AZ54

I'll be at the Bears/Cards game in a week and hopefully Trubisky is on the field for a couple quarters.

I don't think net results with Cutler running their offense will be that much different from Tannehill, although their style of play is different. There will be some more turnovers but there will also be more big plays. Reality is Miami still has the 2nd best QB in their division and they have a better QB than the Houston Texans. That's not a bad place to end up after losing your starter a week into training camp. Concern with Cutler isn't all with his turnovers. He has trouble staying healthy.

Tough loss, I like Kush as a backup. This helps Grasu a lot. With Kyle Long slowly working his way back into action moving Whitehair out to LG makes sense. Morgan's a pretty good athlete I suspect he needs a year to get acclimated to the NFL.

Thanks for getting us rolling again DBDB.

3 fumbled snaps were with Boggs. Sunday the fumbled snap was with Whitehair. Sanchez is horrible and consistently makes bad throws. While taking snaps requires more work by Trubisky people (media) are too focused on that and not reporting on what he's doing well in the passing game. Moving ahead of Sanchez is a low bar but I don't think it will be long before Trubisky moves into the #2 position. Maybe another week or two. At that point Trubisky will start to work with the same group more consistently and he'll also see better talent among the defense. From there it's a long way to go to catch up to Glennon.

I'm not that surprised Trubisky is fumbling some snaps early in camp. One of the plays involved a safety running up right up over the center just before the snap. No doubt Trubisky started over-thinking the situation and maybe even pulled back early. With more practice the snap timing will become more second nature. I've seen multiple people say Fuller has looked good after a shaky first day. I expected he'd get cut or traded but if he turns into a good CB for us that's a huge boost for the secondary. Then our backup becomes Cooper who is much better depth than what we had last year. It's worth watching closely as we get into the first preseason games. They are letting a lot of safeties get a shot with the #1 unit next to Demps.

I read that Gentry had made some good plays. He must be giving Bellamy the shakes because Bellamy has already had a couple drops.

Hope springs eternal and then reality sets in. Here's my thoughts on who steps up and who steps down. Surprise: Mitchell Trubisky. I think from the first week in camp it will be clear he can play in this league. A rookie practicing against the same team every day and playing preseason games against backups does not make him ready to start in week 1. Nonetheless I expect to hear quite a bit of positive reviews about Trubisky during camp. Disappointment: Eddie Jackson. I was going to put Fuller in here but he's fighting for a job at this point even if it's not in Chicago. I've seen a lot of hype about Jackson after the draft but IMO he was just ok on film and he's not a hard-nosed player. He hasn't been able to practice at this level because of his injury and knowing his lack of physical prowess I expect little from him this year. I think he sticks around because of his athleticism and long term potential at FS. His best chance to play will be as a returner but will he embrace that role after he takes his first big hit?

I got two: Houston-Carson and Grasu I think the numbers at S catch with DHC. We have Demps, Amos, Bush, Jackson, and HJQ and Hall moving over there from CB last year. I think at the bottom of the roster the team picks the player who can fill in both at FS and CB and that's Hall. HJQ and DHC depart although DHC could end up on the practice squad. Grasu has to expand his game into the backup OG and there he has some very tough competition. I like what Kush did last year as a backup and I expect Morgan to earn a spot as a backup OG. Unless we keep 9 Oline where does Grasu end up? If Kyle Long is still struggling to return to form then there is a chance we keep 9. Then again, if Grasu looks good at OC, and he figures to get quite a bit of playing time there in the preseason, then I can see a needy team calling Pace to make a trade. I guess the corollary to this is: Will Kyle Long be the last of Phil Emery's draft picks on the Bears roster this year?

Why we won't make the playoffs: 1) Mike Glennon I actually share much of your enthusiasm for the Bears this year but reality in the NFL is that without a solid QB, or an elite defense that can carry the water for an no-name QB like Hoyer, the playoffs are not likely. Glennon might become a solid QB for us but it won't happen in the first month of the season. Our defense will not be elite either because of all the new pieces in the secondary. Pace has quietly put players who were in key roles last season in competition to where they may not even make the roster. Unrein, Zach Miller, Langford, Kyle Fuller (he was expected to be our starter), HJQ, and even Grasu. While the top end of the roster still has some significant gaps the bottom end depth in many positions far better this year. Couple that with some (not even all) of the 2nd year players showing improvement and we should be seeing more consistent play across the board even if when we have a few injuries. However, there are some key weak spots in the depth such as ILB until Trevathan returns. OT too. I see this as a 6 to 8 win team. Something dramatic would have to happen in our division such as Rodgers and Stafford going on IR early in the year for us to win 10 games and make the playoffs. There is no scenario where I can see us winning more than 10 games.

This will be very interesting. How long before Cutler says of Glennon: "He should have taken the check down."

Found this article on SI.com. It's a good read, and yes, he played "End" at 170lbs. https://www.si.com/vault/1977/12/05/622015/...-woman-under-48

That will help him when Trubisky is giving him a quiz on the offensive plays at night. If Trubisky sees the field this year it will be no surprise when he looks toward Shaheen early and often.

Thought this was an interesting read especially for those of us who follow the draft closely. OTOH this does explain a lot of the head-scratching picks Emery made because I now i know he was too focused on the "athlete" and draft position and not enough on the performance on the field. There is a place for analytics but I like the fact Pace puts more emphasis on what he sees on the field. Yogi once said "you can learn a lot just by lookin' ". http://chi.247sports.com/Bolt/Bears-have-s...n-Pace-53394075

Trubisky says there will be no hold out.. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/mitch-t...-will-get-done/

Almost all NFL news at this point of the offseason is pointless. If your website's name is Pro Football ANYTHING then you have to find some way to make money in Jun and July. This is why I prefer to ignore all that and watch a few classic games or maybe catch some of the "A Football Life" shows, which are really well done.

And also one of the classiest. http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/the-...ration-of-fans/

Pace took three shots at fixing the #3 WR position: Wright, Cruz, and Wheaton. Essentially for the price of Alshon Jeffrey, who signed a $9.5mil contract, we signed 3 WRs with the same net cap hit and Wheaton by far has the best contract. I figure Wheaton gives us some versatility (insurance) on the outside with White. He's not very quick in his cuts but does have good speed. Barring an injury to White or Meredith, to surprise us Wheaton will have to win the slot position in order to get consistent playing time.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000081...marquess-wilson Good luck to all because they are going to need it.

I like that we picked up Banks late last year but I'm not as high on him. Nothing wrong with taking a shot a player like this. If he has his act together I think he has a good chance to make the final roster especially with the concerns over Fuller. That will depend heavily on how well he handles special teams. I don't see him as a likely starter but if he were to put it all together I'd put his max ceiling at being able to challenge Cooper to start, not Amukamara. Realistically I think he's competes for the 5th or 6th spot. In terms of surprises it sounds like Shaheen may be the biggest one, both literally and figuratively. I've seen and heard (podcasts) multiple people say that he looks very comfortable on the field (i.e. knowing the plays) and his pass catching has been outstanding. Of course there will be the adjustment when the pads come on but according to Freeman, Shaheen is already playing aggressively and does not appear intimidated at all by the jump from DII to the NFL.

Attendance doesn't mean participation in practice. We do have a handful of players with injuries (Meredith, Sitton) or still recovering from surgery (Long, Trevathan). I haven't really seen anything on the rookie contracts except that Trubisky is not signed.

I'm not sure we've ever seen every player attend all OTAs and minicamp. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...9c-0dcf6884176b

Technically Barkley was the #4 QB since he wasn't on the team until the end of August. Without Shaw's injury I doubt he'd have been signed at that time. Maybe they'd have brought him in when Hoyer went down.

The Tribune has a good article on Jordan Howard and his offseason work. Most notable was the eye surgery and he now has 20/20 vision. I'll be curious to see if this helps his pass catching. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0613-story.html

I've been thinking about this. Our defense ranked top 10 until the last 3 weeks of the season. That was despite the lack of consistency on the offensive side of the ball and the injuries. CBs: Who were we trotting out there in the secondary last year? Hopefuls like Jacoby Glenn and Bausby for some games. A rookie unknown in LeBlanc who played well despite being moved all over the field. Whatever reservations I have for Marcus Cooper he's a far better option than either of Glenn/Bausby. Amukamara is also a step up from Porter. I like Callahan and LeBlanc and think both are NFL quality starters at NB. Both proved capable of filling in outside. Our 5th CB is going to be one of Fuller/Banks/Hall. S: Demps makes this better but not quite where we want it to be. I still like Amos in the box but we're still in a wait and see for Deon Bush. Unlike most I'm not that high on Eddie Jackson although his physical talent fits what we want in the deep middle. Their success will depend on the front 7 but there is no doubt we have more depth here than last year. Bottom line among the DBs is that we are at the point where one or two of Pace's draft picks are going to move to the practice squad or won't make the team at all. Fuller can be added to that mix as well. Overall the competition for roster spots for the DBs is much tougher going into training camp than last year when we all knew the late round draft picks would make the final 53. OLB: I am very encouraged by McPhee's participation in the offseason. He'll never be a full-time player again but if he can handle 60% of the snaps on defensive side we're in very good shape. Willie Young is still a very good player when he's getting about 30-40% of the snaps. Then we have Houston filling in for Floyd at times. Despite the chatter about him being cut Houston is still a good OLB for us especially on run downs. If an experienced Dan Skuta is our 5th option then we have some very good depth across the board. We could certainly use another speed player off the edge in this mix but this is a solid group. ILB: I like Freeman alongside Kwit to start the year with Trevathan working into the mix mid-season. I'd like to see one more quality player here because Timu is too limited in coverage. Dline: If Howard is out there we will have one of the best DT groups in football and two of them (Goldman, Hicks) have the power and quickness to push the pocket. If we had a star player out there people would be talking about this D. We don't have one yet.