Just say no to Bryant Johnson.

[NFLs StepChild]

I don't get why people are high on this kid. Every time I see him play he seems pretty weak. He drops passes often, does not make clutch plays, gets intimidated in traffic, and doesn't play out his assignments every time. He's tall, ok speed, good 40 but doesn't translate with the pads on, and has trouble with drops. Sounds a lot like McCariens. Also I've read that he was always dissapointed that Boldin took the starting job, even though Johnson was drafted before him. Read into that owever you like.

I'd rather have a kid who has been scratching and clawing his way up from day one like Drew Carter. Tall, elite speed, good hands, fearless in the red zone.

[ret2ski]

I wonder if there's any chance we go after Berrian, or will the Brears franchise him?

[NFLs StepChild]

Certainly not franchise tag worthy IMO. I'm sure they will try to resign him though for a good deal. Muhsin is filing for social security next week.

[ret2ski]

We have about $8 mil more in 2008 cap than they do so we could certainly make a competitive offer if we wanted to.

Of course Bernard could look at leaving chicago's offense & coming here as going from the frying pan into the fire.

[NFLs StepChild]

LOL. Or he can say Grossman or Clemens? Oh crap, I'm probably be better off with Clemens. He's probably gonna be all over his agent to get him to Dallas. TO and Glenn aren't exactly youngsters.

[ret2ski]

Might not be Grossman, he's an UFA.

[NFLs StepChild]

Well it won't be griese and it won't be Orton...

So Chad? Donovan? McCown? Rookie?

LOL I like all of them better than what the Bears currently have going on at QB.

[Elijah]

I don't get why people are high on this kid. Every time I see him play he seems pretty weak. He drops passes often, does not make clutch plays, gets intimidated in traffic, and doesn't play out his assignments every time. He's tall, ok speed, good 40 but doesn't translate with the pads on, and has trouble with drops. Sounds a lot like McCariens. Also I've read that he was always dissapointed that Boldin took the starting job, even though Johnson was drafted before him. Read into that owever you like.

I'd rather have a kid who has been scratching and clawing his way up from day one like Drew Carter. Tall, elite speed, good hands, fearless in the red zone.

Eh his hands arent great but hes better than McCareins. Hes a good deep threat. I would think any guy with desire would rather start than sit on the bench... In any case I see about zero chance he ends up with the Jets, there are teams that would have BJ come in and be their starter right away, there are few decent WR on the market.

[dakotajet]

One guy that might become available is Javon Walker from Denver. He started out hot for them and then was injured. He's just now getting back on the field but talk is they won't keep him because of salary and they found they can do without him, he isn't interested in taking a cut to stay. Walker, Coles, Cotchery, nice little trio there.

[pope]

I like Johnson and he's 10 times better than McCantcatch, what a silly comparison.

The Draft has a lot of good WR's coming out though, if they don't go WR in FA, they need to spend a high pick on one.

[Elijah]

If you ask me, the need for a #3 WR isnt huge, theres more call for TE, FB, OL.

[NFLs StepChild]

I'd go for him in a second. He's a terrific talent.

[NFLs StepChild]

Some folks think Johnson is a starting caliber WR. IMO he's not. The theory is he is just stuck behind Fitz and Boldin. I've seen him drop far too many catches and not give it all on plays to think he is anything other than a 3rd option. And not even a great one at that.

As to your earlier point about players having the desire to start, yeah I agree, they all should have that desire, but from what I have read Johnson has kind of been discouraged by not starting and has not progressed as they would have liked and pushed for the job. Coaches have alluded to him not finishing his routes and not blocking and doing the little things to be successful. If you say his hands aren't THATbad, OK you have seen a lot more Cards games than I have, but I've been watching the situation for a while (fantasy interests) and was just never impressed with Johnson. His drops concern me a lot. Maybe I just happen to notice more of the negatives than his positives, but hands and deep speed are average from where I can see. alternatively, maybe I just didn't tune in for his better games, and caught his lousy ones more often than not.

Needless to say I'm not very impressed.

[NFLs StepChild]

I disagree with everything you just said.

Silly comparison how?

Both have suspect hands.
Both are supposed deep threats who don't play up to their timed speed.
Both have folded in the clutch.
Both seem to want the job handed to them.
Both are 3rd option at WR on their respective teams, and ones that don't see the ball often. (Clutch 3rd recievers usually make big plays each game and highly impact an offenses effectiveness by having 3 solid options on the field to attack defenses. Neither of these 2 WRs do that.)

This draft does not seem thick at WR to me at all. Desean is the ONLY top WR prospect in the whole damn thing and I am assuming he is coming out early. Everyone else is looking good to just ok. No elite WRs to speak of, just DeSean, who looks to be another Santana Moss/Steve Smith type, assuming he keeps developing. Sweed, Bowman and Doucet are all maybe at best good #2 options. Sweed has low speed, Bowman may be the total package but we need to see more from him in the bowls, Doucet I think will be a big time bust, injury guy.

If some juniors declare maybe it gets interesting. Kelly looks good, I think Mannignham is just ok.

Kelly, Sweed or Bowman would interest me in the 2nd, but I'd rather get help for the Defense or Oline. If we had an extra 2nd round pick than maybe that would be more acceptable.

[slikmojet]

and best of all he's a Nole:xmas2:

[NinersLacking]

Bryant Johnson - 77 targets. 3 drops. 53.2% of intended passes caught. 37.7% of catches good for a first down.

Bernard Berrian - 119 targets. 4 drops. 55.5% of intended passes caught. 37.0% of catches good for a first down.

Javon Walker - 39 targets. 2 drops. 56.4% of intended passes caught. 25.5% of catches good for a first down.

My guess is that Chicago will try to re-sign Berrian, but may let him walk if he asks for more than $6 M a year. I doubt that Javon Walker is going anywhere. Denver showed that it can get along without him, but Brandon Stokley / Brandon Marshall doesn't compare favorably with Javon Walker / Brandon Marshall / Brandon Stokley. Might as well give Jay Cutler all the weapons that you can...

[ret2ski]

Nice stats 9ers, where do you find them??


$6 mil per may be dirt cheap for Berrian. Last year average guards were getting $7 mil per.

[dakotajet]

from what I am hearing, Denver has some cap issues and Walker is likely to be a casualty due to money. Broncs very high on Marshall, will be interesting to watch. I'm going by what the broncs play by play guys on the radio were saying, so guess time will tell.

[ret2ski]

SI shows them at close to $17 mil under with 49 players under contract, that's not bad.

And like most teams they can probably find another $5 to $10 mil if they need to.

[NinersLacking]

Nice stats 9ers, where do you find them??


$6 mil per may be dirt cheap for Berrian. Last year average guards were getting $7 mil per.

http://stats.globesports.com/fb/index.asp

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/wr.php

from what I am hearing, Denver has some cap issues and Walker is likely to be a casualty due to money. Broncs very high on Marshall, will be interesting to watch. I'm going by what the broncs play by play guys on the radio were saying, so guess time will tell.

As ret2ski mentioned, Denver has a pretty good amount of cap space. Rod Smith's pending retirement should give them a bit more and players like Champ Bailey (~$12.7 M cap number) can always be approached for a little help. Javon Walker's cap number for 2008 is ~$4.45 M...not bad at all for a team's top WR.

[ret2ski]

Thanks 9ers. Got 'em both in my fav's.

[NFLs StepChild]

I can't believe that for a second. 3 DROPS? I can remember 3 in the end zone alone.

I just checked it and McCariens is listed as only having 3 drops as well. That's pure fiction. Or at least we disagree on the definition of what a dropped pass is. Plaxico is listed as only having 6.

[NFLs StepChild]

Yes thanks for the link. Good stuff.

[BearJET44]

If the Bears were really interested in signing Berrian to a new deal, I'm betting they would have done it by now. Tillman and Vasher were also set to become FAs, and they were signed long-term months ago. With Hester and, to a lesser extent, Mark Bradley getting more and more reps at WR, it seems to me that the team is preparing to move on without him. Whether or not that's wise is an argument for another thread in another forum, but my guess is the odds of Berrian being in Chicago in 2008 are roughly 50/50. It depends on how much cap room we can clear by cutting players like Fred Miller and Adam Archuleta.

[NinersLacking]

I can't believe that for a second. 3 DROPS? I can remember 3 in the end zone alone.

I just checked it and McCariens is listed as only having 3 drops as well. That's pure fiction. Or at least we disagree on the definition of what a dropped pass is. Plaxico is listed as only having 6.

STATS Inc. is the service that most industry websites (ESPN, Yahoo!, etc.) use as their source of statistics. I don't know precisely what the definition is, but I think it's something to the extent of when a ball hits a player in the hands and is not caught. In any case, all players are judged by the same criteria.

Thanks 9ers. Got 'em both in my fav's.
Yes thanks for the link. Good stuff.

Don't mention it.

If the Bears were really interested in signing Berrian to a new deal, I'm betting they would have done it by now. Tillman and Vasher were also set to become FAs, and they were signed long-term months ago. With Hester and, to a lesser extent, Mark Bradley getting more and more reps at WR, it seems to me that the team is preparing to move on without him. Whether or not that's wise is an argument for another thread in another forum, but my guess is the odds of Berrian being in Chicago in 2008 are roughly 50/50. It depends on how much cap room we can clear by cutting players like Fred Miller and Adam Archuleta.

According to Sports Illustrated (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/12/09/week14/4.html), Chicago should have around $19.8 M to work with this offseason. That should be more than enough to get a deal for Berrian done, if--as you pointed out--the Bears actually want to.

Cutting Archuleta will result in a ~$3 M cap hit. The Bears will save $730 K in unpaid 2008 base salary, for a overall hit of $2.27 M.

Cutting Miller will result in a ~$2.4 M cap hit. The Bears will save $4 M in unpaid 2008 base salary and another $500 K if they cut him before his roster bonus is due. Overall, Cutting Miller will result in a net savings of $2.1 M.

[Elijah]

In all fairness, BJ has been much better this season with the drops than last year. But looking at this stat, I think its somewhat deceptive in that it doesn't consider things like: Player juggles ball while going out of bounds and its incomplete or guy hits the ground and loses possession incomplete...