Alaskan Grizzly

Oh…weren’t Fields and the Bears still in the playoffs? My mistake. ?

Meh…

Oops….i blame the alcohol consumption. ?

This plays into the old discussion about how Lovie coached the players to their strengths (or at least how I saw it). Many said he “inherited” great players like Urlacher, Briggs and Tillman . But still he somehow was able to get the team to consistent winning seasons for the majority of his coaching career while in Chicago. The point being, I can’t tell you how Lovie influenced (aka coached) the players to win games because I wasn’t there when he designed the plays, made the calls from the sidelines or adjusted to his D to what he saw presented by the opposition. Same with Flus. Yes he’s made some bonehead calls as an HC but he’s done a pretty good job in getting the D to perform at a highly functional tick. Theres no denying that. Are these another of them “rhetorical arguments” you speak of? ?

Watching this Baltimore / KC game makes me think how good Fields could be IF given the right coaching. Both Mahomes and Jackson have had to ‘go off script’ several times and either scramble to make a play or look for an open receiver after missing their first read. To be fair the “right coaching” could be in Chicago or whatever team he ends up going to. ?

I don’t know that it was ‘368 tackles’ but they definitely fed off each other well. They both seemed to keep up with their tacking numbers overall from when they were with Philly/Buff but I couldn’t help but notice they jumped significantly in the Int rate. They remind me alot of Briggs and Urlacher in Lovies version of the similar scheme. As far as playing to their strengths, I would agree that Sweats acquisition certainly helped with how others performed (causal/effect), but it was Flus’ scheme that put everyone in the right place. Think about how the defense was crippled early on with all the injuries then as the season wore on how much better they improved when the starters started making it to games. And add in that you had some pretty significant play by rookies like Dexter, Stevenson and Terrell Smith, I’d again make the case that Flus seems to be able to coach up the players to the positions they’re in.

Not for nothing but Cousins was a fourth round pick after RG3 was picked in the first (#2 overall)…the same year by the same team.

Curious if you still feel this way?

We know Warren made a point of going to Justin’s graduation last year. And are quite familiar with one another from the Big 10. Justin was one of the strongest voices to convince Warren to let the Big 10 play games during COVID. And this thing with Poles hugging players in the locker room? Take a look at the GM candidate of the year Brad Holmes (with the Lions) while he hangs out in the locker room. (He’s in the green jacket with his back to us). Believe the player is olineman Penei Sewell.

Reading more on the take of Rattler is intriguing. Kelly says while at SC he played the “toughest FBS schedule” and with the addition of Dowell Loggains ‘began his maturation of being NFL ready’. Loggains is the same guy who was with the Bears as QB coach / OC the last years of Cutler and the sole year Glennon started for us. ?

Can’t recall whether anyone has referenced anything from “First Round Mock” but the author, Daniel Kelley puts an interesting spin on the up and coming QBs. Kelly was once an NFL scout and worked with the Jets on Parcell’s staff. He’s been out of the business for some years (but wants back in) so take what he says with a grain of salt. He claims to have said out loud that Lawrence, Trey Lance and Zach Wilson would all be busts coming out of college. He’s got a bit of a strong opinion of himself…nevertheless…. He ranks Williams as a “third round pick”. And ranks Rattler, Penix, Nix, Daniels and Maye all as 1st round talent. https://firstroundmock.com/2024/01/shocking-2024-nfl-draft-board-released-quarterbacks/

My man! ?️

Yeah that’s essentially what McDermott did in Buffalo. I would suspect that Washington will be heavy on the development aspect (especially along the dline with the young studs) and will be good to see he and Edmunds reuniting while they’re at it.

I’d say a good hire. Reunites him with Edmunds to some level. Although it looks like McDermott still called defensive plays in Buffalo. Still McDermott’s defensive teams led in many categories for a good while. Got his first NFL coaching gig with the Bears from 2008-10 while Lovie was HC.

Regarde, nous sommes d'accord sur quelque chose mon ami

FWIW, I like all this. Not sure I’m as sold on Daniels as I am on Nix (or even McCarthy) but I like the idea of getting a higher-tier QB to compete with Justin AND MHJ. Now that would be a great way to head into the new season. If Justin can win the job over a higher regarded rookie QB, good for us.

I’ll have to take a deeper look at this sometime later. First read is sorta conflicting. On the one hand the author shows a graph where the more isolated the pick (1st round picks vs 1st round overall picks) trend to the positive for the 1st overall choices. But then he writes supporting commentary that’s less than complementary. Even starting off the paragraph with “So those success rates are pretty atrocious”. ??‍♂️Je n’comprende pas.

Something about this seems off. I know Adam presented this or something similar not all that long ago and it included information to support ‘all QBs picked 1st overall in the last 30 years were 70% successful (to include at least one 4,000 yard season, one PB appearance AND at least one playoff win)’. Thats not a direct quote but close. So I’m curious where the ‘80% success rate’ figures in. And was there data that supported this somewhere?

They’re casting a wide net for sure.

Whenever I see Mel Kiper I can’t help but think:

I’ve been a fan of Foreman since about mid-season. I agree there were some odd off times. I want to think ESB is a victim of Getsy. He was brought to Chicago probably because of Getsy but not used as much as he could or should have been. I say this only because early in the season Fields made a comment about ESB being a healthy scratch for one game and led many to believe he would’ve preferred he play over Claypool who was still with the team at the time. I’d keep M. lewis around just because of the positive veteran presence we heard about him. If you can get over the GB stink still on him he really did well in his role as a blocking (and occasional catching) TE. I wonder if Waldron sees Mooney as a Lockett-type receiver? That could determine whether he stays? Obviously at the end of the day all the offensive players will be determined how they fit into Waldron’s scheme (to include Justin/overall pick #1). Perhaps we’ll see some current Seattle players join us?

Add Bills’ Eric Washington (current dline and asst HC) to the list.

Or as has been brought up before, when asked they say nothing at all. Or are referred to as an “anonymous source”. Of which, by the way, we’ve heard none of during all this. Others may make a backhanded comment without specifically naming names. What do make of the infamous comment by USC CB Jacobe Covington during their last bowl game? https://x.com/usc_nico/status/1740244889122881759?s=46&t=KrpJmhSTc4DI1sACtjisOQ

And the near miss on Larry Ogunjobi probably still rings in his ears.

The "evidence" I presented was historical data to support others have done it before. No where did I conjoin the two thoughts of Vermiel and Campbell's success to mean that Flus would in turn succeed. From what we can gather, some combination of Warren and Poles thought along the same line because they chose to keep him. Warren had been quoted as saying he was in Saint Louis when Vermeil was making his second run at turning a team around (in three years). He witnessed the struggles the team went through before they rose to the top. Theoretically speaking, he (not me) may very well think that it could be repeated in Chicago. It doesn't necessarily mean that Flus will be the key to the overall success, just that keeping him in place would be better than replacing him. Now you want to talk anecdotal evidence? I've lived in Alaska for over 40 years now. I'm pretty sure it'll snow again next winter because it did most of the last 40+ years.