AZ54

Willie's a great guy, the type of player you love to fill out the middle of the roster with. We're in a 4-3 alignment half of the time so he has value IMO. Last year I think he had a lot of reservations early on with the transition to the new scheme but if he's happy playing for Fox and Fangio, and thus more wiling to mold to the scheme, then I'm happy to see him stay a couple more years. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0519-story.html

It was very late before the draft that I found he hadn't been able to lift weights all offseason until perhaps 2 or 3 weeks before the draft. We'll never know what it impacted in terms of ranking but this had to be a big concern for Pace after White's injury last year.

At 5'11" and 170lbs I don't expect much. If Floyd has to eat every 2hrs to gain weight and strength this kid will have to eat every hour. That aside, my biggest concern with him is that he really wasn't that productive as a WR at Colorado-State Pueblo with just 36 passes for 622 yards. For comparison: Braverman is just 5'10" and 177lbs but 108 receptions for 1367 yards with good games against Mich St and Ohio St. That said, he is outstanding at fielding punts even catching the ball over his shoulder when they kick away from him. Oddly his running style is similar to Hester's with short strides and, like Braverman, can make very quick cuts at speed. Despite the fast forty time I don't see elite long speed but he's fast. I'd hazard a guess that his PR skills are what caught the coaches eyes the most and led to contract, and that's his best (long) shot at making the roster. Mariani is just ok at fielding punts. Deonte Thompson can't catch punts so there is something of a job opening there in competition with Braverman. Regional combine highlights Pro Day and the all important highlights

I respect Fangio and the work he did putting a respectable defense on the field last year despite all the injuries and lack of talent especially for his scheme, was IMO, one of best coaching jobs we've seen in a long time with the Bears. I remember last year his comments about players were usually we'll see, or "we have one good Dlineman and the rest we'll see". This year he's clearly more upbeat about the players while still acknowledging the amount of work that needs to be done to get them up to speed. It's way too early to have any idea what this defense can become but it is safe to say that Fangio feels much better about the players he has to work with this year than last. Also interesting is that he's not worried at all about how lean Floyd is. Floyd visited the Bears for two days before the draft. We've all debated the combine numbers (myself included) but in those two days the Bears had to have a good idea what he can do coming off the edge, as well as his coverage skills. Clearly Vic has his ideas on how he can use Floyd and isn't so worried that he gets pushed out of a couple running plays. He values having a player who can cover or rush off the edge. It will be interesting to see this play out and if it leads to more zone blitzing schemes on 3rd and long because you won't know who is coming and who is covering: Floyd or Freeman, or (to a lesser extent) Trevathan who reportedly isn't as good at blitzing. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0514-story.html

IIRC coaches said they wanted him to be stronger not necessarily bigger (heavier). There's good weight that adds strength and then there's the Vince Wilforkesque immovable weight. The Bears clearly valued Grasu's ability to block on the move when they drafted him so that likely means they don't want him to lose that mobility.

I wasn't impressed by Rodgers last year but he did beat out Carey in the competition so that means the coaches liked him better. I'm not sure what will change this year for Carey.

Do you know how many players we kept at each position at the beginning of the season last year? There were a lot of changes as injuries built up later in the season and they were getting a look at many different players so body counts by position in Week 15/16 were likely different than Week 1. I suspect what you listed there (I added body counts) is close to what we started with last year. Robertson-Harris is an OLB so he'll be competing with (and beating out) Acho for a roster spot. If we kept 6 DTs last year then it bodes well for Washington's chances at making the roster this year but I wouldn't rule out Terry Williams in this battle.

I'm not saying they are great or couldn't be upgraded but I like our OLB rotation of McPhee, Houston, Young, and Floyd. There might not be a lot of flash (not until we see if Floyd can get around the edge) but there's a little bit of everything in there in terms of skills. If a 5th player makes the roster at OLB it might be Acho but he showed little last year around the LOS and wasn't so great on special teams. If we keep 5, there's a chance we see Robertson-Harris on the 53. Personally I think he needs a year on the practice squad but I also don't think we need Acho on the 53. The way this roster was rebuilt this offseason, especially with the draft and UDFAs we have some strong competition for the bottom 1/3 of the roster. WR: Mariani, Marquese Wilson, Braverman, Bellamy, Deonte Thompson, and Meredith DBs: Bush, Hall, Houston-Carson, Callahan, Omar Bolden, Hurst, HJQ, and Prosinski LBs: Anderson, Barrow, Cherry, Jones, Kwiatkoski, Tim, RB: Carey, Rodgers, Perry (I'm not too enamored with this depth) TE: Housler, Braunecker, Lee, Sommers That's 27 names of players that contributed last year or are draftees/UDFAs who I think can challenge for a roster spot. Normally at this time I look at the bottom of the roster and it's just a bunch of names I think I'll hear for about 1 year, perhaps 2 years, and then they are gone. This time around I look at the competition and I think a few of these new players are going to be guys we talk about for several years, if not more. I'm actually looking forward to preseason games in a way I haven't for years because I feel like there's finally a foundation to this roster that will build the future we want to see. Guys that made a little name for themselves last year (like Bellamy and Wilson) need to compete for a roster spot. I want to see how those battles play out on the field and some vets are going to get chopped. This is not to say these guys can all become starters, rather I'm saying I think we will finally added enough good football players that whoever wins these roster spots will provide good depth on the roster. Maybe a couple, or three, will become starters down the road but for now this depth is what helps a team survive the inevitable injuries that occur during the season.

I think you are right and Carey is the odd man out. Rodgers beat him out last year and I doubt things will change this year. Howard makes much more sense as the complimentary back to Langford. If Carey's not playing well on special teams, which has a lot more competition with all the DBs we just drafted, then why keep him around?

Based on this article it seems Howard is going to fit in well for us and it seems he has a more diverse skillset (i.e. route running) than what was seen in games. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0510-story.html

Mark Sadowski was promoted to take his spot. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/front-o...-mark-sadowski/

I don't see a playoff D on the horizon yet. There are too many young players we are going to rely on including: Floyd, Bullard, and one of the 3 draftees at safety (or HJQ). While I like the outlook for the future these players they have a lot to learn. Over at CB we have decent players but Porter is only going to be what he was last year so we'd need Fuller to step up in a big way. That is unless Floyd becomes an instant terror off the edge as a pass rusher. There will be some bumps in the road early on but having two good players like Freeman and Trevathan in the middle will help these other players a lot.

The UDFA ILBs from the last 3 offseasons will battle it out.

Good football player. I don't think he ran well at his Pro Day and that led to him being undrafted but his play speed looks faster than a 4.77, seems like he's running somewhere between 4.6-4.7. Cherry seems to have good instincts and awareness around the LOS but it's only a highlight film so we don't see how he handle blocks. I think he'll challenge Timu and Christian Jones for the last ILB roster spot. He's faster than Timu on film at least, and his lateral movement is better. Christian Jones is the best athlete among these three if only he can learn where to go and when to be there. Keep an eye on special teams during preseason. http://sportspagemagazine.com/football/col...ess-to-succeed/

I always feel like people misconstrue what I write. Just because I posted the highlights doesn't mean I think he'll make the team. All I said is he's worth bringing in to see if he can make the practice squad. Yes, I don't like highlights because they don't show the negative plays. The two UDFA's that I think have the best chance to develop into NFL players are Braunecker, Don Cherry LB, and Roy Robertson-Harris. Braunecker could very well make the roster over Khari Lee especially if he's better on special teams. I could see Cherry challenging Timu for a spot as well. Robertson-Harris is likely just a practice squad candidate this season.

Why do you assume the guy negotiating the contracts was responsible for the Saint's cap issues and not the guy making the final decisions on how those contracts should be structured: Micky Loomis? Everyone works (most people do) and it's to hard to find people who don't disagree with their boss. Maybe Pace and this guy got along but disagreed with the guidance Loomis was giving at times? Look at the data to see how Pace does things: McPhee can be cut after this year with just a $1.5mil dead money cap hit. Trevathan's deal is also front loaded so that if we want or need to we can get out after just 2 years with a $2.5mil hit, and just $1.5mil in the last year. It's early in his GM career but so far he has hedged his bets and avoided long term cap issues. In two offseasons he has also stayed away from expensive FA who can really cause cap issues preferring instead to work the 2nd tier of FA, and has done so successfully IMO.

I love how he plays the game, especially his blocking, but against this level of competition it's easy to do. He's going to need a lot more lower body strength to play like that in the NFL. It is always hard to judge speed against lower levels of competition but he's not going to run away from any DBs in the NFL. He has enough mobility to find gaps in a defense and he's got good hands and tracks the ball well so it's worth giving him a shot to see how develops.

Word out of Baltimore is that they'll keep Monroe. They have $12mil in cap space and cutting him now leaves them $6mil in dead money and just $2mil in cap space.

Another thing that stood out to me was players complaining about the lack of practice time in pads (without contact). It is what their union negotiated for but maybe in the future they will back off these restrictions somewhat. The big guys need to get some contact in the offseason to improve their craft.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/...2016-nfl-draft/ https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/...2016-nfl-draft/

It is impossible to know how he'll perform once the pads go on but looking at the practice photos of Cornelius Washington he has bulked up quite a bit for his new role at DE. He made some noise last year in pass rushing drills early in camp before his injury. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/pho...72-3dcb23fcef47

No but we were working to trade either of Young or Houston. I don't see Houston getting cut but Young could very well get replaced. FWIW Schofield made Sam Acho replaceable on the Cardinals a few years ago. He's a good "effort" player but not that talented athletically. If that is the plan I'd just prefer to keep Willie Young on the roster unless we get a good offer for him.

Don't misconstrue all the hype about DHC and his special teams success blocking kicks. He's a good safety prospect. While I expect him to be successful on special teams for us those blocked kicks were all done at a much lower level of competition. The media, being what they are, won't watch the game films that show how good of a safety prospect DHC is.

There's always talk of wanting/needing an inline blocking TE but last year Zach Miller was often used as an H-back or FB. Braunecker is far better at blocking than Miller and I can see him playing in that role for us.

By the 2nd half of the season I expect this guy will be the one sharing snaps with Miller, if not sooner. He's not great at anything but he's good all-around from blocking inline, blocking in space, good hands, enough speed and mobility to work the deep middle of the field (ran 4.66 at Pro Day, 4.73 at combine). He's not going up against great competition to earn that #2 role but still I think he can be productive on the field. Among TEs at the combine he was top 3 in every category except 40yd where he was 5th but 2nd-5th were separated by just a couple hundredths. He ran a 6.90 3-cone so he has the quickness in/out of cuts to get separation. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/ben-braunecker-vs-yale-2015/ https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=braune...D&FORM=VIRE If not for the level of competition concerns, and the fact he's just 6'3" he'd have been drafted somewhere in the last few rounds. I'm still surprised we took Braverman in the 7th and not Braunecker given our TE need. Getting them both is great. A good team fills out the 2nd tier of their roster with players like these two.