AZ54

Who did we cut? Chase Allen was let go in a swap with Lewis. Now we add this guy? If he was better than Chase we'd have kept him after minicamp. Although I have to say after watching this I think he's got better tools than Allen. Nothing high end but his size with a year in the system could yield a decent 3rd TE. His blocking technique is often poor where he gets out over his skis too far but that can be improved. His agility to turn around on the move and adjust to the ball is pretty good for someone 6'6" tall. As always these are highlights, and against low level competition, so we don't get to see dropped passes and missed blocks. I'd say he has a shot at the practice squad.

PJ Walker is not very good. For a team that’s been searching for QB1 forever I’m not going to worry about QB2.

I think Scott makes the 53 for sure but if he keeps dropping passes and punts like he did today and yesterday we won’t see much of him. Safety depth is interesting and not in a good way IMO. I expected more from Kendall Williamson but he’s been very quiet so far. Hicks is just an average athlete but seems to be assignment sound. That’s the type of emergency player I’d prefer to keep on a practice squad. The door is wide open for Trahan or anyone to earn a spot behind our starters. CB top 5, appear to be set. Blackwell was a special teams stud in coverage last year so I expect he is #5 and makes the 53. You could call him #6 if you prefer. If we keep 6 I can’t guess who it will be other than, barring injury, I doubt it is Vildor. Overall I think Adam is spot on This year I feel like most positions will be good and have one good backup except safety and OT. Adding Ngakoue fixed that concern at DE. I think one or maybe two of DRob or Lewis emerge there. Green will likely be what he’s always been - a backup level player. There is a lot of competition in the bottom 10-15 players competing for the 53 which will make the preseason worth watching, at least for me. Maybe next year we can cut that number in half.

Nobody missed

Just a solid blocker... and that's a good thing. He's still got sticky hands if needed.

Some insight on what we'll see on Sundays. This kind of matches what I suspected were the concerns with him. I don't regret the signing at all and I know he'll help us quite a bit because we simply didn't have this skillset at all. Of course he has to be playing the run on some early downs but I think we'd be best off to keep his rep count down. I think I read somewhere that in recent years he's taken up to 80% of the snaps. I'd rather see him in the 50-60% range. Keep him fresh so even on run plays he has more energy to fend off the big boys or chase plays down from the backside. Then of course take full advantage of his skills on passing downs. I'd especially like to see him get less snaps early in a game and be available more in the 4th quarter when you need a big play to close out the game.

I'm surprised at how small he is. This is not Poles type of edge player at 6'2", 32 1/2" arms, and just 246lbs. Obviously he has sack production but that really explains some of the run defense issues and his inconsistencies in the pass rush where he only has an 11% win rate. Also likely explains the Bears desire to stay away from a multiyear deal. Players who have to rely on quickness in the trenches struggle as they get older. All other DEs on our team are at least 6'4" 260lbs with the exception of DomRob who is 6'5" 253lbs with 33 1/4" arms. Eberflus can say he's an every down player and to a some extent that might be true over the course of a game but everyone knows that isn't what he was brought here to do. They may also want to say that to justify the money and his fit in the locker room. I'll be curious to see how he's used. At least this one gap scheme fits his quickness skillset well. On a run down he needs to get upfield to set the edge... but then has to hold the containment. Can he hold it and squeeze the play inside well enough?

If true, that's good enough for me. Yet that makes me even more curious why we wouldn't give him a multiyear deal considering all the cap space we had. Was his asking price simply that high?

One thing I was concerned with is the culture of the team and a young defense. We’ve seen over the first week that we have leaders in Walker and Justin Jones. In the middle you have Edmunds and Edwards. DBs are taking off with Brisker and Gordon but still anchored by BoJack. We have enough that nobody is looking at Ngakoue as a role model.

He’s been decent in recent years but what does he have left in the tank? He knows the base offense so should be up to speed quickly. At least preseason games got a bit more interesting.

Goodbye Trevis Gipson.

Maybe but if the backup isn't doing so well the starter will know how much leverage he has with the team. In Jaylon Johnson's case he knows there are 2 good young CBs vying for one starting job opposite him. Does the club re-sign Jaylon for big $ now or wait and see how the rookies do early in the season? If Vildor was still holding onto the starting spot then Jaylon (and the team) might be thinking differently.

Love it! Interception and the celebration. Every good defense needs some swagger and an identity. Ours is starting to build. Velus took a handoff from the backfield today. It’s early in camp too. If that was going to be in the playbook I figured we’d hold that look until the private practices. It’s year two in the offense and WR are moving all over the place, slot, wide, strong side, weak side. It’s going to be tougher for a defense to guess plays going off personnel in the huddle. Àlex leatherwood seems to be gaining ground in the competition for backup OG and appears to be ahead of Carter now.

Y’all know this made me smile.

Some good and some bad today and it all depends on which side of the ball you were watching on which play. It is practice so who knows if it's good offense or bad defense but things are different. I like what Wannstedt said...this team, on both sides of the ball, plays fast even with the pads on. That alone bodes well for game day. A couple things are noticeable from all the commentary. For one both young DTs are big and strong and are showing good hand placement already. They have a long way to go on play recognition and things like that but it's a good start for help on the run defense. I saw a lot of videos summarizing the first practice in pads with highlights. Most focus on the splash plays but The Football Scout chimed in with some looks at the line and I thought that was worth sharing. He highlights mostly Darnell Wright but you get to see other Oline and our Dline too. Overall it's day one and I don't make too much of individual wins/losses on plays because it's very early. This just gets you a sense of the physical talent we have. My notes: Billings looks like a beast in the middle. DomRob is playing much stronger this year and conversely Braxton still needs to improve against power. Tev is still getting his feet and hands sorted out on the left side. I'm also linking a video from 670 The Score with Tim Jenkins just because I think the way he outlines the plays the Bears should be able to have success with is worth it (mostly first 5-7min). He explains how the talent and scheme will 1) help ease things for Justin in terms of reading the defense and 2) how it will challenge a defense to cover all the options we have and what he thinks we're already installing to leverage that.

Watch this and you'll get a sense of how Justin's running affected a top defense in the NFL last year. On the first play he breaks down the WRs are Pettis, VJJ, Pringle. Pringle is gone, VJJ was still learning the offense but had the speed to do what he did in taking the safety deep. If Justin has time that's likely where he goes. Swap them out with DJ Moore running the double move instead of Pettis, Claypool - keep him back to block like Pringle he's a lot bigger and stronger, and then pick one of Mooney/VJJ/Scott going deep down the middle. On the 2nd play is when you really see the Justin effect. If that holds true this year with this WR corps we're going to get some big plays. If that happens then defenses will have to adjust and play deeper off the line with the 2nd safety and try to keep it all in front of them. Typically when you do that with an elite running QB teams will want to keep eyes forward and that means more zone coverage. Through the first 4 games teams will be testing Justin and likely mixing up coverages to see what he and the offense struggle with and what doesn't work. I'm sure the revamped Oline gets tested early and often too, especially in week 1. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves later in the season.

It depends how you define the value of 5.

It’s hard to sort out right now. Special teams is a big factor and Velus can do returns and kick coverage. I’m assuming you are keeping ESB on the 53. Is that last spot really for Velus to lose or ESB who does nothing on special teams? Same with Vildor. Without some special trait I can’t see them keeping guys like that on the roster. Pettis on the other hand can do returns. That might have more value thana run blocking WR if injuries forced Velus to pick up more snaps on offense.

Are we talking about the idiot who put the list together or the one residing on line 8?

I felt this was a good summary of our first week in camp...

Ngakoue reportedly offers nothing in run defense. We'd be carrying one player solely for 3rd and long situations. While teams keep players like that on their rosters, there has to be some locker room issues with this guy or he'd have been picked up by now. The entire NFL in this past offseason was not interested a 28yr old player who had 9.5 sacks last year. On the surface that makes no sense so I'm of the opinion where there is smoke there is fire. We can't bring a fire into our young locker room which seems to have a very good vibe to it this year. If that means living with Gipson getting 5 or 6 sacks and give up 3-4 extra that Yannick might have had so be it. In any case Gipson will probably make up for it in run defense stops. I have more interest in Justin Houston since he might be someone who would be better mentor to the edge group. We may be forced to go with Ngakoue if we really need help but so far it appears they are giving DomRob, Gipson, and Lewis every chance to show they can do it.

I have zero hope for D'Anthony Jones being anything this year. Maybe he makes the practice squad. Terrell Lewis has a much better resume at least in college and he's returning to what is his more natural position after playing OLB, and often off the ball in coverage, for the Rams. He might turn into a productive rotational player for us if he can stay healthy. Next week is big for the DE group but so far Poles hasn't seen a reason to add to it. Today they are doing full reviews on every player in camp w/ the scouting staff and coaches. If they don't like what they've got Poles will likely make a move early this week. It seems like every year we have an edge player who looks good before the the pads come on and then they disappear. I forget who it was last year, some dude from Arizona.

Over paid. Glad they did that.

I agree on ESB He lacks the sudden movement skills needed to create consistent separation. He also took some bad angles after his breaks last year which opened the door for the DB to get to the ball if he makes the team he may not see the field much. A WR who is mostly a run blocker is too much of a tell. We’d be better off with Kmet and Tonyan.

I think they are both in that elite speed category. It was obvious with Velus in games last year. Velus is bigger so he might carry that speed better with pads on. If we have 3 productive WRs and 2 productive TEs as it appears then occasionally adding either Velus or Scott to the field is going to challenge a defense. It won't be like the old Hester days where they just keyed on him. This WR group is coming together early in camp and it's been a very long time since we've seen this much production from our offense in the first 4 practices.