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Lying season begins

Apparently the Bears scheduled a meeting with Ashton Jeanty right out of the gate. Some may read this to mean that we are very interested in drafting him, and we probably are. Doesn't mean we would pick him over other players we'd also be interested in drafting at that spot. But I also take it to mean that it increases the idea of someone trading up to get him if he is on the board when our pick comes, seeing that we have interest.

this is where Im leaning. Again, I havent done any predraft work, so im speaking generally. I dont know if there is an edge thats worthy of a top 10 pick, or three of them. But unless there is a blue chip LOT available at #10, Id trade down, or look Jeanty, Edge or TE - again if there are players worthy of it. Coleston Loveland is interesting at TE if we trade down. We could probably get him and a second round talent edge rusher for our #10 pick. And of course, i want to see at least 2 OL picks in the top 100 for us.

I agree, except possibly for signing a tier 2 free agent, and drafting a rookie at the same position for the future? But I totally agree with you that we shouldnt be keeping people just because they were mediocre and cheap. Thats for sure. EDIT: What I agree about is not filling in a bunch of OL positions with low tier free agents and calling it a day. I am not against signing big names, but i am against filling the other holes with nobodies.

Yes exactly. We are going to upgrade certain positions. Not every one will be a high priced free agent or a high draft pick of course, but these guys just dont fit the mold of what the new coaches are looking for so their value is lower to us than the general market. And when we know this, might as well act to give them the best chance to be signed somewhere else. His direct replacement at what will be DE4 for him could be someone slightly worse than he is, but they will fit Allen's bigger DE profile for example. And like everyone here I think we are going to see big swings at updating the OL and the DL - that's no secret, so you might as well cut him loose now. Even if you dont know if you will land that big name DE1. Either way the move makes the same sense; to replace him with a bigger body, whether he was going to be DE3 or DE4, whether we succeed to bring in a big name DE1, or go with a new DE2, in all scenarios you already know it's not him.

too bad

well one thing it could say is that we need to keep Kmet more now than before Everett was cut. another thing is COULD say is that Johnson wants a different kind of tight end, and Kmet is trade bait. and no matter which of those things it MIGHT mean, it probably pushes the decision off a year, which already the most probable outcome.

Brad Biggs reporting that we are releasing Gerald Everett so we are in the market for TEs now. some of us here will be very happy about that! Not sure what this means for Kmet. Could mean he is safer this year, could mean the TE approach will be different for Johnson. And either way, could mean the outcome for Kmet happens next year anyway.

yup DL is the key to winning, which is why OL is the key to winning, because the QB is the key to winning LOL

I dunno if we can get everyone we need in one offseason, probably not, but im with you, I wanna see Sweat as DE2 at some point. Then with someone in the middle (maybe Dexter and Billings, maybe someone new) the defense will take off. Fangio is a great DC with coverages, and coverages are sexy and the subject of most defensive breakdowns, but for Philly it all started on the DL. If you can consistently harass the QB, even Mahomes and Brady will look ordinary.

for sure, im not claiming any credit, Im just saying, i didnt speak about it too much because i agree with all of us that OL is job #1, but if there is a way to have both that'd be amazing. FWIW, Ive not done any real homework on the draft yet, so all i can really say is "this blue chip RB look really good in short highlight films" and equally meaningless things like that LOL I cant even say if there is an edge rusher Id want more than Jeanty or anything like that!

Im with you. i KNOW fixing the OL is job #1, so ive held off on saying that Jeanty might be an option, but if we can remake the OL and get Jeanty, that WOULD be amazing.

I think he really is a guard in the NFL, and probably a pretty damned good one. But is an OG worth the #10 pick? I am often against it, because i believe in quality players being the difference makers, but unless there an obvious stud on the OL or DL emerges for pick #10, this looks like a year to trade down if possible.

I think we can go to the playoffs this year, Im saying the roster is more than one offseason away from being a true SB contender.

Ive been thinking for a while that as much as NO one wants to hear it right now, we are probably 2 offseasons away from being a true SB contender. So Im glad you said it. And when I said leadership I was thinking of the coaching staff, but we need it on the line from players too. I wish I was in a position to take a side on this player. I saw about 5 minutes of film on him and he looks like a beast. But I havent seen anyone else, and im just not ready to have any kind of informed opinion yet - and probably wont be for many weeks. One thing is certain - we need to give Caleb a line to stand behind and read defenses, or there will be no growth. And if they open up the running game, that helps all that too. And thank god we have a coach and playcaller that finally understands that, instead of another group determined to rediscover the bubble screen without having realized we've been bleeding from it for decades over many coaching staffs.

everything matters, but youre right it ALL starts with leadership.

agree with all of that. Im not 100% sold on Campbell at OT, but Im glad we both see the aggression. Im not NOT sold on him either, I just havent really done any homework at all yet, so I dont have any kind of real opinion.

totally agree. If we look at the Lions (and I admit that Johnson has already said he wont be running the exact same offense here) they have a powerful line, and rather than having an offensive running scheme like most teams, they ran versions of all schemes at different times. And that surely included the power game. Like you said, the power game gives the DL less time, and it also threatens a defense that insists on running 2 deep safeties, so it opens up the passing game too. I think Matt Eberflus has an immature idea at best of how an offense works, and Shane Waldron was an idiot. This video game football, the same we saw with Nagy, of all the pulling and exclusively outside zone running concepts, and bubble screens is a joke. Sure all those things have their place, and we will do them, but I agree that our line will be stronger at the point of attack than we've been in many years. By scheme, by players and by conditioning. We should not be emulating the 2022 Rams in our running game. As you say, Fangio already decoded that in Denver, dropping safeties in cover 2, and cover 4, and you saw what he did to the Chiefs too. Every defense has seen that pulling man coming across the formation. it may threaten the edges, but it doesnt influence safeties back into the box. And Im not saying we wont do it, but it wont be ALL we do. And power running is going to be a part of what we do. This may be unpopular, but i wonder what this might do to rehabilitate Roschon Johnson. Imagine if we'd done this already a few years ago with Montgomery...

I see the short arms thing, and the projection to guard thing. One major difference is Skoronski was a "catcher" while Campbell is a first striker. Campbell may still end up an interior player due to his arm length, but I don't think Skoronski is a complete comp, because Campbell is more aggressive.

For sure, but it's a balance. Some programs develop more strength at the cost of flexibility, and vice versa. Where to strike that balance is the question. For Billings it was muscular, Davis too (although he may just be a pussy that doesnt want to play). I agree that the concussions are up around the league because of increased protocol around them, and ankles are probably not a result of conditioning either. Still, I am optimistic that the new S&C coach could be an improvement for us? From what we read, under Eberflus, the linemen werent really pushing themselves in the weight room, so that alone might make an improvement too?

Im not projecting Kiran at all - too chaotic for any kind of crystal ball on him from my point of view, but i also think it's hard to judge him on his performance last year since he was injured, got zero reps or practice and then just got thrown into games. He will be different with a proper start and camp development etc. But just as i say that I cant judge him last year, I am also saying I cant really judge him at all, so I dont predict him either way right now. That said, if you get a shot at a LT you CAN predict to be excellent, you absolutely take it. i agree.

Rusty Jones was the Bears' strength and conditioning coach from 2007 to 2012 after having been a "secret weapon" (according to Marv Levy) for the Buffalo Bills for 20 years. He retired after the 2012 season, and I remember how he emphasized flexibility and individual nutrition programs. I remember that we had fewer injuries back then, and I remember writing a post to this board back in 2013 saying that he was an unsung hero and we would miss him. here it is - I found it And surely, the Bears have been bitten by injury bugs over the years since. Pierre Ngo has been an assistant of strength and conditioning with the bears for two stints.from 2015 to 2021, and again for the last two years. Of course as assistant, he wasnt the one to make the calls about what we would do as our program. He worked under Jim Arthur, who comes from the Rusty Jones tree. Apparently his interview with Ben Johnson was enough to convince him to promote him rather than look elsewhere. Of course we did have injures under Arthur, so I dont know how strong the Rusty Jones connection is, or what it means, but if he is a devotee of Jones' philosophy, then this could be very important and good news for us. I do recall reading a lot about what we were losing when Jones retired, and writing that post here. And I did notice over the next years how much more injury prone we were than i had ever remembered, as we switched from flexibility based to raw strength based training. I cant say anything for sure about this, but I am hopeful that this is a big move.

Thanks for all the names - it's a good place for me to start my investigations. The one thing I'd say about bringing players back is that they are basically free agents just like free agents that werent on our team last year. Since the staff and scheme are all changing, there's no particular reason to keep them over someone else - they just have to be a better choice than whoever else is available at that price etc. So all things being equal, I'd expect it's as likely as not that we see a lot of new faces. Even among the backups and less talented guys at the bottom of the roster?

obviously losing Brisker was a big hit too. It doesnt just have to be one player, I agree. If I had to have lost just one of the two of them, I would have chosen to lose Brisker and keep Billings though. I hope they are both healthy this year, that's the best outcome.

I think the biggest loss to our defense that really caused us to drop off was Billings.