adam

How confident are you in the Bears roster going into the season, today? Knowing that Poles has overhauled almost the entire roster in 2 years has me feeling pretty good. I think he needs one more offseason to hit the sweet spot, but we are going to be a pesky team this year. Knowing how last season turned out, how many close games the Bears lost, the fact that 30% of the players on the 53-man from last year can't make an NFL roster this year, and that Poles has also upgraded half of the key contributors has me drinking a little of the Koolaid. On offense, compared to opening day 2022, the Bears have an upgrade at WR1, WR2, TE2, C, and RT. On defense, you can say the same thing for DE1, DE2, DT2, LB2, and CB2. 10 key contributors upgraded. I am not even counting rotational guys or the depth at LB or RB, which are two of the strongest rooms. Then if Fields is becomes marginally better as a passer, it is hard to imagine a losing season 6-8 wins. 9-11 still feels about right unless the injury bug really hits the team hard.

Wording matters, I believe he was asked a question and replied that he prefers a 3-4 defense. That was then stretched to he prefers another team, and that he would like to be traded. In reality, getting cut provides him with the most options.

I think Poles has a few moves left. Flus said the only one who was week to week was Jenkins though, but IR is 4 games. It would seem like they don't want him on IR, thus that is why they kept an extra OL. If Jenkins was going to IR, they would just add someone after putting him on there. Green has not looked good at all, I would not be surprised if he is DE5 behind Lewis and DRob.

Thoughts on Packers 53-man? QB - Love, Clifford RB - Jones, Dillon, Wilson WR - Watson, Doubs, Reed, Toure, Wicks, Heath TE - Mugrave, Kraft, Deguara OL - Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Myers, Runyan, Tom, Nijman, Walker, Newman, Rhyan, Jones DL - Clark, Slaton, Wyatt, Ford, Wooden, Brooks OLB - Gary, Smith, Enagbare, Hollins, Van Ness, Cox ILB - Campbell, Walker, McDuffie, Wilson, Carpenter CB - Alexander, Douglas, Nixon, Valentine S - Savage, Ford, Owens, Leavitt, Johnson They are basically one or two injuries away from 5 or less wins. Only 4 CBs? 3 RBs? Depth looks weak. Guys that wouldn't make the Bears at their current position: Clifford, Wilson, Toure, Wicks, Heath, Deguara, Newman, Rhyan, Jones, Ford, Wooden, Brooks, Enagbare, Hollins, Cox, McDuffie, Wilson, Carpenter, Nixon, Valentine, Owens, Leavitt, Johnson.

How much have the Bears improved their roster from last year? By at least 30%. Check this out: 18x players from last year's initial 53-man roster are no longer on ANY NFL roster: O - (7) Siemian, Ebner, Tonges, Griffin, Pettis, Mustipher, Leatherwood D - (11) Quinn, Gipson, Muhammad, Blackson, Pennel, Morrow, Weatherford, Vildor, Jackson, DHC, Cruikshank Obviously that will change with Gipson, and probably Vildor too, but that still leaves 30% of last year's roster was not good enough to even make a roster this year. That is pretty remarkable.

Unfortunately those guys are vested vets and were released (contracts terminated) not waived. They are FAs and exempt from the waiver wire. They can sign with whoever they want. Was Sheldon Rankins cut/released? I didn't see that.

This held serve pretty much, they went with Lewis over Bell and Walker. Thomas, Jones, ESB, Velus all made it. Patrick, Carter, and Kramer too.

I like him too, he seemed to be miscast in previous teams.

All the good teams operate that way, and also get rid of players before they decline, sometimes earlier than expected. Bears waive Bell, so it seems that last front 7 spot is up to Lewis (DE5) or Walker (LB6) or a waiver acquisition.

I feel like there are 4-5 fluid positions left. 1. DE5/DT5/LB6 - Lewis/Bell/Walker (keep 1), the Bears will only have 15 in the front 7, so that will either be 5 DE, 5 DT, or 6 LB. Special Teams will probably play a role, which means Walker at LB may have the edge over the other two. 2. S4 - AJ Thomas - I feel like this position is interchangeable as long as the guy is a core STer. 3. CB6 - Jaylon Jones - Another one of those main ST slots 4. WR6 - Velus/ESB - the Bears may go with a more proven punt returner like Trent Taylor (89 punt returns, 0 fumbles), which would replace Velus, or if there is an actual upgrade at WR, may replace ESB. 5. OL9 - Patrick/Carter/Feeney/Kramer (depending on injuries and other veteran acquisitions, they could keep all 4 if Jenkins goes on IR), but the bottom of this group could be switched out on the waiver wire.

Ebner and Collins waived. Ebner was expected with the acquisition of Homer.

If we are looking for a vet Safety, Eric Rowe was released, a former 2nd round pick:

Oh yeah, he gone for sure. If they release him and Gipson, they save $5.4M on the cap, and Feeney was just over $1M cap hit, so they will still have $4.4M added to the cap

Feeney seems like the OL9 acquisition. Now let's see if there is movement in DE/DT/LB, CB, S, or even WR.

Fair enough, but even last year he was 2nd on the team in ST tackles. I am good with giving young guys a shot.

My alma mater, I am Class of 92'. He seems to have replaced Leatherwood as OL9.

DHC waived by BAL. I wonder if the Bears are interested for S4, instead of AJ Thomas. The Special Teams unit would be really solid with DHC and Dylan Cole anchoring it. Thoughts?

So it looks like the 53-man is going to come down to who OL9 is (Kramer right now), whether they are going to run with 5 DEs, 5 DTs, or 6 LBs, can only have 15 from those 3 groups. If they roll with 6x LBs, the last DL spot will be either Lewis (Edge) or Bell (DT). If they roll with 5 LBs, they can have a 5 DTs and 5 DEs, but Special Teams would be thin. Lastly, CB6 is Jaylon Jones and S4 is AJ Thomas. Those are the 4 fluid positions, OL9, DE5/DT5/LB6, CB6, and S4. So technically 1 spot on offense and 3 on defense. I really don't see very much other movement unless ESB or Velus are cut for a better WR6. Obviously injuries will play a huge role in all of this. However, at the end of the day the guys and slots I listed above will have less than 1% impact on the team's overall performance.

Andrew Brown and Bravvion Roy are gone, both DTs, so they seem content on possibly only the top 4. Daurice Fountain waived, hopefully he stays on the PS. D'Anthony Jones flashed, hopefully he slides over as well. Nsimba Webster was an earlier than expected cut, looks better for Velus with Pettis on IR. I thought Ojemudia played well, but I guess they wanted CB6 to be more ST, which is Jaylon Jones.

My assumption is they met multiple criteria: they weren't even close to making the roster (ie even Peterman ahead of Walker) and they were vets that they wanted to give a chance to get picked up by another team before the market is flooded with low end players.

Has their ever been a Practice Squad player that was so good that they developed into a solid starter anywhere across the league? Like how often does that happen? I know UDFAs work out sometimes, but actual PS players that get promoted or acquired by another team and go on to be very solid? Also, just from looking at production based on starter and bench players, outside of injuries, most players after the top 22 or on offense and defense (bottom 5-6 guys on the 53-man) are just special teams filler players, that never really make an impact on offense or defense. That leads me to believe that the Bears will only keep 4 Edge players, so it will come down to only 2 of Robinson, Green, and Lewis, assuming Gipson is already gone.

This dude threw for 159 TDs and 16,958 yards in college. Regardless of the school and competition, that is a TON of live reps. No wonder he looks so comfortable in the pocket. Fields has all the tools needed to be a franchise QB, he just needs the live reps. The one thing I notice about Fields, and maybe I am wrong, but it almost looks like he tries to be too calm in the pocket, almost like a forced calmness that slows him down too much. It seems deliberate, like he doesn't care about the rush barreling down on him. It doesn't seem to be slow recognition, but more like slow execution. Trust your eyes and let it rip. Am I crazy? Also, I am totally fine with Bagent as the backup. If Fields gets hurt, the season is more than likely over anyway, so why not develop another QB just in case Fields becomes injury prone or never develops into a consistent passer?

OK thanks, we still need a few more payments and keepers.

I'm glad Poles is not hanging onto players just because. Walker and Leatherwood both have dead money. So guys like Gipson and Vildor are easily gone too. Velus fits this mold too.

Awesome, send us some play by plays!