raw

Jonathan Bullard cut. Does not make the team the last year of his rookie deal. Nick Williams will be the 5th DL, may not be a 6th. Also, Alex Bars is whatever he wants to be guard, tackle, center.....I stand corrected.

Bars is not a tackle. He can do it in a pinch, and I'm sure Heistand can make him more than serviceable there. But he should be considered the future at whatever guard spot Whitehair is not playing.

This is much less true if Trubisky is legit, but yeah it does seem like teams that built a comparably dominant defence without a stud QB get a two year window. The first year is usually the bigger year for the defense too...OTOH I'm basing this mostly off the 2009 Jets who became the less dominant but very very slightly more balanced 2010 Jets, but I feel like this happened to the early 2000s Ravens too with them managing to pull out a SB win and then land Suggs in 2003 Yeah, on one hand, if Trubisky is even a slightly better Alex Smith (and Nagy similar to his mentor, Andy Reid), then the Bears window could be open for a decent amount of seasons (although it's debatable about how wide that window is open without a GREAT QB). On the other, the Bears have a lot of money tied into the defense (and soon to add Jackson), which will almost certainly get them in trouble as that's where performance can fall off after prime years.

My guess at 53-man roster: QB (2)- Trubisky, Daniel. No-brainer. Bray had a shot, and granted it's been w/ guys that aren't making the team, but he's been trash in games. A lot of Bears fans hate Daniel, but he's exactly what a backup QB is. A dude that knows the offense and can help by communicating well w/ the starter. But also a dude that you never want to actually play. If he does have to play, see last year. Short passes, gimmick plays, letting Cohen throw the ball. No reason to care about the #2 QB. RB (4)- Cohen, Montgomery, Davis, Whyte Jr. Top 3 set in stone. The 4th comes down to draft pick, Whyte vs. a UDFA, Nall. Whyte has uncoachable speed, and Nall can likely be kept on the practice squad. Outside chance of all 5 kept. Bears kept Howard, Cohen, Cunningham, Mizzell (as a RB), and Mike Burton (as a FB) last year. WR (6)- Robinson, Miller, Gabriel, Patterson, Wims, Ridley Marvin Hall has a shot to make the team, but he's not much of a route runner and didn't look like a good option to return kicks as a backup either. I honestly would dangle Wims as a potential trade target. If the Bears can get a potential guy for the pass rush rotation for their 5th WR, I'd gladly make that trade. TE (4)- Burton, Shaheen, Braunecker, Sowell Bears have some potential sleepers here in Ian Bunting, Dax Raymond, and Jesper Horstead, but all project as better receivers than blockers now and in the future. Sowell makes the team as he's the only of the 4 that can block adequately. 2 of the 3 above probably go to the practice squad. OL (9)- Leno, Whitehair, Daniels, Long, Massie, Larsen, Coward, Bars, Clemmings Starting 5 pretty well set. Larsen has the ability to back up OG or C so he's the 6th. Bars has been strong thru 2 preseason games, and is too talented to try to pass thru waivers. Kept a 2nd backup tackle because IDK Coward's status w/ the elbow injury. But if he can go, the 9th lineman would be a prime cut candidate when you need someone at another position. Would also watch for a released player as a swing tackle. Coward didn't look great week 1 of preseason. DL (5)- Hicks, Goldman, Robertson-Harris, Nichols, Bullard Top 4 are a great group, set in stone. Bullard probably stays as he does provide a decent rep or two per game inside, though not the best fit. I know they like Nick Williams too, but I elected to keep an extra DB over him for special teams reasons. If they could find a taker for Bullard for a 7th or for another player at the end of their roster, I think they'd do it. OLB (4)- Mack, Floyd, Lynch, Irving Not a deep position. Don't like the 4th and the 3rd has had health issues in the past. Good thing the best edge in the league is here. James Vaughters has looked good in the preseason, but more of a practice squad to me at this point. Fitts looks mostly talentless and shouldn't make the team just because he was drafted late last year. ILB (5)- Trevathan, Smith, Igeyibuniwe, Woods, Pierre-Louis Kwiatkoski is a FA after this year, and got a raise to 2Mil this year due to arbitrator ruling. He's not worth the money, as he can't be put on the defense. Can't cover at all. Woods is a former safety w/ athletic upside. Pierre-Louis is a better special teamer who's cheaper than Nick Kwit. CB (6)- Fuller, Amukamara, Skrine, Shelley, Toliver, Franklin III The Bears actually have some interesting guys competing for that 6th CB spot. Franklin, Joseph and Duck. The competition's losers are both practice squad possibilities. Franklin gets the edge for me because of his speed and probably projects as the best special teamer of the 3. Not sure how much Denmark has practiced, but looks like potential IR stash. Definitely shouldn't make the roster just because he was drafted. S (5)- Jackson, Clinton-Dix, Bush, McManis, Houston-Carson McManis and DHC both make it here for special teams. McManis has the versatility to play nickel, so he stays. DHC could be the odd man out if they elect to go with an extra player at another position. 4 of 5 are FAs after this year, so no long-term help here and nothing really worthy of a practice squad spot. ST- Pineiro, O'Donnell, Scales Obviously just cut Fry yesterday. I liked Pineiro better anyway. Accuracy seems to be similar, go with the bigger leg. Maybe bring in another guy here, but I think they might as well develop what they already have instead of someone else's cast off.

i know pineiro, in particulary, was supposed to have a very strong leg sidenote: patrick scales hasn't been around to long snap the last couple days. :-k If Scales comes back and the kicking starts failing, I'd cut him immediately. The Bears special teams was so bad last year, I would have done a full overhaul this offseason. New kicker was obvious, but I'd also gone out and found a new punter, long snapper, they already have to replace Bellamy, I'd probably make McManis a long-shot to make the roster. P and LS were free agents, had easy outs. Give me fresh blood at this point.

That is quite a nice throw

Agree with you. He's a baffling player. Who is better under pressure than they are with a clean pocket? I wonder how much of this is all the newness around him (receivers, scheme, etc). Kollman basically said he's best when he just lets it rip with confidence. My hope is that given this guy is by all accounts a very hard worker - as he gains confidence/comfort with his receivers and the system he'll do less thinking and more just playing. He couldn't do anything in that playoff game but when all the pressure was on him and he needed to put a perfect ball on Robinson to put them in position to win, he makes the throw of his life. Yet he's standing in a completely clean pocket in Miami and airmails a wide open Miller by 10 yards. Later that game he hits him in stride to put them ahead by a score with 3 minutes left. Just a baffling player, as I said. I'm really hoping that early in the season we'll see that he made a clear next step, otherwise, it's going to be a stressful season. This is pretty logical to me and I think it's exactly what it is. Clean pocket situations - he's in a brand new offense with brand new players and he's still learning. He should be much more sure of what's going on now, after a full season and a real full off-season with the offense. On the other hand, when horsefeathers breaks down and he's under pressure he is forced to freelance, he just lets his talent take over and lets it rip. Seems to be a classic case of a guy overthinking things, and the less he has to think about, the better he does. One thing I thought showed in the video is that he didn't make a ton of bad reads (though looks like some of them were simplified for him, with a clear 1st or 2nd read schemed open). As stated, his mistakes come when he has a clean pocket and for whatever reason simply doesn't trust his primary read. Also, seemed like Nagy really didn't open up the playbook at all, as a lot of those plays highlighted were the same play/concept over and over. That makes me skeptical on Mitch's intelligence (combined w/ not being able to execute the same exact play consistently vs. the same coverage). But I have hope that as he learns the offense more, he'll become more confident and just do his job, while not losing the ability to improvise when things break down. This will be the first year he'll have the same offense since college. We should see improvement, or at the least better consistency.

What would it take to trade up for Nassir Little at this point? Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

I actually like the way this draft is setting up for the Bulls. After 2, all these picks are about hunches and fit anyway. At 7, I think the Bulls will end up with their choice of the 2 remaining from Garland, Hunter, Culver, Reddish or White. I'm fine with any of those 5. So, I don't think a trade up would be necessary though I understand if the team really likes Garland or Culver more than the others, which would likely require a move up to 4-5.

Maybe once Gary Harris gets into coaching. Lol. Too soon Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

I like the Juwan Howard hire. Hopefully for them it has similar results to how the Penny Hardaway hire is looking for Memphis early on. I like the idea of a famous alumnus HC at his Alma mater. But then get sad when I think about that at IU. Our options are Steve Alford, Keith Smart, effing Dan Dakich (again), and Isaiah Thomas. Maybe the 4 worst coaches in basketball history. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Unlikely that they carry eight wide receivers. They could. The Bears carried a lot of dead weight on the roster last year. Guys like Nick Williams, Rashaad Coward, and Marcus Williams never played last year and were wasted spots. They also carried guys like Mike Burton, Kush, and Kevin White, who didn't even factor on special teams for most of the season. Marvin Hall and Patterson have a lot of value on special teams. Hall has been a gunner before. Patterson obviously a returner. If not WRs, those spots will likely got to an extra DB, LB, DL or OL that won't likely see the field outside of special teams. Patterson and Hall provide ST value, plus guys that can get a handful of reps offensively each week.

Yeah, this is exactly what I told a friend of mine last night. If anything, Zion makes Davis want out more. He'll be 2nd fiddle to a rookie (not on the court necessarily, but popularity wise for sure). And their styles of play don't really mesh well together. I'm not sure how the hell the NBA works with trades and salaries needing to match sometimes or whatever. So, I don't know if some kind of sign and trade type thing can be done with Deandre Jordan (only salary that matches up w/ AD) who is a FA. But yeah, AD to the Knicks who then lure Kyrie, and NOLA starts over with Zion, Barrett, Knox, Jordan, Jrue (if they can't trade him). Makings of a fun young team. Won't do much in the West, but a very watchable squad that will still likely have other multiple 1sts to add to them in the near future. Lakers still make sense too. Still have that same package to offer as last year, but now with the 4th pick to add to it. NOLA doesn't need a star player in return anymore, because they will have their building block. Probably can't get Barrett at 4, but have their pick of Culver/Garland/White who would all be great fits there. Still could trade Jrue too. All of this is plausible. I still think the Lakers are the least desiable trade partner, even with the 4th pick. Let's say that AD to the Knicks happens. The rumor pre-lottery was AD for the #1 pick that didn't materialize, Knox and Robinson. If the return was still those players, the #3 pick plus a future pick, the roster next season could look like this: Zion Knox Barrett Robinson Jahlil Okafor Jru Holiday (or trade him to Lakers for rights to Garland) Elfrid Payton ...etc That's an exciting young team. Yeah, Knicks are a lot more desirable if I'm the Pelicans. Get more upside, salary relief, and get much younger than the package from LA. Lakers only have a shot if Davis refuses to play for anyone else.

Oh and the Bulls are 100% taking Hachimura.

This is the perfect scenario. Yeah, this is exactly what I told a friend of mine last night. If anything, Zion makes Davis want out more. He'll be 2nd fiddle to a rookie (not on the court necessarily, but popularity wise for sure). And their styles of play don't really mesh well together. I'm not sure how the hell the NBA works with trades and salaries needing to match sometimes or whatever. So, I don't know if some kind of sign and trade type thing can be done with Deandre Jordan (only salary that matches up w/ AD) who is a FA. But yeah, AD to the Knicks who then lure Kyrie, and NOLA starts over with Zion, Barrett, Knox, Jordan, Jrue (if they can't trade him). Makings of a fun young team. Won't do much in the West, but a very watchable squad that will still likely have other multiple 1sts to add to them in the near future. Lakers still make sense too. Still have that same package to offer as last year, but now with the 4th pick to add to it. NOLA doesn't need a star player in return anymore, because they will have their building block. Probably can't get Barrett at 4, but have their pick of Culver/Garland/White who would all be great fits there. Still could trade Jrue too.

My guess at the 53: QB- Trubisky, Daniel (2) RB- Cohen, Davis, Montgomery*, Whyte* (4) TE- Burton, Shaheen, Braunecker, Raymond# (4) WRx- Robinson, Wims (2) WRz Gabriel, Ridley*, E. Hall# (3) Slot- Miller, Patterson, M. Hall (3) LT- Leno, Sowell (2) LG- Daniels, Bars# (2) C- Whitehair (1) RG- Long, Larsen (2) RT- Massie (1) DE- Hicks, Bullard (2) NT- Goldman (1) DE- Nichols, RRH (2) OLB- Mack, Irving (2) ILB- Smith, Iyiegbuniwe (2) ILB- Trevathan, Pierre-Louis (2) OLB- Floyd, Lynch, Harris# (3) CB- Fuller, Denmark* (3) CB- Amukimara, Tolliver (2) NB- Skrine, Shelley* (2) SS- Clinton-Dix, Bush (2) FS- Jackson, Houston-Carson (2) P- O'Donnell (1) LS- Scales (1) K- Pineiro (1) I cut Kwiatkoski, Coward, McManis, and Fitts as the "big" names. I think Kwit (along with Bullard) could be guys that get traded toward the end of camp. Probably need a DL to step up. But Bullard is expendable either way with 4 strong players ahead of him on the DL, he's also a FA after the year. Getting that conditional 7th back would be nice. Kwiatkoski is a 2 million dollar backup, who's also a FA after the year. The bears signed Kevin Pierre-Louis this week, who is a decent, possibly better special teams player who can backup ILB (though not as well). Maybe Kwit can be traded for someone at another more useful position.

I had Hall as the 4th best WR in this draft, mid 2nd round grade (oddly enough, 1 spot ahead of Bears 4th round pick Riley Ridley). Bears also added Dax Raymond, a 5th round graded TE by most Also, Guard Alex Bars from Notre Dame, who has injury questions, but was probably a mid-round talent, and gets back with Heistand. These are the most significant of their signings, and among the best in the league.

Heard of Kerrith Whyte, college backup RB. Extremely fast. Maybe some long term potential to replace Patterson as the kick returner. He's basically fighting with Mizzell for the 4th RB spot. Again an end of the roster guy. Never be more than a 3rd RB on this team. Strange pick, but I knew the Bears liked him (1/30 visit) and I knew there was a strong chance they'd double up at RB in this draft.

Never heard of Shelley. Doesn't have a grade on NFL.com. His highlights are nice (as they should be since they are highlights). Seems to be a click-and-close type of CB. Not a man coverage guy, but an off-man or zone guy who attacks downhill when he sees the QBs eyes. Has shown some ball skills as well. 8 career INTs, and the 4-5 I saw on highlights were all pretty spectacular. If you squint, you can see a player similar to what Bryce Callahan was as a UDFA 4 years ago. Going to be quite the project though. Probably going to be a last man on the roster type of guy, or a practice squad candidate while he learns the nickel role and puts on weight on his 173 lb frame. Seems like a player they didn't really have to draft, but this late, they didn't want to have competition for him. It's whatever

Top options on the board for the Bears (no order): OLB De'Andre Walker, Georgia (because Chicago is apparently UGA north) OT Oli Udoh, Elon OLB Joe Jackson, Miami CB Jimmy Moreland, James Madison OG Beau Benzschwagel TE Alize Mack, Notre Dame CB Xavier Crawford, Western Michigan CB Saivion Smith, Alabama CB Mark Fields, Clemson

Riley Ridley. He's an interesting choice. May have been a BPA type of pick. I know the Bears tried to trade up late 1 last year for Calvin Ridley, so makes sens that they like his brother. I didn't think he'd be an option, since he's very similar as a WR to Anthony Miller. Good route runner, with good-to-great hands, not game breaking speed. With Robinson, Miller and Gabriel, I thought they'd go for more of a deep threat. WR room is now loaded. Robinson, Miller, Gabriel, Ridley, Wims, Patterson (may be more of a RB), and Marvin Hall (who is a deep threat).

Guess is jimmy moreland, CB, james madison

Third round was always gonna be a RB. If you look at the 2 deep depth chart, it was the position that had the biggest "need". All 11 starters were back on O, except Howard. Davis was an insurance plan. Only lost players on D were replaced by Clinton Dix and Skrine, their 2 biggest money FAs. So now today the Bears have the luxury of truly taking the best player available. With the 4th being the only pick they have right now of a guy who will for sure make the roster, the Bears will try to get a steal. They probably aren't picking a WR, unless it's a deep threat. But in general, I see this pick focusing on the best athlete they can find. Pass rusher and defensive back, being the most likely. Of the guys they worked out or hosted, watch for Maxx Crosby, Christian Miller, Jimmy Moreland or Amani Hooker. Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk

Add Christian Miller, Edge Alabama Kahale Warring, TE San Diego State Amani Hooker, S Iowa Dawson Knox, TE Mississippi Jamel Dean, CB Auburn Yodny Cajuste, OT West Virginia (torn ACL) Sheldrick Redwine, S Miami

Bears got a 6th back from NE. That's probably going to be a kicker.