Normally, an NFL team will not carry four running backs on its fifty-three man roster. It appears that the Bears will buck that trend and keep four backs in the form of rookie Matt Forte, recent free agent signee Kevin Jones, special teams ace in the other Adrian Peterson as well as Garrett Wolfe who looks to be in a make or break training camp.

     The expectations for second round draft pick Matt Forte are high enough to be a burden. What the Bears need is for Forte to step in immediately and be the load barring back come week one against the Indianapolis Colts. From a size perspective, Forte at 6′1 and 224lbs looks to have the frame to handle the rigors of a seventeen week season. An erractic and tattered offensive line, along with an uncertain quarterback situation will not make the task of racking up yards an easy one for the rookie.

     After a series of injuries, Kevin Jones appears to be back to one-hundred percent after signing as a free agent from the Detroit Lions. Jones, when healthy, is an All-Pro level back, but that has not been the case since his rookie campaign of 2004. Jones is back at practice, and it looks like he will make his first appearance in a Bears uniform in Seattle for the second preseason game.

     The latter of the two Adrian Peterson’s in the NFC North filled in admirably last season while succeeding in his usual role on special teams. Ideally, Peterson is the third back, concentrating on special teams where he will have to work to replace the departed Brendan Ayanbadejo as the teams All-Pro special teams ace. After the the first preseason game, Garrett Wolfe finally showed the promise of what made the Bears take him in the third round in last years draft. The big play ability that Wolfe did not display last year, appears to be back and the Bears have a need for a change of pace back behind Matt Forte and Kevin Jones.

     It looks as if the Bears will uncharacteristically look to carry four running backs. In a perfect world, Matt Forte will establish himself as the lead back, while Kevin Jones will regain the game breaking ability of his rookie year. Adrian Peterson replaces Brendan Ayanbadejo and Garrett Wolfe is that change of pace back, breaking off a long run or pass or both throughout the season.

-If the quarterback derby ended today, Kyle Orton would be the starter. Orton made the same, safe throws that he been known for and completed 7 out of 10 passes for 56 yards. On the other hand, Rex Grossman was just 4 for 8 for 44 yards with a touchdown pass to Garrett Wolfe. This is an ideal example of the opposite ends of the spectrum of these two signal callers. Grossman is an all or nothing, high risk player while Orton will produce what the Bears want as in a safe, controlled signal caller.

-Matt Forte was solid but unspectactular with 5 carries for 20 yards as well as 3 catches for 10 yards. Forte is the type of back that will get stronger as the game moves on, so 5 carries is not the proper gauage as to the impact that Forte could potentially have late in games. Aside from catching a twenty-five yard touchdown pass from Grossman, Garrett Wolfe carried the ball 7 times for 64 yards. It looks as if the Bears will carry four running backs at some time this season.

-The offensive line has a long way to go, without any real hope for progression as the regular season approaches. This will be a unit that turns this offense into one of the worst in the NFL.

-The defense started off allowing a 16 play, 81 yard drive that yielded a touchdown. This is preseason and barring any injuries, this unit should be in the top five in all major defensive categories.

-Overall, a proper guage of the potential of this team will not be felt until game three when the offense will have an opportunity to showcase its safe and controlled attack, a bit of an oxymoron I know, and the defense will let loose a bit of its potential in terms of playmaking ability.

     Rookie left tackle Chris Williams is looking to miss up to twelve weeks after having surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back. That would make for a week nine return against the Lions as the earliest date that Williams could contribute to the Bears offensive line, if he contributes at all this season.

     At least for the foreseeable future, the club does not have any plans to place the most important piece of their offensive line both present and future on injured reserve. A move that would effectively end his rookie campaign before it has even started. By not placing the Vanderbilt product on the injured reserve, the Bears will play with a 52 man roster.

     Sources close to the situation have said that Williams tweaked his back while working out this summer at Vanderbilt, while in preparation for the upcoming training camp. Obviosuly, he did not consider it serious and apparently it was not serious enough to prevent him from passing the teams physical at the onset of training camp.

     Although there were chatter leading up to draft according to a NFL network report about lingering back issues, Chris Williams did not have a history of any of the former while at Vanderbilt. He was forced to miss all of one practice in his five years according to football personal at the university.

     The loss of Chris Williams on the left side will likely mean that John Tait will be forced back to left tackle where he has played for the last three seasons. Tait is a natural right tackle, so the move is likely to not sit well with the veteran. On the right side, John St. Clair or the reaquistion of Fred Miller are the only options right now or as long as Chris Williams is out. The line is in shambles and the recipe for the what could amount to the thirty-second best offense looks ideal.

     The Bears envisioned their first pick of the 2008 draft starting at the left tackle position from day one. This decision led the organization to release Fred Miller, who had turned into a turnstyle for opposing defensive ends. Chris Williams is set to have surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.

     Williams’ surgery came one day after projected left guard Terrence Metcalf underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. This translates to an impending disaster on the left side of the line. There were huge question marks to begin with before these injuries, now, this appears to be a unit that has the opportunity to turn this offense into one of the worst in the NFL.

     Although, it was not like this offense was going to light the world on fire to begin with, but this would push Ron Turner’s offensive scheme into the stone age.

     As of right now, it looks as though the Bears will be looking to bring back Fred Miller who is still a free agent. Miller is receiving interest from the Texans as well as the Ravens aside from the Bears. His preferance, according to his agent, would be a return to the Windy City. This move would likely force John Tait back to the left side, a decision that would undoubtedly leave a bad taste in the should be right tackles mouth.

     The Bears are heading for what amounts to be a complete abortion on offense with no real legitimate options available or on the horizon.

     Kyle Orton has been tabbed the starter by head coach Lovie Smith for the Thursday’s preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

     Rex Grossman will split the first team duties and attempt to take the same number of snaps as his counterpart.

     When the Bears play their second preseason game against Seattle on August 16, Grossman will start while Orton will attempt the same number of first-string snaps.

     “Again, don’t look into any of these decisions we’ve made right now,” Smith said. “It’s just a starting spot. There’s no rhyme or reason why we’re doing this in this direction. It’s the way I want to go right now.”

     Throughout training camp, Grossman and Orton have alternated days working with the first team so far. At the onset of camp, a coin flip to see who would run with the first team before minicamp and training camp was held and Orton was victorious in that first mini-battle.

     The victor of this perceived quarterback competition could in fact be the loser as the Bears face two of more feared pass-rushers in the NFL in the first two weeks of the regular season. After facing Dwight Freeney and the Indianapolis Coltsin week one, week two offers Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers.

     A patchwork offensive line is not what either of these quarterbacks need, but with only two projected starters slated to start on Thursday. One should not expect much of anything in the form of consistency or borderline greatness from these two headlining signal callers. As the philosophy says in Halas Hall about its quarterback play; you’re really not important, but at the same time, just don’t screw the gameplan up for the defense and get out of the way.

     The Bears have a Pro-Bowl defensive tackle in place, now with a contract extension, to play the one gap in Tommie Harris. Now, the question is who will play opposite him because that position is just as important as the strongside linebacker or either safety in the cover two.

     As training camp has progressed, two players have stepped out and into the starting line-up with the aforementioned Tommie Harris.

     Third year product Dusty Dvoracek has played just one game in his two seasons after suffering from a variety of injuries. The other candidate is Marcus Harrison who had first talent, but it was his character that turned him into a third round draft pick.

     A teammate of Harris while at Oklahoma, Dvoracek has shown flashes of impact ability in practice upon recovering from a rash of injuries that has sidelined him. When healthy, and that has not been with any consistency over the last two seasons, the third year defensive tackle has shown a quick first step which is ideal for the one gap line scheme the Bears have employed under Lovie Smith.

     Marcus Harrison is more in the mold of Ian Scott as a two gap tackle that will open up the line for Tommie Harris as well as the ends. Harrison’s draft stock suffered not from injuries, but from major character issues that stemmed from his days at Arkansas. Now, from purely a talent perspective, Harrison possesses both the quickness but also straight ahead power with a 6′3 and 310lb frame.

     As it stands right now, if Dusty Dvoracek is healthy, he will be the starter opposite Tommie Harris. Although, there is no doubt that Marcus Harrison, if he can keep his head on straight, will have an imprint on the defense with his scheme friendly ability.

     It really will not matter who is the quarterback of this team, if they do not have the time to sit in the pocket and find what weapons this offense possesses. The left tackle position has seen its value increase not only in terms of importance, but monetarily. Well, that job of looking after whoever is starting at quarterback looks to fall to an untested rookie from Vanderbilt.

     The offensive line has been a source of concern as not only the age but overall quality has diminished exponentially since the Super Bowl season of 2005. This decline has been especially prevalent on the outside with John Tait and the departed Fred Miller. Now, with the newly drafted Chris Williams on the left side, Tait is now able to move to the right tackle position where the level of his play should increase as a part of playing on his natural side. 

     In his time at Vanderbilt, Williams made thirty-five consecutive starts to conclude his career, but that has not stopped analysts and media alike from questioning his ability to stay healthy. Although there was not talk while the left tackle while at Vanderbilt, there was on draft day specifically which has continued to this very week. At the onset of training camp, Williams has suffered from back spasms which have kept him from securing a spot on the left side while battling veteran John St. Clair. This has alarmed a few in the media, but the track record of Chris Williams would say that any lingering injury issues should not be a concern.

     Although Williams is technically a rookie, he has already shown the mental capacity to handle the blocking schemes that have been thrown his way early on in training camp. This is a lot of pressure to put on a rookie, but the success of the offense does depend on the left tackle position and whether that player, namely one Chris Williams, can control both the passing and running games.

     In 2004, the Bears drafted a running back in the first round by the name of Cedric Benson. From the very second he became a Bear, there was some sort of controversy whether it was on or off the field.

     The lack of emotional control, issues with the draft process, and on into training camp with a holdout while finishing off the list before even playing his first game as a professional by complaining about the physicality of practice.

     Now, fast forward to 2008 and the Bears have drafted another running back, this time in the second round in Matt Forte. The rookie has undoubtedly impressed coaches as well as media thus far with not only his play on the practice field, but more importantly in his demeanor off of it. He has adopted the philosophy of being seen and not heard.

     A few days into camp, Forte stood up in the team dining hall and followed the orders of veteran center Olin Kreutz like all rookies have to do. “You stand and say your name, your school and your signing bonus and then sing the fight song,” said Forte, a Tulane University product. “At least I knew the words.”

     This has definitely ingratiated Forte to his teammates in a way that Benson never realized. He has shown a fair amount of toughness in goal-line drills while taking a choice shot from Mark Anderson and Brandon McGowan during practice. The Tulane product has yet to complain that his own teammates are gunning for him with harder than normal hits, and a betting man would be wise to bet against those words ever being uttered from Forte himself.

     The ability to run the ball, in this offense, will make or break the amount of success that the surrounding parts are able to produce. If, Matt Forte is not successful from week one, then this offense will undoubtedly sputter and spiral to one of the worst offenses in the NFL. This is a lot of pressure to put on a rookie, but the way that Forte has comported himself so far should give Bears fans hope that he will be able to handle the burden of being the number one back. Expectations are high, and it appears that the Bears have finally found their answer in replacing the under-appeciated Thomas Jones.

     Devin Hester and the Bears agreed to a four year contract extension Sunday, worth at least 30 million with 15 million of that being guaranteed. Additionally, there is a 10 million roster bonus in the final year of the contract, if Hester meets the expectations of a number one wide receiver. Hester was slated to make $445,000 this year.

     The bonus will de-escalate to account for performance below the level of a number one receiver. This is a similiar clause to what Tommie Harris has in his current contract in realtionship to consecutive Pro-Bowls. Due to Hester’s situation, the Bears were and had to be extremely creative in structuring the two-time Pro-Bowlers deal.

     The team announced the deal Sunday while the Bears are in the midst of the opening week of training camp. Hester skipped the first two days of training camp, Wednesday and Thursday, because he was seeking a new contract which had two years left. Hester returned to camp Friday, saying there was enough progress in the negotiations. The third year wideout and returner, attempted to make a statement about his current contract situation by missing the opening portion of training camp.

    This was a situation that was handled well on both sides, and that is often not the case especially in todays NFL. The Bears, as an organization, have yet again set a precedent of rewarding their own players to correct market value contracts. There really is not a team that takes better care of their players in the NFL, than the organization that resides from Halas Hall. Devin Hester acted accordingly in seeking a new deal, when he saw progress was being made in the last couple of days. He returned to camp and the deal was subsequently completed. All around, this is an obvious win the organization and the player.

     That was the question, at least to whom would run with the first team to open training camp. Well, it was Rex Grossman that guessed correctly and he led the first team on Wednesday. While Kyle Orton lead the first unit on Thursday. The two will compete until a starter is named around the third preseason game. For the first time in the Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo era, the quarteback position is truly up for grabs during training camp.

     Until this year, Grossman has been the unquestioned starter since the 2004 season. This, despite the fact that Grossman has shown the inability to stay healthy or show any consistency of the positive fortune. Grossman has played in sixteen game just once in his five year career. Even though he has shown glimpses of making plays all over the field, his continous lack of good judgement to go along with zero pocket presence has made his spot on the team and the position tenuous at best.

     On the other hand, Orton has spent the majority of his time on the bench for what has been mostly due to a lack of opportunity. The resume of the third year product includes starting fifteen games in his rookie campaign, only to make three appearances the following season. Orton has shown the ability to simply not lose games, but also to not necessarily win them.

     This is probably going to be Orton’s job to lose because he produces less of a chance of losing games as opposed to Grossman. He may able to beat Orton in a throwing contest in shorts during practice, but Orton simply makes fewer mistakes even though he may take fewer chances. This, in the end, may prove to be the perfect equation if a couple of variable come into form.

    Rex Grossman has a higher ceiling than his chief competitor, but with a defense that could make his way back into the top five and a running game that appears on paper at least to be on its way back to respectability. It appears that Kyle Orton is the right answer for this season, at this point at least, because of the fact he simply does not set his offense back or his defense behind.