AZ54

Interesting prospect and one of those lesser known tier 2 types that has a good history of production. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2023/02/mutual-interest-between-commanders-eric-bieniemy What caught my eye the most was this quote from Eberflus: "Your defensive ends have to be able to set the edge so that the gaps don't get too wide and that's an important piece on the tackles," Eberflus said. "And they've got to be able to play back side. They've got to be able to stay alive." We have to keep that in mind for the draft prospects and specifically for Anderson at the top. If we're at 4 and both on the board we might just go with Tyree Wilson or Myles Murphy. I think as edge players Wilson's quickness appeals to me more and with 36" arms he won't have any issues setting the edge and compressing the gap between OT/OG.

We don't even know if Getsy trusted the WRs on those routes. Who did we trot out there to start the season? Mooney, Pettis, ESB? It's a well known fact ESB has poor route discipline. Pettis a late addition to camp. Mooney was a yes for these routes if you want your only good WR taking big hits from LBs.

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2023/02/mutual-interest-between-commanders-eric-bieniemy

I find it hard to fault Justin for year 1 when he wasn't even allowed to practice with starters before the season. Nagy was just really stupid clinging onto any hope a vet QB would save his bacon. I also don't know how many on your list had to deal with learning a new offense in their 2nd season so that is a valid input that will shift the data set. Third, we have the supporting cast issue and how that compares to the others. Let's leave those things aside and look at his play by quarter (4 games) of the season: Q1: Comp 51%, yds/gm 117, TD 2, INT 4, fumbles 4 Q2: Comp 64.7%, yds/gm 182, TD 5, INT 2, fumbles 7 Q3: Comp 62.5%, yds/gm 147, TD 6, INT 2, fumbles 2. (only 3 games played due to injury) Q4: Comp 70.6%, yds/gm 175, TD 3, INT 2, fumbles 2. (only 3 games see below) I left out the 33% completion in the wk 16 Detroit game because of all the injuries and Fields himself couldn't play the following week. In my business that data point is called a flier and doesn't fit the distribution of the data. For statistics lovers there are mathematical ways to prove that but I'm not that energetic and this is just football banter. Plus the root cause for that can be explained. https://ontapsportsnet.com/bears/bears-rocked-by-injuries-in-detroit-justin-fields-michael-schofield-dante-pettis-teven-jenkins-jaylon-jones If you look beyond the first quarter where he and his teammates were learning the new offense do you see enough to intrigue you about next year? Q2-4: Comp 65.9%, yds/gm 168, TD 14, INT 6, fumbles 11 (trending down). attempts/gm 23 Josh Allen 2nd yr: Comp 58.8%, yds/gm 193, TD 20, INT 9, attempts/gm 28.8. If Fields had 25% more attempts in Q2-4 to match Allen we could project... Comp 65.9%, yds/gm 210, TD 17.5, INT 7.5.

https://catcrave.com/2023/02/16/3-trade-packages-carolina-panthers-justin-fields/ https://bucsreport.com/2023/02/15/should-the-buccaneers-trade-for-justin-fields/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=should-the-buccaneers-trade-for-justin-fields

Agreed

Mostly he just needs his draft board setup. At least with the grading tiers. We have so many needs we don’t have to be locked into any player or position. Much of that will be known after the combine. Free agency will certainly affect needs but my hope is we address all critical needs in FA. LG for example is not a critical need but we could certainly draft Whitehair’s replacement. I don’t even view WR as a critical need. Probably DT, OC, and RT make my list. WR LB CB are next tier.

I think this is mostly based on people figuring out what will generate the most clicks for them.

Some of this can be bluster designed to show everyone else they shouldn’t waste their time trying to get the first pick because the Colts will match our beat it. Best to just stay away. Ballard has gone from dream job with top QB to a spot where he absolutely has to get the QB pick right. He literally cannot sit at 4 and risk all the top QBs being gone when he picks. If he did he might be fired that day. He can’t trade with Houston and it makes no sense to trade to 3 with AZ and take who is left. Go big or go home.

Too late for sure now. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2023/02/15/chicago-bears-close-on-arlington-heights-property-stadium-update/

https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/colts-owner-follows-up-on-qb-comments-with-more-humor

That makes a lot of sense. If I'm Poles I'm letting teams, and anyone else watching who is talking to who at the Senior Bowl, see me chatting with LV/ATL/CAR GMs.

We know they want to keep him. I'm not a cap expert but unless he signs before FA begins they may have to franchise tag him to keep him. A tag hits available cap if I'm not mistaken. They have some options on cutting players like Leno. I couldn't say how that affects their roster (i.e. is there a young player in place to take over as starter) but those are things we can watch for leading up to FA.

The value of QB over WR is well known and it is far easier to find good WRs in Rd 1-3. But eh, that's just not my problem

We did see things differently. I thought he played well overall but IMO he was often late on his reads. Or KC suddenly developed an elite secondary to match up against those WRs. In some ways it was similar to what we've seen from Fields and it led to pockets collapsing and scrambles outside the pocket. He was often successful outside the pocket. When the pressure was on in the 3rd quarter he wasn't able to respond although that was the case with the entire team. Their road to the Superbowl was easy maybe that led to some nerves and execution issues when it got tight. The fumble was inexcusable for an MVP type QB and was the difference in the game. We can't ignore that stuff as it completely changed the momentum of the game.

This whole Wash trade proposal was some Wash fan's fantasy trade/draft. In a quiet week for real draft news Bears fans latched onto it. IMO any deal with Wash their offer has to start with McLaurin. Without him in the deal I don't think Poles should talk with them.

They still have to pay for a QB somewhere somehow or try to draft one. Even Hieneke, if they make him the starter, won't come cheap maybe $10mil. They are in a really bad spot at 16, too far down to trade up. They might hope Richardson falls to them but he's definitely not ready for snaps this year. That leaves Carr (seemingly headed to NO), JimmyG, or a trade for Rodgers. They are stuck in a QB position familiar to Bears fans over the last few decades.

Well said as talent definitely impacts the way a defense reacts. The Eagles just played really poor defense. It's unfortunate they always give MVP to skill players because IMO it was the Chiefs' Oline that deserved it. They just ran over the Eagles front 7.

Trading down in advance does not bother me if the value is there. There is plenty of precedent for that. The Eagles did that the year they drafted Wentz and the timing was one week before the draft. That's all post-Combine, pro day, and team visit with player so we have a long way to go. However, with so many potential bidders, and two division rivals, in the mix it could force someone to trade up earlier than that. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/eagles-now-have-no-2-pick-after-blockbuster-trade-with-browns/ "It's official: The Eagles have agreed to a trade with the Browns to move up to the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The expectation is that they'll take one of the top two quarterbacks, either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. The details: The Eagles get: The No. 2 pick in 2016 and a 2017 fourth-round pick. The Browns get: The No. 8 pick in 2016, the No. 77 pick (third round) in 2016, the No. 100 pick (fourth round) in 2016, a 2017 first-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder."

Upside players are nice to have on the practice squad and these guys may well end up there. Given the massive gaps on this roster I'm more focused now on finding players who can contribute this year. Trying to find some day 3 gems.

Two edge players with those high picks and both are more run defenders than pass rushers. I think we should be taking chance on at least one athletic guy with more pass rush upside. Also, TDN has Morris ranked 98th overall so I'm guessing PFF has him in the 50s which is a wild swing in evaluation. I'm ready for some combine data so we can start closing these gaps and get a better feel for how things will play out.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10064870-8-prospects-who-should-hear-names-called-during-2023-nfl-draft-after-combine-snubs Good article about some players who will not be getting any press coverage in the next few weeks since they won't be at the combine. Watching what I could find on them, just two stood out to me as players we should have on our board for Day 3. DL Kobie Turner. He can get penetration as shown in the game against Clemson. Among other plays you see him chasing down plays 10yds downfield and causing a fumble so he should be a fit for Eberflus HITS ethos. He's not fast but has a bit of quickness. There just not a lot of highlights so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IivMa1VRhHw TE Daniel Barker. If you are looking for a pass catching TE he seems to fit the bill very well. He hasn't had much production in college and BR associates that to his choice of schools. I always wonder too if that's a result of poor work ethic/discipline but the video of his time at Mich St he seems focused on what he needs to do to get to the NFL. Since he played at Illinois maybe someone here has more input. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V3CrxpyY3s

What do the Texans do? Work to convince people they don't care about a QB. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/bears-needs-so-great-trading-way-down-makes-sense "There is much speculation now that Houston might be looking not for a quarterback but for defensive line help because the Texans hired former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach. If the Bears move down to No. 4, they might miss the chance at both Anderson or Carter." Lately rumors are running counter to the QB narrative but honestly Demeco Ryans and all the QB issues he's seen in SF can't make him blind to the fact he needs a good QB. Name the Superbowl they won without a top QB? Nobody cares about getting to the Superbowl if you lose, even Rex Grossman did that. The article makes a good point that we might not covet either Anderson or Carter since they don't fit well into our scheme. Again, we should make it known we'd go back further if the value is there (i.e. those teams at 7/8/9) and see what's on the offer table. Will that pressure be enough to get Indy to move off their spot to secure whoever it is they want?

Saw an ESPN clip on Youtube last night where Kiper was saying this is a bad draft, he only has 80 players with good grades. Effectively as compared to typical top 100 he only has 80 players with high enough grade. If Poles sees the same it could affect what he does in a trade down where he's more open to a 2024 pick. For anything related to the 1st Rd trades he'll likely still want anything 2nd/3rd Rd but do you really want to bring in 10 players from this draft? If he trades down later in the draft (2nd/3rd Rd) rather than a 2023 4th/5th he might prefer next years 3rd/4th from a team. For reference Kiper said last year he had 120 players graded out (let's call them potential starters).

Will McDonald that high?