RealGM

So I am really dying down here in Ecuador and depressed that I will miss the 1st 3 weeks of the season (any ex patriots know how to get games outside the US on the internet??)....

Anywoo....I'm really happy with this roster and think its far better than I would have predited back at the start of free agency & pre draft. So much so that I've skipped ahead of the regular season and started looking at what players have probowl potential. At midseason it might make a good confidence game.

So far I'm thinking (in order):

Defense:

Briggs
Payne
Urlacher
Harris (predicting a big comeback a year away from surgery)

Offense:

Cutler
Olsen
Forte
Hester

Thoughts??

Really?

No, really?

I hear Timberlake can help you watch games over the internet, but I wouldn't know anything about that.

As for my pro bowl predicts... hmmm...

I'm going to start out with a bang. Adewale Ogunleye. The added help on the line along with Tommie coming back healthy will get this old man a new contract (thats another arguement). He flourishes when he has someone else getting the O line attention, then he's able to matche up 1 on 1 and his athleticism flourishes.

Briggs. Consistently improving.

Urlacher. He's going to look better with a legit pass rush. Also, the lack of safeties will force Urlacher to take more responsibility in the passing schemes. Neither of our safeties are interchangeable, which was a huge luxury with Mike Brown. Urlacher was suppose to focus on pass rushing and be more involved with the d line. In 2008, he had zero sacks. I hope that BS stops. Let Urlacher do what he's best at. Running around, flying from line to line like a mad man, distrubing plays, reading the run plays, tipping away pass plays, and directing the 'swarm'.

I differ on the Kevin Payne prediction. Kevin Payne is good but he needs to show me he can read angles and dissect plays. He's way more of a SS than FS.

Cutler, Olsen and Forte on the offense.

Also differ in the Hester pick. Never been a big fan/homer of his being a legit #1. Hester improves all totals but still can't be considered a legit #1 and/or a pro bowl caliber receiver. He'll continue to make stupid mistakes, drop balls, show signs of lost focus. He'll be better, but still frustrating for the fans.

Pace makes it next season.

defensively i think Briggs is our best and only hope to make the Pro Bowl. we'll be lucky to get more than 8 games out of tommie harris. even when he did play last year he was not a high impact player. alex brown has a larger impact that harris. i also don't think urlacher will make it. if he is indeed in the shape everyone claims he's in, i think he'll be effective but not at a Pro Bowl level. those days might be behind him....but you never know. ray lewis defied age pretty good....

offensively we have several potential Pro Bowlers. honestly our best bet might be Greg Olsen. i could see him having an insane year. he definitely has Pro Bowl talent and should make it many times throughout his career.

Forte is an every down back with a multitude of skills. barring injury he could certainly make it. it's not unreasonable to think he could rush for 1400 yards.

Cutler has Pro Bowl abilities but the NFC has a lot of great talent. Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rogers, etc. The competition is stiff and a lot of factors are at play.

i think our two best candidates are Greg Olsen and Lance Briggs with Matt Forte in a close third.