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I have done that and formed my opinion of: Show me. If Caleb does have mistakes in a 400yd passing game, i can be happy but also don't have a problem pointing out how he could have had 450yds. I hope is coach feels the same way.

You're missing the point entirely. I am NOT saying the team will be bad! I'm saying on paper they actually look really solid, but it's all projection, and I want to see it on grass in pads. I even said maybe someone will OUT-perform our expectations and look even better than Greg Gabriel says they will LOL The comment was made in the context of making roster moves. And I think right now, except for tweaks in depth, or if a major talent becomes available at a discount price, that we will sit on the hand we have right now, and wait to see it next month in pads. THEN we will have new opinions and that would be the time to reevalute the roster if necessary. But no one is saying "yeah sure they look good on paper, but theyre going to suck in reality" I thinkt hat's what you're hearing? But no, we're just saying, "yes, looks good, let's see if it still looks the same in pads" not saying we exepct it to look bad, or good for that matter, just we will see it when it happens. It's not pessimism, it's just we've made all the theoretical moves, now let's test the theories? And you're the one saying these are known quantities? But the strawman argument youre creating of these pessimistic thoughts is not in our comments. Thats not what we are saying at all.

You have to take in what ever information you see, hear and form an opinion. Some think the arrow is pointing up and some think same old Bears. This year is not like any other year as far as positive additions go, you dont have to agree. Caleb could have a 5 TD , 400 yard day and some people will just look at his mistakes and not believe what they just saw.

Exactly - I’ve seen enough of paper champs from the Bears. I want to see badass production and significant growth on the field.

yeah or even who is going to play LT. There are LOTS of podcasts about it, but they haven't played a down in pads yet. Or how the DE rotation is looking. Or even who will be the main HB for this team. How Kmet will be. Whether Williams is improving. Etc Etc. I think just because we hear some guy on the internet who has a "show" say it, doesn't mean it's true. This is hype season, but the truth is coming in a month or two.

This is like Nagys first year. They traded for Mack and that worked in year one - it was the wrong move though - gave up too much assets out of gate and it hampered team to fill and be more aggressive in filling two years after. Hold the chips so we can see who develops, who doesn’t and where they need to pivot.

I think his point is that we cant assume pieces we think are going to be great, are actually going to be great until we see them. From our current understanding of the roster, we have holes at DE and HB. But when we see it with the pads on, some players may show us that they arent going to work out like we hoped, and some may show us that they are ready to fill the holes i just mentioned too. I think you're counting chickens before they hatch, and he's saying that we will know when we know. And I think that has to be how Poles is thinking too? or any GM? So it's not the right time to make a trade, we agree, since we don't fully even know what we have yet, for good or bad. The only exception to that is something that's a clear deal on a real stud, or minor moves monkeying with depth. So when it comes to starters, we will probably roll with what we've got and the next likely window for making changes is the cuts at end of training camp, and the one after that is the trade deadline. But that doesn't mean boxes are checked and everyone is certain that what the podcasts are saying is REAL. We need to see it in pads, under live fire, and into the season as well.

Good points, one more edge would probably put us over the top, if the rest blends well.

well said. unless someone comes loose from some really bad contract holdouts and we get an obvious DEAL, we probably won't be upgrading starter positions until we know what we currently have. But I wouldnt be surprised at all if we are active at the trade deadline. Any time you have a new coach, a lot of guys are possible trade bait. Some will grow into the new situation, and some will go. That's always what happens with new coaches. And as much as we have seemingly filled a LOT of holes in the past two years, that also means a lot is new, and isn't proven yet. For example, we all seem to be sure the OL is fixed, but until we see it on the field, who really knows. Players could be past their prime, lazy (see Davis), or just unable to gel. I'm not predicting that of course, but it is unknown. We will know more as each month passes. And that's very exciting. But I think what you've said here is probably how Poles is feeling too.

This falls into the wait and see department. If this team were to really take off and look like a legit playoff contender then I'd be ok adding someone like Thibodeux mid-season. Even though he'd make us better I wouldn't do this now because there are too many questions about roster makeup to give away future draft capital. I don't even know if Caleb is the QB of the future yet.

Greg usually makes sense when he speaks but I dont agree with this. Even though he has 2 yrs of suitable money, dont want to trade that high of a pick. Now most would say our window for making a SB run would be 26-27 and he would fit in that window. What this put us over the top for this year? Giantts have Dexter Lawence, Brian Burns they are paying big money to and Carter as their draft pick so this could be a reality of them wanting to move him.

Burden has always been known as a head case and a me first kind of guy. Hopefully BJ can get his attention and straighten him out. FWIW, a lot of good guys taken in the second round also dont want to be the first player that accepts a non guaranteed contract and breaks the chain for every player behind them.

He needed to be out there.

The first 2nd rounders that signed got guarranteed contracts. They all want that. I think Burden is using the soft tissure injury as leverage to signing a guarranteed contract. When its done , he will all of a sudden be healthy.

Burden worries me. He's already missed everything due to soft tissue injury. If he was truly jaded because he thought he should have been a first rounder, you'd think he would show up in shape. On to the second rounders. I don't understand what has changed from previous years. 30 second rounders have not signed.

I was completely shocked when his name popped up in the 4th round. No Combine or Senior Bowl invite but the more you know about him, his interviews are great and 4.39 speed for a MLB. People were saying probably a UDFA but clearly a few teams had him on their radar. His first year will be at SLB but he will earn more and more playing time as the year goes on. He could be the reason Edmunds leaves after this year.( could pick up 15 mil in cap space) Then maybe Edmunds shines under DA so we have a great problem of to many good LBers. Productive in college mature work ethic High football IQ burning speed 4.39 I watched every highlight I could find on him and the best thing I see on tape is when teams go to the outside zones he runs people down with ease. I think the scouts do a great job of identifing good talent. Everyone has the best players on their radar but Hyppolite, Zak Frazier , Luke Newman and Monangai could be all future starters and wasnt given much hype.

This is another year where we got the chance to glean from various organizational scouting resources. Hopefully, the cream will rise in our favor...

yeah, and Luther Burden is a likely problem for the same reason. Hope whatever it is gets done quick, and Burden is willing to be coached.

For sure. The language of contracts is changing, especially the fully guarantee part. I expect next year 3rd round picks to hold out for that. We will soon find out how far down into the 2nd round that goes.

We were all like wtf, but this dude is going to be a monster. He has the right attitude to climb to the top. All the additions made this year make me much more excited to see what else this staff can find to insure they take the North and never give it back.

yeah, out of shape is MUC worse than a contract holdout that seems to be Cinci's fault. Im on Shemar Stewart's side in this, but Graham? That's inexcuseable. Glad we dont have to deal with that!

How about the reports of Clevelands first pick, DT Mason Graham, showing up out of shape to camp. Glad we dodged that one too.

I dunno - Cinci is asking Stewart to accept a contract with different language than they had in their last two first rounders. I think it's possible that Cinci is the one to blame and not Stewart? It's not like he's holding out over money - those contracts are already slotted for $.