adam

I wish Cam all the best, but he was playing in the final preseason game against players that will likely not be on an NFL roster in a day or two. Just the fact that the Saints played him in this game says a lot about how they feel about him. If he was still on our roster, he would be a potential roster cut anyway behind Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, White, and even Wims. I like our WR Corps. Wims is legit and should form a formidable 1-2 punch with Miller for years to come. Just think about having Trubisky-Howard-Cohen-Shaheen-Miller-Wims for the next 8-10. Robinson is only 25 and Burton is 26, so I could see this current group staying intact for at least the next 4-5 years. Gabriel is the oldest skill position player at 27. Nichols was impressing me with his inside push. Coward will replace Massie before the bye. His growth at the position shows up every time I see him. I hope Nall makes it, he provides the most unique skill set amongst the remaining backs and gives a different look than Howard, Cohen, or Cunningham. He is big, and has shown he has an extra gear.

Yeah, there is a chance that we use 2-3 spots to acquire other players as well, but for the most part, our roster seems pretty locked in.

QB (2) - Trubisky, Daniel RB (4) - Howard, Cohen, Cunningham, Nall WR (6) - Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, White, Wims, Bellamy TE (5) - Burton, Shaheen, Sims, Brown, Braunecker OL (8) - Leno, Long, Whitehair, Daniels, Massie, Kush, Coward, Sowell DL (6) - Hicks, Goldman, Robert-Harris, Bullard, Nichols, Jenkins ILB (4) - Trevathan, Kwiatowski, Smith, Iggy OLB (5) - Floyd, Lynch, Acho, Fitts, Irving CB (6) - Amukamara, Fuller, Callahan, LeBlanc, McManis, Toliver S (4) - Amos, Jackson, Bush, Houston-Carson K - Parkey P - O'Donnell LS - Scales To me it seems like it comes down to only 2 or 3 roster spots. With Shaheen injured, I could see the Bears keeping an extra TE, which would drop someone like Timu off the roster. I hope the Bears choose Toliver over Cooper (who is terrible), but Cooper was one of the guys rested, so I think they are going with him, which will suck. Nall has earned a spot and has a higher ceiling than Burton or Mizzell.

7:20pm, Sunday Night Football, September 9th, Bears +8, Over/Under 47.5, NBC This felt like the longest preseason ever! I am so ready for real football. Here is what I think about the Week 1 matchup with the Fudge Packers: Based on last year's numbers, the Bears have the better defense, and you could argue now have better RB's, WR's, and TE's. The Packers have Graham, Adams, Cobb, and Montgomery compared to Burton, Robinson, Miller, Gabriel, Howard, and Cohen. I am not even counting Shaheen or White. QB is probably the only position the Packers have a definitive edge and that difference is hard to quantify. Rodgers was hurt last year and came back for one game to throw 3 picks and lose to Carolina. We have no idea what Trubisky will look like in live game action under Nagy. To me, Nagy so far compared to any recent HC has been night and day. Fox and Trestman were terrible and Lovie was great but Defensive-oriented. Nagy coupled with Vic seems like the perfect combination for this team. My biggest concern is the pass rush because Rodgers with time puts a lot of pressure on the secondary. I think this game goes one of two ways. The Bears take everyone by surprise and the new weapons dominate the Packers and we win by 10+, or we are completely not ready for prime time and get crushed by 20+. I could be wrong but based on the small sample size and seeing how we looked with mostly our #2's against KC's #1's (that some have going to the SB), I would lean towards us being sharp and prepared. Resting the starters and not showing our hand seems to be right in line with Nagy's way of thinking. He is going to gain an edge any way he can, and not getting good tape on Trubisky and Company goes a long ways towards that goal. Bears 31 - Packers 20 So what do you guys think? How optimistic are you?

Yeah, there is no way he is making it to the Practice Squad. If he doesn't make the 53-man, someone else will pick him up. Too many needy teams out there, and he is young and will only get better.

It really depends on where Daniels ends up and what they think of Kush. I would be surprised if a team actually traded for him when they can just acquire him for nothing if he is cut.

Yep, that makes it much clearer and gets rid of the OLine battle. It is now definitely 8 and Kush stays he plays both Guard and Center. I think Bellamy sticks because White doesn't play ST. I agree, I do not want Cooper on this roster. Based on shear numbers, it seems like 2 of Fitts/Edebali/Irving are in at OLB, and the 3rd one sticks if they cut Timu. QB (2) - Trubisky, Daniel RB (4) - Howard, Cohen, Cunningham, (Nall/Burton/Mizzell/Davis) WR (6) - Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, White, Wims, Bellamy TE (4) - Burton, Shaheen, Sims, (Brown/Braunecker) OL (8) - Leno, Long, Whitehair, Daniels, Massie, Kush, Coward, Sowell DL (6) - Hicks, Goldman, Robert-Harris, Bullard, Nichols, Jenkins ILB (4/5) - Trevathan, Kwiatowski, Smith, Iggy, (Timu or Edebali at OLB) OLB (5/6) - Floyd, Lynch, Acho, Fitts, Irving (Edebali or Timu at ILB) CB (6) - Amukamara, Fuller, Callahan, LeBlanc, McManis, (Toliver/Grant) S (4) - Amos, Jackson, Bush, (Houston-Carson/Hall) K - Parkey P - O'Donnell LS - Scales

QB (2) - Trubisky, Daniel RB (4) - Howard, Cohen, Cunningham, (Nall/Burton/Mizzell/Davis) WR (6) - Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, White, Wims, Bellamy TE (4) - Burton, Shaheen, Sims, (Brown/Braunecker) OL (8) - Leno, Long, Whitehair, Daniels, Massie, Kush, Watford, (Coward/Sowell) DL (6) - Hicks, Goldman, Robert-Harris, Bullard, Nichols, Jenkins ILB (4/5) - Trevathan, Kwiatowski, Smith, Iggy, (Timu or Edebali at OLB) OLB (5/6) - Floyd, Lynch, Acho, Fitts, Irving (Edebali or Timu at ILB) CB (6) - Amukamara, Fuller, Callahan, LeBlanc, McManis, (Toliver/Cooper/Grant) S (4) - Amos, Jackson, Bush, (Houston-Carson/Hall) K - Parkey P - O'Donnell LS - Scales I see 47 locks with 6 positions open. The Bears can even replace any of these guys with new acquisitions when the rosters are trimmed. I could see them looking for OLB help and maybe even DB. Battle #1 - RB/FB, it seems like there is one spot for Nall, Burton, Mizzell, and even Davis. Davis adds the most on Special Teams, Nall was probably the best RB, Burton the best FB-type, and Mizzell seems like the best pass catcher. So at least Pace/Nagy have options. I can't see them carrying 5 unless they only go with 3x TE's Battle #2 - TE, there is a battle at the last TE position between Brown and Braunecker, Brown is the better pass catcher and Braunecker has special teams value. If Sims concussion extends into the season, they could potentially keep them both with Sims on some type of IR. Battle #3 - OL, the top 6 are set, and I think Watford gets in to complete the interior. Then it comes down to whether the team wants to carry Coward or Sowell. Sowell just got hurt, and I think Coward has more upside. Battle #4 - LB, I don't know if the Bears will keep someone like Timu for special teams or Edebali with Floyd's injury, so it seems like the team will either have 4 ILB with 6 OLB, or 5 and 5. Battle #5 - CB, I hope they don't keep Cooper who is absolutely worthless, but it is worth noting that he was a player that was rested against KC. I would rather see McManis (for ST) and Toliver as the last 2 CB's over Cooper. Even Grant would be better. Battle #6 - S, Hall is suspended and DHC has a broken forearm. So it will be interesting to see if the Bears keep both and go with one less at one of the other defensive positions. Who would they drop? If they go with Hall, are they comfortable only having 3x Safeties for Week 1? What do you think?

I am ok with resting starters. It gives more reps to guys trying to fill out the roster. Why risk injury on a play that you might not even use in the regular season anyway? Now we are going into GB and they have absolutely no clue what we are going to do. I rewatched some of the game, and I would not be surprised if our top 2 WR's are Miller and Wims in a few years. They compliment each other so much. I don't think there is a QB controversy, the team knows Daniel's limits and he is perfectly suited for spot work as a backup. It is good knowing we have a legit backup if needed.

Damn, Javon Wims was tearing it up. If he is our WR5, and White ends up being half of what we expect, is there a deeper WR Corps than: (Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, White, Wims)? We might not have the top notch elite guy (unless Robinson or Miller becomes one), but if Wims is our #5, that is pretty impressive. Same could be said for TE. Is there another team deeper at TE than us with Burton, Shaheen, Sims, Brown/Braunecker?

That was always the number one concern. Just like Bosa last year. You can't get into football shape in a week when everyone else has been gradually getting into shape over the last month. Pretty disappointing considering Floyd's and Hicks' injuries.

Yeah, that didn't look good but it at least wasn't his full weight.

2nd drive, 1. Howard stuffed on first down for a loss of 4, almost didn't make it out of the end zone. 2. 2nd Down a short run up the middle only gets 2 back. 3. 3rd and 12, Massie a false start, now on our 1. Going backwards. 4. 3rd and 13, Trubisky fumbles the snap, gets sacked for a safety. That was all on Mitch, it hit him right in the hands. 2-0 Denver

Man the defense looked good on a quick 3 and out. Got pressure on 2nd and 3rd down and forced a quick punt.

First drive: 1. Howard Run, no gain, off tackle, a little misdirection 2. TE Screen to Burton for 8 yards (Burton looks good) 3. Howard Run for the first 1. Incomplete pass to Cohen on the outside 2. Missile to Burton for 19 yards, first down (Burton looks really good) 1. Pass to Shaheen, Shaheen comes up limping, looks like he rolled his right ankle, defensive penalty for lowering head, first down 1. Deep pass to White, thrown out of the end zone from the 45 by Trubisky, a lot of time, no one open 2. Awesome fake reverse to Howard for 15 yards, negated by Leno holding 2. Trey Burton with a nice out for 10 on 2nd and 20 3. Blitz, quick throw to Brown, bad throw by Trubisky, incomplete 4. Parkey misses a 52-yarder, wide right. On both of his misses, last game and this kick, it looks like he is compensating too much for the wind and his ball is not moving. Stats 6 passes, 2 runs Targets: Burton-3, Shaheen-1, Cohen-1, Brown-1, White-1

Here is where the Bears are being drafted for FFB. Our top positional player is Burton, a top-10 TE. Trubisky - 25th QB, ADP 124.7, 13th Round pick, behind Mahomes, Mayfield, Keenum, Taylor, and just ahead of Jackson who is not even the starter. I figure he will end up in the middle of the league, 12th-16th but I don't see him as the 25th best QB in the league. Howard - 14th RB, ADP 30.0, behind McCaffery and McKinnon, and barely ahead of Mixon. Howard gets no love every year. A perennial top-10 RB and he is rarely drafted there (except in Bears leagues lol). Cohen - 35th RB, 108.8 ADP, this actually seems about right for a #2 RB, and if he is also returning kicks, then this is actually a pretty good spot for him. Robinson - 22nd WR, 53.3 ADP, this seems about right considering he is coming off an injury and in a new offense, and is still considered a #1 Miller - 61st WR, 128.1 ADP, considering there are 32 teams, and if he becomes our #2, then this is about right for him, especially as a rookie. Burton - 9th TE, 83.9 ADP, actually seems about right, and maybe even a little high considering Trubisky's options. Defense - 24th DEF, 141.7 ADP, the 24th Defense is laughable, there are a good 10 teams ahead of Bears that shouldn't be there, they are clearly a top-15 Defense. Parkey - 28th Kicker, undrafted. Shaheen, White, Gabriel all undrafted. So to me, the masses are way off on Trubisky and our defense. All of the others are close enough to justify their rankings. I just thought this was a good way to see how everyone views our players and how they are projecting their production.

Just think what you said though, Coward looks better than Massie (who is a long time vet). Coward is a newly converted DLineman. Once some things become instinctual, he is going to be really good.

To me watching the game, even though Coward was playing against lesser competition, the difference between him and Massie was night and day. Massie is slow and on skates. Coward looked better in both pass pro and run blocking. He pancaked a D-Lineman on the Mizzell TD run. Mizzell TD Run, Coward pushes his defender deep into end zone then pancakes him Compare to Massie:

So was missing your entire rookie training camp worth the offset language? For the team, does not recouping any guarantees until he is suspended 3 games or more worth him missing his entire rookie training camp and multiple preseason games? Seems like the likelihood that he will be suspended 3 games or more is very unlikely, so for the Bears, that condition, more than likely will never be met. Either way I am glad he is signed and we can move on from this awkward situation, hopefully it won't impact his conditioning and performance on the field, or the locker room chemistry.

I really hope his play makes us forget about this holdout. We don't need another Cedric Benson. He probably won't play in Game 3, but maybe Game 4.

Maybe they would be open to trading for Kevin White?

If he has another decent preseason game and looks good in pass pro, he sticks for sure.

Bengals 30 - 27 Here is what I saw: Offense looked out of sync. Trubisky really needed one more drive, but in general, nothing was smooth, which was disappointing. I didn't help that Howard, Cohen, Robinson, and Gabriel didn't dress, but he still had White, Burton, Miller, and Shaheen to start with. Bray looked better than Daniel, which will be interesting to see going forward. The main problem was pressure and O-Line issues. Massie is terrible and I hope Coward shows enough potential to make the move to him before Week 1. Massie is not an NFL starter and borderline swing tackle at best. This is nothing new and he actually looks worse this year than he did last year. I liked what I saw from Daniels and Coward and wouldn't mind seeing Leno/Whitehair/Daniels/Long/Coward as the starting 5. Kush was bad too and Whitehair was shaky at Center, while Daniels looked good there. Go figure. It was nice to see Kyle Long back in action. The TE Group continues to look great. Shaheen, Brown, and even Braunecker got some action. Brown looked really good and it will be unfortunate to lose him over someone like Sims. I would rather see Burton, Shaheen, and Brown as the top 3 TEs. For the final RB spot, it looks like Nall has the edge over Mizzell. Nall had a 69-yard run, and over 100 yards from scrimmage (to lead all players). Mizzell couldn't do anything and was very ineffective. For WR's, Fowler will be lucky to make it thru the weekend. He cannot catch the ball, a requirement for an NFL WR. After a great HoF Game, Wims was non-existent. White had every opportunity to make an impact, and he too, was barely noticeable on the field. The first play from scrimmage was a long incompletion down the sideline to him, and a few plays later he drops an easy reception which would've moved the chains. Gentry had a couple of receptions, but didn't do anything special. I see Bellamy as a shoe-in over Fowler, and it will be interesting to see if the Bears keep 6x WR's. On defense, tackling and wrapping up was an issue, and Cooper is not an NFL CB/DB. He needs to be cut immediately. I don't know if you can look any worse in a preseason game as he did yesterday. I would rather see some of the younger guys getting longer looks than wasting reps on Cooper. Floyd showed flashes and hopefully that trends continue. RRH was visible and had the only sack. Fuller had an opportunistic Pick-6 against Dalton, but then let in an easy quick slant for a TD. The defense really needs Smith as Timu was just as bad as Cooper was. It is hard for me to see Timu or Cooper making the team after that performance. To top off the performance, Parkey misses a game-tying 52-yarder to effectively end the game with a fizzle. O'Donnell defined mediocre punting with an average of 36 yards. Overall, I was slightly disappointed, and I hope we see significant progress over the next two preseason games.

That was funny but man, Daniel needs a lot work to be the backup. Bray looked better (though vs weaker comp). I thought Daniel knew this offense? He didn't seem very crisp. Now that the fun and games are over, they need to get down to business. Hopefully the Cincy game was a wake up call.