adam

The biggest concern with Caleb was holding onto the ball too long, as that led to too many sacks. If nothing else changed, and he got the ball out quicker, cut down on sacks, then the results will come. Here is Caleb's TTT compared to other QBs: In the KC game: • Patrick Mahomes 3.69 TTT • Tyson Bagent 3.08 TTT • Caleb Williams 3.06 TTT Caleb Williams on 25 pass attempts in the preseason this year: 68% completion 8.8 Y/A 122.1 passer rating 71.3 PFF passing grade 2.89 TTT Drake Maye, another second year QB in a new system (12 att): 58% completion 4.8 Y/A 70.8 passer rating 36.9 PFF grade 3.30 TTT So I would say he is passing the test so far, no delay of game penalties, no wasted time outs, no INTs, and only 1 sack.

Related but unrelated, if Ben Johnson was coaching this team last year, I think they start at least 7-0. 19-13 loss to HOU, 21-16 loss to IND, 18-15 loss to WAS, then the falling off the cliff and losing to ARZ 29-9 and NE 19-3. No way that happens with him. Then after that are 3 straight Division losses by 3 pts or less. That's why I am more optimistic about this season. The roster is better, the coaching staff is better, so it is really hard for those two things to not move the needle. Compare to the Bears to the current Patriots. Which roster and coaching staff would you rather have? I like Vrabel, but outside of a few players from NE, I would take 85% of the Bears roster. Comparing OCs and DCs, I think the Bears have the edge on both sides for play callers. We will see how it works out but those two teams seem to have the most in common.

Yep, and those pin and pull rollouts to the flat. For some reason the Bears never get a defender over there in time, they always bite, and it is good for 7-8 yards every damn time.

I think they were suggesting it because if he gets cut and has to clear waivers, I doubt he gets to the Bears. Here are some other cut candidates that I would consider: OL Cole Strange DE Azeez Ojulari DE David Ojabo DE Anfernee Jennings CB Adoree Jackson CB Beanie Bishop CB Jamel Dean S Kyle Dugger

OK, I will take a look, and I stand corrected on the keeper round cost: The first keeper is one round, and if you keep a second, that one costs two rounds. The only exception is if that you are keeping 2 players that would give up the same pick (like a 5th and a 6th both would require your 4th rounder), so in that case it gets swapped and you have to give up a 3rd and a 5th instead (for that example).

I will try to look it up, I don't know what Yahoo did, but they messed it up big time.

McCarthy will be making his first NFL start, on the road, season opener, on MNF. Here is how the other QBs did in their first start: Daniels 17-24, 184 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT - Loss Williams 14-29, 93 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT - Win Maye 20-33, 243 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT - Loss Penix 18-27, 202 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT - Win Average of 180 yds, 0.75 TD and 0.75 INT. So McCarthy throwing for 180 with 1 TD and 1 INT is probably the bar. Unless their running game goes off, that won't be enough for a win. I am revising my score to 24-17, Bears get 3 tuddies and a short Santos kick, Vikings get 1 passing, 1 rushing TD, and a FG. I would bracket Jefferson, and force McCarthy to beat them with his 2nd or 3rd read.

I just need to go back and make sure we don't have back to back keepers as they were drafted if you kept them last year, and are ineligible this year.

This shows the teams and the draft picks from last year a little easier: https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/140564/lastseason

It is a sliding scale, so it is 1-round for the first keeper, but if you want 2 keepers, the first one will cost you an extra round. So in your case, it would be a 6th round for #78 (which was an 8th rounder in 2024) and a 10th for #103, which was an 11th in 2024.

I have no idea why the last draft is showing like that. There is a new designation setting for keeper status, and it looks like it believes all of last season's players are "keepers". Just ignore and apply the same rules as we did in previous years. Up to 2 keepers, if you have one, you lose the round before (so drafted in 4th, you lose a 3rd). If you select 2 keepers, the first player you lose two rounds (drafted in the 4th, you lose a 2nd, and the 2nd player you lose one round.

Scott is taking over: Former PapaBear 1. (5) Justin Jefferson (Min - WR) 2. (16) Jonathan Taylor (Ind - RB) 3. (25) Josh Jacobs (GB - RB) 4. (36) Lamar Jackson (Bal - QB) 5. (45) Amari Cooper (Buf - WR) 6. (56) George Pickens (Dal - WR) 7. (65) Tee Higgins (Cin - WR) 8. (76) David Njoku (Cle - TE) 9. (85) Xavier Worthy (KC - WR) 10. (96) Nick Chubb (Hou - RB) 11. (105) J.K. Dobbins  (Den - RB) 12. (116) Jameson Williams (Det - WR) 13. (125) Adonai Mitchell (Ind - WR) 14. (136) Kansas City (KC - DEF) 15. (145) Ray Davis (Buf - RB) 16. (156) Evan McPherson (Cin - K) 17. (165) Blake Corum (LAR - RB)

They actually made it harder than previous seasons to find the draft results: https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/140564/draftresults?draft_results_period=previous https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/140564/draftresults?drafttab=team&draft_results_period=previous

I think they will play some funny games with injuries and stuff to hide some guys, Frazier seems like a candidate. Booker may end up on IR (miss first 4 weeks), which is the smarter move even if he can come back in 3. Roschon may be another candidate for that, which then frees up the spots for Hardy, Walker, and another RB.

I doubt Love makes it to 24. I am thinking he ends up top 15, maybe even top 12. From the way Poles has drafted, you really can only expect a starter out of the 1st 2 rounds. He has been terrible in the 3rd (Velus, Pickens, etc). So I agree that RB, Edge are the top 2 needs to fill. I think they can get Safety help via free agency if they move on from Brisker.

Scott has not confirmed/renewed the invite.

I don't understand the concerns about Caleb. It is almost like people expect a perfect QB Robot to go out there and execute every play with perfection with zero incompletions, zero sacks, etc. Mahomes played against 64% of the Bears starting Defense from a 5-win team and still went 8-13, and needed a 30-yard penalty and a whole bunch of no-calls on his O-Line to pass for 1 TD. If not for a busted coverage bomb, he would've had 90 yards passing.

Minnesota will be without Jordan Addison for this one. On the injury front, we know the Bears will be without Booker. The team is still hopeful to have Jaylon Johnson back to match up with Justin Jefferson. Both of those two are dinged up right now. I could see a heavy dose of Aaron Jones and TJ Hockenson in Week 1. LBs will play a huge role in stopping them. The pros for the Bears is playing on MNF at home, Soldier Field should be electric. Getting off to a hot start is key. McCarthy is basically a rookie. Caleb played well against MIN last year all things considered, he had 531 passing yards (265 yds/g), 3 TD, 0 INT, and 5 sacks in two games against MIN. Ben Johnson's offenses play really well against MIN, in the last 3 seasons, DET has put up 31, 31, 30, 30, going 4-0 against them and a Flores led defense. So I am less concerned about the offense than I am about the defense and Special Teams. Early prediction, Bears 27-20.

You know Spags pulled the Detroit preseason tape and had at least a general idea of what to expect. On a few plays early, the DBs were running the routes for the Bears WRs. For the Bears defense, there is nothing you really can do if you are being held. On the Mahomes scramble and the play to JuJu where he rolled out, Bears were being held, yet no calls. The 30-yard penalty was also insane. Mahomes was targeting backup CBs and LBs, and it worked, shocker. Again, without JJ, Gordon, and Edmunds, that is a lot of downgrades in pass defense against the best QB in the NFL. Then no Jarrett or Booker in the rotation, and the line is going to be weaker. Also, I still like the live reps and actually glad Caleb got sacked, took a hit, and had to scramble, because now they have something to really work from compared to the Bills game being against the 2s. Compare that to McCarthy, who didn't play. Caleb didn't throw an INT in the preseason and was only sacked once. If you project that out for a full season, that is only 25 sacks, so his rate is down. Again, it's preseason, but the signs are there. His Comp% was 73.3 against KC and really only had 2 incompletions, a drop by Odunze, then the play in the end zone where Odunze was held at the top of the route. Burden got an unsportsmanlike penalty for spinning the ball, hopefully he learns from it and doesn't do something like that again. Better to do that in the preseason when the games don't count. Johnson said Booker will be out a few weeks, so I expect Hardy to make the 53-man. I would not be surprised if they look for Edge, CB, and RB help with the injuries.

Hard to assess when the officiating was that bad. Special Teams is an issue. Terrible coverage on kickoffs, bad returns, blocked PAT and a missed FG. Not good. People forget that the Bears defense had 4 starters out and no Booker who has been a spark plug. No JJ, Gordon, Jarrett, or Edmunds. That's not nothing especially how KC attacked the Bears.

They gave Mahomes a 30+ yard penalty to aid his first drive, ridiculous. They called a face mask AND DPI on Wright. Then try refuse to call holding on the KC Oline.

I think Hyppolite, Ogbongbemiga, Hicks and Owens are all but locks. Then probably Frazier and Homer. Ogbongbemiga and Hicks are core special teamers, as is Owens and Hicks. I think the last OL, DL, and WR will probably be the toss ups with Amegadje, Pickens/Ford as the leaders. Poles mentioned Jahdae Walker by name which was surprising to me in regards to camp standouts.

I know he got dinged up a little, but if Austin Booker is half as effective as he has been in the preseason, the pass rush rotation is going to be really solid.

I hope he sticks around, but the contract now makes him more appealing to other teams because he is locked in at the lower price for a few years. Kind of wild that Trubisky hasn't gotten another chance to start, but teams like New Orleans are ok going with Shough, Haener, and Rattler?

I set the league draft for 7pm on Sunday, August 31st. We will need to identify keepers by the 30th.