AZ54

After watching Tua today and I agree he doesn’t look good off schedule.

Looking at Orlando Brown's history he started out as a RT in Baltimore. He moved to LT due to Stanley getting injured and then played well. KC traded for him and kept him at LT, with this year being under the franchise tag at $16.6mil. Brown apparently has stated he wants to play LT. However, it's not clear if that is because of the money or personal preference. Poles might consider him an option at RT but he'll likely be paying him LT money. Assuming he is our LT of the future, Poles has Braxton Jones for 3 more years on a sweet deal before he'll have to pay him. From a roster budget planning standpoint if we paid Brown $16-20mil/yr to man the right side we'd easily still be at budget for the OT position overall through 2025. You could also make the assumption that Brown would be the backup LT for us which is a great option to have since finding a backup RT is a bit easier. Other teams have paid RTs big money so there's a precedent. https://overthecap.com/position/right-tackle https://overthecap.com/position/left-tackle

I'm certain you meant Doug Kramer as the OC and that you aren't trying to drag Eric Kramer out of retirement. It's common for us to talk about rookies as gaining strength but I really believe J. Carter is more focused on technique and adapting to NFL offense. It might be splitting hairs but for next year's forecast I'd say strength is typically the easier thing to gain whereas the leap learning the technical side of blocking in this offense is a bit trickier to project. The team thinks enough of him to protect him on the 53 but even with all of our recent injuries he's still riding the bench while Borom started and then Eiselen got 44% of the LG snaps in the last game. That's concerning if we're thinking he's someone we can pencil in as a backup in 2023. Overall I agree this rookie class is promising as the majority of them look like they belong on an NFL field.

Sure seems like they got the wrong HC/OC guy out of GB. Earlier in the year he really screwed up the clock management at the end of a game. I don't remember details but I do remember thinking at the time that you can't possibly be in offensive football that many years and not know those things. By itself that doesn't mean much but it does point to a lack of organization and preparedness. If you can't get the simple things right with your offensive staff how well are you coordinating the practices and other details needed to get an offense on the same page? That combined with the Wilson deal might make you sick to your stomach as a fan. If I'm the owner I'm taking a serious look at my coaching investment because if there's a chance this deal for Wilson could work it has to start happening next season.

Maybe it was me, I was just using that site to track draft position but they have a simple interface for looking at prospects.

I liked his potential in the draft but Davenport has never played up to his 1st Rd draft slot. I'm not sure how much he adds to the roster versus a young DomRob. If we're going to sign a one-dimensional FA DE I'd prefer to sign one who is more effective as pass rusher than he is at run defense (ala Reddick of the Eagles). I know we need both traits among the DEs but it's easier to find a run defender than pass rusher even in the draft. I don't know if that player exists in FA this year but we have to have someone who can help us get off the field on 3rd and long situations.

Yes that is the role I expected from him as well. Hopefully that big reception gives him more confidence and then with a full offseason he can improve his timing with Fields.

From some of the analyst videos he has poor technique with his hands and arms. He allows himself to get into close contact with Oline and they just latch on. If you can catch a game film of his you'll see it on numerous plays where he gets neutralized at the LOS. It's as if he thinks he can just rely on his quickness and power. That won't work at the NFL level. There is a bit of a gamble here but his traits are elite and if you can coach him into better technique it's a big win. That along with using him to best take advantage of his traits. It is also a function of how Georgia uses him in different roles: https://thedraftnetwork.com/sr-prospect/jalen-carter-7f2cd5a9-0f55-4896-92d3-655855e0ea0f/ "Georgia plays him in multiple spots: 1-tech, 2i, 3-tech, and 5-tech." Cons: Despite playing multiple alignments, Jalen Carter is best as a single-gap penetrator. Inconsistency against double teams raises concerns about reducing his alignment too far inside. His contact balance needs improvement. He is susceptible to being knocked off his rush path. Although he has a solid repertoire of hand counters, Carter does not activate his hands enough. He attempts to deconstruct blocks with quickness and drives his shoulder between gaps. Hand/punch placement must improve to not allow easy access to his chest. Carter plays with inconsistent pad level and is seen popping up out of his stance, surrendering leverage quickly. He’s played fewer than 140 snaps against the run, raising concerns about holding up in a full-time role. `

After lots of thought watching other successful teams my conclusion is that we build the trenches in 2023. Of course that's a basic football cliche but at this point in the season I'm seeing things differently. Justin Fields is such a unique talent at QB, and I believe he will take another leap forward next year, that he simply does not need elite WR talent to succeed. In fact, I'd say that if we had the exact same WR group next year but we put him behind a top 5 Oline that he'd be almost unstoppable. He needs time in the pocket and a good running game. In the running game he adds enough of a different dimension that we don't need an elite RB, guys like Montgomery and Herbert can suffice. I've spent time focusing on some of the other good young QBs. How do they compare in similar situations (i.e. backup WRs, poor Oline). Allen, Herbert, Murray, Tua, and then you can see other QBs like Aaron Rodgers and what he was doing this season with young WRs and, really, minus Adams. They can't generate the same amount of offense without more talent at the skill positions than Fields has, and yes that's because he's an elite runner. As a passer Fields is at his best when he gets time to throw the deeper routes. It might seem that every QB is that way but they don't all have the deep ball accuracy so defenses don't always respect deep routes. Deeper routes naturally take the coverage deeper making Fields' running threat more dangerous. Here's the caveat: It doesn't necessarily matter if those WRs are consistently open by their own accord (i.e. won on the route). They just have to be good enough that someone has to cover them. Mooney and Claypool both fit that mold and of course if they are open Fields can hit them for the big gain. What about the short passing game? Since he'll have time to throw Fields doesn't need a WR receiver who can win early. To be honest, he's not the best at those reads anyway at this point in his career. So don't spend an early pick, or big FA money trying to find that WR. Use it on Oline, or Dline so we can win a game when we score 30pts. We might still struggle in the redzone without that one WR who can win early on a route but I think we'd still see point totals like we've had this year starting in Wk 7: 33, 29, 32, 30, 24pts = 29.4pts avg. Then some injuries hit us and we dropped: Jets (Siemian) 10pts, Packers 20pts, Eagles 20pts, and today with 3 backups on Oline (4 if you count Mustipher as backup caliber) just 13pts. That was enough for me to see the blueprint for this offseason.

True. I guess I don’t view any of these QBs that highly but you are right. It just takes one team.

Love the top 4 and that alone would make that a successful draft. I don't see us using a 3rd on a RB, I'd prefer to see an OC there.

From a trade back standpoint I'm not sure the 1st overall helps. There is no player worth trading up that high to get beyond potentially a QB. The QBs really are more about supply and demand versus their draft grade. The whole world knows we are not selecting a QB. We need Houston in front of us as the QB wildcard so some team gets nervous about losing out on the 2nd best QB because after that the drop off gets pretty big. That could all change in the run up to the draft if Stroud or Young really start to wow scouts. The only other option might be if someone in the top 5, maybe top 7, really coveted one of the 2 defensive stars. Beyond that the price to move up gets too high for most teams, and the move down gets too far for my preference.

Pix... I hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to support you here.

https://www.nfl.com/news/elgton-jenkins-packers-four-year-68m-contract-extension Max value is up to $74mil. They knew where he was headed so they went all-in. I thought he'd be a great addition for us but if a team with just $3mil cap space feels they must do that then a lot of other pieces are going to fall off that roster. I can't even guess where they will be finding that cap space because all of their top players have a ton of dead money hits. It is either a heavily backloaded contract or they are banking on a massive increase in the cap space versus what is already forecasted. The only other option I can see is that they have already decided they will be trading Aaron Rodgers, or he'd have to retire. They don't even have enough for a rookie pool. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/green-bay-packers There is nothing in this article to indicate a big change from what OTC has forecasted. https://www.nfl.com/news/salary-cap-for-2023-nfl-season-could-exceed-220-million-but-questions-remain

It's all fair to note. He still has many aspects of his game to improve. It is very difficult to be a good NFL QB. Our QB history just makes it hard to control our anxiety or paranoia.

Thanks

I'm in agreement on Tev. RT has been an issue since the beginning of the OTAs and Tev had a shot and they quickly moved on from it. I can't see how after being successful inside where they wanted him, and seemingly fought with him over it, would they want to change their mind and move him back out there? As Bears fans I think we're just conditioned to panic over Oline issues. Question for you Mongo: Why can't Leatherwood improve his technique? I agree on the waist bending and footwork stuff but to me if he can physically bend his knees and move at the same time he should be able to develop new habits. I've seen some Olinemen that just can't bend and move well and are just more stiff legged in their movement. Leno always struck me as one of them where he just couldn't sync his lateral movement and blocking well. I could be wrong but Leatherwood doesn't seem to have that physical limitation as much as bad or lazy habits because at times he looks the part. I'm using Leatherwood as an example here because draft season is around the corner and we have to evaluate Oline. Likewise for FA options. How do you see the difference between bad habits and dude just can't do it? Of course that becomes a harder task once bad habits have set in. Fields mostly adjusted his throwing mechanics in one offseason, there's still work to be done. I'm not against moving him inside and he stated that he is simply more comfortable on the left side. For whatever reason some athletes are like that and he might just be the answer at LG.

Perhaps every NFL team does this but I like the way we run the injured players through physical tests and match that to their preseason performance. Eberflus is always saying how his runs/jumps/lifts/etc. are back to baseline. So players are not just healthy they've had time to regain their strength and agility.

It's that time of year where small injuries put you on IR and they grab someone new. It'd be different if we were headed to the playoffs but we're just starting the 2023 tryouts early.

That's awesome news, and not just for the team but him personally.

I wonder if Herbert is still feeling good about returning?

What has Braxton Jones done lately to deserve being replaced? https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-pff-grades-best-and-worst-performers-in-week-15-loss-eagles/ He keeps grading out as our 2nd best Oline, just behind Jenkins, and he's just a rookie. I watch Charles Cross, 9th overall, get beat like a drum on several plays every time I see Seattle play. "Braxton Jones earned the highest grade for Chicago’s struggling offensive line. According to PFF, Jones didn’t allow a sack and earned high marks in pass protection (73.9) and run blocking (70.1)." I understand that's PFF smoke and mirrors grading but in the game I saw Brisker made more mistakes, and costly ones at that, and nobody is talking about replacing him. LTs can't make the spectacular play for a loss or turnover. They just sort of are "there" but they can give up negative plays. Jones didn't do that against the best defensive front in the NFL yet we need to spend $15-20mil next year to fix.. what? Go fix C, RT and then LG. Then, even if Braxton Jones is exactly the same player as he was in the Eagles game, Justin will be happy in the pocket. Except there is a high likelihood Jones will improve next season. I have at least 10 other starting positions to address long before I get to LT as the reason we can't win games.

It is going to get interesting this weekend on the interior OL. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2022/12/19/23518043/chicago-bears-cody-whitehair-significant-knee-injury-teven-jenkins-dieter-eiselen-jatyre-carter

Watching Pittman drop easy passes this past weekend didn't impress me. Nor did he show anything special with his hands on ball. Admittedly a small sample but he didn't seem to be a player who would add anything we don't already have on the roster.

I'm not a fan of drafting a RB but the way Achane runs with patience and vision, even on inside runs, plus that insane burst is pretty tantalizing. I like Tuli. You can literally line him up anywhere on the front but to see a man his size get around the edge like he does is rare. He also shifty enough to slip inside blockers. Anudike is listed at 6-3 but he plays bigger than that. Curious to see how he does at the combine. It'd be nice if Hyatt's highlight film had more than just wide open go routes but unlike Velus he has easy soft hands. I didn't see much route running or contested catches and for a 5th yr Sr you have to wonder how much he has to learn as a WR. He is the epitome of.. If he's even he's leavin'. The tools are there if he has the work ethic.