Roc Hoover, aka Mark Schlereth, made a complete ass out of himself today on NFL live after the Jay Cutler trade was announced when he said, “The Bear’s just got worse today…”
I want to like Mark Schlereth, the Alaskan great, but I just can’t. When you say something as stupid as that people are going to begin to question not only your football knowledge but also your sanity.
I understand that Mark Schlereth played 12 amazing NFL seasons, but just because you can play doesn’t mean you understand the game (see: Chris Weber and Time Outs). The big problem I have with Roc, and ESPN, is that they let him go on the air when he was clearly a very jaded Broncos fan. He feels like Cutler let him down, and that’s understandable, but to go on national TV and proclaim that the Bears got worse is just stupid.
I think to put an exclamation point on his stupidity Roc decided to take it a step further and say the Bears were “Just barely ahead of Detroit now in the division…” This is the same Detroit who was 0-16, and the same Bears who were 1 half away from the playoffs? What? Correct me if I’m wrong but the Bears MINUS Jay Cutler were better than the Packers last season.
I think ESPN needs to gain some control over their programming again, it’s nice to parade out these former NFL players, but when the class of the NFL players who can actually do some analyst work go to the NFL network ESPN is stuck picking from the trash heap, or “The Roc Pile”.
Let’s break this trade down logically:
The Bears Get
- Jay Cutler
-2009 5th Round Draft Pick
The Broncos Get
- Kyle Orton
- 2009 1st and 3rd round draft picks
- 2010 1st round draft pick
Let’s break it down. The Bears got the jewel of the trade in Jay Cutler. A 25 year old, pro bowl quaterback. The Broncos got serviceable 26 year old, and really not a bad dude, quarterback in Kyle Orton. If you compare just the PLAYERS in this trade the Bears robbed the Broncos, thankfully it wasn’t a straight up swap. The first round draft pick this year from the Bears is an interesting piece. If the Bears had held on to this pick they would have been stuck in no-mans land in terms of their needs. The Bears NEED some receiver help, and it just wasn’t there for them in the middle-late 1st round. With that in mind the Bears would probably have had to draft an offensive tackle, who probably wouldn’t be as good as Orlando Pace…whom the Bears signed today. So this pick to the Bears would have been tough to use, so it was in fact expendable. The Broncos on the other hand can really use this pick, they need help on defense and, some are saying, at quarterback. I just don’t see it that way, the Broncos have Kyle Orton, a guy who can run the type of offense that they want to run in Denver, he has the exact same skill set as Matt Cassel, except he has more starts under his belt. With the first round picks Denver now has, they can really start to build that defense with whatever they want, Vonte Davis anyone? With Davis opposite Bailey than can put to rest any concerns they are going to have in that secondary, at least for this season, at corner. And don’t forget that the Broncos signed Brian Dawkins to fill a void in their secondary (he won’t last long, but could do the job for a season or 2 when the safety class gets much better in the draft.)
The third round pick this season is probably the one that confused ol’ Roc Hoover. This third round pick is going to be a nice pick for Denver, it’s well within the top 85 - the unofficial cut off for high level talent that slipped, and they have a lot of positions they could draft that a player in this spot can come in and start at. The Bears did indeed give this one away, BUT Roc, they have a compensatory pick at the end of the 3rd round that they received when they lost Bernard Berrian last season. So the Bears do still have a 3rd round pick - I see this as a wash (when you compare it to gaining Cutler this isn’t anywhere near a loss, ROC!). At then end of the 3rd round the Bears can still grab a receiver or, if they wanted, a strong side linebacker who could come in and push for minutes right away.
The 5th round pick the Bears received could be an important part of this trade. With this 5th rounder the Bears could grab a young offensive linemen who isn’t goin to have to do anything his first 2 or 3 seasons in the league other than sit back and learn. (You kind of see how this is going to take the place of the first round offensive linemen who was going to have to come in and start right away Roc?)
The first rounder the Broncos get in 2010 is going to be an interesting one to keep an eye on. If, like I think, the Bears do make the playoffs this pick is going to land somewhere in the 20’s, maybe even late 20’s, and next years draft class isn’t exactly “loaded”. The top of the draft looks good, you have guys like Bradford and McCoy who are going to be highly sought after, but after them things look a little bit thin (at least as you head to the 20’s.) This pick is HUGE for the Broncos if, like I suspect, they fill in their defense quite a bit in 2009 they are going to be able to use this pick more for a “want” than a need. And that is a very nice position to be sitting in. I’d like to point out that if they fight the urge to draft a qb early in 2009 they could have their choice of the top QBs in the 2010 draft (McCoy, Bradford.) If they have a nice season in 2009 they don’t need to worry about a quarterback, BUT even if they did they could still package their 1st rounders in 2010 and get a top QB of their liking in the draft.
So let’s review shall we?
The Bears ARE better right now, than they were 24 hours ago. The Broncos were able to get A TON of value for a PRO BOWL quarterback. Both sides did well, and no one was robbed here ROC. The Bears put themselves near, if not in, the front of the NFC North. For my money the Bears still have a very talented defense - now all this defense is going to have to do is not allow over 24 points a game and Cutler should carry the Bears to victory. I think the Broncos now have the ability to fill a bunch of the holes that they have on their team (provided they don’t waste the picks this year on a QB.)
A Win - Win early trade recap, and that’s a fair way to look at it. To claim that any team lost this trade is almost as dumb as the name Roc Hoover.