BearFan PHX

Looking more at the roster, learning more about some of the players. had a few thoughts about a couple position groups. OFFENSIVE LINE The more I look at the group of players we have, the more i think we are going to try Wright at LT. I dont love the idea. I would have drafted a LT, and let Wright stay where he is. But the Bears didnt do that for whatever reason. i think Trapilo could be a good starter at RT, but I am more concerned with him at LT. If you start Trapilo at RT, I think we can have our long term first round type answer at LT with Wright, at one of the premiere positions in football. Wright has all the right tools for it, and imagine running behind him and Thuney to the left side there. So while I would have drafted differently to avoid it, I think we could see Wright, Thuney, Dallman, Jackson, Trapilo as the OL. Once you get over the inertia of hating the idea, if you imagine the Bears are doing it anyway, and start to think it through, it looks pretty good. If Wright makes the transition well, that will solve a lot of problems into the future. I also am more comfortable with Amagadje at RT than LT, so I think thats possible too. Wright goes to LT, and Trapilo and Amagadje compete for RT. RUNNING BACK Something tells me we aren't done here. Could Nick Chubb one a one year deal be an answer? WIDE RECEIVER This will be my most controversial thought here. I think Burden will replace DJ Moore sooner or later. Maybe not this year, but maybe next year. I think Burden may take some of DJs snaps outside this year too. He's a Jet Sweep guy too, hes a lot like DJ actually. So the Bears may develop him, at the cost of some of DJs production. How will DJ handle that? how does Johnson like DJs lazy tape from last year? probably not very much. DJ better show up ready. Johnson basically called him out when he said in relation to our first 2 picks he "just lit a fire under a few players here" he may have been talking Kmet some, but i think it was mostly at DJ. I'll put Colston Loveland here too. If the Bears got too soft and traded down too much and missed on players in the draft, they certainly didn't with Loveland. I now think this was either THE pick going in, or it was between him and Banks. Seeing how Johnson reacted to the pick, I am thinking the Bears wanted Colston "no matter what". and I think he is going to do a lot of what Keenan Allen was supposed to do for us - make first downs on option routes by being twitchy out of his break, and Loveland can also use his physique in a west coast way too, making him a twitchy, tall, big target with hands for 3rds downs and Red Zone. No matter who is covering him, he has some mismatch on him. He will be Caleb's safety blanket. Fun fact: 75% of Lovelands catches in college were for first downs. Defenses will have a hard time covering us. THE OFFSEASON Poles has done a lot of good for this roster this offseason. His free agent plan was perfection, and of course he got coach Johnson and staff too. An A+ for sure. In the draft, we may have whiffed some, but we made good quality value picks all the way through the 7th round - guys that should be able to contribute to our team. As a result, along with a lot of smaller but decent names in free agency this year, means our team has a lot of depth. This should help with injuries, and we should win a lot of preseason quarters that are 2nds on 2nds. that will be evidence that we are deeper. I think Poles could have been a little more aggressive in the draft, even if it cost some value, and cost us the chance to draft one of the players we got, to get some of those more obvious names we all knew. But the flip side is a lot of good players who can help us, and that will make us better too. I see 6th and 7th round players who could be contributors if they got playing time. I think this roster, if LT is figured out, should have playoff expectations. My total guess, assuming LT isnt a total disaster, and Caleb isnt running for his life: Caleb Williams 4,050 yards passing DJ Moore 800 yds receiving Rome Odunze 1,050 yds receiving Luther Burden 600 yds receiving Colston Loveland 750 yds receiving Cole Kmet 350 yds receiving HBs 500 yds receiving

I'm starting to hear rumors about free agent HB Nick Chubb going to Chicago. I've heard it from a few totally different sources, but no one yet like Adam Schefter. But it does make sense. One Cleveland reporter says he is hearing rumors that talks are heating up between Chubb and an "NFC North Team" without naming which one. It's a logical thing to speculate on. Maybe they are talking, still doesn't mean they will get a deal done, or maybe it's all smoke, i have no idea. But it makes sense. So I started watching Chubb's highlights, and as I'm sure we all know already the guy has been a beast. He was slowed down last year by a 2 year old devastating knee injury, and he broke his foot this past season. Plus he is 29. Last year he averaged 3.3 yards a carry, but he was still a really tough runner. So Im wondering how his knee is after 2 years, and his foot? This from a couple weeks ago: Click the link to the video!

Here is my thoughts abut home run hitting HBs: Obviously if you take any player on your team and shave 0.2 seconds off of their forty time, that's better. of course. But the job of a HB in my mind is to move the chains, and force the defense down into the box. Make those LBers lean forward. I'd rather have a guy who got a bunch of 7 and 15 yard runs rather than a guy who breaks one 75 yard run. Now if your guy is also a home run hitter, well then thats amazing, and I love it. But a tough runner who moves the chains is really the most important thing to my way of thinking. A guy who can pass block, and has hands out fo the backfield. A guy who runs strong and always falls forward, and not for 4 yeard, but for 7 and 15. A guy with some wiggle and some strength - all more important in my opinion than speed, unless that speed comes with all the other things too.

exactly! those are the kinds of scenarios Id LOVE to see. Realistic too.

I go both ways too (that sounds bad! lol) I just think the things I see that i think are good are good, and the things i see that are bad are bad. ANd I dont see things as good or bad because thats my default. Its just how I see it. The only thing that is consistent in this is that i LOVE the Bears, and I care more about them than i should. Ive seen some incredible things, and a lot of really inept and horrible things over the years. I think we are in a pretty good place right now. No team is ever completely perfect. Every team has holes. I think LT is a hole right now. Im reading stuff (who knows if its true?!) that Trapilo might play RT and then Wright moves to LT. I dont like the idea of moving Wright myself, but I dont like leaving LT unaddressed, unles Trpilo can play well there. Not reading anything that makes me too confident about that tho. i think HB is a hole. Im hearing rumors that Nick Chubb might be on his way to Chicago. I dunno if that threatens Swift as much as Johnson, but again, i dont know. I think GM is a hole. Too many times to me Poles comes across like a little kid. I wouldnt care if he was playing the draft like a maestro, but it sure didnt feel that way to me. What was their plan? Did they like Ersery and Johnson and Skatebo and get fleeced? Or did they not like those players? I have no idea! I can tell you that I liked those players, so if they didnt, I wonder why. But still I dont KNOW. But like I said earlier, Johnson knows. he was in the middle of it all. If Poles is a weak spot, he will know it, and probably do something about it. Maybe one scenario is that Poles is let go and we promote Ian Cunningham. That could be done quietly, and without too much disruption. Or maybe johnson LOVES how Poles stayed disciplined, even if players targeted slipped away. I dont KNOW. But I know Johnson knows. Now, I ask you, was that a negative comment about Poles, or a positive one about Cunningham? Was it hating on someone, or loving on the Bears and wanting the best for them? I dont feel pessimistic at all. But I like to see the Bears get better in any way they can. LT, HB and GM look like the most obvious places to me?

you dont know that. neither do I. We cant know what would happen if Johnson wanted someone else. We cant even know if Johnson LOVES how Poles handled the draft. We just dont know. But people get fired after winning seasons. Lovie did. Johnson has pull and if he doesnt want Poles, then Poles will be out. But what does Johnson think about him? I have no earthly idea! All I said was that Johnson WILL know if Poles screwed up the draft or not. We wont know, but Johnson will. That's all Im saying.

Totally agree. I learn a lot here.

Lie. I dont care who anyone reads. You have, like 50 times, said "well youre just a fan and the pros know better" and THAT is discounting my right to an opinion. That's ALL this is about. You saying my (and others') people's opinions arent valid because someone else said something. If you said "Brugler says this and i think hes right" then that is FINE. But you keep saying "youre just a fan, so you dont know" is the what I'm talking about. It's BS. Everyone on this board has a right to an opinion, and we should debate the merits, not dismiss people because Bugler Mr "Banks will never go in the top 10" said something. He has a right to his opinion, and we have a right to ours.

SO true. One thing I do know is that Johnson knows the answers to all of this. He knows if Poles did well or poorly in the draft. And he has enough juice int he building to do something about it if necessary. Johnson did make one comment, that I read as a backhanded compliment about Poles being more disciplined on the draft board than anyone hes ever seen. Meaning he wouldnt budge to reach for someone at all. Maybe that was admiration, or maybe it was surprise that he let himself get fleeced on players getting picked before us. I cant possibly know, but Johnson does, and if it's an issue, he will get it corrected Im not predicting this, but I wouldn't be shocked if Poles is fired in the next couple of years and someone Johnson likes comes in to replace him.

I am saying, you seem to think our opinions come from a place of loving or hating. Cant it just be that we see some positive things and some negative things? You seem to defend every player because theyre on the team. Youre loyal to them. Thats a good trait in general. Its good to have friends like that. But if we think a player is weak and the team would be better with a replacement, thats not being a negative nelly., its just an opinion that comes from wanting the Bears to be good. People like some things and dislike others - its not a personality flaw - it's just sports talk.

Im saying you dont read what i write and instead respond to things I didnt say. Also, invoking experts is FINE, saying that they are experts and we cant know because we are just fans is the problem. Anything that is an opinion is fine. Anything that is presented as factual, is up for debate on the merits. As for the worse insults, that wasnt because we were disagreeing, it was because of the way you were speaking to me then. You havent done anything like that since, so its all good. And yes, I would LOVE to not be in a "feud" with you. Thats really the truth. When we agree I always go out of my way to say so. I would prefer mutual respect, i really would. But sometimes we see things very differently, and that's OK, and then we disagree. But when you try to "prove" things, and the logic isnt sound thats usually where the disagreements come from. And all thats OK. Nothing about the way weve been speaking to eachother since back then has been inappropriate, so Im not angry about any of it.

if we can learn anything it would be truly fascinating. I wonder if they would allow any info out, but I agree id love to see it.

What if we just have opinions, positive and negative, and that doesnt mean our entire outlook is positive or negative? What if we just really love the Bears and every comment isnt evidence of a pattern that we have some kind of personality?

4490! Nice!

I AM NOT GREAT AT LOOKING AT TAPE. Ive said it a thousand times. i think if ANYONE looked at the tape they would see the same things I see. And I dont have a thousand opinions from looking at tape. Just a couple. A couple of things stood out to me. I am not saying I am the greatest evaluator, Im just saying that for example Banks looked really good on tape and I didnt understand people like Brugler who had him going in the 20s. What I was saying was that every time you negated my opinion, or a lot of other people's here, you did it by invoking the great and powerful Brugler. As if he was the final word. And he isnt. Hes just another opinion. I was saying stop telling us all that your source knows and we cant possibly because we are just fans. If that was true, then shut down this board and we can all read Brugler. What is so hard about that? As to your other point that the Banks pick was "mute" (the word is moot) I said I KNEW that he was good - and his selection at 9 proved that i was right. But I also didnt know if the Bears would pick him at 10 or not. You misread that, like so many things I say, that I was saying the Bears WOULD have taken him, when actually in all humility, I was saying that I couldnt possibly know that. Seriously, do you read these posts and post when youre drunk? Im not being mean, Im actually asking.

right, but youre listing conclusions that what happened in the draft tells us what the Bears thoguht, and I dont think that evidence is enough to support the claims, or in at least one case, the evidence disproves it?

well I cant PROVE it, but I think Poles thought Ersery would still be there after the trade back. I think he got too cute - correctly predicted no teams ahead of him would take Ersery, but failed to cover for the possibility that the Texans (or someone) would trade up for him. Thats where I think Poles got too cute. He is so focused on being disciplined and not reaching, but sometimes, straining for that extra 5th round pick isnt worth taking a chance on losing a guy you need. And that's *IF* they see Ersery the way I do, which I will never know if they did or not. But my guess is they traded down too far or too much. The prize for trading down was getting either Burden or Turner. You could have had either one and Ersery without the trade. But to get both, you had to downgrade Ersery to Trapilo. Again, depending on how they had Ersery and Trapilo evaluated, this either worked, or we got screwed by the Texans. And it felt like we made the same error each time with HBs, just missing big names each time. It felt like the year that Aaron Donald went one pick before us.

hahaha me too! As Ive said before, i think you are loyal to anyone on our team, and I am more like loyal to the team, and not specifically the players on it. Each way is good. Just dont worry if people are criticizing. Poles' feelings arent hurt by anything i say, and if any coach or player or GM does good things, I'll support those things, and Ill criticize the bad stuff. All hoping to make the team better. Also, believe it or not I dont dislike you. I just dont like when you say things are facts when they arent really proven. As you agree, most things are opinions and cant really be proved. But I dont want to argue with you in particular, I just dont like when you say some pundit says something so it must be right. i will be wrong plenty, so will you and so will the pundits, but my belief is that all of us have valid opinions in general? I dont care if some big shot disagrees with me, if i see what I see, then i know what i saw. But with most things, there isnt enough to see to KNOW. Only a few things every year for me that i feel I really know. Like I KNOW Banks is a good prospect, but couldnt possibly know if the Bears would take him or not.

It should be a matchup nightmare for sure.

Banks was already gone. How did my narrative die? We cant know what they would have done. But they DID spend a 2nd rounder on LT so they must think they need something - even if its more competition? They didnt take a OG or OC? So they felt LT was something that needed addressing. With a high pick. No matter who ends up starting, they did what they did, taking an LT. Youre not making any sense.

I didnt say *I* have to see tape - you just talked about how important it is to see it yourself, and so when I "wept a tear of joy" it was because you were finally agreeing and saying youd look at the tape - so how do i think other people dont? I was saying i hope you DO! I think people look and we all have opinions, and I dont think anyone's opinion is fact, just another opinion, whether its me or you or some pundit. But occasionally I will see something so clear that i am shocked anyone else looks at film and thinks something different. It's only like 1 or 2 "facts" a year. Not everything at all. Most things are murky.

I agree. I am not saying I'm right, I'm saying you cant say you're right either so how can you list things we now "know?" Just because Im saying you dont know factually doesnt mean Im saying I do.

youre full of it. They targeted a bunch of HBs and got outplayed by teams right above them. Poles said as much. Dont ask me to find it, but it was in one of the press conferences, not the first day. And I believe he was targeting Ersery too before Texas traded up and took him. I can't say I KNOW that, but you cant say you know we werent either. And so what we took and that we traded down doesnt prove anything. You really are making a lot of sweeping conclusions based on patterns that arent large enough to count as proof. SAnd a lot of them seem like attempts to prove you were right. Everyone else is talking about the team, not beating eachother. #3 is right. They wouldnt have drafted him if they didnt think he could play. But I think Poles messed up big time this year. He did play the draft right for value, but i think he got outfoxed on players several times. Specifically at LT and HB. On the other hand, we have Burden, who isnt a need but was great value. I am sure the players we took into the 4th round or so will be good for us. But I dont think this was Poles' hope or plan. The player Evals are probably really good because of the coaching staff, but the way he played the day I think he didnt do that well. But most of all Johnson will know whether Poles got the right guys, or whether we whiffed and had to go to plan B and C too often. And if that's the case, Johnson has the juice to oust Poles in a year or two. Not predicting that, but just going through the various scenarios. I think LT, HB and GM are our biggest weaknesses.

no we dont have to assume that at all, and the argument he is making isn't that they would have taken Banks so that proves anything. Thats your strawman version of it. What he is saying is that Braxton at his best is easily now the worst OL we have on the starting 5, and he is injured and wont be back for a while. And Kiran has nothing but possibilities - nothing good on tape. In fact the most generous thing we can do is to not hold him accountable for how he looked last year. And fairly, we are doing that. He is a clean slate. But that's not any positive evidence of anything. And lastly, whatever you think of Zapilo, they spent a 2nd round pick on him. That means they are not happy at LT. This narrative you keep trying to resurrect died a logical death when they spent a 2nd round pick on LT. There is no evidence they are feeling fine with Jones and Amagadje at all. We can hope Amagadje will develop, but the 2nd round pick says the Bears arent gambling on that at all.

he will have a very specialized role for us. He will only watch film on GOlden, he will practice agaisnt VR Goldens, his only job will be to shut down Matthew Golden LOL