BearFan PHX

Im hearing that no one is offering much for him. I dont think its because he isnt good, but instead because they think the Bears are under pressure to trade him, so they think they can steal him cheap? I think given some time, the offers will increase, and if we play well early, and he looks good, then they get a lot richer by the end of September.

didnt stand in his way at least. Poles is running the team now, for better or worse lol

yes, there is a tidbit of actual information there. good analysis.

Nagy used Soup to help him control the locker room. Especially around issues concerning race. The problem with that is that you have someone who has the players' trust who potentially could disagree with Poles. Poles and Flus (and their coaches) want to have direct control over relationships with the players. They arent scared like Nagy was. So Soup represented an extra layer of contact that this group didnt want and didnt need. It makes good sense to remove that layer from the organization. At best he was redundant, and at worst he represented a possible obstacle with the players' support.

exactly. Pace wasnt the BEST talent evaluator, but even worse, he was a good team player. He'd probably be an excellent assistant GM. But he served the coaches, and this is an inversion of the pecking order. The result? Egotistical coaches with no boundaries who fail.

exactly. there is no data. not only is it subjective, but the different people grading different players dont use a common standard. It's worse than random, because it looks like there is information when there isnt,

I would be more worried if PFF had us top ten. lol they are ALWAYS wrong. they're a joke, completely worthless!

yes, and the two fast LBers are going to be huge too.

I didnt expect us to draft a CB and a S with our first two picks, but it surely should turn a weakness into a strength. Let these guys get used to playing together, along with Johnson on the other side, and maybe Jackson even wants to be part of it and puts his body into it? I think our back 7 has the potential to become the best in the NFL. Add a pash rusher and 3T and we could have a top 5 defense in 2023. Who knew that the 202x CHicago Bears would be a dominant 4-3 cover 2 team again? LOL what a crazy ride.

100% We should have fired Nagy and promoted Fangio two years ago. That said, I like the current staff better - I think. On paper. Waiting to see it on the field.

agree with all of this

agree, and thats his point too - until they are in pads, no one has any idea. we all agree.

a-men

well if there is more than one team interested, then it doesnt matter that they know we want to get rid of him. They will bid against each other up to his true value. And if there is no trade, Quinn will play for us. And that's what i expect will happen.

One thing I havent seen discussed anywhere is the difference between the RPO and the play action game. In an RPO, there is a LOT of complexity that requires multiple players to all read things the same way, and the QB reaches the mesh point, and then must decide whether to hand the ball off or throw it. If he decides to throw it, he looks up, reads the coverage and hopefully finds an open man. The thing that's missing from this equation is that it is NOT a timing offense. It's more like sandlot football. Tricky, but slower to get the ball out. With a more traditional play action game, the defense is still stressed in similar ways, not knowing whether LBs and safeties should come up and play the RB, or drop into coverage, but the timing of the routes are synchronized to the QBs footwork. When Fields' head comes up from the play fake, it should happen on the same step every time. The first read should be breaking open. If it is covered, a beat later, the QB looks to the second read, which is now coming open (or not). This is why Fields has been a bit rusty with his timing, and also why there is a lot of reason for optimism that it WILL get better. Once the steps are all timed out, the ball should come out fast, and to the right man. And this will hide some flaws on the OL. The RPO has some advantages in that it's more confusing. Like the T formation used to be. The funny thing is, that as the football trend cycle goes around, the new defense to combat this (as shown by VIc Fangio and the Rams) is to drop two safeties deep. Everything old is new again. When we had Lovie, we were riding the end of a cover 2 trend, and offenses were designed and adept at defeating it. Now we are on the beginning of that trend resurfacing. It wont last forever, but speed at the LB position (Smith and Morrow) should be able to take care of seam routes the way Urlacher did. I think we are in the right place at the right time in terms of scheme. Now players need to execute.

me too. the thing preventing it is that when you trade someone you have to take the remaining amount of the guaranteed money in the players contract and spend it against your cap that year. (hat tip to the June 1st thing where you spread it across two years. Still doesn't let you trade a player with multiple years left tho. I feel like if both teams agree, you should be able to include any part or all of that cap liability in a trade, and the team receiving the player be allowed to continue to amortize that money against their cap (relieving the team trading the player of that amount) across the life of the original contract. And of course to renegotiate that into a new deal too, like a team can with their own player. Alternatively, you could allow a team to trade a player, and continue to amortize their guaranteed money against their cap across the term of the existing deal. Either one of those things would facilitate a lot more player to player trades. The only downside I can see is that players wouldnt have leverage in staying at the teams they agreed to play for. Other than that, I dont see how it might muck things up, but I havent thought about it too deeply. Can anyone else suggest ways that doing either of these things would cause trouble? Consider that both teams would have to want a trade for it to happen, so they would be aware of the risks to themselves?

100%

PFF is a joke. Of course the offense needs to show it on the field, but even when PFF says things I agree with, theyre still a joke, so whatever they say means nothing. It will be interesting to watch this group, see how theyu play, and if they add any more players to the room. I still think there is a decent chance for a WR or OL (or both) in free agency too. Not for big money, but after the music stops on June first, and everyone grabs the nearest chair.

so true. they drank their own kool aid. I think Pace is a good guy, a good team player, but thats the problem, he buys in on too much enthusiasm, and didnt have the guts to fire Nagy the prior year. He isnt someone to shape an organization, he'd be a great assistant GM.

totally. if the team we have now can play that would be amazing. I suspect we will need one more draft class to really fill out the team, and hopefully, while the players show improvement and ability, we find dumb ways to lose games so we have a good draft position next year to really build a team that can dominate for years. now, if the guys we already have can come together and do that this year, that'd be even better and should get Poles a GM of the year. And he'd deserve it. (looking at you Pace)

Looking at some tape today, and Morrow really looks good. I think he will be a positive surprise for us on D.

not sure what youre saying. in a one gap front, each DL fills a gap and penetrates, in a two gap front, each DL holds his OL in front of him and plays both gaps. the responsibilities of the DL are totally different. SO in a one gap or a two gap front the DL responsibilities are not the same as you said.

some 4-3 defenses are one gap defenses, and some are two gap defenses. Even within a cover 2 scheme. When Ted Washington glommed up the middle to allow Urlacher to flow, that was a 2 gap defense. When Warren Sapp penetrated his gap, that was a one gap defense.

good one!

yeah, but we all saw it, there was NO blocking. It's not like Monty goes down easy - he finishes his runs. This isnt Monty's fault at all.