BearFan2000

PA does take the QB's eyes off the defense but only for play action part of the play. It's a very brief time. I always found it crazy that under Nagy we hardly ever used play action even though our run game was having success and opponents didn't respect our passing game and were more often playing the run especially with Nagy's play calling being so predictable. It's quite simple, if your run game is effective play action will be effective, but we didn't do that. And play action is even more effective with a mobile QB like Justin. Defense is closing down to stop the run, and have to react that the play is now a pass, but if they get back in coverage there's often lanes to run where Justin can pull it down and take off. Under Nagy the league was playing chess and Nagy was playing checkers. RPO's became the shiny new thing, but as you mentioned defenses adapted quickly and the RPOs aren't as effective anymore. I want to see Getsy install a real NFL offense tailored to our players. One that actually does the smart thing rather than being an OC who think's he's smarter than everyone else. There's nothing out there that NFL defenses haven't seen, you just need to be flexible and be able to attack defenses in different ways and adjust in game.

This surprised me but no way of us knowing what the reason for the failed physical was or if there was an injury that we were concerned about? I'm starting to get the sense that this staff is taking medical evals more seriously than previous regimes. With our past issues with injuries that to me could be a good change. We seem less likely to invest in players that have physical concerns. We'll never eliminate potential injury issues but I feel like we are monitoring this more closely. Here's hoping that bodes well for having better team health in season.

He makes some great points about age not being as big a factor as it used to. Also had no idea he's only 11 months older than Hester when we drafted him.

Camp body

Also really glad we went in with 6 picks and came out with 11 selections and did not touch any of the 2023 picks. With this draft and FA moves, along with improved coaching, the opportunity is there to lay the groundwork in 2022 to enter next offseason and the 2023 draft with more targeted additions that can put us in a position to truly be competitive. With our NFC North rivals improvements on the offensive side of the ball, it makes sense to try and strengthen a very weak secondary, so this may help us keep games closer and thus more competitive. We weren't going to address all our needs in one offseason. Especially with limited cap space and draft capitol.

Very thorough writeup, on the picks. I must admit that outside of the prospects that got the most attention pre-draft my knowledge was quite limited. I found I was doing my research on these players after we'd picked them. While I was thinking we'd go WR/OL or OL/WR with our 2nd rounders, I think we got two solid starters out of these picks with both Gordon and Brisker. I like what I've seen and heard about Jones. He strikes me as very versatile and could be used in a lot of ways. The OL that we drafted I knew absolutely nothing about. I liked seeing that we entered day 3 with 3 picks and ended up with 7 selections ( I believe). And Poles took several bites at the OL apple. I can see us adding a vet to fill the LT spot this season. At the very least we've added depth to the OL and who knows one or more of these guys might develop into a solid starter. It's awesome to see someone like Hicks who's super excited to be drafted by the Bears. It's easy to forget what it means to the guys at the end of the draft and even UDFA's It's their shot at their dream of making an NFL roster whereas the top tiered prospects it's generally not a matter of if but when they'll get picked. I have no doubt this kid will work his butt off to make the cut.

I too wish we’d gotten something for him, tells you what his marker is. Since he left Philly he’s not been blessed with landing in a good system. good guy wish him well.

I agree with this, especially the part in bold. That was one of my hopes going into this offseason and particularly the draft. We have not made moves that cost us future capital. It hurts not having first round picks. I hope Poles sticks to his goal of maximizing draft capitol. I knew this years draft would be more low key if we stayed put. As long as we get 2-3 starters and some guys who can contribute and we go into next draft with our full compliment of picks or even extra picks that will be huge. it is hard not to view the draft not being rained by how Things have been in the past. You need a steady hand to draft well, we’ve had so much reactionary drafting that we’ve come to expect at least one or two dumb moves that cost us more than it gained us. I too was expecting round 2 to be OL/WR. But I’m good with the picks we made plus the Jones pick in the 3rd. This roster needs help, and you have to start somewhere. Having a strong D will help keep games close while the offense finds its identity. Let’s not forget we go addition by subtraction with Nagy gone. Getsy May never have called an offense but he’s been around a prolific offense. This season is more about 2023 and beyond than it is about 2022.

It's finally here, Draft starts tonight. A little less exciting today as we don't have a first rounder. This will our first look at how Ryan Poles runs a draft room. It's his first ever draft as GM. I'm both excited and nervous on how this will go. We have definite needs and only 6 picks. I won't focus on specific position or players but more or less what I'd like to see us do in general. Trade wise, if we do make trades I hope that we do so in a way that maximizes value. I don't want to see us sacrifice limited 2022 capitol, or borrow heavily from 2023, to not get back good value. I want us to be smart and strategic about our draft day trades if we make any. I prefer trading down vs trading up, but not just to do so. It has to be calculated based who's on our board and if we can drop a few picks to gain extra picks and still get our guy. I don't want us to sacrifice the opportunity to grab a guy who falls to us or is on our board at a pick just to gain more picks. When we do pick, I really want to see us take the smart pick, if a talent falls to our pick, and fills a need, take the guy. I'm so tired of watching good players fall to us and we all see it only to see us take someone that makes us scratch our heads. Whether it's taking a player we could have had later or could have traded down to get and maybe picked up an extra pick or we just take someone they fell in love with pre-draft rather than the talent that dropped. We only have 6 picks we need to add as many impact players as we can, whether it's contributors, starters, or guys who can work their way into a starting role. We can't afford to be cute, or act like the smartest man in the room and think we know better than the rest of the league. Based on what Poles has said about the draft, I think he'll take a more smart calculated approach than Pace did. But till he drafts we don't know how he will run the draft. Our picks as everyone knows for now are: 2-7 (39) 2-16 (48) 3-7 (71) 5-5 (148) 5-7 (150) 6-7 (186)

This. I'd be pretty confident most if not all of us have done this at one time or another. Will say FL wouldn't be my choice I'd rather do it in a nice empty midwest lot with snow on the ground (in my youth of course). Having your kid with you is not smart or setting a good example. For all we know the kid could have been egging his dad on to do it, but you have to be the adult in the situation and not be reckless with your kid in the car. It was a poor decision but as long as he understands and this is an isolated incident I see no reason to come down hard on him. If off field issue become an issue, then more drastic measures are needed. I feel like this is the type of thing that can provide an opportunity for a new HC and GM establish what they expect out of their players from a behavior standpoint. It's part of creating the culture you want, and defining what is and isn't acceptable.

The way the picks are awarded needs to be changed as other's have mentioned teams poorly managing cap get compensated for losing guys they can't afford to keep, or teams trading for a good player at the end of their contract getting rewarded when that player signs elsewhere. Every year teams that don't need extra help are awarded comp picks in some cases because they worked the system. While teams fighting to be competitive don't get anything, because they lack big name players that would award them comp pick when the player leaves. I like Adam's idea that it should only be for players coming off their rookie deals especially since they are compensatory "draft" picks rather than including FA and vet players. The way it works now is teams can work the system to get extra picks.

Agree, the myth that you must have a true #1 to be successful is just that. If you have a collection of very good to great #2's and solid 3s, that can make up for the production of not having a true #1, and in some ways it's better IMO. There's cases where a team has a true #1 but the rest of the WR corp is meh. Defenses will take your #1 away and force you to beat them with your other WR's or on the ground. Fixing our OL will go a long way towards improving timing between Fields and Mooney or any receivers.

They were talking on NFL XM radio this morning that the Packers could be a team interested in Debo, their cap situation may say otherwise. I'm sure there's some team out there that would be willing to give Debo what he wants money wise. Poles is probably interested in the talent but not for that kind of money, not right now. He's being careful this offseason with signings. We may see a couple more signings before the draft and after the draft there may be more guys come available between FA and UDFAs. This offseason is going to be a budget offseason, with eyes on making bigger moves next offseason to start seriously competing in 2023 and beyond. It's not sexy or exciting but it's smart to be low key this offseason, hang onto or add as much draft capitol as you can. Robbing the future to patch the present has gotten us into the mess we're in. So if we need to use an offseason to "reset" our ability to acquire assets in FA and the Draft in the future that's the smart play here. You never know how the draft will play out and there are usually guys that become available that may not have been pre-draft.

One thing to keep in mind is we don't have Nagy trying to force a fatally flawed offensive playcylling scheme. The biggest key to the offense in 2022 and beyond is how well Getsy can craft an offensive playbook and execute smart play calling to put our guys in a position to succeed. So often with Nagy our guys were behind the 8 ball and set up to fail, and fail they did. Getsy is an unknown but he's highly thought of and respected by his former players and coaches in GB. If he can put our players in a position to succeed by creating his offense to fit the players he has, then it's on them to execute. Naggy put Fields in a bad position trying to make him something he was not, not properly utilizing his strengths. An offense can be loaded with talent but with a flawed offensive scheme they would struggle to reach their collective potential.

Agree, Emery and Pace tried to build with the pieces they had rather than cutting dead weight. What Poles is doing reminds me more of when Angelo took over and cut dead weight and reshaping the roster. We did find success from this process and he built a SB contending team under Lovie's leadership. This is the better approach by making an honest evaluation of the roster top to bottom, and make some hard choices to rebuild the team the right way.

We're so used to our GM's making costly mistakes it can be easy to project that onto Poles and view his moves through that lens. Making the contract signing contingent on passing a physical was smart giving how recent the injury was. It was a calculated swing at a player with upside that if healthy (passing a physical) would be a good add, but he gave himself an out if he didn't pass. Also I don't look at it as him missing out on other players as I don't think they targeted more than a couple players in the first wave to go after. Can't miss players you weren't targeting. Pace would have signed him anyway because he had "conviction" about the signing.

I feel like I read or heard that Bates is a pretty versatile lineman. I'm happy that he signed our offer sheet and now hope the Bills decide not to match. We're adding some good talent to the line whether it's projected starters or depth. Not only do we need to bolster the starting line but need to improve the depth behind them.

I don't think we can ever rule out our team being successful this coming season. To me the difference is expectation. I don't place an expectation of success in wins and losses. To me this season being a success is measured differently, it's about building that foundation for the future and creating the identity the team will have under the new regime. If we also succeed in the win/loss column that is a welcome outcome, and would help reinforce what Ryan and Mat are trying to create here. Especially for the guys who will make up the core of this team in the near future.

Not a bad idea if he's able to structure it right that it's just front loaded enough that the Bills will not try to match but not crippling to us. Wasn't this how we got John Tait away from KC somewhere around 2005/2006? We do also have the Vikings and the Pats to compete with. We did free up some room when the Ogunjobi signing fell through, I know we've signed others since then.

It is a different process and approach than we're used to. It's hard watching all the movement in FA and seeing us make minor moves, Poles is focused on doing things right rather than doing things fast. Pace more than Emery and Angelo was willing to sacrifice the future to patch the present and that catches up with you especially if the patches you are over paying for only mask issue or just outright do little to help. I don't see Poles overpaying for a has been in Graham, selling the farm to move up 1 spot in the draft to take a QB likely would have been there at your spot, selling the farm for a disgruntled talented QB with character issues (Angelo), and the list goes on. Pace was the type to have conviction about a move which can be good but it tended to be blind conviction that he would commit or overcommit whatever resources necessary to make a move happen. He would lose sight of whether that move reaches the point where it's not worth it and you need to let it go and change course. Sorta like having a plan in mind and not really having a pivot in mind if that plan doesn't work out. In the past we've compounded poor drafting especially at the top end of our drafts by overpaying to cover for those mistakes. It's why we're in the cap situation and the draft capital situation we are now, with a team that's not close to being a real contender. Fixing this the right way will not be an overnight fix, it will take time. If Poles is able to rebuild from the trenches out and can build the Bears back to being an annual contender it'll take patience from us as fans to trust the process and give him a chance to do what needs to be done. We're just now trying to do the reset/rebuild that should have started last offseason. Poles has his work cut out for him. There are a lot of unknowns. We haven't seen Poles run a draft, we haven't seen Poles run a full offseason, we haven't seen him work in season. First time GM, first time HC, OC, etc. Thus far he has stuck to his overall stated plan to rebuild our roster. It's a positive change that he stuck by what he said he'd do and didn't follow through on the signing after the failed physical. It's an unfortunate situation where you and your staff targeted someone early in FA but made the hard right decision to not go forward, for the greater good of the team. He also seems more interested in getting feedback and advice from others. Doesn't seem to suffer from "smartest man in the room" syndrome.

I too don't see this as a mistake either, the mistake would have been to just go through with the signing and hoping it works out (ala Pace). Poles, and probably the coaching staff obviously identified Ogunjobi as the exception to his plan to hold off till wave 2 and 3 of FA. From what it sounds they weren't targeting any other first wave guys, so you can't really "miss out" on guys you weren't targeting anyway. I think sometimes we're too quick to assume our GM screwed up cause we're so used to our GM's making costly mistakes. Sometimes even when they do or don't do something we think they should do. This is his first offseason as a GM, first time GM, and I feel like him standing his ground on taking medical evaluations seriously and making the right call to not go forward with signing a guy and paying him 13.5 mil a year when there are real concerns about him being healthy enough to play. Especially if you are signing a guy to be the anchor of your defensive front going forward.

Part of that has to do with most WR's in GB not named Davante Adams. Watching the Packers play Rodgers literally forces the ball to Adams most of the time. Look at the target distribution. It's hard to shine or show what you're capable of as a WR when you don't see the ball much. As a ND fan I was hoping the Bears would take him in the draft. I can see the former Packers WR's that end up elsewhere this offseason wanting to prove themselves now that they are out of the shadow of Adams.

There's so many factors at play, I have no doubt Poles is actively going after players, and we don't know who we've reached out to or offered to and who we haven't. From a FA's perspective, especially wave 1 and high end wave 2 guys. Given the choice to play for a team contending now vs a team that hopes become a contender in future years, odds are they will want to play for a team winning now. We could even offer more money but the lure of playing for a playoff team is likely to outweigh the money. Which is why teams in our situation often have to pay at or above value to land guys. The ones that will sign here more than likely either need to prove it or they look at our team and feel that the future is bright and want to be part of something like that. That said it is hard as a fan to balance seeing big name guys getting deals and wanting us to sign impact players and trusting the process of a new GM and coaching staff constructing the roster to fit their vision for the team's future success. We're more than a couple impact players away. And each offseason will have it's own list of big name impact FA's to go after when we are in more of a win now situation.

I'm on board with Landry as well. He's not flashy but he's generally a dependable possession WR that would be a good option for Fields. You need utility guys like that especially for a young QB. I like Tretter as well, I can see Poles throwing a lot of darts at OL this offseason, we've added a couple here in FA, we'll for sure draft some, and I can see us going after some in UDFA market.

This. Moving up or down in the draft has to be purposeful and thought out (given sometimes you don't have a lot of time to decide). I do prefer trading back and adding picks but at the same time I don't want to see us do it just to do. that and accumulate picks if we can stay put and add a piece that will help our team going forward. This is exactly how you need to approach trading back or trading up. It all comes down to who's on your board as your pick nears. Being aware of who other teams might be targeting ahead of you to decide if you can move back and still get someone you've targeted.