AZ54

I think the team will be optimistic about Ozzy returning to full health. If that’s correct then I agree with AQ Shipley when he was interviewed at the Superbowl by CHGO and discussed our Oline. He basically said if you want to buy yourself a year then sign a vet because you can’t ever really trust a rookie even the early picks. While the veterans flaws you will know how to cover up. That makes the most sense to me unless we think Ozzy can’t return i also think we might find a decent FA player at a good price now that we have a good team

Washington is ok. He’s a day 3 pick who can get you what is there to be got. That little bit of burst would be nice to have over Roschon.

Gardner-Johnson was nearly worthless, every team exploited him in coverage. He had some value around the LOS, or any place he didn't have to run far.

Revisiting the Hendrickson option. Da German Bear put up a good video summarizing why he thinks Hendrickson is the perfect fit for the Bears over Crosby. The most obvious reason is that we do not have to give up any draft picks and high draft picks are essential for building our future depth. He showed how much better Hendrickson is on pressure rate and time-to-pressure versus Sweat. I was most surprised that he thinks Hendrickson is only going to get $25-30mil/yr. That makes him much more affordable than the $40mil/yr I was expecting at which point I'm a hard no. Hendrickson is not that good on run defense but he's not horrible. DGB also proposed trading Montez Sweat just to unload the cap hit. Sweat might garner a day 3 pick but again it's just about finding cap room. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCze5MncpaE Since that video was posted someone else showed up saying Crosby is not going to garner as much trade value as Parsons. The Raiders are not likely to get a top 15 first round pick. This essentially puts the DJ Moore + 2026 1st Rd pick for Crosby back on the table. Then I now see that Bradley Chubb just got released and once he clears waives he can sign with any team. All these options are on the table along with a strong DE draft. Which is good news for a buyer like the Bears.

I want us to draft this guy anywhere on day 3. He can block he can run better than Kmet and he seems to have equally good hands. He does not have the movement skills of Loveland. I see him as a good fit for our TE2 a year down the road. The fact he was Loveland teammate should only help him acclimate to the team quicker. I’ll be using this thread to track my guys in this draft. Feel free to throw in yours.

One thing we never see is cash flow. Cutting a useless player like Dayo has cap implications of course but perhaps it frees up cash that can be put toward another player's bonus/salary this season and that's a win IMO. While I might be totally off my rocker on thinking that, I feel like that is a factor for organizations at times in terms of how free agency gets approached. That said I do not want to spend big on an aging player like Hendrickson. While I'd love having a DE that can fly around the edge, that is not Hendrickson by the way, interior pass rush is just much more effective. I also feel that Sweat and Booker are both good enough at compressing the pocket and then getting off blocks to catch a QB when he has to get away from inside pressure. The piece I don't know is what they think of Shemar Turner. He fits in that same category of a DE who can compress the pocket a bit and then get off the block to make a play...but he's not going to run around anyone. 4th on my depth chart: Joe Tryon-Shoyinka gave us some decent plays as well and he'd be worth bringing back as a depth piece IMO. With that, my focus this offseason will be figuring out how to stop the run up the middle and how to get pressure up the middle. If there is to be a good FA addition I'd prefer it be a DT. DTs are usually cheaper than edge players. Then I'm drafting 2 DTs early. Any of the top 5 DTs in the draft helps us...period. Just take one. I'd love a trade back to the end of the 1st Rd and find a way to get 4 top 100 picks. One of the top 5 DTs is likely to be on the board late 1st so unless we fall in love with one of them just take the one that remains on the board. Then we've got 3 more top 100 picks to get S, LB, and another DT. There are a couple DTs I like that are more pass rushers than run defenders that I think can be had around 100-115: Gracen Halton, Zane Durant, or Skyler Gill-Howard. That again is where Shemar Turner fits in because if the coaches want him in that 3-tech role vs. DE then we have to switch up the plan and go DT/DE. That might have to be in the 2nd Rd or at the farthest back a 3rd Rd pick to get a contributor in the rotation. Either way, I prefer Rd 1 go to DT.

Since we’re talking Bears vs Packers I’ll toss in this nugget as well with Caleb ranked in the top ten. Jordan Love ranked lower. I don’t necessarily agree with all this but it might be better worded as ranking last years QB performances. Nobody on the planet is taking Drake Maye 4 ahead of Mahomes 13. https://www.nfl.com/news/ranking-all-63-starting-quarterbacks-from-the-2025-nfl-season

I’m sure the Packers can make up for it with their first round pick this year. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-analysis/111019/the-chicago-bears-had-the-best-2025-rookie-class-while-the-packers-had-the-worst

I Think at best I’d give him a 2 year extension. One I could get out of in the last year if I want to.

Swift was very good in pass pro last year. Bears fans don’t see it on a stat sheet so assume a rookie will just come in and do the same. Even Monangai struggled at times but I expect he’ll be better this year. I don’t expect Ben, who loves explosive plays, to put his QBs protection at risk.

Calling that music is being generous. Calling that singing is being even more generous except for the non-bunny artists who can actually sing. I agree on the stage and thematic scenes being very well done. Nobody really knows what he was saying/singing and I am surrounded by native Spanish language people at home and work.

https://www.nfl.com/news/bears-ol-joe-thuney-first-ever-nfl-protector-of-the-year-award

My biggest takeaway from this game is that we drafted the right QB. That includes all I've seen throughout the playoffs.

I was told my pre-draft analysis of his ability to play LT was wrong....I was very happy he was off the board so early.

At this time of year for me the mocks are for learning about the prospects. Of course as we (and teams) learn more about them they will move up or down. Every time I do a mock I try to go find info and highlights of the prospects available on at that pick.