adam

Leno was at best average, but once he got paid, he did get a little lazy. The cut really woke him up as he has played better in Washington. He always seemed like a nice guy but man he gave up on a lot of plays. I posted some videos of him blocking air when there was an LB right in front of him on a run play, and that LB makes the tackle. I think Jones has the potential to be much better than Leno. From the actual practices and press conferences, he is already way ahead of the pace of a 5th round pick out of a smaller school. Here are some of weaknesses from NFL Draft profile, with my comments: Weaknesses Inaccurate hand placement in run game. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Below-average acceleration to second-level landmarks. - Monty has been getting hit at the first level for several years, so I am not worried about the 2nd level yet. Can't generate lower-body anger as drive blocker. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Rarely ever low man at the point of attack. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Inconsistent bringing feet through completion of the block. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Lethargic hands with spotty punch timing. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Platform instability leads to imbalance in punch contact. - Weight room and trainer as well as technique can fix this. Needs to eliminate his outside-in pass-setting approach. - Seems like a technique issue that is fixable. Beaten inside throughout the game by Arizona State rushers. - It was one game lol. If that is all his weaknesses, sign me up, he can have half of those cleaned up by Week 1.

Pace traded up for these players in the 2nd Round: Adam Shaheen, Anthony Miller, Tevin Jenkins. He always thought he was smarter than everyone else. I am so glad he is gone. We always joked on this board that we could do better than him at picking players. After seeing the aftermath of what he left, I don't know if we were too far off.

Good idea, what does everyone's timelines look like before Week 1 (September 8th). I was thinking the week of the 28th - 3rd, best day of the week and time for everyone. I am good after 530pm Central on weekdays and open all day on weekends.

I have been really impressed with this kid. For a 5th round pick, he seems like he is pretty well centered. Does this sound like a 5th round rookie:

Pads go on today, so we will see what happens. The trend from dropping down to 2nd string early in the offseason, to not practicing because "he has a little something", to working with trainers, to trade rumors seems like the news in trending in the wrong direction. Now it is possible the trade rumors are coming from his agent (or the team).

Another side note, all the major WR options who would've been UFAs next year are all signing contracts this year, so there is going to be limited options next year when the Bears have all this cap space. So it seems like a trade is going to be the only option.

For those that paid, thank you. Keeper rules: 1. Can't keep the same player in back-to-back years 2. Up to 2 keepers, first one you lose 1 round, second one you lose 2. If any active member personally knows other GMs, please start reaching out. I will send out reminders every few weeks. I want to lock in the GMs a month before the regular season starts so we can agree on a draft date and time.

Bears are in both of these groups because of Mooney: 18 teams had a WR with 80 or more receptions 20 teams had a WR with 1000 yards or more Kmet is also a top 15 TE in receptions and yards. They both did that with a revolving door at QB and clown for a HC with a Pop Warner offensive scheme. Mooney was tied for 10th in targets as well and you can expect that to rise this year. He had 140, so expect at least 1 extra per game to 157. The majority of the targets go to the top WR and top TE. So the WR3 and 4 have a minimal impact on the outcome of a game or the season. It ultimately comes down to QB-RB1-WR1-TE1-WR2, and that group is not 30th, Fields-Monty-Mooney-Kmet-Pringle is at least a top 20 group.

Quinn seems like one of those guys that has a body type that will allow him to play longer. I would not have a problem hanging onto him for a few more years as the team will need vets that are productive. He fits that bill. During an interview, he claimed he wants to be here and also mentioned that he is sick of moving. Both of those would lead me to believe he would be willing to stay in Chicago beyond his current deal. I wouldn't mind it.

Yeah, I will hold judgment until after the end of this season. Sure seems like a bust at this point. He has just missed too much time, regardless of the reasons. It really sucks because these players went off the board right after him: Liam Eichenberg, OL Asante Samuel Jr., CB Rondale Moore, WR Eichenberg is a solid starter for Miami, Samuel is doing great things in LA, and Moore is obviously ready to take off in Arizona. Mooney, Moore, Pringle, Jones? How about that for a WR corps. That pick has a huge trickle down effect. If we took say Samuel, we could've used the Gordon pick on a WR or OL.

Velus Jones is fassstttt: Had a 5-yard separation at 20 yds.

Patrick out indefinitely with broken hand/finger that needed surgery on his right hand. That is 6 weeks right there. It looks like we will have a new Center for at least Week 1.

The DB backpedaled 5+ yds and stayed with him at full speed, zero separation. Hard pass for me. For Quinn, we need draft capital, not retreads.

Trubisky was still being babied at this point. Nagy's first year, Mitch was still on 101. Fields is also throwing to all new WRs/TEs outside of Mooney and Kmet. So they will all get better. I am glad to see the defense getting some early turnovers, but then Fields and the offense recovering and ending on a high note.

St. Brown was making plays today too. Seems like a legit RZ threat. Harry played much better.

After two early INTs (Brisker and Gordon), Fields did this to end the practice:

Kmet has also looked really good.

Yes, the 2020 Bengals going into the season with Burrow in his second year after an abbreviated first year, a rookie WR starting, a bad O-Line, and no big names on defense. The Bears this year have Fields after an abbreviated rookie year, a rookie WR starting, a questionable O-Line, and no big names on defense. I totally get the WR corps, I am not denying that. However, where else do they have the edge, which position group? They had 2 of the worst OLmen in the league last year (luckily Reiff was one of their best). We upgraded from Mustipher to Patrick, and went from Peters to Reiff and Daniels to Schofield. At worst, that is an upgrade because Mustipher was below average. Cincy won 10 games (lost to Bears lol), so I don't think it is that far of a stretch to see the Bears win 8 or 9.

Hear me out on this one. I am comparing where the teams were at, at the time. Burrow coming off ACL was a huge question mark, Chase was a rookie WR, terrible OLine, no big names on defense, no depth after starting RB and TE. Again outside of WRs, where are the Bengals better than this year's Bears? Also note, the 2021 bad news Bears beat that Bengals team. I also think we buy into the media a little bit as well. All we hear is this team is going to be crap but we essentially only lost 3 big name players who didn't contribute full time last year anyway (Mack, Hicks, Robinson); those are the only key losses. Nagy is gone too and he was the biggest problem. Fields is in his 2nd year and first one with an actual off season.

A nice little nugget here: Both for $4M cap hit? Sounds good to me.

Comparing position groups, the teams look fairly similar outside of one or two players. QB - Burrow (coming off ACL) vs Fields RB - Mixon/Perine vs Monty/Herbert TE - Uzomah vs Kmet WR - Chase/Higgins/Boyd vs Mooney/Pringle/Harry/Jones OL - Williams/Spain/Carman/Hopkins/Reiff vs Reiff/Whitehair/Patrick/Schofield/Jenkins WR Group is where the Bengals have a huge advantage ceiling, however, they didn't really have a WR4. For O-Lines, the Bears have a better O-Line than the Bengals did last year. You can call the other 3 groups washes, so Cincy has a slight advantage on offense due to the skill level of their top 3 WRs. Mooney would be the only one of ours in that group. For defense: DL - Hubbard/Reader/Ogunjobi/Hendrickson vs Quinn/Blackson/Jones/Gipson LB - Wilson/Pratt vs Smith/Morrow DB - Apple/Awuzie/Hilton/Bell/Bates vs Johnson/Gordon/Graham/Jackson/Brisker We have the top Edge guys, way better LBs and a better core DB group. As a whole the Bears have a better defense. For special teams: McPherson vs Santos Huber vs Gill The Bengals had no depth at RB and TE on offense. Their deepest group was their DL rotation. That seems like a wash. Am I crazy, or are these teams fairly close outside of the WR group?

Reiff is definitely the LT, looks like Jenkins vs Borom for RT. Jones as backup LT.

Ok, what if I said, which games are guaranteed losses? BUF? GB? Of the losses I listed, the Bears can beat MIN, MIA, DAL, PHI, and NE. I feel like the Bears can be in every game except BUF to be honest. Using DVOA, the Bears have 6 games against teams with a top 10 DVOA (DAL, BUF, NE, SF, GBx2). 3 games against teams with a DVOA 11-20 (PHI, MINx2), and 8 games against teams with a DVOA from 21-32 (WAS, MIA, NYJ, HOU, DETx2, ATL, NYG). Just using DVOA as a metric, the Bears should win the 8 and maybe 1 or 2 of the 3 middle games, and none of the top games.

With injuries, you can't have enough depth. If Jones is 2nd String LT, Jenkins/Borom end up as RT1 and RT2, Mustipher is C/G2, we are pretty solid.