Post by davidl on Jun 11, 2023 19:05:36 GMT -6
I believe he said it about 10 times in the first 7 minutes of the interview.
I have a very positive overall opinion into the current status of the Bear roster. I especially am pleased with Ryan Poles' work as a GM. But I also have to acknowledge that a significant amount of work that Poles has done has resulted on players where we have little or no actual data on how they perform in the NFL (for all the 2023 rookies) or with the Bears system (for a lot of the players who he's traded for). Even Chase Claypool who spent about half the 2022 season with the Bears missed 4 of those games in playing with Fields.
That is true. I agree with you on that. When the Bears moved on from Nagy & Pace the franchise was at a low point financially and also talent-wise. We were in cap hell. We had an old/aging roster of under-performing players. It made me sick to even think about the Bears pitiful situation. We had sunk to being a joke in the NFL, and often an embarrassment on national TV when the sports world was cursed to have to watch the Bears crap the bed in prime time.
Ryan Poles did not make the mess. Poles was tasked with fixing something that was horribly broken. It reminded me of a home on our block here in Bloomington, that sat empty for 8 years. It deteriorated so badly that possums and raccoons were living in it (this had been a beautiful home at one time). It was actually sold at an auction. I worried what the new owner would do with it, since it was bought at pretty much junk-level. Would the new owner just do the bare minimum and let it be the embarrassment it had become for our neighborhood (we have nice home on this block) - or would the new owner do the right thing and basically nuke the old home and build it back right?
This, for me, was my worry with the Bears post-Nagy/Pace. Would the new regime do the right thing and nuke the roster or just slap some band aids on the mess and keep chugging along with mediocrity (or worse)? I am so thankful that Poles did the right thing and tore it all down. He is building it back right. But it takes fierce discipline to do the right thing - financial discipline, and discipline in both the draft and with FA & the cap. It is hard on fans (the impatient ones). Many fans did not like the soft tank. Then when Poles executed that to perfection, those same fans were happy with the #1 overall pick of the draft - but then got pissed when we didn't use it to draft "their" boy in the draft (whomever their boy was in their eyes). Thankfully, Poles did the right thing and parlayed that pick into getting a veteran 1st round WR, in D.J. Moore AND ALSO the best offensive lineman in the 2023 draft class. Both.
But of course you never can please all of the fans. D.J. Moore & the best OL (both) were not enough for them.
I "get it" that this is essentially the 1st year of the rebuild (last year was the teardown and tank year)... and it will take at least another year to get the roster even close to where it needs to be. Poles got us extra picks with his shrewd trade down and trading some of our old players - we have TWO 1st round draft picks and 10 total draft picks (already) for next year. But that doesn't satisfy some fans. I understand it's just "Monday morning quarterbacking" that's going on here. I do understand it. I just don't agree with it.
Are the new guys proven yet? Hell no. We (fans) need to chill and watch what happens over the next couple of seasons. Will the outcome be perfect? No. You don't get "perfect" in the NFL... of course some fans will bitch and moan over just about any near-perfect outcome. Because THEY would have done something else (in hindsight of course).
I'm trying really really hard to just be thankful for how Poles has done so far. So far, so good. Perfect? No. But you don't get "perfect" in the NFL - or in life for that matter.
And I don’t expect “near perfect “. The standard is Super Bowl ready by 2025.
