Chicago Bears Personnel Decisions

Fantasy Football is a great way for average fans to get to know other players and teams that they would not have normally followed. That is a good thing for everyone involved. The NFL is selling more gear, DirecTV’s NFL Ticket is a huge seller, bookies across the country are taking more action, especially when the NFL refs assist in adding to their profits, and blowout games are watched until the end, subjecting us to more of those heinous More Taste League commercials from Miller Lite. I appreciate the NFL more as a fantasy football participant and would enjoy it more if I wasn’t also a Chicago Bears fan. Bears fans get to see Bears’ castoffs playing well for other teams. For awhile, Chicagoans thought this “gift” was only bestowed upon Cubs fans.

This year is particularly painful since the Bears currently have huge deficiencies in the passing game; namely, their wide receivers. Sadly, this did not have to be. Former Bears’ wide receivers are finding their way onto fantasy teams across the country due to their exceptional play. The Chicago owners, with the guidance of Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo, have recently discarded Bernard Berrian, Justin Gage and Mark Bradley. The reasons for their departures made me wonder why they were drafted in the first place. Is the Bears Scouting Department that bad? The recent cuts of 1st rounder Cedric Benson (well, the releasing made sense, but the drafting never did (see Thomas Jones) ), 2nd rounder Mark Bradley, 3rd rounder Dan Bazuin, and 3rd rounder Michael Okwo, makes me wonder why these “talent evaluators” have jobs to begin with. Heck, a guy can buy a Sporting News Draft magazine and hit on more picks than the Bears have in recent years. With the recent play of Berrian, Gage and Bradley, it proves that maybe the Bears spotted the talent in these players, but where and why did they lose faith? Was the Bears front office too trigger-happy or cost-conscious? Kyle Orton has done a great job with the likes of Marty Booker, Rashied Davis and the tight ends, but what if he had these more talented, reliable targets to throw to?

Let’s take a look at the measurables and recent play of the three aforementioned receivers:

Justin Gage – Gage is 6’5”, has good hands, above-average speed and strength, is a decent blocker, runs clean routes, and makes all the high catches that Kerry Collins launches. He would have been the perfect complement for Rex Grossman with all of his overthrows, if he were still slinging it. But, the Bears decided to cut Gage last year because they had a plethora of “great receivers”, like Mike Hass and Brandon Rideau. What stands out most to me is that they never really gave Gage a chance. He was a much better receiver than David Terrell and they kept putting that spud on the field week after week. After being released, Gage was picked up by that pass-happy juggernaut known as the Tennessee Titans. Gage persevered as a decoy while Vince Young did his best chicken-with-his-head-cut-off routine. With a real QB and teams focusing on the Titans’ running game, it was Gage who became the main playmaker once he became healthy and has helped make the Titans a true threat to go undefeated. His 2 TDs and 147 receiving yards in Week 11 rewarded Fantasy Football owners who maintained faith in him. I feel that Gage’s numbers will continue to soar throughout the standard fantasy football playoff weeks. In contrast, the Bears line up these skyscrapers; 5’9 inches of no-hands Devin Hester, 5’9 inches of former Arena League corner Rashied Davis, and 5’11 inches of a slow, big-handed Marty Booker. I just want Lovie and Jerry to tell me with a straight face that the Bears couldn’t have used a big target with great hands like Justin Gage on Sunday against the Packers.

Mark Bradley – Bradley is 6’2”, has great speed and is an athletic freak. I know all about his history with injuries, but tell me another receiver in the past few years in college football, not named Michael Crabtree, that has the kind of talent that Mark Bradley possesses? The lowly Kansas City Chiefs are so grateful to the Bears brain trust, and I use that term loosely, that they are thinking of renaming Arrowhead Stadium to Narrowmind Stadium in honor of Lovie and Jerry. What in God’s creation forced these fools to discard Bradley this year when he was finally healthy? They never even let him play a down this year. Was the Devin Hester experiment going that well? Was Rashied Davis striking fear in the hearts of opposing defenses? Was Marty Booker outrunning the average linebacker, let alone a defensive back? It took Bradley a mere two weeks to start making contributions to the KC offense. The man threw a TD to KC’s third string QB, showing off his versatility. He followed that up with a 100+ yard game and a TD. Last week, Bradley had 3 catches for 54 yards, but his play opened up the way for Dwayne Bowe to catch 2 TDs. Again, this is the Kansas City Chiefs with Tyler Thigpen as QB. Imagine if Kyle Orton had a Bradley to work with?

Bernard Berrian – Poor Bernard is only 6’1” and is one of the fastest and richest wide receivers in the league. His hands, which were once questionable, have really improved. Perhaps, it’s because he wants to show that he is worth the big bucks the Vikings heaped upon him. He wanted to remain a Bear, but the checks were reserved for the Bears’ porous defense. Before we look upon his negative traits, let’s focus on Bernard’s positive ones. First, Bernard keeps defenses honest with his deep threat speed. This forces teams to play a safety deep to key on him when he blows by their corner. Second, Bernard is making some clutch receptions for Gus Frerotte. I would have liked to seen what Orton would have done with a deep threat like Bernard. It is Bernard’s playmaking ability that is forcing teams not to stack the line waiting for Adrian Peterson anymore. Because of Peterson’s and Berrian’s success, the Vikings are fighting for a playoff spot with Gus Frerotte at the helm. From a Fantasy perspective, Bernard is one of the best receivers in the league as he consistently scores TDs and is usually good for 7+ receptions and 80-100 receiving yards a game. It appears that Bernard’s lack of bulk and questionable hands are a thing of the past. Berrian has really bulked up and is making Lynn Swann-esque receptions. The Bears brain trust (there’s that misused word again) didn’t think that having an fast, reliable, every-down receiver was necessary. They thought that it was more prudent to spend money on a great returner, who just happens to be a below-par receiver. I am not against the Hester signing, but use him as a kick returner exclusively. It just pains me not to have Berrian, as there was enough money available to secure him in Chicago.

The moral of this story is that our Bears receivers are doing great. The drawback is that they are not doing it for the Bears. I ask you to look at your league’s rosters and see how many current Bears’ receivers are on them. That little fact should speak volumes of the great job that Kyle Orton is doing (I can’t believe that I just wrote that!) and what a terrible, pathetic, putrid job that Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo are doing. After last week’s performance, the Bears can look a little north for the appropriate slogan; Wait Until Next Year.

Branko Pantovic is a freelance writer for MaximumFantasySports.com and an active fantasy sports participant. He played soccer professionally and has been participating in football and baseball fantasy leagues for the past 12 years. Branko writes solely for Maximum Fantasy Sports because he believes that it is the best real-time fantasy football league website. It includes all of the best features that he has used over the years, plus some that have never been attempted at any other website. Join Maximum Fantasy Sports today by visiting www.maximumfantasysports.com and registering as an MFS member. Membership is free!