What is wrong with Bears and how do you Fix it?

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, abstract_thought said:

I think it's more that the record should be better given the competitive stage the team is in right now.

In any NFL season there are teams that are building, teams that are competing, and teams that are tearing things down. The past few seasons were supposed to be the competitive peak of this Bears roster. When you're competing, 8 wins isn't much of an accomplishment.

It's not that the Bears are bad, more like average without a straightforward way to improve. It's hard to see this team growing into a contender without significant changes.

Pace plan was to peak at 2019 and 2020 and compete from then on.  It was obvious from contracts and Mack move.   It would have worked too had MT been good and he didn't ignore OL, specifically OT, and screw up TE too often.   

He tried and failed.   Vast majority do.   It's hard and honestly requires some luck as well as skill.

But overall through their history Bears don't rebuild enough.   They fight tooth and nail to be good as they can be every year when sometimes you should just unofficially tank and reset the board.

Pace took that option away with Mack trade.   Again though that was a gamble that MT was good.*

Particularly since they reset rookie contracts to be cheaper and draft picks are far more weighted toward a competitive advantage as a result.

*On this I blame Pace and Nagy so there is no excuse.

Here is why.   When you coach, or I presume GM, a team you are around the players 60 - 70  hours a week at least.   It's like 35 hours coaching a Middle School team and the kids are in school 8 hours a day 5x a week and it is just in Fall and part of Summer.   You know everything about them.  You know ALL their strengths and weaknesses.   Their quirks.   Everything.   

Point is after 2 years in Pace and even after 1 year Nagy should have known if MT was going to be good or not and they should have known never to make that Mack trade which prohibits a reset.   Much more so than fans who aren't even allowed to watch 95% of practices and 100% of meetings.   And if they didn't know that is just as bad if not worse.   

For a true evaluator it really only takes about a month of intimate every day time with a player to know if he is A PLAYER or not or something in between.   You just know.   You can't always know from tape, that is hard, but when you have a guy on your team you know in about a month of live action. 

Is it possible for a light to go on later for someone or for a guy to nose dive?  Of course.  They are humans.   But trust me if you know men or boys and football you just know vast majority of time.    

Remember I was watching Jaylon Johnson in camp(s) and I told everyone before season started he is a player, guaranteed.   I didn't have all info but I could tell from his body language, translating position coach speak, but most importantly from body language of his teammates when they were around him, how they positioned themselves around him, how they spoke to him, etc.  They already knew from practice.   This dude can play.  Players always act a certain way around those guys.        

Best way you could possibly run a scouting department would be to have a guy you trust to give you an honest opinion on every college coaching staff and whose opinion and evaluation you trust.   That would be better than 9000 hours of watching game film because they can tell you what you really need to know about the person.   The athletic skills everyone can figure out with testing it provides nothing of note everyone else doesn't have.   

 

 

 

 

 

[dll2000]

1 minute ago, dll2000 said:

 

Here is why.   When you coach, or I presume GM, a team you are around the players 60 - 70  hours a week at least.   It's like 35 hours coaching a Middle School team and the kids are in school 8 hours a day 5x a week and it is just in Fall and part of Summer.   You know everything about them.  You know ALL their strengths and weaknesses.   Their quirks.   Everything.   

Point is after 2 years in Pace and even after 1 year Nagy should have known if MT was going to be good or not and they should have known never to make that Mack trade which prohibits a reset.   Much more so than fans who aren't even allowed to watch 95% of practices and 100% of meetings.   And if they didn't know that is just as bad if not worse.   

For a true evaluator it really only takes about a month of intimate every day time with a player to know if he is A PLAYER or not or something in between.   You just know.   You can't always know from tape, that is hard, but when you have a guy on your team you know in about a month of live action. 

Is it possible for a light to go on later for someone or for a guy to nose dive?  Of course.  They are humans.   But trust me if you know men or boys and football you just know vast majority of time.    

Remember I was watching Jaylon Johnson in camp(s) and I told everyone before season started he is a player, guaranteed.   I didn't have all info but I could tell from his body language, translating position coach speak, but most importantly from body language of his teammates when they were around him, how they positioned themselves around him, how they spoke to him, etc.  They already knew from practice.   This dude can play.  Players always act a certain way around those guys.        

Best way you could possibly run a scouting department would be to have a guy you trust to give you an honest opinion on every college coaching staff and whose opinion and evaluation you trust.   That would be better than 9000 hours of watching game film because they can tell you what you really need to know about the person.   The athletic skills everyone can figure out with testing it provides nothing of note everyone else doesn't have.   

 

 

 

 

 

All of this is at the level you are playing.   It is still difficult for anyone to project forward from one level to next.   From middle school to HS to HS to college to Pros.

But if you have a guy at level practicing with other guys at same level my position is you know in about a month of live action and being around him every day.    

Not saying you know their peak because most still need to learn whatever position at that level, but you know if you have a dude or not or something in between.

 

[dll2000]

Just now, dll2000 said:

All of this is at the level you are playing.   It is still difficult for anyone to project forward from one level to next.   From middle school to HS to HS to college to Pros.

But if you have a guy at level practicing with other guys at same level my position is you know in about a month of live action and being around him every day.    

Not saying you know their peak because most still need to learn whatever position at that level, but you know if you have a dude or not or something in between.

 

If you are getting the live action there is also no good way to know for sure.   Why you see some bench dudes or cut dudes emerge later.   They didn't get opportunities.   

[Heinz D.]