Bears sign OL Germain Ifedi

[WindyCity]

2 hours ago, dll2000 said:

Bars out played Lucas and Coward in both pre season and practice. 

I surmise they didn't trust him probably because he was a rookie and Lucas had a ton of experience on him.  

As far as guard maybe they didn't feel like he had enough guard reps after using him at tackle second half of camp or maybe they liked what they saw in Coward better.  Or maybe it was rookie thing on both counts.

But as far as physical reps and on field pre season performance he out played those two.  Sometimes the Eastern block judges screw you.

Now is Bars good?  He is okay.  He was better than those guys.  

 

 

 

Bars may be something long term. I don’t think we can count on that.

[WindyCity]

53 minutes ago, G08 said:

That's a valid point... we need a burner WR at some point though... maybe R5.

Let’s do both.

2(43) WR

2(50) OT/OG

[AZBearsFan]

3 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Anything is possible, but we need to deal in what is likely.

You say that but then you also say that you wouldn’t be shocked if a rookie RG, who almost certainly will not even be allowed to enter a team facility or meet in person with our staff or his teammates before training camp, was our starting RG week 1. Those two things appear to be highly in conflict with each other. 

[WindyCity]

1 hour ago, AZBearsFan said:

You say that but then you also say that you wouldn’t be shocked if a rookie RG, who almost certainly will not even be allowed to enter a team facility or meet in person with our staff or his teammates before training camp, was our starting RG week 1. Those two things appear to be highly in conflict with each other. 

A 2nd round OG is more talented than the guys we have on the roster.

I will always bet on talent.

The rookie is not competing against established talented players. He is competing against Vet Minimum guys and UDFAs.

Edited April 7, 2020 by WindyCity

[AZBearsFan]

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

A 2nd round OG is more talented than the guys we have on the roster.

I will always bet on talent.

The rookie is not competing against established talented players. He is competing against Vet Minimum guys and UDFAs.

It’s also a player who has never had to deal with NFL defensive scheme or played in an NFL offense with NFL line calls and site adjustments against dudes superior to anything they’ve ever seen at the collegiate level, all without hardly any practice. If our presumed 2nd rounder is any of Ruiz or Cushenberry or Isaiah Wilson or Robert Hunt or Ben Bartch playing RG they’re also making a position switch, with Hunt and Bartch taking a HUGE step up in competition as well. More talented or not, those things may keep them from being as field ready week 1 as their competition THIS year.

Ifedi isn’t a star OL and may end up not even being a replacement level RG but he’s a guy who’s played OL as a starter in the league for 4 seasons including one almost exclusively at RG and as such will be able to will be ready for what’s expected of him with very little prep time. In any other year it’s entirely reasonable to expect a 2nd round OG prospect should push strongly to start over him week 1. This isn’t going to be like any other year we’ve seen. That’s not at all to say we shouldn’t spend a 2nd round pick on a RG - I’m totally on board with doing so - I’m just saying that placing immediate expectations on them that otherwise would be justified probably aren’t justified this particular year.

[soulman]

3 hours ago, WindyCity said:

A 2nd round OG is more talented than the guys we have on the roster.

I will always bet on talent.

The rookie is not competing against established talented players. He is competing against Vet Minimum guys and UDFAs.

Another hunch based solely on your opinion that 2nd round pick will be better than those we have now yet you've been criticizing two former 2nd round picks for their play in 2019 both of whom have far more game experience.  Where's your logic for this?   There is none. 

There is zero basis in logic or fact based only on your personal perception of their talent for saying a rookie, especially one who may have less time to prepare for the season, will automatically be better than someone with more game experience based solely on the size of their paychecks or that they may have been UDFA.  Bars injuries his Sr. year probably caused him to drop significantly in the 2019 draft.

If perception of talent alone was the key why isn't Ifedi who was a former 1st round pick and has 4 years NFL experience including 16 games at RG a more logical choice than the "unnamed soldier" OG you propose we draft.  Don't get me wrong.  I've proposed we draft an OL as well but to simply assume that guy will win the RG job and start day one over others with more experience is unknown and might even be considered doubtful by coaches who may value experience more than you do.

So again you're simply hunting for any reasons you can to make your case whether they're logical or not.  I rest my case.

[WindyCity]

The 2nd round pick would raise the bar required to start at RG. If Ifedi beats him out, then that means Ifedi is playing at a high enough level to do so.

If Ifedi only needs to beat out Coward and Bars he may do that by default. That is a much lower bar.

 

I wouldn’t guarantee that the 2nd round pick starts week 1, but he is going to force whoever does to beat out a more talented player.

[WindyCity]

5 hours ago, soulman said:

Another hunch based solely on your opinion that 2nd round pick will be better than those we have now yet you've been criticizing two former 2nd round picks for their play in 2019 both of whom have far more game experience.  Where's your logic for this?   There is none. 

There is zero basis in logic or fact based only on your personal perception of their talent for saying a rookie, especially one who may have less time to prepare for the season, will automatically be better than someone with more game experience based solely on the size of their paychecks or that they may have been UDFA.  Bars injuries his Sr. year probably caused him to drop significantly in the 2019 draft.

If perception of talent alone was the key why isn't Ifedi who was a former 1st round pick and has 4 years NFL experience including 16 games at RG a more logical choice than the "unnamed soldier" OG you propose we draft.  Don't get me wrong.  I've proposed we draft an OL as well but to simply assume that guy will win the RG job and start day one over others with more experience is unknown and might even be considered doubtful by coaches who may value experience more than you do.

So again you're simply hunting for any reasons you can to make your case whether they're logical or not.  I rest my case.

So why don’t we forfeit our 2nd round picks and sign a bunch of backups with experience?

Talent > Experience

A majority of the time, the players picked higher are better/more talented. It is why teams value their high picks.

I criticized James Daniels for his 2019 play, he was still light years better than Coward. My expectations for him are higher because he is more talented.

[G08]

So Pace was high on Ifedi in 2016 and apparently Juan Castillo loves him and thinks he can work his magic on him at RG.

Still, this feels like a Mike Davis signing to me... RG should be addressed fairly high I would think.

[WindyCity]

4 minutes ago, G08 said:

So Pace was high on Ifedi in 2016 and apparently Juan Castillo loves him and thinks he can work his magic on him at RG.

Still, this feels like a Mike Davis signing to me... RG should be addressed fairly high I would think.

At a minimum you have to make Ifedi earn the job over someone more talented than Coward.

Same thinking that goes into Foles.

I would also be fine with an OT, make Leno and Massie jump over a higher bar than Cornelius Lucas to keep their jobs.

[dll2000]

Ifedi was not a worse player than Massie. He is younger and a little quicker.  Maybe Massie should kick in to guard.  

I said maybe.  I don’t know. You have to play around with stuff sometimes to see what works and what doesn’t. I am honestly shocked Daniels failed at center.  He was one of best college centers I have seen.  Maybe it was a one off year, but he will probably never get another shot at center.  

It doesn’t matter it sounds like Ifedi is going to guard and that is that.

 I don’t know why Massie and Leno are sacrosanct in their positions with Bears.  They have not really earned that.  

[WindyCity]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

Ifedi was not a worse player than Massie. He is younger and a little quicker.  Maybe Massie should kick in to guard.  

I said maybe.  I don’t know. You have to play around with stuff sometimes to see what works and what doesn’t. I am honestly shocked Daniels failed at center.  He was one of best college centers I have seen.  Maybe it was a one off year, but he will probably never get another shot at center.  

It doesn’t matter it sounds like Ifedi is going to guard and that is that.

 I don’t know why Massie and Leno are sacrosanct in their positions with Bears.  They have not really earned that.  

I think it will just be easier for Ifedi to move. Massie has never played OG and 2018 Massie is better than anything that Ifedi has done at OT.

Massie and Leno are both average replacement level OTs. It should be a goal to upgrade them in the next couple of years.

You need to have an elite QB or an elitish OL if you want to have a playoff level offense.

[dll2000]

Well 2020 it looks like Bears have penciled in 4 starters (which I think is a mistake, but whatever, not my call):

Leno

Daniels

Whitehair

?                      

Massie

Ifedi, Coward, Bars, Levin, draft pick competing for roster spots and open RG spot.   I would say Ifedi has inside track at moment.  

 Levin has a good shot to make roster  unless they draft a center since he can play center and Daniels probably isn't moving back there.  

Ifedi, Coward and Bars offer position versatility at guard and tackle.  Although Ifedi and Coward have oft been below average at each and Bars did not beat out Coward last year.

Draft pick(s) are the wild card.  

Bears are actually going to use starters in pre season this year.  So look for public and fans to be grading players and calling for jobs if guys don't play well.  Last year pretty much ever position across board was penciled in.  Bears thought they had a ready made team that just needed to stay healthy and so did many.   This year is totally different.  

 

 

[G08]

Apparently in 14 starts at OG, Ifedi had 0 holding penalties. 

Pace stated today that Castillo is very high on him. This probably means we are drafting an OG at 43.

[WindyCity]

13 minutes ago, G08 said:

Apparently in 14 starts at OG, Ifedi had 0 holding penalties. 

Pace stated today that Castillo is very high on him. This probably means we are drafting an OG at 43.

I hope so. I think Castillo is a fine coach, but I am skeptical about his ability to pixie dust a couple of busts into OL upgrades.

I would love for a legit upgrade.