I was hoping we would be at 7, but we won a few more games than I thought we would. Originally I thought we would be at around 10 or 11 wins but as the season went on, Fields got injured and we went on our losing streak I thought we would do worse than we did. Fields came back after the injury and played pretty well.
7 would have been better, but 9 is not too shabby. Especially when you also have 1
I still am stunned how Poles' traded down to get D.J. Moore and that #1 2024 draft pick - and a 2nd round 2024 pick that they traded for Montez Sweat. If Caleb Williams does end up being a great franchise QB, then the Poles move ended up getting Caleb Williams, D.J. Moore and Montez Sweat. And the Bears STILL have their #9 overall pick of the 2024 draft. That would be one of the greatest GM moves in Chicago Bears history. In fact it would probably be THE best. Then he trades our 2024 4th round draft pick for a Hall of Fame level WR, Keenan Allen.
Don't forget we also have Carolina's 2025 2nd round pick too.
But it doesn't change the fact that the 1st overall pick in 2023 was a franchise changer. Imagine if the Texans got it and still drafted CJ Stroud?
Tanking will always help your team out if you do it right. This is why I always say. Its better to be a horrible team than an average team going 9-8. You have a better shot of getting better talent.
Bryce Young hasnt done any franchise changing yet. Jury is still out.
His passing numbers are way better than Fields 3rd year passing numbers. Give that man a team.
He can also play guard. Think of him as interior offensive lineman, if that helps. Centers have been drafted 5 times in the first round in the last 6 drafts. I am pretty confident he’s going in the first round. There are no guarantees trading up or down more than one spot. You do have other players picked for the spot if you miss your primary target. I’d rather have JPJ than whatever DL is #2 on the list.
The league apparently isn't as high on JPJ as we all seem to be. He was injured at the Senior Bowl, and then didn't do a bunch of stuff at the combine.
Eberflus says it’s 80% tape and 20% interview. He performed well at Senior Bowl before injury. Performed well at Pro Day stuff (36 reps on bench press 32-in vertical at 330 pounds, etc). By all accounts, no problem in the Poles interviews with him. He is going somewhere 16-25 IMO.
+1 to Newton. He is in a class by himself... he'd be a great 3T for the Bears. Special for sure.
Byron Murphy is better.
Both are good players. And Murphy seems to be rising in this draft in the last few months and Newton dropping a bit. Newton led the FCS the last two season in pressures (103). Nobody else was close (Murphy had 60... 40 of those last year). It sounds like Newton was playing a bit hurt the last half of the 2023 season and his play dropped off a bit. Here's Newton's stats LINK. Here's Murphy's LINK. Both are solid players and I'd be happy with either. Some have Newton projected as the best 3T in this draft and some have Murphy.
Both are good players. And Murphy seems to be rising in this draft in the last few months and Newton dropping a bit. Newton led the FCS the last two season in pressures (103). Nobody else was close (Murphy had 60... 40 of those last year). It sounds like Newton was playing a bit hurt the last half of the 2023 season and his play dropped off a bit. Here's Newton's stats LINK. Here's Murphy's LINK. Both are solid players and I'd be happy with either. Some have Newton projected as the best 3T in this draft and some have Murphy.
Both are good players. And Murphy seems to be rising in this draft in the last few months and Newton dropping a bit. Newton led the FCS the last two season in pressures (103). Nobody else was close (Murphy had 60... 40 of those last year). It sounds like Newton was playing a bit hurt the last half of the 2023 season and his play dropped off a bit. Here's Newton's stats LINK. Here's Murphy's LINK. Both are solid players and I'd be happy with either. Some have Newton projected as the best 3T in this draft and some have Murphy.
Newton was Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year.
I don’t think either of them is scheduled for a 30 visit with Bears.
But it doesn't change the fact that the 1st overall pick in 2023 was a franchise changer. Imagine if the Texans got it and still drafted CJ Stroud?
Tanking will always help your team out if you do it right. This is why I always say. Its better to be a horrible team than an average team going 9-8. You have a better shot of getting better talent.
Ah you're back to the "Tank every year" plan again.
That’s easy. We are beyond that. The premise is what to do if the top-3 WRs, Alt, and Turner are gone before #9. You are welcome to join the discussion.
You were beyond that. Nobody brought that up but you.
I think 4 QB's are going top 10. I've been saying FOREVER, that if the top 3 receivers are gone I'm trading down...though I wouldn't be too upset if they stayed put and took Thomas Jr. or Verse. I'd be cool if they traded way down too and took Franklin or Adonai too and picked up a 2 and/or 3 to go with it.
Over and over again this year I've thought about how this draft could go a number of different ways - and still be a very good one for the team. The Bears draft board probably looks very different than what the pundits and podcast people have. This is where we should just relax and trust Poles to get it right. Overall he has built a solid young team in a very short span of time. I can't wait to see the players he adds in this draft. I also believe we will see one more key player added in FA. Not just a JAG but another important piece could still be brought in. And by that I don't necessarily mean an extremely expensive piece, but rather a guy we really could use to complete this roster for 2024.
But where are you if Odunze,Alt,Nabers are gone? I thought you were in the “max support for Williams”camp, but now you have flipped over to possibly drafting DL at #9. Screw it. If you’re doing that, I might go back to Johnny Newton.
+1 You're right, I have flipped on this. I would want WR first. But if the cupboard is empty then I would be open to taking an elite DL guy. We should be a much better team this year which translates to lower part of the 1st round pick for the next several years (at least I think that's what's going to happen). This is one reason why I don't want to trade down that #9 pick this year. We won't get a sniff of a pick that high again for a long long time. So I figure we'd better get the best blue chip player we possibly can - don't even THINK about dealing it away. Get a stud. Get one of those elite WRs in this draft, or get a blue chip DL guy. I'd be fine with an All-Pro level elite LT too. That would be a cornerstone building block for the OL for the next decade or so. That's not a slam on Brax, but just accepting that Braxton Jones' ceiling is not going to be anywhere as high as Alt. And I value the LT position enough to go with a young future All Pro there. Brax is never going to be THAT guy.
I agree with all of this. I too would love to beef up the offense as much as possible and give new QB best chance to succeed. My better judgement though, believing we will not pick in top half of draft for a while, is wondering if DE may be the better choice. History suggest a good WR can be found later in draft compared to top DE. I use history loosely as it is my memory of many drafts, nothing scientific.
