Bears 2024: 5.0 It's Caleb Williams time

[fleet]

Caleb has been trying to singlehandedly bring back baggy clothes. I will support his movement. As an aging male no longer in full control of the waistline.

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[JohnnyKILLroy]

I’m curious to see how Poles handles draft picks going forward. He positioned us nicely to win now and we have decent depth everywhere. Just because he’s been the type to flip them for pieces we need via trades so far does that mean he’ll continue to do so going forward.

[Almost Retired]

I’m curious to see how Poles handles draft picks going forward. He positioned us nicely to win now and we have decent depth everywhere. Just because he’s been the type to flip them for pieces we need via trades so far does that mean he’ll continue to do so going forward.

The 2025 Draft will be the time to bolster the Defense. The Draft will be top heavy with Defensive playmakers at all 3 levels. Very few outstanding QBs. Draft BPA on all 3 levels for depth and the inevitability that we won't be able to retain all our young stars due to the salary cap.

[Dresden]

The Sweat deal was premature for me. The kind of thing a young team would add as a final piece more or less to go for the division on a ready team. Which is part of what invited some of the scrutiny. Had it been a deal done in the middle of this season in pursuit of first place, then nobody would really question it to the degree it was questioned. As such, it seemed like a deal for Eberflus to be able to survive easily, which I don’t see as very “smart” team-building, unless he was some kind of coach with special ability to worry about losing

Why would a GM make a trade in order to help his coach save his job, when the GM is the one who decides the fate of the coach? You can't always get the guy you want, when you want him. It's not like walking into a 7-11 and saying "I'll take one starting Edge please".

Poles saw an opportunity and he took it. There's no guarantee the same sort of player would be available this coming season, nor is there a guarantee that if there was, his team would chose to take the Bears offer.

So this kind of nitpicking- saying, "well, it's a decent deal, but it came a season too soon", to me, ignores the reality of how hard it is to make deals, for the kind of player you want, for the price you're willing to pay, and when you want them.

Not to mention that at the time, the Bears pass rush was an embarrassment, and the team was still not completely out of the playoff picture. So just like the year prior with Claypool, Poles saw an area of glaring weakness, and did something to address it.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

I’m curious to see how Poles handles draft picks going forward. He positioned us nicely to win now and we have decent depth everywhere. Just because he’s been the type to flip them for pieces we need via trades so far does that mean he’ll continue to do so going forward.

The 2025 Draft will be the time to bolster the Defense. The Draft will be top heavy with Defensive playmakers at all 3 levels. Very few outstanding QBs. Draft BPA on all 3 levels for depth and the inevitability that we won't be able to retain all our young stars due to the salary cap.

I don’t think he’ll zero in on defensive players necessarily, we’re pretty deep everywhere. I think he’ll let the board come to him. Just as an example I’d rather have a top rated C than a lower rated DB.

I wouldn’t mind keeping out picks in the earlier rounds 1-3 and then trading down with the rest of our picks. I’m very curious to see how Poles handles future drafts.

[othawhitemeat]

I’m curious to see how Poles handles draft picks going forward. He positioned us nicely to win now and we have decent depth everywhere. Just because he’s been the type to flip them for pieces we need via trades so far does that mean he’ll continue to do so going forward.

The 2025 Draft will be the time to bolster the Defense. The Draft will be top heavy with Defensive playmakers at all 3 levels. Very few outstanding QBs. Draft BPA on all 3 levels for depth and the inevitability that we won't be able to retain all our young stars due to the salary cap.

I don’t think he’ll zero in on defensive players necessarily, we’re pretty deep everywhere. I think he’ll let the board come to him. Just as an example I’d rather have a top rated C than a lower rated DB.

I wouldn’t mind keeping out picks in the earlier rounds 1-3 and then trading down with the rest of our picks. I’m very curious to see how Poles handles future drafts.

I do think next offseason he will use both free agency/draft to shore up the Oline/Dlines, and safety. Everything else, will be BPA, imo. Keenan Allen's contract comes off books unless we re-sign him, Nate Davis has a low dead cap hit if we opt out of him and same with DeMarcus Walker, and Shelton's 3 mill comes off books. After the 2025 season, we will have to figure out what to do with D.J. Moore/T.J. Edwards though. However, after 2024-25 season, we could still have cap flexibility. Right now, that cap space is projected to be 7th according to Sportrac.

[TheJordanRule]

The Sweat deal was premature for me. The kind of thing a young team would add as a final piece more or less to go for the division on a ready team. Which is part of what invited some of the scrutiny. Had it been a deal done in the middle of this season in pursuit of first place, then nobody would really question it to the degree it was questioned. As such, it seemed like a deal for Eberflus to be able to survive easily, which I don’t see as very “smart” team-building, unless he was some kind of coach with special ability to worry about losing

Why would a GM make a trade in order to help his coach save his job, when the GM is the one who decides the fate of the coach? You can't always get the guy you want, when you want him. It's not like walking into a 7-11 and saying "I'll take one starting Edge please".

Poles saw an opportunity and he took it. There's no guarantee the same sort of player would be available this coming season, nor is there a guarantee that if there was, his team would chose to take the Bears offer.

So this kind of nitpicking- saying, "well, it's a decent deal, but it came a season too soon", to me, ignores the reality of how hard it is to make deals, for the kind of player you want, for the price you're willing to pay, and when you want them.

Not to mention that at the time, the Bears pass rush was an embarrassment, and the team was still not completely out of the playoff picture. So just like the year prior with Claypool, Poles saw an area of glaring weakness, and did something to address it.

I would've hated to go into this draft with a higher draft pick if it meant little to no hope for our defense. We were awful before Sweat and ultimately upgraded to the middle-upper pack with that single move. Defense wins championships, and that's what we're aiming for and realistically can achieve for once... championships. Poles is showing us that John Paxson's way of doing things isn't necessarily the best way. We don't have to win every deal on paper. Instead, it's about using assets with vision. GM-ing the Poles way is about being a QB who throws to where the WR will be, not throw to where the WR currently is. While Fleet's alternative strategy might've given us a bigger offensive asset like Joe Alt or Nabers, we would still have no idea whether our defensive guys could play together as a unit, and had to deal with a hole at DE that most likely wouldn't have been addressed through the draft and perceived holes in the secondary. It's two roads that lead to different strengths and weaknesses for our roster. I favor Poles' direction because it revealed that Tyrique is a star with considerable upside, ensured that our defense has half decent pass rushing and gives us a more balanced team overall from the jump. The Clayfool deal blew up Poles' in face, but we're 3 years into the rebuild, and it's safe to say that type of stuff isn't happening often. Our standard for Poles can't be perfection.

[Almost Retired]

No GM is going to hit on every move. But when you honestly assess the revival of this franchise since he took over you cannot help but conclude that he has done a magnificent job overall. We were going nowhere fast with aging vets on big contracts and very little draft capital. Now we have a roster that set to compete in our tough Division and with experience and another good Draft next year we should be a contender for even more. I'm jacked up for the coming season.

[CROBulls]

The Sweat deal was premature for me. The kind of thing a young team would add as a final piece more or less to go for the division on a ready team. Which is part of what invited some of the scrutiny. Had it been a deal done in the middle of this season in pursuit of first place, then nobody would really question it to the degree it was questioned. As such, it seemed like a deal for Eberflus to be able to survive easily, which I don’t see as very “smart” team-building, unless he was some kind of coach with special ability to worry about losing

Why would a GM make a trade in order to help his coach save his job, when the GM is the one who decides the fate of the coach? You can't always get the guy you want, when you want him. It's not like walking into a 7-11 and saying "I'll take one starting Edge please".

Poles saw an opportunity and he took it. There's no guarantee the same sort of player would be available this coming season, nor is there a guarantee that if there was, his team would chose to take the Bears offer.

So this kind of nitpicking- saying, "well, it's a decent deal, but it came a season too soon", to me, ignores the reality of how hard it is to make deals, for the kind of player you want, for the price you're willing to pay, and when you want them.

Not to mention that at the time, the Bears pass rush was an embarrassment, and the team was still not completely out of the playoff picture. So just like the year prior with Claypool, Poles saw an area of glaring weakness, and did something to address it.

I would've hated to go into this draft with a higher draft pick if it meant little to no hope for our defense. We were awful before Sweat and ultimately upgraded to the middle-upper pack with that single move. Defense wins championships, and that's what we're aiming for and realistically can achieve for once... championships. Poles is showing us that John Paxson's way of doing things isn't necessarily the best way. We don't have to win every deal on paper. Instead, it's about using assets with vision. GM-ing the Poles way is about being a QB who throws to where the WR will be, not throw to where the WR currently is. While Fleet's alternative strategy might've given us a bigger offensive asset like Joe Alt or Nabers, we would still have no idea whether our defensive guys could play together as a unit, and had to deal with a hole at DE that most likely wouldn't have been addressed through the draft and perceived holes in the secondary. It's two roads that lead to different strengths and weaknesses for our roster. I favor Poles' direction because it revealed that Tyrique is a star with considerable upside, ensured that our defense has half decent pass rushing and gives us a more balanced team overall from the jump. The Clayfool deal blew up Poles' in face, but we're 3 years into the rebuild, and it's safe to say that type of stuff isn't happening often. Our standard for Poles can't be perfection.

Defense wins championship. Yes, but we not gunning for championship this year or next year. Unless I am mistaken? We still rebuilding roster, and we will next year still continue rebuilding our roster. We need to build our offense first because without offense, regardless how good your defense is you not winning anything.

[NecessaryEvil]

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[molepharmer]

CHGO podcast one on one with special teams coach Richard Hightower. First ~27min were just basically background on RH. He gets asked about Tory Taylor ~27:30 and is almost giddy at ~28:40 because other teams (via texts) hated the Bears taking Taylor off the board.

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[fleet]

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If he can read the defense and make an instant decision, with his quick release and arm, the O-line will have a reputation update.

[TheJordanRule]

CHGO podcast one on one with special teams coach Richard Hightower. First ~27min were just basically background on RH. He gets asked about Tory Taylor ~27:30 and is almost giddy at ~28:40 because other teams (via texts) hated the Bears taking Taylor off the board.

Watch on YouTube

Thank you, Molepharmer! I'm pumped about it, too. Shout out to Dice. I know we disagree about this brother, but earlier you mentioned that our former punter only averaged 5 yards less than one of the best punters in the game. While that's true, it's about hang time with punters, not distance. Anybody can kick it far. The focus should be on whether your punter can give your defense time to run down the field, angle and spin the kick to put the potential punt returner in an awkward position where catching it will be tough, and fair catching it is the only option.

[NesimLE]

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If he can read the defense and make an instant decision, with his quick release and arm, the O-line will have a reputation update.

What was going on with Fields/Getsy/Janocko that they couldn't even make this happen in PRACTICE? Like, what were they running?

[fleet]

No GM is going to hit on every move. But when you honestly assess the revival of this franchise since he took over you cannot help but conclude that he has done a magnificent job overall. We were going nowhere fast with aging vets on big contracts and very little draft capital. Now we have a roster that set to compete in our tough Division and with experience and another good Draft next year we should be a contender for even more. I'm jacked up for the coming season.

He’s done very well overall. I can’t go magnificent, yet history will certainly judge his job as magnificent. Results seem magnificent. He has been incredibly lucky without which the team’s fortunes might be much less defined. I am satisfied. But he couldn’t repeat this if he tried. Nobody could.

[TheJordanRule]

No GM is going to hit on every move. But when you honestly assess the revival of this franchise since he took over you cannot help but conclude that he has done a magnificent job overall. We were going nowhere fast with aging vets on big contracts and very little draft capital. Now we have a roster that set to compete in our tough Division and with experience and another good Draft next year we should be a contender for even more. I'm jacked up for the coming season.

He’s done very well overall. I can’t go magnificent, yet history will certainly judge his job as magnificent. Results seem magnificent. He has been incredibly lucky without which the team’s fortunes might be much less defined. I am satisfied. But he couldn’t repeat this if he tried. Nobody could.

Come on, Fleet. We've had plenty of bad GMs who deserved your skepticism, brother. Why would you waste your skepticism on Poles, of all people?

[Almost Retired]

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/espn-analysts-tab-rome-odunze-as-best-pick-in-nfl-draft-bears-receiver-number-9-pick-washington

[NecessaryEvil]

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If he can read the defense and make an instant decision, with his quick release and arm, the O-line will have a reputation update.

When Cowherd doubled back on his CW to Chicago comments, CW’s camp said the Oline was better than given credit for. So, I’m with you.

[BeatDaCavs420]

The Sweat deal was premature for me. The kind of thing a young team would add as a final piece more or less to go for the division on a ready team. Which is part of what invited some of the scrutiny. Had it been a deal done in the middle of this season in pursuit of first place, then nobody would really question it to the degree it was questioned. As such, it seemed like a deal for Eberflus to be able to survive easily, which I don’t see as very “smart” team-building, unless he was some kind of coach with special ability to worry about losing

[biggestbullsfan]

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The bear claw is somehow very cheesy but kindve awesome at the same time lol