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Its still early, but let's start now and continue to revise.

QB- Jay Cutler, Caleb Hanie

-Taking just two QBs opens up other spots. And if we ever need a third QB, whoever we pick off the scrap heap will be as good as Basanez. Keep someone on the practice squad.

RB- Matt Forte, Kevin Jones, Garrett Wolfe, Adrian Peterson

-Pretty straigh forward. Jones is a solid back up and Peterson and Wolfe contribute on special teams.

FB- Jason Davis

-No McKie, please. Maybe Will Ta'ofu'ou.

WR- Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Rashied Davis, Juaquin Iglesias, Johnny Knox, Brandon Rideau.

- Does Davis make it on the count that he is our most experienced WR? Maybe, but Aromashodu could give him a run for his money.

TE- Greg Olsen, Desmond Clark, Michael Gaines

- Would like to see Kellen Davis kept around, but the other 3 are pretty secure. Its possible still, but I'm not including him yet.

OT- Orlando Pace, Chris Williams, Kevin Shaffer

- This is set. Perhaps Lance Louis sneaks in, but I'm thinking Practice Squad.

OG- Roberto Garza, Josh Beekman, Frank Omilaye, Dan Buenning

- I'm gonna include Buenning, but he's no guarantee.

C- Olin Kruetz

- We really need to think about his long term replacement, but hes good for now.

DE- Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown, Mark Anderson, Jarron Gilbert, Henry Melton

- The real question here is who the starters are. Melton might not make it, but he'll be on for now.

DT- Tommie Harris, Anthony Adams, Israel Idonije, Marcus Harrison

- The last spot is between Dusty and Harrison. Despite coming to camp overweight, I'm giving it to Harrison right now. Dusty's injury concerns are too much for me.

OLB- Lance Briggs, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Jamar Williams, Nick Roach, Marcus Freeman

- Sorry Hunter, but 6 is too much, and the FA and youth win.

MLB- Brian Urlacher

- The only discussion here is whether or not Urlacher can be the Urlacher of old.

CB- Charles Tillman, Zachary Bowman, Corey Graham, Trumaine McBride, Nathan Vasher, Woodny Turenne (Edit- Forgot DJ Moore. He'll make it. Woodny, you need to beat out Vasher, or hope for an injury)

- Vasher hasn't done enough to be cut yet, but he certainly isn't safe.

FS- Danieal Manning, Josh Bullocks

- Steltz, get out of here

SS- Kevin Payne, Al Afalava

- Afalava also will play FS. Would like to see another S, so maybe Steltz does make it, but we'll see.

K- Robbie Gould
P- Brad Maynard
LS- Patrick Mannelly


Thats 52 spots. Spot 53 is between S- Craig Stetlz, DT - Dusty Dvoracek, and TE- Kellen Davis. Okay, I'll include QB- Brett Basanez too, out of pity. (Edit- Also include CB- Woodny Turenne)

Well here's a good way to kill the last hour of my work day. I'll type this up before looking too closely at yours and THEN see how we compare.

QB: Cutler, Hanie
RB: Forte, K Jones, G Wolfe, Peterson
FB: McKie
WR: Hester, Bennett, Knox, Iglesias, Rideau, R Davis
OT: C Williams, Pace, Shaffer
C: Kreutz (BTW, Beekman is the future at center, Friend of Haley)
OG: Garza, Omiyale, Beekman, Buenning
TE: Olsen, Clark, Gaines

LS: Mannelly
K: Gould
P: Maynard


DE: A Brown, Ogunleye, Anderson, Melton, Idonije (DT)
DT: T Harris, Adams, Gilbert, Harrison
ILB: Urlacher, Hillenmeyer (OLB)
OLB: Briggs, Tinoisamoa, Roach, J Williams, Freeman
CB: Bowman, Tillman, Graham, Moore, Turenne, McBride
S: Afalava, Payne, Bullocks, Manning

So I've got Dvoracek, Steltz, Vasher, Basanez, K Davis, Malast, Balogh, Ta'ufo'ou, and Aromashodu as the tough cuts not making the 53-man.

Guys making the cut but I'd rather we find better alternatives in the near future: Hillenmeyer, R Davis, Wolfe, Peterson, Maynard.

And - my God - I challenge any other team in the league to have more difficult names to spell than our guys. I can't believe how many names I had to look up.

Friend_Of_Haley wrote:-Taking just two QBs opens up other spots. And if we ever need a third QB, whoever we pick off the scrap heap will be as good as Basanez. Keep someone on the practice squad.

I really wish we would have given Graham Harrell a chance. He's probably 10X the QB Basanez is. Probably better than Hanie too although Hanie is really impressing me.

QB
Cutler, Hanie, Basenaz
RB
Forte, Jones, Peterson
FB
McKie
TE
Olsen, Clark, Davis, Gaines
WR
Hester, Bennett, Knox, Iglesias, Rideau, Aromashodu
T
Pace, Williams, Shaffer
G
Omiayle, Beekman, Garza, Buenning

DT
Harris, Harrison, Adams, Idonije
DE
Wale, Brown, Anderson, Gilbert
LB
Urlacher, Briggs, Tinoisamoa,Roach, McClover, Freeman
CB
Tillman, Vasher, McBride, Moore, Graham, Bowman
S
Manning, Afalava, Payne, Bullocks
Special
Maynard, Gould, Mannelly

Fight for TWO spots
FB Davis
S Steltz
WR Davis
RB Wolfe
CB Turenne
OLB Hillenmeyer
DE Melton
LB Williams (injured reserve most likely)

QB (2): Cutler, Hanie
- Only need two for now since Basanez is god awful and Cutler has shown to be very durable.

RB (4): Forte, Kevin Jones, Wolfe, Peterson
- They'll keep these 4 again. Wolfe probably isn't needed but they seem to want to try to use him at least a little bit this year.

FB (1): McKie
- They'll stick with the familiar face here over Davis.

WR (6): Hester, Bennett, Knox, Iglesias, Rideau, Aromashodu
- Yea, Cliff Levingston has then going extremely young and dumping Davis. Please lord.

OT (3): C Williams, Pace, Shaffer
- This is an easy one.

C (1): Kreutz
- Only guy on the team who won't play any other position other than center.

OG (4): Garza, Omiyale, Beekman, Buenning
- Beekman is the backup center with Omiyale as the emergency tackle.

TE (3): Olsen, Clark, Davis
- Cliff Levingston doesn't want to ignore the great play of Kellen Davis this preseason; hopefully he gets the spot.

LS (1): Mannelly
K (1): Gould
P (1): Maynard
- All standard.


DE (4): A Brown, Ogunleye, Anderson, Melton
- No surprises here.

DT (5): T Harris, Adams, Gilbert, Harrison, Idonije
- See ya later Dusty and Toeina.

ILB (2): Urlacher, Hillenmeyer
- Cliff Levingston will keep Hillenmeyer at backup MLB cause he probably wouldn't see the field at OLB unless both Pisa and Roach go down.

OLB (5): Briggs, Tinoisamoa, Roach, J Williams, Freeman
- Nice depth here.

CB (6): Tillman, Vasher, Graham, Bowman, Moore, McBride
- With Tillman possibly battling injury, they'll need to stay deep here, and no way they cut Vasher yet.

S (4): Afalava, Payne, Bullocks, Manning
- No room for Steltz.

Notable cuts: Dusty Dvoracek, Michael Gaines, Rasheid Davis, Darrell McClover, Craig Steltz. The only ones that Cliff Levingston can reasonably see being different would be Gaines for Kellen Davis and/or one of Riedeu or Aromashodu for Rasheid Davis.

Version 2.0. Changes in bold.

QB: Cutler, QB TBA, Hanie
RB: Forte, K Jones, G Wolfe
FB: McKie
WR: Hester, Bennett, Knox, Iglesias, Rideau, Aromashodu
OT: C Williams, Pace, Shaffer
C: Kreutz
OG: Garza, Omiyale, Beekman, Buenning
TE: Olsen, Clark, Gaines, K Davis

LS: Mannelly
K: Gould
P: Maynard


DE: A Brown, Ogunleye, Anderson, Idonije (DT)
DT: T Harris, Adams, Gilbert, Harrison
ILB: Urlacher, Hillenmeyer (OLB)
OLB: Briggs, Tinoisamoa, Roach, J Williams, Freeman
CB: Bowman, Tillman, Graham, Moore, Vasher, Turenne or McBride
S: Afalava, Payne, Bullocks, Manning

I have a feeling Melton walking around in a boot this week means he's going to have a Lovie redshirt year on IR so he's gone from my list of DEs and I can't help but think we're going to get a vet QB in a trade. I've taken Adrian Peterson off the list and added Kellen Davis, though he better produce on special teams given he's a 4th TE. Vasher's back on my 53-man list and I'll guess the last spot is open to either Turenne or McBride at CB - can't keep both.

Updated Version:

QB- Cutler, Hanie
RB- Forte, Jones, Peterson, Wolfe
FB- McKie
WR- Hester, Bennett, Aromashodu, Davis, Iglesias, Knox
TE- Olsen, Clark, Gaines, Davis
OT- Pace, Williams, Shaffer
OG- Garza, Omiyale, Beekman, Buenning
C- Kruetz

DE- Brown, Ogunleye, Anderson, Melton
DT- Harris, Adams, Harrison, Idonije, Gilbert
OLB-Briggs, Pinoisamoa, Roach, Williams, Freeman
ILB- Urlacher
CB- Tillman, Bowman, Graham, Moore, Vasher
S- Payne, Manning, Afalava, Bullocks

K- Gould
P- Maynard
LS- Mannelly

That leaves one spot if I did my math correctly. Its between a bunch of CBs (Turenne, McBride, Hood), Hillenmeyer, and Basanez. My money is on a CB. Hillenemeyer could also still make it if they carry 3 TE, which is actually pretty likely. I just don't know if the third TE will be Gaines or Davis. Basanez would probably have to prove to be more useful than Melton, Wolfe, or Buenning.

So basically borderline guys are Gaines, Kellen Davis, Wolfe, and Buenning. One the bubble are Turenne, McBride, Hood, Hillenmeyer, and Basanez.

Not sure if it was the Sun-Times or Trib beat writer (too lazy to look up the link) but they were reporting that Freeman prob won't make the team. That would be surprising.....

When is the next cut expected?

Chewie wrote:Not sure if it was the Sun-Times or Trib beat writer (too lazy to look up the link) but they were reporting that Freeman prob won't make the team. That would be surprising.....

That is surprising. The pick he had last game probably made it an even tougher decision. Why did we draft Melton so high again?

FWIW, Biggs predicts Peterson, R Davis, K Davis, Toeaina, Hillenmeyer, and Steltz make the cut and Rideau, Freeman, Bullocks, Gaines, and McBride won't.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/09/projecting_the_53-man_roster_f_1.html#more

Quarterback (2): Jay Cutler, Caleb Hanie

The Bears will find a practice squad quarterback and it could be Brett Basanez.

Running backs/fullbacks (5): Matt Forte, Kevin Jones, Garrett Wolfe, Adrian Peterson, Jason McKie

Two weeks ago, Peterson would not have made my cut.

Wide receivers (6): Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Devin Aromashodu, Rashied Davis, Juaquin Iglesias, Johnny Knox

I hope Brandon Rideau gets a shot somewhere because the guys does the right things, says the right things and probably can play. Draft picks who won't play block his path here.

Tight ends (3): Greg Olsen, Desmond Clark, Kellen Davis

Just didn't see enough of Michael Gaines in preseason.

Offensive line (8): Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale, Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Chris Williams, Kevin Shaffer, Josh Beekman, Dan Buenning

The Bears didn't expect to keep Lance Louis when they drafted him, although he's done plenty to stick around on the practice squad. On paper, it's the deepest line Jerry Angelo has had with the Bears.

Defensive line (10): Alex Brown, Anthony Adams, Tommie Harris, Adewale Ogunleye, Mark Anderson, Henry Melton, Israel Idonije, Marcus Harrison, Jarron Gilbert, Matt Toeaina

If they drop down to nine here the final cut is between Melton and Toeaina. And for my money Toeaina is the player they will need more this season.

Linebackers (6): Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Nick Roach, Jamar Williams, Hunter Hillenmeyer

Tried to find a spot for special teams man Darrell McClover but couldn't make it happen. I could be wrong. Undrafted rookie free agent Kevin Malast will get a job somewhere, even if it's just on the practice squad.

Defensive backs (10): Charles Tillman, Zack Bowman, Danieal Manning, Kevin Payne, Nathan Vasher, D.J. Moore, Corey Graham, Rod Hood, Al Afalava, Craig Steltz

Josh Bullocks doesn't warrant a starting job but probably deserves a job. Here we'll find out how much draft status means. As uncertain as some of the cornerbacks are when it comes to durability, I think they have to keep Hood.

Specialists (3): Robbie Gould, Pat Mannelly, Brad Maynard

Final cuts due 5pm Saturday.

Chewie wrote:FWIW, Biggs predicts Peterson, R Davis, K Davis, Toeaina, Hillenmeyer, and Steltz make the cut and Rideau, Freeman, Bullocks, Gaines, and McBride won't.

Rideau would be the only one Cliff Levingston might miss of that group. Steltz vs. Bullocks; both of them suck and hopefully won't see the field anyway.