A few suggestions to help Bears rebuild for 2008
If Lovie Smith continues to insist on playing only the players he thinks give the Bears the best chance to win, even in the meaningless season finale against the Saints at Soldier Field on Sunday, at least that will create something to look forward to in July in Bourbonnais. And several things to look forward to not seeing.
But first, in the spirit of Festivus, the airing of the grievances: It defies explanation why players like wide receiver Mike Hass and guard Josh Beekman haven't and probably won't get a chance to perform this season for a team that has precious few irreplaceable players.
In case you've forgotten in the two years that Hass has languished on the sidelines, he left Oregon State with 3,924 receiving yards, the 11th most in NCAA Division I-A history. He was the first Pac-10 player with more than 1,000 receiving yards in three seasons. But, even after two years in the Bears' system -- last year on the practice squad and this year as a game-day inactive 14 times out of 15 -- he still can't get a chance.
He's the guy who made news during this year's training camp when he dropped a pass. It was news because none of the first hundred or so throws within his reach touched the ground. Apparently, coaches believe Hass is good enough to keep around for two years but not good enough to put up the kind of production that Mark Bradley did in 15 games -- 5 catches for 52 yards.
The Bears' offense certainly couldn't have achieved its "lofty" status without that average of 3½ receiving yards per game from Bradley.
And, if the Beekman was good enough for the Bears to spend a fourth-round pick on, why couldn't he start even one game ahead of Terrence Metcalf, who played himself out of the lineup in five games? Or at least Beekman could play a couple of series in relief of John St. Clair, a backup tackle for most of the past five years.
But enough about this season.
Next season, hopefully, the Bears will be starting more offensive linemen who aren't on the verge of retirement and can either pass protect or run block proficiently. That way, even with an average running back and quarterback, the offense can still be productive.
Without an improved offensive line, even excellent skill-position players won't enjoy much success. With an effective offensive line, imagine how much of an impact talented young players like tight end Greg Olsen and wide receiver Devin Hester can make. They both showed plenty of big-play ability without the benefit of a running game or decent protection for the quarterback.
Defensively, the hope is that Smith and his coaching staff finally realize they made a mistake giving Alex Brown's job at right end to Mark Anderson. Return Anderson to the role of pass-rush specialist that he played so well as a rookie in 2006 when he collected a dozen sacks. A return to complete health by linemen Dusty Dvoracek, Tommie Harris and Anthony Adams will make Brown, Anderson and Adewale Ogunleye even more dangerous as pass rushers.
It's probably too much to hope for a healthy Mike Brown, but that might be the most welcome development of all since it would fix the safety situation without having to spend draft picks or money in free agency.
As far as addition by subtraction, let someone else overpay for Lance Briggs, who will find out soon enough that he isn't nearly the same player without Brian Urlacher next to him. And let some other team get duped into paying Darwin Walker not to show up. The $5.2 million roster bonus he's due in March would be better spent on players who suit up every week, even when they aren't 100 percent.