AZ54

I was watching The Score on Youtube and they asked the question if you were starting a franchise today which NFL QB would you choose over Justin Fields. He had 4 he'd take: Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, and Herbert. I disagree on Burrow and Herbert. I've watched both play this year and if I hadn't been watching Justin play all year or, if this were our typical/historical QB discussion I'd take any of them. After what I've seen with Burrow and Herbert under pressure they aren't offering anything close to what Fields does. IMO we could swap with Allen who just has special arm talent and can run. Mahomes too has special arm talent and his mobility is very good. Herbert is very good on the intermediate/deep routes as a pocket passer. I think he's still developing at reading things which is normal. If you look at the NFL Live clip it's obvious that he's not elevating his offense in the same manner Fields is despite similar protection and some WR issues. That's despite the fact he's in his 3rd season in that offense. I think Burrow's strength lies in his ability to read, make quick release passes. In this aspect he's much better than Fields. He doesn't have the best arm but he's accurate on the short/intermediate and good enough on the deep stuff that a player like Ja'Maar Chase can adjust to and win. Again I'm sticking with the upside of a younger and improving Fields even though right now Burrow is the better QB. 670 the Score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGCFGZJMGSM NFL Live Herbert starts at 2min: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N__tQJLP_Y

I guess this fits in this thread. What if I told you the Bears have the most explosive offense in the NFL? Of course Justin is driving this but nobody (myself included) saw this coming especially given the talent surrounding him and all the injuries, etc. We've always said great players make the others around them better. You can feel it when you watch a game because despite how inconsistent our offense can be, you don't want to miss any plays. How many 56yd passes to ESB does Aaron Rodgers have? How many did Harry have in NE? I'll save you the trouble Harry's longest play prior to that was 43yds from Jones, and in 3 season at GB ESB had one long reception of 54yds in 2018 and 24yd and 26yds in 2020/21. We know this to be true but I doubt the majority of the national media has it figured out yet: Fields is carrying the entire offense on his shoulders. We might have to resurrect the old City of the Big Shoulders line.

Saw a clip from Wannstedt where he was talking about how after this game Fields said his shoulder was still sore. We all saw that Getsy kind of shut things down in the 2nd half and Fields ran a lot less. We're all talking about how we went conservative on the play calls and sort of shut things down unnecessarily. Wannstedt speculated this was intentional and that Fields likely told them he was in pain during halftime. That drove the play calling change and the guidance to Fields to stay in the pocket. That scenario makes a lot of sense. Nobody is going to call out Justin for being tough and staying in the game even if they had to protect him a bit with those play calls. The upside Wannstedt pointed to was that by operating more out of the pocket in the 2nd half we got to see a much improved Justin Fields. His pocket awareness was really good and he was consistently sliding around to move away from pressure, not just taking off and running, and then still completing passes.

People don't like to admit they were wrong, especially on things they said publicly. The passing numbers haven't been there yet and only Bears fans really know the details of the improvement in Fields. We can see the improved pocket presence, faster reading of the defense, better throwing mechanics, and all those things done while the WR corps and Oline have been rotating players in/out all season long.

100% truth.

I just watch other games and ask myself would I prefer that QB’s ability over what Fields had been doing the last month. Mahomes yes and even that has the caveat or wait and see when this team is better next year. IMO Fields is getting more offense out of less talent around him than any QB in the NFL right now. Would Mahones get more points than Fields with our roster? I don’t think so. Might get the same points but in different ways. i still think fields is a better passer than Allen especially at the same point in their careers. Herbert when I watched him a few weeks ago didn’t impress. Who else?

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2022/12/07/bears-eddie-jackson-doesnt-need-surgery-on-lisfranc-injury-nfl-2022-season/

We need to see him get more snaps to evaluate the consistency but watching Leatherwood's improvement in such a short practice time gives me more confidence in the coaches. Getting Braxton Jones ready to play this year is also a huge plus. We already know they've been kicking around changes at Center a few times this season so something will happen there. Borom struggled and they moved to Reiff and now working in Leatherwood. They are not married to the old adages about Oline play and have been creative and successful rotating players in, and making performance based decisions. For now I trust the decisions they'll make.

I've seen the rumors on Claypool and Tomlin isn't one to give up on a player easily. The ceiling on these 2 is relatively matched IMO although they win in different ways on routes. I prefer the young man with some maturity/work ethic issues who is still a good teammate versus the young man who has been a selfish prick everywhere he's played. Most people focus more on their career as they reach their mid-20s. That could happen to both players.

I'm not sure where to put this but seeing Pickens already cussin' out his QBs for not getting the ball sure seems like a strong indication of why we didn't draft him. First with Trubisky now with Pickett. I sure don't want to see that on our sidelines as we rebuild a winning culture. In the meantime, we used a 2nd Rd pick to take Claypool away and you have to think Pickens early success was part of the equation for the Steelers.

I think Leatherwood is already better than Borom. He might not be ready to start yet but he needs more reps. Aside from his obvious pass protection concerns, I thought the run game might suffer with Leatherwood having missed so much practice. Somehow they've been able to get him to improve his pass protection mechanics and have him ready to play, or as Swifty says that part comes to him more naturally.

ESB has actually done more than I expected but my hope was always to see someone rise up and take his snaps as the season progressed. He fit in well early especially with the run game which we really needed as Fields and the WRs got comfortable in the passing game. Not to mention the Oline concerns early on. Looking back on it quarter by quarter I don't have a problem with the way they've brought the offense along. Injuries to Pringle and then Harry definitely slowed down things. That we've relied on ESB and Dante Pettis, two guy who are 5th/6th WRs, so much is crazy.

Thomas Graham and I did think he had potential to be a good player but work ethic, which he himself admitted was part of his problem, is not something we can easily discern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Graham_Jr._(American_football)

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-pff-grades-best-and-worst-performers-in-week-13-loss-packers/ FWIW Leatherwood graded out well as per the always questionable PFF.

I didn't notice it during the game but Leatherwood got 10 snaps (according to Pro Football Reference). It seems he rotated in with Reiff. Did anybody see how he performed? Swift is going to do an All-22 breakdown later this week.

He's just getting Roquan's money. With Sanborn working behind Payne that would be a win-win IMO.

I'm not that clever but watching the play calling later in the game it sure felt like we were content to stay right where we were on the scoreboard.

He's fast, not sure if that's 4.27 speed but his burst and agility are exceptional. I was surprised to see how well he navigates traffic and has some contact balance.

I don't know if I posted this before but this summarizes the Commanders' situation with Payne. I agree, I can't see them putting so much cap space into one position especially with big contracts coming due at DE. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2022/12/commanders-aiming-to-keep-dt-daron-payne Complicating matters for the Commanders’ aim to retain Payne: their defensive line contract situation and a D-tackle market potentially set to spike. Of Washington’s four first-round D-linemen, only longtime Payne teammate Jonathan Allen is signed to a veteran contract. In addition to the prospect of Chase Young and Montez Sweat paydays, the Commanders keeping Payne would force them to allocate NFL-high money to their D-tackle spot.

I like the top end of this draft. I simply don't know enough about the late picks yet. Rashee Rice looks like a good 2nd RD WR prospect and I like Xavier Hutchinson there as well. Iowa State has had a bad season but he's been the one consistent threat on that offense. He can get you a little of everything as a route runner and is a player a QB can "throw open" because he'll adjust to the ball.

FA. He's not going to be much more than a minimum-deal type of player so if we want him I'm sure he'll be back.

I went into this game expecting a total Mel Tuckeresque coverage disaster. Instead they all seemed to know their job. We have to credit Houston-Carson and Jaylon Johnson for keeping the young guys lined up properly during the game. Plus the coaches deserve a ton of credit getting them ready. It's one game so I'm not trying to go overboard but it certainly feels like this rookie group of DBs is giving us a solid depth/foundation for the future. We already know what we have in Brisker and Gordon has been coming along well lately. Now today we see Jaylon Jones and Josh Blackwell play well along with Elijah Hicks at safety. Earlier in the season Jaylon Jones was playing too soft but he certainly looks more comfortable in the role now. Blackwell might have been the biggest surprise for me playing at NB. There were issues with run defense at times but he didn't get overwhelmed and stayed in contact in coverage all game long. Vildor has struggled so it will be interesting to see if one of these young DBs take his reps when he's healthy. For sure we need to address that starting CB position for next year. If Poles and the coaches want to see more of the youngsters as a potential starter that'd be fine by me. I'd rather know what we have and don't have before the offseason begins. Even if neither Blackwell or Jones are starter level, it feels like they can be good depth for next season.

Arrive very late to training camp in a trade, get injured and miss the first quarter of the season. Add in that ESB is in more or less the same offense he's been in for the last 4 or 5 years. These two WRs both offer run blocking as their first and best asset. Beyond that you have to go with the guy who is most comfortable with the routes, and who Fields has the best rapport with. I hope that changes over the last quarter of the season. I think Harry is more likely to at least box out a DB on a route like what ESB ran leading to the first INT. He certainly showed he's more capable of going up and winning on a contested catch.

Standing strong at #2 after the early games this week. If Tankathon.com is correct, at this point, we have the highest strength of schedule in the entire NFL.

I've seen enough. We have our future QB. This game was perfectly played for 3 quarters and then we just did enough at the end to retain the higher draft pick. Some young DBs really surprised me with how well they played. I was expecting a lot of breakdowns and while there were a few at the end they forced GB into multiple 4th down plays throughout the game. Might be far more depth here than expected going into the offseason. Hicks gave up a TD by hesitating and not closing on the ball to Watson. With more experience and he might be able to time that better because there was no reason he couldn't have defended that pass. Oline was poor today and the Dline was worse. Rodgers had all day to throw. These are all pieces we know about so I don't think there were any surprises to the negative side.