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Trapilo is currently taking the spot and he will continue early in training camp since Braxton will be limited. Braxton has a lot of uphill work to do just to get to where he was before injury, let alone show he improved where he struggled. If Trapilo struggles when they start hitting, then I can see them going back to Braxton. The odds for Braxton are slim, hope he overcomes them, but my money is on the rookie being developed on the field so there are no questions if he can or not come offseason.

I think Trapilo is the future but Braxton having 3 yrs of starter experience at least give him the spot until Kiran or Ozzy take it away. BJ says all spots are open but a rookie still has a lot ot learn , he has to prove himself having been a RT for the last two yrs.

I think the Bears will give Trapilo every opportunity to start if he is equal or close to Braxtons performance. The faster they get Trapilo into the lineup the more he can learn and develop and the better off the Bears will be. The best case is if a team needs a LT before the trade deadline and makes an offer with a 2nd or a 3rd. Then again, depth is important if Kiran cannot elevate his game.

Braxton cant practice yet but he is attending. I think because of 3 yrs of starting at LT, he will be running with the first team when ready. As much as he has to improve, he will get to show if he has progressed. I suspect why Trapilo looks good because he is learning the playbook and moves well. When the pads go on the truth starts. I hope he does well. It seems obvious that Kiran has a long way to go , essentially this is his rookie year as far as practicing. I think when its said and done, whoever plays LT, we will be fine there. Playing next to Thuney has to help all of them. Monangai gets rave reviews by whoever you talk to. I think he has taken away the cry (we need to add a RB). I think he will shine once we start hitting, he has a great YAC stat and is physical. Plus, has never fumbled. Ben stated that it will probably be our biweek before we get the offense running smooth. That does not mean we cant win a couple of our first 4 games. We will run the ball and play good defense that will give us a chance.

Yeah, he's not a go along with the crowd guy, he sees what he sees and calls it like it is - kind of like we do on this board. The truth is the truth! I noticed the Caleb getting his second rotation with Monangi too as soon as film came out. it sure does sound ike they like him for RB2. Who knows, maybe they want him for RB1, and Johnson for RB2. If Monangai and Trapilo are successful, and Trapilo starts, then all the LTs and HBs we missed mean nothing. That would be an amazing achievement by the scouting department.

I watched all the press conferences. Again the keyword from the players is “Details”. These coaches demand everything be done right. A reporter asked Ben where that focus comes from. Is it innate to who he is or something he learned from other coaches. His answer: It’s more about learning from where I’ve seen other coaches fail and not wanting to make those same mistakes. He added that he’s seen more bad football than good. Ben Johnson is not one of these guys from a “coaching tree”. He’s building his own tree. other observations: YouTuber Matty Dubs said something interesting after the first OTA practice: During a simple Handoff drill rotating QBs and RBs Caleb was first in line with Swift. Bagent/Roschon, Keenum/Homer, Reed/Wheeler then Caleb/ Monangai He said the coaches will line them up so the starting QB gets the most reps with the top two RBs. I thought that sounds logical but it’s also the first practice. Now we’re in minicamp and that same drill had the same lineup. Add in all the chatter about Monangai looking good on the last drive today not just running but also catching passes. Even on drills Monangai catches cleanly with his hands. I’m thinking we’ve got our #2 RB Trapilo continues to impress. I expect he’ll be with the first team to start training camp. Ben Johnson said for the LT it’s all about having the best pass blocking anything they get from that player in run blocking is a bonus. Kiran is struggling.

I heard Adam Jahns on Silvy and Waddle today talking about how Ben Johnson has been vocal and exacting on the field with the team. If you didn't hear it, he recounted a story where Caleb got through 5 reads, and finally dumped it off to Roschon Johnson on a swing pass, and he got a first down, maybe closer to 15 years on the play. But Johnson wasn't happy. He watched Caleb go through the progression, and yelled "FASTER" at Caleb in the middle of the rep. He felt one of the earlier reads was open for a better outcome, and Caleb was too slow getting to him, and he ended up covered. Gentlemen, THIS is what we've been waiting for. More than anything else. A coach who demands rhythm. Caleb is good enough to get the ball to outlet receivers and make first downs on talent, but running an offense in rhythm against NFL defenses is so hard for any quarterback. Having coaches that demand that the QB does it correctly what it's ALL about. Xs and Os offensive genius? Cool. But unless it gets executed at tempo it's meaningless, and devolves into sandlot football. And it's kinda cool to have a guy in Caleb that can beat NFL defenses at sandlot football - that's gonna be good for a lot of amazing pays when things break down. But imagine something we havent seen in Chicago: an NFL offense that operates in rhythm. A play caller who calls plays in a rhythm, and gives looks to set up defenses. Are we going to have a modern football offense? With competence?!

Yes, those are passing numbers. For rushing: Daniels had 37 RZ Rushes and 6 TDs Nix had 17 and 3 TDs So both Nix had 25 total TDs and 1 INT Williams had 10 and 0 TDs (this really hurt Caleb's advanced stats) Maye had 5 rushes and 2 TDs From the 20-49: Williams had 7 TD - 3 INT Maye 6 - 1 Nix had 5 - 5 Daniels 4 - 3 Surprised to see that Maye was the best in that part of the field.

I am surprised how things leveled out in the red zone. Those are only passing TD correct?

I think it is wild that Williams took the fewest sacks in the RZ, and had the fewest INTs (that is less surprising). Nix and Daniels both benefitted from a high powered offense so their TDs numbers were gonna be higher.

Bo Nix had a 22 TD - 1 INT ratio, 109.4 QB Rating in the RZ with 3 sacks. Daniels had a 19 TD - 1 INT with a 104.8 QB Rating with 4 sacks. Williams was 13-0, with a 96.8 QB Rating with 2 sacks. Maye was 9-2, with a 76.5 QB Rating with 6 sacks. No other rookie QBs qualified.

I agree with this for sure.

Im not positive on this statement but I think rookie QBs have a tendency to lean on TEs in thier first years. Shorter throws, quicker release. I think the problem with Waldron was to dump all the offense on Caleb all at once and let him choose downfield routes that take longer to develop when we had a shakey OL. That resulted in so many sacks. In turn in Washington, they had more quit reads that amounted in first reads or run type of scheme. Proved to me more successful for the rookie,

Spot on CJ Stroud was ranked 10, Caleb 19 and Daniels was 27. Bo Nix didnt even make the top 32.

Both are true, I think maybe it will take one year but we could be a top 5 offense in the league. Of course that solely rests on Caleb's shoulders, if he is the projected franchise QB, oh boy will this be fun.

Your the best stats man here: Which rookie QB had the best passing numbers in the redzone? Not a presumptive question as I don't know the answer.

I don't look at their stuff but I'd be willing to bet CJ Stroud was easily top 10 on their rankings last year, maybe even at 6 like Daniels this year.

What happened to Kmet from 2023 to 2024? Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze took his targets. Caleb and the Bears may have been better off giving Kmet more opportunities with his catch rate. If Odunze can convert half of those misses into catches, he'd be a 1000 plus player. 2023 DJ Moore 136 96 1364 Cole Kmet 90 77 719 Darnell Mooney 61 31 414 2024 DJ Moore 140 98 966 Keenan Allen 121 70 744 Rome Odunze 101 54 734 Cole Kmet 55 47 474

even with a mediocre output from this group, records should be broken, which says two things; our roster is pretty good and Bears offensive records are pretty weak.

I think it confuses things more than it helps them, but obviously everyone talks about them, and I am certainly not here to tell anyone not to! But neither do i think a PFF ranking or stat is "evidence" in a discussion, debate or argument? I dont' even see it as a confirming piece of evidence to pile on after something more reasonable says something. That's why i say they are random and not wrong. Sometimes they are right, but not because of math, just because of luck in my opinion. I mean these are the people that told us that Charles Leno gave us performances that ranked near the top of the league!

I agree. It is more of a novelty and should not be used as your sole source.