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Episode 2: Da Bears' Offense
34 Plays1 year ago
On this episode Stein and Omar talk about the 2023 offense of the Chicago Bears; things to be excited about and things to be worried about, as well as what the Bears should look to accomplish in order to consider this season a success. Join them and learn about the offensive line, the skills player, and everyone's favorite running back, Justin Fields!
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Transcript
Introduction and Recap
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Bear Claw Podcast. I am your host, Omar Delgado with me, Zachary Stein, also known as Stein. We're here for the second season, second episode, sorry, not season. Second season. It's been a long time. Yeah.
00:00:22
Speaker
Second episode of the Bear Claw podcast. Last episode, we recapped the last five years of Bears football. And we also went into a little bit of our fandom and had some fun facts for
Bears' Offensive Strategy
00:00:33
Speaker
you. So this episode, we're going to go into the offense. We're going to talk about some of the changes that have happened. We're going to talk about some of the things that we're excited for, offense-wise, and some of the things that we're a little worried about.
00:00:48
Speaker
And we're just going to have fun, because we're also going to be talking about Justin Fields, because he is a huge part of the team and the offense. So yeah, let's get started. First things first, I want to do just some things that we, there's something that I wanted to bring up just from last episode that I feel like we missed. That was really huge. I don't think we talked about, I don't think we talked at all about Tariq Cohen's injury.
00:01:15
Speaker
He got injured and it felt like that was pretty big because he was a really, really big part of our offense. I really enjoyed watching him play. And honestly, if you, if you get the chance, you should read stuff about his story because he's had a pretty rough life, but has fought through a lot of adversity to make it into the NFL. And it was just really unfortunate. I felt like when he got cut from the beers, I don't know if you have anything you want to say about that Stein.
00:01:41
Speaker
I don't other than I agree. I think you should absolutely take the time and dive in. It's a very interesting story. And I think that's one of the reasons we love sports and that we buy into sports is not just because we love watching people just brutally beat the shit out of each other, but also because because of the stories. Right. We have the Cinderella stories. We have the underdog stories. We've got
00:02:05
Speaker
It's the stories that really drive us and I think remind us that these people who are playing these games are just that they're still people. So yeah, a big fan of Terry Cohen and highly recommend going and looking into his story.
00:02:20
Speaker
I also wanted to bring up, uh, I looked into the, see if, cause we were talking about lovey Smith last episode and we were talking about how it would be cool if we could bring them in for a one day contract and I looked, I could not find anything. So I don't think that's been done for a coach. Um, but you know, there's a first for everything. Yeah, I think it'd be great for lovey Smith for him to be the first. Yeah. 100%. All
Draft Decisions and Strategy
00:02:41
Speaker
right. So to start off talking about the offense this year, I think it's important. Um, last year,
00:02:50
Speaker
With a three and 14 season and a win from the Texans at the end of the season, thanks to Olivia Smith, we ended up with a number one draft pick. And I think that's been huge. We've been able to make a lot of moves. And Ryan Pols has done a pretty good job of turning that into.
00:03:06
Speaker
turning that into a lot more. What were your thoughts on that when you first realized it? I was, I mean, I was really excited because it's just, there's so much potential, especially like, I don't know. I felt personally like we didn't need a quarterback. So it was like, all right, we have a lot of, and there's a lot of other teams that didn't need a quarterback. So I felt like we could, we just had a lot of options and opened up a lot of stuff for us.
00:03:30
Speaker
I was getting really pissed off honestly, because I kept hearing it wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get me worked up of sports commentators saying that the Bears should have drafted a QB last year, which I just thought was ridiculous.
00:03:45
Speaker
the idea that you would trade or you would draft a quarterback when you have one that, yes, granted he hasn't shown that he is for sure the guy and he still has room for growth, but the idea that you would trade what you've seen in him so far for someone that hasn't played a snap in the NFL to me was just psychotic. I couldn't believe that people were even talking about it. It just was ridiculous
Justin Fields' Development
00:04:12
Speaker
to me.
00:04:12
Speaker
I fell in the camp of there's no fucking way that we should draft a quarterback high again.
00:04:19
Speaker
Again, because my and I've said this in the last episode and I've held this. Yeah, Chicago Bears are not known for developing fucking quarterbacks like don't do that. Don't waste my time. Don't waste your time. Stick with fields. He showed us enough to at least earn another year. He absolutely has some proving to do as a as an NFL quarterback, right? Yeah, the completions just aren't there.
00:04:46
Speaker
The route recognition just isn't there. What he excels at is extending plays using his legs, but that's only going to take him so far. And so regardless, even with a number one draft pick, I would not have wanted to go.
00:05:06
Speaker
With a quarterback even by trading out the number one draft slot So we could get more picks and get more things later down the road I would hope like even I was even then like great. Don't use them for quarterbacks. Yeah Because I didn't think I mean there was no real like standouts There was no one that was like this Quarterback is gonna be the next big thing. You know, I mean no there was no one that was like huge like this is a gen that was Immediately obvious was gonna be a generational talent
00:05:36
Speaker
There were absolutely a couple that are closer to Like a traditional like what you would look for in an NFL quarterback But you're absolutely right none of them were truly like the standout like end all be all like that's fucking Peyton Manning Yeah, like this guy is a number one exactly. Yeah draft pick for sure. Um, I
00:06:02
Speaker
So so, yeah, for me, I think wasting high end. And that's the other thing I'd be. I want to see the stats on Cubies who go high in the first round, second round and their success rate like as an NFL quarterback through an entire career, you know, who goes on to truly become a franchise quarterback for longer than like two or three seasons. Yeah.
00:06:27
Speaker
and I would be willing to bet my left testicle that it is very low. That's your most valuable testicle, I think, too. It is. It's the only one that ever dropped.
00:06:40
Speaker
I just don't think that wasting that, again, the data doesn't support taking a quarterback that high. It just doesn't. So what we were able to do, we got that number one draft pick and then we turned it, initially we traded it to Carolina, to the Carolina Panthers. They gave us the ninth and 61st overall picks of 2023 and the 2024 first round pick and a 2025 second round pick and DJ Moore.
00:07:09
Speaker
DJ Moore. DJ Moore, who I'm pretty excited about. We'll get into him a little more later. But I think the consensus on him is that he is a true number one wide receiver, which is something that we've been kind of lacking in the field. So we got those, and then we turned that. We ended up going down from the ninth pick to the 10th to get Darnell Wright an offensive tackle. I have notes on him.
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah, we'll get into him later, too. And then we traded our 61st pick and our 136th pick overall to Jacksonville to move up to the 56th overall pick for Tyreek Stevenson, the cornerback, which is a defensive position. And that's not what we're talking about this episode. So we will not be getting into him later. No, no. Yeah, we'll hit him next episode for sure, though.
00:08:06
Speaker
So before we move on into everything else, I really wanted to just set, I just want us both to set the record straight on our opinions on Justin Fields. I don't think we have to go too far into it, but I just wanted to at least talk about it because I think it gives appropriate context so that we don't have to maybe clarify or feel like things aren't understood later on.
00:08:28
Speaker
I think it'd be more fun if we each state what we think the other person's doing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There I got the sky high. Like, you know, like obviously if we're dreaming, then kind of our more sober and like serious takes on Justin Fields. Do you want, you want to go first? You want me to go first? No, go first, man. It's your show. Lead the way, bro. So look,
00:08:53
Speaker
Well, our show let's let's keep let's keep that let's keep that clear. It's our show But look in my head Justin Fields, I mean we're already we're guaranteed a Super Bowl, you know, we already won This year is already ours. It's a lock Justin Fields is gonna make a huge leap. He's gonna be the MVP We're setting up a dynasty
00:09:16
Speaker
they might as well just give us a Lombardi for the next three or four years. Just don't even worry about it. You know, honestly, I hear that's why Aaron Rodgers fucking with that. That's why he let you get a point. There's no point because I don't know if you remember this, but Justin Fields met with Aaron Rodgers in the offseason. So.
00:09:33
Speaker
I think he, I think Aaron Rodgers met with him and he knew what was coming. He told him check his cell phone. I better get out of the way because this guy is a real deal. So yeah, I mean, obviously you want, you want the best. You want the best for your team. You want the best for your franchise and your quarterback. You want them to do well. So when I, when I daydream and, you know, start letting myself go, I mean, I only see positive things. My little more sober take is that I think
00:10:01
Speaker
Justin Fields has a lot to prove still. I think he's shown some really great flashes and some really great potential. I really admire his work ethic, and I think he's very tenacious. He wants to win. He wants to win with the Bears. And despite being put in shitty situations, continues to have a great attitude. But I do think he's got a lot left to prove, and he's by no means locked in as our guy.
00:10:33
Speaker
Awesome. Awesome. Um, I think I do take more of the sober approach generally, uh, just because I've had this experience with a few quarterbacks that in the last 20 years, um, when we first drafted him.
00:10:57
Speaker
I literally rolled I not rolled my eyes. I I was sad and not for us. I was sad for him for him. I was just like, fuck, like it's another. Just extremely potential young man that is coming into this league. And it's like I just felt like he deserved to be with an actual quarterback development team.
00:11:27
Speaker
And so I've been hesitant with him because
00:11:34
Speaker
because untapped potential is only ever going to grow as much as it can within the environment that is trying to help it blossom. And the bears have never been there for a quarterback. And so I just, I think he has already blown away my expectations, whether those expectations were because, again, because I just was like,
00:12:01
Speaker
I can't have expectations high or if it was because, you know, I mean, I think it's his work ethic that really he was like, I'm not quitting. You know, he reminded me very much of like Jay Cutler when he first came to Chicago. Yeah. Of like Cutler's like breaking fingers, but still running it. He's like, I might not be able to throw up, but I'm going to run this fucking ball as hard as that. You know, I'm not a runner either, but I'm going to get that first down. I want to try, you know, like that kind of stuff. And it's like he had that he had that Chicago attitude.
00:12:30
Speaker
And I think that's the thing that one field's over for me in the last year or so is he embodies what Chicago football is. And so... And the Midwest spirit, I think. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. That hard work that, you know, knows the grindstone that... That you're gonna... Hey, just keep playing. Yeah, keep your head down, push through. Just keep playing. Okay, bad play, keep playing. Keep playing. Go out and make a better one.
00:12:59
Speaker
And his demeanor, I mean, I think the leadership skills are there. So, yeah. So for me this year, Justin Fields opinions is, is I'm, it's either going to be very good. We're going to see good increase, like more, uh, higher completion percentages on shorter passes. Um, hopefully a little higher on some of the, the mid and deep balls, um, not checking down as often would be great. Um,
00:13:28
Speaker
not having to use the leg so often would be great. So that's what I'm really hoping for, especially with some of the coaching pieces that they've done and moved around and some of the offensive weapons that they've put that they've stacked him with now. So or or things are going to not click and he's going to have to try to do last year again. And he probably won't be able to do that two years in a row. Yeah.
00:13:55
Speaker
So that's kind of where I'm at with him is like, I'm sincerely
Roster Strategy and Preseason Insights
00:14:00
Speaker
hoping that the move we've made the right moves. Yeah. It all logistically has made sense. Now it comes down to culturally, can they bring that team together? Yeah, I think that's fair. I think that's a very fair assessment. So going into this year, as opposed to previous years, um, in the last few years,
00:14:23
Speaker
When cutting down the roster, it's been done week by week. And it looks like this year, they're not doing that. It looks like they have one date. That is just, this is a hard cutoff. This is when you need to have your roster established. This is when you have to have major cuts by. You got anything to say about that, Stein?
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, so for the preseason, you have 90 slots, and then you cut down. August 29 is the hard cutoff. You cut down to your 53-man roster. So usually, they would do it every week of the preseason. They would have a certain number you'd have to get down to. This is the first year that they're not doing that. And so I think team by team is sort of taking a different approach on that, as far as like, OK, well, do we keep on 90 through the whole preseason and then make a giant cut on that last day?
00:15:11
Speaker
Whereas other teams have been sort of progressively cutting so that I think it's not as difficult. The other thing to keep in mind here.
00:15:21
Speaker
Uh, next we're going to go through like offensive acquisitions and departures. Something to keep in mind is that as we're discussing this, it's only August 21st. So we have eight more days before that hard cutoff. We've got another series of preseason games still to go through this weekend. Um, and so that's an opportunity for some of the young bloods and those guys that are on the cusp.
00:15:43
Speaker
of either being the 53 man roster or being part of the additional 16 on the practice squad of trying to like make their statement and show value to their team but not only their team also other teams so you might see more movement from the bears you should see more movement from the bears as far as
00:16:03
Speaker
who were cutting, but also trades that might take place or claims off waivers that might take place within the next eight days. So keep an eye on that. Oh yeah, absolutely. Especially with this whole idea of it being 53. Also, just a quick little fact on that is that only 48 are allowed to be active on game day. So you have your 53 man active roster. Only 48 of those can be active on game day.
00:16:29
Speaker
And then you've got, in addition to that 53 man active roster, you've got 16 on the regular season practice squad. So just keep that in mind. And that stuff changes once we head into the playoffs, just FYI.
00:16:44
Speaker
Where do you see the bears on I mean it seems like the bears are more on the cut them all at once at the car at the cutoff is that right or Yeah, so looking through some of the cuts that like the moves if you just follow like the Chicago Bears website you can actually see Calendar broken down day by day on what we're doing and based on That we have not made a whole lot of cuts yet at all. So
00:17:11
Speaker
I don't think we'll hold out until the very last day. I think we will probably hold out until after this final round of Preseason games which ours is what Saturday? So that's the
00:17:27
Speaker
Sixth, so we'll have three days from there. And I think that following that game, you'll probably start seeing a handful, like chunks at a time. Yeah. I think I like that a little more, the waiting till the end. Yeah. You know, not necessarily to the last minute. Right. But I think waiting till you are your preseason games out of the way and seeing what you really got. I'm really interested to see what deals get brokered within those last, especially within like the last 24 hours. You know, that's what I'm excited to see. It's like,
00:17:57
Speaker
Oh, who's going to make a major move that was unexpected? Yeah. Yeah. All
Offseason Acquisitions and Player Development
00:18:02
Speaker
right. So with that, we'll move into the offensive acquisitions and departures that we had this year. The big one we had was DJ Moore, the wide receiver from the Panthers. Then we also got Nate Davis, the offensive guard from the Titans. We got Deontay Foreman, a running back from the Panthers. We got Darnell Wright, offensive tackle who we drafted from Tennessee College.
00:18:22
Speaker
uh, Mercedes Lewis we got from the Packers and then Roshan Johnson the running back who we also drafted this year from Texas and then our big departure which was for me very difficult was David Montgomery because I really liked David Montgomery um but I guess he just wasn't gonna stick around
00:18:41
Speaker
I think it was something like he wanted a little more than what we were willing to pay him, which seems to be the case for running backs. Running backs are really getting, it seems like screwed on this market. It seems like they're not getting paid what they're worth, or I mean, just what they want, I guess.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean that's definitely a big issue, right? That's come to light, unfortunately. Especially when you think about just the longevity of a running back in the NFL. Yeah, they don't have a lot of time. They really don't have a lot of time to get their money's worth.
00:19:15
Speaker
Next I wanted to touch on Luke gets here real quick, just because obviously I mean he's the offensive coordinator. He's going to be a huge part of our offense. We touched on him last last episode. We talked about how he was brought in by Matt Iberifluis. He was. He was a quarterback in college and then he was a former QB coach for the Packers.
00:19:36
Speaker
Dropped a lot of play action and I think a lot of I think towards the end of the season was doing a lot of design runs for fields And I wonder I mean, we'll see what he does this year. I think it's gonna be With our depth in the running back position seems like we might be pretty run-heavy But we also got a lot of weapons for fields to pass to so I'm excited to see what he'll do with the offense I think he's got a lot more weapons and a lot more opportunity this season
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, I think picking up DJ Moore, picking up a couple of, you know, Dante Foreman, you know, the running back.
00:20:09
Speaker
who is traditionally more of like the between the tackle style runner, right? And then to fit in with our traditional or traditional with our current running backs with, you know, Herbert and hopefully a couple of these guys that we've picked up in the off-season as well. I think that that's going to spread the usage. I think you're going to see really good usage utilization of the backfield in conjunction with
00:20:39
Speaker
the wide receiving core, just because we finally have like, I think a more well balanced talent pool when it comes to the wide receiver position. And I think that's going to fit right in with
00:20:56
Speaker
With the coaches play style, you know, as far as he does have a lot more of that action type, he does have almost it's faster paced, right? It is a little more of like a West Coast offense almost. With play action, which is definitely going to suit fields very well. Right. But now that he actually has weapons to utilize and spread the field and like it's going to raise more question marks for defenses on like, well, shit, they could go anywhere.
00:21:24
Speaker
Yeah. Now he actually has someone to pass to. He has someone to pass to. He could break out and then still pass it. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Yeah, I'm excited. I think that it's going to be a nice, a good year to iron some of that out. I sincerely hope that that wider series crew is working together to like unify, you know, to become like a brotherhood almost rather than
00:21:51
Speaker
like one standout with three other guys. Right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's talk about the hogs. We're going to go through. I think so on paper. I'm just going to have we're going to go through who is on paper right now as our starting line. We're just going to go through and talk a little bit on each of them. So we're going to start at left tackle with Braxton Jones.
00:22:13
Speaker
Braxton Jones, we drafted him last year. Um, last year was his first year and he didn't miss a single game, which is, you know, that's really good. Hard. Yeah, that's hard to do. I mean, especially your rookie year. That's, I mean, that's crazy. Um, especially as a lineman and, uh, he was the pro football focus, all rookie team, which is pretty good. Um, yeah, he showed out last year. He did. I mean, he was solid. He was, you could absolutely count on him to show up and, and, and,
00:22:41
Speaker
That's what we need is you need consistency on the fucking line. Yeah, especially after, um, yeah, I mean, last year we had, he was, it seemed like not seemed, he probably was the, uh, the only consistency we had on the offensive line last year with just so much rotation and so much injuries and movement and stuff. Yeah. Our offensive line group was almost never the same. Yeah. Um, so moving on from him, we'll go to the left guard, Tevin Jenkins, uh, who I think was playing tackle last year. And then this year decided they were going to move into a guard.
00:23:11
Speaker
We drafted him in 2021 from Oklahoma State and I mean I don't know he's he's had a lot of hype around him and it seems like people are really excited about him I personally like like him personally he's really funny on on Twitter if you're sorry ex you know if you if you follow him I got to see any of his any of his tweets and stuff he just he seems like a really cool guy but I don't know I don't think he's really lived up to his potential yet
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean I think he struggled with injuries as well. He's been injured a lot. I don't know if you saw the Today they already announced that he's he might miss some some regular season games. He might be out and I mean That's as much as I like him if you're not available like yeah well unfortunately at that position though what you are what you do have to look at is a
00:24:00
Speaker
how often are you available, right? Like the percentage that you're available. So if you're still above a certain amount, you're above average. And at that point, it's like you got to take that and you have to have a little depth then in that position. And your unit needs to make sure that you are solid with X, Y and Z, you know, in place there. So but I think that the spirit and
00:24:26
Speaker
Like his personality lines up with that cultural piece that we're that we've talked about. Yeah. Hit on every now and then with the team culture, making sure we're keeping good guys in there who are keeping their head straight. And honestly, at that point, I keep giving him shots as long as he's available more often than he's not. And he's got the right attitude. Like he's going to go out and do his job well and hopefully as well set a good.
00:24:51
Speaker
expectation for his backup. Yeah. Like that. These are the issues that you must fill or get the fuck out. Right. Yeah. Do you think I was kind of thinking he's he seems like he's I mean, we'll see how his career pans out. Right. But to me, it seems like he's almost Kyle Long like because I know Kyle Long suffered with injuries, too. But still was a big part of the Bears line and the Bears offense. Yeah. No, I could absolutely see that. He's got the right personality for it. Yeah.
00:25:18
Speaker
Yeah, so and he's still young he's still young. Yeah, I mean those in check and second third year in the Third year in the in the league earlier. So going into his third year. Yeah Yeah, he's still got he's still young Moving on the center. We got Cody white hair another I mean another old lineman that was not in the position That he's in this year that he was not in the same position that he was last year. Mm-hmm I think last year he was playing guard
00:25:47
Speaker
2019, he was able to make it to the Pro Bowl, but I just hasn't performed the same since then. I was reading that he struggles with shotgun snaps, which I can relate to, because I played center for a little bit in football, and I could never seem to get that down. Dude, probably the smallest center you've ever seen, honestly. I was the second string center, because I was the first string tight end.
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah, I was the second string center, and I was specifically brought in for shotguns. Yeah. Dude, I cannot. I can't tell you. Too many. I sat over the quarterback's head just because I could never really figure it out.
00:26:29
Speaker
That's funny. Yeah, Cody, it's kind of a mixed bag. I see something. I see some people saying, you know, he's not as good as he was. And then I've been seeing a lot more recently of people being like, he's going to have a blowout year. This is going to be a really good year for him. Everyone should be excited. He's going to have a great year. So I mean, we'll see. Got high hopes for him.
00:26:50
Speaker
Well, I mean, he his first four years were fantastic with us. I mean, that that's why he got the extension that he did. He didn't miss a game. He was I mean, he was like consistent. He was, you know, but. But yeah, when he came back from injury, it just it never.
00:27:09
Speaker
He just never seemed to get back up to it. And then 2022 came in and he had another injury that ended the season. You know, so it's like he he has played center in the past before for like eight games, but just wasn't consistent at it. Now, I think because he's allegedly healthier
00:27:33
Speaker
I think slightly leaner as far as his body just not carrying as much mass to where he's able to move a little bit better. He's less likely, hopefully less likely to get injured. I think that's why people are like, this is the year that he makes that comeback. It's definitely enemy's got the talent for sure. He's proven that.
00:27:55
Speaker
Yeah, I still don't think it's a high bar to try and improve from Sam Mustafa, who was our center last year. He didn't necessarily set a high bar for the center position. So next we got Nate Davis at right guard. Consistent. Who has been consistent?
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah, again, you need consistency. We've only got it in two people right now. Yeah, that's the tough part. Two out of five, which is not great. No, no. Yeah, not much else to say
Offensive Line Changes
00:28:21
Speaker
about him, I think. I think this speaks for itself, just consistency. This next one, though. Darnell Wright, I'm excited. Darnell Wright. Darnell Wright. So we drafted him last year. The years thing always throws me off. So we drafted him this year?
00:28:35
Speaker
I don't know, right? 2023. Yeah. So this is going to be his rookie season. I was I was laughing pretty hard when I was reading. They did the article about how he came in and they were like, yeah, he just fucking he crushed it at the conditioning test and they talked to him about it. And he's like, oh, yeah, I was actually doing the I was doing the wide receiver workouts by accident. So he's running as much as the wide receivers were, which was pretty crazy. Well, it's not just running. It's like footwork and agility. Yeah. Honest to God.
00:29:04
Speaker
I think that might have helped him even. Yeah. I was thinking, I was like, why aren't they doing that anyway? They should be working that stuff. Hard cuts, the deceleration to that quick change of direction to acceleration. They were working on some pretty good as a certified strength and conditioning specialist. I was looking through what he was doing. I was like, what the fuck were you thinking? Some of this really does apply to your position.
00:29:31
Speaker
I'm also not surprised. He's not a specialist. His job, his education is not designing athletic programs based on each individual athlete. He's giving a workout. He's like, I'm going to do it.
00:29:47
Speaker
So Yeah, I respect hustle, you know, I wonder if at any point he was like looking at the you know at the word at the workouts being like What the fuck dude? Why are you running? So maybe it was just like the pros are next level. Yeah So I'm excited for him though because he is a true right tackle So he played
00:30:13
Speaker
Playing in college he was in the SEC as a Florida fan like I'm very familiar Going up against him the last couple years So he finished with the lowest blown block percentage in the SEC at point seven percent With no blown blocks on designed runs in 2022
00:30:34
Speaker
So as opposed to like scrambles, right? Where like the play was not supposed to be around it turned into that doesn't, that's not, that's not usually like, that is a separate metric that they will use. Cause offensive lineman have to like bet.
00:30:51
Speaker
They're like, oh, no, I was on my sign block. This was not supposed to be a run. Right. And now it is. So I got to improvise here. Exactly. So he's no, he is a legit offensive lineman built and bred for it. And so I I.
00:31:06
Speaker
He is one of my like asterisks for this year. Like keep an eye on, keep him healthy, hopefully. And honestly, because he came in trim too. I think he had lost like what, almost 30 pounds, like 20, 30 pounds coming into like camp and stuff. Right. Now, obviously he's, they've, they try to like put a little bit of that. Yeah. But I think having that, that footwork and the better like
00:31:31
Speaker
Coordination is going to also translate well into being less likely to get injured. So yeah, let's see if we can get some consistency out of him Obviously the thing is that while he was number one at what he did in his position in Arguably the toughest division in college football
00:31:52
Speaker
The thing is that once you get to the pros everybody is that yeah, yeah, right like that's the difference is like fucking everybody is Top ten everyone's a world-class athlete. So I'm very excited to see how he performs against some of the best Yeah, so some good hype around him and hopefully you can look up to it. Absolutely. I think the theme for the for the old line is really just
00:32:16
Speaker
you know, the best ability is availability. And so if we can just keep everyone healthy, and then the games, I think we'll be doing all right. So we're gonna move on to the skill players now, we're gonna start with Colcomette. I really like Colcomette. I think we touched on it a little bit last last episode where he
00:32:39
Speaker
I was online a lot and he was getting a lot of flack even to into a second year and people were just ready to trade him and you know, trade them, trade and trade them. I just don't, I did not agree with it then. And I'm glad we didn't. He's from Notre Dame.
Key Players and Contracts
00:32:50
Speaker
He's also from, he's not from Notre Dame. He went to school and played at Notre Dame. He's an Illinois boy. And yeah, this year we signed him to a four year, $50 million extension.
00:32:59
Speaker
earned it. Yeah, he earned it. I'm happy about it. He's a great blocker. I think he's improved his hands. Oh, he absolutely has. Yeah. So good blocker, good check down good mid and I think he'll be a better midfield option this year. But really blocking blocking. I was a blocking tight end. Like I just feel like often that is a skill set that is
00:33:20
Speaker
forgotten about. If you have a solid lockdown tight end, that's an extra weapon that you can utilize, especially in play action stuff. I'm excited to see. I sincerely hope that they actually leverage him this year though. That's the big thing.
00:33:39
Speaker
Like I don't want a game where he's highly, you know, where he's targeted 12 times and then he's targeted once in the next game. There needs to be some type of consistency there or some type of floor with him where it's like at least six targets or something, you know, like make it, it's got to be consistent with him. Yeah.
00:34:04
Speaker
How about Chase? Yeah, moving on to Chase Claypool. We got him from the Steelers in the middle of last season and we gave the Steelers a second round pick. And yeah, just another player that I don't think, I mean, just hasn't been available. He's been injured a lot. And I think in the moment when we traded for him, it was halfway through the season. So we obviously didn't know that we were going to have the first pick in the draft.
00:34:25
Speaker
this year. And I think Ryan Paul's really made the move just to try and get Justin Fields any sort of weapon or any sort of talent to throw to. Absolutely. It just doesn't seem right now like it's panning out because he's consistently injured. Hasn't yet. At the time it made sense. Let's get him someone that, you know, Claypool had proved himself with the Steelers, had a couple of like
00:34:49
Speaker
that the potential was there. Yeah, so I know I saw a headline early in during camp that basically said that some parties within the Bears organization were not
00:35:04
Speaker
happy or impressed with Claypool and sort of him, how he was showing out in camp or I guess the lack of showing out in camp. He just didn't seem like a self-motivator, like he didn't really seem
00:35:21
Speaker
The general gist of it seemed like he didn't give a shit. Something to consider, especially in the sense he's going into a contract year. Whether he wants to stay with the Bears next year or whether he wants to show out this season so that he can earn a spot
00:35:41
Speaker
with a different team and show value so that he gets a solid contract next year to continue his career. This is a contract year for him. It's very interesting that that was the feedback. Has had those injury issues with last year and then already some injury with camps and practices over the summer now.
00:36:08
Speaker
Honestly, I feel like I've seen this a lot in the many, many years of watching the sport. My personal take is I'm over him. Yeah. Like if the attitude isn't there, if the attitude isn't right and and nothing against him, I'm a big proponent for mental health and emotional health. And this is an extremely stressful and
00:36:37
Speaker
high requirement position to be in and sport to be in. Right. Yeah. But to that end, like you also got to show up. You got to show up. Yeah, I'm with you. It's still a job. Yeah, it is still a job. And I don't know. It's not like you're I mean, we've already we've talked about it. It's that that that is a huge part of what Ryan polls is trying to build here is a good culture.
00:37:03
Speaker
Um, and yeah, i'm over him and i'm honestly not super worried about it because I think either he's gonna he's either gonna shape up or they're gonna get rid of him Yeah, because I think they are at that point. They're just I don't think I don't think I don't see this team putting up with any bullshit like that No, I think they're truly trying to build something and I don't think that they're gonna you know It's not he's not antonio brown, you know, he's not he's not like uh
00:37:24
Speaker
What is it? Someone who could have potentially been a top five of all time. And like, no, this is not. You're not going to deal with that when you're trying to build, especially with a younger crew, especially with you're trying to build for a an established future, not just a one time one off win a Super Bowl. Right. Yeah.
00:37:47
Speaker
Another player that I that I think I'm That I think could be a big part of the offense is equanimia st. Brown. He's already I think shown some consistency with the Bears We got him from the Packers. He spent four seasons seasons with them and overall I think he's just a really interesting like just really interesting individual a part of a really interesting family Those first couple years with the Packers. He was the deep ball guy He was the one that Rogers with like ping just
00:38:13
Speaker
randomly, you're like, how the fuck did he get over that? He was that guy. So I remember watching in those first couple of years, he was with the Packers. I was like, God damn, that dude's going to be a problem. And then when I found out that we got him, I was like, yeah, okay, cool. He's going to be a problem for everyone else. Not our problem.
00:38:28
Speaker
Yeah, just interesting guy. Speaks French, German and English. His brother, Amun-Ra, is a wide receiver for the Lions. Dude, these fucking names are fantastic. Dude, yeah, killer names. Equinimis, St. Brown, Amun-Ra. Ancient Egyptian is one of my favorite times of history. Yeah. And Amun-Ra, I'm just like...
00:38:50
Speaker
The funny thing is is they're both they're both the last name to st. Brown but neither of their parents is last name is st. Brown Their dad John Brown is I guess the closest thing to their last name and he was a former mr. Universe apparently Did have some success some in the bodybuilding world, which is pretty cool
00:39:10
Speaker
Next we're gonna move on to Darnell Mooney I mean, I don't think there's much to say I think he's been he was pretty good last year And I think this year is gonna be good for him, too And he's not usually hurt. I don't think he's like an injury. Yeah, he's not grown person He just happened to have an injury like but it's not he's not consistently injured He's not someone that we have to worry about on a week-to-week basis. He's usually one that is very consistent that we can rely on Yeah
00:39:37
Speaker
good route runner, good attitude. I think overall, you know, good, good guy to have in that in the huddle. So I think regardless of what the wide receiving unit looks like, I think that he is absolutely going to be a standout for this year. He's going to have a good year this year. Yeah.
00:40:01
Speaker
Um, yeah, and then we're gonna let's finish off while the wide receivers at least the wide receivers of note with the big one here We got DJ more. Mm-hmm. I'm really excited about DJ more a legit wider savory a legit number one
00:40:16
Speaker
a legit number one under multiple quarterbacks. It's not just that he has been, it's not just that like, well, this quarterback made him a number one, which we've seen that in the past. No, he's proven to be a number one under multiple quarterbacks.
00:40:34
Speaker
Yeah, what have you heard? Have you heard anything about like from from camps with him meeting up with fields and stuff and the other wider singers? Yeah, I mean, it seems to me that he just has a really great chemistry with fields and everyone that sees them hanging out is like those guys, you know, they're like brothers already, which is really great. You know, that's what they're just hanging out all the time. It seems like there are a lot of social media posts with them together just, you know, shooting the shit and hanging out. So, yeah, I'm really excited about him.
00:41:03
Speaker
The funniest thing about DJ Moore, and this has been much talked about, if you took his career receiving yards right now as a young man already, he is the Bears' all-time leading receiver. He has 5,000-some yards, and no Bear has ever had that. We're looking at fields number one behind him, so expect some big things out of them, right? Do they hit the splash plays? Do they get the beautiful, slow-motion things on Twitter? Guys, they're getting like five of them a day.
00:41:28
Speaker
The chemistry is real. Jaquan Brisker, who's one of the stories of Camp 2, the young safety for the Bears, he comes out and he says, they're like best friends already on the field. People are saying it looks like they've played together for three or four seasons, like their old college teammates. They're not. I don't really think they knew each other at all before Moore showed up. But it is really, really cool how well they're working. And Jason, we're just looking at him. He came out, had a great connection with him in the preseason.
00:41:56
Speaker
which is preseason, but it's still great to see. So yeah, I think it can be for fields to have a legit number one. And it's going to be big, I think. So DJ Moore is definitely going to be a key piece as well this year. And it seems, I mean, we just have a lot of depth at running back this year. Oh, we do. Absolutely. I guarantee we'll end up cutting. I think we have like six or eight people in the roster right now. I guarantee we'll end up cutting down to four. Yeah.
00:42:28
Speaker
Possibly with a fifth on the practice squad, possibly if it's someone that we could utilize. Like a dual threat, right? Yeah, the big one is is Khalil Herbert. Oh, he's going to be big for us this year, specifically because he's going to be the number one RB. He's the he's the best running back on the team right now. Yeah, he's handsome. Yeah, there's no he's been with us for a little bit. We got drafted in 2021. And he's he's done a good job. He was the number two to Montgomery.
00:42:56
Speaker
And that was it. That was a great tandem and I think he's really shown that he's willing to do the work and step in with rent. Yep He's proven that not only can he he's a great pass option, but He holds on to the ball well he he can run both outside the tackles and inside the tackles he's proven that as well so a couple of nice real draw plays for him and
00:43:20
Speaker
So I'm excited to see him get that number one. I I hope that he's not a traditional number one though where like he gets Large majority, you know, I mean like or where he's like like two of the three primary snaps He's on you know, like yeah, I would because of the depth that we have it running back. I would love to see him I Would love to have a rotation of yeah, yeah a like
00:43:48
Speaker
A tandem of two with a third option as well. And just because if we've got it there, let's use it. Let's, let's use it and really mess with some people, you know. Yeah. I mean, when you don't know which running backs coming at you, I think it can be harder to scheme and plan for that. So yeah, I think he's going to have a great year this year and I'm really excited since he's going to be getting a majority of the snaps and he's earned it. Absolutely. Um, another running back that we have is Roshan Johnson.
00:44:16
Speaker
picked him up this year out of Texas. He was part of a duo down there. He was technically the backup. It was less of a one to punch and more of like a. Utilized when when necessary, but I mean, he averaged three point nine six yards after contact. He was. Very good for a dual running backside, but he also
00:44:45
Speaker
Because he wasn't a true number two, like they had a true number one. It wasn't a tandem. It was a true number one with a like a third down situation back type guy. So he doesn't have as much mileage on the legs and the joints, which is something that I'm looking forward to. I would love to see how he performs the season. He's another one of those asterisks that I've got to keep an eye on this guy.
00:45:09
Speaker
Some other pieces for him. He is one of the biggest backs in this year's rookie class. He stands at like six four two hundred and ninety Five point one broken tackle rate which was second
00:45:26
Speaker
in the NCAA and managed a 5.9 eluded tackle rate, which is fourth in the NCAA. And all of that is according to some articles on ESPN. So he never cleared 123 carries or 31 targets in a season, but because of his size and efficiency, he only had one career fumble.
00:45:46
Speaker
Um, and at like, he just, I think he, he might be one of those, you know, he's in there with Cleo Herbert and Dante Foreman and Travis Homer. I think that he, it would be really fun to see him like get a little bit of work in this year and possibly like be one of the.
00:46:03
Speaker
want like a two next year, you know, kind of earn that spot. Yeah. So that's someone that I want to keep an eye on and see. He's, he's also the youngest on the squad. He's 22. All the others are like 2526. So which is still young, but like, I'm looking forward to see what he can turn into. Yeah, that'd be exciting to see.
00:46:26
Speaker
All right, so we've covered all the skills positions, and we've covered the hogs up front.
Justin Fields' Journey and Performance
00:46:33
Speaker
So now let's get to the big one. The big number one, Justin Skyler fucking fields. We drafted him. Oh, JF. Yeah, JF1. We got him number 11 overall, and that was in 2021. And we had to make a couple moves.
00:46:56
Speaker
to go and get them. I think we touched a little bit last last episode about how it was kind of getting, drafting Justin Fields was kind of a Hail Mary for both Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace because they both were well aware that they were on their way out and they think they were trying to make something happen. To get to move up to number 11, we traded our number 20 and number 164 164th overall picks in the 2021 draft.
00:47:23
Speaker
And then we also gave away 2022 first and fourth round picks. And all of those went to the Giants so that we can move up to number 11 and draft Justin Fields. A little bit of background on him. He's from Georgia originally. And then he actually played college ball at Georgia. And then after his red-shirt year, he transferred to Ohio State.
00:47:45
Speaker
Hey guys, just quick correction. Justin Fields didn't have a red shirt year when I was saying that I meant to say his true freshman year because he did not red shirt. All right, back to the show.
00:47:56
Speaker
The Ohio State. The Ohio State. Sorry, sorry. Bitches. So yeah, in his time there, he led the Ohio State to two Big Ten championships, which is no small feat. They had a fiesta ball appearance and a college football playoff national championship appearance.
00:48:16
Speaker
Unfortunately, those both ended in losses. The Fiesta Bowl, they lost to Clemson. And then the national championships, they lost to Alabama. But I mean, there's a lot of good teams that have lost to Clemson and Alabama. And then after those two years, he had two years of eligibility. But he decided to forego those and declare for the draft. And so that was in 2021. And that was the year we drafted him.
00:48:41
Speaker
So his first year in the league, he was, uh, we had Andy Dalton that year who was going to be our starter, who was our starter. So he didn't really get to play a full season and didn't get to come in until, um, Andy Dalton hurt his knee against the Bengals.
00:48:56
Speaker
um yeah i mean we went into we kind of recapped his years so i don't think we have to go too in depth but uh i think one of the big things i just i just i can't get over it he he took so many hits that year his rookie year yeah his rookie year he just got it wouldn't fucking sell he wouldn't he refused and i i still don't even when he did it you could tell it's like oh it's because he doesn't know how yeah sure it wasn't that wasn't that he can't it's literally that
00:49:23
Speaker
that, or no, it's not that he wouldn't, it's that, oh, he can't, he cannot slide. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's, it's different. You can, I think you can maybe take a few more of those hits in college, but when you're in the NFL, you're getting hit by big boys. And, uh, when you're the quarterback, you don't want to be taking those.
00:49:41
Speaker
But yeah, in 2022, he played almost a full season. I think he would have played his full season if he hadn't gotten hurt again. I went through in 14. Again, we touched on that last episode. I wanted to touch. We listed all the records he broke last episode, but I just wanted to touch on the two big ones that I think kind of stand out. He's one of only three quarterbacks in NFL history with over 1,000 yards rushing.
00:50:05
Speaker
And so it's him, it's Michael Vick, and it's Lamar Jackson, which, I mean, pretty big names. Pretty good company. He broke the record for the most quarterback rushing yards in a single regular season game with 178, which that was Michael Vick's record before he held that for 20 years. And like we said last episode, he now has cleats around the hall of fame, which is pretty cool. But yeah, that year too, he got injured twice. Would you say he's injury prone?
00:50:37
Speaker
I don't think it's so much that he's injury prone as much as that. He is. Prone to put himself in poor positions for his for his position. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like as a mobile quarterback, like he's prone to put himself in dangerous situations. Yeah. And I think a piece of that is. A piece of that is just his grit. A piece of that is his I do not want to lose. And if I'm going to lose, I'm going to fucking pound you in the face for it. Yeah. You know, like that.
00:51:07
Speaker
So, and I get that, but also like you are an investment for this team. Bro, I need you to take care of yourself a little bit this year, you know, hopefully with a little bit better.
00:51:20
Speaker
and consistency at the O-line, we'll see that. The other nice thing that I've noticed throughout the preseason games thus far is that our wide receivers are actually blocking shit. You can tell that they're working on technique and skill and trying to iron that out. So it's good to see that they're not just a bunch of divas out there who give a half-assed piece of shit block. Yeah. Yeah, they're bought in. Yeah. Yeah, I think I want to touch a little bit
00:51:49
Speaker
How much last year, how much do you think him getting sacked, him taking hits, his poor stats, how much do you think was on him and how much do you think was on the O-line and not having weapons?
00:52:07
Speaker
Because I see this constant back and forth online and yeah, it's just, you know, because he's a good leader, because ultimately he knows that as the leader, regardless of whether, whether it truly is the fault of a lack of consistency at the old line or whether it's not having enough weapons.
00:52:25
Speaker
Ultimately, it doesn't matter. He's the leader. He's the one that needs to execute. He's the one that's going to be held responsible. He is the face. He is like that's just part of being a leader. You accept that responsibility. So if you ask him that question, I would think that he would say like, hey, this is on me, but we're going to do it. You know, we've got this. If you're asking me. As a. Former like I identify with
00:52:52
Speaker
Lineman, I 100% give the majority of the issue to the lack of consistency of the offensive line. Not on any one person on the O-line, it is a group thing. When you look at championship teams who wear their offense, it just fucking clicks all the time. You go back through it and you look and you see that brotherhood of those five to seven guys that are just always together, they eat together, they train together,
00:53:20
Speaker
They are bunkmates together during camp. They are roommates together when they're traveling at hotels and shit. They are just constantly together versus some of the teams where that doesn't exist. You show up, you go to do your job.
00:53:38
Speaker
you know, that that that click just isn't there. And so for me, I think a big portion of that was the lack of online, the lack of consistency at the online level, as well as the lack of consistency of weapons for him to utilize. Also, weapons don't fucking matter if you can't block, right? Because you have to buy time for him to have to even identify and utilize those weapons. So.
00:54:01
Speaker
or for those weapons to run their goddamn routes. It doesn't matter if they're not blocking long enough. Yeah, if there's no time for the player to develop, it doesn't matter how.
00:54:09
Speaker
Yeah, how good they are. Yeah. So that's right. It is for me. Yeah, I would agree with you. And I think because I would agree and I don't think it was any one of it like it was on the old line. I could a good majority of it, but I don't think it was any of their faults. No, I don't think there was much. There wasn't much that could have been done. Like it's not like someone were getting hurt in their job. Yeah, right. You know, it's not that it's just because of the issues. Yeah, it was constant. It was a constant barrage of injuries and
00:54:37
Speaker
lack of consistency at that point. But they all went out there and fucking tried. It's not that they didn't try. It's just you don't have that moving in unison. You don't have that Spartan front line of people, men who have trained together, athletes who have trained together side by side for years. That just hasn't existed yet.
00:55:00
Speaker
Alright, so going into this year, I wanted to touch on the preseason game because Justin Fields is off to a phenomenal start. DJ Moore is off to a phenomenal start. It's a really good change of pace back, better at blocking and better at catching the football here this offseason.
00:55:20
Speaker
First touch for DJ Moore. They used him in a ton of ways in Carolina. This was one of them. And there he goes. Goodbye, touchdown. Welcome to Chicago. DJ Moore, 62 yards.
00:55:36
Speaker
So the first preseason game against the Titans, right? They threw fields out there. They threw the O-line, the first team O-line out there. And they threw out DJ Moore, basically the whole first team offense. And Justin Fields went three for three for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
00:55:57
Speaker
Which is pretty soon. So the touchdown to DJ Moore was at 64 yards, something stupid. Like first pass, first play that he got, like he was like, got it, ran it all the way down. He came off the field and I don't know if you saw like interviews with him or anything. He came off the field and he was like, I'm done.
00:56:16
Speaker
Yeah, no, that was cool. I mean, I know it was preseason, but it was still cool to see that connection and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. I saw online people were like, you know, if he keeps the space up, he's going to throw for like over, he's going to go like, you know, 20 and like just, you know, just crazy. They, they, they, they flushed out, they flushed out the stats. Yeah. Yeah.
00:56:43
Speaker
It's like, well, if he keeps this up, you know, he's going to go like, you know, 50 for 50 was like, you know, 5,000 yards and, you know, 30 touchdowns is like, he's going to end up with a perfect QVR. Yeah. So yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. And I thought that was fun. It was preseason for sure. But I think it was good to get them out there and see a quick little flash of stuff.
00:57:05
Speaker
This year I think things for him to improve. I think he needs to get the ball out quicker. And I think he needs, last year he was playing a lot of hero ball. And I think a lot of times because he had to, and he felt he had to. To sort of branch off of that back to the online piece, it's sort of cyclical, right? Where we run into the cycle of
00:57:33
Speaker
The block fails because of a lack of consistency on the front line. He scrambles. Yeah. Play falls apart. It extends. Offensive linemen have to pivot and scramble themselves.
00:57:49
Speaker
injuries, more injuries occur. You know what I mean? Like, so there was, it was just this lack of consistency starting up front that sort of cycles back to him. So he couldn't ever really get in a good rhythm. He couldn't get used to getting the ball out quicker to taking those easy plays, you know, not having to play hero ball, right? And then, which would end up put the offensive line back in a bad position to possibly get injured again. So yeah, it was, it was tough. It was tough.
00:58:19
Speaker
So yeah, those are things for him to improve. I'm excited just to see him play, just from the past few years, just any time he's on the field. I mean, he's had so many plays where he just makes a big something out of a big nothing. You know, things that could have been negative plays. Story of my life. Yeah.
00:58:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm ready to see a deep ball. He's great. He's got a great arm, I think. He's got great arm strength. And I think down the field, he's got pretty good accuracy.
00:58:50
Speaker
I think it's tightened up as well in this offseason. I think his accuracy has tightened up a little bit. So I'm excited to see that in actual game time situation. So yeah, he's he's ready. He's ready. He's excited for his third season. He said earlier this year that he plans on passing for he plans on reaching the 4000 yard passing. I think he's absolutely more than he wants to get more than that.
00:59:18
Speaker
I'm excited to see him stick in the pocket more. I'm excited to see him. Not have to extend plays and prove some of the pundits wrong, but more importantly, to prove. The people who have stood by him, right? That's what I'm excited for. Yeah, he absolutely can hit 4000 passing yards. Fucking Mitch Trubisky can.
00:59:50
Speaker
Yeah Hey guys back with another correction Mr. Biscay never got over 4,000 yards passing the heist here got was a little over 3,000 and if Justin Fields were to get over 4,000 He'd be the first quarterback in the over hundred year history of the Chicago Bears to do it So just wanted to make that correction back to the show
01:00:09
Speaker
Again, no, no shame to Trubisky like I my same philosophy applies to him as well. I definitely don't think that he was suited to come in and
01:00:19
Speaker
be a Chicago Bears quarterback, he should have absolutely had an opportunity to go somewhere and develop first before. I think he had the right stuff to be a Chicago Bears quarterback, but I think that the skill should have been developed ahead of time and then he would, like we trade for him when he's in like a third, fourth year. Yeah, I wanted to, that was something actually that I think we didn't get to last episode that I wanted to talk about.
01:00:45
Speaker
And we can just touch on it real quick, but I just I think I think mr Biski could have been really good. Oh, would he have been a Hall of Famer? Maybe not. But I do think I think Chicago wasted his potential. A hundred percent. A hundred percent agree. I don't think it was just Chicago. I think it was Nagy that did it, too. Yeah, for sure. So because Nagy was I mean. Just stopped utilizing him to stop playing to his strengths for some reason, just stop playing to Mr Biski strengths and.
01:01:13
Speaker
I mean, what can you do when the coaches. I'm all too familiar with favorite quarterbacks getting suddenly stop being utilized. Sorry. All right. So I think now.
01:01:30
Speaker
You were saying? Yeah, so as far as fields, though, I'm excited to see him make some good traditional passing to prove that he can, while also still just burning people with those fucking legs. Yeah. That's always exciting to watch, man. Oh, yeah. Always excited to watch. Yeah. Because he really can, man. He can outrun. He can shake you out of your cleats. He's got great cuts.
01:01:56
Speaker
But yeah, you're talking about armorability and I think when we start talking about what we consider success overall for the Bears, I think that's something that if fields can show is like you were saying, stay in the pocket more.
01:02:15
Speaker
If he has more time for it to let for a place to develop and for him to read read routes and read defenses and stuff like that. And if he makes a little leap that I think a lot of people are saying that he can. I think that'll be success. And I also think if we can if we can have some sort of consistency on the offensive line, I think that will also consider that success for the Bears.
01:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. As far as records,
Division Rivals and Playoff Potential
01:02:40
Speaker
I don't know. I kind of swing back and forth because I don't want to be too optimistic. But I mean, I think, but I also don't want to sell ourselves short because I'm talking about considering it a success from a record perspective. Yeah. When we start talking about record, because I think initially I'm like, if we go over 500, that's a success. But then at the same time, I'm like, I think that's selling us a little short.
01:03:00
Speaker
I think especially in the NFC North with what it is right now. I mean, Detroit is going to be I think the team to be in the North. The Packers didn't get any better. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, we'll see what we'll see what happens with Vikings. Yeah. Vikings didn't get any better. I would argue the Vikings didn't get any worse. But I mean, the Lions have been truly building for the last few years and truly made
01:03:28
Speaker
leaps and bounds and respect to that organization for that like and taking having a true like players coach finally I think has helped them so they are the ones that I'm I'm more interested in this season so for me my big thing is I'm looking at divisionally if we only drop one divisional game this season to
01:03:59
Speaker
the one of the Lions and one of the Vikings. That's a success to me compared to last year. Yeah. We better beat the fucking Packers this year. I swear to God. Yeah. I mean, we'll see if they luck out and get another generational talent at quarterback, but I think there's still a huge, huge, huge question mark on Jordan Love.
01:04:21
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. It'll be interesting to see what they what they put out this year. Yeah. But so for me, I look more divisionally because that's what's going to determine whether or not we make it in a wild card or into the playoffs at all, you know. So yeah, because I don't think playoffs is too pie in the sky for us.
01:04:37
Speaker
No, I don't. We just stated that statistic in the last episode. It's like 50%. Yeah, 50% of all teams that make the playoffs, don't make it the next year. So at that point that leaves there's 50% open. There's eight slots open. So why not us? Why not? And especially, again, looking at the division of what it is, we absolutely could position ourselves to
01:05:05
Speaker
to at least if we don't win out the NFC North to at least position ourselves to be a wild card. And I think too, just watching all the moves that we've made, I really don't think, there's nothing that I've seen that we've done and been like, that was an awful move. Everything we've seen, I've been like, good move, good move. Yeah, no, I think it's been smart moves. It's made sense. Again, that's why I said, we're coming up on that eight days, August 29th, August 29th. And that's what I'm watching is after this weekend, I want to see what additional
01:05:35
Speaker
Not just the cuts. I'm looking more for the acquisitions and who we pick up off waivers and if we trade and Those are the big ones and I'm looking for are we trading it for anyone at that last last minute? so I would expect us to just with the fact that we haven't cut a bunch of people yet and You know knowing how important this season is in taking that next step towards longevity for the program and
01:06:03
Speaker
Is there anything that we haven't touched on that you would consider or that you're looking for to consider this next season of success offensively? Offensively, honestly, consistency on the O-line is the big one. I know I've hit on that before, but like to be, for me to consider this a success, even if we don't, even if we ended up at 500, I don't give a shit about the record. If our own line was together,
01:06:25
Speaker
the majority of that time, that gives me hope for next year. You know what I mean? Like I'm looking down the road. I'm looking longevity. I need it more experience and consistency on the frontline. That's what's going to allow fields to take the necessary steps to that next, become that next level quarterback that we're looking for. Yeah. The O-line is going to be, I mean, it's, I think the O-line is foundational to any sort of success, no matter who you are in the league. You have to have a good, consistent O-line.
01:06:55
Speaker
So I think now we can move into things that will go with things we're most excited about and things that we're the most worried about. Do you want me to go first? Do you want to go first?
01:07:06
Speaker
I'll go first with what I'm most excited about. I'm most excited about some of the young talent that we picked up in the draft. Because again, I think that they were smart moves. I think from a data perspective, they made sense. I'm interested to see how those play out. I have a good feeling about them. Whereas in the past, I've been like,
01:07:31
Speaker
You sure? Was that the best move? Sure. But yeah, that's what I'm excited about this season. I'm excited for the offense to actually not just be the Justin Fields show. Yeah. Yeah. We have like a truly balanced offense as far as talent is concerned. At any moment, any one of those guys could pop off. And so that's where I'm like,
01:07:57
Speaker
Yes, yeah, I think that'd be an exciting yeah and take because I feel like our wide receiver core is really balanced too Which I don't know if you would agree with me, but I feel like I just don't think we've had a really good good Yeah, yeah, and I honestly I would argue that the last time we did have that was with color yeah, you know I mean and that's just
01:08:18
Speaker
What are you going to do? That was a while ago. That was been a while. So yeah, we're due for it. And I think we made good moves to get that there. So yeah, I fully agree with that. I don't know if you heard it. I heard a little bit of Chicago come out and me just now. Dude, honestly, even listening back, dude, the last episode, there was a few times that the Chicago comes out of you like very like and like not even you're not even trying to do the accent. You're just talking and I'm like, oh,
01:08:46
Speaker
I always, one of my favorites is I always, I always quote Nick Miller from New Girl, you know, when he is pretending to be like he takes, cause he's from Chicago, but like he, he's playing a, his character is playing a character where he's like, he really like ramps that bitch up. He's like dang crust pizza. No, thanks. I'm from Chicago. Oh, he's great. Love that guy.
01:09:12
Speaker
Alright, you want to hit what you're worried about or you want me to hit what I'm excited about? Dude, give me your excited piece, man. What I'm the most excited about is that I think this season, I think we're going to get our answer to what Justin Fields is going to be for us. I think we've taken away almost every excuse. Is that what you're most excited about or what you're most worried about?
01:09:34
Speaker
I mean a little bit of both, but I, cause I think, I mean, we're just excited cause we'll finally, we'll just finally have our answer. You know what I mean? And I don't think, I think with the culture that's being built, I think with what Ryan polls is doing, I don't think it'll break us if Justin Fields turns out to not be that guy. I think you're right. I think that he is establishing a culture and a team necessary that even a field is not that guy.
01:09:59
Speaker
that there is a strong enough foundation built in that we could
01:10:05
Speaker
potentially bring in that guy. So yeah I just see that as like you know either he is that guy and we lock in with him and he's everything we are saying he's gonna be which is gonna be fucking awesome or he's not and we I mean it's not like we're locked in with him for the next eight years or anything I mean he's gonna he's got what one year two years left on his rookie contract
01:10:31
Speaker
And, you know, once that's out, if it's time to part ways with him, then that's how it is. And I just, I know I'm excited enough and I feel good enough about what's being built around him that if it's not him, you know, it's not and we'll be all right. So I'm just excited to have that answer. And for people to find, I just, I'm so sick of all this speculation and I'm sick of all this fucking bullshit of like,
01:10:52
Speaker
back and forth of like, oh, well, this stat, oh, well, that's that always not good here, but he wasn't good there. Well, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, I just, I'm ready for the season to start and I'm ready for us to see, you know, what he actually does on the field. So what are you worried about? Uh, I'm really worried about the, the old line. Cause it's just, I mean, like we mentioned before, only two out of two out of five right now of our starters are consistent, which means three of three out of five are question marks.
Concerns and Optimism for the Bears' Future
01:11:19
Speaker
And that's really not good.
01:11:20
Speaker
And one of them is untested. Yeah. Yeah. One of them at the professional. Yeah. Yeah. So I, that's just what worries me most because I think, I think that is the one excuse that maybe would, if that maybe will prevent us from finding out or that we could point to and be like, Oh, we didn't get to really see what Justin Fields was because of the old line. And I just think, no, I am going to throw this out there. Okay. Just as a slight counter. Sure.
01:11:46
Speaker
Currently on the roster without cutting. We have two centers. One, two, three, four, five, six guards and 10 offensive tackles. All right. So, so we have, we do have some depth there as far as talent. I was going to say how many of those guys are, you know,
01:12:12
Speaker
Exactly. Like how many of those are we got bodies, but we and so it's kind of like, OK, well, I would be interested to see who who's going to be that guy, who's going to be the one that that steps in when they're needed, you know, and yeah, I don't know. It's we'll see. Yeah, we will see.
01:12:36
Speaker
But yeah, that's my main worry. I just want, I, cause I really do want consistency. Cause I think that will, I mean, it's just huge. It's a huge part of having a successful offense and a successful team is a good consistent offense. If we lacked, if we lacked the consistency, it's going to be, I do not have high expectations on addressing fields this year. And just, you know, and, and, and nothing on him at that point. Again, he'll own that it's him, but ultimately.
01:13:01
Speaker
He's only gonna be as good as the what we surround him with so we surround him with trash. He's he's gonna be trash. Yeah. Yep I Am I am most worried about On the offensive perspective, yes, okay Yeah, we're saving the defense is next week so
01:13:25
Speaker
Because I have notes on that. Offensively, I am I am. Most worried about, I think I agree with you. We've we've beat this horse to death about the online consistency. So on top of that, I am also worried about injury at that wide receiver crew, because while we did go out and get good talent, we do have a well rounded.
01:13:55
Speaker
I don't know what the depth looks like at that, and I don't know what the skill discrepancy is once we start diving into the backups. Like what's the drop off between the starters and the backups? Exactly, exactly. Do we happen to have a couple of sleepers who should be like twos and threes, maybe a four? Who knows, and we'll find that out.
01:14:20
Speaker
You know, Claypool I thought was going to be a key piece and just through what I've seen in the offseason and camps and reporting from that. I just I have like zero faith. Yeah, he just hasn't been it. And so, but I think Mooney has really stepped up.
01:14:41
Speaker
because I would have argued that at certain point, Clay's pool could have vied for a second position. I don't think that is the case. I think Mooney should absolutely be a number two. Yeah. Mooney's earned it for sure, I think. With more is the number one, obviously. Of course. So that's kind of mine, is the moment that we have a deep enough backfield, but the moment that we don't have a wide receiving core,
01:15:09
Speaker
all that stress goes right back on the field together. So my bigger worry is that injury starts, that injury monster starts hunting down the wide receiver court. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that's huge worry because I don't think Justin Fields can take another year of what he's been doing the past year. I think he could take one more year.
01:15:34
Speaker
Think so, but like as a human being he might be like I'm fucking like I'm dead Yeah, I just worry about it. You know Cam Newton situation with fields. Yeah Yeah, just taking too many hits and just not being able to do it anymore All right, anything anything you think we missed or that you want to touch on again I
01:15:56
Speaker
I don't think so. I think on the offensive side, I'm excited. I've seen some solid play calling from the preseason games thus far. I think that's what preseason games are really about. It's less about the starters. And I think it's more about like all the back end stuff, the stuff that you don't. It's not the players, right? It's the coaching staff. It's the
01:16:14
Speaker
the sideline people it's the the water the water boys and the town girls and you know whoever like they are it's the organization outside of the players having an opportunity to really hone their role in all of this and then those on the cusp people of trying to show out and and and earn some value whether that be with the bears or whether that be earning value through the bears
01:16:44
Speaker
They might get cut from us, but picked up by someone else, or they might have proven valuable enough that we trade them, swap them of some sort.
01:16:59
Speaker
I think we've pretty much hit it all. I like the way things have been flowing so far and I'm looking forward to one more preseason game and let's see what those cuts look like. Yeah. Yeah. The cuts and moves that we make on that last, on those last eight days is going to be exciting to see. And I'm just, dude, I'm just ready for the regular season to start too. I'm so excited for the season. I think it's going to be a fun season. All right. So you got anything you want to plug?
01:17:27
Speaker
Plugs. I mean, hey, I still have another podcast out there. Chick Flicks with Dicks. Let's check us out. Chick Flicks
Podcast and Personal Projects Promotion
01:17:33
Speaker
with Dicks. Flicks is spelled with an X. You can find us on just about any podcast streaming service that you can think of. We also have an Instagram page that we've got. We're very, really active on that unless we have an episode coming out. But we definitely have a handful of seasons that plenty of really good episodes out there. Go check it out.
01:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, otherwise that's that's my primary plug. Right on. Yeah, if you guys want to follow me, see what I'm doing and find some of my other work, I do a lot of music stuff, but you can find my Instagram page. It's O H M A R Daniel Omar Daniel.
01:18:16
Speaker
And my music projects, all my music stuff, you can find on pretty much anywhere you find your music, Spotify or Apple or anything else that you might use. And that's just under my regular name, just Omar Daniel. Also, if you guys want to follow the podcast, we are the Bearclaw podcast, the Bearclaw Pod, sorry, on all socials. Right now we have TikTok, we have an Instagram.
01:18:42
Speaker
Yeah, those are the big two. And then also if you want to send us an email, you know, some hate mail, you can send that to, you can send that to bearclawpodcontact at gmail.com.
01:18:53
Speaker
Any comment? I mean, as long as it comes with a five star review, I don't give a shit. Yeah. Oh yeah. Guys. And actually you've asked me to write the fucking, you can tell me a little piece of shake and be like, you know, yeah. Okay. Five stars. Yes. Yeah. Rate is five stars on, on whatever podcast platform you're using rate is five stars. Go in there and give us a five star rating. Um, Oh, I did have one more. What's that? Keep an eye out because I will be dropping my.
01:19:20
Speaker
So I mentioned earlier that I am a certified strength and conditioning specialist and I launched my own business this year. And so I will be kicking off the website coming up. I specialize in one on one coaching and individualized strength and conditioning programming for athletes.
01:19:40
Speaker
You don't just have to be athlete like a high school collegiate athlete or semi pro or amateur or anything. I look at all human beings are athletes, athlete is a spectrum, right? So whether you're a, you know, middle aged guy with a dad bod or, or, you know, postpartum mom or whatever, like everyone has an athlete in them. So that's what I specialize in. So that'll be coming out and I'll share more information with that on the next episode.
01:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's great. Looking forward to that. Guys, if you have any sort of goals, Stein will help you get there. I can attest to that. We both have friends that can attest to that. Stein was a huge part of, when I was a high school athlete, he was a huge part of me getting to my goals. So I can attest to that. If you have anything you want to get to, Stein's your guy.
01:20:26
Speaker
hit me up, uh, real Jim heroes on Instagram, uh, heroes is with a Z at the end, you know, cause. Because why not? Cool. So, uh, that's the end of this episode. Next week, we're going to have an episode dedicated to the defense. That's going to be very, I mean, pretty much the same of what we did this week, just for the defense. So we're going to go through things we're excited about changes that happened, things that we're worried about. Um, so yeah, hope you enjoyed the show. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next week.
01:20:56
Speaker
Bye.