5 minutes ago, adam said:

From the league meetings, it sounds like Trapilo will be out for the entire season.

They should try and get him some practice reps towards end of the year but plan on it being a full redshirt season. The reps at the end are just to help push him as he heads into the offseason and to help Bears get a perspective of where he is so they can make plans a year from now.

3 hours ago, Pixote said:

Love it! Especially the dark theme. As you said, slick.

I missed the downtime. Just returned from 2 months of hospitals and rehab after falling and sustaining multiple fractures of my pelvis. I have quite a ways to go. Painful sitting for long stretches. So I will be in and out until I gain more strength.

Thanks, DBDB, for the amazing update.

Really sorry to hear that - glad you are at least out of the hospital and on the mend! Sending you nothing but positive thoughts on your recovery!!!

Quality depth signing and solid special teams. Agree with a few of you - think this means it isn’t a likely target first few rounds unless they really love someone who falls to them.

5 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Still waiting on Cam Jordan to see where he chooses to go. At this point having cleaned out his locker in NO he’s clearly just waiting on more money. That’s also what he said the other day…paraphrasing: gotta get the right value. FA players in this time frame might have to wait for the draft before teams know who they drafted and what roster holes they need to fill. So far i’ve seen nothing more than speculation the Bears are one of the teams he’s talking with.

Biggs had a report I think it was today - seemed to indicate don't expect any movement no these DL guys for a while. Maybe after the draft there will be some urgency - team doesn't get someone they like or address things as expected, but right now - it seems evident - Bears want Shemar plus another draft pick or two along with the continued development of Booker - as the strategy for enhancing the line.

Adding one of these vets - takes away reps from one of those young players - with minimal upside. For example, Cam, Bosa, Espenosa - none of them are strong players at this point in their career. So you kind of know what your upside is there vs. giving reps to a next generation who could be material upgrades.

16 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

Placing height and weight on football analysis sucks. A 250lb DE is just as capable of collapsing a pocket as a 280lb DE. It's all about strength and speed and instinct. The same goes for DL and the inverse. It's all about individual talent. Otherwise, the likes of Dwight Freeney and Aaron Donald don't make it. It also tells me me a 6'5 guys like Richard Seymour, Chris Jones or Deforest Buckner can't make it on the inside. It's all BS. Talent is talent...

I’m in this camp. I don’t think DA wouldn’t find use for Chris Jones or Deforest but you make do. I get it you need 3-4 or you have certain styles but in the interior talent wins. I do understand if you run 4-3 your run D might get punished if you have light ends (ie certain 3-4 ends aren’t going to work as 4-3 ends)

2 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I think he's a good player but he’s not worth 25 overall. I’d be happier with Thieneman who at least has Pro Bowl type talent. Jacas will just be a good DE and before that I prefer to add a good DT where our need is greater.

I saw someone throw out a what-if scenario if a top WR falls to us. A top CB? In those cases I’m thinking trade down because someone will want to trade up. However a top CB might be tempting.

I think a CB falling that Bears like is a real probability and I easily could see them selecting said player. It is a big need given Stevenson was in doghouse for a while and the 3 best DBs on team all missed substantial time (JJ, Kyler and Smith).

I also think I wouldn’t be shocked if Bears went WR earlier than we think. If a player Ben likes is there I could easily see them go back to that well (ala Luther) with one of the 2nd rounders. I don’t think they would do it at 25 and as you mentioned in that scenario I think trade down offers would be good.

Re: safety the Toledo safety would pair nice with Bryant too. Physical. Penn States safety would be great in 2nd round. Really wish we had that extra 3rd!

20 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

All true. But Jacas will be there at 25, and I think he's worth it the way Loveland was worth his pick. under the radar for sure, and talking heads will laugh, but I think hes the right one.

He reminds me a bit of Alex Brown - good solid player, but I fear doesn’t have the high end tools to be an impact player. With one of our 2nd rounders, heck yeah, but at 25 I think I’d rather go with one of the 3T options, trade back (maybe to get your guy Jacas but at a better spot) or grab a DB/Safety where I think we can get an impact player if they do it right.

Unrelated but Cam Jordan is a free agent. Definitely think real chance they sign him at some point to 1 year deal.

14 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Thieneman is an excellent player. A true stud.

Unless there is some free agent addition on the DL, I suspect we will draft Illinois DE Gabe Jacas. I know people will say it's too high etc, but this is what i see, at least now here on March 16th.

We might also trade the pick down, or trade for an Edge like Cam Jordan.

I think there are some excellent safety prospects here - goal at 25 has to be find a blue chipper and when you look at his irony of draft it feels like your best path to find one in this range is at one of those less sexy positions like safety or interior line or even LB (DB). Premium positions like LT, DE and QB tend to get overreached in this window.

This safety crop has a few guys that look like they can be legit all pros - that said - if I go there I’d probably try to move back (presuming I had a few of them similarly graded). You also have a shot at a guy in this range who fell for whatever reason.

One scenario I wouldn’t bet against is Poles moving up - package one2nd rounder with this pick and they could certainly jump up if they saw a premium end or LT prospect dropping. This scenario would have been more likely had they got the comp picks.

Hopefully they can hit a couple more legit pieces this draft and as a few of you have said we see more development out of the existing core and get some flashes of those that haven’t yet shined (Shemar / Frazier / Hyppo)…but reality is I think Shemar is only one with some hope of that group.

8 hours ago, Lucky Luciano said:

question: the thread Free Agency News is only a half page wide with some other stuff on the other half. this seems like the only one to do this. is there a way to make the replies full page wide?

i liked the old layout better too as some have said. too much text under each thread topic and small text headline. that said thanks for getting this back on.

I think you'll see that change is now in - no longer see desktop splitting - but confirm on your end.

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

I come here on a laptop, but if it's better for phones, then good!

Thanks very much for keeping the site alive.

All that said - I’ll see what alternate themes exist once I start to learn the back end better.

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Thank you for everything youre doing for the site.

I prefer the old look, if that's possible?

Unfortunately this is the new style the software company went with. There are different color options available on the bottom, but this version was designed from bottom up to optimize mobile interfaces and usage and increase speed.

Still getting used to it but I like the cleaner navigation from my phone. Haven’t yet tried the iPad / Laptop.

Also it has a brand new dark mode that was redesigned all the way around.

Just now, Mongo3451 said:

Sewell and Hyppollite suck. The linebackers are super talented this year. I'd lay money we draft one.

I agree. Sewell stinks - maybe special teams at best. Hyppo couldn’t even get on the field. I know he had some injuries but if he doesn’t flash this offseason I think he’s at risk of getting cut.

Edward’s is solid but that injury will further slow him down and speed was never his strength - feels like a spot they add a player in the draft.

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Upgrade is complete. Let me know if anyone runs into any issues. New software seems pretty slick!

7 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Have to get a long term solution, so I see them drafting early as well.  Rumors of Gordon, Stevenson, and Smith moving are just that.  

 

Agree - they aren’t going to move safety. Only one even an option would be Stevenson but even that I don’t expect and I don’t think they would hand him a starting gig. 

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

DT:  I agree…what they think of Turner’s future position and future promise could decide where they go in Rd 1 (DE/DT). 

Safety needs a clear starter drafted.  I don’t think we should get out of Rd 2 without taking one.  

WR depth:  Don’t sleep on Kalif Raymond.  I think he’s an upgrade over OZ but at the same time is not on par with DJ.  However, watching his highlights he did a lot of the same short stuff for Detroit that DJ did for us last year.  Likewise he caught a lot of passes similar to what we saw OZ do last year.  Walker will need to step up his game and fill in the intermediate and deep routes.  Hopefully Walker continues to perform well in the redzone as that could the biggest area we miss DJ experience.  If they choose to add one more on Day 3 or just add one more vet FA after the draft but I think we might already have some guys in Maurice Alexander or JP Richardson who can contribute as 5th WRs.  At least Ben was complimentary of those guys late last yeear.   

LT:  don’t see us fixing that via the draft.  Anyone with legit LT skills is likely gone.  Otherwise we’re going to draft a backup-low end starter OT talent.   Yet we have a few of those options already in house.  Time to rely on Roushar to get one ‘em right.  

Center:  Has to be a draft pick here likely by Rd 4.  They read the FA market correctly and went with a cheaper viable option which allowed us to address greater needs like S with a big contract.  Bradbury is good enough that this isn’t must have in the draft.  Again, deep draft at OC don’t over spend in FA. Hopefully someone good that can be our long term solution falls our way.  

RB:   Not looking to do anything earlier than Day 3 here and in that context  I like Kaytron Allen.  There’s no deep speed flashiness like Mike Washington has but he’s just productive in the same way that Monangai is productive.   I have to do more scouting of the Day 3 prospects to see if there is one who can add the sizzle to the offense without being a complete liability elsewhere (i.e passing game).  

 

This is well written. I think we see safety addressed early and for some reason I wouldn’t be shocked to see the add a wideout or other offensive weapon with first 3 picks (unless we see them add one more vet wideout).

I also expect a DT before DE but it all dependens on who is on the board. I will caveat I could see safety being first pick - but if it is I think it will be because they traded back 5-10 spots to pick up another pick. Maybe end up with 4 2nd rounders. 

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

I believe it will be.  I mentioned him being a safety the day he was drafted.  It would be cool to be right about it...

I think we will see them draft a safety with one of first 3 picks. Seems very clear and this is a very good safety draft.

Tomorrow the site will be down for a scheduled upgrade. Probably around noon central time - hopefully up by the evening. 

I will upgrade forum software here before the draft - this will be planned - probably will be a day outage and I’ll give forum a heads up once we shut it down and run through it. 
 

So glad we are all back - missed all of our debates and dialogue and discussion. 

It’s interesting- whole secondary is almost gone except for the 3 guys who were injured most of the year (JJ and Kyler) and all of the year (Smith) plus Stevenson.  Other than that entirely new spots all over the- especially safety, with exception of Smith. 
 

All of guys Bears lost signed 1 year deals. Clearly there was a major change the franchise wanted to make and a huge focus seems to be on speed. 
 

One of our starting safeties appears to be a rookie via draft and we also appear to have another need still via draft for DB. 
 

Similarly expect the same on dline - where we will use a pick or two early (at least one). 

I think it is back. If you run into issues clear your cache. 

I’m not sure what happened - still trying to unwind it so site could go back down. Server company did something on back end to update something and it’s crashed the whole site. 
 

Been working on fixing it for a few days - so appreciate the patience and apologies for the outage. Hopefully close to having it fixed 

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