AZ54

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.

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2022/12/19/23515646/10-chicago-bears-takes-justin-fields-teven-jenkins-velus-jones-matt-eberflus-top-5-pick-eberflus It was a good week for the Bears in regard to draft positioning, and that alone is worth celebrating. They came into Week 15 with the No. 3 overall pick and one of only three teams with less than four wins. They'll leave this weekend with the No. 2 overall pick and the lone three-win team in the league. Even better? There are only three traditional four-win teams and two of those teams will play each other (The Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos) in Week 16. That means that the worst the Bears can do with a (1-2) finish would be the fourth overall pick. Here's a look at the current Top 5 according to Tankathon.com.

That's interesting because when I saw the first stunt go past Whitehair I saw Mustipher in the middle with no one to block. He looked left and saw nobody coming (before the stunt) and then turned to his right to help out Jenkins or maybe Schofield who didn't need any help. If he had just stepped back and stayed in the middle he would have been in position to help on the DE stunt inside. Instead he had his back to the DE as he came through.

I still think the breakdown by quarter of the season is a better way to show progress. The comp% of his last 4 games combined is 68% and TD:INT 5:4 The 2 INTs against GB are questionable against him especially the last one where you have to try something. Fields QB Rating: 2021-73. 2022- 88 and trending upward. His last 9 games he's averaging 97.8. I don't put a lot of stock into these ratings because the team surrounding the player has a significant impact on it but the team surrounding Fields is not helping him a whole lot. For reference and perspective in 2022 Burrow's rating is 102.5. Herbert = 91.5, career avg of 95.9. Mahomes in 2021 had a season rating of 98.5, this year 105. Lamar Jackson 2022 is 91.1

FWIW in the press conference that is linked below Eberflus was clear in calling Fields the Franchise QB. For those who have watched him and Poles in their press conferences since they were hired they were always cautious about avoiding that statement. https://www.chicagobears.com/video/matt-eberflus-provides-injury-updates-for-week-16-press-conference

Hurts threw some dimes but also had quite a few passes that were off the mark a bit. If you swapped one of these two position groups: Oline or WR corps I think we win that game and it might not even be close.

Whitehair is in his 7th season and is the 6th highest paid LG in the NFL. If he needs coaching to figure that out we have the wrong man for the job. I only got to see replays during the game but it appeared even Braxton Jones figured out they had to switch off their blocks. Whitehair just continued following the DT until he (Whitehair) ran into Jones and lost his balance. There is a lot of cold/flu stuff going around and we had some players miss time for illness leading into the game so perhaps he was having an off day but I agree with others who have pointed out that he hasn't been the same player since he returned from his injury.

I again am very impressed by the effort put forth by this team. We were simply out-manned at nearly every spot on the field and kept it close with effort despite losing several key players throughout the game. More than anything young players keep improving and I think that bodes very well for the future as we add better talent. Find a post in this thread that mentions Braxton Jones? Fields each game takes a step forward, small but you can see it in a few plays each game. The backup DBs again didn't look overwhelmed and played physically at the point of attack. As much as we blitzed and as many as we blitzed I expected to see WRs wide open all over. Given where we are at this point (draft focused) I don't even get upset at all the heavy blitzes we're doing. I don't believe that is characteristic of what this teams wants to do long term. Who was wrong on the safety blitz that gave up the easy TD by Hurts we won't know but had they gone into different gaps that play is dead at the LOS. This is the time to experiment and see what happens and who can handle things. Thoughts on players: Whitehair - if he wants $14mil next season this was the game to earn it. He failed, repeatedly. Leatherwood - needs one more quick kick step in that drop to handle what Reddick was showing him. It appeared he did that better in his first game. I'm not giving up on him though because when he's right he's very right and he's still working on very few snaps. Will he show enough for Poles to commit to him as our future RT? That doesn't seem likely but I can see him in the competition for the job in camp. That could be against a rookie or vet but the decision has been made that it won't be Borom. Fields - watching the NFL Network pregame show with Kurt Warner comparing Fields now versus early in the season the progress in the pocket is obvious. On his quick throws to the WR screen he has to get his feet right. That's something he needs to work on this offseason. Ebner - he is still not comfortable in the backfield. I don't know the future for our WRs corps but if these injuries linger we should see him run some routes out of the slot. Velus isn't showing much so mix it up a bit and give Ebner some of his routes. Being sick all weekend I watched a lot of football. I don't see us as far off from a playoff contender as our record states. This game just reinforced that belief and makes me even more enthusiastic for what we can become when we add talent this offseason.

Detroit being Detroit I have a feeling they'll just stick with Goff. I've already seen media folks discussing it and how he's their QB of the future. I'd be glad if they did because Goff is a Decepticon and sooner or later he'll revert to himself.

I like Foskey because he's quick, good speed, and he hustles to the ball. From what I've seen in his highlights he's just not very bendy when it comes to getting around the outside shoulder of an OT. Bigger players like Murphy can use their length to offset that. Here against Ohio St Foskey just gets into a lot of hand fighting with OTs, a battle he almost always loses. It may end up that he's a better fit in a 3-4 scheme where he splits time dropping into coverage and rushing.

I did notice Blackwell, even how well he handled the typical rub routes. I'd love to see him paired up with our starters, even if it's another rotational role.

I too like having the higher draft pick but with this team playing with high effort I can see the need for the players to get a win just to feel better about the hard work they've put in. You need look no further than what happened in Detroit once they got a 2nd win and went on a winning streak to see what that means to players.

This dude...

That's fair. There are question on both players. At the moment those are the only two I've seen with the elite athletic talent to hit that superstar level. I haven't looked at everyone in the top 10 but my sense is that if those 2 are off the board when we pick then a trade back makes a ton of sense. However, if Poles stayed put and chose either Anderson or Carter I wouldn't blame him. It is likely there will be others with elite athletic talent but with lesser skill sets (raw, younger draft entrants). Evaluating the work ethic and football smarts is the real behind the scenes work. Despite falling to the 3rd pick the teams in the top 5 don't need QBs except for Houston. Indy, Carolina, and Atlanta will be vying for a QB. If Pace has any say in it Atlanta will be all-in to move up.