BearFan PHX

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?

as I was writing that, I sort of thought of that too, and you're not wrong. It's a fine point, and one I agree with. It's just a gamble I guess if he starts to show up in the preseason. I don't know if he will amount to anything, or whether another team would want him bad enough to put him on the roster, but if you asked me today if I brought in a starting DE, and I had to cut Bell or Robinson, Id pick Robinson. The rest is a gamble, the odds of which I think you're correct about. So you could be a tiny bit of a poker player to keep Robinson, and keep both, or you could be 100% safe and lose Robinson. And I'm just wondering about Robinson's worth on this roster if we bring a starting caliber DE anyway. He'd be #5 then I guess? Or even #6?

I dunno if they want to risk Bell on the PS, they might just get rid of Robinson if they sign a starting caliber DE.

amen. you cant block anyone from the ground.

fans and sportswriters rely too heavily on combine data, because it's almost all we have. That's why you read a million articles about the 2 inches missing from Skoronski's arms etc. It becomes an echo chamber distorting just a few facts. When you watch tape you get a different idea of who these players are. I watched more tape (not highlights) this year than I ever have, and still, by the end of the first round i was almost out of names. I had never heard of Gervon Dexter. Or for that matter, Roschon Johnson. So I dont know much more than the sportswriters do either. Maybe less. Unfortunately, that was the surface level our previous administrations seemed to have about the players too, and we drafted one nightmare after another. Finally we have a coach, GM and President that know what they are doing. They wont hit on every player, but they are making good decisions and seem well prepared. For example, I think Carter wouldnt have worked out here, and we werent able to get Kancy or Breesee. So instead, we took a "shotgun" approach, drafting three promising players, each with upside and each with concerns. If one of them turns into a stud, it will have been worth it. I wont criticize them for taking one that doesnt work out if another at the same position in the same draft does - that's just smart betting, taking three swings at the ball to increase your chances of hitting a home run. So if these guys say Wypler wasnt all that, or we already have someone similar, I'm inclined to believe them! Sure is nice for a change.

Mustipher isnt even on the team anymore. And GOOD. I think Poles may be hoping to see what Kramer and Eislen can give him, with Whitehair and possibly Patrick as insurance right now. Should the right young center become available, I dont think we would hesitate, but for example Wypler was there for the taking for a while, and we must have felt we had similar talent already on the roster. And that may say as much about how they viewed Wypler as it does about being so confident in what we might have here.

hahahaha

well said. I agree with all of it, except I think Davis is more than just a starter quality. I think he's gonna be amazing. And with Darnell White next to him, that side of the oline is gonna be NASTY. Assuming Fields balls out from the pocket, I want WR Marvin Harrison Jr next year. if not, I want QB Caleb Williams. I want Carolina to be awful this year, so we can be like the Texans were this year and get two top 5 players (with a trade up from our 20th pick!) We have the horses on Offense now, I want to see us scoring over 24 in every game. If the defensive front holds, we win our share, if they dont, we know where to put some draft picks next year. My ideal scenario would be for Fields to destroy everyone from the pocket, and for us to draft Harrison Jr and a stud on the DL.

Somewhere Matt Nagy is saying "OH so THAT was the why"