Bears 2024: 5.0 It's Caleb Williams time

[dice]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

[ThisGuyFawkes]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

What FA punter would have been a big upgrade? Taylor broke an 85-year old NCAA record with a 67 yard punt. He had the most punts in college last year and still had the 4th best yards per punt. He led college in punts downed within the 20. And he's on a 4th round rookie salary.

That all translates to the NFL. He'll most likely be a top-10 or better punter as a rookie and we don't have to pay him much.

I understand the idea that picking a punter in the 4th round is a reach but the argument that we could have made a better upgrade in FA is also a reach.

[Jeffster81]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

Nobody else picked there would have contributed in 2024. It's a fine pick.

[dice]

some optimism from the diceman. my 2024 picks:

AFC

1 bills (12-5)
2 bengals (12-5)
3 chargers (11-6)
4 colts (9-8)
5 jets (12-5)
6 ravens (11-6)
7 chiefs (9-8)

#2 bengals over #7 chiefs
#6 ravens over #3 chargers
#5 jets over #4 colts

#1 bills over #6 ravens
#2 bengals over #5 jets

#2 bengals over #1 bills

NFC

1 lions (12-5)
2 niners (12-5)
3 falcons (11-6)
4 eagles (10-7)
5 packers (12-5)
6 BEARS (11-6)
7 vikings (10-7)

#2 niners over #7 vikings
#6 BEARS over #3 falcons
#5 packers over #4 eagles

#1 lions over #6 BEARS
#2 niners over #5 packers (again)

#2 niners over #1 lions (again)

SUPER BOWL

niners over bengals (again)

yup. vikings w/ more wins than the chiefs. half of that equation would be a total fluke. i'll let you guess which half

[dice]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

Nobody else picked there would have contributed in 2024. It's a fine pick.

how do you know that? and why are we fixated on 2024 over the long-term?

he might have a rough nfl adjustment too. different ball, not out there nearly as regularly, winds off the lake...

[TheJordanRule]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

You’ve been too hard with Poles Diceman (that’s what she said lol). Our punter was dead last in the game last year. Poles had a thoughtful set of selections. We got a lot stronger on offense. Wouldn’t be surprised if the O line becomes better and better as the year goes by. The defense can afford to wait till next year. We wanted to get Caleb off to a good start from the jump. Treating a QB right from Day 1 is refreshing and new… I’m loving the Poles era rn.

[fleet]

Read on Twitter

[dice]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

What FA punter would have been a big upgrade? Taylor broke an 85-year old NCAA record with a 67 yard punt. He had the most punts in college last year and still had the 4th best yards per punt. He led college in punts downed within the 20. And he's on a 4th round rookie salary.

# of punts is not a mark in his favor other than to show his avg. wasn't a fluke. whatever kicker led the nation in punts was likely to have the most downed w/in the 20. and there have been 99 yard punts (college too):

Watch on YouTube

He'll most likely be a top-10 or better punter as a rookie and we don't have to pay him much.

no punter gets paid much

I understand the idea that picking a punter in the 4th round is a reach but the argument that we could have made a better upgrade in FA is also a reach.

i didn't say a better upgrade. i said a significant upgrade

gill has a 38.5 career net average, 29% inside the 20

-tommy townsend career net 42.8, 41% inside 20, 3 mil
-cameron johnston career net 42.2, 41% inside 20, 3 mil
-rigoberto sanchez career net 41.7, 37% inside 20, 2.5 mil
-corey bojorquez career net 40.5, 40% inside 20, 2 mil

best punter in league (logan cooke) has net career avg. of 43.4 w/ 41% inside 20. less than 5 yards per kick better than gill

[dice]

I'm fine with the punter especially after the Bears traded back in for Booker. Bears needed an upgrade at punter and they got it.

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

You’ve been too hard with Poles Diceman (that’s what she said lol). Our punter was dead last in the game last year. Poles had a thoughtful set of selections. We got a lot stronger on offense. Wouldn’t be surprised if the O line becomes better and better as the year goes by. The defense can afford to wait till next year. We wanted to get Caleb off to a good start from the jump. Treating a QB right from Day 1 is refreshing and new… I’m loving the Poles era rn.

he certainly has not failed the offense (to the point of overkill). kinda hard to when caleb and rome fall into your lap though!

[Jeffster81]

could have gotten a big upgrade cheaply in FA w/o using a pick

Nobody else picked there would have contributed in 2024. It's a fine pick.

how do you know that? and why are we fixated on 2024 over the long-term?

he might have a rough nfl adjustment too. different ball, not out there nearly as regularly, winds off the lake...

I don't, it's a guess. When you have limited picks, you make them count. Bears already have one pick that will need some time, they did not need another. The punter was a need and Poles filled that need. I call that a win.

[DropStep]

Perhaps a little OT, but Philly is really good at the draft. They traded eight times between pick 40 and 171 - one trade every 16-17 picks - and they seem to have gotten about everyone they wanted PLUS multiple picks next year. Amazing. Even if you can narrow your gotta-have list to 20 guys, or whatever, which seems impossible (like, everyone takes Caleb if he falls, right?) - how do you identify when you need a trade so quickly, especially in the second or third round on, given the vagaries of the draft in real time? What if there's a run on WRs - do we need to trade up now? What if somebody just took our prized DT - how does that change things going forward? We just got two CBs, so we should underweight the other CBs now, right? How many of the teams above us want a DT in the fifth round? Do we need to trade up or down? Which team should we target? How much do we offer? There's a lot of things to consider, and they identified the exact trade and then convinced another GM to do it 8 times. In one case they traded down and then back up, presumably based on real-time information as the draft went along.

"We know what we're trying to do here, we know what sounds good and when a trade sounds good," Roseman said, when asked how they keep track of all the movement. "We know what we're trying to execute."

Mkay. I have a hunch some they have some very cool tech to run their draft as the picks come off the board. They've executed in real time a LOT better than most teams the last three years.

[MalagaBulls]

Read on Twitter

Get off seems a little slow at times but looks like he plays the run decently and has a few potential sacks if he made the right play. Just missed the QB but he got back there a bunch

He's bulked up to 253-255 IIRC.

[MalagaBulls]

Look at the total return we got for Bryce Young, and then tell me Poles is a lousy GM:

Darnell Wright, Stevenson, DJ Moore, Caleb Williams, and 2025 2nd round pick.

That trade alone has vaulted us from just another team trying to rebuild, to one of the most promising young rosters in the league.

And then he just attributes it to luck lmao. There's no convincing this guy of anything... he has his mind made up.

again with the childish 'lmao' junk? how 'bout an adult conversation? i never said it was ALL luck, did i?

did you not see the end of the texans game that gave us the #1 pick? tell me that wasn't luck. poles didn't do that. or did he?

tell me it wasn't luck that carolina had the worst record last season. poles didn't do that. or did he?

tell me it wasn't luck that poles gets ANOTHER shot at a generational QB. poles didn't choose the year that a caleb williams level talent was available. or did he?

tell me it wasn't luck that odunze fell to the bears. poles didn't do that. or did he?

what else has he done? paid a price that no other team was willing to for sweat and allen? them being excellent players doesn't make acquiring them an achievement. winning an auction never is. re-sign jaylon johnson, a guy he didn't draft? is that an achievement? choose eberflus? absolutely none of this involves shrewd strategy or valuation

so...what has ryan poles done well? got a steal linebacker last year in edwards...sanborn...braxton...brisker's pretty good...stevenson looks like a good recovery after pissing away the opportunity to draft porter. that's about all that's notable to date that involved actual talent evaluation. nothing earth shattering. every GM makes some good moves

it was the initial decision to tank along with betting (incorrectly) on fields that has combined to bless poles beyond any reasonable expectation

back to all your fanboying and pretending that ryan poles had any inkling in advance that choosing fields would present him with the opportunity to draft caleb williams. and assuming that it was bryce young that he was trading rather than CJ stroud. total garbage argument in his favor. that was luck by any reasonable definition and you all know it

anybody who says that ryan poles traded bryce young for caleb williams is being extremely disingenuous. you know who you are

Dice, give it a rest dude. Your schtick is old & tired. Focus on the positive of the now.

[CROBulls]

Bears are in never ever better position to build great team. I do feel we picked really good prospects this year. Over all days. Just getting Caleb and Rome is huge, but getting edge rusher and OL prospect was nice. When you think about it even getting punter is huge given how weak last few years we were at this position.


We still have great draft capital for next year. Time for everyone to put work.

[dougthonus]

I'd say this about Poles. His biggest hits have a massive luck component to them. A lot of his biggest failures felt really dumb in the moment. In a pure neutral environment with luck removed, I'd guess he's no better than average.

That said, it's not this year's problem. This is a great time to be a Bear's fan and whatever mistakes Poles made earlier or even now have largely been washed away by the RNG gods to put us in this great situation. He can still learn / improve in the future.

[Almost Retired]

I guess but yet still traded for another pick later than that for a position of need. Pretty odd. Why not just take Booker there and keep the pick. If the talent was soooo bad why are you trading a higher pick to draft a guy that was there? Very strange.

Ah. Don’t get your hopes up on Booker indeed. And also, while I actually don’t mind the trade-in in this instance, as previously mentioned Poles often has a tendency to do things under pressure with picks that annoy the crap outa me. Desperate times.

I don't have a ton of hope for Booker. He might be good but just as likely not. The point is wasting a pick next year... hmmmm

Yet we still have 8 picks next year including 2 Second Rounders. Booker will make the squad, for special team coverage if nothing else. He may even get some snaps as an EDGE later in the season. It was not a wasted pick. The kid is 21 years old. He will add weight and strength. There are no more classes to attend. He can now devote himself 100% to improving. And he will.

[sco]

Ah. Don’t get your hopes up on Booker indeed. And also, while I actually don’t mind the trade-in in this instance, as previously mentioned Poles often has a tendency to do things under pressure with picks that annoy the crap outa me. Desperate times.

I don't have a ton of hope for Booker. He might be good but just as likely not. The point is wasting a pick next year... hmmmm

Yet we still have 8 picks next year including 2 Second Rounders. Booker will make the squad, for special team coverage if nothing else. He may even get some snaps as an EDGE later in the season. It was not a wasted pick. The kid is 21 years old. He will add weight and strength. There are no more classes to attend. He can now devote himself 100% to improving. And he will.

What Booker may allow the Bears to do is go get an older Edge this year on a one year deal vs. spending big (or trading a lot) to get a prime one.

[Hold That]

I'd say this about Poles. His biggest hits have a massive luck component to them. A lot of his biggest failures felt really dumb in the moment. In a pure neutral environment with luck removed, I'd guess he's no better than average.

That said, it's not this year's problem. This is a great time to be a Bear's fan and whatever mistakes Poles made earlier or even now have largely been washed away by the RNG gods to put us in this great situation. He can still learn / improve in the future.

Identifying Gordon and Brisker in the 2nd round wasn’t luck it’s scouting

Identifying Stevenson wasnt luck in the 3rd round that’s scouting, Braxton Jones a starting LT in the 5th, Gervin Dexter in the 4th..

Trading Sweat for a 2nd rounder which turned around our defense and helped our secondary by getting more pressure on the QB.


Bad moves were drafting Velus and trading for Claypool. What are the other “dumb moves” you can name out of all the moves he’s done?

[sco]

I'd say this about Poles. His biggest hits have a massive luck component to them. A lot of his biggest failures felt really dumb in the moment. In a pure neutral environment with luck removed, I'd guess he's no better than average.

That said, it's not this year's problem. This is a great time to be a Bear's fan and whatever mistakes Poles made earlier or even now have largely been washed away by the RNG gods to put us in this great situation. He can still learn / improve in the future.

Identifying Gordon and Brisker in the 2nd round wasn’t luck it’s scouting

Identifying Stevenson wasnt luck in the 3rd round that’s scouting, Braxton Jones a starting LT in the 5th, Gervin Dexter in the 4th..

Trading Sweat for a 2nd rounder which turned around our defense and helped our secondary by getting more pressure on the QB.


Bad moves were drafting Velus and trading for Claypool. What are the other “dumb moves” you can name out of all the moves he’s done?

Passing on Carter.

[Hold That]

I'd say this about Poles. His biggest hits have a massive luck component to them. A lot of his biggest failures felt really dumb in the moment. In a pure neutral environment with luck removed, I'd guess he's no better than average.

That said, it's not this year's problem. This is a great time to be a Bear's fan and whatever mistakes Poles made earlier or even now have largely been washed away by the RNG gods to put us in this great situation. He can still learn / improve in the future.

Identifying Gordon and Brisker in the 2nd round wasn’t luck it’s scouting

Identifying Stevenson wasnt luck in the 3rd round that’s scouting, Braxton Jones a starting LT in the 5th, Gervin Dexter in the 4th..

Trading Sweat for a 2nd rounder which turned around our defense and helped our secondary by getting more pressure on the QB.


Bad moves were drafting Velus and trading for Claypool. What are the other “dumb moves” you can name out of all the moves he’s done?

Passing on Carter.

Darnell Wright had an impressive rookie year and looks like he’s going to be a 10 year pro a multiple time pro bowler.

Notice nobody in the NFL world is giving Poles crap for passing on Carter and taking Wright.