AZ54

I watched just one game of Joe Tippman against Mich St and didn't make it past the 4min mark. For a top center he gets rag-dolled... a lot. He has some good plays mixed in but quite often I see DTs shedding his block and on a lot of them it looks easy to toss him aside and frequently Tippman ends up on the ground. The only reason for an Oline player to be on the ground is because they just buried the defensive player across from them. You can even see LBs get off his block pretty easily. This is far from the first example in the game (first example happens in first 30s) but at the ~3:30 mark on the goal line he gets tossed aside and the DT gets right in the backfield. To his credit while sitting on his butt at the 2yd line he does hold up both arms to signal TD. No other draftable Center I've watched so far has given me the same "Musti" feeling I get with this guy. Maybe this was just a bad game. TDN has him rated at 38 overall and I just don't see that in this game. All players have negatives but when I can find them that quickly and that often it concerns me especially for someone with a 2nd Rd grade. (I didn't even read this until after I wrote this post and I was curious where he was ranked.) https://thedraftnetwork.com/sr-prospect/joe-tippmann-b6994694-fab6-4281-9688-d006948d0aef/ "Tippmann’s physical profile is outstanding but it comes with a few drawbacks. Tippmann has to work harder to get underneath his opponent’s pads due to his height. He is inconsistent with bending at the knees and will find himself leaning from the waist. This creates block sustainability issues. He can be a bit over-aggressive to get the jump on quicker defensive linemen, resulting in him lunging and not connecting. Tippmann could benefit from improving his punch timing. Too many times, defensive linemen attack quickly, get their hands into his chest, and win the leverage battle. This also makes him susceptible to the push/pull technique. Defenders tend to attack his right shoulder/hip to force improper weight distribution creating balance issues. "

Perhaps but given that LA is dumping salary you might think the team that knows him best would have hung onto him as a cheap backup, if nothing else. Instead they thought so much of him they cut him before the end of the season. $1M is dirt cheap for a player that can get you 3-5 sacks. I have no problem with Poles grabbing players like this just to see if anything comes of it. I would definitely have a problem if Poles was counting on him as a contributor this year and altering FA/draft plans because of it. Let him come in and compete with guys like Robinson and Gipson.

I think Lewis is nothing more than a big... maybe. There has been nothing in his career to date to indicate he'll fix any issue at all on our defensive front.

I read somewhere that Trevis Gipson was ranked as one of the better run defending DEs last year by PFF. He might be valued more than we think by the team. That may also mean that we will lean more toward signing or drafting one guy who is pure pass rusher after we take care of RT and 3tech.

I think you are right about Nolan Smith especially now that we have one athletic freak at MLB we don’t need him at LB I don’t think he’sa good fit at DE in this scheme.

It's been shocking how much global warming has impacted the fishing industry. Or is this your draft board?

Van Ness in the top 10 is concerning for a guy who was backup in college. I know the whole "Iowa" story and they play seniors first blah blah blah. (I'm glad I chose Iowa State where the best players play) I wonder if Van Ness isn't an ideal talent for us as a 3-tech. His style is more physical which would serve him well inside and with his quick first step and length he should be slippery. At 275lbs, put 10lbs on him and let him loose. I wouldn't draft him at 9 but if we trade back a bit to target 3-tech/RT with two top 40 picks.

Glad you mentioned that, it was one of the kool-aid plays I thought about when I typed that statement. A lot of defenders looked good against our blocking last year.

Pixote gets airtime in each video. I like his content although I don’t always agree with every assessment. He’s willing to put his opinion out there and many of those videos take a lot of work to put together.

These guys...

I doubt we can sit at 53 and get the 3-tech we need. If we go 3-tech in Rd 1, I doubt we can wait until 53 and get the OT we need. I'm good if Poles trades back in Rd 1 but it's just to get more ammunition for a move up in Rd 2. I prefer RT in Rd 1 and then trade up for the 3-tech. If the 3-tech is truly all-that for this defense then it is worth giving up 2 Second Rd picks, maybe even 3 if we have to add a late day 3 pick, to get the right player. Inside pressure will force a QB to move out toward the average DEs we'll have. Of course that will resonate to the coverage needing to worry for just the first 2s.

Pure practice squad candidate so likely UDFA to compete with Diesch.

I'm good with this. We can easily draft the RT/OC we need to setup the Oline for the next few years. Just do it. As for the defense I think we can do two things: First: Build a dline with focus on good run defense. These players are easier to find and cheaper (see Billings). While we won't have the elite talent in the front 4 to get splashy negative plays, doing this will help get us into more 3rd and long situations. This also helps improve redzone defense since coverages tighten up and the DBs will have less concern with run defense. Second: With the LBs we have we can add 1 good CB and have a good coverage unit. This will lead to more coverage sacks. We'll use some occasional pressure packages just to mix it up but unlike late last year don't rely on that because we don't want to give up big plays. On 3rd and long rely on your coverage discipline and make them throw underneath and then rally to the ball. Net effect here it to get back to the bend but don't break style of defense. Force them to make long drives without drive-killing mistakes or penalties. Focus on the turnovers either forced fumbles and occasional picks to keep their scoring down. If we have the Oline in place, and maybe add 1 WR or good move TE this draft, then we should be able to get a lot of teams thinking their offense has to keep up with ours.

Eberflus stated today that Tremaine will be our MLB. That puts Edwards at WLB and Sanborn at SLB.

I believe this trade down from 9 buzz means Poles has a few options at RT he is comfortable with. Rumor is that he doesn't want to trade back very far. This could be a simple as being willing to take any of Skoronski, PJJ, or B. Jones with a fall-back option of a couple players like Anton Harrison or Darnell Wright. My spidey sense says he wants two top 40 or maybe top 35 picks in this draft. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2023/03/28/bears-2023-nfl-draft-rumors-ryan-poles-could-trade-back-again/

Some good input from Gabriel. He said he'll have some inside info on injuries that will be worth trying to catch before the draft.

Good read on Foreman's fit in our offense. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/numbers-add-up-to-donta-foreman-as-bears-fit

If you haven't seen it Greg Gabriel shared his thoughts on the top two OTs. I agree with his overall assessment on Broderick having the higher ceiling and he looked more impressive at the combine especially with his strength. That floor for Jones concerns me and why I prefer PJJr. Both are really young as true Juniors in college so their best years are easily ahead of them. If the team has them ranked closely BroJones could be the target for them making a small trade back say with Tenn. I'd propose we swap 2nd Rd picks for that moving us from 53 to 41 so we end up with 11, 41. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2023/3/24/23654337/nfl-draft-2023-chicago-bears-breaking-down-tackle-paris-johnson-broderick-jones-georgia-ohio-state

100% that would be my plan. In this league most teams are moving their top edge rusher across the formation anyway. We moved Mack around, Nick Bosa moves, and if I were smarter I'm sure I could list a few more. There is no issue having two good OTs blocking for Justin and I'm not one to get caught up in value of the LT/RT position in this sense. The Eagles did this a long time ago with Lane Johnson at 4th overall and 10 years later are still glad they did.

Center is a need IMO but it's somewhat mitigated by the fact we're trying out Whitehair there so we'll see. My preference is to draft a guy for the future but at minimum Whitehair should be an upgrade over anything we saw from Mustipher or Patrick last year. I feel like we'll come up 1 short in filling all the "starter" gaps this year but we'll go into next offseason with a good amount of cap space and two 1st Rd picks. Having a starter caliber player at RT is a must have, not an option. If there is a starter gap it can be at one of the other need spots which means I think we could survive a season with Whitehair/Patrick as the center options.

Correct. That's what happens when the wife says it's time to go and you have to hit submit reply before you're done.

We're 13 months into Ryan Poles' total overhaul of a bad roster. To date we have: QB: A starting QB (yeah!) WR: 3 starting NFL caliber WRs including one who is top 15, maybe top 10, in the NFL. Who had that on their bingo card to start this season? Oline: Starters at LT, RG, LG and both guards are good to really good players with Pro Bowl potential. Braxton Jones ranked as a top 15 LT last year. TE: A top 15 starting inline TE (Kmet already on roster), and a good backup receiving TE in Tonyan. RB: Good RBs in Foreman, Herbert, and a 3rd down specialist who can pass protect in Homer. On defense we have: LB: 2 good starting LBs, probably 3 if you include Sanborn at SLB. One of our starters has 2 Pro Bowls on his resume and fits the centerfield role perfectly for this defense. Again, who had that on their bingo card for this season? Safety: 2 good starting Safeties. CB: 2 good starting CBs (can depend on your confidence in Gordon). DE: Walker is a legit starting DE for us. DT: Billings is a good starting DT as a 1-tech. For me at the 13 month point for Poles, and without his 2nd draft, this roster is more complete that I anticipated it would be. I see the gaps at RT, 3-tech, and CB. Right behind those is Center depending on Whitehair. And we have 10 draft picks and $38mil in cap space. I'm not nervous I'm excited for what this roster has already become and now we're about to add some good depth in this draft.

Luke Wypler... the anti-Mustipher.

DJ is definitely insinuating that is what Fields said. Who knows how accurate that is. In other statements DJ has made it clear he is the rising tide that will lift all WR ships. He’s got the resume to back that up.

Is there such a thing as a top WR who isn't confident like that?