I’m Fascinated to see . . .

[dawhizz]

It's out: https://www.chicagobears.com/video/scouting-the-future-inside-the-bears-2025-draft-1920-football-drive

Some immediate takeaways: You always get the impression that "this is exactly what we wanted to happen" in these videos, but there's not quite as much video from prior to the picks here, so there is some wiggle room here where you don't see the clear "I hope he's still there in a few picks" that we did with, say, Odunze.  There is a quote somewhere early day 2 where they say "we're staying at [pick] 39", which seems to contradict report that they tried to trade up to 38 to take Treyveon Henderson.  Maybe that quote was from after the trade attempts fell through, but it doesn't really feel that way.  There is a place where Poles pretty clearly maps out: we want another pick to hit LB, DB, RB, and OG for day three, which is exactly what they do, so it certainly seems like, for whatever reason, they didn't see edge as as much a need as pretty much everyone else did.  It's funny when they take Hyppolite, Poles is like "are they going to have highlights for him?" recognizing that he might be seen as a reach.

 

[Stinger226]

I like these kind of videos that let you see the backroom of these teams. 

 BJ saying he played the highlight film right before the draft tells me they were targeting Loveland all along. 

It seems like all the position coaches had a lot of input into the picks. 

It seems they stayed at 39 when Burden was available and projected the next 2 players they wanted and got them in the trade back.

BJ was all in on the picks and obviously he had input into those selections. 

Eric Beinemy seemed like the only one very excited to get Monangai. 

I would say they got done what they wanted to in the draft ,at least, they like who they got.

 

[Mongo3451]

That's my kind of hype video.  I really enjoyed the dialogue and forethought of how the draft would shake out.  It shows a knowledgeable and disciplined plan.  I feel that they hit on Loveland, Trapilo, Stewart, Hyppolite, Newman and Monongai.  Burden and Frazier have something to prove, before I get high on them.

[BearFan PHX]

35 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

That's my kind of hype video.  I really enjoyed the dialogue and forethought of how the draft would shake out.  It shows a knowledgeable and disciplined plan.  I feel that they hit on Loveland, Trapilo, Stewart, Hyppolite, Newman and Monongai.  Burden and Frazier have something to prove, before I get high on them.

Burden has a ton of talent, and with the right guidance I hope he turns into a real weapon - he has it in him!

But the reason he slipped to the second round is that he shows much sharper cuts when he's running with the ball than he does when he's running his routes, and he is a bit of a head case. Now to be fair, most stud WRs have giant egos and are head cases, so it's hopefully not a fatal flaw, but if he is coachable, he does have a ceiling to become a top WR in the NFL.

[BearFan PHX]

Ok, so I watched the episode. Lots of great highlight film on players. I was especially happy to see Turner's film. I think he was a steal. He should help us a lot.

I do think the beginning where they say "Let's start with Loveland" was a little bit suspect. It's not clear that they started with him out of the gate, or if they were doing tight ends there, or what.

We have heard from Courtney Cronin that the Bears would have taken Jeanty, Campbell or Banks over Loveland if any of them had been there, so I dunno if the film really says anything - it was edited tightly to the beginning of those words, and there is nothing from the draft before the pick.

Still and all, the Bears were obviously very high on Loveland, and pleased that he was available for them. He's gonna be a great player for us, I believe.

But I don't know that this film really does anything to dispel the idea that Poles miscalculated on HB availability through several trade downs. That's not to say that the players they did get were bad - they arent. It looks like a solid crop of rookies that can help us, including the HB we eventually did get, Monangai who looks great. I just don't think everything went perfectly according to plan on draft day either? Or at least, this film isn't proof that it did.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

Ok, so I watched the episode. Lots of great highlight film on players. I was especially happy to see Turner's film. I think he was a steal. He should help us a lot.

I do think the beginning where they say "Let's start with Loveland" was a little bit suspect. It's not clear that they started with him out of the gate, or if they were doing tight ends there, or what.

We have heard from Courtney Cronin that the Bears would have taken Jeanty, Campbell or Banks over Loveland if any of them had been there, so I dunno if the film really says anything - it was edited tightly to the beginning of those words, and there is nothing from the draft before the pick.

Still and all, the Bears were obviously very high on Loveland, and pleased that he was available for them. He's gonna be a great player for us, I believe.

But I don't know that this film really does anything to dispel the idea that Poles miscalculated on HB availability through several trade downs. That's not to say that the players they did get were bad - they arent. It looks like a solid crop of rookies that can help us, including the HB we eventually did get, Monangai who looks great. I just don't think everything went perfectly according to plan on draft day either? Or at least, this film isn't proof that it did.

Since none of them were available, we will never know. After they made the draft pick, the next day BJ said he showed a  highlight video before the draft to show a little insight in where they were going with the pick to the war room. At 9.45 . It was Loveland. Through out the draft they seemed like they guess who people were taking and were pretty spot on, so they knew none of those other picks would be there. CC has no inside information other than they liked those players. Im sure they liked Carter and Hunter to but knew they wouldnt be there.

[BearFan PHX]

22 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Since none of them were available, we will never know. After they made the draft pick, the next day BJ said he showed a  highlight video before the draft to show a little insight in where they were going with the pick to the war room. At 9.45 . It was Loveland. Through out the draft they seemed like they guess who people were taking and were pretty spot on, so they knew none of those other picks would be there. CC has no inside information other than they liked those players. Im sure they liked Carter and Hunter to but knew they wouldnt be there.

CC reported that Bears employees, including director of player personnel said they wanted players that were gone before they picked, and specifically Jeanty, Banks and Campbell, and Henderickson later. She named her source, and also exactly when he said it (immediately after the draft)

So either you think she is lying, or youre just trying to ignore these facts because they dont fit your "everything is perfect" narrative.

Now even if the Bears did get out maneuvered on the board, it doesnt mean the draft was a failure. Poles may have miscalculated who would be there at times, but we still stayed true to our board and got value. So this isnt me saying he was awful either.

But reality is messy, and is almost never "they got it exactly how they wanted it, its perfect"

[Stinger226]

35 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

CC reported that Bears employees, including director of player personnel said they wanted players that were gone before they picked, and specifically Jeanty, Banks and Campbell, and Henderickson later. She named her source, and also exactly when he said it (immediately after the draft)

So either you think she is lying, or youre just trying to ignore these facts because they dont fit your "everything is perfect" narrative.

Now even if the Bears did get out maneuvered on the board, it doesnt mean the draft was a failure. Poles may have miscalculated who would be there at times, but we still stayed true to our board and got value. So this isnt me saying he was awful either.

But reality is messy, and is almost never "they got it exactly how they wanted it, its perfect"

I read the remarks after the draft, can you show me the video where she states it before the draft? I have seen interviews where Poles talks about all three of those players, of course he liked them, but other than the first pick in the draft no GM is going to broadcast who they are taking. 

Actually it doesnt matter because they were not available and they didnt move up to take any of them or even talked about that. 

[BearFan PHX]

28 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

I read the remarks after the draft, can you show me the video where she states it before the draft? I have seen interviews where Poles talks about all three of those players, of course he liked them, but other than the first pick in the draft no GM is going to broadcast who they are taking. 

Actually it doesnt matter because they were not available and they didnt move up to take any of them or even talked about that. 

OK youre missing two very important details.

1) It was said AFTER the draft, not before. CC says she spoke to the dir of player personnel after the draft, and he said Loveland wasnt necessarily their first choice, that if Banks had fallen, for example, they would have taken him. I believe CC is not a liar. I feel like it may even have been partly on video, so you could see hm say it - Jeff something.

2) It matters who was available when, because we did trade down multiple times. *IF* we traded down thinking we would get a certain targeted HB at a lower pick, one who was still available on the board BEFORE the trade down, and we could have just picked them then, but instead if we traded down and then someone got in front of us and took the HB, then that means we read the situation poorly, and missed out on HBs we were targeting more than Monangai. If it happened multiple times, then it is fair to criticize the draft process as having misread the board, and missed out on players we mistakenly thought would be available later, got greedy, and missed the HB that was targeted.

And even if that did happen, I'm not unhappy value-wise with the players we DID pick either, but if you're going to be evaluating the team, you gotta look into the places where they failed too. Is it fireable? No it's not. But that doesnt mean it isnt important. It's important in the continued evaluation of Poles who has done some amazing things, some good things, gotten lucky some, made some very questionable moves, and a few flat out bad decisions too.

For me, right now, Poles is getting a B. Maybe a B+, and most of that is due to Caleb and Johnson, two massive pieces we got VERY right. But Caleb was luck as much as anything, and Johnson picked the Bears because of Caleb. So Poles could easily have lost both of them, if the Texans don't score a last minute touchdown in the last game of the season that didnt matter to them.

For me, that all adds up to: Poles is worth keeping an eye on. I'm not totally sold on him or Warren. Not the way I am about the coaching staff, for example.

[Mongo3451]

32 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

For me, right now, Poles is getting a B. Maybe a B+, and most of that is due to Caleb and Johnson, two massive pieces we got VERY right.

That's a big reach of a statement.  Neither are proven at their profession as of yet.  Does it look good on paper?  Hell yeah!  Does it look good on the field?  Haven't seen it yet.  I very much agree we got it right, but I'm not betting a nickel on it until I see it happen.  Been burnt too many times...

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

That's a big reach of a statement.  Neither are proven at their profession as of yet.  Does it look good on paper?  Hell yeah!  Does it look good on the field?  Haven't seen it yet.  I very much agree we got it right, but I'm not betting a nickel on it until I see it happen.  Been burnt too many times...

that is SO fair. Im trying to bend over sideways to not be negative, so maybe I went too far positive LOL

maybe I could spin it like this? Poles got the two best candidates out there for these jobs. So he succeeded. Now whether they work out, is another thing?

But yeah. Im not sold on Poles. I'd really like to know whether he was allowed to fire Flus last year or not. If he was, then he is definitely suspect. But maybe he wasnt, and I'll probably never know.

Let's see how Dalman and Jackson look on the OL. We are assuming those holes are plugged now, but I thought Nate Davis' tape was awesome too.

Youre right - lets wait and see. Like you said - looks good on paper, cant wait to see it on grass.