Da Bears - Da Defense

Here comes the second edition of my prescription for a successful 2008 campaign. The bad news is that the Bears defense ranked 28th out of 32 teams in the regular season. The good news is that we still have Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, Vasher, Harris, Ogunleye, Anderson, Brown, and a few other notables - if they can just stay healthy.

I have to say, everyone was hot on the new speed training methodology that Rusty Jones brought with him a few years back, but I'm wondering if maybe he's not so good at creating durable players. Maybe more beef is not so bad. I digress.

Here's my take on the Bears defense:

Safeties - I was actually excited about Adam Archuleta before the 2007 season. It didn't take long before I was sick of him. Danieal Manning and Brandon McGowan showed flashes of greatness during the season but also made rookie mistakes (and they're not rookies). Mike Brown made an off-hand comment about "...if I can stay healthy this year" before the season and didn't last one whole game. I wonder if he wants to be healthy anymore. If not, buddy, step aside. Mike Brown is one of the best safeties I've seen, and we need someone of his caliber in that position. Tall order, and that person is not currently on the team. Can we dish Archuleta and pick up a real free agent? We don't need three people making rookie mistakes. Maybe Mike Brown could coach safeties.

Linebackers - When the weakest part of your linebacking core is Hunter Hillenmeyer, you're in pretty good shape. Plus, he's backed by Brendan Ayanbadejo. Other backups look pretty good, too, which makes me less nervous about Briggs leaving the team. It sounds like he may have changed his tune a bit - maybe he wants to ride out his career as a Bear. Either way, we're in good shape here.

Corners - Vasher and Tillman are as good a pair as there is in the league. This might be our greatest asset. The impact of both is astounding and that usually means you don't really see or hear anything from the other team's wide receivers. They're so respected, some teams will only try gadget plays or short, useless passes. That's respect and that's how good our guys are. In fact, I think Tillman is my favorite current Bear. I had misgivings about him two years ago, but he has since become the workhorse of that defense. Trumaine McBride looks good as a backup but Ricky Manning is not the kind of shut down back that Vasher is, and I don't know much about Corey Graham. I guess I'd consider this position pretty well stocked. If we're reasonably sure that Vasher and Tillman will be going into the season healthy, I think it's fine as is.

Defensive Ends - Here again, we have lots of talent that was plagued with injury. Ogunleye had his most impressive season since he's been here. Brown whined a bit during the pre-season and found Anderson starting instead. Angelo hinted at a rotating start between the two. I think it makes sense depending on the team they're facing. Idonije behind Ogunleye is even pretty good. So we're set here.

Defensive Tackle - We have one of the best in the league in Tommie Harris, then nothing. A guy they picked out of a dumpster and some other guy. I personally think that Tommie Harris will be back to full strength this year and that means we're set. However, might be a good idea to draft a rookie replacement/protege just in case.

Nose Tackle - Darwin Walker was brought in to replace Tank Johnson. We replaced a problem child with a seasoned veteran, who got injured. Oshinowo as a backup didn't make much of a challenge to the offenses he faced as far as I could tell, so not sure if he's a keeper. This is a key spot on the defense where we might consider going around the "lighter, faster" ethic and put a giant hog up there. I think our linebackers did best behind double giants like Ted Washington and Keith Traylor.

So that's the rundown. Truth is, if all players come back to training camp at 100%, we're a formidable defense as it stands. We have Kevin Payne at safety that could be good but we need to see more. Dusty Dvoracek could be the answer at nose tackle. At the very least, he'd be a solid rotation for Walker which could eliminate the need at that position. Mike Brown is phenomenal but hasn't finished a season in the last three or four. Can't count on him. Maybe they need a new conditioning/strengthening coach to focus on preventing injuries this year.

What do you think?