raw

Yeah, man. It's tough to win when your starting QB gets injured in Week 2. In an unrelated note, it's also tough to win when you're starting QB is the 3rd best option on his team.

Bagley has been pretty bad this year. I think Barnes is the add you want from the Kings, Of course, I think he would cost at least Coby, If you can get Covington without Coby or Williams, I'd be for it. Covington's my guy. Big fan. Right now, I'm probably leaning to getting the best guy the Bulls can get for Jones Jr, Javonte, and 2nd round picks. I don't know that anything really puts them over the top other than getting a superstar and that's not happening without completing changing the core. You can't get a superstar for Williams, Coby and picks. Jerami Grant or Myles Turner are nice, but I don't see either putting the Bulls over the Nets/Bucks. If the Bulls were to give up Coby, they'd have to replace his scoring/shooting off the bench. Getting a 4/small ball 5 does no good if you can't score off the bench.

Hard not to feel bad for Fangio. Waited forever to become a head coach. Gets saddled with that QB situation and did respectably, but he's too old to ever get another chance. He's still a legendary DC who can get any job he wants.

Ugh, I thought he was the best option without having to move Williams or White. I go back and forth on whether or not to make a big splash with someone like Turner and give up Williams or White. Right now, I'm just leaning towards Marvin Bagley keeping the current and future core and going from there. Bagley has been pretty bad this year. I think Barnes is the add you want from the Kings, Of course, I think he would cost at least Coby,

I was at the game and it was very cool. I went back and checked to see if Derozan had played Illinois when he was at USC for his one and done year (he hadn’t) and had completely forgotten that he’d been on the same team with Vucevic and Taj Gibson and was coached by Tim Floyd. They somehow were only sitting at 16-12 before peeling off a few wins in a row and winning the Pac12 tournament before losing to Mich St in the 2nd round of the NCAAs. I feel like they wouldn't stop talking about that USC team after Derozan signed in Chicago. That USC team also featured Mike Dunleavy's son (and Mike Jr's brother) and Master P's son, Lil Romeo AKA Percy Miller. Perfect star studded team for an LA school

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/01/07/nfl-head-coach-hiring-preview-week-18 Eberflus is a name that keeps quietly coming up. Also, been whispers out there that the Bears are interested in Colts Asst. GM, Ed Dodds. I've been mostly focused on offensive coaches for the Bears, but a Dodds/Eberflus combo could be pretty sweet. The Colts have some interesting guys on their staff that combo could bring along with them. But reading between the lines here, I'm not sure how I feel in general. I just want the organization to do it's due diligence. Don't go into a HC search thinking "need a strong leader". It's the same line of thinking that has made every other hire they've done a mess. "Lead of men" is akin to "QB developer" which led to Nagy; is akin to "experienced HC" which led to John Fox; is akin to "outside the box" which led to Trestman; is akin to "hot young coordinator" which led to Jauron, Lovie, and Ditka. Them going into the search looking for a certain type of coach, will almost certainly lead to them picking the wrong coach, because they have already shrank the candidate pool.

Honestly all sound like they have intriguing traits. And I'll add Pat Moriarty, who comes from a great organization in the Ravens (bio here: https://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/front-office-roster/pat-moriarty). I think I'd strike Brinker and Pastoors, and as much as it would be awesome for the Bears to hire the first female GM, I'll strike Raiche too. So give me Kwesi, Khan, Greenburg, or Moriatry. I'm gonna go Kwesi since he sounds like the biggest nerd from some of the stuff I've ready and the most likely to drive analytics in the org. As has been discussed in this past page, I'm warming to the idea of McDaniels. Really the question is if he can build a staff after possibly burning some bridges with the Indy situation. If he still commands respect and get a good staff, I do think he makes sense and I'm willing to take the risk. But Harbaugh is still super intriguing. For first time candidates, I'm kind of coming on late to Eberflus from Indy (DC) but still like the hot OC names like Leftwich, Roman, Daboll. Todd Bowles, Dennis Allen, and Raheem Morris are all D side retreads I find interesting to varying degree. But I am really leaning towards a retread coach. I think with the org structure I've targeted too it just makes sense to have someone with experience in the role and understands all the intricacies of HC and roster management. Underneath Kwesi on the Football Ops side, I think it does also give you an opportunity to create a really attractive Assistant GM/Player Personnel role. Most team's player personnel guy is going to be effectively the number 2 scout in the org behind GM. In this setup, they may be the number 2 FO role, but they have the biggest scouting voice and can really shape that dept. Retaining Champ Kelly still intrigues me from the bits I've read about him. Coordinators. Ken Dorsey was mentioned with the Frazier rumors, but he'd still make sense. Daboll runs the same E-P system as NE. And Dorsey must get some credit for Allen's rise as he has been QB coach. Only question is since Daboll is a hot candidate, does Dorsey bide his time? Defense, I'm actually going to pull some inspiration from McDaniel's staff he started to build in Indy. He hired Eberflus out of Dallas instead of looking towards NE background. How about the guy who coordinated the Legion of Boom, spent a couple years in DAL under Marinelli and now was the DB coach this year for a Saints D that made two of the all time great QBs look mortal. Kris Richard. Special Teams. I don't know. I'm just gonna go org poaching and say TJ Weist, who is the asst special teams coach in Baltimore the past few years Hopefully he's learned a few things in one of the consistently top ST orgs around. New Structure (after all my rambling) CEO: Ted Phillips (go build a stadium and stay there) President: Cliff Stein General Manager: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Head Coach: Josh McDaniels Assistant GM and Dir Player Personnel: Champ Kelly Offensive Coordinator: Ken Dorsey Defensive Coordinaor: Kris Richard Special Team Coordinator: TJ Weist Interesting stuff. IDK how I feel about Cliff Stein as president. Rather go outside the organization, I think. IDK how realistic Dorsey would be. Especially since McDaniels would likely be the playcaller. Dorsey could probably stay in Buffalo and call plays and run his own stuff there. Not a Richard fan. I would love for McDaniels to pull his DC from New England though as I think Jerod Mayo is a hot DC candidate, who is currently LB coach in NE. Unless you're getting a young coach and an experienced DC (like Nagy/Pagano was supposed to be) then Mayo is one of the few guys, potentially available that I like more than just giving Desai another shot.

I basically agree with Smitz. Bowles and Roman prob round out my top 4. 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.

Wasn’t he the last of the opening day players not to have it? Yep. Complete BINGO board for COVID

Michael, Ed, George, they are all the same people really. Soon there will be Ryan McCaskey and he will look suspiciously like Ryan Pace Ryan Pace being elevated to co-owner after eloping with Ginny. I mean, that's the kind of progressive thinking I want leading this organization.

Doesn't say as GM......how well can he handle a push broom?

I'd be pretty upset with that hire. I can't imagine a less progressive move, digging into Bears history for a former player from a bygone era. Definitely not a fan. I think he's a floor raiser as a coach...possibly an immediate floor raiser. But I think he has to have a strong dedicated OC to run a good offense. Developing Fields is the most important thing for this org, and I'm not sure after watching Jim at Michigan for 7 years, he's the guy to get the most out of him. So he'd have to hire a great OC/QB coach and let him run wild. I know he's had success with QBs like Luck in the past, but his offensive numbers with the 49ers were rather pedestrian. Exactly. Mediocre offense at SF. Hasn't developed any of his handpicked QBs at Michigan. And his passing offenses have routinely finished in the 60s in FBS, despite the ability to recruit at a top 20 level. I agree with the floor raising. It's very possible Harbaugh could come in and win 10 games per season consistently. Harbaugh can probably keep bringing in defense and linemen to make his offense and defense do just enough to win a bunch of games. He may even win a ring. But I don't want 10-win seasons and maybe a ring, as weird as that sounds. I want GB, NE, PIT, IND 2000s success. I want a team that is a credible contender every year because it has a top 5-10 QB in the game and a strong overall roster and system to support him. I want the Steelers 18 straight years without a losing season. I want the only thing our rival can say about the Bears is that they only got 1 ring in 8 NFCC appearances with elite QB play. I don't want a guy who's shown his best case is about the same thing that Lovie Smith did.

My assumption was that Daniel Snyder is an entitled, rich white horsefeathers that doesn't care about black history. But I could be wrong. And a large part of the fanbase probably agrees

I didn't realize he has that much left on his contract. But how often are worthwhile trades made? What could you get for him, a 3rd and a average DE? Why not just keep him at least through 2022 and worry about filling the other talentless positions rather then creating another hole? Just my humble opinion, but it's a bad look for a one of the new FO's first moves to trade their best pass rusher, a franchise-record pass rusher. I'd be shocked and dismayed. Shocked and dismayed I say! Seriously though, if they did I'd want to know their plan to put pressure on QBs. I feel like there's not a good answer. The next regime is going to have to make a decision at edge rusher either way. If they keep Mack and Quinn at their current cap hits (combined about 47Mil) then that's going to make it difficult to build a team. Like has been mentioned, Quinn can be cut after 2022 pretty cleanly. But there's a big decision on Mack as well. His cap hit is 30M next year. If the Bears pay him 30M toward the cap, that says to me they are trying to get that big number off the books, and he'd also be gone after 2022. If they think he can retire as a Bear and still be productive for a few more years, then they probably should restructure and save a bunch of money in 2022. Could be looking at both gone after 2022 if no restructures. And if the plan is for both to be gone after 2022, then there's really no reason to pay them 47Mil toward the cap next year for a team that isn't going to be a championship contender. Gipson has played pretty well in a starter's role for most of the season. So, I have no hesitation to go forward with him at one edge. I'd probably look to trade Quinn. Even if you get a 3rd and 5th for him (Calais Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue trades from 2020), the cap savings (4.2M before June 1, 12M after) would be worth it in the long-term.

I want a clean sweep. But I can't share that sentiment. Nagy is such a larger issue to me than Pace. If the keep Pace I'll groan, roll my eyes and then see what he does. Nagy stays, I riot. How many games were there this year when you felt the Bears had a talent advantage over the opponent? Yesterday and...Detroit? How many times did you feel they were at a talent disadvantage? This yeah was about as standard as they come for the Bears, as far as W/L goes. Basically, their record was pretty predictable on paper. Clearly better teams- GBx 2, Tampa, Arizona, LA Rams all losses, all by double digits Clearly worse teams- Detroit x 2, NYG all wins, all by double digits except the one on short rest with the backup QB starting They beat a really good Cincy team before they became a really good team. And they lost against a really good Cleveland team before they became a mediocre team. Other than that, Raiders, Steelers, Ravens (with backup QB), Vikings and Seahawks they went 2-3 against the teams that are similar levels of mediocre as they are, and the games for the most part were really close. Probably beat the Vikings and their backup QB to go to a perfectly mediocre 3-3 against mediocre competition. I believe the Bears are the same 8-8 team they have been the previous 2 years, but they just had a tougher schedule.

Do they use the same tiebreakers as the ones they use for the playoffs? If so they’d have the same record, same H2H, same division record, same common games record, same conference record so it would come down to strength of victory which the Vikings are leading (current SOV for Minnesota is .436 Bears SOV is .354) Breaking it out even more, the Viking wins have a combined record of 13 games under .500, Bears wins have a combined record of 32 games under .500. Maybe possible for the Bears to catch up there but seems unlikely This is correct. Bears will finish 3rd in the division, regardless of result. Difference will be playing @ Falcons, home vs. 49ers and Texans instead of @ Saints and home vs. Indianapolis and Arizona. On paper, that's a huge difference especially when you factor in the difference of playing in Atlanta vs. NO's home field advantage.

What's cool about Eddie Jak refusing to tackle? That is actually really cool. Fun fact: Eddie Jackson has missed ONE (1) tackle since Week 8 (I know he missed games as well).

DeMar pulled a Mike Brown!

The most predictable outcome to a dream scenario that played out perfectly in the draft. #OnlyMyTeams

One thing keeping Leftwich from being my top guy is I'm not sure who would be coming with him. For one, the guys I'd probably have ahead of him would potentially come with a GM candidate as well (McDaniels, Roman, Moore). Secondly, the Bucs have a really good coaching staff but a lot of their top guys are older. Their younger guys are mostly unproven, especially in terms of being coordinators or playcallers. And Leftwich has only really coached under the Arians tree so it's not like he can pull guys from his past connections, unless it's from his playing days (admittedly, I haven't looked into anyone he may have played with or for). So, you're potentially looking at a 1st time HC, who will likely also have calling plays on his plate. You may get an experienced OC as kind of like a mentor, but I'd imagine you'd also get a 1st time DC since I don't see Bowles coming with Leftwich to make a lateral move. But I do love your 1st point, and it may be the most important when looking at the next candidate. Fields would be a fantastic fit with what Leftwich has shown he can do with an offense in the last 3-4 years.

I may or may not watch every game legally or illegally on my computer, and have only missed 2 games.

I know they have to trade for another big, but I'd hate to see anyone lose minutes at this point. Coby looking like 2000s Steve Nash last night. But I'd really hate to see guys like Javonte, DJJ and Ayo lose playing time if they add a big and a shooter, and go to an 8-man rotation during the playoffs.

Purdy's draft stock went to hell. He was a potential 2nd round pick before last season, now has CFL in his future.

Jake Fromm or Mike Glennon, so either way is a storyline. Also, a reporter as Saquan about tearing his ACL in Chicago last year, so I guess that's a storyline as well for a game desperate for one. Dalton practiced in full today. Fields was limited. Jenkins was full too, so hopefully Nagy doesn't F this up and we see Fields, Jenkins, Borom, Graham Jr, Dazz still getting snaps, etc. I wasn't planning on watching because was doing Christmas with the inlaws, but now gonna be quarantined, so I'll be flipping back and forth from this game to the Titans game.

Difference between Leftwich and Nagy is that Leftwich legitimately runs the offense. Arians is old and just a figurehead at this point. He's repeatedly stated that Leftwich runs offensive meetings, with or without him present. Plus, Leftwich has played QB at the NFL level and was well known as a leader even from back in his days in college when he played thru an ankle injury and his OL literally picked him up and carried him down the field everytime they moved the chains. I'm not completely sold on Leftwich (or any other coach TBH) but it has nothing to do with Nagy, Brady, Arians or anything else. He's definitely in my top 5. the only comparison to nagy was in the praise coming from an established offensive minded and highly regarded head coach. i really don't believe that arians is as hands off as is being said here. and if anything, nagy (from what we were told and from what we could see from afar) was doing more with less as alex smith and their offense took a huge jump that year. and nobody had anything bad (especially not reid) to say about nagy as a leader prior to this season. if anything, it was seen as his one trait to hang his hat on even if he did suck at calling/running/designing offense (again, before this year). my "criticism" (it's not really that) is based entirely on the fact that i have no idea what his qualifications are - and having played does little to nothing for me. plenty of guys who played at the NFL level suck ass as coaches and plenty of guys who didn't are great. just about anybody who is a cromulent nfl coordinator should be able to coach that offense to success. maybe he'd be good, maybe he'd be bad - i'm just not sure what there really is to be excited about. I don't know what would excite you about anyone then (not that coaches are exciting in the first place). Nobody really is qualified to be a head coach, until they actually become a head coach. Even some with experience (Urban Meyer) turn out to be bad. I mean, everyone wants young offensive coordinators, whose offenses put up big numbers. Leftwich is young (41), has offenses that put up big numbers (with and without Brady) and you take points away because the offense has too much talent? I get your point, but he also has played a huge part in the development of Chris Godwin, who went from a good compliment to a probably 18-20M/year contract coming this offseason. Guys like Shanahan and McVay had similar resumes to Leftwich. Kellen Moore very similar, down to having tons of offensive talent.