BearFan PHX

It's a fair point. If someone is performing at a top level, they do deserve top level money. But the problem is you simply cant afford to have every position filled by a top player getting top money and still fit under the cap. So you have to decide where to put that money. Since LBs, RBs and S are people with normal sized bodies, there are more of them around. Yes a real difference maker is always rare, but the next guy down is likely to be a better athlete, than say, at OLT where you need to find athletes who are also 6' 6" and 350 pounds. I dont deny Smith is a great LB about to become a superstar. Im just not sure that spending the big money on defense ought to go to the LB position. Especially after all the head games (two holdouts and a week he just took off during the season). Also he's not even going to play MLB, but the Lance Briggs spot in this cover 2. Briggs wasnt a #1 pick. He wasnt even a #2 pick, he went in the third round. If we can get a first and a third for Roquan, Id do that now. It's not like we are a player away from a Superbowl. If Poles can fit him under the cap long term, then great. But if he wants to trade him, and can get good value, I'm ALL for it. Find me a dominant 3T like Warren Sapp, and pay that guy.

Yes, pay the fines. I think that's the deal. If trades or extensions were imminent, there would be no need to take him off of PUP first?

without knowing anything about who will be in next years draft, if we have a top 5 pick, I'd put in on the DL. If Warren Sapp is out there, we need him.

I agree. You cant pay every position top three money. Youd run out of cap space. And I dont think LB is the place to blow your $. This is another Pace issue. Get some draft value for him, and let him move on.

Honestly, you never know what can happen - what's possible is anything, but what's probable is that they will not be a very great or consistent OL this year as they learn.

I like the Tape Never Lies guys when they do film analysis. They talk a LOT and it gets annoying, but when they have game film to break down they are really good.

I agree. EVEN IF these ARE the names of the starters on a top 10 OL in two years, they will not be top 15 this year. We are doing the right thing developing young players and building something. It's gonna take a minute, but then we will actually have something for several years to come after that.

If Braxton really is the LOT, and Rieff gets the ROT position, and angry road grading Jenkins at RG would not be bad at all.

In the press conference today, he was extremely guarded, but a few things slipped out. He mentioned not being in "any more discomfort" so there was discomfort. I dont think now that it was an alcohol thing. It was a good guess based on a tiny trickle of information, but it turned out to be erroneous. So I was wrong on that guess. It sounds like his back had issues and he deosnt really fit the Bears scheme anyway, and maybe he even did arrive a little fat. But both sides want to trade him, so you get the stock answers, trying to hide whatever the injury is so that the Bears get the best trade offers. Both sides will want that, so they say all the right things. He DID agree that "something happened" in the first practice. Was it barking at a coach? Pain in his back? We dont know. But he is known to have a nasty streak, and maybe all of this will bubble over in an angry mauling run blocker for us. Maybe a future OT for someone else (in his mind) destroys people at the OG position for us. Maybe he decides he likes being successful there. Who knows. Maybe RT. He'd have to outplay Rieff. Maybe if hes mad enough he can do that. Maybe he showed up a little fat, was pissed about the depth chart, and tweaked his back. Maybe the staff decided to piss him off and see if he would be that nasty player, or crumble. So much we dont know. But he will show it on the field now. Were just getting into pads anyway. Maybe this is part of Eberflus' tough regime, and he wanted to freak with the guy because non pad work doesnt mean anything anyway. If Jenkins opened himself to it for being fat, or entitled, especially if he did slightly tweak his back they might have said - lose X number of pounds and show that you have heart. Its not a bad move since he didnt miss any padded practices anyway. I think wed all like to see him come out with a chip on his shoulder and blow people up, fighting his way into the starting lineup. But if not, I hope we get something for him in trade too. So either way, I hope he comes out in beast mode.

yep 100% - we are building a culture now, instead of a playbook of trick plays.

yes, some coaches are good coaches, or great coaches, and some are just not that good. Nagy wasnt any of those, he is a fake. He didnt fail at being a head coach. if they didnt run scramble drills, he WASNT a coach.

those quotes made me wonder if he was having an alcohol problem. its a total guess, I have no evidence other than those quotes. but if he was refusing to stop drinking entirely, that could feel like a problem with the staff, which is what was reported, at least in rumors. Just like we will never know where Roquan Smith went for a week a couple years ago...

exactly, they dont have 4 years of contacts on a rolodex, so they are going to be very active this year, and next too.

I think with such a new roster with so many holes, we will see a lot of players being looked at, kicking the tires you know, people with ceilings who might (but probably wont) ascend and become better players than they currently seem to be. If you uncover one or two gems that way, it really helps. Once our roster is more set in a couple of years, there will be fewer opportunities for those kind of lottery ticket players. But for now, it's prudent to do what you can. This is the audition year in Chicago.

I think the scheme changed, and Leno was unable to learn which defender he was supposed to block. at that point, it doesnt even matter how good you are against your opponent, if you're not even trying to block them.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I dont know where the stats youre posting on Leno come from. What I saw, looking at film each week, time and time again was Leno hitting some defender that another OL was already engaged with, and not blocking a free man at ALL. That's a blown assignment, and it was like at least 10 of them every game. Maybe they dont credit the sack against you if you dont actually put your body on the guy who made the sack, but thats a problem with the stats then, not a defense of Leno. Maybe the QB threw the ball away, or incomplete because he was rushed. Just because he doesnt go down with a sack, doesnt mean the LOT was good on that play. Leno was awful, terrible, and a complete detriment. He was not a middle of the pack guy no matter what PFF says.

I think Leno was terrible. I didnt want him here last year either.

If that is the case, he should have just put his 2nd string head down and destroyed all the 2nd string competition in front of him until everyone saw the talent he thinks he has. We dont really know WHAT it is. My guess is he's having a problem with alcohol. The coaches are telling him to flat out stop drinking, and he is saying that its OK to have a couple beers. And the idea that he wont buy in fully over something so insignificant is making them question his heart, or that he is an alcoholic who will be worse later on. That's my GUESS. I base it only on some discussions about cutting back the beer consumption he made a few months back. Again, it's just a guess, same as the other ones here. We may never get to know what actually happened. I like the theory that they are shopping him to tell him the best offer they got was a 6th (and his agent can look around too) and maybe that wakes him up to the idea that he isnt untouchable and has to earn his spot like everyone else. Seems like whatever the issue, it includes some disrespect for the coaching staff. They never thought he fit their system anyway, so I dont think he will last too long.

Let's Go Velus! There is a ton of opportunity in this WR room, go get it!

if we get good play from the 3T position, that will increase our wins substantially. The main reason I predict about 6 wins is the WRs and the middle of the DL. If the 3T performs better than Im expecting, that will make a big difference.

If Poles thinks he is a 4 year future stud for us, then sure. But to take a flyer just to fill out this year's roster is a mistake that Poles has been avoiding all summer. Especially if the cost is Quinn. Id rather get draft picks for Quinn if we are going to trade him, or a proven known player that you want to ride with for the next four years. I think that improving this year's roster at the expense of better long term choices that would be available next year is a Pace kind of move. Im glad Poles isnt thinking win now. If this group of players does win, then GREAT, but i think we will have a real team next year, and this will be a growing year.

absolutely. even those of us predicting 5 or 6 wins arent saying that everything is going to suck. Instead, I think that we will see a lot of growth at certain positions, especially for Fields! I also think we will be weak up the middle on the defensive line, and short handed at WR. I dont think our team will look like inept bottom 5 teams. I think we will have strengths and holes. And that is definitely something we can build on!

I think we will see flashes from some position groups, and be stymied by dropped passes and a lack of interior pass rush. That will put us in a great position going in to the offseason with a bunch of proven pieces, and some holes to fill with draft picks and cap room to fill them. Please dont misunderstand my prediction with my hope. I will be rooting for the Bears to win every game. I would love to see it.

Right, youd love to see Jenkins take the job from Reiff halfway through the season. And if not, then you know what you have going into the offseason.

Im not really predicting failure so much as saying that if this year is bad, next year will be much better, and not to blame the current staff for what is really holdover issues from the last one. Call it optimism