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Wow, it was a busy weekend here in the Chicagoist sports offices! Bears draft, Bulls playoffs, Sox winning streak...
First up this weekend was the NFL Draft. Wanting to bring the Chicagoist readers a first hand account, we set an alarm on a Saturday to be up for the big day. Around 12:30pm, moments after their 15 minute clock had expired, the Bears selected Texas running back Cedric Benson with the 4th pick.
This was a relatively safe pick as the Bears clearly needed help on offense and Thomas Jones did not prove to be the long term answer in the Bears backfield. Benson was a workhorse at Texas and will likely be asked to do the same for the Bears in Ron Turner's offense. While both Auburn backs might have been more talented, their sharing of ball carrying duties leaves questions about how they'd handle 300+ carries a season. Benson has shown he can withstand that workload. However, there are a couple questions regarding his character...
The Bears continued upgrading their offense throughout most of the draft. They took receivers in the 2nd and 5th rounds, as well as Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton. While he looked to contend for the Heisman Trophy at the mid-point of last year, he and the Boiler Makers slumped. Should be regain his form, he might become the Bears starting QB in a couple years should Grossman not pan out.
Full Bears Draft:
Round 1: Cedric Benson - RB (Texas)
Round 2: Mark Bradley - WR (Oklahoma)
Round 4: Kyle Orton - QB (Purdue)
Round 5: Airese Currie - WR (Clemson)
Round 6: Chris Harris - S (Louisiana-Monroe)
Round 7: Rodriques Wilson - S/LB (South Carolina)
Overall, Chicagoist thinks the Bears did a nice job of upgrading their offense. They got the durable running back they needed, added a few new targets for the QBs and added a QB who probably went lower than he should have. They didn't give their defense much help, but they didn't need that much. While they didn't make any big splashes or find any incredible steals, they did improve where they needed to.
Chicagoist's grade for the Bears draft: B. We see we weren't the only one.
Photo via draftboardinsider.com
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I agree with all except one thing ... Orten progressivly got worse as the season went on ... at one point he was benched. Orten may have beaten up on my Willingham-led Irish last year, but believe me, he may not survive the preseason. Did you see his main target at Purdue went undrafted(Stubblefield).
Injuries were a factor in Orten's subpar second half. And the fact none of his receivers were drafted only solidifies his talent vs. that of others making him look good...
I'm not sold on him as "the answer" or anything, but I believe he's got more potential to help the Bears at some point than Krenzel, Kittner, Hutchinson, etc.
Hey, I'm beating Benji in Fantasy Baseball ... beat that!