AZ54

After listening to Fox's press conference today it is obvious a QB switch is going to happen. The only question for Fox is when will they deem Trubisky ready.

The battle for QBs in the 2018 draft will be interesting. We figure to at least have a top 10 draft pick. Teams needing QBs: Jacksonville Browns (the Kizer pick could put them in the worst spot of not being sure or certain they have their future QB while a future franchise QB is available at their pick) Jets Buffalo Arizona (Palmer likely to retire) Pittsburgh (Ben likely to retire) SF There will be 7 teams in serious need of a QB, regardless of where Kirk Cousins ends up. There are likely 3 top QB talents. On the outside with aging QBs or questions at QB are the Giants, Bengals, and New Orleans. Probably all 3 will consider a QB at some point in the draft.

How do we know how bad our WR corps is when we have Glennon throwing to these guys? His INT on the pass to Sims was not just a bad read it was also a pass that was quite a bit behind Sims. On a 5 yd route! On top of that Shaheen was wide open 5 yards to the right of Sims. I don't want to debate the quality of our WRs but you can reword it to ask what vet WR is really going to change what we see from Glennon? Keep the draft picks.

Each week it has become more and more obvious that signing Glennon was never anything more than a smokescreen from a GM who was stuck drafting at #3 behind two franchises who also needed a QB. This offense ran better with Hoyer and Cutler but keeping either as our starter was telling the world we were going into the draft looking for a QB. I was in favor of drafting Trubisky early in the offseason. After seeing Glennon in two games, plus zero competence in the preseason, I find it impossible to believe that the same talent evaluator Pace, who went after Tru aggressively and, we now know, very secretly, also decided that Glennon was a better more expensive option to win games than Hoyer, or even Cutler. Pace had access to all of Glennon's NFL game film he saw these massive flaws in his game. Everyone knew Trubisky would need time but how much was the question. Pace and Fox had to be hoping the Glennon charade would last longer than Week 2. Throughout the draft process Trubisky proved he is capable of keeping his mouth shut and not giving away secrets. The Steelers game, an AFC opponent, might not be the right time for Trubisky but the Packers game is. A win there, or even a promising performance, would change the dynamic in the locker room. This roster, even the defense, needs that in a bad way. Conventional wisdom says they won't put Trubisky out there on a short week but you know that also means the Packers have less time to prepare for him. In any case Fox will never say Trubisky is going to play before he actually gets in a game. Ragone should pull Trubisky into some closed door sessions this week to run through some Packers game film.

Exactly. No elite #1 WR was needed.

I don't believe I have ever seen anyone play QB without moving their feet at all once they drop back. Glennon might as well be wearing cement shoes. Once he drops back his feet are set, they won't move even if he changes to throw to another side, which is partly why he can't work his progression back to the other side of the field. He's telegraphing to DBs where he's going with his set. When he finally completes his calculation that a receiver is open (usually a second ago) he throws without even lifting up his front foot and stepping forward. The Trubisky watch is no longer a question of if, just a matter of when. Next week fans at home will be extremely vocal demanding Trubisky. I can live through a 3 turnover game from the rookie knowing he's learning on the fly, but he'll also open up a lot more for the rest of the players on offense.

I believe 3rd year players are eligible for the practice squad but it depends on how many games they played in. If they think the injuries are serious enough to warrant a move then why not. I don't get the sense that Howard's shoulder is a big concern and the staff seems to like Mizzell. Maybe we'll find out why today.

That's true. We'll see how many Hall of Fame WRs Brady takes with him. Other than Randy Moss at the end of his career the list of his WRs non-Patriots fans could recite is very short. Elite QBs get by with decent/good WRs year after year. Who has Drew Brees been throwing to these last 5 years when he's averaged 5,000 yards per season?

Achilles injuries might be tougher than ACL injuries but these days unless there is structural damage the ligaments and joints seem to heal well with no long term affects. Robinson has enough time to recover that the Bears should know when FA rolls around how well he is healing. He wouldn't be ready until training camp. If the doc says he's ok, and Robinson appears to do diligent in his rehab, I'd be willing to take a risk. He might sign for a good 1 yr deal that allows him back into FA. Or perhaps Pace does a 2yr deal like he did with Hicks that takes the middle ground for both sides. I don't think it's likely but if Gentry steps up consistently by the end of the season then Pace may be content to just add another rookie WR to the mix. That's a big if. Without that we need at least one decent veteran for stability at WR next year.

Thanks for the assist, I was working through the night. I would say don't sleep on Allen Robinson. He may very well want to get out of Jacksonville and they don't have a lot of cap space. They may just want to invest elsewhere with their limited money, or use the draft to find a replacement. Tagging Robinson would consume their entire cap space and limit any FA activity. On top of all that, everyone knows JAX will be looking for a new QB next year but they might be good enough this year to play themselves out of the top 10 picks. This would be a bit of a risky signing for Pace with Robinson now missing the 2017 season with a torn ACL. That also means his market value will be lower and, perhaps more importantly to Pace, he won't command as much guaranteed money in his deal. He hit 1400 yards his 2nd season but fell off to just 883 yds last year when Bortles was struggling. Robinson has been durable his first three seasons. If he is a FA, having a good young QB like Trubisky could help entice him to sign here, and he'll have a solid running game to take pressure off him as well. I haven't watched many Jaguars' games (who has?) but in terms of skills he probably compares well to Jeffrey but is a more fluid in his movement skills.

I wish him luck. I'm not sure at this point he'll be a stud slot WR but he may yet be an effective one, especially in New England's scheme. He just wasn't good enough to be part of a weak WR corps here, and really not good enough to deserve a practice squad spot which went to Gentry. Titus Davis outplayed Braverman in the preseason too and he's not even on our team.

I'm good with it. Coaches game planned for the roles that best fit each RB at this point in the season. Cohen is a rookie so the assumption that he knows everything he should about the offense is a bit ridiculous IMO. Jordan Howard had things to learn last year early in the season. In the end this means Tampa has no idea how we will use Cohen in the red zone. That could help us a lot. Cohen for his part needs to learn to avoid the big hits when it's not necessary. After an 18 yard gain there's no need to fight for another yard or two, just step out of bounds. Atlanta's players were manhandling him hard into the ground and he's not in a good position when CBs can just lift him up off the ground and slam him to the turf like that. Running over a CB to get a TD is ok.

So we had a few idiots (10, 20, 100, 1000?) who are so tough they chose to hide behind the internet say really bad, stupid, and even some threating things toward Conte. Then because those few people couldn't remain classy we get Conte being classy and insulting millions of Chicagoans. His decisions on the field were often suspect and I think he confirmed his mental capacity quite accurately in that quote. I have zero regrets we moved on from him but we may owe him one favor because that game most likely was the final nail in the Cutler coffin, at least in Chicago. Pace was probably in North Carolina the next weekend. How ironic would it be if a couple deep passes from Glennon put the final nail in Conte's career in Tampa.

Sounds like he'll be looking to jump some routes again looking for a big play. ADd in that they know Glennon wants to hit the shorter routes and is not accurate on the deep throws. I'd throw caution to the wind and go deep several times in the middle of the field. I'd target him with a double move, someone like Miller has more than enough speed to catch him flat footed and then run past him.

After seeing the final numbers I really like this deal. Cap hits of $10mil/yr for 2017-2019 seasons. Then it moves up to $12mil/yr. https://overthecap.com/player/akiem-hicks/1472 Cap space next year is $42mil. Plenty of room for Pace to work with and bring in a couple good FAs. Look down the road into 2019 he has $91mil available so very few long term commitments and lots of roster flexibility. Ideally some of our younger players like Goldman, Cam Meredith, and Howard, will earn some of that cap space.

That elite pass rush had 1 more sack than the Bears D in 2016. FWIW we had more sacks than the elite (and very expensive) defensive front of the NY football Giants. Apparently sacks are worth more media coverage when they occur in NY city.

Kwiat is far better suited to replace Freeman's role than he is Trevathan's. With Trevathan playing well in week 1 I don't think we'll lose too much.

Anyone got any feedback on our next opponent? I scanned their depth chart and it appears Jacquizz Rodgers is their starting RB splitting time with Charles Sims. Quite a bit less of threat than Atlanta ran at us. They do have a good QB and WRs in Evans and Desean Jackson on the outside plus OJ Howard at TE. I think Fangio needs to flip the script from last week where the focus was on shutting down the run and we should get after the QB. Maybe we'll see more of Bullard and RRH this week? Their defense has some good players but other than Gerald McCoy I don't see any big pass rush threats. That's a consistent complaint among their fans on the message boards too. CBs are good but in the middle they have Chris Conte so there is hope for a big play on a blown coverage.

Yes he does. He'll likely be here next year, especially given our lack of depth at the position, but we won't pick up his 5th year option. He's going to be in a similar spot to what Fuller went through this offseason and training camp. He'll probably end up in a similar spot too and be a backup WR (Fuller is a backup CB).

I am much happier seeing Alshon's money being spent on Akiem Hicks. I suppose Jeffrey's 3 receptions and 38 yards could have made the difference for us versus Bellamy who had 3 rec and 27 yards in the 4th quarter.

Pace will have to figure out a deal with Cam Meredith first. Depending on what we do with Glennon we should have $30-40mil in cap space. Something will happen with McPhee's $7mil hit too. He either leaves the team or if he plays decently the entire season he reworks the contract to fit a part time role. Big needs will be OLB, WR, and CB. OLB is usually hard to fill in FA so expect the FA focus to be on WR and CB. Allen Robinson (Jaguars WR) looks to be out for the year with a torn ACL. He'll be among the top FA WRs next year. After spending big in FA for years the Jaguars have a whopping $8mil in cap space next year. It's hard to say if they'll franchise tag Robinson although you can expect they'll want him around. Terrell Pryor is the other big WR, if you're looking for a red zone target. Jarvis Landry is a good option as a #2 WR. Alshon Jeffrey is a FA too but he doesn't want to be here so I don't want him either.

I agree, when you see Cohen play in person he really stands out as he did against the Cardinals defense in the preseason. I'll give him credit, Bellamy played well when he came in. Kevin White has done nothing for us so we are not missing anything other than high hopes/expectations. Bring up Gentry and start getting him ready. This offense really needs at least one WR who is a physical route runner against press coverage and Gentry can provide that. It might take him several weeks before he's ready to hit the field but the sooner we start the sooner we succeed. I like Tre McBride as well but again he's weeks away from knowing the offense. We can still win with numbers at WR because we have a good running game and we have a good TE group. The bigger problem is Glennon is not a quick release QB, nor is he that accurate. He'll take what the play design gives him and nothing more. With WRs like this we need Trubisky's arm talent, as well as his mobility to extend plays. For now we need to keep Glennon in there and let Trubisky learn. I thought the defense played great. If not for that huge coverage mistake by Demps late in the game they pretty much shutdown the league's best offense from last year. With almost an entirely new secondary and a rookie FS out there I expected Atlanta's offense to have a big day against us, as did the rest of the universe, and it didn't happen. For week 1 test against one of the league's best offenses I'm pleased with the D.

You think his collarbone was broken before the game started?

Matt Ryan sometimes holds the ball a little longer than he should. If the pass rush is there for us our secondary will get some help. The other thing nobody really knows is what it is like to watch a Bears secondary with a very fast FS like Eddie Jackson back there. That includes Matt Ryan. That might get us an INT.

Love his "compliment" on Fuller: http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-w...ight-direction/ “I thought he got better as camp went on, which was good to see,” Fangio said. “I think he was able to learn some things and mature as a player [by] watching last year.”