DABEARSDABOMB

Trubisky wasn’t the guy I wanted to draft - however I was supportive of the GM having the stones to move up and get his guy. I will state his rookie year I thought he was trending to be something special. But he could only read half the field. Cutler was who I was always all in on. But I thought Mac Jones was a sure thing - not stud - but literally a sure thing starting qb - boy was I wrong. But you have best track record of any of us - I remember Dak was always your guy and you were right - he ended up damn good given where he was picked.

One does with his legs / the other with his arm. I’m good with the one who does it with his arm.

This is an outstanding draft.

I figure Hunter is number one on Bears list. Him or Jones and if you take qb at top you can use the cap space on him.

Biggs was talking about the opposite. Gabriel is only guy with real connections who just said one thing would come out about him but also said all the noise around his character was BS. I presume the one bad thing was related to him being irritable when team struggles. One of his high school coaches talked about it and they said it was one consistent theme - in game - when things get rough - he will get heated and a bit more abrasive cause he wants to win so much and be great. I actually think that is a plus - I think of Brady, Jordan and Kobe - they had that in game mentality and would will themselves through everything. They weren’t always nice but it was that fierce attitude and focus to be great that drove them to be the best.

Biggs and a few others have basically said there is zero character issues around Caleb. You had some fake twitter people trying to make something up just like those reports of him not wanting to go to Bears. I know some people with ties at USC - no one has ever said anything negative about Caleb. I’m not saying he is perfect but he took his entire oline to heisman ceremony when he won and was there for the pro bowl game despite not playing (a number of other usc players no showed by the way). High school and Oklahoma people have nothing bad to say about him. The dude clearly wants to win and everyone says he is ultra ultra competitive and hates losing and really the main knock I have heard validdadted is he is a miserable person to be around in game when the team is struggling cause he is so pissed and wants to will them to win. I think of Brady and how pissy he might look when he was struggling. He also has the best stats against good teams of all the other qbs. People talk the ND game but the consistent track record is he put up a 140 plus qb rating against top 25 teams and 135 plus rating against top 10 teams (and the sample size of top 10 and 25 teams he played was large).

Bowen is one of the best. Not saying he is the best but he does his homework and isn’t someone who talks to talk or who tries to take shock stances.

I’ve been all in on Williams but I get the logic on moving down one spot for Maye. I did go back and look though - in history of qbs going 1-2 in order - only Donovan McNabb was better. In fact - almost always the 2nd qb in the 1-2 ended up a massive bust (Rick Mirer and Ryan Leaf - 2 examples). Wentz was the next best behind McNabb as it related to #1/#2

I think there is a difference: Jay Cutler - Bears mortgaged the farm for him (multiple picks) and than never invested in oline. I guess Chris Williams was probably in that era - but in general never invested. Trubisky - Bears traded up - but didn't mortgage the future. Never developed legitimate weapons around him and never made large investments in oline. 2023 - BEARS decided NOT to take a QB and instead continued to invest in the future - despite having #1 pick. 2024 - Bears DO NOT need to mortgage any future. They are literally sitting at 1 and have another pick at 9. Last year instead of taking the QB and restarting than - they actually waited a year so THEY COULD invest more in the core. They added DJ Moore, they added a 1st round tackle (Wright), they signed a guard to a sizeable deal (Davis - that didn't work but it is there) and they have another guard who was a 2nd round draft pick. Center is a weak spot and they could have decided to upgrade from Braxton - but this is NOT a poruous line outside of the disaster at center. They have massive cap space and plenty of draft capital to address the position and if they wanted could even draft a LT at 9 (again - without mortgaging the future). So I actually think the Bears are doing what they haven't done in forever and actually were pragmatic and last year was the start of it and this year they are now positioned to actually have a solid building block. The only caveat is the HC - since he is clearly in middle of his deal and if next year is a disaster he's gone. But the OC is on a fresh deal and is experienced, so even that looks different.

Eddie underperformed on field during tail end of Nagy era and I know he was hurt this year - but overall - he was a very good leader in terms of how he helped younger players and I do think that leadership will be missed. So many stories of what he did to build the young culture around our current group of DB's (Brisker, JJ, Stevenson, Smith, Kyler). I was really hoping we'd be able to renegotiate and keep him around - even if it was in a more vet leadership role - knowing he wouldn't get as much playing time cause he can't stay on the field. He had a stellar first year under Eberflus though (where he really looked re-engaged). Once Fangio left the next regimes did not put Eddie in the spot to maximize his ability and skill set.

Hester, Peppers & Mongo.

Whoah - this is interesting. Is this from the real Schefty or is this a leak to kind of get teams to at least offer up so the Bears can at least gauge the value here. Or is this also designed to extract value for Fields.

I was listening to Matt Hasselbach on this morning. He brought up an interesting point - basically he thinks Maye is an absolute physical stud. So he puts Maye in the same light as Herbert / Allen from a pure physical gift perspective. Not saying his on field performance is necessarily all the way there - but that when you think of his age, what he can do, how he spins it, his character, etc - he really has everything. He might be a bit more raw - but he's also still super young and for those close to him - he's likely still growing. In Hasselbach's eyes, Maye is one of the most talented QB's to come out in the draft in the last 5-10 years (he didn't say Caleb wasn't either) - but basically he said - these 2 guys are going to grade out massively well. If that is the case - his view was, Bears SHOULD keep that view extremely close to the vest so the rest of the league (specifically Washington doesn't know) and essentialy force Washington's hand. In short - Hasselbach thinks Williams & Maye are elite QB prospects and doesn't differentiate much between the two. Pure tools he thinks Maye is BETTER. So if Washington really wants Williams - play tough - and get the #2, #40 (2nd rounder which was the Bears), and a #1 next year (this is probably realistic - if you really pushed - maybe you could get both 2nd rounders this year - but that might be a lot less likely). He had Bears than trading Fields (lets say for a 2nd and 3rd). Now you are looking at Bears having 6 picks in the 1st 3 rounds in '24. #2 - Drake Maye #9 - Weapon for Maye (OT/TE/WR) or you can take Top Dline 2nd Rounder (from Washington) - Center or Defense 2nd Rounder (for Fields) - Deep wideout draft - so could go that or you could go safety (Ejax replacement) 3rd Rounder (for Fields) - BPA 3rd Rounder (Bears) - BPA In 24 Bears have - 4 Picks in 1st 2 rounds Own 1st Rounder Washington 1st Rounder Own 2nd Rounder Carolina 2nd Rounder Note: They may even have 1 more higher end pick - depending on the value they could extract from Washington.

Aren't the Bears moving up 1 spot, getting a 2nd round pick, and getting a 3rd round pick. Or did I misread his proposal.

My dream is Steelers offer 1…I don’t think that happens so my hope is an early 2nd round pick and a 2nd rounder next year.

Well said and I agree with you. I prefer the take Caleb and go from there but I certainly get the other side of the coin. In either case - Bears are in a spot they haven’t been in in my lifetime and I hope whatever choice they make turns this team into a dynasty!!!

This is awesome.

Maybe one last rambling. Both are good choices for the Bears. If the Bears didn’t have the Panthers pick and just had our pick at 9 - I would be entirely focused on adding more weapons for Justin and continuing to see if we could unlock his potential. That is because everything I said about Justin - physically he has all the tools - mentally he is an incredible leader - it is purely as a pocket passer what limits him and if Bears weren’t holding #1 pick I would say let’s see what another year could do cause the upside is worth it. So in my mind - the above implies Fields is absolutely still a viable qb1 with upside. Hence if we trade him the market should be good, because everything I said above. Where everything gets wild is the Bears have a #1 pick with an elite qb prospect in the draft where the Bears don’t have to trade assets to get him, don’t have to mortgage future, and can reset the clock. It could be Williams is worse but pure passing wise he is a better prospect than Fields. Fields is an absolute stud from the pure tools side though (Allen and Herbert are the 2 on same hemisphere as Justin when it comes to physical tools. So if Poles wanted to get a haul and build a better team - while it isn’t what I do - I still think the Bears are a better team because of it. Really the only scenario I would hate is - Bears select MHJ at #1. I hate hate hate that scenario. If I’m not taking a qb at #1 than I advocate for a haul. Now maybe I get that haul and am at #3 and take MHJ which I am perfectly fine with.

I think that is pretty reasonable.

In college - on unpressured rushes - Caleb Williams ran <3% of the time - Justin Fields ran ~10% of the time. Caleb Williams can run - but he DOES NOT look to run. In fact one of the knocks on him holding the ball too long is that he continues to use his eyes to look downfield to make the pass when he could actually take off more and move on to the next play. Caleb Williams and Justin Fields ARE NOT anywhere on the same spectrum in terms of the type of play they have. Fields is huge and physically elite across all things - but reality is - everything he does is off script and outside the pocket. Caleb Williams excels in the pocket and off script. He can go off script more than you like - but his eyes are consistently downfield and he looks to make plays with his arm vs. legs. Both were incredibly good college QB's and Williams does have all the physical passing traits that Field(s) does - i.e., huge arm that can make all the throws and an accurate arm. Williams is mobile - but Fields is way way better in terms of his pure running athleticism. Fields pocket awareness is weak and his ability to play in the pocket is poor (if it was even decent no one would even be commenting on whether they should keep the #1 pick or trade for a haul) where as in college Williams pocket awareness was a strength. None of that may translate into the pro's - but they are not the same player / type of player.

You also have fact that against Top 25 competition - Caleb Williams actually performed better across his career than all of the other top QB's. I need to find the article - but there was a myth busting article done which highlighted all of the main QB's performance(s) vs. Top 25 and Top 10. Williams was consistently 1/2 and in all cases his stats were very strong. JJ McCarthy and Daniels were other benefactors - Bo Nix and Drake Maye's metrics were not good.

I would want a center but I think 20 is too early to take one - so you move down 10 spots or so - what I don’t know is what does that get you in picks? Is 10 spots like a 3rd rounder or a 2nd? If I could move down 10 spots and get a mid to late 2nd as well and than grab center and say a guard or safety or whomever is best available let’s do it.

I tend to think best case is you get a 2nd this year and a conditional 2nd next year. Which isn’t bad. But if somehow two teams competed that could make things interesting. Says Seahawks and Steelers were both interested or Falcons were pushing heavy with their 2nd and 3rd and say a future 3rd? Does that cause Steelers to make a bigger push? Let’s say you get Falcons 2nd and 3rd - puts Bears in spot to maybe grab the top center in round 2 and than go safety in round 3.

If Washington wants to offer up #2, their 2nd rounder, a 1st next year, a 2nd next year and another 1st (or Jonathan Allen)…that is the price is takes me to move from #1. I than would take Maye. If they don’t - I draft Caleb Draft Rome or Nabers Trade Fields for Steelers pick - trade down and eventually draft a center. If I stay at pick - take best oline available.

A first is not the #1 pick. I am still skeptical of Adam but qbs are valuable and he still has 2 years under control before he gets crazy expensive - so I absolutely could see a team who loves the tools and leadership who isn’t picking high enough taking a shot.