AZ54

It's only a story because a reporter asked Nagy where Burton was during the OTAs. That was clear during Nagy's press conference on Wed so it's not on the Bears for making this a big issue. Reporters are covering it heavily since so many fans (and media) thought Burton was faking his injury, or was too mentally weak to compete while injured.

I'm not ready to say that yet but we are better at RB now than we were last year. We are better at WR because all are in their second season in this offense and we have more depth, AMiller will be playing with two arms instead of one. We are better at Oline simply because Daniels is now in his second season. We are the same at TE, maybe better if you consider Sims being gone and Sowell taking his place as a much better blocker (cheaper too). MT won't be anything less than what he was the last 4 games of the season so we should at least be better at QB than we were the first half of last year. On D we are the same at Dline, same at OLB. At ILB we are better now than last year with Roquan starting his second year in the NFL and having a full offseason. At CB we might be different with Callahan to Skrine but they offer different skills so there is some trade off among the pass defense and some improvement in the run defense. Fuller and Prince remain the same but depth with Tolliver and this rookie out of Kansas Duke Shelley we should be better. Who was our backup NB last year? At Safety we are better with HHCD vs. Amos. Packer fans won't admit it now but if you were to ask them 12mo ago if they wanted to get Amos vs. keeping HHCD they'd have laughed at the thought. Special teams is a wildcard but we won't be worse than last year. You can pretty grab any FA kicker off the street and have them do what Parkey did for us last year. We were also out of the playoffs in the first round. So I have to be realistic we have a ways to go but if numerous players take a routine step up in their production we could see a very good team this year.

Unlike years past this year there is so much continuity among our starters. I think there's potential among many on the roster but I'm not sure we'll see it because they can't get snaps. I include Tolliver and Wims among those. I'm going to go with Leonard Floyd. He has a new position coach who thinks differently about how to get him to best use his talent. https://sportsmockery.com/2019/05/new-bears-olbs-coach-says-leonard-floyd-can-surpass-khalil-mack/

That's a good analogy. Been there done that. Last year Mitch was still learning the language of the plays plus what that meant for who had to line up where, motions, who ran which route, blocking schemes, RPOs, read options, and then he had to read the defense after the snap when it all changed.

At the moment it doesn't hurt to have Mizzell on the roster as he knows the offense. With 90 players practicing it doesn't hurt having a little experience on the field as it helps to evaluate other players (i.e. defense) who may actually be worthy of a roster spot or practice squad spot.

I thought Jason would be all over this. I think it was always inevitable. Now after a season to adjust to the NFL and learn our playbook it's time for Daniels to take over leading the Oline. I don't know much about blocking schemes but Daniels has better mobility and will either handle reach blocks better than Whitehair or will be better when pulling into space. Whitehair likely is moving back to his more natural position too. Will we get better snaps to Trubisky in the shotgun instead of those floating snaps that sometimes took forever to arrive? https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2019/5/22/18636528/bears-james-daniels-center-cody-whitehair-guard-switch

Coward looking good at OT was my first thought as well. It's not like we have a lot of other options. If you get in a bind you could still slot Sowell into the spot for half a game. It also keeps Nagy's play calling options a bit more secretive as Sowell no longer has to report as eligible. The flip side here is what this means for Shaheen because I don't think it's good. We have to see how everyone performs in the preseason but with Dax Raymond there will be competition. Raymond will be a better blocker in the open field than Shaheen, less good as inline blocker. If Raymond's getting the playbook down I could see us keeping Sowell, Burton, Raymond, Braunecker (special teams). Shaheen could be cut or traded for a day 3 pick. I think that's a long shot for Raymond as he's more likely to end up on the practice squad but if Shaheen struggles at all or is injured again, I could see them going with the new guy. Mizzell I think is being groomed as a practice squad WR who might get called upon as a slot WR in an emergency. He still doesn't have the athleticism needed to succeed at this position either. I'd much rather see a practice squad spot go to someone else with more potential.

I was surprised to see Montgomery listed among the top 5 on this list. I think he's a good fit for what we need and his ability to make the first unblocked defender miss will add significantly to our offense even if he doesn't have breakaway speed. Regardless I'm not sure I see him as a top 5 RoY candidate. If he's in the discussion late in the season it means our offense is kicking some butt. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001030975/article/top-25-nfl-rookies-in-best-position-for-year-1-success 5) David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears: We're riding the Montgomery hype train with colleague/conductor Adam Rank. This former Cyclone breaks tackles with the best of 'em and has one of the league's better offensive lines in front of him. As long as Matt Nagy is willing to lean on him, he's going to do work.

Kwit is one of a few players I could see us trading late in the preseason. Last year Iggy held the last backup/special teams role. If Iggy is really standing out at ILB then he would move ahead of Kwit on the depth chart. At that point Pace is looking at who is the 4th ILB and how much can he contribute on special teams. I'm just not sure we get to that point this season plus Kwit still has value between the numbers. He'd likely only have trade value to teams using a 4-3 scheme, or to teams that are desperate, so that limits trade opportunities. I don't think this guy was signed for much more than training camp body. His best year so far was 2017 in KC with 35 tackles. If he couldn't make a good enough impression on that lousy defense to stick around with them for 2018 (FA to Jets) then we should not be hopeful it all comes together for him this year.

Part 2 of the article I linked to yesterday https://www.chicagoaudible.com/david-montgomery-productive-kareem-hunt-rookie/

Interesting article. I've been thinking about the Raiders and Josh Jacobs who was taken with our pick. I think there is little difference between Jacob's and Montgomery's skill sets and so IMO in terms of draft value I think we are the clear winners. When you look at this article and how they present the stats Montgomery becomes a very intriguing option. It will be interesting to see how their careers play out. I believe both will be successful but how much more productive does Jacobs have to be to justify that high pick? https://www.chicagoaudible.com/david-montgomery-collegiate-numbers/

If Pineiro makes it in the NFL (Bears or otherwise) and becomes one of the better kickers it will be interesting to see if more young kickers adopt his style. I am 100% not a kicking expert but it seems to me most kickers tend to pivot or move more sideways after the kick while Eddie moves more forward. In some ways it is similar to an instep kick in soccer where you get your entire body weight behind the kick and follow through with a forward motion. I watched some highlights of Gould and Justin Tucker to see if I was wrong. Both end up closer to the ball but al little more to the left. Even Aguayo in the video above pulls his plant foot through to the left of the spot. Eddie hops more forward after contacting the ball and then ends up almost a yard or two forward of the spot following the arc of his kicking leg. As kids are taught in soccer for the instep kick, the energy of his forward momentum ends up in the ball and without swinging his leg as hard he can get more velocity on the ball.

He's definitely comfortable in his evaluations of players and their scheme fit and is willing to go get them. This Jesper kid looks more like a TE the way he runs in these videos. He is not that quick laterally in his cuts but there is definitely some good straight line speed. He looks like he could add 10lbs and play around 235lb without losing much agility or speed. That's what Burton is at. Definitely worth bringing in to see what he can do.

Every kick looks the same when you look at his feet. I think we have a winner here but what I don't like is they are always at the same landmark. That's good for developing technique but can he hit that plant foot just in front of the ball when it's not on the line? Can his holder put it in the same spot everytime? It appears we hired a kicking coach and he recommended his star pupil. Not bad.

That's a seriously long shot.

I don't think it's a coincidence that a day or two after the new kicking coach showed up we got rid of 6 kickers.

I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere yet. Patrick Finley reported we hired a kicking consultant, Jamie Kohl for the season. https://twitter.com/patrickfinley/status/1124418368142966786

Just watching the initial press conferences from our draft picks it seems we again have good character. After watching him for years at Iowa State lined up in the backfield it was interesting to hear Montgomery really likes the fact Nagy uses RBs all over the field. I take that to mean he likes the idea of having more one on one opportunities. For a player who had the most broken tackles in college the last two years I kinda like that idea too. Riley Ridley seems mature for his age and he knows what got him here in his route running. Stephen Denmark looked like he's still in shock he was drafted and is in the NFL. He's facing a huge step up in competition and it's going to take him some time to settle down and get comfortable. Hopefully he can earn a roster spot on special teams, basically taking over for McManis which would save $1.7mil in cap space this year.

If I look at his body language and that hesitation in his thoughts it sure doesn't seem like Singletary was the player he coveted. He has no choice but to say positive things about Singletary to his fan base. Knowing the timeline here would help. Obviously Buffalo's GM makes it clear Pace was trying to just use next years 4th for the deal. He says he wanted more yet a few minutes later Pace gave up more to NE to move up one spot higher in the same round. Fact is Pace was willing to give more and it doesn't appear they countered the offer. The key here would be when did the Rams take Henderson and if Pace was talking with Beane afterward. In the video Beane says for that deal we weren't going to move if we knew our "guys" were there. Since we know RB was the target it's logical to assume the guys were Henderson, Montgomery, and Singletary. If Pace called Beane once NE was on the clock then Beane already knew he had either Montgomery or Singletary and if they were graded the same he shouldn't have entertained the offer. Yet if he wanted more to trade back, and was willing to do so, then why was there no counter offer? Then if Pace didn't receive a counter offer he may have assumed the Bills were likely waiting on the same RBs. Which prompted the call to NE and a higher offer to make the trade. I wonder if the multiple workouts and visits with Singletary led Beane to think the Bears were more interested in him than Montgomery? Maybe he didn't worry if the Bears traded ahead of him because he thought he could still get Montgomery? Only the shadow knows.

After Buffalo took Singletary I felt like Belichick was playing a bit of 3D chess when he traded back. I can see Pace saying "hey Bill we tried to trade up with Buffalo, we think they want a RB and we want one too. They refused to deal. I want to come up and draft Montgomery before they do. Are you in?" I don't really think they talk about specific players when trades are made but you can see Belichick expecting Pace to grab Montgomery knowing he's still on the board. They likely knew the needs of division rival Bills and who they had heavily scouted. Plus NE already has their lead RB and just needed a complimentary piece for their backfield. With good depth available for backup RBs why not drop back, take away a good RB from your division rival which helps keep home field advantage in the playoffs, and get an extra pick this year and next.

He's not fast but he's not that slow. Ran somewhere around 4.7 at his pro day. https://247sports.com/Article/Georgia-Football-Isaac-Nauta-feeling-a-lot-better-after-pro-day-130316106/

It is interesting to do this exercise and also difficult in a way because I know more now about the players we took than I did before the draft. In other words I have very little background on players beyond the majority of RBs, a few DBs, and a few TEs in the draft. Rd 3: I said a month ago that I could see Pace trading up 10 or so spots in Rd 3 to grab a RB who fell to that spot. At the time I said it would be Miles Sanders. In the last couple weeks before the draft I cooled on Sanders a bit simply because of his fumble issues. I don't think that goes away too quickly at the NFL level and it worried me for a team that I feel is ready to compete deep into the playoffs. That led me to Henderson and then Montgomery as the options. I expected both to be gone in late Rd 2 but both last to Rd 3. I'll stick to my sentiments that Nagy felt the pass receiving RB was key to the whole thing and just stay with the trade up for Montgomery. I actually preferred Henderson just because I like having the home run threat but I am confident Montgomery will be the more consistent RB. Rd 4: I'd have gone with CB Isaiah Johnson out of Houston. Rd 5: traded away Rd 6: NB Duke Shelley. I didn't know about him heading into draft day but after watching him and learning about him he's a good fit at NB. I'm not 100% confident he can develop into a starter but he has the potential and should at least provide solid depth. That's about all you can ask for in Rd 6. Rd 7: TE Isaac Nauta. I liked him before the draft and with Montgomery, Cohen, Patterson, Nall, and Davis on board I see no reason to take Whyte here. I'll get to see Nauta when we play the Lions. Rd 7: OG Bars This one is tough because going into the draft I'd have likely drafted Bars here. However, I don't know his medical status and he appears to be headed for a likely red shirt season. OTOH it's hard to argue with what I've seen of Denmark plus the coaches were able to see him first-hand during his team visit. Again when doing this part time with only a glimpse into what players can do I'll just stay with Bars. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the grand scheme of things Pace needed to draft well enough that he can make some cuts next year to save cap space without a drop in performance. With my draft he would have some ability to free up space at the CB positions (Amukamara, Skrine) and OG (Long - Bars). With Pace's picks that cap flexibility looks to be at WR (Patterson-Ridley), RB (Davis - Whyte), and maybe CB if Tolliver develops further this year along with NB (Skrine - Shelley). Denmark should absolutely take over for McManis (2020 FA) on special teams coverage next year but it could happen this year opening up $1.7mil in cap space this year to be used on someone's contract extension. Then Pace went and got Bars, Hall, and Dax Raymond as UDFAs. I'd have been happy with any of them in Rd 6/7. Throughout the 7th Rd teams are on the phone with their potential priority UDFAs. Judging by how quickly they committed to Chicago after the draft, by the time we made the Denmark pick Pace likely had some idea that Hall and Bars were coming to Chicago if they weren't drafted. That may have swayed him to take Denmark who has the highest upside based on his athletic skills plus our needs.

12 months after Glennon took his first snap as our starting QB Pace put a 12 win team on the field with what turned out to be a Pro Bowl QB.

Excellent point on the smaller players and IMO that's why Taylor Gabriel doesn't standout as being fast, despite his fast 40 time. He's not slow either but there are plenty of DBs keeping pace with him stride for stride once it's a straight line race. Beyond the overall 40 time,quickness comes into play as well. How fast can you get to top speed and how quickly can a player make cuts at speed, which is something Antonio Brown does well. Some guys like Tavon Austin are incredibly quick in the 10 yard split but lack long speed. The net 40 time might be impressive but he's often run down from behind in the secondary. But he'll be the first one out of a phone booth.