Chicago Bears

And that's somewhat fitting as Bears hopeful spent formative athletic years playing basketballYou have to be cautious about what you see from a football team when buds still are on the trees and pads still are in the lockers.

Our new Confidence Check series kicked off on Saturday by looking at the Bears quarterback depth chart, and over 70% of respondents had a high level of confidence in Jay Cutler, Josh McCown, and Matt Blanchard. This time around we'll examine the running back position, which has had some movement at the bottom of the depth chart this offseason, which may or may not impact the regular season depth chart. A refresher for how this series works: we examine the individual players at each respective position on the depth chart and assign them a level of confidence (high, low, or zero) based on their ability to perform their role (relative to their position on the depth chart). So as you read through these, don't infer that I like a third-stringer better just because I have more confidence in them than the starter (like with the quarterbacks), its just that I have greater confidence in them fulfilling the duties of their place on the depth chart. MORE: Bears Players Optimistic About New Offense (Again) Starting Running Back: Matt Forte (6th year with Bears) Job Responsibilities: Serve as the teaming primary option in the ground game, provide adequate passing blocking and reception skills, stay healthy and productive over the course of the entire season. Job So Far: Forte has been a consistently good (very good) but not great running back for the Bears. In five years, his lowest season rushing total is 929 yards, while his highest came in his rookie season (1,238). Over the past three years he's averaging 1,053 rushing yards a season and averaging 4.6 yards per carry. His yardage totals have been affected by injuries - with Forte missing five games over the past two seasons - but his ypc average is excellent. He's never been a big touchdown guy (career high eight in his rookie season), but is an adept receiver out of the backfield (averaging over fifty catches and 450 receiving yards a season). Confidence Level: High. The only knocks about Forte are his recent injury concerns and his inability to be a quality short-yardage back. His receiving abilities will be better utilized in Trestman's west coast offense, and the additions to the offensive line should help Forte to stop dancing in the backfield whether there is a hole to run through or not. Forte should be effective this season regardless of how many combined touches he gets, and if the team really leans hard on him and he delivers, I could see a possible All-Pro season for him. Backup Running Back: Michael Bush (2nd year with Bears, 6th year in NFL) Job Responsibilities: Provide quality backfield play in relief of the starting running back, contribute in passing game via blocking and receiving out of the backfield, and be the primary back for short-yardage situations. Job So Far: Bush finally broke the mold of veteran free agent the Bears have signed to backup Forte, meaning that he was somewhat successful in his fulfilling his duties. His season totals are not especially exciting (411 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns) and his 3.6 yards per carry average were a career-low, but remember that Bush was a backup and the short-yardage specialist, so of course his ypc would go down. With three yards or less to go, Bush had fourteen carries this season on third or fourth down, and converted for a first down 71% of the time. Forte, Kahlil Bell, and Armando Allen had fourteen carries in those situations, but only converted 50%. That may not seem like much, but its a crucial aspect to their offense the Bears have struggled with for years. Confidence Level: High. Bush was solid in short yardage situations, and while I would have liked to see him up his ypc average when he has a lot of carries in a game (only once averaged over 3.5 ypc in 2012 when having ten or more carries), I have no reason to assume his role changes drastically or he falters badly. Another reason to have high confidence: Bush can catch just as well as Forte (averages twenty catches a year) despite spending the

The second week of Chicago Bears organized team activities is under way and Bear Report was front and center at today’s practice. We go over all the on-field action during this afternoon’s session.

For a guy who says he would like things to remain the same, Lance Briggs sure has embraced change.

Chicago Bears rookie punter Tress Way was sitting in a meeting room at Halas Hall on Monday when his cell phone blew up.

The numbers are in on the contract for Chicago Bears first-round draft pick Kyle Long, who eclipsed $8.3 million in total value for his four-year contract.

A Jacksonville man has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a Chicago Bears fan at a popular waterfront shopping area before a Bears/Jaguars football game last fall.

Well, it's official, the Chicago Bears are going to win Super Bowl L in San Francisco, 2016. They will also win Super Bowl LI in Houston in the year 2017. Well, the Bears victories may not be promised, but those locations are, as reported by the worldwide leader in layoffs, ESPN. NFL owners were deciding between finalists San Francisco and South Florida for the right to host the prestigious 50th Super Bowl. Owners picked between South Florida and Houston for the 51st Super Bowl. The general logic is that South Florida got frozen out when they couldn't secure any financing for stadium work. There have been a lot of Super Bowls held there and in New Orleans, but this'll be the first time since 1985 for the Bay Area. "The Bay Area has been waiting for a [title] game since 1985. We have a stadium now … we are just thrilled and couldn't be happier about this," said Daniel Lurie, a leader of the San Francisco bid. These new announcements come after some other bold moves by the league. They should be bolstered by what could be a great success or an abject failure - holding the game in a cold-weather stadium, like Super Bowl XLVIII will be in New York in February. This breakaway from the standard locations means that many more cities may have a chance to host, though the sizes and ages of their stadiums will play critical factors. Don't keep your fingers crossed for that Soldier Field Super Bowl anytime soon. Your fingers might get stuck that way.

Potential is a word that has followed Jay Cutler around since he was the 11th overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was starting to live up to that potential, when in 2008 he was voted to play in the Pro Bowl. After that season he was traded to the Chicago Bears, and he hasn't been able to recapture his 2008 form. Was that more due to his supporting cast, to his coaching, the offensive scheme, or did Jay simply regress as a player? Honestly, I think it may be a combination of all four. Until last season he was missing the security blanket of a legitimate #1 receiver. When he was in Denver he not only had Brandon Marshall, but a competent tight end, a good #2 wide out, and a solid slot receiver. Not to mention a very good offensive line that only allowed Cutler to be sacked 11 times in 2008. Remember Cutler was dropped 10 times in one game in 2010 with the Bears. Cutler has been pressured a lot during his time in Chicago, and that has led to some sloppier fundamentals. When you start quarterbacking gun shy, your footwork starts to slip, as does your follow through. He spent so much time being hit, that he started anticipating pressure that wasn't always there. Jay Cutler also spent the first three years of his career being coached by an offensive minded coach in Mike Shanahan, who utilizes a version of the West Coast Offense. The WCO was also what he ran during his first year as a Bear, before giving way to the Martzfense for a couple years, and then last year to what ever you want to call the Mike Tice O Which catches us up to 2013 and the current scheme being implemented by Marc Trestman. While we don't know the specifics of his offense, we do know it's rooted in the WCO. An style of offense that Jay had his season bests in yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, and QB rating. You can check out his entire seven year totals by clicking here, and this table represents his four years in the WCO. YEAR G GS Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% 2006 5 5 81 137 59.1 1001 9 6.6 5 3.6 2007 16 16 297 467 63.6 3497 20 4.3 14 3 2008* 16 16 384 616 62.3 4526 25 4.1 18 2.9 2009 16 16 336 555 60.5 3666 27 4.9 26 4.7 WCO Totals 53 53 1098 1775 61.9 12690 81 4.6 63 3.5 If you take his four year WCO totals, then do a little math, you come up with a per game average of 21 completions, 33 attempts, and 239 yards per game. You then extrapolate that out to a 16 game season, and you have 336 completions, 528 attempts, 3824 yards, and to take it even further the TD to Interceptions would be 24 to 19. During his WCO years, the percentage of times he was sacked per attempt was 4.6%. While those extrapolated numbers aren't world beating, that would be a solid stat line. For comparisons sake here are his per game averages during his last three years, 17 comp., 30 att., and 216 yards. Do a little fancy math extrapolation and we have a 16 game season stat line of 272 of 480, for 3456 yards, with 22 TD, and 14 Ints. His sack percentage per attempt in the Mike Martz and Mike Tice years was 8.7%. The big difference between the two eras is obviously the sack percentage. So it begs the question, is his success in the WCO more due to his actually having time to throw those few years, or to his skill set translating more to the scheme? The 2013 Chicago Bears offensive line has the potential to be the best one he's played with since his Denver days. The '13 Chicago receiving combination of Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, Earl Bennett, and Matt Forte is potentially better than the Marshall, Eddie Royal, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Stokley, and Peyton HiIlis that Cutler worked with in his Pro Bowl 2008 season. There's no question Jay Cutler has the potential to pop off 4,000 yards passing, complete over 60% of his passes, and throw 25 TD

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports The Chicago Bears cut ties with veteran defensive tackle Andre Fluellen on Monday. Even though Fluellen did not spend much time in Chicago, the Bears made the right move to part ways with the five-year player. Fluellen recorded 51 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one defended pass in 54 career games (six starts) with the Detroit Lions. The former third round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of Florida State has never truly been able to solidify himself at the professional level. The Lions always had high hopes for him to become a difference maker on the defensive line, but unfortunately, he was never able to take his game to the next level. The 28-year-old was signed by Chicago on April 9, 2013 in an attempt to bolster the depth of the defensive line. However, after selecting defensive end Cornelius Washington in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, along with making other offseason acquisitions, the Bears still have more than enough defensive linemen to choose from for their 53-man roster. In fact, Chicago still has seven defensive tackles after cutting Fluellen. There is a good chance some other team will pick up Fluellen for the summer, but it is more than likely that he will be sitting at home once the regular season begins in September. The fact is the Georgia native has not shown enough in his professional career for some general manager to take a legitimate chance on him. With that being said, Fluellen’s back is clearly up against the wall. There is the possibility he will break out the best training camp of his life if given one more opportunity with a new team. Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.