Hairyducked Idiot

On 1/6/2025 at 10:14 AM, Hairyducked Idiot said:

 My off-season wish list:

An offensive head coach who will want to significantly overhaul the roster and dilute Poles' influence 

Two veteran offensive linemen to stop the bleeding, two more highly drafted ones to set up long term.

A fast WR to play outside and stretch out defenses 

Release Everett and sign a 1b TE to push Kmet for playing time 

Draft an RB to take over 1a from Swift 

 

We are most of the way there 

16 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I love that Bears fans were convinced Mack was coming back here because the Bears put a video on social media with Mack highlights (and highlights of several other former Bears).

I see some social media murmuring that the Falcons are trying to lock up Dalman before the window opens in an hour.  This is why I don't really spend too much time obsessing over FA before the tampering period opens.  

Some leaks are true. Some are put out by agents to create leverage. It's impossible to tell which is which until after the fact.

I don't think getting veteran OL means we won't draft an OL. It means we can draft whoever we like long-term, which may or may not be an OL

18 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Sign me up, getting back a first, most especially in this draft, where the difference in the player available at #10 and that at #17 is pretty small.

Yeah, 10 feels like a super awkward spot in this draft for our needs.

All veterans are cooked in the NFL. Or at least it's enough that it's a safe assumption.

But that's fine, there's nothing else to spend money on, this is what cap space is for.

I'm not enamored with taking an RB, but I would enjoy the rage from the people who are adamantly opposed to taking an rb.

I'm signed up for some pay to play with NHL alumni pickup and Guy Hebert will be there. I wanna get him to recreate this Simpsons bit with me in my goalie gear:
 

A few buck the trend, but if you assume all defensive players are washed up by 29, you'll be right more often than you're wrong.

41 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

That was somehow worse than the description. I applaud the effort to go out there though. Every game needs goalies 

That's what I love about being a goalie. I could play 7 nights a week if I wanted, at all levels, from literal novices to pickups with former pros.  

In theory I'm a bit too good for this novice league, but *checks video* apparently not.

So I've been playing goalie for the last couple of years.  I'm not very good, but it's adult rec hockey, you don't need to be good.  I've been playing all the way down in the lowest level because they play Saturday nights and I'd rather do that than get the 11 p.m. weeknight game slots.

On Saturday night I got cooked by the world's slowest shootout fake.  The guy came in so slow that I couldn't really build up any momentum to match his speed, and this being adult rookie I just assumed he was just gonna come in and shoot because most of them can't stickhandle enough to make any sort of move.

I assumed wrong. He faked the shot, I bit it harder than Marv Albert with a hooker, and he slowly skated around me and casually tapped it in the net like a gimme putt as I sprawled back after him.  

As a reward for putting up with me over the years, I gift you all the rink video feed, complete with audio of the benches laughing at me.

https://streamable.com/vbej7t

Tendency to sail deep balls showed up a bit in his scouting reports.

57 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Believe you said hockey is your life earlier?  If so, I've a question, the Donato goal, do you think the initial shot was a miss by design?  Sometimes it appears to me, like last night, the initial shooter will miss looking to get the goaltender moving and the bounce off the boards.  Trailer shooter, takes the bounce and has an open net.  I know it doesn't always work but, at times, it appears to be a designed play.

At the NHL level that is absolutely a designed play.

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

bad goaltending but fun snipe

can't wait until he's scoring 40-50 every year

This is exactly why more and more goalie coaches are saying RVH is overused when the puck isn't in tight to the net.

3 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I'm absolutely just horsefeathers stirring here because I do truly believe in Caleb and cant wait to see what he does with a functional offense next year.  But QBs picked in the draft after Caleb:

2nd overall - Pro Bowler and led team to NFC championship game

3rd overall - Pro Bowler (albeit the weak one where you get named when people drop out)

12th overall - Pro Bowl alternate and led team to playoffs

Trubisky was a pro bowler

So much for my 'fans always hate cosches' theory

Dallas and Detroit fans both seem quite bummed about the poaching we did today 

Playoffs thorugh draft isn't bad.  It's post-draft to week 1 that's miserable.

22 minutes ago, SpongeWorthy said:

I have a strong feeling that they’ll try to beef up the IOL hard in FA and go after jeanty 

God help me I don't think I'd hate it.  Better than drafting a defensive player.

1) It's all about Caleb Williams now.  These plays are creating open receivers, but they *have* to be recognized and hit quickly by the QB to be effective.  If he flinches or looks confused, as he often did (which is understandable as a rookie), the whole thing falls apart.

2) I know everyone's gung-ho about the line, but we need some more speed at the skill positions to match this.  A better RB and at least one fast WR.

I'd lean toward letting Allen go.  He was a very good security blanket and he made some insane body control catches, but ultimately he glacial speed was disruptive to our ability to run normal timing offensive plays.  

7 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

can't be mad that the Bears made the clearly right call (and its the 2nd time in 2 years they've done that)

Part of the reason I have a hard time being angry at Ryan Poles, though he really hasn't proven much of anything, is that he does make the obvious correct move when its obvious and correct 

But in between those he does many, many little things wrong 

All the interviews are due diligence.

It's just good business to use the opportunity to get outside perspectives on your organization, make contacts, and have lots of options if your first choice falls through.

This isn't mission accomplished. This is not failing step 2 in a long process with many, many potential failure points 

I hope he has a big influence on turning over offensive personnel right away.

11 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Was this Johnson to the Raiders nothing but a ploy to up the Bears offer?

Yes.  Well, maybe not that machiavellian, but until you have an actual contract it's reasonable to keep your options open and keep pressure on potential employers.

It's just never possible to tell which is smokescreens and which is real until post hoc

Well hot damn, this doesn't suck.

If he can be a good influence on Poles for offensive personnel we might just salvage this