The Bears have claimed fullback Jon Goldsberry off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Goldsberry was on the Bucs last season but he didn’t carry the ball even once. He will likely backup Obafemi Ayanbadejo for the Bears. The Bears needed some depth at fullback because of the injury to J.D. Runnels so that was the reason for this move. Goldsberry will also probably play on special teams with the Bears.

When Tank Johnson was pulled over for a possible DUI in Arizona last week that was the final straw for the Chicago Bears. Johnson was already suspended by the league for the first 8 games of the 2007 season and the Bears feel that he just wasn’t worth the hassle anymore and they’re right about that. Johnson played in 14 games last season and he made 26 tackles, had 3.5 sacks, defensed 1 pass and forced a fumble. That’s not much production for a player as highly touted as Johnson. In his 3 years with the Bears, Johnson has played 46 games and he’s made 63 tackles, had 9 sacks, defensed 3 passes and forced a fumble. Johnson’s foolish actions may have cost him a career with the way the new commissioner is planning to punish teams for employing thugs which is another reason why the Bears cut him loose.

The Chicago Bears don’t have a standout QB on the roster. Rex Grossman will be the starter for the Bears again this season and the team hopes he will be more consistent. At times, Grossman looks like one of the best QBs in the league and other times he looks like the absolute worst one. While it’s true that Grossman started every game on a team that went to the Super Bowl….it wasn’t because of his play on the field. Grossman started all 16 games last season for the Bears and he completed 262 of 480 (54.6%) passes for 3,193 yards with 23 TD passes and 20 interceptions (73.9 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 24 times for 2 yards (0.1 ypc). In his defense, most of his running plays were kneel downs at the end of wins. The thing that bothers a lot of people about Grossman is that he hasn’t improved over his career. He has know played in 24 games (23 starts) and he has completed 367 of 675 passes (54.4%) for 4,496 yards with 27 TD passes and 26 interceptions (72.4 QB Rating). He also has carried the football 38 times for 49 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Brian Griese is still a starting caliber QB even though he didn’t prove it last season with the Bears. Griese has an edge on Grossman because he’s a smarter QB but he doesn’t have the physical skills that Grossman has. He also wasn’t a first round pick of the Bears and that has bought Grossman a lot of time. Griese played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Bears last season and he completed 18 of 32 passes (56.3%) for 220 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions (62.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 6 times for -5 yards (0.8 ypc). He has been a starter in the NFL in the past and he’s put up some pretty good numbers in the NFL and he will take Grossman’s place this season if Grossman doesn’t play better this season. Griese has played in 81 games (72 starts) in his NFL career and he’s completed 1,481 of 2,350 passes (63%) for 16,564 yards with 104 TD passes and 80 interceptions (84.5 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 220 times for 555 yards (2.5 ypc) with 5 TD runs.

Kyle Orton is the #3 QB and he did a decent job for the Bears a couple of seasons ago when Grossman went down early in the season. Orton has played in 15 games (all starts) and he’s completed 190 of 368 passes (51.6%) for 1,869 yards with 9 TD passes and 13 interceptions (59.7 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 24 times for 44 yards (1.8 ypc).

The Bears have lost fullback J.D. Runnels for the season after he tore his ACL. Runnels only played in two games as a rookie last season and he didn’t catch or carry the football even one time. The Bears signing of Obafemi Ayanbadejo is looking better by the day.

The Bears needed to get younger in the offensive line and that was the reason for Brant’s selection. He has nice size at 6′6″, 321 pounds and he’s played against good competition at Iowa State. He has problems hitting targets in the open field and he isn’t the most aggressive player around. He has the look of a practice squad player for now and a backup in the future.