Here is my 2008 Chicago Bears season preview:

Rex Grossman started the second preseason game in Seattle and was effectively put in a position to fail as the blitzing Seahawks overwhelmed the Bears’ patchwork offensive line and forced the beleaguered signal caller to run for his life for most of the first half. On the rare occasions that he did have time to set his feet and throw, he was generally accurate, but once Kyle Orton entered late in the half and ran a decent two-minute drill, Grossman’s fate was likely sealed. As expected, Orton was named the starting quarterback for the season opener a few days before the third preseason game against the 49ers. Orton looked good in that game, going 10-17 and throwing two TD passes to Rashied Davis. Grossman played briefly and did not look sharp at all, completing one of four passes for six yards as the boos from the Soldier Field crowd cascaded down on him on almost every play. He’ll deny it until the cows come home, but I think the boos do bother him. Give him a good offensive line, a good tailback, and good receivers, and I think he can still have success, but it doesn’t look like that’ll happen here in Chicago. He did play better in the final preseason game last night in Cleveland, throwing a TD pass to Brandon Rideau in his only drive. As far as Orton is concerned, he does have a better grasp of the offense and more experience than he did as a rookie in ‘05, but I still have my doubts about whether he can stretch the field enough with the deep ball to prevent defenses from concentrating on the short and intermediate routes. Statswise, I wouldn’t expect much more than fantasy backup or waiver wire numbers from him.

Rookie Matt Forte looked somewhere between average and good in the preseason, but he should still enter the season as the starter. Kevin Jones looked fairly good in limited action against San Francisco, rumbling for 34 yards on his first carry but doing nothing on his other two. It looks like Forte will get most of the carries early on, with Jones and Garrett Wolfe getting a few. If Jones can stay healthy, he could eventually work himself into a timeshare similar to the Thomas Jones-Cedric Benson combo we saw in 2006. However, I still expect Forte to start and get the majority of the carries as long as he is healthy. Remember that he is a very good receiver out of the backfield (as evidenced by his nice 17-yard catch and run to convert a third and 17 last night), which will keep him on the field for some third downs (and give his owners in PPR leagues a bonus). I think he should be drafted as a #3 tailback with possible #2 upside, and he could pile up around 1,000 total yards with six or seven TDs. If you draft Forte, you should try to nab Jones as his handcuff fairly soon afterwards.

At the moment, it looks as though the only Bears receivers you should even consider drafting are Rashied Davis and Devin Hester. Against the 49ers last week, Davis showed all of the improvements that the coaches talked about in the offseason, catching four passes for 58 yards and two TDs. He could’ve had a third TD, but he couldn’t quite hold on to a low throw in the end zone. His size (5-9 187) will limit him in some situations, but he has demonstrated an improved ability to get open using his speed, agility, and route running. Hester is still working on the finer points of playing receiver, but as everyone knows, all he needs is the ball and a little daylight. Brandon Lloyd did well in the offseason and caught four passes for 37 yards (all from Orton) during the two-minute drill at the end of the first half against Seattle, but otherwise he hasn’t done much. Mark Bradley worked his way back into the picture with two catches for 57 yards against San Francisco and five catches for 42 yards (all on one drive) against Cleveland, but his roster spot is not assured. Marty Booker had two catches for 26 yards in the preseason, but he played fewer snaps so the team could get a better look at its younger receivers and is still likely to make the team because of his experience. Rookie Earl Bennett caught only two passes for 21 yards this preseason (both coming against the Browns), but he did return a punt 75 yards for a TD against the Seahawks and is still likely to make the team because of his draft standing. Rookie Marcus Monk, who some thought could be the steal of the draft, was waived on Sunday. He has good size (somewhere between 6-4 and 6-6 depending on who you ask), but a lack of preseason production and his minicamp problem of not coming in and out of his breaks quickly enough apparently proved to be his undoing. Davis and Hester should be looked at as late round options in a deep draft or as waiver wire depth at receiver. If Lloyd and Bradley make the team, they may deserve a look if you’re in a pinch at the position. Overall, any of these receivers would be hard pressed to exceed 750 yards this season based on the likely receiver-by-committee plan.

The team has been very quiet about the sprained right knee that Desmond Clark suffered against Seattle two weeks ago, but indications are that the injury is not serious. The Bears should hope that is the case, because I believe that the beginning of this team’s demise last season was the injury to Greg Olsen in the 2007 preseason finale against Cleveland. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner had implemented double tight end sets and had plays specifically designed for Olsen. When he got hurt, those sets and plays were thrown out the window for the first two regular season games, and the offense as a whole was set back. Olsen and Clark both had good numbers last season, but while Clark (if healthy soon) will still get his fair share of catches and TDs this year, Olsen is the tight end you want more because of his big play upside and the matchup problems he brings for opposing defenses. Olsen could put up close to starting tight end numbers (especially if Clark is hampered by his injury), while Clark could put up backup tight end numbers.

I’m not going to get into the Chris Williams saga here, but all you need to know is that he will be kept on the active roster but likely won’t be able to play until at least Week 9. It appears that the current unit (from left to right: John St. Clair, Josh Beekman, Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, John Tait) will stay in place going into the regular season. This unit was average at best during the preseason, and it’ll have to get a lot better in the weeks ahead if the team is to maximize its already limited offensive potential.

Except for a couple of moments here and there, this defense did not play well at all in the preseason. I know it’s only preseason, but it’s still at least somewhat alarming that this unit has looked like Swiss cheese so often, especially after head coach Lovie Smith said that the defense needed to raise its level of play. Even though these are exhibition games, the lack of defensive intensity and execution (bad tackling and positioning) has been all too apparent. I know they’ve been running vanilla sets and plays, but that hasn’t stopped them from playing well in exhibitions from the past three years. They should still be able to stop the run better than they have with their base defense. Coming off a Super Bowl run, they were able to use injuries as an excuse last season. Now, coming off a disappointing season, they’ll have a harder time getting the benefit of the doubt. Of course, if they come out and look like their normal dominant selves when the regular season starts, this will all be moot, but that doesn’t seem very likely. There’s a silver lining here for fantasy owners though: this unit’s lackluster preseason performance might enable you to snag it a little later in your draft. While it hasn’t looked good, it still has a very high upside (potentially top ten in the league) if it can somehow flip the switch going forward. Even if it can’t flip the switch, it should be at least in the middle of the league.