In honor of the Top 100 NFL Players on NFL Network, I decided to make my own mini version. I put together a list of my top 10 current Bears. This is not my top 10 favorite list though, it is who I think are the best players.
10. Robbie Gould
Ever since Robbie Gould kicked his first field goal, I knew he would be an important player for the Bears. The great special teams is what makes the Bears great and Gould is an important part of that. Last year he had an 83.3% field goal percentage and made every single extra point he kicked last year. He has shown that he can kick it from beyond 50 yards and has pinpoint accuracy. His consistency has been the best part. He continues to show year after year that he can kick long field goals and short ones. The Bears offense needs a lot of help, so being able to have Gould kick a 50 yard field goal helps out with scoring. Every time Gould kicks, it's "Good as Gould"
9. Earl Bennett
Earl has taken a backseat to Johnny Knox, but he doesn't seem to care. He continues to be a great receiver and weapon for Jay Cutler. He had 561 yards last year and 12.2 yards per catch. He wasn't as dangerous or as good as Knox was last year, but he was still effective and a good second option for Cutler. He has worth ethic and I like the way he plays football. He isn't a great receiver, but he is good enough for the Bears and is a big contributor to the offense.
8. Greg Olsen
Olsen has been a big part of the Bears offense since his rookie season. He has become an effective tight end for the Bears and taken over what Desmond Clark used to do. He had to fight to play his rookie season, and now he is one of Cutler's top targets. He had 404 yards last year and 9.9 yards per catch. Those are pretty impressive numbers for a tight end in an offense that isn't very good. As he gets older and becomes a better route runner and gets better hands, Cutler will start to throw to him more often. In the next few years he will probably be Cutler's second favorite target. I like the promise that he shows and he has a lot of years ahead of him.
7. Johnny Knox
Knox has quickly become Jay Cutler's favorite target. He has speed and he can catch the ball. Sometimes he doesn't fight for the ball as much as he should, but he is still a very good receiver and his numbers show that. He was just shy of a 1,000 yard season last year with 960 and had 18.8 yards per catch. It's easy to see that he is the Bears number one receiver. As long as there is a season this year, I think he will prove that last season wasn't a fluke and I think he will get to 1,000 yards this year. Cutler will be better, and he will be better. Cutler to Knox is probably a very underrated combination, but I think that it could potentially be one of the best one's in the NFL next year. Knox is still young and has a lot of time to improve. He will start to be more in sync with Cutler and they will become a stronger combination than they already are.
6. Jay Cutler
Jay gets a lot of criticism about his game, but I personally think he is a great quarterback. Yes, he throws a lot of interceptions
but some of those aren't his fault and that's just how he plays. He makes bad throws sometimes, but he also makes great throws. The only thing he needs to do is improve his footwork and his timing. He can do that this off season if he has the motivation to do so. I hope that he does. As long as he doesn't get over confident, but also doesn't lose his confidence he will be fine. He needs to stay steady throughout a whole game. Bears fans saw that Cutler could be very good when he out-played Vick in the game against the Eagles. He ran the ball, and he made some good passes. That is what we need from him every game. If he can play like that, but maybe not have as good numbers because that's a lot to ask he can be a great quarterback. Cutler will always have his ups and downs, but hopefully he starts to improve his game and has more ups than downs.
5. Matt Forte
Forte had a great rookie season, but the next year after that was not impressive at all. Fans found out last year that the bad year was due to Forte being injured for most of the season, but playing through the injury. After hearing that I expected him to have another season like he did his rookie season. He didn't quite get that high with his numbers, but he got close. He had 1,069 yards this season and averaged 4.5 yards per carry. I liked the way he played this season, but I think he can be a lot better next year. If he continues to get better, he can be one of the best backs in the league.
4. Lance Briggs
For years Briggs has been overshadowed by Urlacher and not given the credit he deserves. He proved that he was just as good as Urlacher two seasons ago when Urlacher got hurt. Briggs has proved that he can play just as well as some of the best in the game. I still put him just a notch below Urlacher, but he is still a very good linebacker. He deserves every bit of credit that he gets. I still think he could improve his game, but right now I'm happy with the way he plays and how much he helps out the defense.
3. Devin Hester
It is obvious to every Bears fan and every NFL fan that Devin Hester is one of the best in the game at punt returns. He also proved that he can still be a threat when returning kick offs when Lovie Smith put him back into that roll a few times last season. To me, the big thing that makes Devin Hester one of the best Bears players is that he can also be a good receiver. So far he hasn't shown that so far, but he does show a lot of potential. He needs to have more experience practicing with Jay Cutler and getting timing right. He has the speed and the hands to be a great receiver as long as he can learn to run routes better and get his timing down with Cutler. I can't wait to see him playing receiver in a couple years. I have a feeling that by then Hester will be a much better receiver and will be extremely dangerous. I think he has the potential to become what DeSean Jackson is right now. A great receiver that can also be a major threat when returning punts.
2. Brian Urlacher
Urlacher is probably one of the most popular Bears players, but that's not why I put him so high on this list. I think he deserves it. Year after year he gets a lot of tackles and if anything, makes the defense seem scary. As he gets older he will become what Ray Lewis has become in my opinion. Ray Lewis doesn't hit as hard and isn't as fast as he once was, but players are still scared to run his direction. Urlacher already has that effect and can still hit and run. Urlacher will be dangerous for another few years, but his scare-factor will continue for a couple years after that. That is why he is so high on this list.
1. Julius Peppers
Julius Peppers was the highest ranked Bears player on the NFL Top 100 Players list, but that's not the only reason that I chose him as the best current Bears player. I chose him because he has made our defense a lot stronger. If we hadn't picked him up, our defense would've been weak last year and that isn't good because our offense is weak. He kept the defense strong and took a lot of attention from the offensive linemen which gave Israel Idonije a chance to shine, and he did. Peppers just helps the defense as a whole and makes the line a lot tougher.
