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Im not done with Jones yet either. He's obviously raw. He needs to learn all the rookie lessons - catch the ball before you run with it etc etc, but it's too early to give up on him. But right now is he kind of a meathead? Yup LOL But I agree, there is a good chance he will end up a speedy WR who can play in the league. You cant teach speed, the rest you can try to teach, and a lot of the times it works out.

I agree, Stinger. 6 wins sounds about right. But the OL is gonna haunt us all season, even if Leatherwood comes along and plays well. Hopefully it wont be as bad as what we've seen, but it's never gonna be great this year. Year Zero: 6-11

AZ, I am seeing all of this the same way you are.

100% all of this.

Yeah I do hope a few of these guys develop. Leatherwood, Eislen, Harry, and the DT from Minnesota come to mind. I'd love to see some of them succeed. But next year, you gotta play well to keep your job.

Im hoping (and it might well be a total fantasy) that Leatherwood will bring something. I really hope so. There is only one really bad outcome to this season - if Fields gets injured and we can't develop or evaluate him. To that end, the OL is a serious problem. But not one that's easily fixed. This is football hell. Thanks Pace and Nagy!

Poles is doing fine. He wasnt identifying talent that he could afford that fit a long term plan. He's cleaning house and the cap, and NOT spending on the wrong guys this year. These arent examples of guys Poles thinks are good players. They are examples of cheap players that have like a 20% chance of becoming something. They are lottery tickets, not investments. This is not year one of Poles, it is the end of Pace and Nagy. If you want to cut some players though, I'm all for it. This grace does not extend far into next year though. This is a one time deal because of our draft and cap poverty this year.

I agree, George postponed this. I was yelling about it on here back then. But a lot of people were. I didnt have a crystal ball, it was obvious, everyone could see it. I guess that the cap hit one year earlier on Mack was too much to swallow, and that probably played into it, like you kind had to wait until this year to eat $60 Million, because $90 Million is too much to swallow. keep in mind we are paying two QBs that arent on the team in addition to Mack (Foles & Dalton). It's evidence of how deeply Pace & Nagy screwed us. Well, George and Teddy, but yeah. Yeah, they get this year. But they don't get too much next year. I know we will have a ton of new players and it might start rocky, but if it looks like this in October next year, I say just nuke the entire city of Chicago from orbit and start over as an expansion team LOL.

Just keep telling yourself: 1/3 of the cap is going to 2 QBs and a Pass Rusher who arent even on the team anymore. We didnt even have a first round pick! That's Pace screwing us from the GM grave. Poles agreed to take this year on so he could make real decisions next year. We are lucky he did. Let's not be all over him for it. The roster is terrible, but Poles is doing the right thing. There is no possible way to have been more competitive this year UNLESS we signed medium talent guys to long term deals. We didnt have the cap space to sign to short term deals. So here's the NFL: The best thing is to have great players on long term deals. The next best thing is to have draft picks and cap space to find great players to sign to long term deals. The WORST thing in the NFL is to have not great players signed to long term deals. That's what the last 20 years have been - optimists coming in saying they could take what we have, and add a few pieces to win. Thats how you end up with not great players on long term deals. The ONLY way to get out of that cycle is to sit a year out, and clear your cap space. That's the uncomfortable disciplined approach. Poles is right on schedule so far. Now, next year he has to make decisions, and then he will be judged on whether he can find talent etc. This year, he has taken a flyer on a bunch of castoffs. The ideas is that maybe a couple will have a rebirth. Like Leatherwood for example. Is he a bust? Maybe he will find himself. Maybe not. But this is the year for taking those chances. The result is the awful terrible product we are seeing right now, and it would be much better if we had a solid roster to develop a young QB with. But that wasnt the choice, that wasnt possible. So do you want to save this year with whatever you can cobble together, weak with cap dollars, and long term promises? Or take it on the chin, and then be in the drivers seat next year?

These guys inherited a house on fire. They just put out the fire. They haven't had any chance to do any interior decorating yet. You come to the house and say "before it was burning, now it is un-liveable - both are unacceptable." Yes. But these guys didn't start the fire. We fired those guys. These guys agreed to go through this year to get to where they were running things next year. They haven't had the time or resources to do anything long term to fix this. Making shorter term moves to make this year work at the expense of the future is exactly why our house was on fire. This is discipline. We can't judge them on this at all. This isn't year one. This is year zero. Next year i will not be so forgiving. Then the product will be fair to begin to judge.

I think youre right in terms of how we built this roster - that they dont want to be better this year at the expense of the future - thats the mistake the last several administrations have made here. But I dont see the difference between evaluating Fields and developing Fields. It5's the same thing, other than whether they spent long term money on better recievers and linemen. But they didnt have the cap room, so wed have t take future dollars to do it, rather than build in the draft, and thats how we found ourselves in this mess in the first place. So they are evaluating AND developing Fields right now, but the roster is very poor, I agree and that makes it hard to do either. This is year zero, not year one. Its very frustrating. But it has been frustrating for a long time and this approach gives us a chance of fixing that in a permanent way.

I think he knows a new roster is coming next year.

yeah I love that. I wish Eberflus was more fiery, but maybe this isnt the year for that. But Justin told the truth, and he is not quitting. He wants to win! Unfortunately, he doesnt have the pieces around him AND hes not ready yet, and its hard to get ready when you're constantly being knocked around with no time to throw.

you can tell he isnt a quitter. look at that scramble to set up first and goal on the 6. I think that the rolling of eyes is his frustration, not his quitting. He's trying SO hard to stay calm. He is burning to win. It's obvious to me. This guy is a fighter. He needs time in the pocket and guys to get open and then catch the ball. and a running game.

I think this is a good culture in the making, with good coaches, and just an abyssmal roster. I'm sold on Eberflus and Fields now. The rest awaits next year. This is year zero: a year long Pro Football camp where players learn to play just like the real NFL players, and maybe at the end some will make it onto a real NFL next year, like the Bears for example, who are scheduled to re-open regular football operations some time in February.

I dunno. Fields seems to be frustrated as hell, but he is practicing staying calm, so i think that's what you see on his face. He's no Jay Cutler, inside he is churning. He's a hero, who doesnt have the tools yet. It must kill him. I think he's going to be amazing in the future.

Yup, Mustipher and Patrick suck, I wonder if/when Eislen might be ready at C too.

sheesh no kidding. I sure hope he can play. This is insane.

seriously.

Let's go Leno! Do your thing! hahahaha

lol!

yes, finally a GM with a vision for the future.

It's not something I'd want to do in regular years, but we are so hollowed out by Pace and Nagy, that when you find yourself in a year zero situation, growth is what you look for. It is really fun to see the beginning chapter of the Justin Fields story. If he turns into a stud, it will have been incredibly rewarding as a fan to have seen all of this.

Enthusiastic yes! to all of these points, especially the middle of #3 - imagine adding a bunch of talent to this culture and system. Add 4 starters and you're probably playoff bound. And we will add more than that next year. Especially on the D line - we aren't talking much about it, but we are not getting pass pressure from the defensive front. Poles made a great choice - in a sea of Offensive-Gurus-To-Be he seems to have found the right head coach, even if he's a defensive guy. And this really is year zero, not one.

I totally agree. This is what we were expecting, and we are right on schedule. Staying on schedule is another thing, and we will have to grind that every week, but after 5 games with these coaches, Fields is starting to get it. Every week, I think Nagy was worse than I ever knew or even thought the week before.