adam

Checking on snap counts, the WR6 last season got a total of 34 snaps all season on offense, which was only over a 5 game span. Meaning, the WR6 did not have a single offensive snap in 12 games last year. So that guy is going to be a core ST'er.

The TE3 got 80 total snaps last season with a high of 13 in Week 10. Since Lewis is much better than even our TE2 last year, I expect him to have more, but 10 snaps a game is probably what he will average.

The D-Line is still probably the weakest unit on the team, but it shouldn't be the worst in the NFL, especially if Dexter is impactful. For the other units, you can go through each one, and most are top 15 units at worst. So say D-Line is bottom 5. LB Corps has to be top 5 with Edmunds, Edwards, Sanborn. Secondary is probably top 15 (may be higher if Gordon really improves). So the defense should be no worse than top 15-18. On offense, O-Line is probably top 20 at worst, as individually, they all graded out in the top 15. WR Corps is top 15 with DJ Moore. TE Corps is top 10. RB Corps is top 15. So it will come down to Fields. If he is top 15, the Bears will be a playoff team. The top 14 teams make the playoffs and it feels like the NFC is weaker this year. DET is favored in the North and every team in the South had a losing record last year. PHI and SF are probably the two best teams, and DAL and SEA are pesky. So that last WC slot should be up for grabs with NYG.

If anything, he is super consistent.

Good one, I never really thought about him, but he is a premier blocking TE.

I don't know what to believe, but Gabriel still has NFL connections, and if he says this guy acts like a pro, then I have to take his word for it.

Poles must be reading Talkbears. He is going right down the list and closing out the roster question marks. All that is left is bottom of the roster spots, OL9, WR6, LB6, CB6, and S4. Technically all have players competing there, but an outside upgrade would not hurt.

This may not sound like a big deal, but TE was an issue last year after Kmet, and the Bears needed 3 on the 53-man roster. This really upgrades TE3 from the likes of Chase Allen and Jake Tonges to Marcedes Lewis.

At the start of Free Agency, NFL.com listed their top 100 FAs. After the Yannick signing, here is what Poles did (w/ 2023 Cap hits): 27. Tremaine Edmunds ($14.6M) 34. Yannick Ngakoue ($10.5M) 44. Nate Davis (6.9M) 59. TJ Edwards ($5M) 89. Robert Tonyan ($2.6M) Also signed Demarcus Walker ($6.4M), D'onta Foreman ($2M), Andrew Billings ($2.7M), Travis Homer ($1.7M), Rasheem Green ($2.4M), Dylan Cole ($1M), and Terrell Lewis ($1M) who all should contribute. That's 12 players for $56M. Drafted: Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, Gervon Dexter, Zacch Pickens, Tyler Scott, Roschon Johnson, Terrell Smith, and Kendall Williamson. Then acquired DJ Moore via trade. That is 21 new players that should see significant snaps, and more than likely 9 starters (out of 22) from this group (Moore, Edmunds, Edwards, Ngakoue, Davis, Walker, Wright, Stevenson, Dexter/Billings). The other 13 are Fields, Mooney, Claypool, Kmet, Jones, Jenkins, Whitehair, Herbert, Jones, Sanborn/Gordon, Johnson, Brisker, and Jackson. So who is the worst starter on offense and defense? On offense, Nate Davis? On defense, Justin Jones? If for some reason the Bears wanted to clear more cap, they could cut Patrick and save $3.9M (possible), or Vildor and save $2.7M. Those seem like fairly high cap savings for the amount of snaps those guys will see. The Bears are now at $17.7M in cap space (8th in NFL), that $6.6M would bump them back to $24.3M (2nd). It is still crazy to think Poles did all of that and still has the 8th most cap available which he can roll over to 2024 if he wants to.

Yes Sir, there is one Vet Edge signed, to a one year deal no less. Poles is dealing.

For QB Tiers for me, it's: Mahomes ----------- Hurts Burrow Allen ----------- Herbert Lawrence Jackson Fields Watson Prescott -------- R. Wilson Smith D. Jones Tua Cousins Goff Murray ------ Mariota M. Jones Carr Pickett Love

Some of the naysayers use advanced metrics to say how bad Fields has been. However, since Week 5 of last season, he has at least been middle of the pack at worst. The problem is they either rope in his rookie stats with Nagy or the first few weeks with Getsy. Week 5 > Week 18 QB Rankings EPA+CPOE Composite - 16th (ahead of Herbert, Murray, Carr, Rodgers, Jackson, Wilson, Jones, Pickett) EPA/Play - 15th (ahead of Tannehill, Murray, Herbert, Smith, Rodgers, Jackson, Wilson, Jones, Pickett) So Fields was actually a league average QB last with a terrible O-Line, Mooney hurt, and a new Claypool. Now he gets an upgraded O-Line, 2nd year in system, while adding DJ Moore, a healthy Mooney, Claypool knowing the offense, and Tonyan to the receiving options. It is hard for me to believe he will not be better just based on the situation. If he also improves personally, there is no reason to believe he can't be a top 8-10 QB this year statistically across the board.

I also like the ramp up thing they are doing, basically giving all players the same amount of reps, then stepping them up slowly. So that is why some subs are playing with the 1s, and starters playing with the 2s and 3s. Rep chart, not a depth chart.

Man, if Kyler Gordon plays to his potential, this secondary is going to make some plays, and that celebration is sick:

The only concern right now seems to be Nate Davis.

A lot of bright spots, but Nate Davis is a concern to me. He didn't show up for voluntary OTAs (as a new FA), and now has missed some time during training camp without any indication from the team on why he is not present. Seems like a concern because everyone had him penciled in at RG.

There seems to be a growing national media hype about Fields this offseason. He went from a Running QB to a potential MVP Candidate.

I saw a tweet that stated the Bears were 1 of 4 teams with 3x WRs that have had a 850 yard season. They are the only team with 3 players that had over 700 yards rushing last year. Fields - 1143, Foreman - 914, Herbert - 731. The Bears are also only one of two teams to have 2x TEs who had 450 yards or more in 2022 (CHI and CLE). To me, that is pretty impressive to have that type of offensive output at all skill positions on offense. It also shows the depth.

or it depends on the perspective, are you looking at the 5 from the front or back? Is the 5 at home or away?

I actually had a little Twitter spat with ole Sam back in the day. They literally cannot backup their PFF grades with actual data, it's comical.

Yeah, I was mistaken, you can really swap Velus and ESB, and ESB and Pettis should be vying for that final spot. It is going to be interesting. With the addition of Moore and Claypool, and technically Tonyan, the WR6 is almost exclusively a ST guy.

I was assuming ESB played some ST. I was totally wrong, he had zero ST snaps. Velus Jones led all WRs with 121 ST snaps. Pettis was 2nd with 39. So it is going to come down to blocking for ESB. Like you said, it is not like he is going to get many targets as WR6, so he needs to either be a ST contributor or blocker.

Looking at the current roster, it seems like the top 46 players are set unless something extreme happens. That leaves 7 slots open. Using last year's 53-man roster position composition, here are the battle spots, 3 on offense, 4 on defense: On offense, it looks like the last WR spot is still up for grabs and is ESBs' to lose. By adding Moore, the WR room was knocked down a slot, which makes Pettis and Webster likely cut candidates. 6 WR? Can only have one of the following 6 players: WR6 (ESB vs Pettis vs Webster vs Ford vs Fountain vs Reed) TE3 still seems totally up for grabs. Will they go the H-Back route and Tonges or try for a more traditional 3rd TE? TE3? Can only have one of the following 4 players: TE3 (Carlson, Allen, Tonges, Pinkney) Bears signed Lewis It also looks like the top 8 on the line are pretty much locked in. This one will come down to roster needs: 9 OL? Can only have one of the following 9 players: OL9 (Eiselen vs Leatherwood vs Kramer vs Diesch vs Collins vs Haskins vs Houy vs Lugg vs Mbaeteka) On defense, the Bears have a huge decision to make on the D-Line. Do they go with 5 DT or 5 DE? If they go with 5 of each, which other position goes without? Terrell Lewis has really separated himself so far and may have slid up the depth chart already. He seems like the most likely pick here, but if they want a healthy trench rotation, do they need 5 DT more than 5 Edge? 9 DL? Can only have one of the following 7 players: DT5 (Bell vs Brown vs Jeter vs Holmes) DE5 (Lewis vs Jones vs Harris) Bears signed Ngaokoue If they only go with 9 DL, they will have 6 LBs. After the first 5, there is a big drop off. Will it be the new arrival, Buddy Johnson, or one of the other young guys? If the Bears do go with 10 DL, I could see them only going with 5 LB due to the lack of quality depth here. 6 LB? Can only have one of the following 4 players: LB6 (Johnson, Baskerville, Deng, Gates) CB6 is gonna be a tight battle. The Bears added Stevenson and Smith to Johnson/Gordon/Vildor, leaving one slot open for 3 strong candidates: 6 CB? Can only have one of the following 4 players: CB6 (Blackwell, Jones, Stroman, Ojemudia) Lastly there is Safety, the Bears should keep 4 and Hicks has the upper hand as a Poles draft pick from 22, but Trahan just had a nice day with 2 picks. 4 S? Can only have one of the following 4 players: S4 (Hicks, Trahan, Thomas, Colbert) Do you guys see any other roster spot battles that I missed?

He is taking over for Run dem pockets. It looks like he accepted, so he can change the name and mark his keepers.

A little bit of both, but definitely more.