Alaskan Grizzly

Now that Hunter is out of the picture (signed with Houston), how about DJ Wonnum who also played along the Vikings Defensive Front? He finished out his rookie contract (4th year) with Minnesota last year and racked up 8 sacks while doing so. He's scheduled to visit with Chicago on Thursday (after visiting Carolina on Wednesday). https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/bears_also_hosting_de_dj_wonnum_for_visit/s1_17039_40098621

I have questions. When you say "top 2 QB" do you mean before or after they are drafted? Nick Foles (a third round selection) did it against Brady in 2018. Yes I know I'm being a contrarian (again) but I'm genuinely interested in how you came about this.

This is a good place as any "OPEN THREAD" to share this interesting nugget of information. Saw it this morning flash on the screen (NFL Network?) while they were updating the current FA movement. Seems crazy to think that newly acquired Jones has very similar stats to current 'Franchise QB' (and former overall #1 pick) Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville. I guess Lawrence has Jones soundly beat when it comes to rushing...but that's not what we want a QB to do...right?

Wasn’t he on the team last year and more on a ‘test drive’ basis? Think he scored a TD in one of the games late in the season. In looking at him he’s listed as a WR not TE. ??‍♂️

Unless you’re John Lynch and you make up for it by going to the SB with ‘Mr Irrelevant.’

Any word on Waldron being there? If not probably a moot point.

Oh I was thinking more like at #2, or #3 when they trade #1. ??

Yeah I actually just read an article explaining a bit more about the complexity of Higgins' situation and right away realized 'never mind'. They said Cincy had a nearly identical situation come up with former Safety Jessie Bates a few years ago and even though Bates wanted out he was tagged and ended up playing for the Bengals for another year. The article also mentioned that Bates and Higgins both have the same agent.

Tee Higgins? I know he's a bit more complicated but he wants out of Cincy and would be (IMHO) a decent #2.

MHJ or Odunze in the draft?

Maybe not Brockers but another potentially productive TE vs one who only blocks. From what I've read Waldron's style offense deploys a lot of 2 and 3 TE sets. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see Blasingame gone (if he isn't already) as Waldron will line up TEs in the FB role from time to time. Anyhow, having Everett on the team will help with the familiarity and Kmet with his potential production ability. He still would need another TE that is capable of blocking and receiving. Could they choose to keep Lewis around? My guess is no and might want to draft a younger version of him.

Bo Nix is one of the dark horse picks for me at QB. Hope they like what they see.

Going back again to the reasoning we heard why Cliff Stein was fired was because of the concern of ‘watertight integrity’ (a Navy term from back in the day) at Halas Hall. Warren made it clear he wanted nothing to leak out and allegedly Stein had been involved with something that violated that trust. To let someone go who had as much time invested in the team was a pretty strong message. As far as the media is concerned, I was going to bring this up after Diana Russini ended up getting egg on her face yesterday. Today’s ‘journalist’ is nothing like those from when many of us were growing up. Too many are concerned with getting “clicks” and sometimes the monetization that goes with it. Many, especially in the sports world, want to be the first to get the scoop at nearly any cost. What we’ve been reading and witnessing these last few months about Chicago and Justin is evidence of that.

Fun fact: Fields and Swift played together while at Georgia. (Or so say ‘my sources’ on social media). ?

Technically speaking, you may be referring to the game where JF threw for 16 complete passes in a row. Nothing but a franchise record. And since I’m here, been looking for a place to drop this.

Excellent work Pix…once again. I’d say I’m in the camp that JF is more closer to 6+ and just needs a real OC (maybe Waldron is it?) and more pieces to be successful. And in using your scale I’d say Williams is N/A or TBD because he has yet to play an NFL down. Is that to say he can’t be ‘all that’? No. But I’m not dismissive of the idea to select another QB that could provide competition to JF. In fact, in my ‘Waldron deep dive’ I’ve found his style offense could work with either a rookie QB as well as a beat up veteran like Geno Smith.

Since we’re on the subject of “too rich” FAs (and I know this would be better placed on the Swift post):

As awkward a scenario as that could be I wouldn’t totally hate it. As it stands right now, the Bears only have 5 picks in the draft. I’d prefer they have more. But this might be the compromise we all end up having to accept.

Nope, just that she’s not as informed or an insider as she may let on. Look I used to be a semi-fan of hers when she used to be a semi-contributer to the LeBetard-Stugotz show while on ESPN. Since LeBetard went on his own I haven’t heard from (or about) her in awhile. I know the answer to that question as well as you do. We can both speculate and both be wrong.

Just so we’re consistent…

Well said and I ageee Pix. I wonder if behind the scenes Poles never really wanted to trade JF but wanted to put up appearances to help drive the market for #1? Not all that long ago many here and several “expert pundits” were speculating Justin might be had for a 1st or very worst 3rd round pick. And now, it would seem “no one wants him” is the new flag to bear. ??‍♂️ Like I said in an earlier post, the lying season is indelibly strong this year.

The only reason I found that post was because Diana Russini, someone we recently discussed having any validity, posted the same thing. Lying season is strong…

And 10 mins later this appeared…

I've been doing a deep dive in Waldron's offensive scheme and when I saw Swift get picked up, I looked for the similarities of Swift to previous Waldron RBs. Interestingly enough both Swift and Kenneth Walker's (Seattle's' lead RB last season) were very similar last year: 2023 stats Swift: 229 rushes for 1,049 yards (4.6 yards avg and 5 TDs) 39 receptions for 214 yards and 1 TD Walker: 228 rushes for 1,050 yards (4.6 yards avg and 9 TDs) 29 receptions for 259 yards and 1 TD Swifts' offensive production, especially rushing, picked up considerably when he joined Philly last season. And although his overall average of receptions for his career is 50, he had his lowest last year at 39. And his ypa for rushes (4.6) has been pretty consistent with his career average (also at 4.6) So on paper, it makes sense Waldron wanted to get Swift as he mimics his previous RB in a lot of ways.