AZ54

I've been scanning some draft boards and there are no obvious FA or draft options at Center. Unless there is a surprise cut of a vet, Poles is going to have to dig deep to find somebody. Eiselen looked ok in the preseason but still got walked around a bit (poor leverage) at times. I wonder if he'll get more comfortable with more practice but most likely that's an option next year. Physically blocking I don't think he's worse than Mustipher but the mental side with calls and assignments is a different story.

I hope they make a trade. Anything to reduce future value of the drafts and also tie up more cap space. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2022/10/chiefs-packers-rams-looking-into-texans-brandin-cooks

There was never a moment I preferred Jones over Fields. At QB I always prefer the upside and Fields' is as high as you can get. I'm not even sure Zappe is better than Jones. He had two big plays on blown coverages and then a great pass over the finger tips of Jaylon Johnson. After that? The Patriots now have to spend the rest of this season sorting it out and if they are more or less the same performance wise they will likely trade Mac Jones in the offseason to get whatever they can. Just remember, once NFL defenses get 4 games of film on you they know your strengths and weaknesses. You already saw that within our game where our dline switched from trying to get pressure around the QB, which was affecting Jones, to focusing more on a mush rush to the side of the field he was reading and getting their hands up. Low release point = tipped passes.

That's ok but I don't want him taking hits. Take what you can get and get down. Tonight he was one step ahead of Belichick and I can't say I ever expected to say that about any Bears coach.

I'm celebrating this Zappe hour like none before it. That stadium was so quiet in the 4th quarter you could hear a pin drop. Eberflus made the great one take a knee to end the game on his own goal line. What a statement. Fields was hit and a little miss, but mostly hit and I absolutely love his determination to come back after a mistake and keep moving forward. He led the team. This is likely the most complicated defense he'll face all season. Maybe not the most talented but scheme wise Belichick is always throwing stuff at you mixing players/coverages/fronts throughout a game so it's hard to get a read on tendencies. Great game overall and plenty of positives to build on. No more monkeying around saying we caught 'em by surprise: We can run the ball. I'm not sure if ESPN is updated after this game but as of now we are 2nd in yds/gm. We must run against Dallas because their pass rush is too good. I feel bad for Patrick and Fields since Mustipher was back on the field by the 2nd quarter. Regardless we still wore down the Patriot front. Gotta give credit where it's due. Schofield too wasn't even noticeable...which is a good sign. These young rookies on defense just keep getting better. I'm glad for Gordon because he's taken a lot of heat this year. I think Gordon was little gassed after his INT but Tyquan Thornton ran a 4.28 forty so he's the one guy who can always run you down from behind. Maybe Velus too. After Zappe came in there were some blown assignments in coverage. I'll see what gets said about that in the press conferences today or this week. I can't take away the great catch Parker had just over Jaylon Johnson's finger tips. That's an NFL caliber play by all parties. After that nada! The front 7 did a very good job against the run, and that was pleasant surprise. Pass rush is still lacking but we knew this coming into the season. Overall a great win on the road in the bright lights of national TV. That was done despite a lot of adversity in the 2nd quarter. I'd have to go back to maybe the Bears/Cards game on MNF where we shocked the nation. Yet that team came into the game with some elite talent on D/Hester and a winning record. The football character of this team is pretty strong especially considering the young players who are starting at key positions.

We just ignore the fact we're top 5 in rushing? Sure Justin (5.0ypc) is a part of that but nobody is taking Lamar Jackson's rushing yards away from Baltimore. Plus in reality we've had a good rushing game with our RBs (Herbert 6.3ypc, Monty 4.0ypc). That's despite having no passing attack to make DBs worry.

You don't always know where rising stars are to be found because their mentors can either drive their success or stifle their success by forcing them to do things they'd rather not do (i.e. play this guy, call this play, etc.). Good people learn from both the good and bad scenarios and build it into their own work methods. Others try to apply what they've learned and simply can't at the next level. Would you rather Belichick/Josh McDaniels and his 2-4 Raiders with the top WR and 3x Pro Bowl QB, or Getsy and 2-4 Bears? What was Mike Tomlin's resume before he became a HC?

I agree with the above... it's team sport all the way. I watched most of the Packers game (was flipping back and forth a bit with Detroit/Dallas) and you could see if that were Justin Fields throwing the ball everyone would be complaining. For Rodgers, it's all about how he has back up WRs. Whatever. Our team doesn't have a lot of depth for obvious reasons but we're closer than people think to being a good team. Playoff team is a bit further away. Rodgers cannot complain because he wanted his money and knew that meant Adams was leaving. He got exactly what he wanted.

I just watched some highlights of Zappe. The pocket he's working inside of is often 5 yards wide. Cleveland got to him a bit but just as often didn't and when he has all day to throw he'll find someone. We will have to find a way to get pressure on him and that likely means blitzes.

Yes this would help opposite Mooney. Add in the bigger WRs in StBrown and Harry, and Pettis as the 5th wheel and we'd be much better off.

Wow... not sure what this does for both RB value but in our case just trade values in general. The Rams began all this and were in on the deal so nowadays teams that are close to being a contender feel pressure to do something to close the deal. If, as reported, the Rams were heavily in on the CMC negotiations they are definitely looking to add pieces to get back to the Superbowl. A 3rd Rd pick for Quinn might be feasible. Keep in mind from Poles' point of view that's a very late 3rd Rd pick. https://www.nfl.com/news/panthers-trading-rb-christian-mccaffrey-to-49ers-in-exchange-for-host-of-draft-p

Agreed. Without the early entrants right now to me it appears the blue chips in this draft are not deep, maybe about top 5 only. Early entrants might bump that up a bit but if we're not in blue chip territory then the value from 9-25 or later might be similar. With multiple needs the trade back makes sense.

That's an interesting thought there especially with Philly. Giants too would look tough if they added Quinn to their DE rotation. I don't think their WR group is ready for a deep run in the playoffs. Philly invested a lot to get there this season. Quinn isn't going to interfere with a teams long term plans much and as they showed in LA, if your team is close why not get closer especially if the Bears will eat some of the salary hit in exchange for a pick.

Here we go: Of the teams listed I'd say the Cardinals, Rams, and Bengals are most likely. Klingsbury has to start thinking about job security. Rams and Bengals will want to try to return to playoff glory. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/rating-best-potential-robert-quinn-trade-partners

and counterpoint... I'm still on Fields side in this and believe we'll get him where he needs to be. I see the plays where he should recognize things quicker but also those where he gets it right. All of them need to speed up a bit. None of that is a surprise to me for a guy in his 18th game and in a new offense. A little more stability in front of Fields should help immensely if we can figure that out. At least allow him to get past the first read before having to think about the protection. I thought I was one of very few in my assessment of Griffin running his route poorly when Fields overthrew him in the endzone. Turns out Keyshawn and Dilfer agree although Trent has a unique way of explaining that running style.

I'm glad they moved Coulter up. He's not necessarily an upgrade but he's also not a downgrade considering how many mistakes ISM made. It's low bar to cross over and get better. The flip side is the message to the rest of the team that they are still competing to keep their job. I'm good with that.

Context matters in all this. Simple statements like that are as bad as Kirk Herbstreit on TNF stating a WR was "open" downfield when you can clearly see the DB undercutting the route as he made his break. Fields knows he's not throwing to a fast WR who is going to pull away from the DB after the break so he holds onto the ball. On a shorter route you can fit that ball in but not 15-20yds downfield. On the flip side, maybe when Fields gets more confidence in his WRs he'll throw that pass earlier. I see all sorts of QBs holding onto the ball like that including Aaron Rodgers when they aren't sure where the WRs are going to be.

After watching most of the MNF game I am still perfectly happy to have Justin Fields as our QB. Between Wilson throwing for 188yds and Herbert needing 57 passes (37 comp) to hit 238yds it seemed as if any second players would rip off their jersey to show a Bears uniform underneath. None of that is to say Fields doesn't need to improve, because he does. It's just that I don't see as big a gap between him and players like Herbert as there might appear to be when looking at a stat sheet. I'm willing to stay the course that Fields develops and then that next year with better talent around him his stats will take a corresponding bump upward. IMO that's far better than giving up 3 1st RD picks for Wilson, then paying him $$$$. He simply isn't as fast as he used to be but he still wants to play like he did when he was younger. For him that means positive plays outside the pocket in years past are now sacks or throwaways. Lots of throwaways. Herbert was throwing to a $20mil WR but you'd never know it watching that game. Williams had 2 for 17yds on 6 targets! Then on some obvious blitzes Herbert wasn't hitting his open outlet quickly and sometimes chose to backpedal thus making the play more difficult. Like Fields does, he also missed some easy open reads. It wasn't all bad, he has arm talent but no throws I haven't seen from Fields. Herbert is also in his 2nd season with that offense so it seems reasonable that blitzes and such should be handled better. Time will tell but for now, if there was a correct choice to poach among the offensive coaches in Green Bay we got the right one in Getsy. Denver fans had to suffer through Fangio who was a great DC and now Hackett who was not a great OC. I've watched 2 Broncos games so far this season and I've not seen nor heard (press conf) anything that impressed me.

Looking ahead a bit I see 1) our whiny neighbors to the north have a bit of a cap issue in 2023. $4mil in cap space and no easy/logical players to cut without big dead money hits. They have to sign Elgton Jenkins who Spotrac has with a market value of $14mil/yr. If they can't do something there I'd say he becomes FA target #1 for us. 2). We currently have $115mil in cap space for 2023. Likely cuts: Quinn. $8.5m dead money, $9.8m cap space Muhammed. $0.5k dead money, $4mil cap space Patrick. $1.5m dead money, $3.9m cap space Bears adjusted cap space: $132.7m Sign Jenkins and move Borom to supersub. If they are highly confident in Borom and/or Leatherwood, they could cut Whitehair and let them compete to take over at LG. Additional savings of $5.8mil. Likely extensions: Mooney, Jaylon Johnson, possible Montgomery I'm not so sure Poles will want to spend $20mil/yr on Roquan. Sign and trade seems logical here. I like the proposed trade to Houston and Lovie.

Nothing magical here. Jets won behind 110yds of passing from their 2nd year QB and a strong running game from a former Iowa St. Cyclone at RB. The difference between them and us is they shutdown GBs running game. But yeah, per NFL media if you win the game the QB played well.

Not missing a thing. Without the talent he had around him last year he's not the same player. Just in that highlight video you can see how quickly the Utah DB runs him down. He's a good route runner and would make our WRs group better but not a top 10 pick. We need Oline and Dline. Carter or Bresee and if not there trade back to 2nd half of the 1st Rd where the WR/Oline talent lies.

If there is to be a breakout this season it's the 2nd half of the season when Fields should have Whitehair back at LG, Patrick C, and then WRs Pringle, Jones, and Harry on the field along with Mooney. I'm not expecting anything great from any of the 3 WRs but Pringle is a better option than ISM or Pettis on contested catches, and he's a better blocker so run game improves. Jones' route running will always be compromised but he's capable of ripping off chunk plays at any time. It's obvious on Jones' TD run and then his WR screen play against Washington that he covers a lot of ground quickly. That gives Fields a great option on some WR screens or short routes. Harry can help in the red zone and again is an elite run blocker. Each of them adds something we just don't have on the field right now and none are a receiving downgrade as compared to Pettis, ISM, or even St. Brown.

I'd say Poles went after BPA pretty clearly in the draft although there was a big emphasis on Oline on Day 3. Yet at that point draft grades are basically flat/even so it's easy to match BPA with needs. I expected 1) we'd go offense early in the draft and 2) our secondary would be a complete mess this season. The draft didn't fall our way but the defensive players did. I don't see any chance they move on from Fields in the manner you propose. That would be like scrapping your entire first season as GM/coach and the clock is ticking on their contract extensions. If they had those doubts it would make more sense to draft competition for him and see who wins the job. Then you trade away the one you don't want.