will go after a free agent & Harrison will be shown the door.

Was it me, or did Peppers seem to get less effective near season's end - or were teams just focusing on taking him out of games. (Maybe more the latter, since we had little support for him on the line).

I think the D line can be a strength with a solid signing to replace Harrison.

Yeah.....Bears football talk!

The D line, to Cliff Levingston, has basically stayed neutral. Provided we retain Anthony Adams, the only change is Paea for Harris. You hope that's an upgrade but who knows. Cliff Levingston sees Paea as decent nose tackle at best, an impact under tackle at best. He's not too explosive off the line it seems so his ceiling may be limited, but at least he's ridonkulously strong.

Adams and Big Toe are solid inside. Harrison is junk. Melton is a situational pass rusher who can swing outside like Izzy had for the few years prior to last. We're decently set there so long as we don't have major injuries.

D end should be good. The improvement will come from Wootton if it comes at all. He finished up the season pretty well so hopefully he makes strides. Not worried about Peppers; he's still a beast. Izzy is solid. As noted, Melton is the #4.

So yea; we need to cheer for Paea to be significantly better than Tommie was while hoping Wootton takes a big step forward.

I like our D-line going into this season. I think people are underestimating Paea's ability to get to the quarterback. He has a quick first step, which is probably the most important thing for any pass rusher. He should be an immediate starter.

Peppers/Wootton
Paea/Toeina
Adams/Melton
Idonije/Wooton
looks awesome to me and should be a great anchor for our defense. Idonije did a great job with his 1-on-1 matchups last year so I'm looking forward to seeing Peppers get that chance as well with Paea pretty much guaranteed to command a lot of double teams. IMO Paea was the third best DT in the draft.