BearFan PHX

^^ This Claypool is raw and needs coaching. Hopefully Fields' leadership does something for him too. He has the physical skills, he just needs to figure things out. Im guessing Fields speaks his language, so maybe he will get thru to him about how to play the game properly.

for sure, but of course their intent is just to tell stories and get eyeballs / clicks. luckily, that is working to our advantage this time.

I think these guys would sell their own grandmothers for a super bowl win. I cant imagine anything would prevent them from picking the guy they thought would be a winner for them. For whatever reason, some Coordinators are thought to be great leaders and strategists, and other aren't - and this is true for all races. We all know coordinators of every color who would seem to make great head coaches, and others who don't. My guess is that after Nagy, no one trusts the KC OC to be a head coach, because they didnt even prove anything calling plays. I think this is why Bieniemy was looked over. And i think he thinks it too, because he is leaving to go somewhere where he will be calling plays and taking credit or blame for the offense he runs, not Andy Ried. I'd also like to echo the sentiment that this board is better without politics. We all love the Bears. I dont think anyone here is hateful or has ever said anything hateful on this board, so maybe it's best to just concentrate on our commonality as a community, and leave that divisive stuff for other places on the internet. I like everyone here, and I really enjoy the debates we have over players and stuff.

agree. it'll be the DL or a LB probably. maybe a 2nd string TE

Like I said, almost everyone on this team, contract or not, is just another Free Agent option to be compared to what's available. Almost no one is safe. Some may be retained because they merit it, but simply having an existing contract wont mean much at all at this point in and of itself.

fair enough, who could argue against that?

this is definitely the (insurance) plan. and if Fields does ball out, that's a great WR for him in 2024.

No, an impact player is an impact player. If Roquan had been getting 15 turnovers a year they'd have paid him, even as an off the ball LB. But if your scheme relies on the DE to hold the edge, then you might not want to part with the 3rd pick overall for him. You might rank him a bit lower in terms of his value. Not second round low, but maybe #8 instead of #3 etc. Dallas runs a lot of man to man and blitz schemes, and they play cover 3 more than cover 2. So the DE position is a little different. Then again, if you had Micah Parsons, maybe you'd change your scheme to get the best out of him?

This is a really interesting point. It means that if Anderson is off the table (or less valuable to us than pick #3 or #4) because he cant set the edge, we might be willing to drop down a lot further than anyone has predicted yet, that brings picks lower than #5 and in the top 15 ish into focus, and imagine the haul we could get for dropping that far, while still nabbing a player like Wilson or Murphy. This is especially true if we are able to get some DL help in Free Agency first. We may be a lot more flexible than even any of our scenarios might have shown.

we should be glad - he's helping pump up the value of our #1 pick in trade. And for all we know he's doing that as a favor to someone or as revenge against someone else. Who knows? I doubt it's just idiocy - it's probably a planted "leak" - it's that time of year.

exactly. this isnt all Justin - its the whole team, and they were right too. Yet another piece of evidence that Fields is poised to make that next step this year. Now it is fair to say that it isnt real until we see it on the field, but this is the time of year for projections, and all projections are on the come. You cant wait until you KNOW who a player is at QB or they are no longer available. That's why we took Trubisky after only a few games. The difference is int he people making the projections. Trubisky was a bad choice, and Fields is a good one. Or so I believe right now. 2023 will show it.

Im not even sure Justin really thinks he is the best WR option vs the NFL options - but he is his boy from college so hes giving him some love in the press. Justin literally said he wanted him as the first round pick. At #1 or #4 that is insane, so i think Fields is just giving his guy some love.

he was called slow in decision making, but he didnt throw interceptions. so youre right, he might just not trust the WRs.

at this point, any players we have (other than about 5 names) are just potential Free Agents we could sign like all the rest of them. Almost no one is safe on this roster, and that is a good thing.

Plus while the numbers do look good, they dont say anything about his other characteristics, like his speed, his leadership etc. And the arrow is still pointing up for Fields. Justin is worth a LOT more than these laughable trade scenarios. I agree there ARE trade scenarios that might shake Justin loose from the Bears - but theyd have to be blockbuster cant-say-no type of deals. Anything that's even close to fair wont work because of the heat Poles would take for doing it. But yeah, to be silly, if someone offered TWO 2023 first rounders, a 2024 first and a 2025 first, we would probably take that pretty easily. Herschel Walker was a great back, but the 90s Cowboys will tell you that any player can only be worth so much before you gotta look at the price seriously. Now do i expect any team to offer 4 firsts? Nope. So Justin will stay a Bear for 2023. But listening to these offers, and letting the rumors go, surely doesn't hurt the trade value of our #1 pick. So let the rumors fly! Maybe someone will be dumb enough to offer the four 1st rounders. or three of them for pick #1

Eberflus doesnt mind starting rookies and Mauch is a tough SOB. If he can move people in camp, he will start. I mean, if we draft him LOL I really like the guy.

this is exactly it. its a process. they need to make their lists and rankings, both in the draft and in free agency as well as trade options. and then wait until the machine starts churning and make moves when opportunities present. Free Agency is gonna change our needs a lot too of course, like you said. But they can chew gum and walk at the same time, so they will sign second tier guys too right away is the opportunity is there at the right price. usually, for second tier they wait for the value to fall tho, so youre right too.

dont forget DE! Thats a top need.

I suspect that the Colts know we have that option, and want to be able to choose which QB they take, so they will have to offer us enough that: (their offer for pick #1) is greater than (their offer for pick #2 + what the Texans would pay to move to #1)

This would be a home run. You add a blue chip and a solid player to the DL, you add Schnitz and Mauch to the O Line and you get a first and a third next year that alone makes it a great draft, but you sneak in a serious TE and then add all those other players to find a couple more gems. Really couldnt ask for a better outcome. I am cynical about whether players will be available at those spots, but if we did this, I'd be ecstatic. I'd probably prefer Anderson over Carter if it fell that way.

its gonna be fun to watch - we just gotta keep him healthy.

I agree that Fields looks more like Hester out there, than any of these mobile QBs - I just worry about injury running him too much? If Fields can become a better passer (with more protection and open WRs!) then he will only tap into that talent a bit when picking up 3rd downs etc, and then you can unleash him in important playoff and Super Bowl games - he will be VERY hard to stop. The future is blue and orange!

perfect. this is about what id expect we might actually do, and you get a high first rounder for next year which is the best kind of insurance on the unknowns going into 2023. (EDIT - I mean about the trades, i didnt really look at the actual pick)

and if the line gives him an extra half. second of protection, thats an extra half a second the WRs have to get open.

especially considering we will probably not have a blue chip stud at WR1 in 2023, you gotta beef up that line. And the front seven rebuild under Eberflus should be very interesting too.