Post June 1 Cap

[adam]

With the June 1 cap savings applied, the Bears now have over $15M in cap space. So there is a good chance they pick up a few more FAs in this class over the next few weeks. 

It will be interesting to see where they target. I hope they go after a RG at least. 

[Mongo3451]

I'm 100% convinced they are locked in to finding a suitable LT.  This guy may not start due to us wanting to develop a younger guy, but it is imperative to have a known commodity.  I don't think Jason Peters has retired yet.

[scs787]

Duane Brown or Eric Fisher please. I'd love to be wrong and Borum is good there, but ooooof, the thought just scares me. 

[adam]

3 hours ago, scs787 said:

Duane Brown or Eric Fisher please. I'd love to be wrong and Borum is good there, but ooooof, the thought just scares me. 

Fisher makes a lot of sense with Poles connection. Is Daryl Williams (BUF OG) available too? Those two with someone like Adam Humphries, Cole Beasley, or even TY Hilton (Flus) at WR would work for me.

[Pixote]

Steelers' DL Stephon Tuitt just announced his retirement at age 29. He was a top shelf player that Pitt will be looking to replace. I mention this because if Poles is looking to fill our 3T DL vacancy through FA, we now have a major competitor. If we snooze, we lose.

[scs787]

4 hours ago, adam said:

Fisher makes a lot of sense with Poles connection. Is Daryl Williams (BUF OG) available too? Those two with someone like Adam Humphries, Cole Beasley, or even TY Hilton (Flus) at WR would work for me.

Williams is indeed a free agent. He was middle of the pack in terms of PFF ratings for guards. This was however his first year at guard and he previously rated out as a pretty good RT. He can certainly improve his play at OG, and even if he doesn't,  I'm not sure we have a league average RG on the roster anyway. 

 

I could live without another WR. Fisher and Williams would make me happy. 

 

 

[adam]

33 minutes ago, scs787 said:

Williams is indeed a free agent. He was middle of the pack in terms of PFF ratings for guards. This was however his first year at guard and he previously rated out as a pretty good RT. He can certainly improve his play at OG, and even if he doesn't,  I'm not sure we have a league average RG on the roster anyway. 

 

I could live without another WR. Fisher and Williams would make me happy. 

 

 

I would love Fisher/Williams. That would make Borom a Swing Tackle. 

On WR, if Velus is the slot WR, then we probably have what we need. Hilton with his experience would be interesting.

[AZ54]

When looking at WRs it feels like run blocking is a big deal for Getsy.  Mooney gives effort but given his size he's not much of a blocker.  Velus and Pringle are both good blockers and reportedly so is St Brown and maybe Sharpe.  I'm not sure about David Moore, Dazz, or Pettis.    When looking at someone like TY Hilton Eberflus knows what he's bringing to the table and we chose to skip it so far.  Where would Beasley fit in?   

https://kckingdom.com/2020/10/21/kc-chiefs-byron-pringle-needs-more-snaps-in-the-offense/

"Pringle may not be as athletically gifted as say Demarcus Robinson, but he is a very hard worker who is looking to prove he is an NFL caliber receiver. He has good hands, is a good blocker, is decent in route running, and is pretty good after the catch. The only thing he has over Robinson is the hands and blocking."

 

[Pixote]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

When looking at WRs it feels like run blocking is a big deal for Getsy.  Mooney gives effort but given his size he's not much of a blocker.  Velus and Pringle are both good blockers and reportedly so is St Brown and maybe Sharpe.  I'm not sure about David Moore, Dazz, or Pettis.    When looking at someone like TY Hilton Eberflus knows what he's bringing to the table and we chose to skip it so far.  Where would Beasley fit in?   

https://kckingdom.com/2020/10/21/kc-chiefs-byron-pringle-needs-more-snaps-in-the-offense/

"Pringle may not be as athletically gifted as say Demarcus Robinson, but he is a very hard worker who is looking to prove he is an NFL caliber receiver. He has good hands, is a good blocker, is decent in route running, and is pretty good after the catch. The only thing he has over Robinson is the hands and blocking."

 

I was looking forward to watching Pringle this summer. I had high expectations. After reading the article you linked, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pringle is the surprise player for the Bears' offense questioned in another thread. I hope Fields gets extra time with all his WRs before camp begins to gain chemistry with them. I know he had Mooney working with him in the off season. We need Jones and Pringle to join them for some extra workouts.

[Stinger226]

I think Pringle will succeed, if you look at his production with more targets , he is easily a  70 rec player. I dont think they will try to fill two spots on the Oline. If they intended to bring in another lineman, why would they have not already did it? With Brown and Fisher still out there, why has no one else signed them either. Mandatory mini camp starts June 14-16. If they do anything it will be before that camp. I think they think they are set at WR., the only two WRs available that had better yrs than Pringle still out there are Beasley and OBJ. Beasley is only a slot WR and they have Jones and Pringle to fill that role. OBJ wont be available to play until later in the season and he will go to a contender. If they bring in another one it will be an X WR, who fits that? Julio Jones?

[McGowan]

17 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

I think Pringle will succeed, if you look at his production with more targets , he is easily a  70 rec player. I dont think they will try to fill two spots on the Oline. If they intended to bring in another lineman, why would they have not already did it? With Brown and Fisher still out there, why has no one else signed them either. Mandatory mini camp starts June 14-16. If they do anything it will be before that camp. I think they think they are set at WR., the only two WRs available that had better yrs than Pringle still out there are Beasley and OBJ. Beasley is only a slot WR and they have Jones and Pringle to fill that role. OBJ wont be available to play until later in the season and he will go to a contender. If they bring in another one it will be an X WR, who fits that? Julio Jones?

Will Fuller

[Stinger226]

7 hours ago, McGowan said:

Will Fuller

Fuller got paid 10.5 mil last year while playing .056% of the snaps. He hasn't signed yet because he still wants to get paid. No no no . spend10 mil on Duane Brown instead he played 97.9% of the snaps. 

[adam]

52 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Fuller got paid 10.5 mil last year while playing .056% of the snaps. He hasn't signed yet because he still wants to get paid. No no no . spend10 mil on Duane Brown instead he played 97.9% of the snaps. 

The more I think about it, the more I want another vet on the O-Line and another one on the D-Line. If we can't have success in the trenches (and some depth), it won't matter what our skill players or secondary look like.

[Stinger226]

 At LT we have Borom ?, Davenport or Coleman, below average vets, and rookie Braxton Jones. I think Davenport was brought in to be the swing T, someone you could live with for a few games. Jones could potentially be a future starter but not ready yet. So its Bottom or add a Fisher or Brown that have not signed yet. RG Dozier, A vet backup, Thomas or Carter ( rookies) maybe will be ready.  Mustifer, unlikely. Michael Schonfield , Daryl Williams, as Duvernay- Tardif . Someone will be available to start if they wait to see what they have. I think Daryl Williams would be best choice that can play at several positions and be best backup at 3 positions.

 

[lemonej]

Duane Brown should be the target.

[McGowan]

On 6/12/2022 at 2:28 PM, lemonej said:

Duane Brown should be the target.

I prefer Fisher. 

They should also sign an OG. 

If they wanted to sign Will Fuller or Julio Jones I wouldn't mind that either. 

[adam]

RG seems like the biggest need on the team. Dozier was terrible last year and Mustipher seems too weak for that position (I could be wrong). 

They drafted so many OLs, hopefully one or two stick as at least depth. Braxton Jones getting first team reps is interesting.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:48 AM, adam said:

RG seems like the biggest need on the team. Dozier was terrible last year and Mustipher seems too weak for that position (I could be wrong). 

You appear to be correct.  RG could be an issue. At least in depth.  (Dozier carted off field yesterday). 
 

 

[scs787]

Hate to see injuries, but Dozier is not good, hopefully this makes them look at RG even more. 

 

I guess it'd be nice if one of the rooks steps up and plays well, but in a year that we really wanna see what we have in Fields I really hope they don't go in there with a below average starter at any spot along the line. 

[adam]

Daryl Williams come on down.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, adam said:

Daryl Williams come on down.

He would be ideal, can play OG and OT. Olin Kruetz tweeted that the starting oline will be Borom Whitehair- Mustifer- Patrick- Jenkins. Unless they bring in someone else. He said to not rule out Mustifer on this line, he works hard and knows what he needs to do to be better. 

[AZ54]

3 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

He would be ideal, can play OG and OT. Olin Kruetz tweeted that the starting oline will be Borom Whitehair- Mustifer- Patrick- Jenkins. Unless they bring in someone else. He said to not rule out Mustifer on this line, he works hard and knows what he needs to do to be better. 

We'll see but we're starting to get some noise about Jones looking ok so far at LT.  We're far from Jones winning the job but at this point with him earning at least 6 full practices with the 1's I'm starting to feel comfortable that he's doing enough to at least be the backup OT.   This whole thing with Borom at RT could simply be the fact they don't want Jones learning both sides as a rookie and want to see if Borom can handle both.   I still feels odd that, if this were a sign of a demotion, Jenkins was kept at RT with no looks at RG whatsoever.  Jenkins had very few reps all last year and they were at LT so he's basically a rookie and this could be the same scenario:  Keep him in the RT spot to get him as good as he can be there.   

Borom might end up the LT starter/swing OT and then if he or Jenkins go down they shuffle accordingly with Jones coming in at LT.   We'll know what they think of Jones during the first week of camp.   Given all that, I'd have to say Borom is the real surprise so far among the Oline.  He's the only player I'm aware of getting consistent 1st team reps at 2 spots.  

https://www.dabearsblog.com/

"Who is the early talk of practice? Braxton Jones. Don’t be surprised if Jones is given a chance to be the starting left tackle when the Bears return for camp."

[Stinger226]

When they can hit, that's when I will be judging the line play, both sides of the ball.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

As of yesterdays camp. Still tinkering with the o-lineup.  Of note:

Whitehair out but he was excused for the day (according to the attached story).  
 

Story also made it sound like Jenkins could / would be at RT when season begins. 
 

I’m particularly intrigued by Mustipher at Guard.  To me this makes the most sense, despite his long career (to include college) at Center.  

[Bill]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:59 AM, adam said:

The more I think about it, the more I want another vet on the O-Line and another one on the D-Line. If we can't have success in the trenches (and some depth), it won't matter what our skill players or secondary look like.

This exactly.  I ranted and ranted last year about no LT with pro experience all summer and most of training camp.  They still have no real experience at either tackle spot and one starting guards.  They tried last year with two rookie tackles, how did that work out?  Best I can count they have only one offensive lineman right now with more then two years experience at a starting level..  Whitehair and I guess Mustafer counts, but really?  At this point it looks like, let's find five guys who can stay healthy and stay on two feet for most of the plays and we'll continue to work on that.  Guess that's what you have year one in an almost total rebuild.