jumbo

I think the latter. It's one reason that I like the wide net approach. You can almost crowdsource HC candidates by what the GM candidates say and vice versa for the GM. That's not a literal statement, but the Bears could be making a simple Venn diagram of who everyone likes and who everyone is concerned about. The other thing is you get to hear 10 GM candidates tell you what is wrong with your team and how to fix it. There must be some level of common answers that are irrefutable even to non-football guys like George.

Before the "Flores wants Watson, power over GM, and a top 5 QB" chatter, i was hoping for Flores as HC with Caldwell at OC if they couldn't find a younger sexier version. Caldwell is said to have a good history developing QBs, but not sure who beyond Peyton Manning and Stafford, neither of which really needed all that much from him, imo. A defensive HC may be better off targeting a former HC who came from OC in general. Sort of like Kubiak or Wade Phillips on the defensive side. John Harbaugh seems to have had a relative degree of stability with older coordinators who never made it to be the sexy young hire type.

I heard on the radio that Schoen was going to make Daboll his priority as coach wherever he ends up. Seemed like the two were a package deal, but who knows. I would like Daboll given where Fields is at in his development, so I'm hoping they are not paired up already.

Can we just draw a name out of a hat for GM and move on to the coach? Joking, of course, but all the GM candidates have been considered top flight and I think any of them would be better than Pace. Just depends on the flavor you want, but Khan is my personal favorite. I have liked what I read about Dodds and the Cleveland guys, too I'm not crazy about a coaching hire ahead of the GM. Hire the GM and let them choose the coach. Let George tell them these are my 3 favorites, but hire whoever you want.

There's a great Athletic article on him. It's from July 2019, but I found myself getting all excited reading it. I probably would with most of the GM candidates, who all seem like an immediate upgrade. https://theathletic.com/1105033/2019/07/31/you-gotta-be-relentless-you-cant-stop-i-dont-colts-assistant-gm-ed-dodds-wont-settle-for-mediocrity/?article_source=search&search_query=dodds “Let’s go have a beer,” Schneider told him. The more they talked, the more Dodds couldn’t shake these two words from his mind. It’s what Carroll told his players every day: Always compete. Always compete. Always compete. Later that night, Dodds’ then-fiancée and now-wife put it this way: “You’re gonna be pissed off every day if you don’t do it.” He called Schneider and Carroll a few days later. “If I don’t go, I’m not competing,” he told them. “I’m taking the easy way out.” They got it. They hated it, but they got it. Dodds wanted the hard way, wanted to compete, even if it meant a roster teardown, uncertainty over Andrew Luck’s shoulder and a build that would need years. He moved across the country, reunited with his old friend from Kingsville and dug in. “How do you get up and look at yourself in the mirror, just making the comfortable choice?” Dodds says now. “You just bet on yourself, and the way you work. Even if they fired us all two years in, the experience of having to build from the ground up, installing the system, getting people to buy in, all of that, and then learning how to do it in less than ideal conditions. …” ... In the four months leading up to the draft, Dodds lives in the film room. His staff rips off 17 straight 12-hour workdays in February, poring through thousands of hours of tape, whittling each position down from hundreds to dozens. They do 15 straight more in April as the draft inches closer. It’s demanding, it’s exhaustive, it’s necessary. Dodds loves it. It’s his favorite part of the job. “You always talk about how players miss the locker room?” he said. “Well, that’s our locker room. We get pissed off with one another. We laugh and joke with one another. We bond in there.” That’s one thing Dodds loves about Indy: the staff Ballard has put together. Get him going, and he’ll rave about everyone who shuffles into that draft room, from the area scouts (“those guys kick-ass”) to head coach Frank Reich (“he’s phenomenal”) to the Colts’ analytics experts, John Park and George Li. “John will make you feel stupid,” Dodds said, “and George has forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know.” The risk Dodds took two years ago? It worked. Competing worked. The Colts are coming, coming soon, and he’s one of the biggest reasons why. You won’t see him behind the microphone, you won’t read his name in the headlines, but in two years on the job, Ballard’s No. 2 has quietly and effectively helped construct one of the best young rosters in the NFL.

McDaniels is my first choice. The potential upside for Fields is just too great to ignore. We need a coach where we can say: "if he can't get Fields to star status then no one could." That's McDaniels. The ideal offense for me is maximizing Justin Fields' abilities. Not a groundbreaking analysis, I know. But they say Fields can't read the field fast enough, then build an offense that protects him long enough to make every read. He also likes (and is good at) throwing the ball down the field. That should be the primary design of the offense. I've often compared Fields' play style to Deshaun Watson. So basically, I envision a passing offense that at it's height is similar to the Texans from 2020. That was Bill O'Brien's offense, even after he was fired. Bill O'Brien is from the same coaching tree as McDaniels. That being said, just in case I am wrong about what offense would best maximize Fields....I want an offense that is adaptable to its personnel, talent and adapts to its opponents. McDaniels also checks that box for me. He has had obviously TONS of success. First started with small WRs, who weren't really #1 guys. Then he had success with a HOF #1 in Moss. He's had offenses where his top receiving options came from small, white slot guys; 1 big burly TE, 2 TE sets, speedy WRs, small WRs, no named WRs, he's had a RB lead this offense in receiving. And the entire time, the Pats have been pretty consistent in producing an above average OL and running game with constantly changing pieces on the OL and a lot of the time with RB by committee. Even his much maligned time in Denver featured 2 top 15 teams in total offense with the likes of Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton. There's plenty of guys I think can run the offense that I think will maximize Fields. But there's not many that have shown they can adapt if their offense isn't working as planned. Obviously, McDaniels is not the perfect candidate or he'd still be in Denver or Indy. But if he's willing to try his hand at HC again, there's not many I'd rather have outside of the longshots. Came here to drop this article and it matches up to a lot of what you're saying here. The section below in particular. I am for McDaniels at this moment https://ontapsportsnet.com/2022/01/05/josh-mcdaniels-future-head-coach-nfl-chicago-bears-patriots/ "McDaniels’ offense has shown to be unpredictable, diverse, and adaptable over the years. This is because the Patriots’ offense changes week-to-week, tailoring to each specific opponent. You do not get the constant approach with McDaniels that you might when looking at Stefanski, Roman, or Shanahan. Here are a few different examples from the last few seasons: Bills vs. Patriots – Week 16, 2019 On the Patriots’ second possession of the game, they elected to use a fullback for seven of the 11 play-calls. Five of the first six play-calls were runs, along with one play-action pass. On all six of those plays, including the play-action pass, TE Matt LaCosse was used to block OLB Lorenzo Alexander from an in-line position. On the seventh and final play to include the FB, LaCosse lined up against Alexander again. Once Brady was able to identify man-to-man coverage using motion, he knew that he was likely to have a mismatch in LaCosse. Off the snap, LaCosse started to block Alexander before taking off on a delayed route. Because Alexander had seen this look and personnel grouping many times on this drive, he let his guard down just enough for Brady to drop the ball on a back-shoulder throw to LaCosse. That is a perfect example of marrying the pass and run game through personnel, blocking, and play-calls. Patriots vs. Bills – Week 13, 2021 The Patriots ran the ball all but two plays in this game, largely due to poor weather conditions. But they averaged 4.0 YPC on their way to a 14-10 victory. How did they pull that off? I am glad you asked. To open the game, the Patriots called seven different run concepts on the first seven snaps. Over the course of the game, New England called at least 12 unique run concepts, the most effective of which was “G-Lead”. The Patriots had not put “G-Lead” on tape much before this game, so it was a look Buffalo had not scouted. Although this may not be the most opportunistic example of McDaniels’ creativity, it speaks to his ability to coach up and perfect a run concept the team has not used heavily. Browns vs. Patriots – Week 10, 2021 Myles Garrett is a game-wrecker, and with a rookie starting at QB, you need to create a scheme that helps him go up against game-wreckers. McDaniels did just that, using screens, cut blocks, chips, draw plays, end-arounds, and reverses to slow Garrett down. The Browns struggled to defend misdirection, and New England threw misdirection at them all game on their way to a 45-7 victory. The Patriots asked Jones to get the ball out fast on short throws, but he also was able to get some deeper shots in because of the complementary game plan that kept the Cleveland pass rush on their heels. The power run attack kept the pass rush honest, while the misdirection and play-action made them hesitate. In addition, offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn was rarely asked to hold up one-on-one against Garrett, which always helps."

Known liar called out as jerk calls accuser a bigger jerk

This is what the people demanding input from Alex Brown, Olin Kreutz, etc. are talking about - some football players who are in tune enough with the game to meet with McCaskey and co regularly and break down what they're seeing for him. Like the Packers game when Jenkins came in and Nagy/Lazor went empty backfield 5-man protection - it makes no sense! Those guys could explain to George that decisions like this hurt the team in the game, in Jenkins' development, etc.

I wish I could give you more than one heart for these - thank you - great reads If I was hiring the next coach I would expect physicality to be part of their answer when I asked what the team will look like. The kind of team that other teams groan when it's time to line up opposite because there's an ass beating coming win or lose. A Titans style offense would work really well for Fields. Fix the line, let draft pick RBs take the easy yards and set up the pass. Fields could be a beast throwing deep off PA or taking off against man coverage.

I agree it would be the savvy play to acquire draft capital and shed declining, high priced veterans. They would have to be in a tank or semi-tank mode due to the dead money hit to the salary cap. Essentially any bonuses for 2022 and beyond would hit the 2022 cap all at once, so if he got a $30 signing bonus on a $70 deal, then it would cost $18 in cap space for 2022 to trade him, lowering what you can spend on the rest of the roster. You can only cut/trade so many expensive vets doing that before you have to fill out the roster with flotsam to field a team. They can, of course, restucture other guys to make more space back, but then you are kind of stuck in this cycle. Lots of teams do that every year (Saints are famous for it) but it can catch up to you at the wrong time and basically put you in cap hell. If the team determines that they can get a good enough pick and have enough cap space I think they should do it, but it would have to make sense with the whole offseason strategy. For example, last offseason RRH signed with Jacksonville and was going to get the Bears a comp pick, but then by signing Dalton that cancelled the pick. So if you're going to trade guys like Quinn for draft capital, don't sign big money FA's unless you don't mind them cancelling out ARob's comp pick, which will likely be a 3rd rounder. So much to determine about the next regime (I still think Pace is gone)

I predict both Nagy and Pace are gone next Monday

I read a ood article on the Athletic about Josh McDaniels and it had me convinced that I would be happy if the Bears signed him. The main points were his handling of Mac Jones this year and his ability to adapt a scheme to any QB's strengths/weaknesses. I've also heard that he loved Fields in his scouting work for last year's draft, so there may be some interest on his part in Fields. If he did come I would think he would be a coach who has to be at the top of the organizational chart. He's not coming in to work under Pace, he will want to hire/bring his own guy. That woudn't bother me, either. I was talking to someone here in the office about Pace and the best way I could sum him up was that I think he's an average enough GM that we're not going to automatically get someone materially better than him, but I woud prefer a different flavor of GM. One who has a couple guiding principles of valuing draft picks more, only signing players over 30 if they are the last piece of a championship team, I could go on but the point is that if the coach comes at the expense of Pace I am for it.

He had another one where someone tweets to him "you were awful" and he comes back with "that's not what your mom said!"

You would think that after last season, when Nagy and Pace convinced them to stay that they had to have, for at least a brief period of time, thought about the alternative to keeping them. This should not be a brand new concept to them as they have been asked about it by reporters in the past. I believe their answer was "Pace IS our football guy," which makes sense. Sooner or later there is a guy they trust to run the team and that person is Pace. All of this is to say that if they don't already know what they want to do they're idiots (like undecided voters). I've long been a proponent of the fact that a guy like Pace as your top football guy is fine. The question is whether Phillips as their top non football guy who football reports into makes sense. It does sound like their questioning thst, but yea are ak undecided that they're now unprepared. Did something really happen in the past 365 days that changed Phillips mind about changing his role? So I'd be curious about what a guy like Armstrong's role actually looks like that broadly complements a primarily personnel/scout based GM at top of Football Ops. Something that is more than head of hiring and firing. Like DePodeata in CLE is all football ops based, but seems like hes broadly responsible for charting a course of a broad football ops expansion (heavily analytics driven). More I read and think about Armstrong and I'm wondering if it's just about him being well connected to coaches and execs and if the intent is just an alternative to a hiring consultant? Or would he have a real permanent job? I think Armstrong is a guy who could be asked all the questions people want the McCaskey's to answer and have a legitimate opinion on the direction of the team. For example, ask the question, what qualities do you want your team to show on the field? The Steelers grade a player and then ask the question, "he's good, but is he a Steeler?" What does that mean - what qualities are they looking for based on their offensive and defensive schemes/philosphies? What character requirements or whatever else do they look for? The current Bears roster is evidence of an absolute lack of a North star that would frame all subsequent decisions. I would think an Armstrong type would be the guy who sets the direction then signs off on FA strategy, big signings, whether to trade up or trade down, all balancing the long term with the short term. It's obvious that Phillips/McCaskey don't understand that balance or they would have moved on from at least Nagy after last offseason. There was no chance this team could compete this year and ownership let Pace and Nagy burn a year to win now. It's so dysfunctional. Ultimately, you wonder why Trace wouldn't just do those things himself and not need a guy like Pace. He needs a Director of Pro Personnel type instead and then Pace is gone. I think it's just "give me a better football guy" in the end, and the rest is semantics.

Realistically, what do we need to add for next year to feel like we're putting Justin in a real position to succeed? Something like this? - 2 starting caliber WRs - 1 starting caliber TE - A starting caliber Center - A starting caliber guard (ideally just extend James Daniels) - A tackle (these last few weeks to determine how good he needs to be) With the cap space open this offseason, that's probably actually doable? You're left bargain hunting on defense, but I'd be happy to finally have a team that can win games 34-27. Can we do this with defense building around Smith and Johnson? - 1 starting caliber ILB to pair with Roquan - 2 starting caliber CB (slot and boundary) - 1 starting caliber S - Rotational DL (ideally extend Nichols) CB needs some real talent additions, the rest could patch up with cheap veterans

So they wind up with new leadership but kneecapped because others will have swooped in ahead of them to acquire the best people. I even think the "best narrative" part is overrated. Nagy was a hot candidate and Frank Reich was leftovers after a coach backed out for Indy. Who has turned out better? But still, would be better if the President had been in the building to evaluate things for themself? At this point even a very brilliant outside mind can only know so much about what specifically has ailed the Bears. You would think that after last season, when Nagy and Pace convinced them to stay that they had to have, for at least a brief period of time, thought about the alternative to keeping them. This should not be a brand new concept to them as they have been asked about it by reporters in the past. I believe their answer was "Pace IS our football guy," which makes sense. Sooner or later there is a guy they trust to run the team and that person is Pace. All of this is to say that if they don't already know what they want to do they're idiots (like undecided voters).

It's a good point... Fields could be having standard rookie struggles AND be greatly held back by terrible coaching/team, which would dip him into historically poor numbers relative to other QBs. Not to say that other rookies haven't had bad coaching, but its a bit of a unique situation. Also again it's 9 games. He does have some things he needs to work on but if you parse the numbers out, he's doing some things well and has shown enough flashes to keep my faith high. If he's still in this range this time next year, then sure I'll be concerned. Isn't Mac Jones the only rookie with good ratings? Fields catches a lot of flack compared to Wilson and Lawrence who are seemingly playing about the same level. The numbers I'm basing this on may be a touch out of date, but I remember reading this a few weeks earlier in the season.

To be fair, the Bears did have Johnson following Adams around the first time they played. Johnson was similarly good on the outside and got beat pretty handily in the slot. But IDC if you have to change your whole defense, you can't let DeVante Adams roam all over the field and face man coverage with Xavier Crawford, or LBs or a safety. If he beats Johnson (joke here) from the slot, then so be it. Get beat with your best on their best. yea. Its puzzling why the Bears didnt just play spy with Adams/Johnson. IIRC, in the first meeting JJ followed Adams to the slot and didn't have the same success as he did on the outside. Slot corner is talked about like a different position and I can see how it would be. JJ appears to be best as a boundary corner. Someone with more in depth football knowledge than me might be able to explain why beyond just being in the middle of the field.

For the record, whenever anyone has "horsefeathers" in a quote, I like to really imagine the person (your wife in this case) actually using the word horsefeathers. Makes every post funnier. I'll introduce "horsefeathers" to her tonight Giggity

Something looks....not right about this picture of him Like he is crazy enough to believe they had a SB chance last year

Some Bears site floated Payton or Tomlin as candidates to replace Nagy. The guy is full of it but this is how things turn into rumors.

I agree with the reasons of Fields' safety but if the Bears believe Jenkins is the LT of the future, and the season is lost I can see them pushing aside a 38 year old LT to give him reps. Edit: Of course on 2nd thought, even if the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs, this FO and coaching regime may be trying to win as many games as possible to keep their jobs and ultimately they may not care about working in a rookie LT When Peters was getting up to speed a couple former OL said they could understand platooning Peters and Borom to let Peters get his legs under him. Maybe pick a couple drives and let Jenkins get out there and otherwise keep Peters as the starter. At this point I'd be pleasantly surprised if Jenkins can manage to look good even in a limited sample this season considering many looked at this as a lost season for him.

I did say in every post that I don't expect them to make any trades. I'd like it, and I think the valuation part is interesting, I even acknowledged that Pace could aggressively buy

So, I just posted in the other NFL thread that the NFC is terrible re: Saints making it in. But really, the NFC is terrible. The Bears are behind the 8-ball with 5 losses, but they definitely can sneak in again as an 8-win ish team. LA, Arizona, GB, Tampa, and Dallas are for sure in the playoffs. Lions are for sure not making it. The other teams are: Saints- starting Trevor Siemien/Taysom Hill 49ers- always injured, Jimmy G better keep playing like yesterday or they'll be playing a rookie QB WFT- QB situation is a mess NYG- Daniel Jones is their QB, team is worst than Bears PHI- Jalen Hurts is their QB SEA- Geno Smith is their QB MIN- Cousins is solid, Bears have a shot to take care of them to get edge CAR- Sam Darnold is their QB ATL- Ryan is old and team is worse than Bears And these teams are fighting for 2 spots. Nobody on this list seems like a sure bet to coast toward a wildcard berth. None are probably winning a playoff game anyway, but in the Bears situation, they gotta try to compete. They don't have a 1st so they need to win as many games as possible to make that pick further down in the draft. I honestly don't think they will trade anyone. Even trying to pseudo compete, I would still try to trade Robinson, Hicks, and one of the QBs. If anyone gives anything for Foles, that's a no-brainer. I'd also give up Dalton for a decent offer, though I think he's a guy they could bring back as the #2 next year. Bears got dead money counting for him anyway, may be able to lower that for a guy that Fields seems to genuinely like and learn from. Hicks, to me, is just taking up space. He's not a big difference maker so far this year. They've had good games without him, bad games like yesterday with him. Give the reps to other guys (Nichols, Blackson, Tonga) to see how big of a role they can have in the future. Robinson is a completely different situation though. He's obviously not performing this year, but maybe not completely his fault. May be killing his ability to get a 3rd round comp for him with his non-production. I think he's looking at a 1-year deal if things keep going this way. So, you're maybe looking 4th or 5th round comp. And that's in 2023 anyway. If the Bears can even get a 4th in 2022 for him, they gotta do it. They only have 5 picks (2 difference making picks) next year, another would be nice. 2022 picks are WAY more valuable than 2023 at this point, given the cap issues and like 32 free agents on the roster. Agree, I am not expecting any trades even though I want them to happen. Robinson and Hicks seem like possibilities and should be traded if a trade is out there. I expect the team to keep everyone to try to be the 7 seed again. If all those trades in the original post were made the bears would have: 2022: 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7 2023: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7 But we'll end up with 2022: 2, 3, 5, 5, 6 2023: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 Pace said the team would be aggressive, so hopefully they don't trade more picks away to patch their holes

Yes, I agree. I don't think they're going to trade anyone because ownership/front office wants to complete. I wish they would acknowledge that every better team they've played has blown them out and try to recoup draft capital. Nagy wouldn't want to trade anyone Pace would if he was coming back Ownership could tell Pace he's coming back, then can him after the fire sale. I doubt it, though. I love trade deadlines, but the NFL is never anything like NBA/MLB. This team needs the draft capital to reload but I don't see them taking that route.