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If Caleb is what we've been told he is he wouldn't be out there pushing books and making excuses for his poor play because of his coaches. I watched several players in yesterday's press conference get asked pointed questions about the previous coaching and each of them declined. Tremaine Edmunds simply said he didn't want to talk about who was here last year but he's happy to about who is here this year and what we're doing now. Waldron was horrible at his job. It seemed each week we had at least one play where 3 receivers were at the same area of the field. The play calling didn't fit the game situations too often. Seeing how discombobulated the team was run on game days it's not a surprise that Flus nor Waldron had someone assigned to "setup" film for Caleb. That's the kind of stuff Quality control coaches do or some other entry level coach. But Caleb has a lot of connections he could have found help if he wanted it. If his father was so concerned to make sure his son was going to succeed why didn't he hire some help for Caleb? Can't make a call to Lincoln Riley for a reference? No call to the former OC, who is now in Washington helping Jayden Daniels, asking for a referral? We know Caleb has Tom Brady's phone number. I'm actually 100% confident Caleb knows how to watch film and knows how to read defenses because I saw it often last year, both pre-snap and post-snap. Was he making the right decisions all the time? Absolutely not because he'd bypass the easy gain and look for the big play quite often. Or he relied on Keenan ... a lot. What I want from him is leadership. If I were his teammate I'd be wondering if he'll be talking about me in his book next year. I want him out in front of this. I want to know if he's just a fair weather guy who mopes about and makes excuses and blames other if things don't go his way or can he handle the storm, and the media heat, and lead this team out of a rut when things go wrong.

I think the reality is more of this is via Caleb’s dad than via him. But I have seen a few quotes from camp about Ben Johnson ripping Kmet a new one for lining up in wrong position etc. Evidently he did same to Caleb for a big play that worked but was not the right decision. I LOVE it. For years Bears coaches and players were too soft - they need someone with a totally different standard. Bears evidently also did some 6 on 7 today which is not something they have done regularly. This forces Caleb to be even sharper with his reads and throws since defense has more numbers. Again I love it. I’ve told myself I won’t get too excited without seeing real production on field - but dang it I can’t help myself.

Kiran Armadgie got the reps with the ones. Thuney said he enjoys being next to him, he is very smart. Odunze is leaving a great impression on Ben Johnson. He said he acts like a seasoned vet and has been making some nice deep catches.

Agreed, they have a beast of an OL. That's why I didn't include them.

I am sure Williams knows how to watch tape generically. I'm sure he can look at generic film, and tell you everything just like J T O'Sullivan or Kurt Warner does. I took Williams meaning differently. I took him to mean that they weren't watching film on the defense of that week's opponent while relating that to the week's gameplan. For example, if the OC sees that a certain LBer always shades inside vs the TE against a certain offensive alignment, the OC might call some plays where the TE runs a quick out, accompanied by a WR running a go route on that side to drag defenders out of the area for the TE underneath. So he puts in the play. Does he tell Caleb, hey we see the LB leaning pre sanp so thats why were calling this play? Does he show him on film what the reasoning behind including this play is in the week's game plan? Or does he just tell Caleb, "learn this play, run it when we call it, the TE is read #1" and leave it at that. Because if he doesn't explain it, and Caleb comes to the line with that LB shading outside for once, he should know that the theory of the play means the gambit is off. Maybe, it makes Caleb more likely to audible to a run offtackle to the strong side so the TE has a good blocking angle on the shaded LB. So either 1) Caleb is a baby who cant read generic film, like identifying defenses and needs his hand held, and should have hired someone to do it, and is ridiculous for criticizing how he was developed by the fine staff of Eberflus and Waldron OR 2) Caleb is telling you something real, because he's the #1 pick QB who knows a shit ton about football, and it trying to tell you that Flus and Waldron did a crap job of teaching him, and preparing him for each week to understand the intention of the game plan. And what we saw is that there was no game plan in the first place. If it really was Caleb, and they thought Waldron was doing a great job of putting everyone in the best place to succeed, then he wouldnt have gotten fired so early in the season. They didn't develop Caleb. It's actually shocking. Waldron and Eberflus were complete frauds as OC and HC. I cant wait to see Johnson and Williams prove it to everyone.

This is the big question. What does gaining or losing Johnson do for an offense? adam, knowing your penchant for numbers, I wonder if there is a "Ben Johnson" multiplier, on various stats, that can be measured after this coming season? I know there are a ton of little things that swamp out being able to attribute the Bears' and Lions' offensive changes in fortune over last year to just Ben Johnson, but PFF does it so why cant we? LOL

I thought he was omitting OL altogether and stating they had Gibbs, Williams, and either (LaPorta/St. Brown) as mismatch players? For OL, Sewell and Decker are clearly better on the outside, but on the interior, they lost Zietler, so it would seem that Dalman+Thuney+Jackson has the edge over Ragnow+Glasgow+Ratledge at this moment. Also, how will Detroit's offense look without Johnson and the coaches that left?

Which three are you counting? Decker, Ragnow, and Sewell? If so, I’d say you can’t discount Glasgow either. Oh, and BTW, Ratledge is going to a monster in that grouping. They might have an entire OL of mismatch players.

The only statement I saw was that Caleb said no one from the team "told him what to watch". That doesn't mean he doesn't know "how" to watch tape or that he didn't.

No, as far I can tell, that is only for the offseason 90-man roster, which the league gives exemptions for international players (1 per roster).

Caleb has millions of dollars and has for many years. There is nothing stopping him from hiring a former QB or two to assist him in watching film since he feels this is so challenging.

Tory Taylor was designated as an international player,does that open a slot when setting game day actives?

Right. If he makes the jump, you have to consider resigning him. The other two LTs will sort themselves into roles if they are good.

I think the Bears are a year away from an all-in type of move and it feels like they will want to shape the roster more to Johnson's liking. and they also have to be 100% Caleb is the guy for Johnson's offense.

Yeah I agree, Hunter seems like a good athlete, but not someone you spend that much draft capital on.

So with the new rule added in 2023, there is a good chance they go with 3 QBs on the 53-man. Without a 3rd QB, you can only have 48 players active on game day, so 5 players on the 53-man don't dress every week. However, the 3rd QB does not count towards the 48. So if they did keep Keenum, he would take up a 53-man slot but would not impact the game-day 48-man roster (and would actually make it 49).

Playing well doesnt mean Pro Bowl. ( better than last year). You may be right, you dont want to let good players leave but I dont think its enough to convince the Bears that Braxton is a 20+ player. I hope Im wrong but they drafted 2 yrs in a row someone to compete with Braxton because of his lack of progress. ( a third and second round pick.)

When they brought in Keenum, they pretty well made the decision to keep 3 on the roster. There is someone else on the roster they can hide on the practice squad. They are allowed to carry two vets on the PS. Maybe one of the WRs?

You keep elaborting on Kmet and a future trade which I dont think applies this year but you orignally said midseason. There's no situation where they consider that this year. Even if Loveland is ballilng, you are weaking the team for more cap space? Next year is a complete different set of circumstances.

Reports about Caleb not getting film help tells me we are going 3 QBs. He needed this last year, but it's the Bears and they dont know what to do. Keenum will teach him the ropes from what BJ wants. BJ will do his film time but Keenum will help answer questions and do film in between.

Caleb is the starter. I am a huge fan of Tyson Bagent's as well. I think he is the backup. Case Keenum is here to provice Caleb with advice from his experience. So do we keep 3 QBs on the roster? If you put Bagent on the practice squad someone will steal him and make him QB2 somewhere. And Keenum is too old to even put on the PS. What do you think we will do? If we get a good trade offer for Bagent, then I understand that - but they JUST extended him, but I guess that also might help bring interest in a trade too... I think Bagent is a more valuable backup than Keenum, but is Keenum just for training camp?

Like I said, Im not saying to trade any of the per se. Not right now. All ive said is that Kmet is on the bubble, for next year, or possibly at the trade deadline. Also, the logic to trading Kmet (which Im not saying I would do right now!) is not just the draft pick you get, but also the cap space you open up. $10M gets you a very nice free agent, for example. but again, I am not at the decision point to trade Kmet, unless we get something big for him, like a 3rd or better. But if he was part of a package to get trey hendrickson here, for example, then his trade value and cap space would both be helpful. And to be clear, Im not saying we should trade for Hendrickson either. I would need to know how good he projects to be in 3 years, and that's for the medical staff and whatever who know better than I do. But just to be crystal clear - I've been predciting that the Bears will trade Kmet NEXT year or possible at the trade deadline this year, but I've also been super clear that he has this window to show what he can do for Johnson. So I think he could earn a spot here, but he has to work for it i think. For me, right now, without any more positive showing from him, he's gone next year. But if he balls out, then he will make the case to stay. Because everything "good" about him is what he COULD do if used properly. So that's a built in excuse, and maybe a fair one! But he has to show it now, and maybe he will. I'm just saying I havent seen it YET, and if it stays hows it's been, he will not be taking $11.6M worth of cap space next year. None of that says trade him now, or that his story is over. But that's my bet, based on what's been before. The future is of course, unknown.

Context is everything. My comments were strictly on his success or failure, based on what stinger said...

The hardest part for Braxton will be getting up to speed if he misses much of TC. He's projected to be limited at the start. Kiran's practice window opened Aug 20 last year and he missed crucial practices to develop for a rookie. Braxton won't be nearly as bad, but he might miss the new coaching reps that can limit his technique to their liking.

That makes no sense at all. If Braxton plays well, you pay him and trade away other dollars. Nothing more valuable to a quarterback than good OT's. There's no way to know if Ozzy and Kiran look good if Braxton doesn't let them on the field.