AZ54

Merry Christmas to all, and to all.. a good draft.

I hear that and I wouldn't be against drafting an elite LT with our first pick but there is the talent to consider when defining strategy. Of course you could say this should make us more conducive to a trade down if it's available. Or grab the DT but the only one I really like (so far) is Mason Graham. There is a lot more in the article but I'm not a paid subscriber. Even without that, if you hit the link you can get more details on the OTs but Thorn doesn't seem to have any of them as true blue chip talents. I still feel like if you have a chance to get a true blue chip player, unless you already have one at that position, then you take them. https://trenchwarfare.substack.com/p/2025-offensive-line-class-overview "The 2025 O-Line class was initially perceived as much worse than last year’s. That’s still largely a factual statement, but it’s worth noting that last year’s class was historically loaded, especially at tackle and center. Seven tackles were drafted in round one alone (the most in 12+ years) and nine total linemen went in the first round, tying the 2022 and 2013 classes for the most since at least 2012. Last year’s class saw 25 total linemen drafted in the first three rounds alone, which is another high over that more than a decade long time span. This upcoming class is emphatically less talented than 2024, but there are still several projected year one starters. Most of this starting talent is concentrated at guard. There are only a few true guards that I see as early starters right now (Alabama’s Tyler Booker, Georgia’s Tate Ratledge), but the ceiling of the guard class as a whole is raised thanks to many of the best tackle prospects having a viable and familiar pathway into the well-stocked ‘very good college tackle-to-pro guard’ pipeline (LSU’s Will Campbell, Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum, Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea and more). This isn’t to say that the tackle class is completely void of round one talent because that isn’t true either. All of the prior names could feasibly get a crack at a tackle spot, even if their ceilings are higher inside. My top-graded true tackles all could hear their names called in round one (Ohio State’s Josh Simmons, Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr., Missouri’s Armand Membou). Skepticism starts to creep in when examining the projected center class. I only have three players with a grade inside the first three rounds and none in round one. This is a little easier to stomach given the depth of last year’s center class (six rookie centers are currently starting for teams, and five have 10 or more starts)."

We watch 17 games of the Bears and then do film study afterward. I doubt anyone puts that scrutiny on other teams players. I see a few things: 1st: Sometimes these millionaires get complacent and don't put in the work until they get cut. I can think of two where that was clear IMO: Leno and Gould. 2nd: Fit. If you have a limited LT like Leno (just using an example) but a solid RT opposite him it is easier to help the LT during plays. This is coaching but also GMs and how they build a roster. You can't get Pro Bowl players everywhere. 3rd: Coaching scheme. Fit what you're doing to the talent you've got. Of course that can only go so far you still need some elite players to have a good team. 4th: Position coaching for technique to fit with what they play caller wants to do.

You mean the refs won't call holding on the Packers?

Never said I wasn't going to fix the Oline. In my fantasy GM world I'll have $90mil to spend this offseason and I'm not bringing back Keenan Allen. I've seen Jeanty just blow through so many tackles where plays weren't blocked up perfectly. When the blocking is good you are going to get some big chunk plays. Plus he can catch out of the backfield...he's that guy you'd take in any 1:1 situation and a perfect safety valve for Caleb. I can still draft a good DE and DT prospect in Rd 2 and a Center in Rd 3. I can fix IOL in FA. That does leave concern at LT but Braxton is actually a good run blocker, Jeanty and an OC making better use of play action will help reduce the edge pressure.

That's really the challenge with PFF's mock site: Their player rankings are usually way off. Nonetheless I'll run a hundred mocks there anyway because it gives me names in rounds and from there I do my research on the players. I am seriously considering taking Ashton Jeanty with our first pick. I'm old and I've seen hundreds if not thousands of NFL RBs. This kid is just different. I've seen enough over the years from Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, to the modern era with Saquon Barkley (who was the last RB that was "different") and what they did for their teams. If Mason Graham drops he's my guy and I like the LTs. Nothing will benefit Caleb more than a good running game.

I go about 20 years between Superbowls (85 then 2006) so I figure we're just a couple years out. How we get there I have no clue but I also know we aren't that far off now that we have Caleb.

I'd be ok with that. Sit back, watch for a bit because I think it will help him clear his mind. He's been roughed up plenty in recent games just list him as having an injury because he's definitely bruised up. That knee took a shot too a week ago. The only downside might be if Bagent goes out there and wins a game. I don't think he'd forgive the team for that.

Bummer I always liked him and hate to see that. From his time at Iowa State to the Bears and then Detroit he never quit on a play regardless of score or the teams record.

If they were going to fire Poles they should have done that already. There is nothing more you will learn in your evaluation of him in these last 5 games. Ownership being clueless as they are so it wouldn't surprise me to see them make a late decision on Poles and fire him. If they want a new GM they should have already begun that search so it's wrapped up by the end of the season and the new GM can focus on hiring the coaches and then the draft. Scores being what they are lead to narratives but what I saw was a Bears team that is much closer to the Vikings talent than the score or records indicate. Again coaching decisions and poor execution (Kramer lack of reporting) took us away from a winnable game. I'm ok with it at this point what would going 3-3 over the last part of the season do for us except move us further down the draft board? Since I was flipping over the Falcons/Raiders game at times I can say the Bears put a lot better product on the field than either of those two teams. I was expecting to just get run over down the middle all game long. For sure there were some bad run defense plays but it also stiffened up at times and kept us in the game. The DT Ford they picked up from GB at 6'5" 335lbs looked stout in the run game and made some good plays for us. I'm not going to assign him anything more than the fact he deserves more snaps in the next game so we can see what he's got. Amegadjie looks like he has potential but needs work. That's a tough start on the road against a challenging defense. Caleb really needs an OC who will get in his face and make him work to the timing of the play. He trended in that direction mid-year and now he's trending back the other way.

He had his rough spots especially in pass pro with speed off the edge but he also had some really good plays especially in the running game. I'm looking forward to see him in a couple more games if not to finish the season as the starter. I think I saw enough to believe his floor is at least equivalent to what we get with Braxton Jones. After that game he should have confidence he belongs in the NFL and a couple more games will hopefully show upside.

Watching these games makes my head hurt too but I'm glad the team is doing the right thing by taking care of the players first. From what see with other teams injury reports this is becoming more of the norm for a concussion with a player missing at least a few weeks. Get Amegadjie on the field. We need to have some sense of what he's capable of even if there will be mental mistakes.

Of the 3 I prefer Brady. That's based solely on the results listed and then I went and listened to a few press conferences from each. All of which means I know nothing. I still prefer Vrabel simply because he's been there done that.

No way. This draft is too deep in edge rushers to waste away two top picks and cap space.

I don't want an arrogant HC who wants to call the shots on roster development. There is far too much effort put into player personnel scouting and no HC is able to do that properly. A lot of GMs struggle with it anyway but they should always have their eye on the 2-3 year outcome while the HC is concerned with the present. I highly doubt any HC would ever do the scorched earth teardown that Poles did his first year. That needed to be done and the subsequent roster improvement over the next two offseasons has been good but imperfect. The look on Eberflus' face in post game pressers in year one with the lack of talent on the field was priceless. Kinda matched the look on his face in year 3 when he had good talent and still couldn't win. Except then the realization was that he might be the problem even if he refused to admit it. I don't know if all the rumors are true but Ben Johnson and his demands scare me. It's not so much that he wants things setup his way it's that he's very public about it. Ian Cunningham has been near the top of the list of GM candidates the last 2 years, without taking a job, yet what do you hear from him? He more or less says when the situation is right it'll be right.

I think this power struggle discussion is exactly what this organization needs. How it shakes out who knows. I think there's good reason to believe Poles was handicapped with his HC search in his first year. I'd like to see him dig his heels in and fight for decision making authority now. He chose to come here instead of Minn. Leverage that. Demand the contract extension to sync with his new HC. If he can't win that then quit, make it public, and we will know the cycle of doom will continue. Staying or walking away without the fight puts us right back where we are today. I really don't want Kevin Warren making football decisions. If Poles stays I want to see him make changes in the Pro Personnel department because that is where the biggest misses have been.

When Tyrique was drafted he did an interview and said he's mostly just a quiet stay at home guy. He's different on the football field. It's not a stretch to imagine him dealing with all the fallout of the team since his big mistake. No chance I'd walk away from his talent for pick 107. New coaches will give him a fresh start I'd like to see if we can get him back to the player he was.

Agreed. I'd be fine with a franchise LT, DT, or DE in the top 10. If they aren't there trade back and go for volume. For Oline our greatest need is IOL and those are available later in Rd 1 anyway. Amegadjie has all the traits you look for in a LT so the team might feel like giving him time to develop and rely on Jones as the floor for one more season. The caveat here is if our defensive scheme changes with the new HC back to a 3-4. Dexter and Billings are still good and really IDL needs don't change much other than possibly the type of player we'd need. LB and Edge will. With $80-90mil to spend this offseason we have flexibility to modify the roster as needed prior to the draft.

I saw that too. There has never been anything I like about how Owen’s plays the game. Even Mr Football Jack Samborn didn’t touch a guy down after he caught the ball and almost let him roll into the end zone.

I usually don’t watch teams that are so bad they fire their coach early. Enter the Bears I felt there was a lot of good effort from many players. Dexter. Edward’s. Pickens was a pleasant surprise on some plays. Sweat was getting pressure and Booker was his usual self running all over the field. I believe Booker is going to a very good player for us long term. On offense Caleb was playing tough. Rome fought for a few contested catches. Above all I felt that these coaches are way in over their head on game planning. Then the players who are ready for vacation.

I've done very little scouting so far but at 9 we might be in range to get Mason Graham. If not, then at this point I'm all in for trading back and loading up on lots of bodies for the trenches.

That's a good one. These coaches we have now are completely incapable of being more than position coaches. Thomas Brown I think will one day be a good coordinator and maybe even a head coach further down the road. Picking up this entire team mid-season he's in over his head. Usually in these games I'm looking for a spark from one young player and for the rest of the year that can only come from Caleb. I don't know the status of Amegadjie but I'd like to see him out there too and putting Bill Murray on IR was another disappointment because I was really curious what he could do with more experience.

I'm not surprised about Warren saying no to Harbaugh after he had to deal with him and a lengthy investigation into his years-long sign stealing issues. As great a football coach as Jim Harbaugh is, I too don't like his circus act. I believe there are other good football coaches...go get one. I'm more frustrated over the fact today they reported Flus was McCaskey's choice and Poles had to "accept" that. If it is also true that Poles wanted to fire Flus last year and was told "no" then we have a much more serious issue as illustrated in the above posts. Was Poles also told to let Flus hire his OC candidate and give him one more shot? Thus we ended up with Waldron while Poles wanted Brown? The only good thing about all this is that it gives me more confidence that Poles does in fact know what the team needs in a HC. I wasn't that confident prior to today. Add in that he was able to convince the McCaskey's to fire Flus mid-season and it leads me to think he's going to get more leeway to make his choice. This also could explain why Poles was so reserved during the post-firing press conference where he seemed to be biting his tongue more often than not. Either that or he's being totally cast aside and this HC decision is not his to make. If that were true I'd expect him to resign.

How strange will this game be with all the background noise about the Bears trading for the 49ers HC.

I'd be insecure too getting promoted twice in a month and taking over the jobs of my top 2 bosses. That said accountability is one thing, strategy is another. We need both.