Bears Brain Trust will go over each position and see how the Bears did. We’ll look at how the Bears finished in 2009, what they tried to do during the offseason, and how well they executed -- and if they should have done anything differently.
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Still here:

• Brian Urlacher, injured in the first half of week one; missed the rest of the season
• Tim Shaw, special teams player who has found himself a place in Bears lore because of one excellent game
• Kevin Malast, finished last season on the Bears practice squad

In:

• Matt Mayberry, undrafted free agent

It's Urlacher or a outside linebacker sub. We all saw what that looks like last season.

2009 review: Things were OK for about two quarters

Brian Urlacher injured his right wrist in the first quarter of the first game last season. He played with the injury in the second quarter; the next day he had surgery; and that was the end of that. The Bears spent the rest of the 2009 season scrambling to find someone both physically and mentally capable of stepping in at middle linebacker.

The next-most experienced middle linebacker on the Bears roster, Hunter Hillenmeyer, took over for a couple weeks. Let's just say he struggled.

Hillenmeyer was responsible for the deep middle -- the middle linebacker’s main responsibility in the Tampa 2 -- but he lacked the Urlacher-like athletic ability to do it. It wasn't long before he was replaced by a more athletic option.

The better athlete was Nick Roach. But in his starts, he struggled to make the proper checks, and otherwise be the “quarterback” of the defense. So the Bears had no other choice but to go back to Hillenmeyer. But like I said, he struggled.

2010 offseason plan: Brian, how’s your wrist?

The Bears’ plan at middle linebacker is a less risky version of the plan at defensive tackle. When healthy and playing well, Urlacher and Tommie Harris are (maybe "were" is a better word) among the best at their position. They both also make a ton of money. They make enough money that it would be ridiculous to spend money in free agency in order to acquire an expensive insurance plan.

The difference between Harris and Urlacher is that Urlacher has been a better player in recent years.

So while it looks like the Bears' plan was was to ignore the position in the draft and free agency, at least there is some reason to be optimistic about Urlacher. It hasn't been as many years since Urlacher was a good starter.

Execution: It’s pretty easy to do nothing

These were/are the top middle linebackers available in the offseason:

• Karlos Dansby; signed with Dolphins; five years, $43 million
• Derrick Johnson; re-signed with Chiefs; one year, $2.6 million
• DeMeco Ryans; re-signed with Texans; six years, $48 million with $21.75 million guaranteed
• Gary Brackett; re-signed with Colts; five years, $33 million with $12 million signing bonus
• Keith Bullock, signed with the Giants; one year, $1.105 million
  

Different year, different situation, maybe the Bears are interested in signing a young player like Karlos Dansby or DeMeco Ryans.

But similar to the defensive tackles: so much is already invested in Urlacher. A lot is invested in Urlacher; the Bears spent a lot on Julius Peppers to improve the defensive end position; and there are/were other holes to fill.

Instead, the Bears did nothing but hope for the best.