BearFan PHX

yeah you can see they are setting up mentoring situations, and building a bench for when people leave. This is how you end up with a "coaching tree" Youthful enthusiasm and energy blended with wise experience in the same position group is a good recipe.

So we have hired a new DL coach. Hes apparently had success with DLs everywhere hes gone. He teaches an attacking style, and was Jacksonville's DL coach last year, where he coached Travon Walker to a career high 10.5 sacks. Jacksonville's DC Ryan Neilson, was Dennis Allen's DL coach at New Orleans. I like pairing him with 69 year old Bill Johnson who is a defensive assistant, and was also a DL coach under Dennis Allen in New Orleans.

no, that's right for sure. I just meant maybe a few months ago, or when we hired Johnson, maybe he had someone better in mind. We just put together a first class coaching staff, and I wonder if Poles is at their level is all.

If we can afford it, having Miles Garrett is a no brainer for any team. It seems the salary cap is very friendly for us. The question is what it would cost in draft capital. 3 firsts is a hard no for me. Even 2 firsts is probably more than I'd want to pay. One first is easy, because as Ashkum says, we might well spend that first this year on an edge anyway, so that's easy. Someone will pay more draft capital than we can probably afford, so I dont see him being a Bear, but if there was some way to get him, it would be a MAJOR step toward a superbowl victory (or more than one!).

Yeah thats totally fair. The trade cost for the picks is a big problem. But his salary cap space is tiny. I dont see how he can want a new deal when he just got one and is good thru 2027? And he would elevate this defense to top 5 immediately. EDIT: Looking again, it might be closer to $20M a year, depending on how "prorated options" work, I dont really understand them. But worst case scenario it's like $16M this year, and $20M each the next 2. Im not saying Im for it, because we absolutely need the OL revamped first 100%. But if we somehow got that done with free agency, then maybe it's a possibility? FWIW Adam Schefter mentioned us as a likely landing spot for Garrett...

FWIW its not a ton of cap space, hes under contract thru 2027 for $8 million a year, because most of his contract was signing bonus.

sure sounds like it, and even without this data point, wed be fools not to

From what I read he sounds like a great hire. But then again, I read a lot about Eberflus too LOL But yeah, until i hear otherwise, Im on board, and he will absolutely be a step up from Morgan. THAT I know.

I suppose it makes sense, but with all these bold moves, Im wondering if there is a better option out there?

youre probably right, but then again, no roster in the NFL is ever complete, and if Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson believe that Miles Garrett is the piece to make this a championship defense, then you have to consider it. All in context of course that you HAVE to replace most of the OL from last year. If that can be done with free agents, and remaining draft picks, Id roll with Swift etc another year to add Garrett. But yeah, until we can protect Caleb, nothing else can matter. Maybe we can do both. All that said, I assume we will pass on Garrett, but if Johnson and Allen say yes, Im all for it.

If Garrett is holding out, we might get him for less. On the other hand, a huge percentage of his money came as a signing bonus. We'd have him through 2027 for $8 Million a year. That's gotta be worth something in draft capital!! The Browns would take a huge cap hit. And he'd probably want a new deal before 2027.

for sure

He definitely was a hard runner, and not a finesse guy. It's hard to say what order to draft guys in. I agree with you that OL is our primary issue, but we need RB, DL too. I think best player available comes into it, as well as what we get in free agency. This looks like a good year for a trade down, but i havent done any work yet on the players to even have a wrong opinion yet, no less a good one.

He brings a championship presence, hes a tough guy, and if Declan Doyle gets poached after Caleb has success, he is used to being an OC that doesnt call plays, so he could be waiting in the wings. I suppose it's the same if Doyle fails too. I think it's a smart move.

I should have said has been completely ineffective building the OL, all but ignoring that group in the draft. I agree Wright is good. But the rest, I just don't share your enthusiasm for what we have. i think we well could see four new starters on the OL. I agree we will be players in free agency ont he OL, but that's always a gamble too, and unfortunately, given our situation, one we have to take. I hope it works out for us. As for Davis, there were articles at the time we signed him that he refused to practice and was lazy and not team oriented. So I dont think it was the death of his grandmother that was the underlying issue. His tape looked good, but the red flags were there. Tevin Jenkins is always injured, and we knew that too going into last year. He is a good player, but he isn't reliable. Bates was supposed to start at OC, but again, we threw our hopes into a guy who was injured, and never really saw the field.

I agree that if you can give any backup QB in the league 5 clean seconds on every play, they would be All Pro, but of course the DL has something to say about that too. It's hard to be consistently dominant on the OL, even if you allot a ton of resources there. But that's not an argument for how we've been either. Completely ignoring the OL is a recipe for failure for sure. Between those two extremes, you are right - a good OL elevates mediocre players. And of course thats why a good DL can win games too!

I know this must be like Christmas for you Jason, everyone is so OL focused now. Let's hope we can get it right, because with the right OL (and DL), this team could go far. And I can hear you saying "ANY team could go far with good lines!"

This is a good article, that kind of nails Poles' failure on the OL. I agree with Stinger that a lot of what this guy writes is trash, but I agree with him on this one. https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/the-actual-reason-ryan-poles-keeps-failing-on-the-offensive-line/ EDIT: for high round picks. Once you get into the 3rd round, it's a different story. So maybe the problem is just that we haven't spent higher round picks on the OL (Wright excepted of course, and he's our best OL player) For curiosity's sake, here are our OL draft picks from the last 8 years. 2024 Kiran Amagadje Yale 3rd round 2023 Darnell Wright Tennessee 1st round 2022 Braxton Jones Southern Utah 5th round Zachary Thomas San Diego St 6th round Doug Kramer Illinois 6th round Ja'Tyre Carter Southern 7th round 2021 Tevin Jenkins Oklahoma St. 2nd round Larry Borom Missouri 5th round 2020 Arlington Hambright Colorado 7th round Lachavious Simmons Tennessee St 7th round 2019 none taken 2018 James Daniels Iowa 2nd round 2017 Jordan Morgan Kutztown 5th round

Imagine how much fun it will be when we have a line that can open holes for the running game at will, and give Caleb consistent time in a clean pocket. It's hard to lose games that way. It's just a hypothetical ideal, but if you could gain 4 yards on every running play, you'd literally never lose and be the best offense that ever played without having to throw the ball once. Of course that's just an ideal, but if you could get close to it, then your receivers will be open a lot more, and you'd be a formidable offense for sure.

they will fade off, but you're right it wont be immediate. And with that offensive line, they should be pretty good with any decent OC calling plays, unless they get pass happy like so many do.

I don't know Pierce at all, so this is a generalized comment, but one of the concerns with Alt was that he was too tall, and could have problems getting his pads low enough for leverage. I love the idea of a monster OL, but for some players, they can actually be too tall? Again, not talking about Alt or Pierce, just a general comment.

They came in like a Lion(s) and will go out like a lamb.

youre right I DO agree with that! I just think sometimes getting a feel for their personalities, how coachable they are etc is helpful too. When we've been coaches at the senior bowl, or east west game, I think weve found that valuable. But yeah, its not a huge deal at all.

It's too bad we don't have our OL coach already in the mix to put eyes on these guys.

let's put Caleb in a real offense with a real line, and see if he still does that. I think it's one of those narratives that doesnt really express why things are happening on the field the way they are. The writers talk about it, but I think it's a big oversimplification of what's really going on. Mahomes reads the field very well. Daniels is for the most part, a one read guy. Just watch the games with your own eyes and see if his helmet moves at all after the snap. It almost never does. You made the point that his eyes could move while his head doesnt. Its VERY hard to do that, but even more to the point youre supposed to move your head to influence safeties. I dont ever see Daniels do that. I see Daniels as an athlete with a great arm more than a "quarterback" per se. And I think in time we will come to see that Kingsbury has created a system for him that allows him to be himself and have great success. But I dont think he is reading defenses. At least not post snap?