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Van Ness would be a good pick with one of their 2nds, but at 9 I'm prolly taking the best available 3 tech, not an edge. Van Ness is trending toward the top 15 and the best available 3-tech at 9 will either Jalen Carter, who had an arrest warrant issued last week or IMO a guy like Calijah Kancey, who is not worthy of a top 15 pick. Interesting thing at 9 becomes is a CB the best player on the board? Or do the Bears reach for Smith-Njigba, who they supposedly love and Fields obviously would love?

Does that make you less interested in trading with them? Nope. I'll trade with anyone that pays the price.

The article mentions that one of the teams is farther back in the 1st round than you would expect. Not sure how I feel about that but I'm sure the haul would be massive if we moved down that far. That caught my eye too. Tampa or Baltimore? Panthers feel like the sweet spot though based on the majority of snippets that Poles said there and previously. - They're far enough back that you could reasonably see netting multiple Day 2 picks this year AND multiple future firsts - They're close enough to the top to still nab one of those "top 6-8 blue chippers" - Poles has referenced bringing back players in addition to picks, and Carolina has a few that would make a lot of sense - They appear to be sufficiently desperate to say horsefeathers it to cold surplus value calculations - They also make sense in a scenario where we trade back twice Panthers and Colts have always been the 2 that made the most sense. Colts because of their division rival being at 2 and also needing a QB. Panthers because they are otherwise ready to compete IMO. Both teams have tried the vet QB route. Colts famously with Rivers, Ryan and Wentz. Carolina with Darnold, Mayfield and one point brought back the corpse of Cam Newton. But Carolina wins that division if they get good QB play. Carr is in NOLA now, but meh. Tampa and Atlanta are in rebuild mode and need QBs. Carolina also has a pretty solid depth chart. Have a couple decent WRs. Have a solid OL. Good front 4 and back 4. Could use some LBs, a RB, maybe a TE and other depth, but they are a QB away for all intents and purposes.

I'd love to know the 4 teams. I guess Carolina, Las Vegas, Indi, and the Texans. Someone said Titans a while back, I could see it There's some Titans whispers with Jeffery Simmons taking Titans stuff off his social media. But that could also be him upset with negotiations on a long-term deal. They also recently said they are sticking with Tannehill, who was a big cut candidate with most, if not all, of his guarantees gone. But that could be posturing as well. If I had to guess the 4 teams, I'd say Vegas (rumors that they are out on Rodgers potentially), Carolina (huge need and motivation w/ no cap to get a vet QB), Washington (same need/motivation as Carolina w/ an otherwise loaded roster), and Indianapolis. The Colts would not give up 2 future 1s, but that part could be Poles letting it be known that he has options.

Said this a couple days ago. I going to assume those questions about Fields were from Bears people wanting them to dunk on anyone who had that opinion.

And lastly for Day 4. This is a fun OL class. Instead of going player to player, I'm going to put them into groups Athletic OTs- obviously, the Bears like athletic linemen who can move for the outside zone. So how these guys move speed-wise and agility-wise will be key for the Bears brass Broderick Jones Peter Skoronski- OT/OG? Paris Johnson Anton Harrison Carter Warren- injury issues at Pitt, so not sure what all he'll do Wanya Morris Asim Richards Blake Freeland Jaelyn Duncan Big Guys- I'm sure the Bears wouldn't shy away from size, but can any of these guys move well enough for the Bears to potentially take a chance on them Darnell Wright- OT Dawand Jones- OT O'Cyrus Torrence- OG Matthew Bergeron- OT/OG? McClendon Curtis- OT/OG? Steve Avila- OG/C? One of the most interesting, underrated story lines of the offseason is what the Bears do at C. Will they give Patrick another chance to play the position he was meant to play? Do they move on to a prospect to start? Prospect for development long-term? The intriguing C's in this draft John Michael-Schmitz Luke Wypler Joe Tippman- big C, so movement skills will be key Alex Forsyth Ricky Stromberg More importantly, I think there may be guys that the Bears look at potentially to MOVE to C Cody Mauch- college OT, played everywhere for Getsy in Senior bowl practices Steve Avila- played everywhere in college, has some C experience, again Getsy played him some there in Senior bowl practices Braeden Daniels- super athletic guy who played LT in college, sub 300lbs, move to interior likely and C possible RBs Jahmyr Gibbs- really intrigued by adding a pure speed and pass catching RB, may be more quick than fast though, which is fine Devon Achane- undersized, but a track guy, so he should be fast. Zach Charbonnet- not the biggest fan, Matt Forte gliding ability, but don't see that same ability to make guys miss, agility numbers? Tyjae Spears- can he add to big senior bowl to get into day 2? Small, fast, quick, great receiver Kenny McIntosh/Eric Gray- both good receiving backs with questionable long-speed, good speed/explosion numbers move them up the board Chase Brown/Sean Tucker- kind of similar, smaller, faster backs, how fast? how good are they at catching the ball Kendre Miller- 1-cut and go guy who fits the Bears scheme, IMO. How's his route running and hands? Speed? Roschon Johnson- one of my favorites, doesn't have the lateral ability but long speed may surprise Hunter Luepke- FB/RB hybrid, good runner, interested to see how good of a receiver and how athletic.

Addison didn't really distinguish himself. He proved tinier than I hoped. Didn't really run that fast (which isn't a big deal) and just looked solid in drills, not elite. Still a 1st round WR, but not WR1 Boutte tough day for him, though he did look OK in some areas, he bombed explosion drills, with off-field stuff he's definitely Day 3 or UDFA Dell was more quick than fast, I think he needed to be both. Not of interest to me combined w/ lack of size Downs was really good yesterday. Showed smooth route running and more speed and hands than I expected. Flowers, still good. Potentially WR1 depending on the team Ford-Wheaton- uh, so he might be a dude. 4.38, 41" vert at almost 6'4, 221lbs. Measurements and results similar to DK Hutchinson had a solid day, saw a Tyler Boyd comparison that seems pretty apt Johnston didn't run, but showed decent hands and high pointing] Perry was much faster and agile than I expected based on his game play. Wake Forest runs a terrible offense though, developmental guy IMO Rice, I thought was good. Speed was solid for his size, explosion drills and 10-yard split were amazing. If he can be taught nuances of getting open at the top of his routes, I think he has as much upside as anyone in this draft Scott didn't run nearly as fast as I expected which was weird to me. Neither did Hyatt. Tillman with a solid day. JSN was beautiful today. If I were him, I'd never run a 40, even at pro day. He doesn't need to. One of the best 3-cone and shuttle times in the history of the world. Change of direction skills are off the charts. Got himself in the WR1 conversation, IMO LaPorta was great for the TEs. He'd be TE1 if this was a normal class. As it is, he may be the best when all is said and done because, Iowa Mallory was fast, explosive, good hands. One of the best combines of any TE, IMO Zach Kuntz from Old Dominion was good, 6'8" dude who could move and explosive athlete Brenton Strange from Penn St I thought was the big pleasant surprise of the TE group, haven't watched, will now Darnell Washington, he's probably going to high for the Bears (late 1) but had to mention him. Picture any of the NFL guys who were TEs and put on weight to play offensive tackle. Now picture that OT blocking ability but without the weight gain, and with Kyle Pitts level athleticism, that's Washington. Just an absolute freak of nature.

For tomorrow's combine: Not really looking at QBs, but who and who doesn't throw or run will be interesting. At WR Jordan Addison- measurements and speed are pretty important for him, in running for WR1, had some drops so how he catches the ball I'll be watching as well Kayshon Boutte- speed and hands, his interviews will be most important, but before the off field stuff, he had questions about speed and concentration drops Derius Davis- guy I liked all year at TCU. Tiny, but can fly, believe he's a track guy Tank Dell- extremely quick, but how fast is he? Also tiny, so blazing a good time will be key Josh Downs- not a huge fan of his tape, needs to run mid-to-low 4.4s IMO. Route running will also be worth watching Zay Flowers- in running for WR1 as well, I think he'll fly, and have 0 questions about his speed, route running or hands, can he solidify? Bryce Ford-Wheaton- big WR, how fast is he? Made a great 1st impression in the opener for WVU vs Pitt Xavier Hutchinson- agility will be key, I also think he's faster than people think. Can he push himself into the 2nd round conversation? Quentin Johnston- I think he will run very fast, like low 4.4s or better fast, has to show he can hands catch and high point the ball Rakim Jarrett- former 5* prospect, issues at Maryland w/ QB play, injuries and drops. Speed and gauntlet drill will be interesting to see Puka Nacua- lot of people's sleeper, I'm not sure he's fast or agile enough to separate consistently at the next level Trey Palmer- supposedly has Olympic level speed, can he get in the 4.2s? Haven't really watched because Nebraska football bores me AT Perry- I don't love him. Poor man's Johnston, who I don't think is very fast or explosive, can he prove otherwise? Jayden Reed- I do love him. Can he show enough to be the consolation prize to those who miss out on Zay Flowers? Very similar, IMO Rashee Rice- long speed is questionable, needs a good 40. Separation was questioned at Senior Bowl, can he show agility, route running? Tyler Scott- another really fast dude who will hit low 4.3s. How big is he? Deep ball threat that needs to show route running and agility to run full route tree from the slot in the NFL Cedric Tillman- he's the in-between of Johnston and Perry. Big WR, not a burner, but strong hands. Can anyone from Tennesee run routes? Parker Washington- he's kind of fun to watch. Short, RB like WR who I'd be much more interested in if didn't have Velus Jones. Quietly a solid day 2 option for some other team, IMO Didn't include JSN (not running 40) or Jalin Hyatt (he's also 4.2 fast, routes? hands?) At TE- not really going to focus on the earliest guys because I don't think they will go TE super early Payne Durham- how fast is he? Had an impressive Senior Bowl, can he build on that? Sam LaPorta- think he's underrated, may be late day 2 guy, who I think has top TE in the class potential Noah Gindorff/Tucker Craft- small school guys from the Dakota schools. Haven't watched either, but heard good things Will Mallory- one of my favorite potential late picks, looks like he has good speed hands, in-line TE despite a little undersized, good compliment to Kmet with seam ability Brayden Willis- big fan of this guys, h-back/FB hybrid type, think he'll run pretty fast and can block just enough to be an asset there as well

I actually think there is a large contingent of Bears reporters there for the combine. A) it's a pretty short drive and B) Bears have #1 pick so people are trying to get some intel about potential trades. I'm pretty sure all the Fields questions have been asked by Bears people.

Day 2: I don't really have a lot of DBs I'm looking to solidify their spots or move up draft boards. If you are able to watch CBs in particular, you can really tell if a guy can cover, run, move, etc. And frankly, I haven't really looked at safeties as I think that's about the only position (besides QB) the Bears are probably OK with not drafting, especially before like the 5th round. Alex Austin- Oregon St CB, didn't know he was even in the draft until 2 days ago. Didn't appear in mock draft simulators but on combine participant list. Now projected as a 3rd round pick on a few things I've read. 6'1", 190lbs. Someone I need to watch Kelee Ringo- he's one of the guys I do have agility/speed questions about. I honestly think he may be an NFL safety, but if he can show athleticism he can stay a guy that has Round 1 aspirations. There's a lot of CBs with size that will have pique my interest just because of the success of guys like Sauce Gardner and Tariq Woolen this past season. And I think NFL teams that don't have a 6'2"+ CB will be in the market if some guys really stand out athletically.

Campbell had an insane 3-cone and showed lateral agility at his size similar to Brian Urlacher Henley disappointed a little with his speed, but looked fluid in drills Orji looked amazing, ran really well and is a guy that will take on blocks. Definitely gotta find what I can on him the next few weeks. Simpson solidified LB1 for sure. Williams was super fast and explosive. Pappoe did get fastest 40, length wasn't very good at sub 32" arms Adebawore definitely showed he's explosive enough for the edge. Ran a 4.49 which I saw a joke that he's faster than any WR that Northwestern had Bresee was fast, didn't really do drills as well as I expected. Short arms Foskey had a pretty good day, potential for late day 1 Kancey doesn't have the length, but he didn't stop those Aaron Donald athleticism comparisons. Morris is NOT athletic enough to be an edge player. Van Ness was super fast and great in agility drills. He's probably a top 15 pick Tuipulotu I didn't really see much, but what stood out to me was him weighing at 262 when he was listed at 290 for USC. Going all in on the edge position, which I think is a bad move. Boy was Nolan Smith ever healthy enough to work out! Better combine than Stefon Diggs and Saquon Barkley, who are obviously NOT 240lb pass rushers.

There are 3 tiers of 2nd contracts for RBs. The elite tier is 15-16M/year = McCaffery, Elliott, Kamara The 2nd tier is 12-12.6M/year = Aaron Jones, Henry, Mixon, Chubb Then the 3rd tier is all the way down at 7-8M/year = Conner, Fournette, Ekeler Now there's a guy in each tier that probably shouldn't be their (Elliott down 1, Henry and Ekeler up 1), but I think Montgomery would rightly value himself in that 2nd tier. Maybe he's not on Derrick Henry's level, but he's clearly better than Fournette and James Conner. And Barkley obviously belongs in that elite tier. So, you're talking about 12M for Montgomery vs. 15M for Barkley. Barkley is worth that difference. Now to be fair, Montgomery may not get 12M on the open market as all those guys re-signed to avoid hitting the market, so there may not be an open market to pay a guy that much. But that's besides the point for the Bears who would be paying for him NOT to hit the market. I guess there's a scenario where he hits the market, realizes he's not valued in that 2nd tier and signs back with the Bears for like 7-8M/year, but that's risky for the Bears to let him hit the market. And still, if the Bears miss out on Barkley, they could go much cheaper than 7-8M for a backup RB and give the reins to Herbert. I was surprised when you got to the part of Montgomery being in the second tier. I do not think the broader public views it that way. I just looked at a few different lists for the top FA RB's for example, and Montgomery is usually 5th on those lists. That would be a stunning contract for me if he got 12 million a year. I didn't really say that, though. I said that he would value himself in the 2nd tier, because there are only 3 tiers and he's clearly better than those guys in the 3rd tier. He won't get paid in 2nd tier for the reasons I said above and I even conceded that he will likely get 7-8M.

If anyone cares, I'm going to list players at the combine each day that I will be watching, and what I'm actually looking for. LB- Jack Campbell- how fast is he? how well does he move laterally? Daiyan Henley- one of my favorite players, I know he's fast and long and can move. Does the former WR make a run for off ball LB1? Cam Jones- my IU brethren, how fast/explosive is he? Has shown 0 coverage ability, but is there something there? Anfernee Orji- Vandy LB, haven't really watched him, but heard some good things earlier in the season. Seems like a late pick, but if he shows up athletically, could move up to earlier Day 3. Ivan Pace Jr- Flies all over the field and showed also at Senior Bowl, can he hit sub 4.5? Similar to Jones, can he show any coverage potential? Trenton Simpson- my current LB1, can he solidify it? If you squint, he may have some pass rush potential ala Micah Parsons, can he show any of it? Dorian Williams- Tulane LB, can really run. Strength will be key. Explosion numbers will also be important. Owen Pappoe- he will probably run fastest 40 of the day, he's undersized, but length measurements will be interesting DL- Adetomiwa Adebawore- short, but extremely long arms, looks like a 3T, but is he explosive enough to play edge as well? Felix Anudike-Uzomah- raw, but looks very athletic. Measurements, strength, speed, bend are all worth watching here Bryan Bresee- supposedly really athletic, interested to see just how much because I'm not a big fan. Also arm length will be key Isaiah Foskey- how athletic is he? Explosion numbers? Pretty raw pass rusher Zach Harrison- supposedly a freak athlete similar to last year's #1 pick, 6'6, 275 never put up big numbers at Ohio St Calijah Kancey- extremely quick, but severely undersized, does he have the length to make up for lack of height? Is he truly only 6'? Will McDonald- looks like a great athlete, can he back it up? played out of position at Iowa St, can he bend the edge consistently? Mike Morris- bit of a tweener, but strong holding the edge. Is he athletic enough to stay on edge or is he a 3-4 DE? Myles Murphy- if Harrison isn't Travon Walker athletic, Murphy may be. Another who's numbers don't match athleticism. Moro Ojomo- played HS ball with my nephew in Katy, TX. played DE, but more likely a 3-tech in NFL. Has length, how's atheticism? Lukas Van Ness- power rusher off the edge, but how athletic is he? How much length? Dating Cole Kmet's sister, so could be a fun pick Tuli Tuipulotu- another guy that played edge in college, but likely moves inside in NFL. Quickness and length are to watch Nolan Smith/Tyree Wilson- are they healthy enough to work out?

There are 3 tiers of 2nd contracts for RBs. The elite tier is 15-16M/year = McCaffery, Elliott, Kamara The 2nd tier is 12-12.6M/year = Aaron Jones, Henry, Mixon, Chubb Then the 3rd tier is all the way down at 7-8M/year = Conner, Fournette, Ekeler Now there's a guy in each tier that probably shouldn't be their (Elliott down 1, Henry and Ekeler up 1), but I think Montgomery would rightly value himself in that 2nd tier. Maybe he's not on Derrick Henry's level, but he's clearly better than Fournette and James Conner. And Barkley obviously belongs in that elite tier. So, you're talking about 12M for Montgomery vs. 15M for Barkley. Barkley is worth that difference. Now to be fair, Montgomery may not get 12M on the open market as all those guys re-signed to avoid hitting the market, so there may not be an open market to pay a guy that much. But that's besides the point for the Bears who would be paying for him NOT to hit the market. I guess there's a scenario where he hits the market, realizes he's not valued in that 2nd tier and signs back with the Bears for like 7-8M/year, but that's risky for the Bears to let him hit the market. And still, if the Bears miss out on Barkley, they could go much cheaper than 7-8M for a backup RB and give the reins to Herbert.

I'm going to stick it out with my AOL email address, thank you!

You only liked it so much when you were younger because you haven't had it recently. It's still horsefeathering amazing (been about 5 years for me as well).

Yeah, that's how I'm looking at it as well. Both the $/WAR equivalency and the non SABR friendly move. I think Claypool was already one of these moves, but they are bad enough where they can't just be like, "well WR class is bad, I guess we can't add anybody!". They still have to upgrade the weapons. If they can't get a difference making WR, they have to get a difference making TE and/or RB. Or worst case, they have to build a damn near elite OL in 1 offseason. They have the resources and incentive being that they have to spend a certain amount of cash this offseason.

Yeah, to really get a franchise changing package of picks, they are going to have to move out of the top 5. I don't know that the Colts and especially the Texans will really trade enough to make it worth the Bears while. I think both may make offers, and it may create a nice little bidding war where you get more than expected, but I doubt they'll get a Herschel Walker level trade. LOL. Like I think most fans want either Anderson or Carter + an early 2nd this year to replace the early 2nd they don't have + a 2024 1st. But that's a lot to ask for. Colts may very well value that early 2nd as a late 1st (4 picks into the round) and may be reluctant to give up what amounts to 3 1sts for them if they add a 2024 1st. Texans, I feel, you'd only even get 33 from them because they know they have multiple picks in the 1st and 2nd the next 2 years, but I feel that's a long shot.

It's a little bit reflexive, but I basically agree. His team has to mostly nail every decision this offseason. They cannot afford any mistakes and they haven't earned any leeway. You're not going to fire him after 2 years, 1 of which wasn't really trying. And it's unfair to expect every move to be perfect and to deem they aren't perfect in 1 year. Like Claypool is probably a bad move, but it's not fair to say it's a fail yet. The Jenkins pick looked mostly bad after 1 year, now he's potentially a really good guard after year 2. And even if every decision isn't nailed, he just has to nail the important ones. Like you can't have a disasterous pass blocking OL again. You can't have a sieve of a defense anymore. You gotta reach adequacy levels of both, whether that's nailing FA and all the early draft picks or you find 5 Jack Sanborn UDFAs. And realistically, Justin Fields can cover up a lot of the issues if he takes the Year 3 leap that others have. Granted, you can't do that with no help as this past year showed, but Fields' natural ability does lessen the curve.

That was the only game where he didn't get sacked multiple times (actually 0, 2 or more in every other game) and he had a career high completion percentage (despite 2 INTs) and a season high in passing yards.

IDK if you have a hairy dick, but I can vouch for the 2nd part of your name. Would it help if I linked you to three articles not actually backing up what I said but it kinda felt like they were generally supportive of me? It completely backs up what I said, it just doesn't say word for word what the horsefeathers you want it to say. And you know it, you're just being you. You said you hadn't heard it anywhere but Bears fans. I gave you Mel Kiper and you still disagree because that's what you do for the sake of doing it. The only way you can help me is if you stay the horsefeathers out of my comments. Don't quote me. Don't respond to me. Disagree all you want, and be publicly wrong on your own time.

Yeah, I'm sure you did your due diligence to actually look. https://dawindycity.com/2023/01/27/chicago-bears-news-draft-expert-fields-better-young/ https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/espn-analyst-doesnt-understand-bears-justin-fields-trade-talks https://clutchpoints.com/bears-news-micah-parsons-fires-back-at-justin-fields-bryce-young-debate None of those links says Justin fields coming out of college was better than young. The first one says he's better now than Young is now, which isn't the same thing. The other two just say the bears should continue building around fields, which is even less close to the same thing. I understand that not everyone is going to have the same desire for literal interpretations that I do, but there's got to be a *little* more nuance than just assuming all pro-fields sentiments are completely equivalent. IDK if you have a hairy dick, but I can vouch for the 2nd part of your name.

Yeah, I'm sure you did your due diligence to actually look. https://dawindycity.com/2023/01/27/chicago-bears-news-draft-expert-fields-better-young/ https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/espn-analyst-doesnt-understand-bears-justin-fields-trade-talks https://clutchpoints.com/bears-news-micah-parsons-fires-back-at-justin-fields-bryce-young-debate

I'm really stretching here, but if they like multiple QBs equally, they could possibly trade down to 3 and get an extra pick or two and trade Fields for picks/players. I think they are more or less tied to Fields now and won't even think about trading him. However, I must say after reading his college scouting report at the time of his draft, he still has the same issues he had when they drafted him. That does not bode well for his future unless the Bears have some quality coaching to get him to where he needs to be. They really flubbed by not getting rid of the former GM/coach before his draft. To be fair, the Bears wouldn't have had Fields if they got rid of Pace and Nagy. We saw what a new GM did last year. Granted, part of what he did was because Pace traded a future 1st and had a bunch of bad money deals on the books. But new GMs don't typically make bold trades like the one to get Fields.

So the whole logic of, "Bears increase the value of the #1 pick by making it seem like Fields is available" never made any sense to me. If the Bears trade Fields, then they'd use the #1 pick on a QB so it wouldn't even be available to be traded. I mean obviously the 2 potential moves are related, but if the Bears make Fields available it's not like a team is going to be able to negotiate them to keep Fields. There's never going to be a scenario where the Bears take an extra pick or two to entice them to trade the pick and keep Fields. If you're keeping Fields, you're keeping Fields. If trading him, you're trading him. I don't see how the trade package for the #1 pick would make a difference. Maybe the trade package for what you can get for Fields would make a difference, but in all actuality, it really shouldn't. Because again, you either want to trade him or you don't. And as much as I love the guy, there's just simply no way Fields has as much value as the #1 overall pick.