2021 Bears season

[raw]

I really don't want to jump the gun with Fields, especially given the Bears history but damn a lot of teams made some questionable decisions leading to the Bears getting him. Teams that either picked in the top 10 or at a very similar slot as the Bears traded assets for Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Darnold over taking a chance to draft Justin Fields. Washington has a loaded defense, great OL, and some promising young weapons and they are throwing out a QB who turns 39 in season on a 1-year deal instead of trading a similar package for Fields. The Niners and Jets potentially took the wrong QB. The Falcons know Matt Ryan is on his last legs at 36, yet passed on Fields. The Vikings would have potentially taken Fields if he fell, but could have made a modest move up with Cousins clearly, not it and also old and expensive. The Dolphins, Giants, and Eagles (Denver and Carolina probably count too) all are sticking with QBs that are probably bad instead of making a Cardinals like move and going after Fields.

 

In theory, this is very similar to the 2017 on paper.

 

49ers went with CJ Beathard and eventually traded for Garoppolo instead of picking Mahomes/Watson. Jags stuck with Bortles. Browns waited a round to take Deshone Kizer. Titans stuck with Mariota who was probably already not good enough in 2017. Chargers stuck with aging Philip Rivers. Bengals stuck with aging and mediocre Dalton. Jets started Josh McCown for 13 games. Buffalo stuck with Tyrod Taylor (granted, they got Josh Allen the next year).

 

NFL teams do some wacky things when it comes to QBs. In hindsight, those 2017 decisions look terrible for all the teams that could have had Mahomes or pre-raping Watson....but all those teams clearly needed or were clearly going to very soon need franchise QBs that year. Again, Fields has to perform to make them regret their decisions, but I find it ironic that he went 11th, while Mahomes and Watson went 10th and 12th respectively.

[minnesotacubsfan]

i wouldn't say ironic, more coincidental, but horsefeathers those other teams. I want Fields and the Bears to taunt the nfl for years

[Bertz]

I really don't want to jump the gun with Fields, especially given the Bears history but damn a lot of teams made some questionable decisions leading to the Bears getting him. Teams that either picked in the top 10 or at a very similar slot as the Bears traded assets for Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Darnold over taking a chance to draft Justin Fields. Washington has a loaded defense, great OL, and some promising young weapons and they are throwing out a QB who turns 39 in season on a 1-year deal instead of trading a similar package for Fields. The Niners and Jets potentially took the wrong QB. The Falcons know Matt Ryan is on his last legs at 36, yet passed on Fields. The Vikings would have potentially taken Fields if he fell, but could have made a modest move up with Cousins clearly, not it and also old and expensive. The Dolphins, Giants, and Eagles (Denver and Carolina probably count too) all are sticking with QBs that are probably bad instead of making a Cardinals like move and going after Fields.

 

I would disagree on the Falcons and Dolphins, but yeah it's asinine Fields made it to 11. The Broncos in particular seriously horsefeathered up IMO.

[Brian]

Justin Fields saying "Bear Down baby" is a beautiful sound

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[David]

it's just rookie minicamp, obviously, but this is about as fun a football read as you can have on may 14th...

 

[Bertz]

it's just rookie minicamp, obviously, but this is about as fun a football read as you can have on may 14th...

 

 

Most of the Trubisky stuff in camp/preseason was fairly lukewarm, right? I wonder if it's one of those things where glowing reviews don't necessarily tell you a guy is going to be good, but a lack of glowing reviews is an early sign that he won't.

[Brian]

i don't know about rookie camp but I think training camp there was a lot of hype coming out about how he was doing from the writers and fans (but I could be remembering wrong)

[UMFan83]

i don't know about rookie camp but I think training camp there was a lot of hype coming out about how he was doing from the writers and fans (but I could be remembering wrong)

 

Here’s an article about Mitch’s rookie first minicamp practice:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-mitch-trubisky-1st-practice-bears-spt-0513-20170512-story.html

 

Definitely not as effusive of praise as Fields got yesterday but pretty positive sounding overall.

 

Same general themes: very accurate, quickly learning the playbook, ability to take snaps under center, etc

[David]

it's just rookie minicamp, obviously, but this is about as fun a football read as you can have on may 14th...

 

 

Most of the Trubisky stuff in camp/preseason was fairly lukewarm, right? I wonder if it's one of those things where glowing reviews don't necessarily tell you a guy is going to be good, but a lack of glowing reviews is an early sign that he won't.

 

funny you ask, as i was just reading this in the athletic...

 

https://theathletic.com/2589892/2021/05/14/justin-fields-looked-sharp-in-his-bears-debut-sure-it-was-only-rookie-mini-camp/

 

Up close, Fields looks sturdier than I expected, though he is listed at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds. He was wearing white tights under his navy blue shorts that accentuated muscular legs. They didn’t ask Fields to run much, obviously, but I can report he trotted with a purpose during the stretching period.

 

Operating under center and out of the shotgun, Fields threw the ball with pace, zip, a little mustard, however you want to call it. Of all the passes he threw in front of the media, there were one, maybe two bad ones.

 

What does all of this mean? Nothing. Everything.

 

But Dan Pompei covered Mitch Trubisky’s first rookie mini-camp practice for The Athletic four years ago, and these were some observations he made back then:

 

On the second drill, in which he handed off to running backs, Trubisky fumbled the initial snap. There was another fumble later in a team drill too.

 

As he went through practice, Trubisky looked a little tentative, as anyone in his shoes would. He was coached to “talk louder,” and to “move faster.” Trubisky was running an offense he is unsure of, taking instructions from new coaches, trying to be in sync with teammates he met hours before.

 

The more he threw and showed in seven-on-sevens, the crisper and cleaner his passes looked. Late in practice, however, he threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by veteran free agent cornerback Trevin Wade. My guess is it was a bad route by a receiver.

 

I’m no Hall of Famer like Pompei, but reading his 2017 report, I can safely say that Fields had a much better first practice as a Bears QB.

[David]

i don't know about rookie camp but I think training camp there was a lot of hype coming out about how he was doing from the writers and fans (but I could be remembering wrong)

 

i remember camp as a mixed bag. when the hype got loud was when he came out in his first preseason game.

[UMFan83]

I usually ignore Bears offseason workouts and don’t pay attention until the season starts. Fields has never had me this hyped for the Bears I can’t get enough of reading about this horsefeathers. And finally a video of him throwing in Bears gear:

 

[gflore34]

I am so glad the Bears were never able to trade for or taken seriously as a destination for Carson Wentz. Had they been able to complete the trade, Justin Fields would be elsewhere, I also believe Wentz would have been a colossal failure as a Bear.

[raw]

Bears showing interest in CBs (Steven Nelson and Breshaud Breeland) and had OT Morgan Moses in to visit today. Leno officially off the books today, the Bears have about 8.4Mil in cap space (9M saved from Leno cut, 600K salary takes his spot on the to 51 salaries which are counted toward the cap). The Bears need to sign all their draft picks, so that money is even less. Fields and Jenkins are the main salary cap hits upcoming as the 5th-7th round rookies won't fit in the top 51 salaries at their draft slots....at least not yet. So, interesting that the Bears are looking at FAs still when they essentially have 4.5-5Mil in effective space when accounting for rookies.

 

CB and OT are the biggest needs IMO. Need a CB so the Bears only have to replace 1 DB spot instead of outside CB across from Johnson and slot CB with the recently bad and old, Trufant, and the cast of late picks and UDFAs they have. And they have 0 experience at LT, so depth behind Jenkins would also be ideal. Moses is actually really good too, so he would be an upgrade over Ifedi at RT, and has played LT in the past in a pinch. Be interested to see if they make Ifedi a $4.5M swing tackle or put him back at RG and move Daniels or Whitehair back to C.

[UMFan83]

Haven't watched it yet but it looks like the Bears put together a behind the scenes video of the draft and rookie camp.

 

[Brian]

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[WrigleyField 22]

3 pick in 7 on 7 for a certain QB?

 

It'sHappening.gif

[Brian]

3 pick in 7 on 7 for a certain QB?

 

It'sHappening.gif

 

and only 2 (at most) returning starters among the 7 on defense.

[Brian]

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Justin Fields: beautiful ball

 

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[Derwood]

I'd bet money that he didn't take a single snap under center in two years at OSU

[UMFan83]

I'd bet money that he didn't take a single snap under center in two years at OSU

 

He didnt

[Brian]

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[BigSlick]

Also, if they did want a "soft" opener for Fields its week 2 or 4 at home against Bengals/Lions. So yea, Fields by week 4? I can deal with that wait if I have to.

 

This would be extremely dope for me because I got tickets for the first time in my life to see a Bears home game

[raw]

I'd bet money that he didn't take a single snap under center in two years at OSU

 

He didnt

 

You'd both lose your money. I don't know the totals or percentages of plays under center, but a quick google search reveals 13 snaps under center in his 1st career start in 2019, a year after Dwayne Haskins took 0 snaps under center as the Ohio St QB.

[UMFan83]

I'd bet money that he didn't take a single snap under center in two years at OSU

 

He didnt

 

You'd both lose your money. I don't know the totals or percentages of plays under center, but a quick google search reveals 13 snaps under center in his 1st career start in 2019, a year after Dwayne Haskins took 0 snaps under center as the Ohio St QB.

 

i could have sworn i read that he took 0 snaps under center, must have just been last year then

[UMFan83]

Still dont believe him but...