LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears won’t be on the clock until Saturday, but general manager Jerry Angelo and his staff are ready for the 2007 NFL Draft after concluding three weeks of meetings Tuesday morning.

“We’re all set here,” Angelo told reporters during a draft powwow at Halas Hall. “I feel like we’ve got a good handle on what we’re going to be faced with on draft day.”

The Bears selected Alabama defensive end Mark Anderson in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft with the 159th overall pick.

The Bears have seven picks in this weekend’s draft; one selection in each of the first five rounds (Nos. 31, 37, 94, 130 and 168 overall) and two in the seventh round (Nos. 221 and 241).

“We’re excited about the prospects of what could be with where we’re positioned,” Angelo said. “I’ve made this statement that we’re really looking to get four really good football players. Maybe we could come away with more than that, but we certainly are expecting four quality players who could help our football team.”

The Bears have more wants than needs and, as always, will focus on selecting the best player available, a philosophy that helped them land rookie phenoms Devin Hester in the second round and Mark Anderson in the fifth round a year ago.

“There are a couple positions that I would put in a little bit of a gray area,” Angelo said in discussing wants versus needs. “Most of what we would like to do is upgrade at certain positions, and that again would come under the ‘want’ category.

“There is a little bit of gray as we go through this if we wanted to do something with our roster in terms of maybe shuffling it around. We’ve entertained some things. Nothing has been determined. We want to get through the draft first.

“We want to create as many options as we can on draft day and that’s what we’re trying to do as well. We don’t want to get fixed on a certain player or on a certain position and then lose the value of a really good player somewhere else.”

Returning the majority of their starters after reaching the Super Bowl, the Bears have no glaring holes and will look to add quality talent in the draft.

“We feel that there are some areas that we could create a little more competition and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Angelo said. “The theme of what we do every year—and it will really hold true again this year—is we want to create some competition.

“We brought a few players in from the outside to do that (in safety Adam Archuleta and defensive tackle Anthony Adams), and I feel we’ll be able to bring in four or five players (via the draft) that will do that as well.”

Angelo knows that the window to win a Super Bowl won't remain open indefinitely. But that doesn’t mean that he expects to draft players who will lead the Bears to a championship as rookies.

“We have a window, but I am not naïve enough or egotistical enough or gullible enough to think that I am going to find three or four players at the bottom of each round that are going to be the elixir to turn this team and get us over the top,” Angelo said.

“That’s not being sound. We’re going to look at these players as developmental players that can come in here and help us win. That’s our thing. Can we win with these players? That’s the barometer.”

When the Bears had the fourth overall selection in 2005, they were confident that running back Cedric Benson would be there for the taking. There’s much more uncertainty this year, given the fact that they will pick 31st in five of seven rounds.

“It’s more challenging, but we’re prepared for it,” Angelo said. “You just have to do your homework a little bit more because you have to look at and project more players. But it’s part of the process and we feel good right now that we know what some of the options will be. Now it’s just a matter of acting on it.”