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To get ready for Sunday's Detroit Lions game, I exchanged five questions with Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. from Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation's Chicago Bears blog. You can check out his answers below.
1. If you owned the Bears, would you give Marc Trestman one more season to turn things around, or would you fire him and start fresh in 2015?
Before the Aaron Kromer situation arose, I'd have said keep Trestman, but now I just don't see any way you bring him back. I understand not firing Kromer, but at least suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team. At this point the well is just too poisoned to allow the coaches to return.
If there's gonna be a fresh start, I think the team has to consider firing general manager Phil Emery too.
2. What is your reaction to Jimmy Clausen starting at quarterback, and what would you do with Jay Cutler and the QB situation in 2015?
I was surprised Clausen was tabbed to start, but Trestman has finally seen enough mistakes out of Cutler to make a change. You can sense in his play calling that he doesn't trust Jay to execute properly. He's been coaching scared for some time now, and that doesn't lend itself to winning games. The stuff that leaked out about Cutler not making the correct reads coupled with analysts calling his ability to read certain defenses into question, plus Cutler's track record of throwing into coverage and locking onto his primary target leads me to believe at some point in the last few weeks the coaching staff sat down and realized the franchise made a mistake in giving Cutler that giant contract.
Which makes me believe they will try and trade him this offseason. If they can't trade him, I wouldn't be surprised if they just eat the money and cut him. Much like the coaching staff, at this point the well is just too poisoned for Cutler. If they do bring him back, they better put him in an offense that limits opportunities for mistakes. More running, play action, bootlegs, moving pockets, something like the Mike Shanahan offense that he made a Pro Bowl playing in while a Bronco.
3. Is cornerback Kyle Fuller somebody that the Bears can build their defense around going forward?
I'm not sure you can build a defense around any corner, unless it's a Darrelle Revis/Deion Sanders lock down man to man corner type player. Fuller has very good all-around skills, and I could see him growing into a Pro Bowl player, but the Bears need help around him to get that defense back to not being an embarrassment.
4. Going into the offseason, what is the Bears' biggest need on offense?
I think the top priority is to decide what to do with the quarterback situation. The next coach should have a say in that, but with the way the Bears have run things lately, I'm not sure if he will. GM Phil Emery was hired and told he had to keep Lovie Smith. The next year he fires Smith and brings on Trestman, but he tells him to keep the defensive scheme intact while hiring some assistants for him. Last year Trestman made a few coaching changes, but it sure seemed like Emery had a hand in who he was playing at times. The Bears are about as dysfunctional an organization that you'll find in sports.
5. Going into the offseason, what is the Bears' biggest need on defense?
The Bears haven't had a real good safety since Mike Brown, and in this day and age, you need a quality guy patrolling the deep part of the field. The Bears also need to find a middle linebacker, because I don't see one on the current roster.
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