Alaskan Grizzly

I saw somewhere (social media?) someone comment on how excited they were to see what Poles and Cunningham come up with for the Bears this year. Considering each has some connection to both the current super bowl teams (Poles = KC and Cunningham = Eagles). Found this interesting picture on FB. Two different approaches to how they ‘got there’.

A former 6th round drafted player just officially retired (again) after 23 seasons, winning 7 Super Bowls and setting a ton of records. Where another player drafted dead last got his team to the NFC Championship game. And more locally, we found at least one diamond in the rough for MLB that otherwise was an UDFA.

Meanwhile Nathaniel Hacketts opening line for when he interviews for coaching jobs is that he knows Aaron Rodgers.

In other relatable news:

Forgive my ignorance but I assume the '#' column in the middle of the chart indicates how many players are under contract?

Speaking of Purdy. Turns out he has a torn UCL with an estimated 6 month return. Think Tommy John surgery like baseball pitchers get. Dude came back in for the second half and threw a few passes with that. Damn that had to hurt!!

I'm not sure "choke" is really fair. Yes he did flub up the call of the "not-catch" early in the game which led to a TD but the wheels really started coming off when Purdy got hurt then Johnson went out with a concussion later in the game. After all, he did manage to get the team to the NFC Championship on this THIRD STRING QB. And similar to the Cincy/KC game, the refs didn't do them many favors especially later in the game (Greenlaw's Peanut Punch penalty being one). And as far as Reddick goes, he's been making NFL level Tackles look bad all season let alone TEs.

I saw someone else mention Young has been injured behind a line like Alabama’s. And that should be considered for his long term health.

I would think long and hard as to why another team would be so willing to bargain their future (even 3-4 1sts) if they were sure Justin was the real deal. Don’t know many GMs that would fall into the reverse version of being “49-ered” like Pace did for Trubisky. I agree this a lot of strategy to throw people off the scent and we gotta have something to talk about I suppose.

When you watch Fields play it’s like having the same feeling you got when Hester was back to receive a KO or Punt return. He may not make it to the endzone every time but he sure does make it exciting. Pair that with the grit and leadership quality we’ve seen both when he’s been injured and insists on playing. Or when a player has a tantrum (Claypool) and he’s there to calm him down and reassure us they’ll work together in the off-season to be better. These are intangibles you can’t get from a lot of these young players (take Zach Wilson or Max Jones for example). How do we know any of these “can’t miss QBs” coming up for the draft won’t be another Wilson, Jones or Lance. If the Bears were to consider trading away a guy like Fields, regardless of the return they’d get, would be a fool’s errand. He’s on a rookie contract, needs more tools around him and has one hell of ceiling to get to yet.

I don't completely believe in Philly's offense against SFs defense. And oddly enough Purdy hasn't proven he can't handle anyone in the NFL yet. Edge goes to SF because of the coaches and a guy named Gould (in my estimation). SF by at least three and probably because of last minute heroics of Gould. And Cincy has a QB walking towards legendary status in Burrow. Where Mahomes, who is legendary already, is dinged up. A lot of what he does relies on his mobility and that will be affected. I think it will be similar to when the Chiefs lost to TB in the Super bowl and KC's oline was all dinged up(?) Mahomes looked every bit the human in that game. And I keep hearing that Cincy has beat KC three times in the last 12 months. Can't see them not getting a fourth win. Cincy by at least 7.

Yep. 49ers setting example with former Dir. of Player Personnel Ron Carthon going to Tennessee to take over GM duties.

Meanwhile, Ian Cunningham has turned down the AZ GM job. Understand he turned down another opportunity as GM to stay with the Bears. I for one think this is great news.

Thanks guys (AZ54 too) for the explanation. Helps somewhat .

Like Brock Purdy? Although he played in the E/W Shrine game and not the Senior Bowl.

Ah, then what was/is Akiem Hicks considered? I see his draft info listed him as a DE but TB has him currently listed as a DT and he sure did spend a lot of time disrupting the backfield when he played in Chicago.

Admittedly I'm not one who completely understands the "3 tech" concept and understand that Jones is not one of those guys. But with what we know about him, wouldn't he be a good option as a rotational player alongside a true 3T?

I remember us talking early on about Poles attempting to make a 'splash' with DT Larry Ogunjobi (who eventually failed his physical) but had to quickly pivot to Justin Jones. It was mentioned that Pace probably would've had stuck it out and tried everything to get Ogunjobi. Poles did not. For what its worth, here's what each player accumulated stats-wise this season: Ogunjobi: 43 ttkls, 20 solo, 1.5 sacks (in 16 games) Jones: 45 ttkls, 21 solo, 3 sacks (in 17 games). Jones increased his total number of tackles by 11 the previous year and duplicated his number of sacks (3) from the year prior. Ogunjobi got the same number of total tackles from the previous year but dropped from 7 sacks that year to his 1.5 this last year.

Speaking of Justin. Evidently he sent a gift of gratitude to all the oline. This from Tev Jenkins’ Twitter:

And just like that the remaining QBs in the playoffs have all been in the league for 7 years or less (Dak Prescott being the most senior). 6 of them are 1st round picks (Prescott 2016, Mahomes, 2017, Allen 2018, Jones 2019, Burrow 2020 and Lawrence 2021). One was drafted in the 2nd round (Hurts - 2020) and one was drafted dead last this year (Purdy = "Mr Irrelevant" 2022).

And to add insult to injury, so far the only home team to have lost at home (to include Jax). Save the SF game all the playoff games so far have been pretty decent. All four of the NFC North teams are now sitting on the couch together watching the rest of the playoffs. And if you ask me, the Bears and Detroit are in the best position going forward.

I get a whole Carson Wentz vibe from this Levis character. They have eerily similar stats (collegiately) and came from general obscurity to become draft darlings. (If Mel Kiper likes him, that ain’t a guarantee). The one (perhaps BIG) difference between the two is Levis played in the SEC his final two years. But if another team likes him as ‘their guy’, all the better for the Bears.

Another factor to consider is Doug Pedersen. Last year under Meyer the team was a train wreck. You can tell this team is much more organized and better run with Pedersen in the lead. They even mentioned that yesterday during the game on how much better Lawrence looks just in one year. Having been a QB himself (in the NFL) helps that growth. Also having been in the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl adds to your level of confidence. Lawrence showed some serious moxy yesterday. Didn’t Pedersen get himself sideways with Eagles’ management for wanting to start Hurts when he did?

Ha! He and Fields have some familiarity with one another (great hire by the way). https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/led-by-ohio-state-qb-justin-fields-big-ten-players-petition-to-reinstate-the-2020-football-season/

Collegiately speaking, Fields was better than Peyton Manning in some categories. Fields: 428/618 68.4% 5,701 yds 9.2 Y.A 67 TD 9 INTs with 178.8 passing efficiency and a college championship appearance (two if you count he was on the 2018 Georgia team) Manning: 863/1381 62.5% 11,201 yds 8.3 Y.A 89 TDs 33 INTs with 147.1 passing efficiency and no college championship (although he is credited with helping Tennessee make the following year).