Glass Half Full 2020

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

12 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Best use of first rounders has been trade for Mack.  He should just keep doing that.  

Trade for a star player and call it a day.  

Let's trade the next 2 first rounders for a QB.  

Mental exercise; what compensation would you ask for to get Mahomes right now?

[beardown3231]

55 minutes ago, RunningVaccs said:

Closet waste.  Everything I recall from pre-draft was hard worker, solid character. It's one of the reasons it was so confusing that he and his agent were fighting so hard on a behavior clause in his contract. Since then we've gotten: held out signing rookie contract, mystery absence, some really up and down play in 2019, and now getting notoriety for partying on a boat during a global pandemic.  He was supposed to be a boring solid pick! 

I hope for the best from him, but would you say that you have no concerns about how his off field stuff affects his play?

I don't think so. I mean, from what I remember (and I could be wrong) the hold out was moreso because he wanted the Bears to pay his fines if he was hit with any from illegal hits. As of now we haven't seen anything that would say banging pornstars during a pandemic effects his play (but I guess we'll see in ~3 months) and his best play- aside from the Raiders game- came after the absence last year (and let's face it, the entire D was manhandled by Oakland's OL in that game, thanks to their size and dirty blocks). I'm concerned about the absence still because no one truly knows what happened despite some of my own guesses, but when he's on the field he's good more than he isn't.

Edited May 29, 2020 by beardown3231

[The_Romen]

2 hours ago, RunningVaccs said:

Let's trade the next 2 first rounders for a QB.  

Mental exercise; what compensation would you ask for to get Mahomes right now?

Every 1st and 2nd rounder for 20 years. 100 million guaranteed at signing and 40 guaranteed per year.

[Sugashane]

On 5/29/2020 at 2:11 PM, RunningVaccs said:

Let's trade the next 2 first rounders for a QB.  

Mental exercise; what compensation would you ask for to get Mahomes right now?

I'm desperate for a franchise QB. I'd go 3 1sts, a few high conditional picks, and a megadeal to Dak to get him.

 

For Mahomes I'd donate 3 firsts and then trade my 1st for KC's 2nd every year Mahomes plays 10+ games for us for his entire career. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by Sugashane

[dll2000]

Pretty good video I will link below on Nick Foles.  Back to that in a second.

I think people are severely underestimating the impact adding Quinn over Floyd will bring to this defense.   It will be similar to upgrade Packers experienced last season bringing in two top edge free agents.

Losing Prince and HHCD, but I think they can be replaced with comparable players.   Regaining Hicks and a 3rd year healthier Nichols will also bring an immediate impact to defense.  Goldman was hurting for much of last year as well.

The wild card is the shortened off season and what guys have been doing to prepare their bodies in offseason.  Who is a disciplined pro and who isn't?  Have our guys secretly went out and practiced together at somebodies house and land?  Probably not since Foles is new.  I can guarantee you others have.  People like Peyton Manning would be doing that for sure.  

If Roquan Smith gets hungry and our 2nd round pick lives up to his billing and recovers from surgery this could be a scary defense to face.

Our offense hinges on Nick Foles winning job I think after watching this video.  I think MT is so much better an athlete that he may still win it.  But I think Foles should be the guy.  But I say that with a grain of salt, because as video points out and I have also pointed out in past Foles has never made it threw a season completely.  He takes shots.  Lots of them.  Partly because he can't run fast and partly because he desires to make a big play.

I honestly think our O line will be significantly better in 2020 than it was in 2019.  I think Ifedi at guard will be significant upgrade over 2019 Long/Coward.  I think Massie is an upgrade over Lucas.  I think now that Whitehair and Daniels are cemented at C/G from get go they will be much better.  That being said I think Massie and Leno are, at their very best, average.  And at their worst, well below average

So my faith that Foles can play a complete season is not very high.  But that is where the hopes of this team lie.   There is also a chance that MT takes a large jump by actually learning from a competent QB.   Then he comes on and turns into Bears version of Philly's Foles and unexpectedly leads team to success.  But not a large one.  It could happen though.

Anyway, here is the video:

 

 

 

 

[beardown3231]

@dll2000 In reference to your 4th paragraph, Robinson said he's been working out with Trubisky about 4 days every week.

 

[dll2000]

17 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

@dll2000 In reference to your 4th paragraph, Robinson said he's been working out with Trubisky about 4 days every week.

 

Good for them.  Foles would have been smart to jump on that too.  

If I was an NFL WR or QB, I would be doing that every year.  It is a cutthroat what have you done for me lately business.  

 

[dll2000]

19 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

@dll2000 In reference to your 4th paragraph, Robinson said he's been working out with Trubisky about 4 days every week.

 

Trubisky needs to set up some coverages in offseason.  Get some guys out there to give him some looks.  

His greater problem isn't throwing, it is reading defenses.

Last year he just locked on A Rob almost every play and only came off him when he had to or protection broke.

All the Twitter and YouTube arm chair guys posting 'bad reads' you can see MTs eyes just go straight to A Rob for first 2 secs of nearly every pass play.   He had no trust in anyone else.

 

 

 

[soulman]

It's patently impossible to not say that the Bears have improved both player personnel wise and on the coaching staff.  Given this it's pretty puzzling to find so many in the media who are down on them which indicates to me they either haven't done much research into the 2019 season of they simply don't know how to go about it.  Their reasoning appears to be based on two main points, QB and OL.  So I'll start there.

 

I agree with you Dan.  Who ever starts will provide the Bears with better QB play than we saw in 2019.  Although Mitch will begin camp as #1 I tend to agree with Jonathan Wood that Foles will end up starting in Sept.  What he has shown during his career more so than Mitch is an ability to take a game on and will his offense down the field to a score especially when under massive pressure to do so.  Mitch has shown some signs of this but too often has fallen short of landing the killer blow or blows and we've come up short.

Another factor in Foles favor that comes up in that video is Foles ability adjust his throws in ways that give his receivers a very good shot at making the catch.  He's on target with a catchable ball far more often than not.  Mitch should be able to pick this skill up but so far he has not.  Neither are great with their deep ball but Foles appears to have a slight edge and more of a willingness to go deep.  Ginn, Mooney, and Miller should all benefit from this plus it will force defenses to honor this or risk giving up big plays downfield.

A third factor that may also help is Foles ability to read a defense and have the patience to wait 'til his target comes open even when it means taking a hit whereas Mitch has tended to lose both confidence and patience and either runs to takes a sack.  Sometimes those runs have worked out but far less so in 2019 than in 2018.  With better OL protection Mitch may improve and also read and react better but we'll need to see that first.  In any event teams will have to prepare differently for each QB because they won't operate  the same.

 

The Bears OL isn't all that bad.  Think back (Webb, Omiyale, CWill, Carimi, etc).  But they're also not all that good.  Whitehair is a very good OL at both OC and OG and if Ifedi or Coward can tie down RG and Daniel bounces back from a confusing regression we'll be very solid inside.  OT could stand improvements but Leno and Massie are both at least average to slightly above average OTs.  As I've pointed out, we've had far worse.  I'd like to see either Bars or Spriggs step up and show promise this year but that's an unknown.

I'm hoping our aces in the hole here are Castillo and Barone because sure as night comes after day we need far better blocking from our TEs too.  It's gonna be up to these two coaches to teach all of their guys how to block correctly in this scheme and also how to eliminate drive killing penalties or at least how not to get caught as often.  They aren't gonna turn this bunch into mad dogs like the 80s Bruise Brothers but they should be able to toughen them up and get proper execution from what is an experienced OL enough so to win.

Which brings me to my final though which is Pace needs to seriously consider how to rebuild this OL on the fly from the outside in and get some quality depth both inside and outside. I like Leno but we need more than just an average LT which is about all he will ever be.   His post Bears career will most likely be as a vet backup.  Massie is more likely to be in his last year in Chicago.  I don't see us taking $9 mil plus cap hits for him in 2021-22.  This is why I'd like to see Bars or Spriggs show they can play RT in the NFL as a starter.

 

Gotta get some stuff done now so I'll add another post with more thoughts later.

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, soulman said:

 

The Bears OL isn't all that bad.  Think back (Webb, Omiyale, CWill, Carimi, etc).  But they're also not all that good.  Whitehair is a very good OL at both OC and OG and if Ifedi or Coward can tie down RG and Daniel bounces back from a confusing regression we'll be very solid inside.  OT could stand improvements but Leno and Massie are both at least average to slightly above average OTs.  As I've pointed out, we've had far worse.  I'd like to see either Bars or Spriggs step up and show promise this year but that's an unknown.

Bears 2020 O line will be very interesting to me.  Shortened offseason and a new coach and at least one new starter, likely Ifedi.  I think Ifedi will be better than any one thinks.  I am not worried about him.  I am very worried about our OTs.  I think we could have drafted 2 quality young OTs in this draft and passed on them both and it really disappoints me.  

I'm hoping our aces in the hole here are Castillo and Barone because sure as night comes after day we need far better blocking from our TEs too.  

TE has been as responsible for our bad O Line play as O line, if not more.  They missed a lot of blocks on run plays last 2 seasons.  

Which brings me to my final though which is Pace needs to seriously consider how to rebuild this OL on the fly from the outside in and get some quality depth both inside and outside. I like Leno but we need more than just an average LT which is about all he will ever be.   His post Bears career will most likely be as a vet backup.  Massie is more likely to be in his last year in Chicago.  I don't see us taking $9 mil plus cap hits for him in 2021-22.  This is why I'd like to see Bars or Spriggs show they can play RT in the NFL as a starter.

He is going to have draft some next year or spend big on a FA or 2.  He hasn't developed any OTs in house. I don't see 2 7th rounders being likely to emerge as the guys.  

Gotta get some stuff done now so I'll add another post with more thoughts later.

 

[Heinz D.]

5 hours ago, dll2000 said:

I think people are severely underestimating the impact adding Quinn over Floyd will bring to this defense.   It will be similar to upgrade Packers experienced last season bringing in two top edge free agents.

Disagree. Quinn and rookie Gipson should be a MUCH bigger upgrade than what the Packers had last season. Why people don't get this is beyond me. It should be obvious after the first game, though. Maybe even first pre-season, if there is one...

[The_Romen]

4 hours ago, dll2000 said:

Trubisky needs to set up some coverages in offseason.  Get some guys out there to give him some looks.  

His greater problem isn't throwing, it is reading defenses.

Last year he just locked on A Rob almost every play and only came off him when he had to or protection broke.

All the Twitter and YouTube arm chair guys posting 'bad reads' you can see MTs eyes just go straight to A Rob for first 2 secs of nearly every pass play.   He had no trust in anyone else.

 

 

 

His downfield accuracy is a huge problem though and robbed the offense of some huge plays and touchdowns

[The_Romen]

14 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

Disagree. Quinn and rookie Gipson should be a MUCH bigger upgrade than what the Packers had last season. Why people don't get this is beyond me. It should be obvious after the first game, though. Maybe even first pre-season, if there is one...

Gipson instead of fat *** Aaron Lynch alone will be a massive upgrade

[soulman]

34 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

 

Pace seems somewhat methodical as he builds and rebuilds.  His focus has been areas other than OT but I believe that's next.  Part of the problem has been two offeseasons without a #1 pick.  Once you get past the top 3 or 4 rookie prospects just how much difference is there between the next half dozen or so and that's in a good year.

I can't really fault him for passing on 2nd tier OTs for 1st tier talent at another position but he can't keep doing it forever.  We have to build our own OTs just as others have done.

[dll2000]

Just now, soulman said:

Pace seems somewhat methodical as he builds and rebuilds.  His focus has been areas other than OT but I believe that's next.  Part of the problem has been two offeseasons without a #1 pick.  Once you get past the top 3 or 4 rookie prospects just how much difference is there between the next half dozen or so and that's in a good year.

I can't really fault him for passing on 2nd tier OTs for 1st tier talent at another position but he can't keep doing it forever.  We have to build our own OTs just as others have done.

Few teams have good OTs.