BearFan PHX

yeah I was thinking Carolina, but more than that, Im hoping Fields rises to the occasion, Carolina sinks, and for us to be able to snag Marvin Harrison Jr as the first non QB taken with Carolina's pick BUT If Carolina has the second or 3rd pick, and Fields was awful and we have the 4th or 5th pick, I think those two together would get you the #1 pick.

It's an amazing tribute to Poles, but looking at the roster, one of our weakest positions now is QB. That's a great place for Fields to be. He isnt being held back by a bad Ol or covered WRs any more. He should have every chance to succeed. And if he does, watch out. And if he doesnt, we are in the Caleb Williams lottery with 2 first rounders. I wanna see Fields ball out and use those picks on Harrison Jr and a top edge rusher.

I agree, I think the long term "floor" is Dexter at 1T and Pickens (or whoever) at 3T, BUT Dexter has such a high ceiling, if he turns into a monster, he could play either DT spot. That said, if we find (or develop) another 3T monster, and Dexter plays at NT, that would be amazing because he has pass rush abilities from the nose, and that means there is nowhere for a QB to hide. Dexter is a great chess piece and will help us a lot from either DT position. I'm with you 100% - we need edge rushers now.

If we play a run heavy physical team, I could see both Dexter and Billings in on first down. Move that!

I think Dexter has the tools to be a real monster in a few years - who knows maybe the lightbulb will come on sooner, but i expect him to be really good in a few years. He will definitely be a starter at NT, probably before this year is over, and he may stay there. Itd be great to have a NT who can bring pressure, you hardly ever see that, and teamed with a real and good 3T, the push from the middle could be unprecedented. But he also could turn into an All Pro 3T in time, so I cant say where he will end up. I hope we see flashes of it this year. I read he isnt done growing too and could add more size and muscle to his already huge frame. I'll be rooting for him to evolve into a star for us. Id love to see it right away, but i suspect it will take a while. Maybe he will turn into a major force in the middle of 2024 right as we are opening our superbowl window. I think all of this is possible, and I also think he will make mistakes this year too. He has the brute strength to recover from some of those mistakes, but i think we will see flashes rather than consistent dominance from him this year. All this to say i am excited about him, and I wont get too down on him or any of our rookies as they acclimate to the NFL. Just look at Brisker and Gordon last year. We started them before they were complete, and they had growing pains, but now they are solid. Ditto CB Stevenson. Oh and Wright? He's gonna be a stud from the word go.

the only guy in the former office(s) who was good, and he is great, so glad hes back.

I saw the same film. I saw plenty of examples where he wasnt late out of his stance from 2021, and youre right his strength is incredible. Im feeling a lot better about this draft now that I see Dexter's upside. I wonder if Dexter can be sudden enough to be a monster 3T. He looks like he will be fine at NT, but if he can be huge and strong and shoot the gap and be disruptive, this could be something really special. And as long as Im drunk on Kool Aid - wouldnt it be cool if Dexter turns out to be a Pro Bowl 3T and Carter doesnt? We could have a Poles parade.

I just hope the Panthers lose more games next year than the Packers do. Even if we have to draft Caleb Williams and trade him, I do NOT want to see the packers get another 15 year all pro first ballot HOF QB. They NEED to suffer like the everyone else for a generation. Of course if we should be so lucky as to have the #1 pick, we will trade out of it like we did this year, to someone who would draft Williams ahead of the Pack. But no matter what I dont want the Packers to lose more than 11 games this season. 7-10 would be great.

see, this is why this board is better than any of the hometown newspapers. you gonna hear this in the sun Times or the Trib? No way. Great info, AZ.

ha! yes!

we dont have a superman at 3T yet or a truly feared pass rusher, but youre right we will sign a decent vet, and next year we will add more talent and be a true contender. youre right the offense will take a minute to gel, but this is (most of?) the offensive core thats gonna win a Superbowl for us now, so itll be fun watching them get rhythm and becoming a deadly machine. I cant remember a better offseason as a Bears fan in my lifetime. Theyre just baby Bears right now, but they will grow their teeth this year.

Yeah I think this is exactly why we perceive Herbert the way we do. I saw the same thing. Last year I thought monty was the pounder, and Herbert found the holes better and was a change of pace back, and more of a home run hitter. It's that one thing compared to another perception thing. But now, looking at D'Onta Foreman's tape, I see a guy as big as Monty and as punishing as Monty, but he is actually faster than Herbert, and he finds the holes well. Now of course Herbert had some good runs, and he will want to have something to say about my analysis here, and take the starting job for himself. That's good too - he will be fired up and we will see his best. Whoever emerges from the competition is gonna be great for us. And your point about the poor Safeties, I couldnt agree more. With Wright and Davis on the right side of the line, defenses are gonna have to cheat more than one guy to deal with that, and play action passes ought to be much more open. Our offense is in pretty damned good shape. They ought to start to gel this year and look good. The defense has a lot of parts, but im still worried about the Defensive Line. I know we got a lot of guys, so maybe some will surprise me. Im kind of waiting for 2024 before we have a real edge player too. That worries me a bit. But the offense is stocked now, and its time for them to shine. And I do think defenses are gonna have trouble with us.

I think you're right about this. We start with Foreman, Herbert is the RB2, and Johnson works his way into the rotation more and more during the year. The only thing I wonder about is thinking of Herbert as the change of pace guy, when he is slower than Foreman. But I agree he will spell Foreman until Johnson makes his way up the depth chart.

Foreman (when healthy) is a hell of a back though. They'll all play and work this out. It's a great place to be in at a position that none of us were really even focused on a few months ago. Now we have another position group poised to be a team strength. My personal guess is the Herbert will eventually be the odd man out. I know that will be a controversial statement right now, especially after he looked so much more fluid than Monty last year. And he is a good runner, but his hands arent great, and he doesnt do a good job in pass protection. Herbert can easily be cut in terms of the cap, but he also doesnt cost much to keep. I see him sticking around for this season, but I dont see them signing him to a long term deal next year. So Poles is playing a few moves ahead. Foreman is on a one year deal, and hes 27. I doubt he is in our long term plans either, although if he balls out, who knows. All of this makes the Roschon Johnson pick make even that much more sense for the future. And Homer an option as RB2 in the future. He is already a change of pace guy. And interestingly... Homer's forty time is a nice 4.48s, but his 10 yard split? 1.52s - just like Roschon. I'm getting the feeling Poles likes that burst in running backs. D'onta Foreman (27 yo) 4.46s forty, 1.63s 10 yd split Khalil Herbert (25 yo) 4.5s forty, 1.62s 10 yd split Roschon Johnson (22 yo) 4.58s forty, 1.52s 10 yd split Travis Homer (24 yo) 4.48s forty, 1.52s 10 yd split

I think so too. Herbert is a good runner, but he doesnt have the pass protection skills that our other backs do. Thats why he couldnt displace Monty last year, despite a better yards per carry.

So I'm totally not meaning to be fighty here at all, i just think some of that wrong. You're right the article claimed 22.6MPH on the GPS machine, which is an inaccurate thing you wear on your leg or something. So not your fault, but that's kind of a boast on their part I think. We do know that he ran a 4.58s forty, which extrapolates to 17.86 MPH on average. Of course he was running faster at the end than at the start, but I doubt he cracked 20 MPH. Fields just barely gets over 20 MPH and his forty is 4.44, quite a bit faster than Roschon's. From your same article, Roschon's forty time is only 43rd percentile, so 57% of combine RBs run a faster forty than him. Hes not a speed merchant. But his 10 yard split is 87th percentile, so he runs his 10 faster than 87% of combine RBs. He gets up to speed fast, with an elite burst. So I think he can hit the hole fast, but doesnt have breakaway home run hitting speed once he is through. But that's what jukes and stiff arms are for. Payton never had breakaway speed either, he used power and smarts to beat people.

I think D'Onta will be the starter on opening day, but i want to rebut something said above about Roschon. His burst is exceptional and what sets him apart - his top speed is what's lacking. His 40 time is a pedestrian 4.58s so hes not getting to 22+ MPH, but his 10 yard split is an astounding 1.52s! So his burst IS elite. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/roschon-johnson/32004a4f-4865-2931-d4f5-6e3ddf27f82a to put that into context, Fields who tops 20 MPH, has a 40 time of 4.45s Herbert has a flat 4.5s 40 time DJ Moore runs a 4.42s 40 Darnell Mooney runs a 4.38s 40 BUT Field's 10 yard split is 1.59s Herbert's 10 yard split is 1.62s DJ Moore's 10 yard split is 1.54s Darnell Mooney's 10 yard split is 1.5s and Roschon Johnson's is is 1.52s? That's a hell of a burst, especially for a mid speed RB. Wow.

lol

I tried to verify this. It IS true he led the NCAA in forced fumbles last year with 5, and had 4 more the year before. And I did find another page that had him as EDGE #1 ranking, but I didnt pay the extra $ for PFF to see it firsthand. I did however see PFFs top 15 Edge players list for the draft, and he wasnt on it. He looks good in the little film Ive seen - love to take flyers on guys like these, but if he had the pedigree he says, he'd have been drafted. Deosnt matter now, he will prove it (or not) on the field. If he's got it, this team needs it and wont overlook it. And maybe this is another example of PFF grades being ridiculous?

ty!

put him at fullback! lol

does anyone know if the new TE is a blocker or a pass catcher?

the numbers say no, but the heart says yes - so mayhe we get a Rudy situation lol Sanborn wasnt even drafted last year...

That's the perfect question for analyzing the strength and depth of a roster. i think right now, I agree Leatherwood would be one. The other two, Bell and Williamson are probably the only other good answers (agree with you dawhizz) but theyre rookies, and we might like them better in September. They are unknowns, but their ceilings are probably higher than league average, so it's worth keeping them to see. neither are anywhere near a starter as of today anyway, which speaks pretty well of our roster. Our holes are no longer needing league average players, so we have reached at least that level. We need some more dominant playmakers to be a real contender, especially on the DL, but we are no longer begging for league average types, so that's a milestone weve reached now.

I also think they didnt like the way he didnt fire off the ball, but instead was more of a catcher. I mean, there have been dominant players, Im thinking of DT right now but its true for other positions as well, that didnt have the physical traits but who performed very well. I think part of what sunk Skoronski was his tape. If he was destroying people with those short arms, they might have taken him, but instead, while his feet were great, and he did maintain great body position, he was more of a technician than a punisher, and i think the personality they are trying to build is a tough physical team and Skoronski doesnt fit that type, short arms or no. And as a technician, he wasnt flawless either, he often got bent backwards, his base was too high, and I think that may be problematic for him in the NFL - less so at guard than tackle, but who wants a finesse guard with the 10th pick?