I have read with some amusement the  weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Bears selection of Chris Williams of Vanderbilt as their number one pick in the draft and can't figure out why.

The Bears offensive line resembled the Titanic after it hit the iceberg last year, except the Titanic didn't leak as much. In order to build a running game, you have to have an offensive line.  Picking Williams was far more important than picking Rashard Mendenhall, a sentimental favorite among Bear fans because he played at Illinois.

Truth be told, you don't have a running game without an offensive line.

Even in the dark days in the 70's, the Bears had some pretty decent offensive linemen led by Ted Albrecht, Revie Sory, Noah Jackson, Dan Neil and Dennis Lick who helped lead the way for some guy named Walter something or other.  Later, the Bears offensive line of Bortz, Thayer, Van Horne, Hilgenberg and Covert led the Bears to their only Super Bowl win.  So, yes, it does matter.

If Chris Williams can not go the way of Marc Columbo, who, theoretically should still be holding down the left tackle spot but isn't because of injuries that started before he even played a down in the regular season, he will be a big lift to this offensive line.  John Tait can be sent back over to right tackle (his more natural position) and if you can dig up a couple of decent guards, you may actually have something.

In the second round, the Bears passed on a quarterback and drafted a running back in Tulane's Matt Forte.  I don't know much about him except he played in a lousy conference and ran for over 2,000 yards last year.  At least he's already had his first knee injury.  Actually, what I do know about Forte is that he is not Cedric Benson and for right now, that's enough for me.  It should be noted that the Bears have not drafted a decent running back since Neil Anderson, who was above average but certainly not hall of fame material.  Did Walter spoil us that bad?

In the third round, provided he's up there, I'd take Early Doucet, wide receiver, LSU.  The kid can play and if he is over all of the injuries that he had last year, he could be a star.  He's tall, he's quick and he's not afraid to catch the ball in traffic.  If not Doucet, try Vandy's Earl Bennett.  Either way, this team needs some wide outs.