The Bears are putting all of their confidence in Cedric Benson for the 2007 season. They traded their leading rusher from last season (Thomas Jones) to the Jets to pave the way for Cedric Benson. Benson has been a little bit injury prone in his NFL career but no one can question his talent on the field. He is a power runner that’s just shifty enough to make the first tackler miss. He played in 15 games (1 start) last season for the Bears and he carried the ball 157 times for 647 yards (4.1 ypc) with 6 TD runs. He also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg) last season. The Bears need him to be productive and healthy because the Bears don’t have a lot behind him on the depth chart this season. He has now played in 24 games (1 start) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 224 times for 919 yards (4.1 ypc) with 6 TD runs. He also has caught 9 passes for 57 yards (6.3 avg) in his career.

Adrian Peterson will be moving up the depth chart for the Bears. He has always been porductive when he gets to play but that hasn’t been much as of yet. He played in all 16 games (0 starts) last season for the Bears and he carried the ball 10 times for 41 yards (4.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 6 passes for 88 yards (14.7 avg) with 0 TD grabs. It will be interesting to see how Peterson takes to his added reponsbilities this season. He has played in 61 games (1 start) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 133 times for 622 yards (4.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs and he has caught 19 passes for 189 yards (9.9 avg) with 0 TDs.

Rookie Garrett Wolfe was an outstanding back at nearby Northern Illinios but he’s a really small running back. It’s questionable whether or not he can handle the beating he would get if he played a lot for the Bears this season.

The Bears have traded safety Chris Harris to the Carolina Panthers for an undislosed draft pick. Hopefully the Bears stuck it to the Panthers because Harris is a pretty good football player. He played in 11 games last year for the Bears and he made 54 tackles, had 2 interceptions and defensed 3 passes. Harris was also solid as a rookie as evidenced by his career numbers. He has played in 25 games in his NFL career and he has made 112 tackles, has 1 sack, 5 interceptions, defensed 8 passes and recovered 2 fumbles. The Bears will miss Harris but they might have a nice pick from the Panthers who were desperate for a safety.