AZ54

We are paying Hiestand for a reason, and I have to think he's in on the evaluations of any FA Oline we sign. Whatever his issues are I would think Harry has some level of confidence he can fix them.

I like it. I thought as the 3rd RB he played well in all phases.

I think Tremaine Edmunds fits as a Bears LB. He'll be playing ILB and I think in time he can mix in some at OLB. Needs, (after the draft we need players in these positions who can challenge for playing time if not be a starter in week 1): OLB, OG/OC Depth/future starter needs run across the board as expected for a young team: OT, CB, ILB, WR, S, DE Draft the right players early at one of these spots and that group should become a position of strength on the roster. While I'm less high on him than others, if we put Minkah Fitzpatrick in with our DBs I think our secondary will be very good. Go back to the needs list at OG and put QNelson inside with Long and Whitehair and, despite some issues on the edge with the OTs, Trubisky should always have a place to step up. Not to mention the running game should be very productive. I feel the combination of Edmunds/Trevathan/Floyd can become so versatile that it will cause QBs issues figuring out who is doing what in coverage. That's still true even if Edmunds stays at ILB because he's very good in coverage. ILBs can defend the run sideline to sideline.

With the owners meetings completed and just a few weeks before the draft any remaining free agents are getting nervous to find roster spots. This is where Pace often does a lot of work to fill out the roster. I think he's done with big contracts except for any extensions he wants to do with our current players (reportedly Goldman, maybe Amos). We have almost $28mil in cap space and have yet to cut Freeman which opens up another $3.5mil. That leaves room to sign a "name" player on a decent low risk deal. About the only "name" player I'm interested in is Jonathan Hankins because I think if his asking price drops low enough he can add some starter level depth while leaving room to allow either Bullard or RRH step up and take the starting job, should they play well enough to do so. I wouldn't mind seeing a vet S, CB, OG added either. Or do you think Pace is ok with who we have until after the draft? https://overthecap.com/free-agency

I wouldn't mind that at all. I think there's a lot of good WR talent that will be on the board in the middle of the draft.

If you can trade back to #15 and still get Edmunds you've already won the draft. There's a few spots I'd like to see with different players: 1/15: Edmunds ILB 2/7: Lorenzo Carter OLB We desperately need more talent and now the D front seven is complete even if it takes 2 season to fully realize this potential 2/15: Kolton Miller OT needs a year to get technique down then bye bye Massie, and he could eventually take over at LT 3/15: Braden Smith OG 4/5: Ade Aruna OLB Seems like a better OLB prospect because he's much faster. Chad Thomas just looks like he'll never be more than a depth player so I'll take a chance on the upside. Yes, I'd double dip at this position. 4/15: Kevin Toliver CB 5/8: Nick DeLuca ILB Great find here. I hadn't see any film on him yet but after watching a few minutes he's got some Kwiatkoski style play when he fills gaps but he seems to be more mobile in pass coverage. I'm not even sure he'll still be there in the 5th Rd. 6/7: PJ Hall I don't see him having any length, strength, quickness that help him compete in the NFL level. Maybe bring him in as a UDFA? 7/7: Jarvion Franklin RB. At 6'1" 230lb with the vesatility to contribue in the passing game

While I agree 100% that Nelson would be an instant and significant upgrade over the current starting LG, I think Edmunds is an instant upgrade over Kwit at ILB. He will not have as much impact on the D's performance as Nelson should have on the O. For sure the high expectations, if they are met, wouldn't be realized for 2 to 3 years. It is an interesting choice because choosing either player could make that side of the ball dominant.

Urlacher played safety in college and knew very little about playing LB. In fact, he didn't play well at WLB but inside he thrived. I don't want to put Edmunds in the HoF category, but I see lots of talk about him as just a great athlete who hasn't been productive because he doesn't know how to play. He's actually been very productive: 2017 108 tackles, 14 for loss, 5.5 sacks. 2016 94 tackles, 16.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks. That's a 12, maybe 13 game season so extrapolate that to 16 games and he'd be our best tackler and tied with Floyd and Hicks for sacks. Actually you don't have to extrapolate, he's already got more tackles than our leader, Trevathan. I won't expect that from him in year one in the NFL, but there's no doubt he'll be productive as a rookie even if he's still learning how to play. On day one in training camp he'd be better in coverage than anything we've ever seen from Kwiatkoski. In 11 games Kwit had 49 total tackles, 2 sacks (don't know the TFL) . The fact Edmunds can be so productive yet still have so much to learn is impressive IMO. Add in that he could excel as an edge rusher as well and you have enough upside or position flexibility to make him well worth the investment. Even if he falls back to just being a very good ILB he'd be taking over for Trevathan in a couple years. We've seen comments that our ILB isn't that important to the success of the D. Scheme wise this might not be the key position, but there was a huge difference in our D when Trevathan was out last year. When he returned the overall D improved quite a bit. Trevathan is also a good leader on the field and in the locker room. I'm not sure we could put Edmunds with a better pro to help him get up to speed.

I'm not a big fan of Ward in the first, and I do mean the first round not just the 8th pick. I don't even think he can cover the Bears best WR in practice. I know he has elite athletic traits but he doesn't have the size and strength needed to cover big WRs on the outside and it shows on his tape. In our D who is he going to successfully jam at the LOS? At 180lbs, how will he hold up physically tackling big RBs like Jordan Howard on the edge? If he were on the Packers would you want him covering Robinson in the red zone? He can run all day with Taylor Gabriel but that's not what I want from the 8th pick in the draft. I think he ends up being a very good NB, or a good #2 CB. While Ward might be a bit better athletically we already have a similar talent in Callahan. Rd 2 for Crosby seems a bit high but ok. Rd 4 Turay...love this pick. Excellent edge athlete with little production due to his injury history but when healthy he makes a difference on the field. In the Senior Bowl practices he was almost unblockable in 1on1 pass rush drills. In the 4th the risk/reward is in balance IMO. Rd 4 Orlando Brown. I don't want anything to do with this guy. Ok maybe later because a 5-7th Rd pick is just hope that something good will happen. In the 4th we can still find productive players with upside. Keep in mind, part of my opinion is based on the fact that Nagy wants fast athletic Olinemen and the slowest combine runner in history doesn't fit that mold. We already have one big slow guy on the right side, not sure why we'd need another one who is bigger and slower. Why not Alex Cappa, Brandon Parker, or Jamarco Jones here? In this spot, if he's there I'd take Shaquem Griffin. 145 Allen Lazard...hell yeah.

I think we still need an OC who can block somebody. I like James Daniels but Billy Price injured his pectoral muscle at the combine. That will make him drop a bit and be there for our 2nd Rd pick. He'd look good inside with Whitehair and Long. http://draftbreakdown.com/2017/12/03/billy-price-vs-michigan-2017/

With the NFL meetings come access to coaches and GMs. Rich Campbell put together some things to know about our new offense. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-matt-nagy-bears-offense-20180327-story.html Some of the standout items: We'll be running 13 personnel quite often with 3 TEs on the field. This should answer the question as to why we kept Sims. Of course we'd all like to pay him less for what will be a more limited role. As is typical in KC, we'll be seeing lots of screens. Cadence... we may fail on offense but it will be done quickly. Some of those plays will be deep and maybe even on 4th down as it appears we'll be going for it more often. It's all very anti-Fox. Oline need to be athletic and he liked what he saw on film of last year's players. Of course that led to Sitton leaving too. We should probably take Orlando Brown off our draft board.

Test fire works just fine. I really appreciate the work you are doing.

Before I begin I'll preface this stating I don't know enough about Oline blocking and schemes... Regarding Nelson and this new offense, is he the right fit at OG? Everyone is focused on his power (and it is fun to watch) but he's not the most nimble and if we're going to be in a pure ZBS, he'll struggle to reach some of the outside blocks on DTs. Or will we run a similar blocking scheme to what we did last year? I bring that up because there was talk of moving the less mobile Sitton to RG and putting Long at LG where he can pull and block on the run. If we are staying with a similar scheme then it may make sense to put Nelson at RG and move Long to LG. It's not that Nelson can't pull and block, I just don't see quick feet as his forte. Regardless, the fastest and best path for him on the NFL field is likely to be keeping him at LG where he's already comfortable in his stance. In any case, he moves better than Sitton so that's an upgrade right there. Long term does he stay at LG?

We already have Amos in place. I see no need for a guy who is just a run down safety.

For this reason we can't sleep on Marcus Davenport. He may very well be the better edge rushing prospect vs. Edmunds.

I'm surprised nobody commented on how low Stafford was rated. Carson Wentz fit in around where I feel he should based on what I've seen in his play. And that fully guaranteed contract for Kirk Cousin's looks like a good deal from a Bears fan's perspective because having all that money tied up means they can't keep the entire defense together.

Google it...chicago suntimes to hell and back

Some interesting data regarding our young signal caller. "Did you know? Mitchell Trubisky threw 39 seam passes in 2017 and was accurate on 28 of them. Only Aaron Rodgers was more accurate on seam throws than he was." More at the link... http://presnapreads.com/2018/03/25/quarter...he-2017-season/

Lots of speculation but I haven't seen anything from any of the usual "insiders". I liked Hankins last year and wanted us to go after him. My only concern is can he keep his weight in check. If he does he's a beast on run downs and offers enough movement to get some pass rush. My guess is that Pace is waiting him out to see if his contract demands fall enough to fit into his budget. He was paid 3/30 by the Colts a year ago and they just cut him. According to OTC.com we have 28mil in cap space right now. Jerrell Freeman is still on the roster but will definitely be cut at some point adding $3.5mil more. DTs who can't rush the passer don't get the big bucks so if we could get him for a 2-3yr deal at 5-6mil/yr I'd take it. That gives RRH and Bullard more time to develop and in the meantime provide us with pass rush. There is still room for Pace to setup the rumored long term deals with Amos and Goldman and then add his usual group of veteran FAs on minimum salary deals. None of these are considered reliable sources. https://dawindycity.com/2018/03/24/chicago-...nathan-hankins/ http://sportsmockery.com/2018/03/bears-qui...defensive-line/

I don't see how he holds up setting the edge on run downs in this defense. I love his first step quickness but at this point I see him as a pass rush specialist in our scheme, albeit a productive one. I'd take him in Rd 2 but not at #8. If we trade back quite a bit in Rd 1 I'd have his name there on the board too.

I'd say drafting Edmunds will depend a lot on his interviews, and probably a personal workout with the team so they can see how coachable he is. What does he really understand about playing the position and what effort off the field does he put in to improving his game.

Gabriel stretches the defense vertically and Cohen takes them sideline to sideline. We'll have Burton floating about everywhere in between. Last year defenders would challenge Cohen quickly knowing the next level of defenders was right behind them. This year the help defenders won't be able to make that commitment without getting beat deep (Robinson, Gabriel, and even Meredith). The first defender can challenge Cohen early but if they miss it's a big gain of 15-20yds. Or they'll back off him a bit hoping to corral him into a shorter gain of 5-7yds.

Excellent article by Adam Jahns on the Bears coaching search. https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/to-hell...-guy-matt-nagy/

Excellent article by Adam Jahns on the Bears coaching search. https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/to-hell...-guy-matt-nagy/

Those Twitter comments from Gabriel are hilarious.