AZ54

Some good explanation here from Adam Mason. Simply put Murray has the best preseason of all backup Oline. We can argue about PFF grades but for the same team on the same plays with the same evaluator there should relative value to the grades At about 12 min

I just watched the press conference with both the new guys. I like them. They feel less like stop gaps and more like legit contributors. We’ll see where both end up in the rotation but each will bring something different we didn’t have on the front. Williams is only 285 but just looking at him he is all lean muscle and quick.

For me it's all about Flus having 2 years experience with him. Plus they have whatever he did in preseason on film to evaluate. He knows the scheme right out of the gate so that is another plus, and likely knows it better than any of our offseason acquisitions. Since Pickens is out we need help early in the season.

https://sports.yahoo.com/bears-trade-defensive-lineman-cleveland-150637833.html

3 to IR. No more discusión about wheeler vs Jones but he shows promise for next year https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2024/08/24/bears-place-ian-wheeler-nsimba-webster-douglas-coleman-on-injured-reserve/74934179007/

Since he's listed here as a LB/Pass rusher I'm going to assume they were using him in a 3-4 front. He might be a better fit in our scheme. https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2024/08/23/seahawks-lb-darrell-taylor-to-bears-for-6th-round-pick/ That hurts: https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2024/08/23/with-darrell-taylor-traded-the-entire-seahawks-2020-draft-class-is-gone/

He is what we hoped DomRob would become. Based on his draft profile he’s got talent. Might not be your typical high character player but maybe a change of scenery helps. If he was a problem in the locker room Waldron would have known about it. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/darrell-taylor/32005441-5914-6193-6988-dd442dbf7f65

Blackwell is an ace on special teams coverage. While Reddy looked good against a lot of backups he might be more of a PS guy. While he learns the defense better. i found it ironic to listen to the announcers talking to the GM about all his good drafting while his recent first and second picks were on the field fighting for a job.

I've got 2 QBs: Williams and Bagent. We keep one of Rypien/Reed on PS and after watching the KC game I don't care which one. If we're keeping 4 RBs I'm taking Velus over Homer. He showed tonight he's the better RB and he's got as much or more versatility on special teams. ------ This new rule is going to factor into the 53 this year possibly with Borom's injury if it's not season ending: "Previously a player needed to make the 53-man roster to be eligible to return to the 53-man roster. That means guys placed on IR during training camp, when teams can carry 90 players, couldn’t be designated to return. Instead, players needed to make the 53-man roster on final cut day, then be placed on IR. However, according to a memo distributed by NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, the league has tweaked IR rules this year to allow players to return to the 53-man roster if they are placed on IR on cut down day."

Bears win. Not much worth noting of course but Austin Booker got the start and then was pulled quickly so that says he's a part of the DE rotation. Who did Tyler Scott piss off to be playing the entire game including kick returns in the 4th quarter? He almost got his head ripped off late in the 4th but thankfully walked off the field. Bagent looks good. Austin Reed looks more composed on the field than Rypien. I'm not saying he's better, although I wouldn't say he's worse, but he's also got a lot less experience. I wonder what that battle looks like next year or even in Week 10? I had hopes that Owens could be a decent backup safety for us but after this game I'm not sure that's going to happen. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt playing with a lot of players who are likely not assignment sound. Or is it him? Velus gets trashed a lot but if there is a choice to be made at RB I'd take him over Homer. He runs with more power, burst, deep speed, can fall forward after contact, showed good patience at the LOS at times, and on at least one occasion did well blocking. All in just 3 weeks of practice. Homer just looks like any other guy out there in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th quarter. I doubt we'll have that choice at RB unless Roschon is a surprise cut or IR'd for the first part of the season. Or we trade Herbert, which I think is a bad idea. I'll be curious how this plays out. Kramer seemed like a decent emergency backup at C. I can see him being back on the practice squad. Not that it should matter but it was odd that our starting punter didn't kick in this game. Is there an injury concern? Overall again the Bears looked like the better coached team and that lasted on the field until late in the 4th when it got sloppy. Off to the 53 man selection process and the practice squad. This year we are a good team for young players to sign with. That might help us find another practice squad gem for future depth. OTOH we are likely to be surprised that a couple of our past cut/practice squad guys get picked up by other teams.

The next NFL commissioner will need to be someone with international connections. Or at least someone who can build that. That may or may not be Warren. I have no clue. League expansion into Europe and elsewhere is at the top of the agenda.

Kiran is coming off a serious injury that has kept him off the field for 10 months. Jones had a full offseason to prepare and also lesser competition to win the job. College competition level might have been similar between the two but Kiran never saw the likes of that Duke schedule. I love his potential but I just think he needs a year to adjust. If he allows us to walk away from paying Jones 2nd contract that a big win for the roster because that big money can help us keep or sign another good player.

We’ve had plenty of chatter about adding a DE and almost did. Yet after camp i feel better about our prospects at DE and I’m more concerned about DT depth now. Grabbing a solid vet who gets cut or even trading a late round pick for one could give us a solid 3 man rotation.

A kid coming out of Yale? Missing all of the entire offseason and training camp is miles away from challenging a starter. I’m hoping he can challenge Borom to be our backup OT. At this point even that might be optimistic.

Yes he can. I wonder when we get new tidbits if it’s the other way around with Ngakoue getting in touch with the Bears? Semantics being what they are you know how the agent wants it reported.

I'll take Flus and the hits principle for the win.

At TE I like Bates more so than Sweeney. Sweeney has more experience which has to help him. Bates ran a 4.6 forty vs 4.8 for Sweeney and that shows on the field along with his 10’2” broad jump explosiveness. The coaches see them everyday they will make the right choice. Carlson is in the mix too but he just looks meh when he’s on the field.

As we guess at the 53 keep mind Poles’ comment from the other day. The new kickoff rules may require different players in coverage or blocking skills. He said they might need to keep less big guys and have more smaller faster players. That leans towards 4 DT and 5 DE. Same might go for TEs - keep 4 instead of 3. If it’s a question of last TE vs FB then who is the better fit? There is no baseline in the league so it’ll be interesting.

I wasn’t terribly impressed by Bagent last year. One good preseason game paired with one bad game hasn’t really changed my mind. I think he's a viable QB2 in the league and that’s about it.

They were 3 painful drops.

Gardner Minshew has turned that style into a decent career as a bridge QB/backup.

After listening to hiIs post-game press conference I'd say he agrees there is much to work on. I've watched a couple film sessions on him (Chase Daniels, and part-way through JT's) and so far it feels more like Caleb was trying to force the ball to a few players. Maybe he was guilty of trying to get everyone involved because there were just a few big throws the previous game? He's got three weeks to settle in. Hopefully the offensive starters get one series in the next preseason game. I think he needs that to calm down.

...and yet I remember Pettis dropping some potential game winning passes in recent years. None of that means I choose Velus over Pettis either. I just don't see a difference on drops. Pettis is better at catching punts.

I don't know if it's the lack of game planning or just preseason vanilla play calling but this new offense so far is traditional Bears stuff. We have far too much talent for it to look that bad. I don't know if that's Williams holding onto the ball too long, which seems most likely, or nobody getting open. Williams talent on broken plays is good but he's supposed to be the one who can play on time. Let's hope as the coaches pull back on the playbook for the start of the season and he gains more reps that starts to show up.