Bears need to assemble a roster that's younger and ready to play

When Bears coach Lovie Smith says, on the heels of a 7-9 season, "I feel like our arrow is pointed in the right direction," it's almost too easy to disagree.

The Bears' defense came within one more missed tackle of allowing a franchise-worst yardage total in 2007, the signature running game was arguably the league's worst, and free agency could poke more holes in the foundation of a team that is already leaky.

But Smith might be right, although there are a few New Year's resolutions he may want to consider before his team gets serious about making a playoff run when it reports to Olivet Nazarene University in July.

First, the pace of training camp needs to be addressed. Next season's three weeks of training should resemble a boot camp more than a fantasy camp -- a little more full contact and fewer veterans' days off for general soreness, which seemed to be an epidemic among the offensive linemen in 2007.

That would start with assembling a roster whose players are closer to their prime than retirement. If players are too old to make it through the Bears' laid-back training-camp practices, it's a pretty good sign they might be too old to contribute to a winning program. Defensively, the Bears might have missed fewer tackles during the season if they actually practiced the skill full speed during training camp.

The Bears clearly weren't ready for the start of the regular season, and they lost three of their first four games, with the only victory coming against a 4-12 Chiefs team. That left the Bears in a hole out of which they never could climb.

But there are a lot of reasons to agree with Smith's optimism when he says this team is close to getting back to the level it played at in 2005 and '06.

It's not an excuse to cite injuries as a factor in the Bears' demise, and it's not wishful thinking to believe all of those injured players will be back at full strength in 2008.

Good health alone will provide the Bears with an outstanding defensive line, including key players who are young enough to still be peaking, such as 24-year-old tackles Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek and end Mark Anderson.

Left end Adewale Ogunleye had his best season as a Bear, right end Alex Brown proved late in the season that he should have been starting all along, and Anthony Adams is an excellent backup at tackle and more than adequate as a starter.

Dvoracek, potentially the Bears' best run defender, missed 15 games, as did Pro Bowl safety Mike Brown. Pro Bowl cornerback Nate Vasher missed 12 games, and Harris, another Pro Bowler, played hurt most of the season. That's a lot of top-caliber talent missing a lot of action.

Injuries happen every year, but they don't always happen so frequently and to such key players. A lot of the Bears' success in 2006 was the result of an offense that went through the entire season virtually unscathed, and a defense that had few injuries.

Even when Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs leaves, the defense will be only a Mike Brown-type safety away from challenging the elite 2006 group, and Brown could be back, although his long injury history makes him a gamble. The Bears realize that.

But plugging promising Jamar Williams into Briggs' spot and adding a safety in the draft or free agency is typical, minor off-season tinkering that will leave plenty of resources for improving the offense.

If Smith and GM Jerry Angelo are competent mechanics, they could have the Bears back in the fast lane in a hurry.