SB Nation - Cody Balogh

Bears Sign 7 to Practice Squad

Adam T — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:02:29 -0000

The Bears have begun to fill out their practice squad.

Those signed are Brett Basanez, Johan Asiata, Ervin Baldwin, Joe Clermond, Donovan Raiola, Will Ta'ufo'ou and Woodny Turenne.

One spot still remains, and the Bears could add tackle Cody Balogh or look for a running back to provide more depth. Another likely candidate is rookie linebacker Marcus Freeman, a fifth-round pick out of Ohio State.

Bears Make 53

Dane Noble — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:20:43 -0000

A few surprises, but not too many. Today, the Bears whittled their roster down to the league mandated 53 players by terminating 3 contracts, waiving 16 players, and placing 3 on Injured Reserve.

Players who were waived included guard Johan Asiata, defensive ends Ervin Baldwin and Joe Clermond, offensive tackle Cody Balogh, quarterback Brett Basanez, cornerbacks Rudy Burgess, Marcus Hamilton and Woodny Turenne, fullbacks Jason Davis and Will Ta’ufo’ou, linebackers Marcus Freeman, Kevin Malast and Mike Rivera, receiver Eric Peterman, and center Donovan Raiola.

The Bears can establish an eight-man practice squad on Sunday and also can claim players who’ve been waived by other NFL teams. In past seasons, the Bears have typically stocked their practice squad primarily with players they released a day earlier during final cuts.

Here’s a breakdown of the 53-man roster as it stands now (in alphabetical order):

Quarterbacks (2): Jay Cutler, Caleb Hanie.

Running backs (3): Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, Garrett Wolfe.

Fullbacks (1): Jason McKie:

Wide receivers (6): Devin Aromashodu, Earl Bennett, Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, Juaquin Iglesias, Johnny Knox.

Tight ends (4): Desmond Clark, Kellen Davis, Michael Gaines, Greg Olsen.

Offensive linemen (8): Josh Beekman, Roberto Garza, Olin Kreutz, Lance Louis, Frank Omiyale, Orlando

Pace, Kevin Shaffer, Chris Williams.

Defensive linemen (9): Anthony Adams, Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, Jarron Gilbert, Tommie Harris, Marcus Harrison, Israel Idonije, Adewale Ogunleye, Matt Toeaina.

Linebackers (6): Lance Briggs, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Nick Roach, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Brian Urlacher, Jamar Williams.

Cornerbacks (6): Zackary Bowman, Corey Graham, Trumaine McBride, D.J. Moore, Charles Tillman, Nate Vasher.

Safeties (5): Al Afalava, Josh Bullocks, Danieal Manning, Kevin Payne, Craig Steltz.

Specialists (3): Robbie Gould, Patrick Mannelly, Brad Maynard.

Positional Battles: Offensive Line

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:00:24 -0000

via cache.daylife.com

Rosters have to be down to 53 by tomorrow. Last nights game probably didn't do much to sway the coaching staff one way or the other. The swaying was mostly done during the off-season when Kevin Shaffer, Frank Omiyale, and Orlando Pace were added as free agents. These three will all be on the roster along with Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Josh Beekman, and Chris Williams. No question about it.

Last year the Bears opened up with eight offensive linemen, including the injured Chris Williams, so taking more than eight isn't gonna happen. The above mentioned seven will be joined by only one other big fella. My guess is after the jump!

I guess I should eliminate some from consideration to make this easier... Center Donovan Raoila will get the axe, because both Beekman and Garza could back up at center, and Beekman looks to be the future at that position. Johan Asiata (I'll admit I never even heard of this guy til I looked at the roster) is a goner. Lance Louis, as much as I like his potential, just isn't ready yet. I'd like him on the practice squad. Which leave us with Dan Buenning and Cody Balogh. And after some deep thinking...

I can't see Balogh making the roster, and Buenning is more versatile. He's listed at guard, but he's played right tackle in the past, and could play center in a pinch.

Actually this was pretty cut and dry. Barring an injury the Bears ride with those eight.

Since there isn't much debate for a poll I'll take it in a different direction.

Poll

Will the Bears have an offensive lineman elected to play in the Pro Bowl?

Yes

202 votes

No

104 votes

Pro Bowl? Our O-Line will be prepping for the Super Bowl that week!

176 votes

482 votes | Poll has closed

Weekly Musings from a Disgruntled Blogger (3/25)

ChiFan13 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:43:49 -0000

Along with GB and WCG, I will be writing a weekly column that comes out on Wednesday. Mine is tailored more towards the long-term strategy of the Bears and the news and notes around the NFL. As per usual, I'll be giving you a steady dose of cynical and Devil's Advocate-type views.

If any of you listen to The Score, you may know that Mike Murphy does a "Tool of the Week" segment. At the end of each column, I'll have "ChiFan's Cretin of the Week." The lucky individual/individuals will either be from the Bears or the rest of the NFL.

Let's start, shall we?

Is the NFL Draft moving to February?

This article courtesy of Pro Football Weekly:

For instance, the draft has been held in late April or early May since 1977. However, there are a number of movers and shakers in the league who believe that veteran free agency should follow the draft, and with the CBA still to be agreed upon for the next contract, this issue could be a bargaining chip for owners.

Those same league insiders would like to see the draft moved to late February, with free agency to commence following rookie minicamps, most likely in mid-to-late March.

At the very least, this is an intriguing idea. Upon first read, I thought it was a great idea. I love the NFL draft and it would occur during a relatively dead time in the world of sports. However, there are more than a few problems with this notion:

1) If players have any sort of injuries towards the end of the year, it gives them little to no time to heal up and prepare for their pro day or the combine.

2) For the most part, pro days would cease to exist. The Senior Bowl, Shrine Game, and the combine would take their place.

3) It gives talent evaluators less time to perform their job.

How this has gained steam is beyond me at this point. I am almost positive that this move would not be popular with the veteran players, and I don't blame them. If they are on the FA market, most want to find a new home. This move would place too much emphasis on the draft, and, as we all know, drafting is never an exact science. An elite prospect may not pan out, and a team would be left with a gaping hole. As they say on all the anti-drug commercials, "Just say no."

Draft Talk: What should the Bears do?

This question has been bothering me for some time. Originally, I was a big fan of Oher and DHB, but Oher's been steadily slipping down the draft boards and I'm starting to get worried about DHB's skills translating to the NFL. A lot of you have been clamoring for Hakeem Nicks, and I was starting to come around on the idea until it was reported that he scored an 11 on the Wonderlic.

I realize that a poor Wonderlic score does not always translate to how productive a prospect will be. However, it does give some sort of an indication as to their problem-solving capabilities. I don't know about you, but consider me officially skeptical about drafting Nicks.

Digression aside, what should the Bears do?

As SackMan showed in this FanPost, we have a ton of holes to fill. Unfortunately, I see Jerry's moves to get Josh Bullocks and Glenn Earl (who?) as a sign that they're filling the FS void through free agency. Competition at positions is great; competition among below-average to awful players is not. I think this is a pretty clear signal that we're not going after Sean Smith or any safety prospects.

What about the wide receivers? Along with our offensive line, those two groups are disaster zones. No it All's idea is to move up in the draft and grab Crabtree. I'd be all for getting an elite prospect like him if we didn't have so many holes on our team. However, if Maclin slips to #17, I truly hope Jerry gets on the horn with the Jets and trades some picks so we can get him. After Crabtree and Maclin, the rest of the WR's possess something that I'm not interested in. DHB doesn't have a productive track record, Harvin scored low on the Wonderlic (so picking up a traditional offense could be slow for him) and has been injury prone, Nicks scored low on the Wonderlic, and Britt has the ego of Terrell Owens. Barring us getting Maclin, I don't know what we'll do here.

As we all know, our offensive line is a ship-shod group. Considering for a minute that we don't get Maclin with the first selection, my vote is to trade down to the end of the 1^st or early 2^nd. Why? We have a ton of needs right now. We would (hopefully) be able to pick up a prospect like Britton at the end of the 1^st and grab either an OG or WR with another 2^nd round draft choice. This does seem to be the most likely scenario, since Jerry loves to trade down for more draft selections. There's just an increased sense of urgency to get quality starters this year.

If Jerry follows through on his QB quote and we take Josh Freeman, it will be a sad, sad day in the annals of Chicago Bears history and a tough day on yours truly's liver.

Brief Rant on Jerry Angelo and the McCaskey's

GeoMak and others have started to champion the "McCaskey's are ruining the Bears" bit and have taken some of the blame off Jerry Angelo. I agree with the first part; I am not a fan of the McCaskey's and never will be. However, Virginia McCaskey didn't tell Jerry Angelo to sign Josh Bullocks, Glenn Earl (who?), Dan Buenning, or any of the other people we have masquerading on the Bears pretending to be football players. The McCaskey's are at fault for some things, but don't let Jerry off the hook for personnel issues.

ChiFan's Cretin of the Week

Taking "Apply directly to the forehead" a little too literally

We have a tie between Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith; hear me out before you start incessantly bashing me.

Jerry - Last offseason, you should have re-signed John St. Clair to a minimal contract. Instead, you chose to wait until our line completely fell apart, which would (obviously) drive JSC's asking price up. If you couldn't see that John Tait was on his last legs, you're worse off than we thought. John St. Clair is not worth nine million dollars, and I would've been more pissed at you if you signed him to that amount. But to let a serviceable band-aid get away when our line was already bad showed an incredible lack of foresight on your part.

Not only that, but here's another reason why you're Cretin of the Week:

Rashied Davis dropped a couple of passes in early drills. Not a good sign.

Uhm....well....duh. How he's still a WR on an NFL roster is still beyond me. Looking forward to watching him drop more balls this year, Jerry! Keep telling yourself QB is the only problem.

Lovie - Vaughn McClure relayed this little tidbit after JSC was signed by Cleveland:

Coach Lovie Smith said the team wanted to re-sign St. Clair but said there were other options in case he didn't.

Who, exactly, are those other options? Cody Balogh? Dan Buenning? Woohoo! Get pumped, Bears fans. Patrick Mannelly might be playing on the OL sooner than you think.

As always, I'd love to hear from you all. What you hated, what you liked, what you want to argue, lemme have it.

Bears Release Six

Adam T — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:58:38 -0000

Mandatory roster limits will have teams getting rid of people over the next 2 days working to get their rosters down to 53 for the start of the regular season.

The Bears have released offensive linemen Tyler Reed,Cody Balogh and Ryan Poles.

Given the current state of the offensive line I was a bit surprised about Tyler Reed going. I had read there were still those that thought he was good enough to make the team. I can only hope the Bears will be looking at other team's castoffs for any potential backups.

The Bears have also release WR Mike Hass. I know a lot of people around here were high on him, but this in not unexpected. The last roster spot for receivers is believed to currently be between Mark Bradley and Brandon Rideau.

Also release were fullback Lousaka Polite and defensive end Daniel Bazuin.