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Episode 3: Da Bears' Defense
37 Plays1 year ago
This episode the boys talk about the defense of the Chicago Bears! From end to end, from corner to corner.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Context
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey guys, just a quick disclaimer before we get started. This episode was recorded a few days before we released it, so there's a few things that might not be totally up to date. But anything that's not accurate, there's just a couple things here and there we'll cover in the cleanup at the start of the next episode. Just wanted to let you guys know, but now I'll let you get onto the show.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to episode three of Da Bear Claw podcast. I am your host, Omar Delgado, with me, Zachary Stein. Good old Stein. Hey, that's me. That is you.
00:00:38
Speaker
For those of you who are into this podcast, we are talking Bears. Last episode, we talked the Bears offense. Before that, we did a quick five-year recap on the Bears history just the past five years.
Injury Updates and Offensive Line Challenges
00:00:54
Speaker
And this episode, we're going to get into defense. We're going to be talking about some of the changes that have happened. We're going to be talking about things that we're excited about, things that we're worried about.
00:01:05
Speaker
And we're just going to have a good time. So first off, just wanted to start with an update on the last episode we were talking. We had mentioned that Tevin Jenkins was brought up that he might be out for week one, at least. And just an update on that is that, I mean, Ira Felucis said that he's week to week. So I'm assuming that means he's still going to be out week one.
00:01:35
Speaker
Um, which is unfortunate because I think, I don't know. He's had, he's had a lot of injuries. I was looking it up. He's had a few surgeries. He's had neck problems and I don't know, hopefully that gets better and hopefully it can be more consistent, but it's not looking great as of now. Seems to be a pattern that, that we've had recently, unfortunately. Yeah.
00:01:58
Speaker
And I mean, I know we're not the only team to deal with things like that, but since we are both Bears fans and Bear centric, can be slightly frustrating. Yeah. Well, it was bad because he wasn't the only one. There was like three or four more of the O-line and I think someone else who got hurt.
00:02:17
Speaker
It was just crazy to me five days ago. Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy to me. We were literally talking about how that was like the one thing that we were, we kept hammering on that. We were pretty worried about it. And then that's what, that's what happened was the very next day you messaged me and I was like, fuck. Yeah. The good thing is, I mean, we still got time. I mean, if this were like, you know, week one, week two or like in the middle season, be a little more concerning, but it's still preseason. I mean, we just had our last preseason game. So.
00:02:44
Speaker
Well, and also, I will say, you know, Ava Flus has at least been
00:02:49
Speaker
Um, pretty straight forward with, well, I guess straight forward. They are not disclosing the severity of all of the injuries. However,
Preseason Game Analysis and Strategy
00:03:03
Speaker
they have at least said that they aren't anything to be concerned with. Right. And they're like playing in that middle ground of like not letting on entirely. But I think if it was something serious, they probably would be like, this is serious. And it's.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think if someone was definitely going to be missing a season, they were like, nope, we're fucked. You know, sorry, we're going to move on. But no, they've very much been like, you know, this is just part of it. It's camps, it's preseason. Yeah. Unfortunately, just part of the game. Yeah. Which is the whole thing is fine with me. I mean, I think as fans, we often get a little too entitled, you know, and I don't think we need to know exactly what's going on at all times. I think I trust this coaching staff, too. So.
00:03:48
Speaker
Well, and the spirits of the players seem to be high. Yeah, no one's panicking. Exactly. With that, and you can tell that nobody in interviews, if you watch them, nobody's pussyfoot around, nobody's dancing around the bushes or anything. When it comes up, they're straight with it and they're like, yeah, no, I think we're excited to see everybody healthy. We're excited to see everybody clicking and on the same page.
00:04:14
Speaker
when everybody is healthy. So it doesn't sound like it's any major issues just yet, not enough to actually worry the team. So with that, I'm still hopeful. Yeah, there's no reason to panic yet, not at all. So I wanted to talk a little bit about the preseason, because we just had our last preseason game on Saturday. I mean, my only comments is just it looks like
00:04:44
Speaker
We got some fields passes. I think we got a total of 13 plays that he was in. Was it two or three series that he was in? It was three, right? Yeah. I think it was three.
00:04:58
Speaker
I think it was three because the first two were three and outs. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I just watching this. I don't know. I want to say, OK, it's good. It's bad, blah, blah. This whole thing just reminds me how I'm just so ready for the regular season to start. It seemed like they're just shaking off the rust. There was a few things that like
Roster Cuts, Trades, and Season Implications
00:05:17
Speaker
maybe could have been done better.
00:05:18
Speaker
a few mistakes, like a mistake made by a rookie wide receiver, you know, maybe Justin Fields not reading something the way he should have or whatever. But I don't know. I'm just it's so little plays and people are dissecting so much out of it. And I'm just like, it really doesn't matter. It's like like actually preseason has nothing to do with your starters. No, like at all. Nothing to do with your defined starters. We all know the field is going to be the starter. It's not like there's a quarterback battle going on or anything that doesn't exist.
00:05:47
Speaker
It literally has nothing to do with him. Also, you can't even compare it to what it's going to be like in the regular season, considering that we didn't have the offensive line in there. Yeah. He was not in there with what will be his starters. Right. So which is I don't know how smart that because he ended up his last play. They pulled him immediately after. I don't know if you saw him take that shot. Yeah. That last shot that he took and they were like, just pulled them immediately, which I was a good idea. But it's like, OK, maybe we should have had our starting line out there instead of our third string.
00:06:16
Speaker
Well, they were trying to get in some reps, but at the same point, the whole purpose, and I think we kind of went over this in the first episode, the whole purpose to the preseason has nothing to do with the actual starters. It's to get them a few reps in a game time situation, especially for those who
00:06:29
Speaker
have transitioned into the organization or have someone new throwing at them or they're learning a new system, be it offense or defense. Really what it's for is those starters to just get some game time reps and the majority of it is for who's going to make the cut. It's for the other
00:06:52
Speaker
I mean, there are 22 starters, not including special teams, right? Yeah. 22 starters. So you have a 53 man roster, only 45 get to dress on game day, but we have 90 fucking people on the roster right now. Well, actually.
00:07:07
Speaker
I think we're down to like 87 right now. We're getting there. As of this recording, we have about 24 hours for the deadline. For final cuts and everything? Yeah, for final cuts. You think anything's going to happen? You think any big moves left?
00:07:24
Speaker
I mean, there's obviously going to be some cuts, you know, lots of cuts. Right. Like half the fucking team has to go. Yeah. But because I remember last you were saying how you were excited to see what what moves are going to make. I am excited to see trade opportunities. You think something will happen?
00:07:40
Speaker
Well, I know I know you've got this later on in this piece, but, you know, the Jonathan Taylor rumors now, would he? Is he actually would he be a fit? I mean, I think there were better teams out there for him and teams that have more to offer.
00:07:59
Speaker
you know, there have been some speculation around Mooney and it would be surprising if the Bears tried trading him out because of the statements and that have been made that they've really dug their heels. And I think with how important he is to the organization and the future, I would I would be surprised if they did trade them of of. Sorry, with the development of fields, you know, they've been very open about that. Yeah.
00:08:29
Speaker
But I would not be surprised if there's some frustration from his side of contract negotiations, not. Yeah. Cause this is his contract here, isn't it? Right. This is his last year. So they're in extension talks right now. And so I think that if from a player perspective, if there was any type of frustration with that, I wouldn't be surprised if his camp was like, you know, we're not getting anywhere. We should be further along in this process and we're not, you know, so, so.
00:08:58
Speaker
So that that part wouldn't surprise me. It would surprise me if the bears actually traded him. However, that's kind of the thing I was talking about. Yeah, like because there is value there and we could I don't know. We could maybe solidify the old line a little better or get a little more depth at it with consistency or I don't know, maybe actually lock down the edge rush a little bit more.
00:09:27
Speaker
Just throwing that out there. There's options. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. I'd be sad if you want. I think he's earned his keep. And I think at least this one more year, one more chance to. Oh, absolutely. I think he's great for the organization. I think he's bare football. Yeah, he's come along with fields too, which I think has been.
00:09:46
Speaker
You know, maybe they'll hinge on that, you know, if, uh, if yields takes a shit this season, we'll send them both packing.
Defensive Performance Review and Changes
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, so we're talking about cuts. One of the big, I mean, not big, not major cuts, but I mean, pretty significant cut. I think was PJ Walker. He was seemed like people were pretty excited and he's going to be our number two, but I guess he just.
00:10:06
Speaker
Lost that, I lost that spot because type, uh, type agent has been showing out this preseason in the few opportunities that he's had. Not just the preseason. I mean, he's been showing out in training camps and OTCs, like everything he's been. So he, you know, old school kind of walk. Yeah. Like D two, like quarterback that's earned a spot in the old school way. I think it's just pretty cool. For sure. And I think he's now the number two. Also, when you think about that, like.
00:10:33
Speaker
I mean, nothing is better than Chicago, right? Then someone that's literally like lifting themselves up by the bootstraps or the cleats straps, I guess. Yeah. Travis, the other thing is Travis Gibson requested a trade and the bears gave him permission to look around and see who wants them. That'd be interesting. Yeah. What do you think of Travis Gibson?
00:10:55
Speaker
I mean, I don't really know. I don't know what the value is there. I don't know what. I don't know. I don't that one. I was kind of like, OK, it doesn't. Yeah, his name kept like when we were doing the five year recap and stuff, his name kept popping up like a few, a few times. And I don't know. I just don't. I haven't seen him. This is nothing that makes me there's nothing I've seen that makes me be like, oh, shit, we need to lock him down or oh, shit, we shouldn't be letting him go. You know, so I agreed.
00:11:23
Speaker
Yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Jonathan Taylor rumors, just because, I mean, they kept bringing up the Bears as like a potential landing spot for him. And I just thought that, I don't know, that didn't make sense to me. Whereas, like, I feel like we have a really good and a really deep running back. Like, why would we want Jonathan Taylor? But I think they've been pretty much debunked at this point. Like, I think the Bears came out and said, like, we're not looking for, we're not looking to grab him. So.
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. They've said that at the same point, it would also be like, again, one of those like fun moves. Right. Last minute. Whoa. Big game. Big splash. Also, like, how would how would he fit into that? I mean, he immediately becomes the number one running back, you know, like, so that's sort of like shits on everything that we have established. Yeah. So you'd bring him in and then maybe trade. I don't know. Use your use the other RBS to get more shore up the line or something.
00:12:17
Speaker
Could yeah, but I feel like if anything like that was gonna happen that would have already happened then like they'd be waiting till now I don't know that that's a very complicated one I think that's gonna be that would be like a three team type trade right? Yeah that so I wouldn't be surprised if that one from a legal perspective like Getting like contracts and shit built out that that's one of the ones that was kind of last-minute
00:12:40
Speaker
Oh, really? OK. Yeah, then we already hit. We were talking about Mooney and how he might be. He's one of the names that's been floating around as a trade.
00:12:53
Speaker
But all right, so now that we've done our just general updates and kind of housekeeping, let's move into to the main point of this episode. Let's talk about the defense, the meat of the sandwich here. We'll start off with a quick recap of last year. And so our defense last year was
00:13:14
Speaker
Pretty bad, but also very young. And yeah, I think our team as a whole had the most rookie snaps. But I think our defense in particular was pretty young. Especially our defense, yeah. At one point, Ryan Polls was saying that our team, the Bears had the most rookie snaps played. The next team was 1,000 snaps below us as far as rookie snaps.
00:13:39
Speaker
Um, and then last year I was looking and then the second half of the season, we were basically either last or second to last in every defensive metric. Uh, you know, like third downs sacks and then points allowed and stuff like that. Takeaways. Yeah. Takeaways. So just, just not good, just really not good. It was not, I think bear football, like it didn't feel like
00:14:02
Speaker
You know, you grow up knowing like monsters at the Midway. This is what we do. The defense, the specialty. This is what we do. And last year it was not what we do. Yeah. And I think to be fair, I mean, we had a good amount of injuries and then, I mean, we took the two big hits. We lost Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith. They got traded away.
00:14:26
Speaker
Yeah, which, you know, sucked as a fan from their perspectives. I understand why, you know, like where they are in their career. And I mean, you can't. If I was that good and at that point in my career, like age wise as well, you know, like you're starting to get out there in the years.
00:14:47
Speaker
To where you're like, I've got a few like in my prime left before I start seeing that down the decline down that decline work I'll still be good for another few years after that but like yeah, I Can't waste a full season. Yeah, just can't and I'm still valuable now, you know, like use me. So yeah, it sucked. I think it was mutual I mean
00:15:08
Speaker
I didn't, I didn't see negative stuff with it. Yeah. Well, I think Ryan polls, like as much as they were maybe in the mindset for their career, I think Ryan polls was also on the point of like, we got to get what we can for these guys. Oh, absolutely. Before they get hurt. Yeah. And I think I remember too, I think Roquan, Roquan Smith at that point was really trying to get a big, big paycheck. And I think, uh, I don't think Ryan polls wanted to give them that.
00:15:30
Speaker
I mean, he was arguably him and what Eddie Jackson were probably the two best on the defense at the time. Yeah. So I he he was sort of like the face of the Bears defense, the Bears defense, which usually carries a little bit of value with it. So I would I understand why. Yeah, I don't blame him for trying to get get his money, but I just didn't shake out.
00:15:54
Speaker
Oh, and then, uh, yeah, a couple of the injuries that we had. Uh, I forgot actually that Jack Samborn got injured. He was the one that came in for Roquan Smith last year, and then he hurt his ankle and then was out for the season. And then Jalen Johnson and Eddie Jackson were also really, uh, they were also injured. Man, that stat about Jackson blows my mind.
00:16:14
Speaker
Which my all about last yeah, yeah, so last season Eddie Jackson he missed the last five games of the season But he still led the defense in Most interceptions and most forced fumbles and that's crazy. That's just crazy. Yeah, and he was on track I mean, let me check before I give the stack because it might be a
00:16:37
Speaker
Before his injury and before he was out for the season, he was leading the Bears in tackles, and then he was also leading the NFC for votes to get into the Pro Bowl. So I mean, I can't imagine he would have screwed that up and not been in the Pro Bowl. But I mean, that just makes it, I think even though that sucked last year, I think we have this year to look forward to for him being healthy and back.
00:17:04
Speaker
Especially now that we've shored up a couple of positions. Um, yeah, I mean, cause he is, he's a killer man. Like he's out there. Yeah, he's great. So, um, getting him a little, a little backup, I think is nice.
00:17:19
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So now we're going to get into the defensive acquisitions and departures. So these are just the people of note that came and left. So some of the people we got, we got Tremaine Edmonds, the linebacker from the Bills. We got TJ Edwards, the linebacker from the Eagles. We got DeMarcus Walker, the defensive end from the Titans. Tariq Stevenson, who we drafted. He's a cornerback from Miami. And then we also got Yannick Ngakue. Yannick Ngakue.
00:17:49
Speaker
I'm not sure which one's right, but one of them is good.
Coaching and Development Strategies
00:17:52
Speaker
Honestly, I'm not sure which one is right either. Yeah. No matter what, it just sounds cool. Yeah. So defensive end from the Colts. And then we got Andrew Billings, a left tackle from the Raiders. And then the big departures that we mentioned earlier, Robert Quinn, our defensive end, he left to the Eagles. And then Roquan Smith, our linebacker, he left to the Ravens.
00:18:18
Speaker
And then it looks like I mean, I'm pretty sure Travis Gibson is going to be gone. I don't think he's going to be with the Bears when this season starts. Well, I mean, he just, you know, he came in and he was already sort of going into camp fighting for for a spot for even not even to be a starter, you know, fighting to even be a backup. And he just doesn't seem to have moved up at that at all. So I remember being surprised seeing him like he was playing third string.
00:18:48
Speaker
And I was like, he's getting a lot of reps for a preseason game. I thought he was higher up on the roster, but I guess not. Okay. So now we're going to get into the leaders, the head of the defense, the defensive coordinator, Allen Williams.
00:19:12
Speaker
So Alan Williams, he came to us in 2022 along with Matt Eberfluis, a little bit of background on him. He was a college running back at William and Mary. And actually when he was at William and Mary, he was teammates with Mike Tomlin. He's still the head coach for the Steelers, right? He's still coaching.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yes. So then after he finished college, he started as a high school assistant coach. And then from there, he went back to William and Mary to coach there. And then after William and Mary, he went to the Buccaneers to coach under Tony Dungy. And then Tony Dungy and Alan Williams both went to the Colts.
00:19:55
Speaker
And he was with the Colts for nine years. One of those years was actually the year that the Colts and the Bears were in the Super Bowl. And Allen Williams was with the Colts when they beat us in the Super Bowl. A little fun fact for you.
00:20:09
Speaker
And then 2012 to 2021, he was bouncing around. He was with the Vikings, the Lions, and then he went back for a second to stand with the Colts. And then after that is when he came to us. I was looking at all the kind of positions that he's had and stuff. It seems like he's had a lot of his positions were working with the defensive backs or like the safeties.
00:20:31
Speaker
Which I kind of like to hear. I think that's kind of cool. That's nice. I mean, that's usually, that's from a bearish perspective, that would fit perfectly, right? You would assume just because cornerback safeties, takeaways, I mean, interceptions, like punching out the balls, like that's what they're known for, traditionally. And yeah, so it would make sense to bring them in here.
00:20:58
Speaker
Um, obviously last year was rough between injuries and a bunch of rookies having to step up for some of the starters and veterans. And, um, like that's one of those, you know, throwing them into the deep end, right? Yeah. Just straight to the wolves. Yeah. Um, but having a coordinator and the other thing is that they're the team spirit still, it just seemed like they're just out there having fun still. I think that was something that.
00:21:28
Speaker
both Eva Flus and Williams and Getzi and just the whole pool was really focused on was, look, we are one of the youngest fucking teams out here and now we have the most rookies getting the most snaps and the whole NFL.
00:21:49
Speaker
Sorry. This is not going to go the way that we would like it to. So let's use it as a great learning opportunity so that next year we don't have sophomore slums for you guys. Instead, you can come in and be like, I know how this works now. I've had some good, real action.
00:22:08
Speaker
out there. In the meantime, just go out there, make a good play. And if it fucks up, just get back in there, try to make another good play. And I feel like the team really carried that. Again, look at the record. The record doesn't show that, obviously. No. Three fucking wins. That's rough. But their spirit, I think, was great. And so I'm looking forward to seeing some of that development. I think that Williams is good for that based on his experience, but also with
00:22:38
Speaker
Like everyone being on that same page of what that culture is going to be with the team of learning, moving forward, establishing a nice base. I mean, we run a four, three defense like that's, you don't get much standard than that. Um, yeah, I don't know. I'm looking forward to seeing some of them evolve a little bit this year.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah. Going back to what you're saying, I mean, that's kind of the exact, I remember that's exact, uh, that's the exact same attitude that Ryan polls had. Um, when talking about how, when talking about, you know, having so many rookies, he was, he saw it more as an opportunity and I think came out and was saying, you know, this in the longterm is going to be really good for us. You know, we're going to get a lot of reps for a lot of these young guys. They're going to make going to maybe show out, they're going to maybe, you know, get some experience and kind of be able to know.
00:23:27
Speaker
you know, how fast the game is and get up to speed and stuff. To put it in baseball terms, we have our farm system starting. Starting. This is what happened last year. So it was kind of like, man, fuck it. Let's see what they can do. Yeah, can't get any worse. Expectations weren't too high.
00:23:46
Speaker
So yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit about Juref Luce.
Defensive Line and Player Analysis
00:23:51
Speaker
We talked in the first episode about how it was kind of going against the grain, bringing in the defensive, because he is a defensive-centered guy, more focused, like that's more of his experience has been, is on the defense. And so, yeah, I just was curious.
00:24:11
Speaker
to see how much of a hand he's had in the defense and how hands-on he is, how involved he is with the defense and stuff. Yeah, from what I found with him being
00:24:24
Speaker
being defensive minded, but also bringing in when you put that in conjunction and bringing in Williams as the coordinator. Yeah. I last year, it was focused on the offense primarily so that he could establish that relationship with fields as well as some of the other young guys that are out there, right? He didn't want. I don't think he wanted
00:24:49
Speaker
the record to have a negative effect on the mindset of fields. Yeah. And so having that relationship and showing that support in what was arguably a very, very tough season. Yeah, probably arguably. Yeah, I think the fields has probably ever had. Yeah. And with that, had stepped back a bit from the defensive side this year from what I found so far.
00:25:17
Speaker
is that he is trying to have more of an even split between the two and be more involved with the defense now because of that same issue of there's a bunch of young guys there too now, but obviously Fields is the future of the franchise. So that sort of does take precedent. And then next is him stepping over. However, from what it seems like from the team is that he's not like out there calling the shots necessarily.
00:25:44
Speaker
Williams is still the coordinator. It's still his defense. It's his style. It's his and it makes sense. I mean, with him and Hebrew Flus haven't been coached together before. I think they have they obviously flow well together. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought him in. Yeah, that's I can't imagine Flus would have brought would have brought him in just to micromanage him. Well, I don't think that polls would have agreed to it either. Sure. Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker
What was I going to say? Oh, yeah. Going back to Justin Fields thing, too. I'm sure you just didn't want to focus on the defense because I mean, just in short terms, I guess what you were saying, but you probably just didn't want fields to feel neglected or feel like what the fuck? Like, why is this guy talking to me or something? You know, like you probably wanted to give a fair amount of attention to who is possibly who someone who might possibly be the next, you know, the franchise quarterback. Absolutely. You want to establish that good relationship, especially for your coaching first, you know, like all like everything new and stuff.
00:26:41
Speaker
Alright, so that's the defensive coordinator. Now we're going to break it down here. We're going to start with the D-line. We're going to go into the starting D-line. We're going to start it off with Yannick Ngakue. I'm going to say it like that because I give the, I don't know, because I know you should say that.
00:27:01
Speaker
Bro, I want to tread lightly here, you know, you know, just say say what you want. That's ours. Yeah. Yeah. Nick and Gaku. So I was watching some interviews with him and from when they brought him here, it just seems like he has a really great attitude. I guess his faith is pretty strong. You know, they kept asking him like, Oh, like, how have you managed to be so consistent and how have you managed to, you know, continue to have the success even like been bouncing around so much. And he just pretty much kept answering and saying, Oh, well, you know, God is
00:27:25
Speaker
has put me in these great positions and God has given me a great opportunity to be productive and just have to have faith in him and stuff. So yeah, his faith seems pretty important to him. But besides that, it just seems to have a great attitude. And in one of the interviews he's actually talking about, he's like, oh yeah, I got a bear tattoo. So coming here just feels, you know, I feel like maybe I was always meant to be a bear, which, you know, maybe he's playing it up for something. But I still was like, even if he is playing it up, I was like, I'll eat it up. I love it. I'm here for it.
00:27:57
Speaker
He's moved so yeah, he's moved around a lot. It's been with a lot of different teams It's funny that you mentioned that is like strong in his faith because the next note that we had was new JP question mark and I read that is Jesuit priest
00:28:11
Speaker
I don't know why. That's the old history teacher in me. You know what that's for though, right? Julius Peppers. Oh, okay. Yeah, he was talking because that was one of the things that he talked about. He seems to either read up or already knew a lot about Bear's history. And let's talk about how he's taken a lot of inspiration from Julius Peppers and stuff and hopes to
00:28:36
Speaker
as many defensive end should. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. So he hopes and I think is expected to bring, you know, that same kind of aggressive pass rush and be that it's something we were missing horribly last year. Yeah. Like we didn't have a consistent edge rusher like throughout the season. So, you know, that was one of the things that we went out and tried to get. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can bring.
00:28:58
Speaker
especially, again, coming back to once the defense is fully healthy. That's where we need to see all the killers on the field at the same time is what we're missing right now. Last year is last year. This year is this year's new year, and I'm excited to be here. I've been a part of the system before, and I would just love everybody so far that I've met.
00:29:18
Speaker
Coach Travis, my position coach, we have history back in Las Vegas, and I just love his style of coaching. And I know that he can raise the level of the bar of all of us in the locker room as well as in the D-line room, so. You mean quite here, quite Chicago. Just feel like it was a great fit. Like I said, going back to what this culture means here, just the history here. And also, it's a great transition, easy transition with my position coach and my defense coordinator.
00:29:44
Speaker
Uh, so Yannick and Gakuet, that's the left defensive end. Next, we're going to go to the left defensive tackle. Who is Andrew Billings? Uh, I mean, yeah, I just, from what I was looking at, it just seems pretty, uh, pretty consistent. Uh, his coaches talk about how he's pretty good against the run. Uh, he opted out of his 2020 season. What you're saying is he knows how to stuff a hole. Yeah. Oh, he can stuff it like nobody's business.
00:30:11
Speaker
And I'm not talking one of those, like, double stuffs. It's a mega stuff. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I get you. I get you. So yeah, just something worth noting. You opted out his 2020 season because that was when COVID hit. And then shortly after that, in 2021, the Browns waved him. Fuck Cleveland. Who cares? Cross the board. The whole city could follow all of it. Just ostracized all of our Cleveland listeners. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
You consider Ohio Midwest. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. For a while I was, I hadn't thought about it. And then someone brought up to me and like, do you think Ohio's Midwest? And I was like, I have to think about it, but I think I've landed on, I think, uh, I think they burned it. Uh, so then after the Browns waved them, he was kind of the, he was just on practice squads. I think he was with like the Kansas city chiefs price practice squad and another team. And, uh,
00:31:10
Speaker
He was with the Chiefs and then he was with someone else and then he was playing with the Raiders and then the Raiders after the Raiders he came to us. So now he's with us. Last season he played 14 games and he started 14 games and over those 14 games he had 39 tackles and one sack. Which is not bad for a defensive tackle.
00:31:31
Speaker
Moving on yeah moving on to our right defensive tackle Justin Jones Similar thing when I was looking at him. He just seems like he's this It seems like people talk about him being pretty good against the run also good at stuffing holes he came to us from the Chargers and Last season he was with the Chargers and he had a career high 37 tackles three sacks in 11 games and
00:31:59
Speaker
In 11 games played He did get injured though. I think he was having like calf problems, which is why he only had 11 games as opposed to 17 I will say it took me like when you have an actual calf injury, yeah, I Had never had one until about
00:32:23
Speaker
about a year ago. I had just finished a big cycle on training and hit some PRs on squat and deadlift and then
00:32:38
Speaker
Uh, got a calf injury. It took me nine months to get it fixed. Nine months, like without surgery, it took me nine months. Um, even though I have to spend extra time on it, otherwise it just lights the fuck up. So I can't imagine.
00:32:56
Speaker
carrying that type of body weight around and having to be explosive against another person, that body weight, also being explosive, the amount of pressure that that takes. As soon as I see that calf thing happen, I'm like, fuck, that sucks. It's going to be a while. It's going to be something that they have to work through. For a while. It's going to be something that's going to stick with them for more than one season, most likely.
00:33:20
Speaker
Yeah. Well, hopefully, uh, hopefully it doesn't bother him too much this season, but hopefully not.
00:33:28
Speaker
All right. So started left finishing at the right end with a right defensive end. DeMarcus Walker, who was also coming off a career high. He had 32 32 tackles and seven sacks over 17 games. So he played all 17, which we love to see for the Titans. And he's been he had a great season.
00:33:52
Speaker
Yeah, he's been in the league for a while. So the one thing I wanted to point out is that our whole front four is there. I mean, it's totally different than when it was last year. And then I think only a few of our, I think honestly, even into when you start looking at our depth, you know, and our twos and threes, even then, I think there's only one or two that are the same that were here last year.
00:34:16
Speaker
Yeah, and I actually have notes on that about concerns. That was one of the like notes on concerns that I had. So we'll get more into that. When we're talking about what we're worried about. So that concludes the defensive line. So now we're going to go into linebackers, which I think there's a lot of exciting stuff here. We're going to start off with Tremaine Edwards. Fun fact about him, him and his brother Tyrell,
00:34:45
Speaker
Uh, we're the first brothers in NFL history to both be taken in the first round of the draft, which I thought that was pretty cool. That is cool. Uh, he came to us from the bills, uh, who I think drafted him. And then, uh, in 2019 and 2020, he made the pro bowl and he's just been really good. I think he was captain at some point for the bills. Yep. It was very consistent. One, I believe he's already been named as one of the captains for the defense here.
00:35:12
Speaker
Oh, really? Nice. Yeah. And then another fun fact. I think so. He has definitely been pegged as one of the leaders. I don't know if like he officially has had the seat yet. He's absolutely been pegged as one of the leaders for the defense.
00:35:26
Speaker
In fact, he was talking about how excited he is to see everybody at full health and being able to have the defense firing on all cylinders finally and actually seeing what it's going to look like. Yeah. That'll be great. Another fun fact about him.
00:35:42
Speaker
Leslie Frasier, who was with the Bears when we won the Super Bowl, he was the starting cornerback for the Bears. He texted Matt Eberfluis and Alan Williams and he told them, he was congratulating them on signing, on signing Edmonds because he just had so much, so many good things and such high praise for him. You're getting a great guy, you're getting a great leader.
00:36:08
Speaker
Uh, Frazier and Edmonds both talk about, they both feel that Edmonds has got a lot, a lot left to learn still and can still get a lot better, which is, uh, I mean, that's good. He's already great. So if he can get even better, we'd love that. Um, Frazier most recently was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Buffalo bills. So, I mean, yeah, that's important. Yeah. Yeah. Um,
00:36:37
Speaker
So moving on to TJ Edwards. TJ Edwards, he came to us from the Eagles and he was on the Eagles team that made the Super Bowl last year. And then he finished the season with 159 total tackles.
00:36:51
Speaker
159 total tackles. That's a lot. That is a great step. That's pretty good. That's a good step. Yeah. Uh, and I think actually, um, I'll have to throw in the correction here. Um, but I think he, he's like, that's like second or third. I think that's like third or something on the all time, like in a season for the Eagles. Wow. That's it's somewhere on it's somewhere on the Eagles history board. Yeah. Somewhere on there. Good for him.
00:37:17
Speaker
TJ Edwards is originally from Illinois, which I thought was pretty cool. It's always great when someone comes back home to Chicago. I think that's pretty great. Or I should say Illinois, because I don't think he's from Chicago exactly. Yeah, he played with the Wisconsin Badgers in college. And he currently holds the record for the most interceptions by a linebacker.
00:37:42
Speaker
So he was pretty good in college. And another little fun fact about him is that he was actually teammates with another Bears linebacker, Jack Sanborn. They both played at the University of Wisconsin. Jack the Neck Sanborn. Yeah, Jack the Neck Sanborn. Have you seen this guy's neck, dude? Yeah. It's insane. It's insane. I don't even think you could get your hand. You'd probably break your hands trying to strangle the guy, you know?
00:38:09
Speaker
It's all trap. It is just all trap dude. That's the thing is it's not dude. It's all neck muscle dude Like it's all just like just it's insane. Yeah So yeah, let's get into Jack the next Sanborn. I think he's kind of from what I see he's kind of a fan favorite He's definitely a favorite for me. He was unsigned He didn't get drafted or anything
00:38:33
Speaker
But then the Bears, he made the Bears last year. He didn't get cut, so he made the squad. And then after- And then we had injury and injury and trades and injuries and trades. And injuries and trades and all that good stuff. And so then after Roquan Smith was gone, he stepped in. And he did pretty good. So he played 14 games. Six of those he started. Unfortunately, he did get injured. He hurt his ankle and wasn't able to finish the season.
00:38:59
Speaker
But even even being injured and not finishing the season he still made the pro football focus all rookie team last year You have to think that you know 14 games in you fuck your ankle. Yeah, what's what's the point? You know effort for that season especially, you know when you're looking at hey, we're just getting a bunch of people reps We're getting the bunch of people live time. Yeah, why why try to rush?
00:39:22
Speaker
coming back from an ankle injury. It's just going to get worse. Fuck it. End the season for him. I think it made sense for him, especially because at that point he had enough game film and proof to show that he deserved a fucking spot for the next year as well.
00:39:42
Speaker
He was an unsigned free agent, right? Yep. Unsigned free agent. Yeah, because no one wanted to draft him. And I think part of that, part of why no one wanted to draft him was just, I think his speed and athleticism, or I should say lack thereof.
00:39:59
Speaker
wasn't quite what teams wanted at that position. But I mean, every time everything I've seen. Uh, from his tape and stuff. And when I hear people talking about him, it's just basically whatever he lacks for an athleticism, he, um, he makes up for just smarts and he makes up with that with his smarts and his instinct. He just has a good instinct for getting to the ball. And it seems like wherever the ball is, he just, he instinctively knows how to get there. So he doesn't have to be as quick to get there and he can anticipate it.
00:40:30
Speaker
He is, he reminds me much more of like a 70s, 80s style. Yeah. Linebacker, you know, that having that instinct. And when you go back, you look at some of them, like they don't look like like the type of athlete, like look at fucking Roquan Smith. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like monster athlete. Right. Like they they were not built necessarily like that, but they were smart. And it's their it's their.
00:40:56
Speaker
field IQ that really elevates them to that next level and makes them competitive. And they're the ones that are like, fuck, where'd he come from? Yeah, that's the yeah. No, watching him. It's it's definitely fun to see like someone that people didn't want that is like that is showing out. Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's he's got a great story and I love that about him.
Defensive Strategies and Cohesion Concerns
00:41:22
Speaker
I think that's part of why he's one of my favorites because he just was overlooked and now he's he's doing great. I love it. Hopefully he has a great season this year. Did you want to be one of those guys? Like, did you want to be a Chicago Bear linebacker? I mean, I think every kid around the area kind of has that has that dream for
00:41:42
Speaker
at least a split second at some point in their life. And then, you know, but not many people actually think that it's possible. And I think I'm one of them too. And I'm just fortunate. Okay. So that wraps up that wraps up the
00:42:00
Speaker
That wraps up the linebackers. So now we're going to move on to the corners and safeties. We're going to start by talking about Jalen Johnson. We drafted him in 2020 from Utah. And it just seems like, I mean, it doesn't seem like he's had any crazy stat lines, correct me if I'm wrong. But he just does seem like he's become a leader for the defense. And Paul has talked about how he wants Jalen Johnson around long term.
00:42:28
Speaker
So yeah, it seems like he's great for the room. It seems like he's a good leader. And I think people need to recognize that. So kids, if you're listening, that's something to consider. It's like you don't always have to be the very, very best at a skilled position necessarily. You have to be good enough.
00:42:45
Speaker
But the thing that's really going to solidify opportunity for you is just don't be a dick. That's the biggest thing. Show out for other people. Make sure to turn around and help that person behind you. Set a good example. Don't be an asshole. Make the people around you better. Because organizations are going to pay you good money.
00:43:04
Speaker
for the right attitude. You know, not necessarily like changing who you are to get the paycheck. It's no, just be that guy. Be that fucking guy. So yeah, I fully agree with him being in here. He's got the right mindset. He's got the right attitude. It's something that especially when you're trying to rebuild and you're trying to establish a new culture, like you got to have those guys there. Yeah. Yeah. It's good to have veteran leadership.
00:43:33
Speaker
All right, so now we're going to talk about Jaquan Brisker. So we drafted Jaquan Brisker in 2022 from Penn State. And last season was his first season, and he had 103 tackles, and he played 15 games. Another one of our defensive players who made the pro football focus on rookie team. And then was actually named the rookie of the year by CBS Sports Chicago.
00:43:59
Speaker
So yeah, as a rookie, hopefully he came out and did his thing. Yeah. Hopefully he can continue that success, uh, into this year, into the sophomore year, which I'm confident he will.
00:44:13
Speaker
All right, and then next we have Eddie Jackson. Eddie Jackson was drafted in 2017 by the Bears from Alabama. And he made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and 2019. He was one of the ones that stepped up leadership-wise and was actually named one of the team captains after Smith and Quinn left last year. I should say after they were traded. Unfortunately, he did get hurt in week 12.
00:44:44
Speaker
But as you mentioned before, before that, he was on track to be in the Pro Bowl and was leading the Bears in tackles. So another very key part of our defense. And it's good to have him back, I think. Oh, absolutely. Not having to worry about a position is fine. It's nice. Oh, yeah. It's a luxury you don't really think about, you know. Until you don't have to. Until you have to, yeah. All right. And then looks like finally here.
00:45:14
Speaker
We're going to talk about Kyler Gordon, who has earned a nickname, Spider-Man. I guess he did a Spider-Man celebration last year, and he continues to just go on with it. So they started calling him Spider-Man. We drafted him in 2022 from Washington College. And last year, he played 14 games, and he had 71 tackles and three interceptions.
00:45:38
Speaker
That's the thing that's missing. The exceptions. That's the thing that we need more. Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's being able to get someone that, you know, as a rookie was able to come out and like actually have an impact on that. Like three interceptions over 14 games for a rookie who should not have been starting in the first place. Yeah. Is that's a solid stat. That's good. So especially, especially being paired up with Eddie Jackson, who, you know, is.
00:46:07
Speaker
create creates plenty of opportunity for that to happen. Yeah. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see to see him from what I understand. He's made some some good gains in the offseason in the in training camps and such. So I'm excited to see that one. Yeah, that's good. That's exciting. I'm excited for our secondary. I think it's going to be good. I think we're going to have some significant improvement. Something I didn't have written down here, but sorry.
00:46:40
Speaker
Something I wanted to mention. What the fuck did you eat? What did I eat? Oh, I had a chopped cheese. That's what it was. Gotcha. Funny, I actually just looked up what the fuck a chopped cheese is. Really? And I was like, all right, I need to get me a chopped cheese. Yeah, you got to come out here and get a chopped cheese, dude. Literally, that was like three nights ago. Yeah, I love it, dude. They're so good, man. They're really tasty. It's like a leveled up sloppy joe, I think. Yeah, that's really good.
00:47:07
Speaker
So yeah, just in general for a defense, I think we're already kind of, we've leveled up and I was looking and it seems like a lot of these guys, you know, we've brought in some good veteran presence, but I mean, a lot of these guys that we brought in there are veterans, but they're not, um, they're not over 30 yet. So I think they're still young and, um, it's just either just a nice middle ground, I think of being veterans, but still being young and still having, you know, maybe their next.
00:47:33
Speaker
still having the best years ahead of them, or at least the best, you know, next two or three years ahead of them. So I think, uh, I think that makes me feel a little better. It makes me feel like we've got, I think we have gotten better on defense than we were last year. So I would argue that we have gotten better on defense than we were last year. Yeah.
00:47:54
Speaker
We'll keep going with that. So what would you consider a success for the defense this year then? This year, I think, I think if we can get our secondary more involved with more takeaways and, um,
00:48:14
Speaker
Yeah, if we can get our secondary more involved with more takeaways and stuff, I think that'll be huge. I think this is a year for them to do it. It doesn't seem like, um, I think there's only one new guy that's starting. So I think we have good veteran presence that should know what's going on and stuff. And if we can just, um, if the defense can mesh together too, um, and really come together as a unit.
00:48:35
Speaker
And I don't know. I mean, I think the bar is pretty low from last year. So I just think as long as we do better than last year, as long as we don't finish in the bottom, you know, as in last or second to last for the last, for the second half of the season, you know, I think we'll be, I think that'll be an improvement. So I think if we can get more pressure on the quarterback too, cause I think that's something that we were lacking last year.
00:48:58
Speaker
I mean, the problem last year was we lacked everywhere. Just overall across the board. I mean, coverage was poor. There was no real pressure coming from the front side. Midfield was kind of open for the most part. And like you said, the secondary, there was no even pressure from the secondary of daring someone to throw the ball. That wasn't a thing. It was literally, I don't know, you can throw it.
00:49:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think part of it too is because like like last year Part of what made it like I Don't wanna say this Last year we were getting beat. I think not so much because we're getting stopped on offense, but because we were getting outscored We were I think a big
00:49:51
Speaker
That was Drew Brees' issue with the Saints. They would put up fucking outrageous numbers. He had 5,000 passing yard seasons that they lost regularly. It's like, well, the reason he got 5,000 fucking yards is because he was out there chucking the ball to stay in the game.
00:50:13
Speaker
And the defense just could not stop people from scoring. And I feel like that's kind of where we were last year. It was like, that's one of the reasons that Fields was able to do what he did was because he was put in a position of opportunity. He had more opportunity to try to do something and he was successful with that. Not in the traditional sense of a quarterback, right? Obviously, as we've seen.
00:50:36
Speaker
But with that, the defense wasn't stopping anybody. And the only thing that was really keeping us in the game some of those times was fields, was the inability of other teams to plan for him appropriately. Yeah. I think that'll be success. I think I'll consider that success for us too, if we can hold teams to fewer than 25 points, 24 points.
00:50:58
Speaker
You know what? I'm going to I'm going to add on to what I just said about the reason. One of the reasons that Fields had the records that he did was because he had to because of the opportunity that was provided to him. I don't want him to have that opportunity this year. No. So that's going to be, I think, tied in with is the defensive success is a score differential. B was enough pressure applied to the other team in a sense that
00:51:23
Speaker
Fields didn't have to be on the field as often. Yeah, that's my big thing So I think I think that's really what I'm gonna look at is give me more time on the field And have more impactful plays You know more takeaways more more incompletes more. Yeah, just just more
00:51:43
Speaker
But I think that has to go in conjunction with fields having less. And I'm not saying that like I, you know, it'd be, it'd be really cool for fields to actually break, you know, the all time record. That would be cool and all, but same time, not two years in a row. Yeah. He can't do that. Like from a physical perspective. No, yeah. I just can't.
00:52:01
Speaker
from a mental burnout perspective. That boy needs a fucking counselor. I mean, his body was breaking down already at the end of last season. He was having to run off the field and get his hamstrings massaged and shit stretched out and whatnot. So I don't think we want that happening again this year.
00:52:19
Speaker
Yeah. And when the less time that the defense is on the field, the more time the offense is on the field and then the offensive line gets hurt more often.
Offseason Acquisitions and Season Expectations
00:52:25
Speaker
Yeah, they're getting vicious cycle. Yeah. Yep. But I think we've made a step. I think especially this offseason, I think we've made a step in the right direction. We've taken a step in the right direction, whether or not it was the right step in the right direction.
00:52:41
Speaker
remains to be seen. Let's flip it this week. How about we go with what we're most worried about first? You want to go, okay. Because that's what I keep coming back to. Yeah. You want to start it off then? What are you worried about the most? Sure. My biggest worry is the gel. We do have
00:53:04
Speaker
a better roster on defense. Now, I'm not going to say that. I mean, we didn't go out and get like superstars. Yeah, we didn't get a real Mac or anything. No, we got above average. We got, you know, a pro bowler. We got, you know, we got people that have proven their value. But, you know, no, like huge, you know, Ed Edmonds was like the one, right? Like the big one. Yeah. And is.
00:53:34
Speaker
And no, no, like not trying to discredit him by any means, but like you said, not a Mac, right? Like that's, that's sort of what we're looking at. So, um, but I think we tighten, we, we elevated all around, but how is that all going to click? Cause we still haven't seen that yet, even with preseason, because of injuries, because of like throughout, throughout training camps and preseason, like we have not seen.
00:53:58
Speaker
all of the killers on the field together. And I need to see that. And so for me, that's my biggest concern is that they don't gel, is that something is missing, is that someone doesn't fit the system. Because once one of those, if we don't have pressure up front, we immediately are falling back to the secondary and relying on them to step up their game. And so it's like, yeah. So that's what I'm most worried about is
00:54:26
Speaker
not injury so much for them, it's are they going to work? Yeah. And we just haven't seen that yet. So what about you?
00:54:36
Speaker
I mean, I kind of have to dig for most worried about because it's the thing I mean, I just can't imagine I feel like we've already being worse than last year. Yeah, I can't imagine us being worse than last year. See, this proves this is where we can tell our age. This is where I'm going to tell you right now. It can get worse. I'm still I haven't been beaten, beaten as much yet. So beaten down as much.
00:55:00
Speaker
not as downtrodden. But I mean, yeah, I guess I'm concerned about the same thing. Are they all going to gel together? I do. Yeah, I mean, that's it. And I guess I'll just learn my we'll see if I learn my lesson this year, because I there's nothing that stood out to me this year that I was like, this is worries me and this is going to make us be worse than last year. Were there any big defensive players available that we missed out on?
00:55:27
Speaker
that like we were in the running floor that we're trying to think. No, I don't think so. I think the big one was Yannick. I think that was the big one that like we were in the running for. People were talking about people were getting excited. And I mean, we got them. And I think that was a huge like. And I think Edmonds was like the surprise one where it was like, oh, shit, we got. I mean, and Edwards, right. Edmonds and Edwards, like, yes, it was kind of like, well, OK, we made some good signings. Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah. OK.
00:55:54
Speaker
Yeah, I just worry that we don't improve. Because everything on paper looks like we have gotten better. But we'll see if that actually fleshes out and hopefully actually are better. Because that's what really matters is productivity. Absolutely. Tell me what you're most excited about.
00:56:13
Speaker
I am most excited to see some of these comeback rookies, right? People from last year that basically got thrown into the lion's den, thrown in the deep end, no life preserver. Just like, fuck it, kid, go out and do your thing, get some good reps, have fun, try to survive. I love to see them come out with
00:56:35
Speaker
that perspective because, A, that rarely happens where it's that many people. It was like the whole fucking defense at one point. It's fucking wild. I mean, by a thousand snaps, that's a lot of rookie snaps, too. That's nuts. I think that's what I'm most excited about is seeing them elevate their game, even if the defense isn't
00:57:02
Speaker
Even if the growth is nominal at best, um, if their individual growth for some of the rookies are like consistent, like give me, give me a full season, give me less injuries, give me a few more takeaways, you know, like show.
00:57:17
Speaker
show that growth. There was a reason they weren't starters as rookies. They probably wouldn't have been starters until their third or fourth year anyways. They're going into their second year. That's what I'm excited about. Then the second thing I'd be excited about would be how some of these veterans fit in and hopefully guide some of those rookies so that they do stand out a little more and that
00:57:41
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like I've seen really good stuff. They keep talking about the culture. They keep talking about the team unity and, you know, presenting a united front and all this. And I feel that I feel like it's not necessarily just like PR scripted, but that I feel like the players are buying into it. So, you know, especially the ones that we went out and got. So I'm hoping to see that. I'm excited to see that translate into action on the field now.
00:58:12
Speaker
But yeah, that also sort of just gets drugged back down by that wolf while we haven't fucking seen them all together yet. So I guess I'm excited for week one, man. I'm excited for week one. Let's go do it.
Closing and Future Podcast Promotions
00:58:26
Speaker
Preseason's over. It's time to get we're getting down to the nitty gritty here.
00:58:30
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I'm most excited about our line backing group, I think in our secondary. I think, uh, I'm really excited about Jack Sanborn. I just, hopefully he can play a full season and he can just show out. Um, I think he's, he's gonna, he's in great company, you know, with, uh, with Edmonds and Edwards, Edmonds and Edwards. So, I mean, I just think we have a great line backing group. And yeah, I think this, I think this year will be great for our secondary. I think, um, we have a lot of veteran presence there and we have some good, uh,
00:59:00
Speaker
We have a good guy in this sophomore year, you know, or two good sophomores and a couple of great, great veterans. So I think, uh, I'm excited. I'm excited to see them in action too. Hopefully we can, we can have a 2018 type season where we're just getting interceptions and takeaways like crazy.
00:59:18
Speaker
I want to be the monsters in the Midway and I want people to fear coming to Chicago like that. I want people to fear Chicago coming to them. That's what I'm saying. Be scared of our defense. I want offensive coordinators to be like, fuck. I want to be the headache. I mean, fields alone is a headache for defensive coordinators. I want offensive coordinators to be like, how are we going to deal with it?
00:59:47
Speaker
All right. So that was a different do it. Yeah, that's everything. We did it. That was a defense. We did it to him. All right. We kind of not in the bad way, but we can talk about it because I was like, yeah, I mean, I was I like I had, I had messaged you before. Like I am concerned about the defense. Yeah. After talking about it and like,
01:00:10
Speaker
Like really walking through it. I think that helps me as a fan too. It's just like putting all the pieces together. Good. I'm glad. That's what I was hoping for. I was hoping, you know, I was a little bit, I was like, damn, maybe he's going to bring me to his side, you know, and I'll be like, maybe like I was thinking I was kind of like second guessing myself. Like, should I be worried? Like, am I not worried enough? Like the worry for me is.
01:00:33
Speaker
still relevant. I've been on teams where we should have been very, very good based on the talent that we had, but we just didn't click. We didn't gel. Something was missing. Not necessarily like any one particular person's fault. You can do your very best to try to put all the pieces together. You can't manufacture chemistry.
01:00:53
Speaker
Yeah. And so, so that is, I think it is a legit concern. Yeah. However, you're right. We on paper, we made the right moves. Yeah. We should. Should be better. Should be better. Yeah. Should be better. But yeah, I mean, it's always, it's, it's nice to have a.
01:01:14
Speaker
not be too optimistic, you know, have a healthy dose of cynicism, I guess. You wouldn't be a Midwesterner if you didn't. If you didn't. Yeah, you can't be too optimistic. Yeah, then you're not really. You got to be a little more realistic. Yeah. So. All right. Anything you can think of that we missed or that you wanted to, you know, touch back on or not at this particular point in time, I would be interested. We have 24 hours to cut off. So I want to keep an eye out and see if there's any like
01:01:41
Speaker
unexpected cuts to come. Right. Like people that we were like, wait, hang on a second. Like you're supposed to be a starter or something like that. You know, I don't see that happening. But yeah, I don't think I don't know. We'll see. But I don't think too much is going to happen in these last 24 hours. I don't think I mean, I think we're just going to cut everyone that was expected to be cut. Again, just as a reminder, that is we get a 53 man roster. You get 16.
01:02:07
Speaker
More to the practice squad on top of that. So you're at 69 gigady and then For game day 45 get to dress so of your 53 on the live roster Only 45 of them can dress for game day. So keep that in mind in FYI. All right Where can they find you
01:02:30
Speaker
And they find me I mean or let's say yeah, okay, so they can't find you personally but anything you want to plug anything you want to talk about
01:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, be sure to check out the other podcast that I run, Chick Flicks with Dicks, X for the flicks. Flicks is spelled with an X. Basically, my buddy and I and another one of our friends have to watch Chick Flicks that my wife picks out. We drink a little bit. We discuss them in great detail and over the last few years have become somewhat experts, like whether a movie is a Chick Flick or not, whether you should watch it or not. Yeah.
01:03:06
Speaker
really good ones that are like, holy shit, that was unexpectedly good. And then there's some really bad ones that are really good. Like you have to watch it because it's so bad. Yeah. Check us out. You can find us on any. Any podcast streaming platform. Great. And then. Oh, and then heroes. Yep, Jim Heroes. So that's the business that I am starting up. I've got currently an Instagram page. I just got the website built out at
01:03:36
Speaker
over this last week, it'll be up and running by the end of this week. So by the time this comes out, probably. So you can visit Jim Heroes dot com. Heroes is spelled with a Z. So G Y M H E R O Z dot com. If you are interested in one on one fitness programing.
01:03:56
Speaker
from an online perspective. I've got a variety of things that I'd offer there, so hit me up on that. Otherwise, that's about it. Great. If you guys want to find me and see what I'm up to, I'm on Instagram as OmarDaniel. That's O-H-M-A-R, Daniel. Yeah, my music is on. I work on music a lot, and that's all on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your music, and that's just my regular name, just OmarDaniel.
01:04:23
Speaker
Um, yeah, where's the bear claw podcast the bear claw podcast you can find us on spotify and on apple Please give us a five star of a uh, give us a five star review If you're listening to us, uh, share this with your friends anyone who might be interested in uh, learning a little more about the bears Uh or that you might want to get get them into being a bears fan. I feel like we're a great place to start uh, so yeah, you can find us also on uh instagram and tiktok and youtube at the bear claw pod
01:04:51
Speaker
Oh, we're on TikTok and YouTube. We're on TikTok. I'm too fucking old. Yeah. But yeah, let's see.
01:05:02
Speaker
All right, guys. Yeah. So next week, we're going to be talking about the we're going to hit real quick, probably just on special teams, maybe another quick overview. But mostly we're just going to be getting ready for week one. Week one, we got the fucking punk ass, fucking bitch ass, fucking punk ass, what you're saying? Packers. We got the Packers week one. So, yeah, we'll just be maybe giving a little overview on that and getting ready for it because I'm definitely excited. I'm ready for the football season to start and see where we're at.
01:05:30
Speaker
Oh, me too. Yeah. And next week we'll also have a better idea on like what the roster is actually going to be. Are there going to be any exciting cuts? Any trades? Any moves? Like 24 hours? Let's find out. Tune in next week and find out. On next week's episode of Dragon Ball. Oh, wait. Sorry. Shit. Wrong one. Wrong one. Cut that. Yeah. So thanks for listening and we'll catch you next week on the Bearclaw podcast. Deuces.