AZ54

Bears hire former BC offensive lineman to be their GM. I hope this bodes well for our Oline and D line. I’m surprised how young this guy is.

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2022/1/25/22900101/chicago-bears-hire-ryan-poles-general-manager-kansas-city-chiefs-executive-gm

That is the rumor. A link would be nice but his first order of business is calling the Vikings to say sorry not sorry.

Surprised as well to see Ossenfort as he wasn't on my radar. I have to credit the Titans for building a good football team with not just athletes but football players. Watching that team play it always feels like the team is more than just the sum of the parts. Vrabel gets a lot of credit too. Kinda like the anti-Nagy.

I thought Polian and Daboll had some connections over many years?

Who among our candidates is even thinking about that? In Chicago if you win they build statues of you. Whatever their faults these guys are not like Jerry Jones. They will not be walking into the draft room to tell you which player to take in Rd 1. They won't call the sideline in the middle of a game to tell the HC to throw deep. Under Michael McCaskey there were issues with being too cheap to keep good players but in the last decade I think they've proven they'll give a GM whatever is needed to get elite players like Khalil Mack. Their problem is they haven't chosen the right GM which is why they are offering the opportunity to this group of candidates. Please don't hire the guy who says he lacks confidence and needs the owner or Ted to help him make decisions. I do understand you need an owner to sign off on the checks for players like Mack. Any candidate worthy of this job is asking the owners what the budgets and boundaries are for FA, draft trades, and such. If they don't want to know that upfront don't hire them. Again it was clear Pace had free rein to make big trades on draft day and big trades in FA.

Despite our issues at WR for some reason I still lean toward fixing the CB/S position in Rd 2. That's not to say I wouldn't draft a WR there if the right talent fell to us. Maybe at this point I simply like the DB options in Rd 2 better than the WR options. Looking at WR who will still be on the board in Rd 2-5 I came across Justyn Ross. Physically he's an easy fit to step into ARob's role but he has some serious injury history having had surgery to repair a congenital fusion condition with his neck and spine. He missed all of 2020 for that but returned in 2021 and still played well. I like his skill set and he's a player I'll be tracking as we go through the scouting process.

Watching the Packers get owned like that on their home field was a very rewarding experience for me.

I’m really curious what he has to say about Nagy. Would he have hired him as HC and why?

It's the depth of the roster behind the "hits" and that defense just hasn't been there. I don't see Marcus Peters as a success much the same way as Anthony Miller was not a success here. Athletically he was a better talent than Miller but throwing away the 18th pick on just a few years of production is not a good investment. Admittedly that was a weak year for draft talent. "On December 6, 2017, the Chiefs announced their decision to suspend Peters for the next game.[43] Three days after the suspension was announced, it was revealed that Peters’ suspension also was the result of an argument he got into with an unnamed coach for the Chiefs. On March 14, 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs traded Peters and a sixth round pick (209th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft to the Los Angeles Rams for a fourth round pick (124th overall) in 2018 and second round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.[51] Yet the scouts behind the scenes are not setting roster and cap strategy for the team so it's entirely possible he flagged Peters as a 1st Rd risk and it was ignored. As fans we know the history of draft picks or even pro player FA signings but unless you have an experienced GM like Rick Smith there is no way for us to know what strategy or philosophy they will use as a new GM. Thankfully we're heading into Rd 2 of the interviews.

If I were a Giant's fan I'd be concerned here that the new GM immediately goes back to the coaches he just worked with. Not that he shouldn't talk with them but this news is so fast and "going after them hard" that you almost wonder if the Giants chose the GM in hopes of the getting Dabol. I could certainly be misreading this but IMO it would have been more appropriate for the team to release a complete list of candidates rather than these rumors spreading so fast. Other HC candidates could be feeling that the team isn't serious about them which could persuade them to take a job elsewhere. Would any coach want to go somewhere knowing he wasn't really the one they wanted and that the leash would always be short? As a Bears fan I prefer my team taking the confident methodical approach as long as they keep things moving. They can't sit and deliberate for 2 weeks on who gets to Rd 2. If Dabol or Frazier are on their short list for in-person interviews they likely already know that and the Bears could move as fast as needed to compete with the Giants if desired. The same should be happening with the GM candidates and as soon as Rd 1 is done whichever morning they should already have their first 2nd Rd interview setup for that afternoon.

That's a thin resume IMO. Was he responsible for the defense or the offense on that roster? Everything about KC is always on the offense but their defense has been a real achilles heel for that team.

At the moment he has the same restrictions we have on conducting interviews. In any case Daboll likely has enough street cred to be in the driver seat for the most part. His resume is at least attractive enough for him to be on any team's list of candidates.

Seems like a favor from Polian to bring in Caldwell moreso than him being a top candidate. IIRC Caldwell took over for Dungy with expectation things would stay the same for the most part. That could just be me making $*&* up.

He was never flashy in Houston but quietly got some very good results. I can say the same for Reggie McKenzie who exceeded my expectations when he was leading the Raiders but I seem to recall him having some big misses too. It's a bit odd the Bear are bringing in the experienced GMs late in the process especially when Rick Smith is just sitting at home.

I say yes to the mess ... of interviews for exactly this reason. Coaches come and go. Let's say we get the right HC but some of these other guys wander off to their own pasture for a few years. Coaches get fired and if we're doing well then our staff may get poached. There is nothing wrong with keeping notes on people who weren't at the top of your HC list but still left a positive impression in their coordinator roles. Just keep things moving crisply. I see around the web some fans are fully ready for the fast decision but IMO we have one of the top HC or GM jobs available, if not the absolute best. Top candidates will wait for this opportunity if they have to. We've seen that happen around the league in past years although usually the Bears are on the other end of the spectrum.

I agree and expect the GM finalists to be known this week.

Didn't realize that.

Allen was a raw athletic talent and while he still makes some odd throws he has improved significantly since his first season. I was especially impressed with his composure in the pocket. Fields has a better floor than Allen did starting out in the NFL but it'd be great to see similar growth over the next couple seasons.

Sorry for the long delay. I think anytime 1st Rd talent falls into the 2nd Rd it benefits us. He's not a blue chip player but this at least gives us the chance to evaluate his injury and if a full recovery is likely take a chance. With he and Metchie both injured it also gives us a chance to trade back in 2nd and still have a shot at them. All I want is the most talent possible on the board when we choose.

To be fair Allen usually had something close to forever to throw the football. You could see the coaching he has had with him just side stepping into a soft area of the pocket and it was frustrating the Patriots D. The Josh Allen of 2 years ago would have just taken off and run after 2 seconds. I agree, Daboll and the Bills offense made Belichick look very Nagy-esque. It was both surprising and enjoyable to watch. I didn't see anything from QB Jones that made me think he's better than Fields.

We still have Cliff Stein in the front office for that and I think he does a good job. He's not defining the strategy and obviously doing what he's asked by the GM but that's how it should be.

I don't put any stock in titles. Some people hand them out like candy. Right now they are doing screening interviews and can assess the actual work experience of each candidate. Then decide on the top 5 or so for the real on-site interviews.

We do know what Hackett's offense looks like without Rodgers. Hackett "Joined the Packers on Jan. 16, 2019" which gave him plenty of time to put together a lovely 7pt performance with Jordan Love in 2021. He does get mad props for that TD because it was done against the always tough KC Chiefs defense. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202111070kan.htm

Had that same question myself.