Projected deffensive depth chart?

DE -Adewale Ogunleye-Actually played up to his contract last season. Dan Bazuin 2rd pick who should be first guy off the bench and hopefully pushes to start at some point.

DT-Dusty Dvoracek-Looked like a pro bowler for the few plays we saw and he will have to win the job in the preseason.  Marcus Harrison was a steal in the 3rd and will push to start.

DT-Tommie Harris-Hopefully all the injuries will be healed and he will be terrorizing QBs and RBs all season.  Israel Idonije is supposed to be putting on close to 25lbs to make the move to DT and with his size he shouldnt lose much speed.

DE-Alex Brown-He showed at the end of the season he should have been the starter all year long.  Mark Anderson will give him a break on passing downs and maybe he will be able to put up those rookie numbers again.

WLB-Lance Briggs-Pro bowler that flies around the ball. 

MLB-Brian Urlacher-Should have made the pro bowl last year and will make it in 2008. 

SLB-Jamar Williams-Should win the position in training camp if he gets a fair shot at it. 

CB-Charles Tillman-A big strong phsyical CB that can match up with the bigger WRs.

CB-Nathan Vasher-The Bears missed him last year with his nose for the ball and tackling ability.

SS-Craig Steltz-A hard hitter and a very smart guy that wont be out of position.

FS-Mike Brown-The return of Brown will be HUGE for the team.

NB(Nickel Back)-Trumaine McBride-He showed last year he can play at the NFL level and he should be the reason Ricky Manning Jr will either be released or traded.

I gave depth at the D-Line becouse the Bears rotate players to keep them fresh.  I know alot of people will not like my choice at SLB but I think its time to upgrade that position.

I actually really like that depth chart!  I've long thought the Bears could use an upgrade at Hunter Hillenmeyer's position.  People say he's underrated and I think that's probably true... but that's just because he is forgettably solid.  Jamar Williams has all of the physical attributes to be a better linebacker in pretty much every sense of the word.  I do wonder about the position though.  At WLB the Bears version of the Cover 2 funnels plays to you, so you just need to be a great athlete to get to the ball carrier.  At SLB I've read that you need to have better field awareness, more of a strategist, etc.  This is the point I usually see brought up when folks say that Hillenmeyer is underrated.  So I wonder whether Williams would be able to fit that aspect of the game, as it's less measurable by numbers.

As to the safeties, I'm pretty happy in that the Bears really have five safeties on the team that you could make a case for as starters.  On the other hand, there's only ONE that we can pretty much guarantee will be a STRONG starter (if he stays healthy) which is of course Mike Brown.

Safety will be a fun position to watch unroll during the preseason.

I really like the depth chart there.

I hope there is an open competition at every position though and NOBODY is just given the job.

The DL looks great.  Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek and Marcus Harrison looks good.  Dont forget about Anthony Adams giving Tommie a breather.

LB Hunter Hillenmeyer is good.  He would be a great back up as well.  You know he can start in the middle or strong side.  I do hope Jamar Williams can get a shot as long as he is at least as good of a tackler.  Whoever gets the starting strongside spot is going to get overlooked playing next to two pretty good guys.

Corner with Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher is great.  I would rather see Ricky Manning start and see what Trumaine McBride can do as we go along.    Manning is a solid nickel cover guy and can blitz well.

Safety is Mike Brown and then who knows.  Danieal Manning is a FS, so you can leave him out of the conversation at SS.  I hope that Craig Steltz Kevin Payne and Brandon McGowan all get a fair shot at starting there.

i like the depth chart too..the only place i see a difference is, i like Kevin Payne at SS over steltz..payne showed some great things before he broke his hand..

at SLB, Hunter does alot more then people give him credit for..that being said, i think williams is going to be a very good player, so that is a tough one for me..

good post

Like it, heres mine:

DE:  Brown, Agunleye as starters. The primary back up:  Anderson

DT:  Harris, Dusty as starters. The primary rotation:  Adams, Toeinia, Idonije, Harrison

WLB: Briggs. Backup Okwo

MLB:  Urlacher. Back up Hillenmeyer/Williams

SLB:  Williams. Back up  Hillenmeyer

CB:  Tillman and Vasher. Back ups Mcbride, Graham and the rookie(can't remeber his name right now... lol)

Safety:  Brown and Steltz. Back ups Manning, McGowan and Payne......  Peters will be in the mix but make the roster as a Special Teamer.

Two things, I just have a gut feeling that Jamar will unseat Hunter this year. Hunter is steady but misses a lot of tackles and Jamar has waited long enough... Everytime he gets a chance to play, he stands out and makes plays, he is just more athletic then Hillenmeyer and should win the job in training camp this year....

I also have a gut feeling that Stelz will wind up winning the starting safety spot opposite Mike Brown. He is going to be a great player in our defensive scheme and Lovie has NO problems starting rookie safeties so I think he will easily beat out Manning and McGowan in camp. Also, Steltz can play both SS and FS so he is just that much more valuable in the event that we have another rash of injuries at safety this year..  Payne will make some noise this year as well and could make a push up the depth chart......

I agree with most of this depth chart, but there are a few differences I would have.

1.  Jamar Williams in only 6'0".  That is incredibly undersized for a SLB.  Huner Hillenmeyer does a fine job, and I highly doubt he will be moved down from the starter's position.  I would like to see the competition, but I don't think Williams can unseat Hillenmeyer.

2. In a interview talking about the draft, Lovie stated that his starting safety was Brandon McGowan.  Now, I do think that there will be open competition at the SS position, but I doubt that Craig Steltz will be able to win it.  It will come down to Kevin Payne or Brandon McGowan.

3. Trumaine McBride looked pretty good at CB last year, but that is because he is typical Cover 2 corner.  He is not very good at man covreage, but he is very good in zone coverage.  Nickle Corner is a different position entirely.  It requires covering across the middle.  McBride may not be able to handle a switch to Nicklet CB.  This will go to Ricky Manning Jr.  He is being paid way too much to sit on the bench.

-CSF