The Bears really did a poor job in the NFL Draft last April.  First round pick (TE) Greg Olsen was a solid player who should improve in the future.  He played in 14 games (4 starts) for the Bears last season and he caught 39 passes for 391 yards (10.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Bears’ second round pick was DE Dan Bazuin who didn’t play a down last season due to injury.  The first 3rd round pick of the Bears was running back Garrett Wolfe.  Wolfe played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Bears last season and he carried the ball 31 times for 85 yards (2.7 ypc).  Wolfe also caught 9 passes for 117 yards (13.0 avg).  Wolfe returned 1 kickoff for 27 yards.  He doesn’t project to anything more than a third down back in the future.  Fellow 3rd round pick linebacker Michael Okwo was injured all of last season.  The Bears’ 4th round pick last season was offensive guard Josh Beekman and he only played in 1 game for the Bears as a rookie.  The first 5th round pick the Bears made last season was safety Kenny Payne who played in 3 games (1 start) and he made 2 tackles.  Cornerback Corey Graham was the other 5th round pick by the Bears last season and he played in 13 games (0 starts) and he made 15 tackles.  Cornerback Trumaine McBride was a find in the 7th round for the Bears.  He played in all 16 games (9 starts) for the Bears last season and he made 41 tackles, forced a fumble and defensed 5 passes.  OT Aaron Brant was the other 7th round pick on the Bears and he quit in Training Camp.

GRADE FOR THE 2007 SEASON:  D-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C-

The Bears have signed WR Brandon Lloyd to a 1-year contract.  He played in 8 games for the Redskins last season and he only caught 2 passes for 14 yards.  He has now played in 68 games in his NFL career and he has caught 130 passes for 1,889 yards (14.5 avg) with 13 TD grabs.  Lloyd was worth a gamble by the Bears as he’s quite a acrobat…too bad he drops a lot of easy passes.

The Bears have brought back Marty Booker on a 2-year contract.  Booker played in 15 games last season for the Dolphins and he made 50 grabs for 556 yards (11.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Booker has now played in 128 games in his NFL career and he has caught 509 passes for 6,311 yards (12.4 avg) with 34 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Bears who don’t have much at receiver right now due to the departures of Bernard Berrian and Mushin Muhammad in free agency.

The Bears have traded veteran QB Brian Griese to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a undisclosed 2009 Draft Pick.  The 32-year old Griese didn’t play that well last season for the Bears who have decided to go with Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman at QB for the 2008 season.  Griese played in 7 games last season for the Bears and he completed 161 of 262 passes (61.5%) for 1,803 yards with 10 TD passes and 12 interceptions (75.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 13 times for 28 yards (2.2 ypc).  This was an interesting move for the Bears as they are putting a lot of faith in Orton and Grossman.

The Bears figured that they could afford to trade Thomas Jones and give the starting job to Cedric Benson…..but it was a huge mistake as Benson was awful.  Benson played in 11 games (all starts) for the Bears last season and he carried the ball 196 times for 674 yards (3.4 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 17 passes for 123 yards (7.2 avg).  Benson has now played in 35 games (12 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 420 times for 1,593 yards (3.8 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also has caught 26 passes for 180 yards (6.9 avg).

Adrian Peterson finally got his big chance to show what he can do when Benson got hurt and he didn’t show much.  Peterson played in 16 games (5 starts) last season for the Bears and he carried the ball 151 times for 510 yards (3.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 51 passes for 420 yards (8.2 avg).  Peterson has now played in 77 games (6 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 284 times for 1,132 yards (4.0 ypc) with 8 TD runs.  He also has caught 70 passes for 609 yards (8.7 avg).

Rookie Garrett Wolfe played in 13 games (0 starts) last season for the Bears.  He carried the ball 31 times for 85 yards (2.7 ypc).  He also caught 9 passes for 117 yards (13.0 avg).

Fullback Jason McKie didn’t help much in the running game last season.  He played in 16 games (11 starts) for the Bears last season and he carried the ball 6 times for 17 yards (2.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 9 passes for 33 yards (3.7 avg).  McKie has now played in 51 games (27 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 18 times for 58 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 52 passes for 287 yards (5.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.

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