adam

You would think that CLE's defense would be at least a top 10 unit once with Garrett, yet since he entered the league in 2017, the highest the defense finished in scoring was 13th, twice, and ironically, the only two times they have been in the top 20. So without him, are they literally the worst defense in the league every year?

Arm length scares me for Bain. Everything else is off the charts, but the 3rd shortest arms for a DE in combine history? Yikes.

Yeah, it's a tough balancing act especially when they get hurt because now you are stuck with them for probably one year too many.

I agree. I hope he works out because Poles track record on the DLine has been sus. Dexter doesn't look like he will be getting a 2nd contract. Pickens was a bust. Odeyingbo is trending that way as an FA. Jarrett is probably over the hill. Sweat was solid, but was always a high-end DE2, and not really a consistent DE1. Billings was great then terrible.

Turner had some first-round grades, and some mocks had him going that high. A 2nd round pick has to become a key contributor/starter.

I hate using injuries as an excuse, but it felt like every level had a few guys out every game. On the DL, Turner only played 74 defensive snaps. Jarrett seemed to be dealing with something most of the year. Odeyingbo, regardless of how disappointing he was when he played, still missed most of the season to injury. The LB Corps was playing with LB 3, 4, or 5 as starters for a good chunk of the year. So with some upgrades, this defense could really surprise.

Oh yeah, it really inflates lower quantity stats like INTs.

Using AV, comparing last year's value, Dalman to Bradbury is only a slight downgrade 10-9, but both are above league average. Bryant is an upgrade over Brisker, but downgrade from Byard. Bush is an upgrade over Edmunds.

Yeah, it is just a way to approximate value in terms of production in a single number. You could also use it to assess draft successes after a few years. Guys like Loveland, Burden, and Monangai are all near the top for 2025, obviously Caleb is #1 in 2024, Wright tied for 12th in 2023. It's not perfect as it seems to award skill position players more value (or opportunity to get a higher rating). I will say AV feels much more accurate than something like PFF and it also gets better over time.

Yeah people forget the secondary injuries were crazy. Outside of losing Smith and Frazier right out the gate. Gordon only played in 3 games, all wins. Johnson played in 7 but was clearly not in shape for most of them. Stevenson missed several games. TJ Edwards also missed time at LB. So of the back 7, there will be zero players on the 2026 starting day roster that played in at least 15 games for the Bears last season.

I was looking up some numbers, basically to see how rare a situation Myles Garrett is in with his level of individual dominance combined with team failures and right off the bat, he is definitely up in the top 10 all-time. With a career AV of 123, he has only played in 3 playoff games. There are only 7 players with higher AV and 3 or fewer playoff games. 6 played pre-1970, leaving Willie Roaf as the only modern day player to have more AV with 3 or fewer playoff games. He has a 145 AV with only 3 playoff games. So if CLE misses the playoffs again in 2026, Garrett will pass Roaf during the 2027 season with the highest AV with fewest playoff games in NFL history (SB era). Of the other modern day players on the list, Roaf, Andre Johnson, Demario Davis, Patrick Peterson, and Adrian Peterson, all of them played for at least two different teams other than Garrett. A funny side note, 3 of the top 4 played for Detroit in the 50s-70s. One other interesting note was Bears-related. 3 Bears made the top 50. Urlacher(24), Briggs(28), and Walter(38). Khalil Mack (22) also made an appearance.

That is an interesting thought. If they did that, the Safety position would be stacked with salary though with 2 guys both making a lot of money. I was hoping they would continue to be balanced and have a position group with a bigger contract, rookie deal, and then a mix of other lower level guys. If you look throughout the roster, that at least seems to be the trend.

Enter Sanman!

Nothing more than 90-man roster depth it seems.

Smith at CB as well. Crazy how Wright would've been CB5, and ended up being CB2 all year.