AZ54

Are we going to do anything to beef up the DE position? The draft didn't play out as expected with a run on edge players before our pick at 53. Poles was pretty clear weeks ago that he was seriously looking to add talent to that position. Since then a few players have come off the FA market, notably Leonard Floyd (BUF) and Frank Clark (DEN). There are still some big names available but do they really fit? Ngakoue is the most obvious pass rusher but Eberflus has already worked with him and if he was a priority signing for this staff IMO he'd already be here. Clowney doesn't seem to fit the HITS system either. Everyone else on the list is like a who's who of soon to be retired NFL players. Given the way Poles talked about adding help I can't believe we watched OTAs and are suddenly ok to go into the season with this group. If there is help coming our way it's going to be finding a post OTA cut of a veteran, or a trade. Rumors have gone back and forth on Chase Young's availability. iMO that indicates Wash was willing to part with him for a 1st Rd pick and didn't get what they were asking for. After a couple weeks of noise we suddenly heard that Wash was good with keeping Young this season to try to win as many games as possible (gotta save our jobs approach). Now again this week there are rumors he's still available for the right price, theoretically still a 1st Rd pick. At this point when your product has been on the market too long anyone selling something has to drop the price, so if he's still available maybe now they'll take a 2nd Rd pick. I still don't see Poles likely to make this trade simply due to the injury risk and the contract risk. If he's healthy the 2nd rd pick is a no-brainer IMO but this photo (6 Jun 23) makes me concerned about the strength of that knee: https://wjla.com/sports/washington-commanders/gallery/chase-young-returns-minicamp-otas-training-torn-acl-fifth-year-option-pass-rusher-sacks-99-ron-rivera-team-recovery-free-agent?photo=1 Enter Danielle Hunter who is now rumored to be available. This is even more sketchy but all I can tell for sure is that Hunter is not happy right now and he's holding out. You've got the other thread about the Vikings quietly tanking so they might be willing to part with him. He fits the need perfectly and give Poles some time to sort out the future DEs via draft. An in-division trade isn't likely although if you are truly tanking, what better way to lose more games this year than to make your division rival better? Plus you steal away a draft pick that would only help their roster compete with yours in 3 years. What is the trade compensation for Hunter? I'm not sure but at a minimum having two DEs available via trade helps us if we're interested.

For the rushing record to be broken you need two things. First an elite RB who can handle the workload and get chunk plays. Second, John Fox or son of Fox to be HC.

Isn't Kwesi from the Steelers organization? They don't do teardowns and rebuild so the so-called soft reset plan makes more sense. Unfortunately it's all about the QB and the Steelers have shown that you can be stuck in the middle ground for a long time. I'd say that is their most likely destination along with some other vet QB down the road.

At this point in his career I don't blame him for taking the most money he can get even if that means being a backup. RBs get one shot at it. He may get cut in a 2-3 years but then might hang around the league for another 1-2 seasons at best. If he gets them those last couple years will be much closer to vet minimum deals, or perhaps $2-3mil/yr. Ironically to maximize his earnings from this point on he likely needs less snaps to lengthen his career.

I feel good about our starting Oline. I know question remain on Braxton Jones and Jenkins plus we have a rookie at RT but knowing their history from last year that without any improvement (unlikely) the floor is still good. My big concern is who is the backup OT? I'll guess that Wright is the backup LT and someone else steps in at RT if needed but that has to play out in training camp. Adding a vet OT is still on the table as we did last year but could someone like Diesch, or even Leatherwood, earn that backup role? Backup interior has a lot more competition and it seems that Carter and Patrick have the lead on that right now followed by Eiselen. Figure Leatherwood is in that mix as well. Where is Borom at, OT/OG? Last year's mandatory OTAs sort of settled a lot of questions (even if we didn't think so at the time) and gave us a good idea who would be where in training camp and to start the season. I think after or during those OTAs is when Poles added Reiff.

We gotta see results but with a bit of luck Poles has overhauled this roster in one year. We don’t have studs everywhere but we have a legit competitive NFL roster. Knowing the tear down that was needed I was not expecting to be in this position before his second training camp even started. He’s done that while retaining cap space so he didn’t bet the farm on a bunch of overpriced vets. In two drafts we now know he will avoid the needs and “runs” and take the value that falls to him. Last year the late first early second run was on WRs so he took the highly rated DBs that fell to him. This year the run was on edge rushers so he took the two DTs that fell to him. Now doing that is easier when you have needs all over the roster so next year will be telling but I think he is fixated on value in the draft early on. I think we can say the same for FA. Based on the movement skills Gervon Dexter has shown in OTAs I’m expecting big things from him this year. We already knew he could move through blockers. IMO on this trait he was just behind Jalen Carter and definitely ahead of all other DTs in this draft. The question was if he could get into the play quicker and we’re starting to see that, albeit just in drills. It has to start somewhere and now is better than later.

In the right role with less snaps he should be a little better. Plus I think he'll be a good mentor for young DTs.

...and yet he doesn't care and stays the course. Bear Down!

I’m with Mongo in that our talent on the field is much closer to the Eagles this year but we lack experience. That’s both from young players but also experience in the system from the vets we added. They were adding pieces to a solid core. The pieces we added are make up most of our solid core.

IMO there are two answers to this practice progressions. Yes we want to see that but this is also practice, his first with a new very talented WR. Justin needs to be exploring the limits of what he can and can't do and the best time for that is now. To come out of OTAs only having hit the easy checkdowns or easy throws is not the best use of this time. There will be game situations where to get a 1st down or TD that Justin has to make a tight-window throw and DJ has to catch it, or other WRs. Some sessions you might want to focus on the "reading of the defense", others you might want to say it's 3rd and long make a play. The coaches have to find that balance but we're not going to know what they are asking for on any one practice rep.

We get really small samples of video but on quick throws I don't recall seeing that same hitch. Maybe he's gotten better in some scenarios.

This clip is a nice play by DJ Moore with a fingertip catch. It's just OTAs but the coverage looked good, I think it was Gordon. More importantly Fields threw the ball into a tight window, high and away from the defender and DJ snagged it. From this throw and some of the other reports we've had I'd hazard a guess that Fields is exploring the catch radius DJ has and trying to find out what ways he can throw him open. Confidence has to be growing rapidly between these two. I'd like to see less times (or none) where Fields is patting the ball once before he throws. DTs look for that to know when to get their hands up. At least in this clip it's very quick but in others I've seen it's closer to half a second.

Been looking for anything worthwhile from the media since yesterday's practice was open to them. It was mostly the usual blah blah but today I found Wannstedt's comments to be informative. Regardless of what we thought of his time here he had a lot of good years coaching in the NFL and has a feel for what he should be seeing on the field in these type of practices. I'll link two videos with him because they offer different viewpoints or conversation. At this point it seems clear the team is definitely moving in the right direction. If you want the condensed version ... he was impressed by Jenkins and likes what he sees from Fields in terms of command of the plays. Oh and that new guy DJ Moore ... all he does is stand out.

He has to play to get paid so he'll show up. Plus he's not really an elite CB to where skipping OTAs to try to force a new deal will help him, with any team. In that "trade me" aspect Roquan had a bit more leverage to have someone come get him because his resume was better. I suppose Jaylon could be thinking it worked out for Roquan so it can work out for him but in 3 years he's defended just 31 passes and has 1 INT. He's a good player and a good mentor for our young CBs. I'd really like him to have a 2nd contract with the Bears but we shouldn't overpay him. I think everyone knows we won't overpay him... Poles MO is now well understood across the league. Teams aren't kicking the door down to find a CB who can get them 1 INT in 3 years. The one trade option I could see would be a good playoff caliber team that gets hit hard with CB injuries and is willing to part with a high pick to save their playoff run. That would also mean Jaylon is playing well and I expect Poles to be holding onto his cards this year to see what this roster is capable of.

Justin’s throwing motion on the quick passes definitely seems to be more fluid. It’s a very small sample size and there is no defense but in the few clips I’ve seen (in a couple places) he is getting his feet aligned much quicker. That’s for WR screens and outlet throws both to the left and right side. Here’s some samples: https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/chicago-bears-otas-highlights-first-week-justin-fields-dj-moore/

I like the team organizing activities like this for the rookies.

Good choice on Walker. After scanning the entire roster I'm going with the kicker Andre Szmyt. During OTAs we aren't hearing a peep about the looming kicking battle but it's coming and I think he has a very good chance to make the roster.

People like Lombardi and Simms are just idiots. Everyone can see the work Fields needs to do to get to the level we all want him at, but to ignore the progress he made last year, or simply say "it wasn't enough" is just useless drivel. I have no use for simple minded people like that. You could go back over Tremaine Edmunds career and see how much improvement he needed in his first two seasons. T.J. Edwards who started his career as a backup? Want a QB example how about Brees or Josh Allen? These athletes aren't coming out of college as finished products that's why identifying those who have the desire, smarts, and work ethic to reach their potential is such a big part of the draft process.

I caught that too, he was pretty genuine about how much that meant to him. Kudos to Justin for making the time to attend.

I'll always have a soft spot in my football heart for the Jack Sanborns/David Montgomery types. You need guys like that to fill out a winning roster (Hillenmeyer, Kwiatkoski, Suhey, Sherrick McManis). What we don't need is that they are our best players.

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere but Teven was on the radio with Jeff Joniak. He sounds like he's in a much better place mentally this year and more focused on his craft. His interview starts around 12min mark.

Disappointing comes to mind but my emotions want me to say much worse. I've watched him as a player for 7 years and never heard him bad-mouthing other teammates or coaches like that. HIs comments about a winning organization...well he joined Iowa State when that was a losing program and helped turn it around. He was likely a season away from doing the same in Chicago but chose to go elsewhere. It doesn't bother me that he took more money and went to Detroit but if he wants to go burning down bridges this will be on the bulletin board in the locker room Wk 11. Bear Down!

Nate Davis has been in the building working out often enough that Fields complimented him on his work ethic and leadership. He just had to pack up his family and move. I wouldn’t be surprised if he needs time to get things settled. Eddie and Money both have been around working out but can’t practice yet.

I watched the press conferences I thought it was Fields who said that not Flus. Or maybe they both said something but it's here near the 10:30 mark.

No contact however doesn't mean coaches can't see who can reach to their blocking assignment and their footwork/timing. IIRC it was in OTAs last year that trouble started for Teven at RT and it's also when we started seeing Braxton Jones take over at LT. Even without contact the coaches aren't going to waste snaps that help build timing and cohesiveness with the first team. Keep in mind that this is Phase 2 of offseason training and reportedly in Phase 1 players were able to be in working on individual drills with coaches. That phase 1 stuff is new to me so I'm not sure just how much interaction position coaches have with players, if any.