AZ54

At least our team isn't dealing with this crap from our franchise QB: https://brownswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/04/baker-mayfield-to-duke-johnson-youre-either-on-this-train-or-youre-not/ Then Mayfield's WRs had to have a personal chat with him about respecting other players. https://heavy.com/sports/2019/06/browns-baker-mayfield-duke-johnson/ The NFL is filled with ups and downs even for elite players. How a QB handles the downs early in his career says a lot about their character IMO. Trubisky has already weathered a ton of criticism in his first two seasons (as seen in this thread from outside sources) yet he's always handled himself with class, continues to work hard, and focuses on improving his performance first without criticizing his teammates. OTOH Mayfield is already showing plenty of signs that won't be his M.O. From the way he treated Hugh Jackson on the field in front of everyone, and now his teammate Johnson it's clear he won't or can't handle things with class. Brown's fans should be elated because of the future the roster has but if I were in their shoes I'd be nervous about what Mayfield could become if/when things go downhill.

We have him for 2 more seasons since we picked up his 5th year option. He hasn't produced at a high level but he's versatile and I still view him as nice chess piece to have on the field. That's especially true given the likelihood of Pagano's blitzing schemes. I think the most likely outcome is that we keep him for 2 more seasons and let him go in FA. If I were Floyd I wouldn't sign an extension now either. He just needs one season with 10+ sacks and he'll be a highly sought after FA. With our Dline he's got a as good a chance as he'll ever have to make that happen. Call it the Amos effect.

Find a long term deal with Floyd now. The quote below is from Trevathan who usually doesn't give that kind of detailed praise. The article has more good info on how Floyd is developing at the guidance of our new OLB coach Monachino. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-spt-bears-leonard-floyd-breakout-season-biggs-20190617-story.html “I don’t know many linemen you got, but you better put some more on there because he’s been putting his best foot forward,” Trevathan said. “He’s been working his tail off and he’s been learning this defense in and out. I’ve been seeing him be more explosive, putting on a little more weight, a lot stronger, a lot more fundamentally sound and he appreciates each day and he’s getting the most out of it.

This is a case of people wanting what they don't have. With HHCD the Packers didn't always have a disciplined player, nor one who liked contact, but he made some big plays. They are now willing to give up few big plays to get the sure thing. Meanwhile in Chicago we had the sure thing in Amos but there were no big turnovers/fumbles/etc. to go with it. But he also didn't give up the big play to the offense. Amos will take good angles but they always start 3-5 yards behind the receiver and he'll contain the play from getting behind him. For $9mil they have Amos. We get HHCD and Goldman, or Floyd, or Roquan. If you want to stay in FA deals we got HHCD and Patterson.

They have different traits as players but to even attempt to compare HHCD at $3.5m vs. Amos at $9mil is ridiculous. I liked Amos as a player, and I'm happy for him that he was awarded with that nice contract especially because he's a Packer. All I ask is that they put him at FS.

I'm not nearly that high on Davis. I think he'll always be, at best, a 3rd RB for us, maybe fill in as a spot starter. His versatility might make him standout in our eyes early on but remember that he's being compared to Cunningham and Mizzell. I kind of hope this is a 1 year deal and he's replaced by a rookie or a much cheaper vet next year. That would mean Montgomery has a stranglehold on the starters job and we save $3mil in cap space minus new salary.

Guess who is #1? Some of this is situational of course and so landing on a good team helps. Plus, in this past draft there really wasn't an elite RB talent. IMO there isn't a whole lot of difference between Montgomery and Jacobs, except for draft value. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001033290/article/2019-nfl-season-projecting-the-top-five-rookie-running-backs

We can ask Rodgers if his WRs make a difference but he's already made that public knowledge. Yes, having AR12 makes Trubisky better just as he made Bortles better. The Rams game is the one Trubisky came back from injury and it was clearly his worst game of the year IMO given his experience in the offense at that part of the season. He acknowledged trying to do too much in that game and then responded with Completion % of 71, 86, and 69 along with QBRs of 120, 113, 86 to finish the season. Then he threw for 300+ yds in the playoff game and had a likely game winning drive with seconds left in the game IF anyone other than Cody Parkey was our kicker. That playoff game wasn't pretty for the offense. Howard ran for a whopping 35yds.

I've watched a few of the videos from the celebration over the weekend. The funniest of all was this clip from Viriginia...

I stopped reading after "PFF data scientists"... On the other hand I respect the fact that Trubisky went to the Pro Bowl not because of fans or PFF votes but because of player votes. Just getting there as an alternate doesn't mean he's a HoF caliber QB either. I think, in the end, much of this noise is a byproduct of our instant society and everything thinking the world is digital (good or bad) with no in between and no room for people (athletes) to grow into their job. These naysayers would never draft and develop a player like Hicks. We could name dozens of others who developed into great players including many QBs like Steve Young, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Tony Romo, Terry Bradshaw (he was really hated by Steelers fans), or in basketball a player like Scottie Pippen. There is nothing necessarily wrong with a young inexperienced Trubisky struggling with his new offensive scheme and new skill position players. I see criticism of his play and to back it up I'll see a highlight from week 3 against AZ, while ignoring the fact against the same blitzes later in the year he handled them well. People also forget that he was injured and stayed in that game against Minn. Then when he returned to the field he still wasn't quite himself against LA. Against Philly in the playoffs he threw for 300 yards and if that kick goes through then I'd bet the narrative changes to a young improving QB. It's not hard to see he grew tremendously in the offense from the first 4 games to last 4 games. It's also not hard to see he still has a ways to go to be the QB that he, his coaches, and the fans want him to become.

Regardless of the details it's nice of the Bears organization to do that for you.

Mack was just rounding into shape when got injured. MT looked lost most of the year but in the last few games it seemed to be coming together. Just improving those two issues and the first half of the season figures to be much more fun.

Interesting setup for next year as we need cap space. Skrine's contract says he'll be here in 2020, too much cap hit to let him go. Daniel I don't see us keeping him around at $5mil/yr and at age 33/34 he won't have much value around the league. I could see us doing something in the $2-3mil range or going with someone much cheaper like a draft pick. Larsen is a 1yr rental but he's really a min contract player so someone will fill that spot for a similar hit. McManis figure to be gone and that is quite likely to happen this year. That leaves Kyle Long and his status will be hotly debated at the end of the season, unless he finishes it on IR.

Most of us weekend warriors have had that happen where the day of the injury it doesn't feel like much and the next day the muscle is tightened up and you can barely move. As Bearfan2000 said via Monty Python: "it's just a scratch, I'll be alright."

Yeah, not much more than a dart. But it means the job won't be handed to Coward so he needs to earn it.

Nobody has said anything about better throwing mechanics so we'll see. The excuse of dealing with a new complex offense is gone.

Generally you get all the fluff stuff at this time of year. What matters more to me is what Helfrich and Nagy are saying and how they are saying it. These guys might say positive stuff about the players but usually aren't this effusive with praise. https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2019/5/29/18644961/mitch-trubisky-growing-up-fast-in-nagys-offense “Last year he learned [this offense]. Now he’s trying to master it,” Nagy said Wednesday after the Bears’ fifth offseason practice at Halas Hall. “He’s done a wonderful job at trying to get to some of the adjustments we have within the plays, concepts and schemes. “It is literally night and day, in all the right ways,” Bears offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said. “Our standard for him is extremely high. But as far as the operation of what he’s supposed to do, what the defense is doing, manipulating protections — just the air about him — it’s way different.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2019/5/31/18647431/bears-t-j-clemmings-sign-vikings-free-agent I liked him years ago in the draft. I think he was a mid-round prospect. Obviously he's never put it all together and I have low expectations for him here but at least we have someone with more experience than Coward on board just in case. Remember Sowell is now a TE.

Angelo was alright. He had a better vision of what a football player was than Smith did. Smith seemed think he could coach up any good athlete to be the player he wanted especially among the DBs.

Fangio: 'What's a suit?"

Not sorry!

This is OTA news and everyone in the NFL is happy (and doing great) at this time of year. So I'm always cautious with what's being said. In fact I put more value in watching the press conferences because you can see how the words are said. Facial expressions, pauses to think about what to say, all make a difference. At least for the moment it does look like Trubisky has taken a step forward with this offense. Will that lead to a more relaxed player who is more focused on his throwing mechanics? https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2019/5/29/18644961/mitch-trubisky-growing-up-fast-in-nagys-offense

When we hired Pagano the rumors were that he would be more aggressive calling defensive plays than Fangio was. At first Pagano insinuated he'd be the one learning the Fangio terminology and by default it sounded as if he wasn't going to change things much. In the OTAs we've already heard Nagy talking about the different coverages they are seeing and players have talked about differences they have to learn, albeit generically so nobody gives away any secrets for week 1. In this video of Trevathan mic'd up around the 1:10 mark you will see Trevathan, Floyd, and Skrine rushing off the left edge at the same time and keeps RRH and Hicks on the other side. I don't recall seeing that kind of blitz from Fangio. He might send the NB or, less often, the ILB. Changes are coming.

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.