Seems to me that Jay Johnson sure thinks highly of himself. Not sure we grade him as high. Would hate to lose him.
That's why I was posting about him and the rookie CBs. I hope the rookie CBs develop as I am worried about a negotiation similar to Roquan Smith or Martellus Bennett. If JJ has a sense of worth much higher than what Poles thinks, we'll need alternatives. From my limited experience of watching Poles and his decision making, he is very willing to move on from a player if that happens.
Post by dachuckster on Jul 30, 2023 4:30:11 GMT -6
Here are a couple of videos about training camp. The first is a summary so far from one of my favorite YT guys. He references a NFL Network interview with Kyle Brandt with both Justin Fields and DJ Moore.
This second video is from the Bears website. It is the complete Kyle Brandt interview with JF1 and DJM2 Click the link to view the video on the Bears website.
Breakdown of what I've read/heard so far from TC via twitter, pods, and YT reporters: (all of these come with huge grains of salt at this point of course)
NEGATIVES
Stevenson got worked over hard by DJ Moore early in camp -- not a surprise but he's gonna be picked on by opposing OCs
Darnell Wright has has some sloppy reps as you'd expect of a rookie
Velus Jones, after a few good practices in a row, was back to his old tricks with drops today
Nate Davis isn't with the 1s. Minor injury? Something else? Bears watching but Patrick has been playing RG last 2 days
Fields still has some plays where he appears to be holding the ball too long
PJ Walker....lets just say he wasn't my ideal choice as a #2 cuz he ain't good
POSITIVES
DJ Moore is a beast as we all hoped. Best Bears WR since Marshall was here in his prime
Claypool has been full go and dominant in 4 of his 5 practices open to public. Guy is making plays.
Mooney looks 100% and is also getting recs
Dexter has shown some flashes lately and concerns about him being "slow out of the blocks" look overblown.
Tyler Scott has serious talent and serious speed. He's also been making plays.
No major injuries we know of and nothing medical has come up with Claypool, Mooney, Jenkins, JJ, or Jackson
Terell Smith has been getting 1st team reps lately and looks like he belongs
Overall Fields and the O look a lot better than in prior camps
MY TAKEAWAYS (granted they have only had 1 padded practice so far so OL, DL, and RB play is tough to evaluate)
Moore, Mooney, and Claypool are gonna be a really good 1-2-3 punch at WR if they can stay healthy. Add in Scott who I think is gonna be a solid player for us with some experience under his belt, and the WR group actually is looking like an emerging strength rather than the glaring weakness it usually is.
The secondary is looking solid and deep. Vildor, who is a decent backup, may struggle to make this team (although I think he will). He WAS a starter so that should tell you how things have elevated.
Fields has had more good days than bad and he looks smoother, more confident, and has a quicker release. Still some warts apparent though.
Still need an edge rusher and we can't really get much sense yet of how good or bad the lines will be.
Breakdown of what I've read/heard so far from TC via twitter, pods, and YT reporters: (all of these come with huge grains of salt at this point of course)
NEGATIVES
Stevenson got worked over hard by DJ Moore early in camp -- not a surprise but he's gonna be picked on by opposing OCs
Darnell Wright has has some sloppy reps as you'd expect of a rookie
Velus Jones, after a few good practices in a row, was back to his old tricks with drops today
Nate Davis isn't with the 1s. Minor injury? Something else? Bears watching but Patrick has been playing RG last 2 days
Fields still has some plays where he appears to be holding the ball too long
PJ Walker....lets just say he wasn't my ideal choice as a #2 cuz he ain't good
POSITIVES
DJ Moore is a beast as we all hoped. Best Bears WR since Marshall was here in his prime
Claypool has been full go and dominant in 4 of his 5 practices open to public. Guy is making plays.
Mooney looks 100% and is also getting recs
Dexter has shown some flashes lately and concerns about him being "slow out of the blocks" look overblown.
Tyler Scott has serious talent and serious speed. He's also been making plays.
No major injuries we know of and nothing medical has come up with Claypool, Mooney, Jenkins, JJ, or Jackson
Terell Smith has been getting 1st team reps lately and looks like he belongs
Overall Fields and the O look a lot better than in prior camps
MY TAKEAWAYS (granted they have only had 1 padded practice so far so OL, DL, and RB play is tough to evaluate)
Moore, Mooney, and Claypool are gonna be a really good 1-2-3 punch at WR if they can stay healthy. Add in Scott who I think is gonna be a solid player for us with some experience under his belt, and the WR group actually is looking like an emerging strength rather than the glaring weakness it usually is.
The secondary is looking solid and deep. Vildor, who is a decent backup, may struggle to make this team (although I think he will). He WAS a starter so that should tell you how things have elevated.
Fields has had more good days than bad and he looks smoother, more confident, and has a quicker release. Still some warts apparent though.
Still need an edge rusher and we can't really get much sense yet of how good or bad the lines will be.
That's a great post, thanks for posting that, MP. It does give us a good idea of the Bears strengths/weaknesses at this early point. Good to hear that Fields is looking better, and the WR unit looks like an emerging strength - but it is interesting that Fields still has some plays where he holds onto the ball too long. He's got to work on overcoming that... but surely that IS something that can be overcome with work.
Here is a YT video posted by The Football Scout (Sanjit_T on X/twitter) on the first day of pads in TC. Some nice stuff about Darnell Wright. Also, a criticism of Cody Whitehair not getting low enough. In his defense, the opponent on that play is Andrew Billings. As I said in another thread on Billings, I have been watching him since he was a Baylor player. He is a beast and a really solid NT. At 6'1" and 315, he has a natural low center of gravity and has really quick initial moves. He gets lower than his opponent more often than not and is immensely strong. You are seeing something of what we will see from Billings in the regular season.
Here is a YT video posted by The Football Scout (Sanjit_T on X/twitter) on the first day of pads in TC. Some nice stuff about Darnell Wright. Also, a criticism of Cody Whitehair not getting low enough. In his defense, the opponent on that play is Andrew Billings. As I said in another thread on Billings, I have been watching him since he was a Baylor player. He is a beast and a really solid NT. At 6'1" and 315, he has a natural low center of gravity and has really quick initial moves. He gets lower than his opponent more often than not and is immensely strong. You are seeing something of what we will see from Billings in the regular season.
Good stuff. But you can tell it's early in camp and there is a LOT of work to be done before the first regular season game. But that's normal... as you pointed out it was the first padded practice. And the "real" D pressure that Fields will get in regular season games will be a lot more than what he is facing in these TC practices where he knows he's not going to get hit.
Post by dachuckster on Aug 5, 2023 16:30:19 GMT -6
Reports from Day 9 of TC. Things getting a little chippy. Claypool objects to a potential tackle out of bounds by Jackson and rips Jackson's helmet off (starting about 2:45 in the video below). I don't think it was of any real consequence. More like a quote form Eddie Jackson, "iron sharpens iron".
