Bears 2018 Offseason: Matt Nagy Hired as Head Coach

[jersey cubs fan]

Baseball is a quantifiable sport where you can know you are good before you are good. Football is not. Believing in mitch isn't enough.

[David]

Baseball is a quantifiable sport where you can know you are good before you are good. Football is not. Believing in mitch isn't enough.

 

Entirely fair, but I gotta say I'm pretty happy with everything Pace has done since right after the trade to the second pick (which I've softened on my stance against somewhat, if only to allow for the possibility that Pace knew someone else was after Mitch from his own trade discussions). That is, barring anything unrealistic like wishing he would've fired Fox the very next day.

[Thrilho]

Baseball is a quantifiable sport where you can know you are good before you are good. Football is not. Believing in mitch isn't enough.

It's no just believing in Mitch, I believe in the team Pace has assembled. I believe in Robinson, Howard, Cohen, Gabriel, Burton, Meredith, and Shaheen. I believe in Nagy's system and the fits of the players they've gotten. THEN you get to Trubisky tying it together. And I'm not going on blind faith here. Go back and look at those clips David posted.

 

You're right that you can't evaluate football through numbers alone, you've got to look at traits, look at situations. I look at the situation Trubisky was in with Fox and the fourth rate receiving corps. Again, watch those clips and imagine competent receivers on the other end. Look at what KC was able to do with Alex Smith at the helm. Look at the jump Wentz and the Philly offense took with Pederson. Look at Trubisky's physical traits relative to Philly used Wentz.

 

I don't think you need a whole lot of imagination to see that the potential of this offense is pretty high.

[WrigleyField 22]

I've liked a lot of Paces individual moves these three years, but he hasn't proven anything without wins, IMO.

[Thrilho]

ITheo had everybody in baseball gushing over the prospects and he'd already proven that he could lure the big FA too, when the time was right..... Everyone knew the Cubs were going to be elite.

 

I mean, we're gushing over Pace's off season this year..... But nationally, its been lukewarm, I guess? No ones jumping thru hoops to talk about the Bears. And its still far from certain this is working either..... If I'm comparing it to the Cubs, I'd say the Bears right now are at the point when the Cubs drafted KB? Which puts the Bears needing to be a playoff team by 2019, I guess?

 

I agree with David, the national media wasn't giving the Cubs nearly the respect they deserved. Before the Cubs picked up Lester, I heard Gammons talking on the radio about how 2017 was going to be the year when the Cubs were ready to turn it around. Everyone I talked to laughed at me when I said they were going to get Lester and be good the very next year. It was definitely not a given among national outlets, from what I recall.

 

And even if it was, national outlets are consistently behind the curve, largely because they don't spend as much time on our guys as we do. Gabriel is one pickup that I really like but the national media isn't going to care about a guy who had 1 TD last year. They won't look back a year and see he scored 6 TDs on 35 catches with a 16.5 ypc the year before. Or Burton. Under the radar because he was a backup but he could be a really good in this offense. Robinson, if he stays healthy is a huge get. Dude caught for 1,400 yards and 14 TDs catching balls from Blake Bortles and he's basically the same age as Calvin Ridley.

 

And while I'm thrilled with Robinson, he's a dude coming off a down year and then a season ending injury after that. He's still a risk. Much more so than a normal top flight guy obviously and it showed in his pricetag.

 

As for what I'd have done differently? I'd have went bigger in FA each year and would have traded back enough to acquire a bunch of extra picks.

 

Granted, I'll admit I wouldn't have Trubisky. But, I'd have had the ammo to go get a top flight QB prospect too. And while I'm optimistic on Trubisky, its far from set in stone he's a franchise guy. We'll obviously know much more after the season though.

 

Anyway, put me down in the group where I need to see results here. Pace doesn't have the same authority as Theo.(no one does though lol)

On the free agent thing, I do see parallels with the Cubs. The Cubs could have gotten Pujols but then he's just a big name in the middle of a big aging pile of suck. Instead, the chose to add nothing to that pile and suck hard enough to grab KB. The Bears sucked hard enough to get Trubisky.

 

How much better could they have really gotten through FA? If they had spent a lot early in Pace's tenure, could they afford to outfit this team in exactly the way their new coach wants or would they be closer to capped out? The team they have now is very young on both sides of the ball. If they'd built in FA sooner would they be a significantly older team?

 

Maybe they could've been better sooner, but I don't care much about half measures. I never cared if the Cubs looked respectable. I want a championship and consistent contention. If they have to suck for years to get it I could care less. Maybe the Bears are at that consistent level of good play, maybe not. But I think that now that Pace has had his 3 years and finally dropped that big wad in FA, and basically has an entire roster of his guys, this is really the point where we should start judging him.

[davell]

The national media was gushing over the Cubs farm system. They all were saying that they were going to be a powerhouse, just a matter of when. This isn't yet the case with the Bears.

[David]

The national media was gushing over the Cubs farm system. They all were saying that they were going to be a powerhouse, just a matter of when. This isn't yet the case with the Bears.

 

there was tons and tons of doubt and by no means was the cubs being a powerhouse characterized as a certain thing aside from a few prospect nerds. come on. nationally there was plenty of doubt in theo after the way 2011 ended, the first 3 years with the cubs...the narrative was that maybe he just lucked into inheriting the 04 team and also that he just won by spending money.

 

as an aside, i was and am a huge theo fan boy and i was far from certain this was going to turn into a great thing. i was pretty sure it'd be good, but most prospects bust and somehow only like 2 of ours (alcantara and soler) truly busted.

[David]

I've liked a lot of Paces individual moves these three years, but he hasn't proven anything without wins, IMO.

 

i'm looking at the coaching staff, the roster, and how things are set moving forward and i am very optimistic. that's enough for me to be pleased right now.

[Thrilho]

I've liked a lot of Paces individual moves these three years, but he hasn't proven anything without wins, IMO.

 

i'm looking at the coaching staff, the roster, and how things are set moving forward and i am very optimistic. that's enough for me to be pleased right now.

Right, I'm pleased. When I commended Pace there it wasn't me coming to collect a "told you so" badge on the job he's done. I'm just very happy with the team he's put together and I'm happy the Bears have him over a lot of other GMs.

[David]

I've liked a lot of Paces individual moves these three years, but he hasn't proven anything without wins, IMO.

 

i'm looking at the coaching staff, the roster, and how things are set moving forward and i am very optimistic. that's enough for me to be pleased right now.

Right, I'm pleased. When I commended Pace there it wasn't me coming to collect a "told you so" badge on the job he's done. I'm just very happy with the team he's put together and I'm happy the Bears have him over a lot of other GMs.

 

right...i'm not saying they're gonna go out and pull an eagles or even rams, but i'm saying i'm pretty sure this is going to be a good team going forward, possibly as soon as the 2018 season. 9+ wins wouldn't shock me at all, but the toughness of the division is the main reason i'm not willing to go too hard on 2018 optimism.

Edited April 7, 2018 by David

[Thrilho]

 

i'm looking at the coaching staff, the roster, and how things are set moving forward and i am very optimistic. that's enough for me to be pleased right now.

Right, I'm pleased. When I commended Pace there it wasn't me coming to collect a "told you so" badge on the job he's done. I'm just very happy with the team he's put together and I'm happy the Bears have him over a lot of other GMs.

 

right...i'm not saying they're gonna go out and pull an eagles or even rams, but i'm saying i'm pretty sure this is going to be a good team going forward, possibly as soon as the 2018 season. 9+ wins wouldn't shock me at all, but the toughness is the division of the main reason i'm not willing to go too hard on 2018 optimism.

True, it's easier for me to say I think the offense is going to be good than to say they are actually going to win the games. It's a tough division and tough conference right now. They've got a good defense though, so if from there it seems like the biggest thing will be Trubisky's ability to win games. He wasn't as good at it this year as I thought he'd be but I'm gonna be optimistic on that ability this year. The team will put themselves in position to win and I'll say he's going to be better at finishing than Cousins and Stafford.

[davell]

The national media was gushing over the Cubs farm system. They all were saying that they were going to be a powerhouse, just a matter of when. This isn't yet the case with the Bears.

 

there was tons and tons of doubt and by no means was the cubs being a powerhouse characterized as a certain thing aside from a few prospect nerds. come on. nationally there was plenty of doubt in theo after the way 2011 ended, the first 3 years with the cubs...the narrative was that maybe he just lucked into inheriting the 04 team and also that he just won by spending money.

 

as an aside, i was and am a huge theo fan boy and i was far from certain this was going to turn into a great thing. i was pretty sure it'd be good, but most prospects bust and somehow only like 2 of ours (alcantara and soler) truly busted.

 

I don't want this to turn into a Theo discussion, so I'll just agree to disagree on that end of things....

 

Again, I like lots of Pace's move, in a vacuum. But its time for them to start producing wins.

[David]

The national media was gushing over the Cubs farm system. They all were saying that they were going to be a powerhouse, just a matter of when. This isn't yet the case with the Bears.

 

there was tons and tons of doubt and by no means was the cubs being a powerhouse characterized as a certain thing aside from a few prospect nerds. come on. nationally there was plenty of doubt in theo after the way 2011 ended, the first 3 years with the cubs...the narrative was that maybe he just lucked into inheriting the 04 team and also that he just won by spending money.

 

as an aside, i was and am a huge theo fan boy and i was far from certain this was going to turn into a great thing. i was pretty sure it'd be good, but most prospects bust and somehow only like 2 of ours (alcantara and soler) truly busted.

 

I don't want this to turn into a Theo discussion, so I'll just agree to disagree on that end of things....

 

Again, I like lots of Pace's move, in a vacuum. But its time for them to start producing wins.

 

just as long as you realize that you're a prospect nerd among prospect nerds (maybe not to that cubswin guy's or even raisin's level, but close) , so you're biased on that front, lol.

[davell]

 

there was tons and tons of doubt and by no means was the cubs being a powerhouse characterized as a certain thing aside from a few prospect nerds. come on. nationally there was plenty of doubt in theo after the way 2011 ended, the first 3 years with the cubs...the narrative was that maybe he just lucked into inheriting the 04 team and also that he just won by spending money.

 

as an aside, i was and am a huge theo fan boy and i was far from certain this was going to turn into a great thing. i was pretty sure it'd be good, but most prospects bust and somehow only like 2 of ours (alcantara and soler) truly busted.

 

I don't want this to turn into a Theo discussion, so I'll just agree to disagree on that end of things....

 

Again, I like lots of Pace's move, in a vacuum. But its time for them to start producing wins.

 

just as long as you realize that you're a prospect nerd among prospect nerds (maybe not to that cubswin guy's or even raisin's level, but close) , so you're biased on that front, lol.

 

Duly noted. With pride.

[jersey cubs fan]

Baseball is a quantifiable sport where you can know you are good before you are good. Football is not. Believing in mitch isn't enough.

 

Entirely fair, but I gotta say I'm pretty happy with everything Pace has done since right after the trade to the second pick (which I've softened on my stance against somewhat, if only to allow for the possibility that Pace knew someone else was after Mitch from his own trade discussions). That is, barring anything unrealistic like wishing he would've fired Fox the very next day.

I'm happy with the past year, but we're three years in now. And still riding on hope.

[BigbadB]

Receivers that can spread the field. TE's that can catch. Running backs that won't be hamstringed by defenses stacking the box. A young qb with a offensive minded coach with successful NFL experience at play calling.

 

I'm optimistic as hell. I'm imagining a 3rd and 5 where Cohen or Cunningham line up in the backfield, Burton and Shaheen at TE, Meredith and Robinson running 10-15 yard routes, and Trubisky has those 5 options to throw to or can run it right up the middle for easy first downs. I see dynamics at work for this offense that makes them good right away.

 

ETA: Of course, this assumes Meredith is back on the roster later today.

[PackLandVA]

This is sort of "Bears" news (maybe)....

 

Just read the the Packers have requested of the NFL to open the upcoming season at home. It is their 100th season, and the Packers want to make it a big, weekend celebration. And it's supposed to be the Sunday night game. So you gotta think it will be a division game, right? Well, what better match up than the OLDEST rivalry in football, right?!? While I think it would be a game the NFL would love to market, I'd rather not play that game against the Bears. These two teams have a habit of ruining "special games" for the other team (i.e - Favre's jersey retirement, Sayers & Butkus # retirement, etc.).

 

Anyway, thought it was worth sharing in this thread.

[Old Style]

Puck the Fackers

[jumbo]

Updated again, not much new here

 

Offense (25)

QB (3): Trubisky, Daniels, Bray

RB (4): Howard, Cohen, ______#3, Cunningham

WR (6): Robinson, Meredith, Gabriel, White, _______#5, Bellamy

TE (4): Burton, Shaheen, Sims, Brown

OL (8): Leno, Kush, Whitehair, Long, Massie, Sowell, Grasu/#2C, Morgan/#2G/Watford

Defense (25)

5T (4): Hicks, ______, Robertson-Harris, Bullard

NT (2): Goldman, Jenkins

OLB (5): Floyd, _____, Lynch, Acho, _____

ILB (4): Trevathan, Kwiatkowski, ______, Timu/Anderson

CB (3): Fuller, Amukamara, Cooper

Slot SB (2): Callahan, LeBlanc

S (4): Jackson, Amos, Bush/Hall, Houston-Carson

Special Teams (4):

K: Parkey

P: O'Donnell

LS: Scales

ST: McManis

[Brian]

So they released the draft hats today, and they are pretty terrible. Each team has two of their phrases/mottos/nicknames etc. on them (front and on the inside band), and they didn't even use 'Bear Down'. I get Monsters of the Midway but 'Windy City Football'? I've only seen that used for a failed NSB sister site.

 

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/04/nfl-draft-2018-hats-caps-new-era-all-32-teams-ranked-photos

[jersey cubs fan]

So they released the draft hats today, and they are pretty terrible. Each team has two of their phrases/mottos/nicknames etc. on them (front and on the inside band), and they didn't even use 'Bear Down'. I get Monsters of the Midway but 'Windy City Football'? I've only seen that used for a failed NSB sister site.

 

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/04/nfl-draft-2018-hats-caps-new-era-all-32-teams-ranked-photos

[cwood218]

At this point I'm just being unnecessarily nosy, no clue why I'm showing any interest in the Bears, but I would also suggest Mike McGlinchey at 8 considering that depth chart. I converted to a believer after he weighed in with 34" inch arms. All this Nelson hype (or Kolton Miller at OT) but the league is starved for OT talent and McGlinchey is the guy ready to contribute outside no matter the QB situation. That's not a knock on Trubisky,no clue wtf to make of him, but rather Kolton Miller the other hyped OT thanks to showing the kind of athleticism teams want. Miller needs a passing offense, a team with a QB, because he is not physical nor was he even all that good in college so much as Rosen is a stud.

 

So basically if I was the Bears GM, I would be picking between:

 

Mike McGlinchey

Denzel Ward

Marcus Davenport

Harold Landry

 

Picking McGlinchey that high seems like a very poor use of resources. Trading down to the mid to late first round would still make it possible to get McGlinchey. The backup plan could be to take a guard like Wynn or Hernandez.

[We Got The Whole 9]

At this point I'm just being unnecessarily nosy, no clue why I'm showing any interest in the Bears, but I would also suggest Mike McGlinchey at 8 considering that depth chart. I converted to a believer after he weighed in with 34" inch arms. All this Nelson hype (or Kolton Miller at OT) but the league is starved for OT talent and McGlinchey is the guy ready to contribute outside no matter the QB situation. That's not a knock on Trubisky,no clue wtf to make of him, but rather Kolton Miller the other hyped OT thanks to showing the kind of athleticism teams want. Miller needs a passing offense, a team with a QB, because he is not physical nor was he even all that good in college so much as Rosen is a stud.

 

So basically if I was the Bears GM, I would be picking between:

 

Mike McGlinchey

Denzel Ward

Marcus Davenport

Harold Landry

I don't like being such an horsefeathers but I LOLd at this thought pretty hard. I can understand trading down and getting McGlinchey but I would be truly sick if we took him at 8.

[minnesotacubsfan]

At this point I'm just being unnecessarily nosy, no clue why I'm showing any interest in the Bears, but I would also suggest Mike McGlinchey at 8 considering that depth chart. I converted to a believer after he weighed in with 34" inch arms. All this Nelson hype (or Kolton Miller at OT) but the league is starved for OT talent and McGlinchey is the guy ready to contribute outside no matter the QB situation. That's not a knock on Trubisky,no clue wtf to make of him, but rather Kolton Miller the other hyped OT thanks to showing the kind of athleticism teams want. Miller needs a passing offense, a team with a QB, because he is not physical nor was he even all that good in college so much as Rosen is a stud.

 

So basically if I was the Bears GM, I would be picking between:

 

Mike McGlinchey

Denzel Ward

Marcus Davenport

Harold Landry

I don't like being such an horsefeathers but I LOLd at this thought pretty hard. I can understand trading down and getting McGlinchey but I would be truly sick if we took him at 8.

 

Me too

[Old Style]

So they released the draft hats today, and they are pretty terrible. Each team has two of their phrases/mottos/nicknames etc. on them (front and on the inside band), and they didn't even use 'Bear Down'. I get Monsters of the Midway but 'Windy City Football'? I've only seen that used for a failed NSB sister site.

 

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/04/nfl-draft-2018-hats-caps-new-era-all-32-teams-ranked-photos

Most of those are hideous. I like the Bears hat but the inside definitely needs to say Bear Down or at least Da Bears. Windy City Football is just plain dumb.