AZ54

I still like Flus as a head coach. He's not perfect by any means but I also accept that it takes people time to grow into their job. Therefore I look for progress. Where Nagy has some early success the team then peeked and sank. Worse the locker room culture was bad. OTOH Flus stood by last year and toed the company line as good player after good player was traded away from him. Flus fielded what was easily the worst roster in the NFL last year, now backed up by how many players are backups elsewhere or out of the league. Now he's done something I'm not sure has ever been done in the NFL..... win 2 of 4 games with an undrafted QB from a D3 school. If anyone had that on their bingo card please let me know. That leads into the progress because we now have a top 5 running game in the NFL. I don't remember where we ranked last year, it was at least top 10, but most people gave that credit to Fields. Regardless, we were still good running the ball and that was without a complimentary passing game. We set out to fix the run defense in the offseason and now have a top 5 run D. I say they set their goals correctly and achieved them. I say correctly because even with Fields we still have questions at the QB position. If you want to help a young QB develop then give them a good running game to take pressure off them. Did I expect us to go from the worst roster in the NFL to a playoff team in one offseason? No. I did expect more consistency especially from Fields but i'm not going to fault Getsy for Fields cryptic indecisions to throw to open WRs. We've also had a lot of injuries to deal with as well in the secondary and Oline. Backups played decently this year indicating improvement from coaching: Borom, Carter, Jaylon Johnson, Foreman, Darrynton Evans who was poached off a practice squad, Sewell, and Patrick. Minus one or two key injuries I think it's reasonable for us to have won 4 games at this point. That would be on track with most pre-season projections of 6-8 wins. We still might get there and I need to see that progress. If the team regresses then yes we have a coaching problem. If the upward trend continues then I want to give them another season.

Carolina might be missing some skill position players but their roster isn't totally devoid of talent. They have better talent than what we put on the field for the last 8 games in 2022. At this point in the season Young has comparable experience in their offense to what Fields had in Week 10 last year. Who were our WRs last year in Wk 10? I had doubts about Young, at least as a #1 overall pick and he definitely didn't look the part tonight. It's still early for him but if you went into that game not knowing the QBs which one would you want to keep on your roster... Young or Bagent? Neither looked good but one threw better on the run and handled pressure better. As for Bagent I think he really shutdown his game this week. He made a couple risky throws early. After that, it was mostly throwing into the dirt if there was any doubt about coverage. His confidence is definitely shaken and he needs to get back out of the spotlight. I'll give him credit for the throw that got that last First Down. Super tight window there, he really threaded the needle into the perfect spot. It was really the only throw in the game where I felt he looked like the Bagent we saw in his first couple games.... confident in the pocket and (what I think) good mechanics. We'll see on the highlights. Mooney made a great catch too knowing he was going to get lit up. That is how winning teams close out tight games. Bagent is 2-2. Much of that credit goes to the D and his supporting cast. Yet that's what you expect from a backup QB. Seeing Carolina not really worry about anything beyond 20 yds was bothersome but they were right. I miss the explosive plays with Fields. Now Detroit has a lot to figure out with this offense and if I'm Flus I'm making them prepare for both QBs.

I always used to have that same feeling watching Lovie's D. Yet after reflection, the purpose of the defense is not to give up points. That "bad" D gave up just 6 pts. It might not always look ideal, and, for example, I certainly didn't like a blitz on 3rd and short late in the game but the net result was a good game in the NFL. If you want to make excuses because they were playing the #1 overall rookie QB well then our undrafted Div III rookie QB put up 16pts. If special teams didn't give up a TD to ISM that game has a totally different feel to it. At one point it was 7 possessions for Carolina with 6 punts and 1 FG.

Edwards was being picked on in pass coverage. He's a good player but we have to recognize his limitations. Of course putting Edmunds and his range next to him covers that up better than Sanborn.

Edwards can't keep taking bad angles and giving up big plays. Two games in a row he's done that. Against SD he gave up a TD on a missed tackle. In NO he gave a big gain on an outside run by taking an inside angle to avoid a blocker thus leaving the outside wide open. If he takes the outside it's still a positive gain but not 20+ yds. In between he makes good plays now let's see the consistency.

DJ Moore has met my high expectations. Herbert has looked good as the starter, handling more snaps better than I expected. Blasingame I’m a big fan of. Nobody gives FBs love but we missed him when he went out of the game.

I thought Sweat played well. Later in the game he saved one TD with his hustle play chasing down a RB from behind. That was after starting on the opposite side of the play. Consider his week started with a trade then a flight to Chicago. Having to spend time figuring out where to live. New playbook. New teammates. Get mega rich which, if it were me, I would want to celebrate with a great bottle of scotch. Still living out of a suitcase then a flight to New Orleans. Now he has a short week to get ready for Carolina. We’ll see him at full strength after the 10 day break.

Dominating left side or right side.

Gotta wade into this draft stuff... Strategy is to figure out how we win with Justin Fields or Tyson Bagent, which means I'm not drafting a QB. Justin has proven when he has time to throw he can take apart a defense in the intermediate and deep range and if that fails he can make you pay by running. All that takes time to pull the defense apart so you must have good Oline play. Therefore I'm drafting the best LT prospect right out of the gate. 2). Fashanu is still young and learning but his potential is top shelf. Braxton can stay as our swing OT or I'm not opposed to trading him even on draft day as I think that'd get us a 2nd Rd pick. I can't add that pick to the sim. 3) Trade to 8th pick up 39 and 2025 4th 8). Brock Bowers. It'd be Harrison or Bowers early but Harrison is gone so let's add the big brute. He a plus player who can help both the run/pass blocking and can stretch the field for Fields. 39). DT Leonard Taylor. Another misfit player from Florida's Dline like Dexter but this kid has 3-tech written all over him with cat-like quickness to go along with good strength. Stats are way down this year because he's not a 2-gap player so here his at 39. 68). Ja'Lynn Polk... all the traits needed as a WR. Calen Bullock...Safety. Dude is skinny but tough and plays physical beyond his size. His highlights have two goal line 1v1 tackles where he stuffs a much bigger player. You can't teach that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KFZmqvnFE Drake Nugent .... starting OC. Thomas Harper.... because I don't trust Brisker to stay healthy and Eddie Jackson is gone. He's more backup than starter.

We'll see how they finish. Even when healthy Jackson hasn't played all that well so I think it's time to move on unless he really steps up in the last half of the season. Whitehair at Center ... he got replaced by Patrick quickly, and that was with a full offseason to get ready to be our starting Center. I don't see him as a viable backup there. Even as swing OG they moved Jenkins and put Whitehair back at LG. If I were Poles I'd be looking at all options before restructuring Whitehair.

The accuracy portion was a bit lacking against New Orleans. One INT was just a bad read where NFL DBs are going to jump routes faster than what he's used to. The others were passes in tight coverage that were slightly behind the WR. Again, NFL speed. Under pressure did he revert to his college paradigm for passing windows? Can he fix that? Probably with more reps. Those might have to be offseason work.

Sanborn in man coverage is not a good thing. Backup safety Hicks in man coverage is not good to watch either.

That's how I see it. There is plenty of cap space in the future for any QB we want to pay. Finding that QB might be a challenge but hopefully we see enough signs from Justin that we know we can win with him.

Too many mistakes, so hard to watch that over and over. Yet this offense and Bagent can move the ball. Again we miss Brisker in the middle of this defense. Kyler Gordon is a stud though.

Another DT for sure but how much money we invest depends on how the rookies finish the season. I’m thinking adding a FA is better than another rookie.

One thing is certain, with Montez locked up and high draft picks, at least one likely to be used on Dline taking over the Bears defense is a good job opening for any talented coach. We have good talent at al 3 levels now, just need to add another Edge and FS.

I was thinking 4/100 but that was pure guessing game. The guarantee is much higher than expected. That makes me wonder if there is 2 years out clause for the bears. As in another big bonus payment they can avoid if he’s cut.

I'm dizzy after that long scroll. I have a couple thoughts... If we are drafting a QB in the 1st, then we're trading Fields and that should garner a 2nd Rd pick. I haven't decided which of the top QBs I like best but I've seen enough of Shedeur Sanders to know there is no reason to draft him. At best he's a backup QB, more likely he's a practice squad QB. We've got Bagent in the #2 role and I think he's got more talent than Sanders but at a minimum he's equal so why waste a draft pick? I feel the same way about Penix. Actually I think he's worse than Sanders because Sanders seems to read the field much better. McCarthy has never impressed me in a game but I haven't watched him this year. I saw Dorlus play last week and he impressed me. I'll try to catch more Oregon games. The OG from Duke looks good. Can he play Center because we've got two starting OGs on the roster? I'm not real high on Tui at Edge. He's a good football player but I'm not sure how well his skillset is going to translate against NFL OTs. I need to see him in the CFB playoffs against good OTs and then how he measures up at the combine. If there is a Von Miller in this draft it's Chop Robinson fast, agile, and bendy. Jared Verse just looks and plays like an NFL DE.

Yeah, after the Bears offense came into town on a short week and put up 40 on them that's a problem. Of course he's getting fired, the owner is giving away good talent for draft picks. That means his evaluation of the coaching staff is complete. This was equally evident in the last minute addition of Montez Sweat to trade talks when they couldn't get anything decent for Young. If Poles is to be believed the Sweat deal was done in 3hrs. High draft picks don't just help build the roster they help recruit HC candidates, and maybe GM candidates.

As a receiver yes but if that’s all you want in a player you can just go draft a receiver. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2023/10/kyle-pitts-not-100-after-knee-surgery-blocking-ability-affecting-playing-time

He's got family in Chicago, he's played well for us, and worked hard in the offseason. Glue guy, gives us some depth and time to bring in better talent. Two years. $8.5mil. $6mil guaranteed. All that is relatively cheap these days for a guy who is a starter now but likely backup in the future.

On our side this could also be Poles deciding he needs his 1st Rd picks to select a QB. Get DE out of the way now because he'd never get similar talent with his 2nd Rd pick. I doubt that is his logic because if you want one of the top 2 QBs you keep all draft picks for the potential trade up. OTOH he when asked about the QBs yesterday he was very vague and really didn't answer the question.

That's the way I see it too.

RAS is very limited and was never intended to be anything more than just a quick summary of athletic ability and stature relative to other players. It has nothing to do with football skill. It was all started by a guy just like us as a hobby. It’s still a useful metric as a baseline or starting point to assess potential, or fit in scheme, or position. Reality is successful NFL OTs have longer arms than OGs. Just because a player has tools doesn’t mean he knows how to use them. Sweat uses his long arms to keep OTs away from his body particularly when setting the edge. He holds them off with one arm keeping his outside arm free to make a tackle.

It is interesting to hear Ryan Poles state that they were not in trade talks for Montez and that his name didn't come up as available until just a few hours before the deal was done. That means we were looking to trade for Young, and also that the Bears valued Sweat more than Young and immediately pivoted away from Young. Why at the last minute did the Commanders decide to move Sweat and Young? The only thing I can think of is that they weren't getting a high enough trade value for Young and they really wanted a high 2nd Rd pick. Which I'm going to assume this means they intend to be all-in for a QB this draft. They are already trending toward at top 10 pick. Get rid of your starting DEs only helps keep the tank on track. Getting a high 2nd is ammo to move up to #1 overall. All this could be funny if we end up with #1 overall from Carolina and then trade that to Wash and get our 2nd Rd pick back in exchange.