AZ54

I'm not that anxious to replace Long. I think with him having his first offseason in a couple years with no surgeries or major injuries to recover from he'll get back to what he used to be. In that case we've spent a 3rd Rd pick on someone who won't contribute. Now if you think the injury bug is guaranteed to bite Long again then of course this OG would contribute. Given our limited picks this year I prefer to get more insurance at S, RB, TE, or even CB. I like Singletary in the 4th. He's got some limitations in his game but so will any other RB we draft in the 4th Rd. Nasir Adderley is ranked 25th overall at SI.com and DraftTek has him in the exact same spot. I realize it's early and draft boards are all over the place but it's hard to think anyone garnering that much 1st Rd interest at this point in the process will still be on the board in the 5th Rd. But if he's there in the 5th Rd it's a no brainer. The play he makes at 2:50 on kick coverage is awesome. He misses the first tackle, gets up off the ground and chases the returner 40 yards downfield to prevent a TD. https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/02/13/draft-big-board-rankings-nick-bosa-dwayne-haskins-kyler-murray-drew-lock-daniel-jones?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_source=twitter.com

Here's another one to keep an eye on...

It's a highlight video but still Jordan Scarlett can rack up yards after contact. Right now he is listed way down in the 5th/6th Rds. He's caught a few passes in college but I have no idea how well he can run routes and catch. In the Kentucky game around 1:50 he makes nice grab in the seam down the middle, then at 2:50 he drops what should have been an easy catch near the goal line. He's someone to keep an eye on at the Combine. There are some character issues on his record too that cost him the 2017 season. Yet he did all he was asked to do and was allowed to return for 2018.

If the question is would I prefer him over Mizzell the answer is yes. But trading a pick for a 3rd RB on our roster and who has these cap hits over the next four seasons: $3.9mil, $3.0mil, $4.9mil, and $5.9mil doesn't fit well within our cap space. I don't see him taking Howards snaps and I don't see him ahead of Cohen either. Down the road he's got the money Cohen will command so we wouldn't be keeping both two years from now. IMO we'd be better off to use the draft pick on a rookie RB and spend that cap space on safety, NB, edge, or Oline depth.

His production absolutely says 4th or 5th Rd pick, or later but his QB was horrible in the 3 games I watched. Wait to see how he performs at the combine because that could easily pull him up to a 4th Rd grade. If he runs well and puts up numbers like Kittle expect him to go a bit earlier because right now everyone is wondering how they missed on Kittle. We know he can consistently make catches away from his body (bad QB play). We pick late 3rd Rd and Pace's grade could have him in that bucket or he could be a candidate if we trade back later in the 3rd Rd or early 4th. I just remember how key Nagy said this position is to his offense and nobody on the roster really fits Burton's role. I still think safety is the higher priority assuming Amos leaves.

I think TE is a position we could address in the 3rd Rd if the right player is there. Dawson Knox has the athletic talent and size you want at the position but he's raw in his route running and blocking. Plus his team and QB didn't utilize him much so the production isn't there. All of which places him as a late 3rd Rd, or maybe even 4th Rd prospect. I had to watch 3 games to see him get some passes thrown his way but he makes several good catches against Kentucky. It's easy to envision him running the same routes as Trey Burton, or running any route faster than Shaheen. https://thedraftnetwork.com/2019/02/12/2019-nfl-draft-player-profile-dawson-knox/

I think Cleveland just killed his trade market. in a 4 year career he's never rushed for more than 400 yards. As a receiver he's done well but that means he's not so much a compliment to Cohen's skills rather he's a duplicate. We need a RB who can do both well and it might take a couple years to fill the spot. In the meantime we can win with Jordan Howard while we add someone else to the mix.

Hopefully Nagy can go in a different direction next year and throw out 4 WR sets with Robinson, Miller, Gabriel, and Wims. Put Cohen in the backfield for good measure because we can run out of that set because at least 3 of those WRs can block.

That's one tough hombre and he put up great numbers against the Eagles. That late catch in between the CB and S, the one to setup the game winning FG, and where he knew he was getting hit takes on a new meaning. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2019/02/12/allen-robinson-was-battling-broken-ribs-during-his-biggest-game-of-season/

He seems like a player who could step in and replace Amos right away. He's somewhat limited in coverage range but in his highlights I'd say he's better in coverage inside the numbers than Amos, and certainly has the hands to make a catch. He's a good tackler and fits in well around the LOS. https://thedraftnetwork.com/2019/02/03/2019-nfl-draft-player-profile-amani-hooker/

No because Floyd is the better player.

Yes he did. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/jordan-howard-19104/

That's where we agree...part time starter but more or less career backup and both are now earning $2mil/yr.

In the right scheme I think he's good enough to be a starter. He might not wow anybody but if you don't have a starter and are looking to draft a young player you could do a lot worse than what Kwit has put on tape. It's no different from teams paying vet QBs to hold down a job for a year or two.

With the recent contract updates both Howard and Kwiatkoski have earned pay raises and now have $2mil/yr salaries based on playing time. Both have earned it, especially Howard. However, we are tight on cap space and depending on how things go with Iggy, Kwit might be the 4th ILB on this roster. That's not a spot we can afford to spend $2mil to fill. Nor is he the ideal fit inside due to his lack of speed. I don't know for sure what Pagano wants in his ILBs I can't imagine it's much different from Fangio. Kwit is a good ILB and could easily fit well into someone's 4-3 scheme. I think the Bears should try to trade him for a day 3 pick. We can likely sign a vet FA ILB on a minimum deal to fill his spot or replace him with the draft pick. We should get a 4th Rd or worst case a 5th Rd pick for him.

No doubt Reid has better prepared his assistants for more responsibility. Somewhat analogous to coaching development is QB development. Whereas Fox took the Belichick approach and it was do as I say, execute this and only this. That does not come with deep learning and ultimately the understanding to think independently as things change. It takes time and commitment to help someone along that deep-learning path. Now we compare Goff/McVay after 2 years together with Trubisky/Nagy after 1 season. It seems safe to say that the hand-holding that McVay has done for Goff these past two years have really limited him seeing things for himself. OTOH Trubisky seemed to grow each quarter of the season in reading defenses. He's not a finished product yet but if he continues this trend throughout their second season together I feel really good about Mitch/Nagy going into the playoffs next year.

A couple things I learned watching the Superbowl: The book is out on McVay's offense and Jared Goff. We knew this after the Bears beat them. When he has pressure he's throwing off his back foot as he did in college and as he did when he threw that game killing INT. The Patriots mixed up their rush and coverages enough to confuse Goff and he never got comfortable. Nor did McVay seem to have an answer in his playbook. I won't display it in this post but if you aren't sensitive to a bit of foul language this is a good summary of what happened: https://i.redd.it/mtgver5rlhe21.jpg Morrisey of the Suntimes said Trubisky wouldn't have done any better than Goff did. This is just one more person trying to self-validate the fact they don't like Trubisky. Nobody can know how anyone would fare in a game that was never played. I do however believe that after playing them earlier in the year and putting up 31pts against them that Nagy would have put Trubisky and the offense in a better spot to compete than what McVay did. Morrisey also ignores the fact that in the Eagles game when it was on the line Trubisky stayed in the pocket and delivered a strike down the right sideline just before he took a big hit. We do know this: Trubisky outscored Brady against the Rams defense.

https://wgnradio.com/2019/02/04/hoges-10-bears-things-everything-we-learned-at-super-bowl-liii/ It's a good article with some interesting background stories.

Biggs finally posted the details on the deal. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-cb-chicago-bears-contract-details-2019-story.html It is as hoped, essentially a 2 yr deal with $15.8mil guaranteed, and then has 3 team-option years beyond that. Cap hit this year is a mere $3.8mil which opens the door to re-sign Callahan and Amos.

He's a big name player and he's going to cost a lot to sign. His production doesn't warrant what he'll get paid and we have other more important contract extensions I prefer to get done (i.e. Whitehair, Callahan, even Amos).

There are a lot of rumors that Whitehair is getting an extension too. He is signed through 2019 so they could add on years and be creative enough with the guarantees that his cap hit stays low this year.

Just keep throwing the names out there. This early it's hard to figure out who is worthy of Day 3 picks and draft boards are all over the place.

So far this is all I can find on contract details. I'm hoping the average is inflated by higher values in the last years of the deal giving us a chance to get out of the contract if Coward, or someone else, is ready to take over sooner. Pace usually structures his deals to pay the guarantees early so he has flexibility later. At 29, In 3-4 years Massie's issues with speed are only going to be much worse so he's probably got a couple years of performance similar to last year. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-football-nfl-notebook-idUSKCN1PL00U Terms were not announced, but NFL Network reported the deal is worth more than $8 million per year, a figure that would put him among the four highest-paid right tackles in the league.

At his contract level getting an extra $200-300k a year is a 40% raise.

I like Kris Boyd. I'm not sure he's got the short-area quickness needed to play inside but he's physical and seems to match up well outside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUbOjt9J0o Deebo Samuel in the 4th Rd would give us some really good depth in the WR corps. He's fast but I'm not sure he has elite speed. He might run between a 4.4-4.5 forty but he's quick in and out of his cuts. I think Bellamy is locked in as our special teamer so we'd keep 6 WRs. I'd cut Mizzell and go with just 3 RBs one of which won't be named Cunningham. I'm not sure about Wingard. He looks like a player who will struggle against NFL competition. I just watched this game against Wash St so small sample size but he's not all that physical especially in traffic. If the play is right in front of him he'll make it but so can a lot of players. His teammate and #6 Marcus Epps caught my eye on several plays. He's not that big and it's hard to say how fast he is but he sure plays with a lot of heart. If he has enough speed I'd bring him in as a UDFA and let him compete for a practice squad spot and see what happens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KauORdzkkzg https://county10.com/wyoming-footballs-marcus-epps-a-finalist-for-2018-burlsworth-trophy/ Brandon Fritts looks like Ben Braunecker. I'm not seeing any special traits and since we already have Braunecker I'd pass. What I want is a George Kittle type with the speed to stretch the field and fill the Trey Burton role down the road. Ravian Pierce looks like a Burton clone. Bryce Love in the 7th Rd? Absolutely.