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Bears Pulse
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Curious Case of Cedric Cobbs |
This is our dedicated write up for one of the most influential Chicago Bears in history. HB Cedric Cobbs was drafted in the 2004 NFL draft. We selected him at 1.15 of the first round. Oddly enough his selection drew stirs around the league as being a poor selection. I even went into the archives to confirm these statements. Needless to say it's irrelevant today but interesting to recall. As the gm for the Chicago Bears our job is to find long lasting talent. It doesn't always pan out of course but in this instance it did.
We liked a lot about Cedric coming into the draft. Things we really admired about him you can't measure at the combine. His heart, work ethic and shear will to succeed were the things that put him very high on our board. Likely for us, most of the league didn't view him the same way. Like he was shot out of a cannon in his rookie year, Cobbs made an immediate impact. Challenging reigning rushing leader Musa Smith to a tie in yards rushing. He also garnered OROTY and MVP votes considered winners in both.
Those kind of early accolades can be career killers. For Cedric though it was simply used for motivation year in year out. As his career developed so did his lore with the franchise. Loved by the City, his team mates and of course the entire organization. I personally had a special place in my heart for him. Actually loved him like a son. The guy simply personified Chicago Bears football in a singular player. Was he perfect? No, a lot of GMs will criticize the number of fumbles he has endured. What that stat doesn't tell though, those are the hard yards gained. The yards where he just kept pounding. Getting gang tackled and dragging up to 4 defensive players at any one time. Shit happens in those times.
When I think back, I love his fumbles. Mostly because it defined his character, his heart and his will to win. Our organization was better for having him starting in the back field for all these years. I also want to take a moment a bring up our most recent playoff run. The run that had us ultimately become Super Bowl Champions! Without Cedric's big time heroics during that time, I don't think we become Champions. In those 3 playoff games he rushed for over 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. Averaging over 5 yards per carry. The guy was a complete monster, I didn't think he could keep that kind of play up this late in his career.
Well he definitely showed me. In his final season as a Chicago Bear in 2012. Cedric put up his best single season performance since his rookie season. Achieving over 1900 yards 11 touchdowns and yards per carry at 5.5 avg. It was hard for me knowing that this season was always going to be his last in our uniform. Looking back the memories we have will always be there and even though stats eventually fade. The Super Bowl ring he has will be something no one can ever dispute. We were privileged as team mates to share the same field as him. Going into nest season we will retire his number 27 in the rafters at Soldier Field. This is our formal goodbye to one our legends, warriors and of course and most importantly our friend. |
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Forum Discussion
(by B_Lachapelle on 08/01/2022)
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Replies - 2 :: Views - 26 |
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Chicago Bears Draft Review |
Coming into the draft for the 2012 offseason we really didn't have any pressing needs so to speak. I did however want to upgrade and build quality depth in certain areas. For the last few seasons we have been picking near the bottom of each draft round. Typically I would do a deep dive into the draft class as it gets released. In recent years this is something we haven't done. Instead we would only do a quick once over. Basically looking at whether the class was deep or shallow, as well as position talent in each area. I used to find if we spent too much time with the nuts and bolts of players the fall in love syndrome occurs. Draft fever that has handcuffed us in the past is a real thing. Locking in on a set of players has gotten me in trouble previous years. Lastly making moves from the bottom is way more difficult then from the top.
Let's look at our players:
Pick 1.32 we select Cornerback Trumaine Johnson (Montana)
This was a very nice class for the CB position. We also thought that there would be a fair amount of high level talent still available coming into the later part of the first round. I was somewhat surprised that only 6 corners got drafted prior to our pick. It was a little more difficult to choose as at least 6 more prospects were still on the table. We decided to work out 3 of the 6. We gave workouts to Chris Greenwood, DeQuan Menzie and Trumaine Johnson. Menzie turned out to be the fastest of the 3. Trumaine was in the middle for speed and Greenwood was last. After a bit of deliberation we felt the best player for us would be Johnson. He rounded out nicely in speed, ACC, and AGI. His AWR is low like most rookies in the class, so we didn't feel it as much of a handicap. I think he will get his share of playing time this season and won't be strictly a backup. Hopefully it isn't too painful of a learning curve. These guys have to play to progress.
Pick 2.30 Middle Linebacker Audie Cole (N.C. State)
This was kind of an interesting situation as the run on remaining corners began in the middle of the round 2 we noticed less then ideal prospects at the MLB position. I literally had only 3 targets. Once Courtney Upshaw came off the board at 2.15 we dwindled down to 2 players. I didn't want to stay static. It is my job to try and acquire high level talent for this franchise. Sometimes it's standing pat other times it making a move. We actually only moved up 2 spots in a deal that saw us get 2.30 from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for 2.32 and 5.32. I could live with this trade as I was aware Nic was looking to move 2.30 and there was interest from multiple parties. We then decided of 2 players MLB Cole and FS Hardin. We proceeded to workout both players. I was certain that Hardin would skew down as he seemed to good a talent to still be on the board. He didn't, neither did Cole. I now had a good problem to have picking between to quality players. Looking at my roster My FS position is definitely solid but not flashy. My backup MLB is pretty trash actually. He wasn't bad last season but the new regression really put him in the dirt. That was my tie breaker. MLB it was, we are pleased to have Cole join our squad and look forward to seeing his attributes on the field.
Pick 3.12 Free Safety Brandon Hardin (Oregon State)
The draft fever had just set in. After having made the difficult choice at 2.30 we were stewing at the fact that Hardin was still on the board at 3.10. I felt it was time to pounce. Putting out the memo that I was interested in moving into the top of the 3rd round. It wasn't until Brady Tinnin, GM of the Cincinnati Bengals advertised his interest in moving 3.12 that we were able to reach a deal. A good deal for both parties. These are my prototypical deals, not the low ball offers that get you laughed at! Anyway as it turned out we in fact were able to acquire FS Brandon Hardin. Very pleased with the workout and also excited to see his attributes on the field this season.
Pick 3.32 Left Guard Amini Silatolu (Miss. State)
This was a pick more for value then need actually. We have solid starters across the board but we were looking to move ageing LG Mike Gandy. Gandy is the only player left from my original roster. His consistent and solid play for many seasons kept him here. His heart and team spirit will always be cherished. Back to our draft pick, Silatolu is one of the few guards in the draft we thought could be a viable starter down the road. His strength is good, mid 90s his ACC and AGI skewed up and his blocking skills are better then most I typically draft out of the gate. All in all we are happy with his attributes and look forward to seeing them in display this season. |
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Forum Discussion
(by B_Lachapelle on 04/24/2022)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 16 |
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Chicago Bears Champion edition II |
I wanted to look back at the events that lead us to being capable of winning a championship. First thing I want to address is the dynamic of an SFL GM. The only two things a GM needs to successfully sell are Wins and or Hope. Let's start with Wins.
This is the best way to retain your job. As we all know these leagues are results based. Winning breads culture and confidence. Now that is always easier said then done but if it can never be achieved then it's likely your trying to find a new job. This season has marked our 10th in it's history. It wasn't always smooth sailing though. As of late the Chicago Bears have put their name as one of the leagues better teams. Going 11-5, 12-4 and 11-5 in the last three seasons if nothing short of remarkable. We didn't envision that kind of consistent success even if I was bullish on this roster. That being said the results speak for themselves......Super Bowl Champions!
Looking back at some of our history we definitely had some lean years. This brings me to the other GM responsibility, Selling Hope. This does work, but the time line degrades quickly. The fan base, ownership and city doesn’t give a lot rope here. Our years from 2005-2007 we went 5-11, 5-11 and 6-10. Those are the tough years. The years where the results are not there, but the vision still is prominent and needs to stay on course. This is also when you find out who is really on your side. The real believers will have your back. They typically, are few and far between. Finger pointing begins, every man for himself. No one likes getting fired, getting fired is a real thing and part of the business.
In 2005 we had recently traded our best player in the offseason. Brian Urlacher was dealt to the Tennessee Titans for 3 first round picks. I really didn't want to trade the heart and soul of our team, but this offer was as good as it gets. In turn we ended up drafting 3 first round players. CB Corey Webster, WR Vincent Jackson and QB Alex Smith. Hope....this was my sell to the fan base and the ownership. I knew the wins would not come quickly but if we stayed the course it eventually would come to fruition. Unfortunately for me I was literally running out of time. My ass was beginning to get warm, hence the TRADE.
During the offseason of 2008 I reached out to the Seattle Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck was the target. We offered our young prospect QB Alex Smith and a late first round pick in return for the acquisition of Veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck. That moment marked our transition from selling Hope to selling Wins to the Chicago bear faithful. Our first season was 8-8, I just bought myself some time and breathing room. From there we won our first division title. Going 11-5, 12-4, 11-5 and haven't looked back since. With 5 years on my contract it appears I may need to transition back to selling our faithful and ownership on Hope.
We still have a very good squad. Although not at the level of yesteryear. None the less we are not throwing in the towel by any means. Would I be a fool to think we can challenge for a repeat. The short answer.....yes. That being said I look forward to an interesting transition from the old guard to the new. We have a good mix of youth and veteran talent still on our roster. We also have all of our original draft capital to add talent as we see fit. Our Cap situation is definitely manageable. We didn't make any big money splashes so far. We did acquire another Wide Receiver to maintain quality depth. From here we will address our roster needs through the draft. This will allow us to stay within our cap restraints. We look forward another great draft year and as always good memories. |
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Forum Discussion
(by B_Lachapelle on 04/21/2022)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 15 |
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Chicago Bears Champion edition |
So looking back its clearly been awhile since Ive posted a new report. Well we finally did it! The Chicago Bears have won the 2011 SFL Super Bowl! I do like the ring to that. I get how being crowned champion has gotten other GMs have that thirst for more! None the less, we are privileged to be a part of such a unique group of gentlemen who enjoy this culture unlike any other.
Now I want to get into the mind of how I assessed my season and a couple of flash back moments that took us here. Im just sticking with the highlights now. I guess the first big decision came at ME free agency. We had put RT. Tony Ugoh
as our match player. Not too sure if anyone would bid but we were always prepared to match, unless we received first round tenure. We felt Tony was worth that and it would have been very unlikely we would match that salary along with proper compensation. Likely the Bid from Tennessee was not quite at that level and Tony stayed a Chicago Bear and was integral in helping us win a Championship.
Fast forward to the draft. We really didnt have an outstanding draft by any means. The one standout was our third round pick. CB Curtis Brown, this guy might have been my biggest draft bust in my entire Madden career. He is simply awful at where we drafted him. To be far I did take a flyer on him but yeah, he is bad. The rest of our guys are good actually I was rather pleased with the 7th round SS Da'norris Searcy. This guy filled in during some games due to injury and played well. He will be on our team this season. Brown likely will not be.
Heading into the regular season I felt that we could very well compete for the division once again. Though the Vikings are always going to be a threat and the Packers seem to know how to compete even when they are at a handicap at certain positions. The Detroit Lions are going to become a problem a soon as the team matures.
My plan was to try and keep our veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck healthy and try and make the playoffs at the same time. So I decided have a time share within our season. I did hand pick opponents for both my 1A and 1B QBs. it seemed to work as we got out the gate hot. Opening the season at 5-0. We then dropped a pair to the Vikings and Buccaneers. Following those to losses we headed to Philly where we actually started QB Erik Ainge. He took a knock and Hasselbeck finished the game and we got back to winning four more in a row. The last game of that win streak was against the Oakland Raiders. This was the game where Matt got injured and Erik was just coming back.
So now the QB roles where getting reversed. Erik was now our starter. We took our lumps during this stretch going 2-3. In the final game of our regular season we really debated a couple of pros and cons. Matt was available to play though not fully healthy. The number one seed was definitely within reach and our playoff plan was being discussed. The final decision came where we felt keeping Matt on the sideline was better then not having him at all during the post season. One variable we looked at was both the Cards and the Buccs where not going to be a full strength with regard to the QB situation.
To be honest, that Cards team looked as scary as Ive seen in any Madden year I have been a part of. That being said, a small window just opened for us with what had transpired with that franchise with the starting QB position was concerned. Lets get into the playoff picture. As it turned out we did end up securing the top seed with the NFC. that proved to be more valuable then we previously thought. Once the playoff situation became fixed. Im not going to lie, I was surprised to see the Buccs absolutely throttle the Falcons the the wild card round. As they where also without a couple of key players. Both starting HB and Starting QB. Though the line between their QB1 and QB2 wasnt that far apart still impressive. Now that brings me to the game in hand. Bryan Mellon is one of the best playoff performing GMs I have seen in Madden leagues also. With that in mind and my weekend very busy I didnt want to rush into a LP/GP before I really gave a good evaluation. So thats exactly what I did. What I didnt do was any sort of simulation. I did my recon work a different way. I can’t fully divulge that here but I did find a theory for victory I believed gave us the best chance to win. As it turned out it worked. A seven point win over an always tough playoff opponent was actually very satisfying. Lead by a huge ground game charge by Cedric Cobbs and solid defense we prevailed. Speaking of Cobbs this was our first round HB we drafted the same year Steven Jackson was touted as the man. As it turned out Cobbs now has a Super Bowl ring and we couldnt be more happy for him. He gave our squad everything he had year in and year out. A true professional and competitor.
Now I started to feel a little pressure, as we were one win away from a Super Bowl appearance and a legitimate shot a winning the whole damn thing. The Arizona Cardinals at full strength are very lethal. In fact down right scary. But with our old quarterback Patrick Ramsey at the helm made me feel a little better about our chances. I really wanted to run a system here, where if Ramsey could beat us, then so be it. I new they were going to get their points. I just wanted to limit our mistakes and take advantage of theirs. It turned out to be too much for Ramsey in a big spot. We came out and played to our home crowds energy and secured the W.
The Super Bowl, we sustained a pretty good injury after the Buccs game to our number one corner. So we were not a full strength and the Bills were getting more healthy by the week. All that aside this was the moment we have been waiting for. Our first shot at a Super Bowl and my first time in the Super Bowl in any Madden league ever. For some reason I was pretty calm about the whole thing. Travelling a full day prior to kickoff may have been the difference for me. As I was debating whether to tweak our lineup or game plan just incase. I decided to just role it through a with absolutely no changes whatsoever. In the end a very close and hard fought game saw a 20-13 score victory for the Chicago Bears and my first ever Super Bowl win. The stories really are true......It is a sweet feeling and we couldnt have done it without the 31 other GMs that help keep these leagues alive, this many years later. Cheers Fellas!!! |
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Forum Discussion
(by B_Lachapelle on 04/15/2022)
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Replies - 2 :: Views - 33 |
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Bears roster takes shape |
Following the 2005 SFL draft we focus our attention towards Training Camp evaluations.
Day 2 of the 2005 SFL draft.
Our first selection during the second day of the SFL draft came in the fourth round. Our 4.09 selection was RT Calvin Armstrong out of Washington State. During the latter phase of our draft we were targeting prospects at position of need. Essentially we wanted to acquire talent with starter potential. Having our board set to BPA at position of need was less then ideal. We also didn't want to get caught up in drafting players where in the long run would make our job more difficult, by over loading positions already filled in our depth chart. So we stayed the course no matter how tempting it was at times. Calvin comes into our club with great size at the right tackle position. He is athletic enough and his strength is where we can work on him to maximize his playing potential. We saw him at good value in the fourth round considering it was also a position of need.
With our second pick in the fourth we drafted WR Troy Wiliamson at 4.24 Troy looked to be sliding down the board for some reason. We figured he was worth the investment regardless of the skew. As it turned out his speed dropped 2 points but everything else improved or stayed level. Troy has some quality to him but being a slower receiver his ceiling is capped somewhat. He will contribute to our special teams and 5 receiver sets for the time being. We had now filled out our wide receiver group for the 2005 SFL season. It looks like a solid group of guys and we think they can perform to a high level consistently.
Next came our early fifth round pick. RG Nick Kaczur out of Toledo. We then shifted back to the offensive line with only 2 spots remaining to fill. Nick was an intriguing player. He also had in decent skew. We saw both his agility and acceleration go up 2 points while his speed stayed level and his strength only went down 1 point along with his awareness. We are very pleased with his potential. With the help of some personalized training camps he could end up competing for a starting position in the very near future.
Our last pick in the 2005 SFL draft at 6.03 was LG Justin Geisinger from Vanderbilt. We took a flier here trying to maximize upside and also filling a position of need. His skew was a mixed bag. We saw his speed go up 3 points and his awareness up 2. His strength, agility and acceleration all went down 2 points, while his blocking skills stayed level. Although his upside could have been huge. It looks now that Justin will try and hold down the backup role for our LG position. We are still pleased with the player all the same as his salary is quite low and fills our position of need also.
We came out the draft with 56 men on our roster and decided to release a few guys to also free up some salary. We are now sitting a 54 and just over 5 million in Cap space. Not bad considering we entered the offseason a staggering 30 million over the Cap. Though while we did incur around 12 million in Cap hits for the 2006 season. I think we can manage to stay within reason and slowly clean up the mismanaged contracts that got us into this mess. So we are essentially roster compliant and ready to roll for further offseason stages. It is unlikely we spend more money on any FAs and wait for the Vet minimum stage to add any more potential talent to our roster.
We did also spend 100k in activity points converting our new starting QB Alex Smith from scrambler to balanced. We felt it was good to just get this out of the way while we had the funds. I didn't trust myself with these points and perhaps using some in other ways. Now we are now primed to see what kind of success we will bring this up coming season. Not that we think we can compete for the division as both the Vikings and the Packers have a higher level of talent at the quarterback position. The Lions also added more talent both through the draft and by trade. It should be an interesting season. I think anything can happen especially if either the Packers or Vikings experience some adversity. We are not holding our breath though and think a sub 500 season is likely in our cards. I did envision a down year to regroup so this won't come as a surprise if that does play out this way. We look forward to all the upcoming phases to the remainder of this offseason and we will continue to prepare for the preseason and regular season as they approach respectively. |
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Forum Discussion
(by B_Lachapelle on 06/12/2020)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 20 |
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At A Glance
| INJURY REPORT |
| PLAYER |
POS |
OVR |
LENGTH |
| NFC North |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #3 |
 y-Lions |
12-4-0 |
0.750 |
5-1 |
| #4 |
 x-Vikings |
10-6-0 |
0.625 |
2-4 |
| #20 |
 Packers |
7-9-0 |
0.438 |
3-3 |
| #27 |
 Bears |
5-11-0 |
0.313 |
2-4 |
| BEARS SCHEDULE |
| Preseason |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
SCOUT/RESULT |
| P1 |
Sat |
at  Bills #30 |
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| P2 |
Sat |
vs  Giants #23 |
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| P3 |
Sun |
at  Broncos #7 |
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| P4 |
Thu |
vs  Browns #28 |
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| Regular Season |
| 1 |
Sun |
at Packers #20 |
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| 2 |
Sun |
vs  Steelers #13 |
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| 3 |
Sun |
at  Seahawks #16 |
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| 4 |
Sun |
vs Lions #3 |
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| 6 |
Sun |
at  Falcons #19 |
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| 7 |
Sun |
at  Bengals #14 |
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| 8 |
Sun |
vs Browns #28 |
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| 9 |
Sun |
vs  Cardinals #32 |
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| 10 |
Thu |
at  49ers #12 |
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| 11 |
Sun |
vs  Eagles #29 |
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| 12 |
Sun |
at Vikings #4 |
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| 13 |
Sun |
vs  Rams #18 |
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| 14 |
Sun |
vs Packers #20 |
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| 15 |
Sun |
at  Ravens #8 |
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| 16 |
Mon |
vs Vikings #4 |
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| 17 |
Sun |
at Lions #3 |
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