Chicago Bears facing do or die season?

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Before the 2009 NFL draft the Chicago Bears made a huge deal with the Denver Broncos for QB Jay Cutler in hopes that he would be the franchise quarterback they have been lacking since for what seems like decades. However, their lack of talent at offensive skill positions, a weak offensive line, an aging defense and Cutler’s propensity to play catch with members of the opposing team conspired to ruin the season.

Facing what is likely a do or die season for both GM Jerry Angelo and head coach Lovie Smith, the Chicago Bears sold out in free agency by signing DE Julius Peppers to a big money contract. The team also hired misunderstood offensive mastermind Mike Martz to revamp the team’s beleaguered offense. To aid in the transition the Chicago Bears also signed TE Brandon Manumaleuna (Chargers) and Chester Taylor (Vikings).

2009 Team Record: 7-9
First Round Pick: No Selection (traded to Denver for QB Jay Cutler)

Roster Analysis

2009 Active Roster Batting Average (NFL Average): 50.94% (44.69%)
2009 Draft Pick Retention: 66.67%*
Undrafted Players on 2009 Active Roster (NFL Average): 18.87% (27.89%)

2010 Free Agents

Unrestricted: 4
Restricted: 5
Notable: Adewale Ogunleye, DE (UFA); Adrian Peterson, RB (UFA); Danieal Manning, S (RFA)

Last Five First Rounds

2009 – No pick, selection traded to Denver for QB Jay Cutler
2008 – Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt (14th Overall)
2007 – Greg Olsen, TE, Miami (31st Overall)
2006 – No pick, selection traded away to Buffalo
2005 – Cedric Benson, RB, Texas (4th Overall)

DNQBR

For the 2009 season, Jay Cutler had a Draft Nuggets quarterback rating of 8.0, good for 18th in our rankings.^

Notes & Observations

• Six of the Chicago Bears nine 2009 draft picks made the team’s active roster
• DE Henry Melton (4th round) finished the season on injured reserve
• The Bears have only had three first round draft picks in the last five years thanks to the Jay Cutler trade (2009) and trading out of the first round altogether (2006).

* we have not performed a complete analysis of teams’ 2009 draft selections versus their 2009 active rosters in order to calculate an NFL league average.

^ we will detail the breakdown of the DNQBR in a future post, however, the figure represents the approximate number of points per game that the team’s quarterback contributes. As a point of reference Saints QB Drew Brees lead the league with a DNQBR of 26.3, while Jets QB Mark Sanchez possessed the lowest at .7

Follow all the action with Draft Nugget’s Around the Draft series leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft.

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