With all the end of the world signs, the fire Lovie Turner chants, lack of draft picks, poor secondary and offensive line, and loss of team leader Brian Urlacher in the season opener the Chicago Bears still have a bright outlook down the road unlike other franchise stuck in reverse ( to many to name this year ). But that is not to say that everything is going as planned.

The Bears overpaid for the offensive line this year by bringing in left tackle Orlando Pace and transitioned Omiyale from tackle to left guard where he never seemed comfortable and provided no second level help in the running attack. Pace has not been close to his probowl days and has lost his quickness to the outside. Match-ups against three fours defenses like the 49ers could be a tall task for the aging left tackle. However he does understand the game and how to play the position and has always been one of the best lineman once he gets his hands on you. Williams should only benefit from being around a true professional with a long and great career. Center Olin Kruetz' days are numbered in Chicago and he is probably not the best center on the team even. Time has passed and he just doesn't have the shear size to continue to play at a high level. Olin was best when being mean and running on a full motor.

I expect the Bears hardest working lineman to take over the center position next season and hold the position down proudly for years to come. Beekman has a bright future and understands what he has to do to get his running back into open space. He will have a great grasp of what the left guard responsibilities are and will only making it easier understanding the complexities of the offensive line.

Chris Williams should be moving towards his natural position at left guard where I expect him to only get better. There was a comparison used by DB around here between the progression of Hester and Steve Smith at wide receiver. Both started as return men and developed over a three year period into fantastic true number one receivers for their teams. I would like to call the Panthers back for another analogy ( I live in N. Carolina ) . Jordan Gross started out his rookie season at right tackle befor moving to the left side. The fact that Williams is following the same route there by no means says the two players have anything to do with each other rather than it is simply a great way to transition a young player into a man's game.

But two solid young players at key positions doesn't make an offensive line. With the CBA agreement not yet reached there are only a few players the Bears can target since players must retain 5 years of NFL experience before becoming free agents as well as allowing teams 3 franchise style tag options. So teams will have fewer players to protect and more ways to protect them. This years class of free agents is 28 to 31. Better make that age an offensive lineman. There are some great young studs who should have been available for free agency but as is stands not any more.

However the player who I think Bears have the best chance of getting and is most likely not to be overpaid for by his team is left guard Logan Mankins. Six years experience and a great gurad in all aspects of the game. Williams , Mankins, Beekman. At least the Bears would have a strong left side of the line and could see what Omiyale and Shafer could bring, if anything, to the right.

Khalif Barnes for the Raiders will also be available and I do not see the Raiders matching offers if the money is there. The Bears understand the need for free agents once again even if they don't always work out. Nothing to me would improve the Bears more than this move. I would love to see the Brandon Marshall's and Lyndale White's his the free market but its not going to happen and Mankins has been made less a need as the Patriots have continued to draft and develop good young guards. Barnes needs a change a scenery and getting out of Oakland in a few player big money market should entice him away. I just hope Snyder doesn't go buying offensive line this year which he should.

Also it will be tough to watch the NFL draft not having first day picks but the Gaines Adam deal should work out well. We still have Jay Cutler who with a good team around him is well worth the two first rounders, got Knox out of the deal and I am willing to bet that Gaines Adams has better numbers than any rookie defensive end selected in the first two rounds next year with the exception of Ugh from Nebraska.

The Bears have a nice young Nucleus in Cutler, Forte, Hester, Knox, Olsen, Williams, Beekman, Bennet, Manning, Roach, and Olsen.

The defense really needs a play maker and I am crossing my fingers we don't waste a pick like we did on Freeman last year and hope Henry Melton makes the team ( still could see him as a short yardage back ). D.J. Moore will have his rookie year behind him and I expect him to pull a Bennet and show everyone that he can play when he's in the game and starts to react more.

As for the coaching staff. Sometimes even good coaches get let go. It will likely happen to Jeff Fisher this year. Lovie is a good coach but if he gets fired this year he should look no further than why but at Turner. Chicago is defense, and when defensive guys leave, its no biggie, but when offensive guys leave the get better. I always thought Turner would be a good OC as long as he had the exact kind of players he needed. He has always struck me as that kid who wants to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Lovie needs and adaptive style offensive cordinator but then again the offensive is ran as a part of the head coaches game plan. Maybe it is time for Lovie to go, maybe Fisher just neds to head up North and establish a ground game that doesn't get off the bus and run into the lockers but a ground game that gets on the field and establishes control.

So while the Bears future looks bright in my eye, there are certainly changes that need to be made that are blocking the sunrise or in the Bears case, not blocking for it at all.