DABEARSDABOMB

David Shaw would be a pretty good OC hire and I like the idea of the former Saints oline coach (Boucher) under Sean Payton (10 years with Payton) joining Bears in similar role. Sounds like a good one.

There is no Joe Alt type of prospect in this draft. Doesn’t mean you don’t end up having a stud LT in the draft but no one grades as that slam dunk top 10 LT. In general feels like if you take oline - maybe you project a guy at 10, but more likely you are getting a potential lt or you are grabbing a real good guard prospect and you aren’t taking either of those at 10 - likely are moving down into late teens or early 20s and picking up a 2nd and than some…or you go dline cause a blue chipper is there.

It’s a press conference and interviews but damn has he nailed today.

The last part is huge - it is going to be really key, once Johnson puts his staff together - the staff and Poles have to work real hard on figuring out what to do on the oline and to a lesser extent obviously the Dline and how to generate some pass rush. But priority #1 through #5 has to be that oline (and Caleb). Having multiple picks could make things interesting. I think they will have to fix the oline via a number of fronts, better coaching and schemes, internal development, free agency, trade, and the draft. For example - lets say a quality guard is on the market or in holdout - do you move one of the 2nd round picks to get a good guard and a 3rd rounder (so essentially you move down 1 round but pick up a good guard - has to be a team straddled for cap space). Do you sign the FA center for the Lions and than pair him with a developmental pick at center (this is a no brainer for me). But what does the new oline coach think of at the LT spot - between the 2 internal candidates and who is available in the draft? I don't know - there isn't a home run pick given where Bears are sitting and its a position that you don't tend to fill in lower rounds. So is this an area where my example trade above is for a LT who hits the market (doesn't happen often so has to be more of a disgruntled player type of a deal). Some of it probably also involves a bit of luck (in terms of right player being there). In my mind - my focus would be make the interior stronger - so upgrade center and guard (if you can land the KC guard by overpaying - its probably worth it presuming he's a fit). It gives Caleb strength in the interior - makes Wright better at RT and maybe you roll the dice at LT knowing you solved other parts (while investing a FRP in Dline if you grade that higher). Could also move down in 1st round to create a bit more ammo to draft a tackle/guard high, sign a free agent center (Lions center), sign the Chiefs guard, bring back Pryor as a swing/depth for the rookie, and see if you can maximize Jones/Kiran through coaching for one more year with Wright on the right side and Bates also I guess a depth piece (if he's even able to get healthy). The way I see it - say you don't think there is a standout LT / DE / Blue Chipper at 10 (considering positional need as well), so Bears move down from 10 to 20 to another team who sees a blue chipper at a position of need. That means Bears move back 10 spots - but pick up a 2nd rounder (if I follow Jimmy Johnson's chart). I'm being simple here - I think technically speaking if I follow Jimmy's draft value chart - if Bears moved back 10 spots and that same team had a similar 2nd rounder - it would be #10, for #20, #52 (2nd Rounder), and #121 (4th rounder). But Bears could parlay the 10 spot move back to take a guard who better fits the profile and than with 2nd & 4th round pick, either double down and take another guard/center prospect with those picks and/or take the guard and center prospect with your FRP and 4th round pick and than grab a skill position player for Caleb in round 2. Remember Bears would still have the Panthers pick and their own 2nd rounder as well.

Caleb being thrown into the deep end, minimizing turnovers, playing an entire season, etc - is huge. I also think he has more he needs to do inside the building to elevate his game and a ton to work on following this season. I imagine this entire year was a big eye opener to him and I actually kind of think he probably thought it would be easier than it was. His comments about being coached hard, etc - hopefully he kind of had that "rude awakening" for a lack of a better term and can lean in and just triple down on his work ethic, film study, etc. I will caveat the way he handled the media and how he owned every struggle etc was pretty impressive. I think Johnson is going to roll-up his sleeves and own it with him and I also think that should excite Caleb. I am curious to see if they bring in a veteran quarterback to help him from a film study perspective. I would make a run at Teddy Bridgewater and carry him on the roster if he was interested (knows the system - very savy - but also isn't going to steal any thunder and Bagent can still be the longer term #2). I think Caleb can benefit from having a pro who has done this before.

And for the record - I hope you are right and Caleb ends up 10x better than Daniels. I'll be clear - I wouldn't do anything different at this point - I think knowing what Bears knew at the time they made the right move.

Yes - on sidelines. The way I see it - he looks like a guy who his comfortable in his own skin. Which I think leads to him likely being authentic. Doesn't make him a great or bad HC or anything like that - hence why I said my overreaction.

I'll just state - its one year and I'm not jumping to any conclusions, but I think one year in - there is no way I could look at Daniels and not be sitting there going wow, wish we had that success out of our guy in year 1. He has played like a stud in big moments, has grown as the season progressed, etc. Does that mean Caleb is a bust - no, he showed plenty of growth - but Daniels was by far the better rookie. And while I don't think he is a one read QB - I think he's done a great job with what has been given and he's used his legs as a total advantage. I think he was put in a better position to succeed from a coaching perspective - but I also think Caleb was given enough talent too. Caleb was solid as far as rookie season and growth goes - but he has plenty to improve on. He was absolutely asked to do more complicated stuff and quite frankly at times he looked okay at it, at other times he looked uncomfortable. I would say at this point - Daniels only question is whether he gets injured using his legs - but they make him a very dangerous player when you combine it with everything else. I think in the pocket - Caleb is better - Daniels has the other measurables and by the way Caleb is no slouch on the other too - but the Bears offense didn't maximize Caleb's strength's nor did it simplify the game for him. Washington's did. By the way - any good OC does that for his QB. Ben Johnson did that in groves for Goff - in particular how well he leveraged their run game and the play action / misdirection stuff (and presnap movement). All of that helped simplify the in-play reads (the motions help a QB identify defenses / scheme guys open, play-action helps open the pocket and create clearer options/better initial reads, etc.

He looked pretty natural and comfortable when he got introduced within Halas Hall. We'll see more at his press conference - but my very very early impression was he looks calm in front of a mic - which is NOT what I would have ever said about Flus.

Lovie ended up being a good (not great) coach, but when he was hired his resume wasn't the most exciting out of the group and he certainly wasn't the top candidate of the cycle. Bears have done this once in my life - when they landed Wanny. He was okay - but obviously had a very long and successful career. But he was the top assistant in Dallas with a huge resume and Bears landed him. Johnson is similar to that - hopefully he ends up with a way more successful tenure than Wanny.

Thought some of you might like this:

Sounds like bears have to interview some candidates before this can be official. But Allen is known as an aggressive DC - pretty blitz heavy with exotic schemes. Chase Young had a bounce back season - finished the year real strong. Could be an option to help with pass rush and if Bears get Allen and Saints special teams guy they at least should know whether he’s worth it or not (say a 2hr deal since I don’t think Chase was good enough to get a huge long term deal).

Don’t mind Brown and think he will end up getting a head coaching job one day - but I think Bears need to move on from him. Let Johnson bring in his own guys.

I love having a former HC and strong and aggressive DC around. He led some real good defenses under Sean Payton despite Saints always pouring a ton of resources into the offense. Plus I just like how Ben has the swagger and comfort to have strong coaches like this around him.

Very excited - we have an OC who has a strong ground game, seems to be able to maximize oline talent and who has an awesome playaction game. He had done a lot with Goff - so excited to see what and how he can get Caleb to accelerate his growth and help him reach his potential!!! I hope the Bears aren’t cheap filling their staff - I imagine Allen wasn’t a cheap hire either. Colts were trying to get him.

This was well executed by the Bears. No idea how it will play out - but I respect the game they played. They did deep research across the league and got to learn a ton with a wide spread interview process - but the second their numero uno candidate was available they bounced - and they opened up check book (he is going to be top 10 paid coach and I think I heard them say near top 5). It was clear they circled him a while ago and I bet they once Flus was gone they were already having other people make some contact. And Johnson’s first move as HC is hiring a former head coach as his DC - or at least it’s rumored that Dennis Allen will be DC. Love it. They are also looking at getting Saints special teams coach (who was the interim coach). When I think of Flus staff - he hired only positional goals and no one with a ton of experience (almost like he was afraid of talented coaches). Johnson did opposite on defense. Curious to see what he does with OC - sounds like he is trying to poach his line coach from Detroit to be the OC.

For the record I think either of McCarthy or Johnson is a home run hire. Kingsbury is a good hire. All 3 would be major improvements vs past cycles. I also happen to think this is an amazing year to be hiring a head coach (real strong pool of candidates).

Eddie George or Shaw would be good candidates as assistant head coaches in NFL (not sure if that would be a step that either of them would take though).

One thing I like about Johnson. He is creative but he also uses a ton of Playaction and has great designs around it and with that has an amazing rush scheme (great talent too). And some of those trick plays - yes they may not work - but they are so well done and you see how they play off them in the game to scheme guys space on the non-trick variations of the same play. Right now for me it is Johnson or McCarthy. I will admit I can also live with Kingsbury.

McVay followed by Shanny followed by Kevin O’Connel.

I think McCarthy will be able to pull a high profile DC. He did it with Dan Quinn for a while, had Mike Zimmer more recently...and even in his Green Bay days I think he had some high profile DC's (Don Capers I think for a while). So he has never been shy to bring in former HC's on the defensive side and other places. Going back to - he is very comfortable in his own skin and understands having talent around him is a good thing. He also doesn't just use super experienced guys as he has employed good up and coming minds too.

I believe those attributes also reflect Mike McCarthy, who by the way was the guy who coached & developed the player Caleb looks up to (Rodgers). I do think the offensive guru part gets at - he would be less excited / enthused with them hiring Ben Flores (or Vrabel - albeit Vrabel would check a few of those boxes). I think Caleb will be pretty happy with Foster or McCarthy and I'm at the point where I would be to. On paper both would be excellent hires - different risk/rewards to both - but at the very least it would be the franchise aiming hight and hitting high in terms of hiring one of the more high profile candidates in the cycle (which is not something they have done since Wanny and maybe to a slightly lesser extent Fox). Not saying those worked out brilliantly - but I don't think they were the dumpster fires others were and I still think Fox gets underappreciated for how he turned the professionalism of the culture and positioned things for Nagy to come in and overachieve early in his coaching tenure with the Bears. Fox inherited such a mess.

By the way - I said almost the same thing 12 years ago from Phil Emery's eyes on why Andy Reid was a no brainer to go get when the Eagles surprisingly moved on from him.

By the way - put yourself in Ryan Poles or even Kevin Warren's shoes. I really think at this point its down to Johnson or McCarthy. Johnson is the top young, potential high upside unknown on the market. McCarthy is the stable, high floor, good coach, with a proven track record of getting the most out of his QB's (and by the way his players genuinely seem to love him). You are sitting there in those seats and thinking of longevity - do you go for the homerun that could look like a disaster in 2 years or do you hire McCarthy and basically in reality that should (anything can happen) buy you a few years, if the ship is turning and you are heading in right direction...in 4-5 years you could always now pivot to say, its time to find the high upside coach who can jump in....but you are now 5 years down the road if you are Poles, if you've made the playoffs say 3 or 4 out of those 5 years...you are NOT on the hotseat, and instead are looking at another hire and probably a pretty safe path to say 10 years in the seat. In fairness - anything could happen, McCarthy could come in, you know he's got a high floor and it starts to show that Poles draft's and FA moves have been wrong and now he is out and McCarthy is staying (even in that scenario - if I'm Warren, I at least know I've put Caleb with a proven, bright offensive mind who is GOOD with QB's - so I've protected the franchise from that standpoint). I just think of the above and while there is the allure of Ben Johnson - do you really wait 3 weeks for the chance of Johnson and if you meet with Mike and really say hey this guy is different than what we've had in Chicago for a long time, this guy is Chicago, this guy is really good...do you really let him leave the building and interview for New Orleans while you chase the allure or Ben Johnson (who is going to get a huge offer from the Raiders - no doubt about it in my mind)?

I really am in camp of McCarthy is a gift that fell in their laps. He knows offenses, he knows how to work with QBs, and he is going to get a ton out of Caleb and get this franchise headed in right direction.