DABEARSDABOMB

A legend - RIP and prayers to her family. But a tremendously kind individual who lived an incredible life.

I was thinking of people like Zeitler - good vet and Johnson knows him. Long in his tooth. Lions I’m sure will try to retain. Chiefs guard - Poles knows him Chase Young - Allen should know whether he matured a year ago and Sweat knows him. But I agree - bears also know work ethic of their own free agents. And free agency is crapshoot so make sure coaches and front office are aligned on skill sets they want but also with new staff from other places leverage all intel you can on what you’ve seen for guys you were around.

In my mind I see Bears doing following: Free Agent Starters: FA center (Falcons or Colts centers) FA guard (Chiefs guard is the big swing) DE (Chase Young is my big) FA guard (Zeitler) Depth moves: Depth DT (lower cost - but run stuffer type for depth behind Billings / ensure flexibility in draft) Depth WR (Tim Patrick) Depth Oline (swing tackle and guard - my guess is Pryor is back) This gives Bears a TON of flexibility when they get into draft as interior oline would be significantly revamped with pass rush also upgraded. Allows Bears to swing a few shots but be in a position where they could develop as well.

They will get a 1st and a future 2nd is my guess - but I could see them getting 2 1sts. 3 is way too much in my opinion and I stick to all is too rich for the Bears given the other needs at play.

I like trading down - big fan and I would go further down - but I'm not trading out of the first round without getting a future 1st rounder back. But following the old Jimmy Johnson chart - moving down 8-10 spots should allow you to have a 1st plus pick up a 2nd rounder and a 3rd/4th rounder depending on how far they move back in the 1st. I think moving down 10 spots should still give them the opportunity to get a very good olinemen (likely a guard vs. OT) or be able to take a swing at a very good interior linemen (may not be able to hit on a pass rusher that late).

Another quality hire. This is a real good coaching staff and I like how they blended a combo of youth and experience across the board as well.

Quite frankly it makes sense. If they weren't going to move on - you had to do this to better connect the timelines and it seems like it aligns probably with messaging when BJ came aboard.

I am presuming he is getting a new deal but I might be wrong - but If it was really just 8M it becomes intriguing - but it also means you are taking about 2 first rounders likely and that is too rich. If Bears were a year down road and Caleb was coming off a legit pro bowl, than I’d be interested. This is too soon. Also if it was the top LT in the league - I would be intrigued.

I don’t mind checking - but I’m not offering a 4th. Rams have to cut him so I’d wait for that but be willing to offer a 5th or 6th or say a conditional 6th. I do think Cupp would be a good fit as an Allen replacement.

Double down on this. Not the right move at all. They need to get the oline settled. If he was a free agent and it was signing him to a big deal - fine, not not using significant draft capital and a ton of cap space. No way.

Like this hire quote a bit.

I am good with that too - plus a free agent dline and than I probably grab RB and Te after those first 3 picks - would be fine if bears moved down 5-7 slots to pick up an extra 2nd and 4th too. Would be perfect given depth at guard, RB and TE in the draft and you still have a quality first rounder to add a first round dlinemen (I’m thinking interior is good spot unless they think an edge worth getting is there - if an edge isn’t there, take a DT to pair with Dexter - go 2yrs with Chase Young (was pretty good with Dennis Allen this past year and is still real young). Very good RB and are draft in terms of depth so I think taking those guys between rd 2-4 makes sense too (along with 3 linemen - 2 offense, 1 defense).

He is the one on my list cause he seems to be the one who might project as a top 7 type of LT.

The other thing I’d say - if they see value at LT or Edge at 10 - grab it (or a stud interior linemen)…otherwise slide down and pick up a 2nd and than go stud interior (dline or guard) knowing you now have 3 2nd rounders to make real plays for interior line, maybe db or back, speed receiver etc - but at least 2 linemen in this scenario and than another in the 3rd or 4th.

They need both. Could even be free agency, trade and draft. But I am in the camp of upgrade the interior and that will make a huge difference.

I was guessing same thing, regarding Ditka. I did see it in one article…the son of the old Iowa strength and conditioning coach is true though - that guy was a total stud at Iowa but got into trouble in the end (I’m an Iowa fan and Doyle was a huge part of how they did so well despite having so many 2-3 star recruits).

Yeah Dennis Allen was a huge get. Doyle seems like a bright young coach - didn’t realize he is also Ditkas nephew (if the reports are true).

Saints guy at oline will be huge. Sounds like our current dline coach might be in play to stay - worked with Allen with Raiders. Doyle is super young - Johnson is clearly running the show but Doyle had least has a few years learning from a legend like Payton.

The OC is way younger - I was excited for Shaw (was kind of surprised he would interview for the role) but Doyle has worked 5 years with Payton. Super young (I think he might be son of former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Doyle). Youngest OC in the league - this will put a ton of pressure on Johnson though as I was hoping he’d get a guy like Shaw who had experience running and organizing things like Ben wanted.

I like the coaching staff they have brought together. Want Boucher big time at oline. He was a stud for years where Saints turned mid round picks into above average players. I think he goes all the way back to former Bear Bushrod. Dude was a really good oline coach for a long time. Curious why he went to college? Did he just want to stay in New Orleans area at Tulane? Wasn’t sure why he left given how good he did under Payton.

This is a big offseason - love how Stevenson is starting it. He has talent now use what happened last year to push you forward!

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.