BearFan PHX

Exactly. I love the Rudys. And I'll also take a monster with a ton of talent instead all day long. But like you said, you need both to fill out a roster, and these kind of effort and attitude guys on special teams, strong side LB and slot WR type positions can be really fun. I'm thinking of Tom Waddle right now too. And as we are talking about this, Poles seems to be looking for this kind of attitude in all his acquisitions and draft choices, even if they are also high RAS and production. Building a team with character. I have a feeling that as the talent level on our roster increases, we will start to appreciate Eberflus' HITS culture even more too. This is so much fun to watch.

I loved Monty's heart, the way he finishes runs always impressed me. But the era of mediocre but loveable players is ending in Chicago, and Im ready for us to become a real football team.

yeah, good to hear. He definitely does sound right. Thanks for sharing it, AZ. I was questioning him, but maybe he really has figured it out. Cool. He can sure be nasty when he's on.

yup. when your roster sucks there is no good reason to try to keep as many players who are decent but not great, or decent but not great in your scheme.

right. the way to sustainability is to be constantly drafting replacement players, and only sign the very best of the core guys you have to big contracts. Soon we will see the Bears trading GOOD players in the last year of their deals, like the Patriots did. We will probably whine about it "why not resign X, hes been so good" players on the level of Akeim Hicks when the Patriots didnt keep him etc. But when that happens, know that the Bears will have arrived as a true top 5 franchise in the league. Long way to say that you dont need to be awful to not get resigned anymore, and if you're not a key core player, you are expendable.

Im saying they will draft Jenkins' replacement next year, so he wont get a long term deal, and so you gotta be prepared for the idea that he may hold out or something in 2024. Perhaps he starts opening day 2024, but I dont see him finishing the season as the starter.

I think he plays for us this year, but i don't think he will be the starter at LG in 2024. I could be wrong, he could play well and get his head right, but I think our staff doesnt want to take the chance that his head gets unscrewed later. Not for a LG.

explaining it to him is what his agent is for!

for sure

That would be great, but where would he play? RT is locked down for the next decade, and Jones is ascending at LT. If Leatherwood turned into an All Pro LT, then great, but it's unlikely that he could unseat Jones with anything less than that, and I dont see him really getting the chance to develop like that on the current depth chart? Maybe he would replace Jenkins at OG? Jenkins has physical tools, but hes been a bit of a head case, so who knows? I just dont see the opening for Leatherwood even if he does progress.

that sounds right - sure hope they tank this year.

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