2022 Football Year in Review

[dll2000]

 

Start with Draft (probably should have started with FA, but I didn't).  Other people can chime in.  

Biggest story of 2022 draft to me is who Bears didn't take when much of fan base spent offseason mocking Pickens to Bears and then he was available for Bears at both 2nd round spots.   Normally you don't focus too much on what could have been, but in a year where Fields had 1 quality WR who subsequently got injured passing on a good talent who fell to you because of character issues and not ability was tough to figure.   Situation does make it a story.  Obviously 2017 we passed on Watson and Mahomes and that is a tough pill to swallow.   No one will ever forget that as Mahomes is on track to be Mount Rushmore player and Watson was looking awesome before personal life derailed him.  

Most fans were also surprised that Bears went defense twice with first two picks after basically sitting out FA with least amount of offensive talent in league.

Biggest surprise result is Braxton Jones, 5th round OT, has started entire year at left tackle - most prized position on entire OL.   Hasn't been awful - but whatever PFF says, he also hasn't been that good yet.   Still if he turns out to even be an average NFL LT starter for a number of years that is a great value pick on par with the Charles Leno pick.  

Next biggest story - to me - has been emergence of Sanborn - who honestly showed enough in camp and preseason to get playing time and probably start at MLB.  I think people can't get out of their heads that he is an UDFA and supposed to therefore suck.

Brisker was early media and fan darling and Gordon was early coach darling.   Brisker has been pretty good for most part and looks like he will be solid player in league for years to come.   Gordon has struggled at times, especially early, but to be fair they have forced him into playing two extremely difficult positions as a rookie and pass rush in non-existent.  He has shown ability and seems to be improving as season goes on.  

As we speak -12-19-2022- Bears twitter/youtube is loudly calling for Velus Jones to be cut today.

 I have said if you get 3 solid or average starters from a draft and one or two of them are good or great players it was a good draft.

We got Jones, Brisker and Gordon and now Sanborn.   And a punter.  

If you ask me Sanborn has played best of any of them given circumstances.    We may have good players in Sanborn and Brisker and average starters in Jones and Gordon.   Too early to judge a draft, but it is looking to date like a good draft.   Not bad for not having a first round pick.

No one else has really done much of note.   

Robinson hasn't done anything (but we knew he was a project as converted WR - the tease was how much playing time he has gotten early), Thomas got poached of PS, Ebner looks bad, Kramer got hurt early, Carter has done nothing, Hicks - too early to say.

Am I missing anyone?

 

 

[Sugashane]

2022 Free Agent Signings

Justin Jones, DT - 2 years, $12 mil

- Jones has been the most consistent of a bad DL. While I don't think he should be a starter he may be better with a better supporting cast, but he isn't attracting double teams or anything so he will still be getting one on one match ups even with a better cast. My be a cut for 2023 but I feel like he is the stopgap holder and a depth piece at minimum.

 

Trevor Siemian, QB - 2 years, $4 mil

- He is a back up making back up money. I'll take that over the $11+ mil wrapped up in Dalton and Foles. Stepped in and was hurt in pre-game though, so comedic value actually makes me like him more in a tank year.

 

Byron Pringle, WR - 1 year, $4.125 mil

Hard to grade as he was injured early, but was expected to be a top 2 target. Has yet to have a game with more than 2 targets but also has caught 7 of 9 opportunities. Definitely a disappointing a signing overall

 

Equanimeous St. Brown, WR - 1 year, $965K

Honestly he has had a career year, for him. Has the size to have a role but is still a poor route runner and not consistent in going after the ball. Very "meh" signing but for under $1 mil he has performed better than expected I guess. He's a bottom of the roster player that has been forced to be a starter this year. Can't fault him for that, he should never be in position to be a starter.

 

Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE - 2 years, $8 mil

Damn I was excited to get him this cheap, and he has been absolute garbage. He needs cut, terrible signing, terrible play, the best thing about him is that he has next to no dead cap to cut in 2023.

 

Patrick Scales, LS - 1 year, $1 mil

Good signing, not sure why he always gets 1 year deals. Dude is as steady as they come. Funny that out LS gets paid more than the WR who has 14 starts for us. lol

 

Nicholas Morrow, LB - 1 year, $3 mil

For the most part I am pretty happy with this signing. I don't believe he has the athleticism/skillset to be a WILL in this defense but if he was the 2 down SAM I wouldn't bat an eye, even with his lack of size for that role. Someone who can hold a spot for a bit, and you look to upgrade later as there are far bigger needs. He can have some ridiculous plays but seems to consistently be around the ball, and is NOT an impact player. I would actually be really happy to have him as the super-sub for the LB corps rather than be a starter.

 

Lucas Patrick, C - 2 years, $8 mil

Again injuries have derailed his season, but he seems like a back up talent. Maybe if he was starting over Mustipher I would have liked him more but they tried to force Jenkins out and it was clear there was no legitimacy to a competition between the two. He needs cut next year, there is no reason to pay a guy $5 mil to be a poor back up.

 

Dakota Dozier, G - 1 year, $1 mil

Not a snap, injuries took his season. Not sure if he even stuck on the team if not for the injury.

 

Michael Schofield, G - 1 year, $1 mil

Dude sucks. Might be worse than Musipher even with the extra years under his belt. No lateral movement and is a turnstile. Crap signing even for the cheap deal.

 

Riley Reiff, T - 1 year, $3 mil

Actually a pretty damn good singing. I think I was pretty down on him but when Borom went down and has been steady. Not a lot of upside but also he is not costing the Bears big losses, which for a back up OT with little help is about all you can ask for. I'd be fine re-signing him. Not as a starter but as a sub he is a good signing IMO.

 

Khari Blasingame, FB - 1 year, $965K

Very happy with the signing, he has been a solid runblocker and has opened up some really good holes for Fields, Monty/Herbert. Like to see him get another year or two extension. As a former RB I would REALLY like to see if he can be a versatile piece, but after 4 years no one gives him a chance so I am doubtful. Being able to catch, run, and block would be a plus so I won't ignore the spot if there is a solid prospect, but there is no rush to replace.... in large part because he is a FB. Dude plays like 10 snaps a game.

 

 

Trades/Waiver Claims

Chase Claypool - Cost to get: early 2nd

Its damn hard to jump into an offense 9 weeks in, and doing so in an offense that throws as seldom as we do it is hard to make a nice statline too. Guy has physical gifts and size, and with a full offseason to work with Fields and Getsy we can see if he can produce as a 1 or high 2. If so then it was a good trade IMO, but we did give up a very early 2nd. Hard to say what we are missing out on since we have no clue what is going to be available and needed by the time of the draft.

 

N'Keal Harry - Cost to get: 2024 7th rounder

I'll take this trade 100/100 times. 7th rounders who aren't pure special teamers usually fail so taking a swing at a WR who at least had some success in the league is a plus, and as Fields needs to have a bigger WR group to compliment Mooney AND he is a plus runblocker in the most run-heavy offense in the league, its hard to down this trade. Injury bug bit him too sadly, and I wouldn't have traded much for Harry but it was 100% worth the swing. Hopefully he becomes a solid rotational piece and re-signs to make the trade better.

 

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, Sugashane said:

2022 Free Agent Signings

Justin Jones, DT - 2 years, $12 mil

- Jones has been the most consistent of a bad DL. While I don't think he should be a starter he may be better with a better supporting cast, but he isn't attracting double teams or anything so he will still be getting one on one match ups even with a better cast. My be a cut for 2023 but I feel like he is the stopgap holder and a depth piece at minimum.

 

Trevor Siemian, QB - 2 years, $4 mil

- He is a back up making back up money. I'll take that over the $11+ mil wrapped up in Dalton and Foles. Stepped in and was hurt in pre-game though, so comedic value actually makes me like him more in a tank year.

 

Byron Pringle, WR - 1 year, $4.125 mil

Hard to grade as he was injured early, but was expected to be a top 2 target. Has yet to have a game with more than 2 targets but also has caught 7 of 9 opportunities. Definitely a disappointing a signing overall

 

Equanimeous St. Brown, WR - 1 year, $965K

Honestly he has had a career year, for him. Has the size to have a role but is still a poor route runner and not consistent in going after the ball. Very "meh" signing but for under $1 mil he has performed better than expected I guess. He's a bottom of the roster player that has been forced to be a starter this year. Can't fault him for that, he should never be in position to be a starter.

 

Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE - 2 years, $8 mil

Damn I was excited to get him this cheap, and he has been absolute garbage. He needs cut, terrible signing, terrible play, the best thing about him is that he has next to no dead cap to cut in 2023.

 

Patrick Scales, LS - 1 year, $1 mil

Good signing, not sure why he always gets 1 year deals. Dude is as steady as they come. Funny that out LS gets paid more than the WR who has 14 starts for us. lol

 

Nicholas Morrow, LB - 1 year, $3 mil

For the most part I am pretty happy with this signing. I don't believe he has the athleticism/skillset to be a WILL in this defense but if he was the 2 down SAM I wouldn't bat an eye, even with his lack of size for that role. Someone who can hold a spot for a bit, and you look to upgrade later as there are far bigger needs. He can have some ridiculous plays but seems to consistently be around the ball, and is NOT an impact player. I would actually be really happy to have him as the super-sub for the LB corps rather than be a starter.

 

Lucas Patrick, C - 2 years, $8 mil

Again injuries have derailed his season, but he seems like a back up talent. Maybe if he was starting over Mustipher I would have liked him more but they tried to force Jenkins out and it was clear there was no legitimacy to a competition between the two. He needs cut next year, there is no reason to pay a guy $5 mil to be a poor back up.

 

Dakota Dozier, G - 1 year, $1 mil

Not a snap, injuries took his season. Not sure if he even stuck on the team if not for the injury.

 

Michael Schofield, G - 1 year, $1 mil

Dude sucks. Might be worse than Musipher even with the extra years under his belt. No lateral movement and is a turnstile. Crap signing even for the cheap deal.

 

Riley Reiff, T - 1 year, $3 mil

Actually a pretty damn good singing. I think I was pretty down on him but when Borom went down and has been steady. Not a lot of upside but also he is not costing the Bears big losses, which for a back up OT with little help is about all you can ask for. I'd be fine re-signing him. Not as a starter but as a sub he is a good signing IMO.

 

Khari Blasingame, FB - 1 year, $965K

Very happy with the signing, he has been a solid runblocker and has opened up some really good holes for Fields, Monty/Herbert. Like to see him get another year or two extension. As a former RB I would REALLY like to see if he can be a versatile piece, but after 4 years no one gives him a chance so I am doubtful. Being able to catch, run, and block would be a plus so I won't ignore the spot if there is a solid prospect, but there is no rush to replace.... in large part because he is a FB. Dude plays like 10 snaps a game.

 

 

Trades/Waiver Claims

Chase Claypool - Cost to get: early 2nd

Its damn hard to jump into an offense 9 weeks in, and doing so in an offense that throws as seldom as we do it is hard to make a nice statline too. Guy has physical gifts and size, and with a full offseason to work with Fields and Getsy we can see if he can produce as a 1 or high 2. If so then it was a good trade IMO, but we did give up a very early 2nd. Hard to say what we are missing out on since we have no clue what is going to be available and needed by the time of the draft.

 

N'Keal Harry - Cost to get: 2024 7th rounder

I'll take this trade 100/100 times. 7th rounders who aren't pure special teamers usually fail so taking a swing at a WR who at least had some success in the league is a plus, and as Fields needs to have a bigger WR group to compliment Mooney AND he is a plus runblocker in the most run-heavy offense in the league, its hard to down this trade. Injury bug bit him too sadly, and I wouldn't have traded much for Harry but it was 100% worth the swing. Hopefully he becomes a solid rotational piece and re-signs to make the trade better.

 

This is a sad list.

Not sure what Poles expectations were, but most of FA class was journeyman roster filler.  Maybe with exception of Jones.  

The major move(s) were the trade for Claypool, and trading Roquan and Quinn away. 

 

[dll2000]

If memory serves, and mine rarely does completely, the three major stories of camp were Roquan holdout, Braxton starting as a rookie and Jenkins missing time and coaches complaining about him.

Bears looked okay in preseason.  We talked a lot about lack of penalties, but that didn't really translate into regular season.

I still have not heard an adequate explanation for Jenkins being in doghouse and then splitting time at Guard with Patrick and doubt we ever will.  

[Sugashane]

Just now, dll2000 said:

This is a sad list.

Not sure what Poles expectations were, but most of FA class was journeyman roster filler.  Maybe with exception of Jones.  

The major move(s) were the trade for Claypool, and trading Roquan and Quinn away. 

 

Honestly I think he was trying to tank. They came out an went 2-1 completely unexpectedly and he was hoping to find a few guys that could be solid. If he thought more of them they would have been structured and paid to reflect that IMO.

That being said, basically striking out puts way more pressure on his 2023 free agent class because there are still so many holes.

[dll2000]

Funny to me that Jenkins went from most fan hated player on team in August to a fan favorite in season.

 

[Sugashane]

1 minute ago, dll2000 said:

Funny to me that Jenkins went from most fan hated player on team in August to a fan favorite in season.

 

Fans are stupid. When they booed Tru at the Bulls game I finally just gave up with the general "swamp" of fans.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

Yes it is sad.

Some podcast-I think it was Bears Over Beers-really got me thinking about not just performance (is player good?) but also value (is player exceeding investment or not?)  The player this applies well to is Eddie Jackson. He's had great years (2) and lots of down years, so you can grade him very well or very poorly year by year. However if you look at value, Jackson before contract was playing way above investment so was great value whether he had a great year or not.  After the contract, most years he's less than average and therefore an absolutely terrible value.   

ANyway, seems like pretty much all of Poles signings and picks have been average to below average to really bad.  On value though, Jones does stand out.  Brisker looks like a good player and decent value for a 2nd round pick. I guess if Gordon ends up being OK be'll be an OK value but if you're using your "premium" resources to get average players at OK value it's fair to question the approach.  There's a long list of players who are low investment signings but really low performing signings.  

If you're looking at this list with an eye to value I'd say Jones stands out in a positive way. If he's an OK LT for 4 years the Bears did great as they can apply reources elsewhere, plus you can upgrade his position whenever you like with little sunk cost concerns. 

Everyone else is either a bad value, bad performer or both. I am not big on the coaching staff or management of this team so far, it's tough to figure out what they're good at. If they get dragged to a championship by our magician QB that's fine by me though. 

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

6 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Bears looked okay in preseason.  We talked a lot about lack of penalties, but that didn't really translate into regular season.

I still have not heard an adequate explanation for Jenkins being in doghouse and then splitting time at Guard with Patrick and doubt we ever will.  

To further ***** and moan about this staff, you can make a very good argument that this group is not accurately assessing talent that was in the house when they moved in.  Evidence would be whatever the heck happened with Jenkins.  He was pretty talented, and we never heard anything bad about him beyond the injuries.  Regime change, and then it  seemed like he had to battle a bunch of inferior talent and even then it was injury up the depth chart that brought him up all the way.  Once he was there he's looked like the best OL most weeks.  I don't get what their hangup was about this guy.  Really hope he's going to come through this neck injury OK as he elevates the OL and is a ton of fun to watch.

Their assessment of Fields was a total mystery to me.  I can't believe they got their jobs saying "we're going to do jack **** to help the QB, so if he's going to have any success he'll have to be superhuman"  I liked Fields, a lot, going into this year but had zero idea he could do what he's done both in terms of progression on the QB skills and also the way he drags this crappy team down the field with him.  I don't have a precedent for this (but I mostly only watch this silly team) but it seems pretty unique.  If congress investiagates this team and they come up with tapes of Poles saying "I want to get my own QB, so lets build the roster so no one will mind if we totally ruin this one. Now I must go kick puppies and drown some kittens have a good one y'all" would you bat an eye after looking at the roster in Sept?

This situation reminds me of when we bought our home.  Previous owners were a bit nutty and had to move in a hurry. They left a ton of furniture and stuff behind.  Including a couch. This big green couch was one of the best couches I'd ever sat on.  We slept on it the first night there when we got wiped out and didn't want to build a bed. GREAT COUCH. My wife insisted it had to go.  Like full warning signs of battle I didn't want. So, fine. I wanted to investigate taking down a structural wall and didn't need the noise so caved on the couch. We gave the couch to a friend of mine in a much much nicer zip code.  That was over a decade ago, and he not only still has the couch, but loves it, and he  later found out it was some stupid custom luxury furniture brand and probably cost more than the cars we owned when we moved in, so happily invites me to sit on said ******* couch every time I come over. I guess moral is you don't have to trash everything old when you move in or take over. You might have a Justin Fields. Or a really nice green couch which is nearly as good. 

[dll2000]

23 minutes ago, RunningVaccs said:

To further ***** and moan about this staff, you can make a very good argument that this group is not accurately assessing talent that was in the house when they moved in.  Evidence would be whatever the heck happened with Jenkins.  He was pretty talented, and we never heard anything bad about him beyond the injuries.  Regime change, and then it  seemed like he had to battle a bunch of inferior talent and even then it was injury up the depth chart that brought him up all the way.  Once he was there he's looked like the best OL most weeks.  I don't get what their hangup was about this guy.  Really hope he's going to come through this neck injury OK as he elevates the OL and is a ton of fun to watch.

Their assessment of Fields was a total mystery to me.  I can't believe they got their jobs saying "we're going to do jack **** to help the QB, so if he's going to have any success he'll have to be superhuman"  I liked Fields, a lot, going into this year but had zero idea he could do what he's done both in terms of progression on the QB skills and also the way he drags this crappy team down the field with him.  I don't have a precedent for this (but I mostly only watch this silly team) but it seems pretty unique.  If congress investiagates this team and they come up with tapes of Poles saying "I want to get my own QB, so lets build the roster so no one will mind if we totally ruin this one. Now I must go kick puppies and drown some kittens have a good one y'all" would you bat an eye after looking at the roster in Sept?

This situation reminds me of when we bought our home.  Previous owners were a bit nutty and had to move in a hurry. They left a ton of furniture and stuff behind.  Including a couch. This big green couch was one of the best couches I'd ever sat on.  We slept on it the first night there when we got wiped out and didn't want to build a bed. GREAT COUCH. My wife insisted it had to go.  Like full warning signs of battle I didn't want. So, fine. I wanted to investigate taking down a structural wall and didn't need the noise so caved on the couch. We gave the couch to a friend of mine in a much much nicer zip code.  That was over a decade ago, and he not only still has the couch, but loves it, and he  later found out it was some stupid custom luxury furniture brand and probably cost more than the cars we owned when we moved in, so happily invites me to sit on said ******* couch every time I come over. I guess moral is you don't have to trash everything old when you move in or take over. You might have a Justin Fields. Or a really nice green couch which is nearly as good. 

LOL most people would more likely discover the coach has some disease causing mold rather than a diamond in rough.   And it's green?   In any event, wife's like to pick out their own furniture and wall color etc.    

I guess GMs do too. 

But to your point getting all new stuff costs money and sometimes stuff you have is good.      

I think about how they treated Jenkins.  They let social media destroy him in offseason with no public support.   That could have been end of him right there if he was little mentally weaker.   Then they split his reps with someone who it turns out is a scrub compared to him.  That can set a guy off too.  They did this until it was obvious to whole world they were nuts and this guy should be starting.   

Then I think about Velus Jones.   

I coached a lot of kids who were good athletes over years other coaches told me were garbage for whatever reason that turned out to be awesome given time to learn. 

 I still suspect that Velus Jones is not garbage and there is no question he is a great athlete.   Not saying he is Jerry Rice, but I don't just throw away and ignore great athletes.   I try to make them good and I am patient with them - especially if they are new.   If they don't have it, they don't have it.   But they get rope to learn with because of athletic potential.   

They let Pettis and St. Brown make all these mistakes and nothing happens - they are vets and have reached their potential unlike Velus.  So why do they get treated different?  It should be opposite.   

Velus makes one mistake and is in immediate and total doghouse - benched.  He is under extreme pressure other players are not - every time he gets a chance.    This at same time he is trying to learn pro game and a playbook.    He is a nervous wreck.  Small wonder he keeps making nervous mistakes.

 

 

 

[Sugashane]

1 hour ago, RunningVaccs said:

To further ***** and moan about this staff, you can make a very good argument that this group is not accurately assessing talent that was in the house when they moved in.  Evidence would be whatever the heck happened with Jenkins.  He was pretty talented, and we never heard anything bad about him beyond the injuries.  Regime change, and then it  seemed like he had to battle a bunch of inferior talent and even then it was injury up the depth chart that brought him up all the way.  Once he was there he's looked like the best OL most weeks.  I don't get what their hangup was about this guy.  Really hope he's going to come through this neck injury OK as he elevates the OL and is a ton of fun to watch.

Their assessment of Fields was a total mystery to me.  I can't believe they got their jobs saying "we're going to do jack **** to help the QB, so if he's going to have any success he'll have to be superhuman"  I liked Fields, a lot, going into this year but had zero idea he could do what he's done both in terms of progression on the QB skills and also the way he drags this crappy team down the field with him.  I don't have a precedent for this (but I mostly only watch this silly team) but it seems pretty unique.  If congress investiagates this team and they come up with tapes of Poles saying "I want to get my own QB, so lets build the roster so no one will mind if we totally ruin this one. Now I must go kick puppies and drown some kittens have a good one y'all" would you bat an eye after looking at the roster in Sept?

This situation reminds me of when we bought our home.  Previous owners were a bit nutty and had to move in a hurry. They left a ton of furniture and stuff behind.  Including a couch. This big green couch was one of the best couches I'd ever sat on.  We slept on it the first night there when we got wiped out and didn't want to build a bed. GREAT COUCH. My wife insisted it had to go.  Like full warning signs of battle I didn't want. So, fine. I wanted to investigate taking down a structural wall and didn't need the noise so caved on the couch. We gave the couch to a friend of mine in a much much nicer zip code.  That was over a decade ago, and he not only still has the couch, but loves it, and he  later found out it was some stupid custom luxury furniture brand and probably cost more than the cars we owned when we moved in, so happily invites me to sit on said ******* couch every time I come over. I guess moral is you don't have to trash everything old when you move in or take over. You might have a Justin Fields. Or a really nice green couch which is nearly as good. 

From now on, Justin "Great Couch" Fields is his legal name.