AZ54

I watched a couple Colorado games he never stood out to me as an elite player. At least with Jeanty you could see him making everyone else look like they weren’t on the same level. Then again Hunter didn’t have a good QB and had poor play calling. I’ll be curious to see him play in the NFL.

I don’t think either need to be true studs. Trapillo has to be good enough to replace Jones and keep LT cap hit low for another few years. Anything more than that is upside. From initial reports he moved very well for being so tall. Jones strength is in the running game especially when on the move and Trapilo might be able to match that. if Monangai can replace Roquan and be an effective compliment to Swift that’s a win. If he can add in some pass catching he may challenge Swift for snaps. If we do end up with a good LT1 and decent RB1 we’ll be remembering this draft for a long time.

I don’t think the chatter about Hendrickson is anything more than what if speculation. I agree we can’t afford the $40m cap hit as it wrecks the future plan quite a bit. Not that we couldn’t make it work if we really wanted to. Between the draft pick and cap hit this makes no sense to me. Now if I could get them to take Edmund’s off our hands in the deal… The Thuney deal is just a matter of time.

The quote from the story it said... "at times I came in and just watched film alone, nobody told me what to watch". That does not mean at all times. Nor does it mean he never had coaches showing him what to look for in film study. Why does it compare to Jayden Daniels? Because he Daniels is alone with nobody telling him what to watch for when he views film in the early morning hours before practice. The comparison is that Jayden to my knowledge has not publicly complained about doing the extra film study alone. In this case, neither has Caleb complained. It's just his father stepping into his son's business. Many Bears players over the years have talked about how they do their own film study either at home or in the facility.

Counterpoint...lots of ex-NFL players saying to step up, be a professional, and stop blaming your coaches. As James Jones said... there were many other players in the room with him and the coaches when they were watching film. Or this is Caleb's dad trying to protect his son from accountability for all of his mistakes last year by making it appear everything was the coaches fault. Practice hours are highly regulated and most players watch film on their own. This story is going to follow Caleb all the way into training camp. If his daddy issues don't go away quickly he's not going to have a lot of trust in the locker room. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/former-players-discredit-notion-no-one-helped-caleb-williams-watch-film Just one

I don't usually watch this stuff but I was curious to see Tyson Bagent and what he had to say about this offseason. A few things stood out. Overall it's a good enjoyable interview. Asked to pick a breakout player this year: He chose two one offense one defense: Caleb....said he's putting in the work and the coaching they are getting and the players added to the offense is absolutely going to make a big difference for him. I was surprised at his defensive choice: Gervon Dexter. Bagent said he (paraphrasing)... just works hard on everything every single day. Get an indoor stadium it'll be easier to throw for 4000yds. It's not the cold but the wind that wreaks havoc on passes.

Agreed.

This is how you respond...

Oddly I was saying all along before the draft I don't think Caleb wants to be in Chicago. Nothing I saw on video, from combine press conferences, interviews, to his pro day, showed body language that indicated he wanted to play here.

This is the offseason. Of course you can't fully judge any of our players until they are actually playing a real game but it's ridiculous to say we, and the coaches, can't learn anything about a player while they are performing drills. Until we get to the games the coaches have no choice but to evaluate them on their form, technique, assignment discipline, etc. from drills and practice. In the past we've seen other Olinemen struggle with position changes (i.e. Kyle Long) and getting their feet, stance, and punch timing right early on in the offseason. The rookie, at this point, is not having similar issues with this transition. Of course I'm basing that off other camp observers not my own but Clay Harbor used to line up next to LTs in the NFL and he knows the expectations and what "good" looks like far better than I do. For me this is a positive start for the rookie. A rookie I had low expectations for. If there is nothing to learn from these drills why then are coaches wasting their time on them?

Players were just wearing shorts and t-shirts but based on what Clay Harbor and a couple others have said about rookie minicamp Trapilo surprised them with how good his pass pro form was at LT, smooth and quick in his sets. That's it, that's about all you can get out of a rookie minicamp with no contact and no playbook. Concerns that he won't look natural at LT after playing at RT seem to be gone. Next we'll add in Kiran during the OTAs and see how he's doing but this battle looks to be off to a good start.

I can't wait for this sideline show to begin with Brian Schottenheimer as the band leader and Matt Eberflus playing second fiddle.

What catches my eye is the quicker cuts Monangai can make versus the two step change of direction we see with Roschon.

It all forces a defense to plan for many options in the game. I'm curious to see how Ben uses all these talents against the Vikings defense. If Caleb can read it quickly and get the ball into the playmakers hands these players can feast.

He’s a better player than Roschon Johnson.

Wow down to a single weak link on the Oline. I hope that’s all we’re dealing with because it will be a massive change from the jail breaks we’ve seen the last few years. FWIW our new center has the exact same issue as Braxton with bull rushes so time will tell. Hopefully the new Oline coach can help both of them fix it.

Braxton is pretty good as a run blocker. I'd say for the running game we're likely to be among the best in the league this year.

This is going to be the hot topic all off-season and maybe into the season. Bears are starting it off correctly by keeping Darnell Wright at RT. That leaves us with a 3 way battle at LT. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2025/05/01/bears-ozzy-trapilo-will-play-left-tackle/83388491007/

I still have the vision of Ben Johnson in the draft room hearing about trading up for a RB and like a little boy at Christmas being excited for his new toy. Then being disappointed when it didn’t happen. Then the box opens up later and inside is “stud” Luther Burden.

None of which means he didn't inquire about moving up. I fully expect him, and every other GM, to be doing that throughout the draft to assess trades values up or down as the process plays out. As far as I know teams won't disclose who they are picking until agreement is reached on value. Since it's a fact we didn't reach an agreement with any team on a trade up I find it suspicious anyone would know who we were thinking about trading up for...unless the leak is from inside the house!

RB is one of the easiest positions to find a good player. I rather like the backup OG we got late in the draft and the CB, and the RB. I'd have been equally happy with Skatebo too. It's kind of a wash for me either way. Regardless I'm not that concerned about finding a RB this year or next as long as our Oline is doing it's job.

If I'm banking on one I'll take the guy with an elite work ethic.. Chubb.

If you really want to do a poll make sure to include the collective opinion of "the board" because I'll take that any day over any analyst. That may sound like nonsense but the varied opinions and the debate here all add more value to my evaluation of players than any 10-20s clip from Brugler or Jeremiah. Yet through it all, not one of us, nor "the board" is completely correct. FWIW I find I disagree with Jeremiah and Brugler a fair amount, even though I like both. Shedeur Sanders getting drafted where most future backup QBs get drafted was a correct call by me. If you listen to them enough you can figure out what traits they prefer the most in their evaluations. But what trait does your coach value the most? What traits fit your scheme the best? What role does your coach plan to use that player for? Those topics are all discussed here best. In the end Jeremiah had Banks listed as 27th overall and the next day he put out his last mock draft and had him going in the top 10. That type of cognitive dissonance is all over the draft media landscape.

The only GM who got all the guys he targeted for the draft was Phil Emery. Good players are going to have a lot of buyers. I have no doubt a RB was on their wishlist of upgrades. However, I like how Poles played the hand he was dealt. While I think Ben Johnson wanted a RB, perhaps even one of the Ohio State RBs, I don't think he was disappointed in the least by the WR that fell in his lap in Rd 2. In the press conference afterward Johnson commented how impressed he was with overall organization of the draft process, how the draft was managed by Poles, and I think by correlation the good talent that was added to the roster overall. Meanwhile his old team was doing this: https://www.detroitlions.com/news/detroit-lions-trade-up-2025-nfl-draft-wide-receiver-isaac-teslaa "The Lions moved up 32 spots from No. 102 to No. 70 in the third round to select TeSlaa. Detroit gave up pick 102 in the third round of this year's draft and both of their third-round picks in next year's draft to get into a position to select TeSlaa. Detroit received a sixth-round pick this year (No. 182) and a sixth-round pick next year in the trade." I don't know anything about Tesla except he is a good athlete but was generally ranked as a day 3 prospect, and that could have been anywhere from Rd 4 to 7. They are going to miss those two 3rd Rd picks next year.

Exactly. We're carrying 4 OTs on the roster right now with 1st Rd pick, 2nd Rd pick, 3rd Rd pick (albeit a late 1st/2nd Rd grade), and a 5th Rd pick. There was chatter that Kiran could play inside but that is not why he was drafted. That's two years in a row with significant draft capital toward fixing LT. We have to assume the team is happy with Darnell Wright. Something is going to give I just don't know when. OTAs and snaps at LT will give us our first insight. Braxton will be on the sidelines. Whatever they try first is what they feel gives them the best option to succeed. If they are splitting first team snaps out of the gate then it's a wide open competition. Do they even try Darnell at LT early this offseason?