Hoke, who played 11 games for the Bears in 1980 and had seven tackles, spent the last seven seasons (2002-08) as the Texans' defensive backs coach. But Texans head coach Gary Kubiak fired most of his defensive assistants after they finished 31st, 30th and 29th in yards allowed the past three seasons. Before coming to the NFL, Hoke was defensive coordinator/secondary coach at the University of Florida. He added the title of assistant head coach in his final two seasons at Florida.

UNIT-BY-UNIT ANALYSIS

QUARTERBACK: Starter -- Kyle Orton. Backups -- Rex Grossman, Caleb Hanie.

In the first half of the season, it seemed as if the Bears' quarterback problems were over, as Orton generated a solid passing attack with limited weaponry and played almost error-free football, going six straight games without an interception. But his performance fell off after a mid-season sprained ankle, although he did a decent job with a weak supporting cast. He will go to camp as the starter, but the Bears are expected to add more depth, since Grossman is all but gone as an UFA. It's possible the Bears could bring in a veteran to challenge Orton for the starting spot. Hanie showed good athleticism in the preseason as a rookie, but he's still a No. 3.

RUNNING BACKS: Starters -- RB Matt Forte, FB Jason McKie. Backups -- RB Adrian Peterson, RB Kevin Jones, FB Jason Davis. Injured reserve -- RB Garrett Wolfe.

Forte can do it all, but the Bears would be wise to ease his burden in the future after he had 379 touches as a rookie, just five less than league-leader Adrian Peterson. Forte doesn't have elite speed, and he isn't big enough to move the pile by himself, but he has just about everything else you want in a three-down running back, including vision, smarts, maturity, blocking ability and soft hands. McKie is just a part-time player and almost exclusively a lead blocker. Jones was expected to be Forte's complement because of his strong inside running, but he carried just four times in the final 11 games and didn't play in five of them. He could be better next year after more time to rehab a 2007 knee injury. Peterson is a reliable backup with good hands, and he runs hard but lacks speed. Wolfe's limited role in the offense diminished in his second season, although he was a standout on special teams. Davis is similar to McKie in size and ability.

TIGHT END: Starters -- Desmond Clark, Greg Olsen. Backup -- Kellen Davis.

Clark keeps chugging along, but after 10 years he may be nearing the end of the line. Olsen (54 catches, 574 yards) started six games when the Bears opened with two tight ends, but he played more and was more productive in the passing game than Clark, who still put up decent numbers (41 catches, 367 yards). Olsen is expected to be a focal point of the offense for years to come. Davis is miscast in the role of blocking tight end, since his forte is catching the ball and, at 6-foot-7, he provides a great target, but he also has the frame to get bigger than 262 pounds.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters -- Devin Hester, Rashied Davis. Backups -- Brandon Lloyd, Marty Booker, Earl Bennett, Brandon Rideau.

Hester made major strides as a receiver, but he's still a long way from being a legitimate No. 1 guy. But, with his speed and run-after-the-catch ability, he gives defenses a home-run threat to worry about. Davis usually started because the Bears had no one better. Ideally he's a No. 4 receiver or a slot receiver. He lacks size and great speed but is tough and can be a role player in addition to a special-teams standout. Lloyd started off as if he wanted to resurrect his waning career, but he missed six weeks with a sprained knee that many players would have returned from in half the time, and after he came back was almost invisible. He can't be counted on. Booker appeared disinterested for most of the season and doesn't seem to have much left in the tank. He never had much speed to begin with and he's lost a couple steps. Bennett was unable to take playing time from anyone in this mediocre group, but he has good size and showed some flashes in training camp and the preseason. He'll get a longer look next season but needs to take a big step forward. Rideau is another player with good size who looks good in camp but never gets on the field once the lights come on.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Starters -- LT John St. Clair, LG Josh Beekman, C Olin Kreutz, RG Roberto Garza, RT John Tait. Backups -- T Chris Williams, G Terrence Metcalf, G Dan Buenning.

This group performed adequately considering its lack of talent. St. Clair served as the place holder for 2008 first-round pick Williams, whose development was derailed by a back injury on the second day of training camp that required surgery and kept him off the practice field the first half of the season. He should be the starter at LT in '09. Beekman played well enough to unseat perennial tease Metcalf, who has been given a job several times but has always played himself out of it. Kreutz may no longer be a Pro Bowl player, but he's still above average and a coach on the field. Garza is solid enough, but an upgrade wouldn't be difficult to find. Tait will be 34 next season, and he's not getting any better at this stage of his career. Buenning isn't what any team is looking for in a starter or even someone who has to play significant minutes.

DEFENSIVE LINE: Starters -- LE Adewale Ogunleye, DT Tommie Harris, NT Anthony Adams, RE Alex Brown. Backups -- NT Dusty Dvoracek, DT Marcus Harrison, DL Israel Idonije, DE Mark Anderson.

The poster children for underachievement. Ogunleye and Brown are both solid ends who can play the run and occasionally get after the quarterback, but neither of them are pass-rushing terrors capable of double-digit sacks, especially when Harris is just going through the motions as he appeared to do for much of the 2008 season. Harris is capable of being an elite player, but only if his mind and body are right, which they weren't for the first half of last season. No one knows if his knee injury will become a chronic problem or just something he learns to play through, but he's still young enough (25) to regain his Pro Bowl form. Adams languished on the bench for unexplained reasons, until Dvoracek made his third trip to I.R. in as many seasons. But he did start 12 games at nose before suffering a torn biceps. When Adams finally got an opportunity, he played as well as any of the Bears' interior linemen. Harrison had a solid rookie season and could contend for a starting spot. The 6-foot-6 Idonije is valuable because of his versatility but seems miscast inside where lack of leverage is a problem. Anderson's 12-sack rookie season of 2006 is a distant memory. He had five in '07 and just one last year.

LINEBACKERS: Starters -- WLB Lance Briggs, MLB Brian Urlacher, SLB Nick Roach. Backups -- Hunter Hillenmeyer, Jamar Williams.

Briggs made his fourth straight Pro Bowl and is still in his prime; Urlacher is not. Now on the wrong side of 30, Urlacher isn't a special player anymore and probably never will be again, but he is still very good. Briggs has become the much better player, and he makes more big plays. Roach beat out long-time starter Hillenmeyer because he's faster and a better athlete, although not necessarily a more effective football player. Hillenmeyer is smart, and he's fundamentally and assignment sound and can play all three LB positions. So can Williams, but his star faded last season. Expected to be the heir apparent on the strong side, he was passed up by Roach, though he remains a good special-teams player.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters -- LCB Charles Tillman, RCB Corey Graham, SS Mike Brown, FS Kevin Payne. Backups -- CB Nate Vasher, S Danieal Manning, CB Trumaine McBride, S Craig Steltz, CB Marcus Hamilton.

Tillman had good size and is physical for a corner and a willing run supporter with great toughness. But he is far from a shut-down corner, although he does match up fairly well with bigger wideouts. Graham took over for Vasher, who has become extremely injury prone, ineffective and soft. Vasher missed eight games with two hand injuries after missing 12 games in '07 with a groin injury. Even when he was healthy last season he didn't play nearly as well as in the past, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him waived to create some cap space. Graham played fairly well, and he's much more physical than Vasher and has the good size the Bears like in their corners. Brown was unable to finish the regular season healthy for the fifth straight year, including four trips to I.R., but he started 15 games, and the Bears would be happy to keep him around if they were sure he'd play that much next season. Brown lacks speed, but he's the heart, soul and brains of the defensive backfield and an emotional team leader. Payne is a big hitter who had a team-best four interceptions and was second in tackles, but he is not very effective in coverage. Manning played nickel most of the season after starting at safety his first two seasons in the NFL. He's a tremendous athlete, but his skills haven't always translated to success on the field. He has too much talent not to have a role somewhere, but no one has figured out where that is yet. McBride and Hamilton have started games in the past when injuries hit, but their roles are as extra corners in passing situations and on special teams. Steltz filled in when Brown was nicked and showed signs of being a potential starter.

SPECIAL TEAMS: PK Robbie Gould, P Brad Maynard, PR Devin Hester, KR Danieal Manning, LS Patrick Mannelly.

Gould gets way too little recognition for his work. He's currently the third-most-accurate FG kicker in NFL history (85.9 percent) despite playing half his games outdoors in the often inclement weather at Soldier Field. He was 29-for-29 in '08. P Brad Maynard doesn't have a huge leg, but he placed 40 punts inside the 20-yard line this season, the second most in the recorded history of that statistic (since 1976).

Hester's returns seemed to be inversely related to his playing time at wide receiver, and he lost the KR job to Danieal Manning, who wound up leading the league with a 29.7-yard average. Hester's punt returns were even worse, as his average plummeted to 6.2 yards, less than half of his average the previous two seasons. Mannelly is as steady as they come.