Random Thoughts - Offseason 2024

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

Holy cow is it a stunner of a day, hope you all get outside!  Amazing how much August weather isn't sucking for a change.

Chicago is hopping,  and the air and water show is going off. The beaches were already packed at like 730am. I was working at the top of a sailboat mast the other day and had a helicopter that was out filming practice circle me about a dozen times taking pics or video.  Second time that's happened to me,  the first was during fiming for Transformers, when the filmed me for like 20 minutes. I assumed I was going to be in the movie so went to see it in the theaters.  It sucked, and I wasn't in it, so MIchael Bay won that round. 

Edited August 10 by BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW

[dll2000]

My last post for awhile as I have 10 mil things to do today and not enough time to do them.

Hopefully you don't see me again because I come here to procrastinate.

But I have said for 2 decades now that teams should draft Dlinemen and convert them to Olinemen because they are better athletes.  I went away from it in recent years because I realized the NFL just doesn't have the practice set up to properly develop guys starting from that far away in skill.  

But I think my theory is sound.  Look at Bill Murray.  A scrub dlinemen that may be a 2nd teamer on Bears in just a few years of converting.   Imagine taking a great college Dlinemen who isn't quite NFL top tier and converting him.  It could work really well if NFL had more practice reps to give to back ups and any kind of farm system.  

 

[dll2000]

season.

“Obviously, we haven’t done it yet — you have to actually go do it — but it’s been cool to see,” Kmet said. “In practice, it feels a little more . . . a little more competent. It flows correctly. . . . It’s starting to look like a real NFL offense day in and day out. We had days in the past where you strung three or four training camp days together and were like, ‘Ooh, this is tough.’ ”

There are myriad reasons why it doesn’t feel that way anymore, Kmet said. But it’s mostly because of Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick.

“I think, obviously, the big thing is who’s under center,” Kmet said. “When you’ve got a guy like we’ve got now, who I think is going to be really special, you just see him operate at a different clip. . . . That’s, quite frankly, 70%-plus of it. And then, having the talent that we have around it is also really cool. What a cool situation for him to come into, with all this talent for a first-round pick.”

[beardown3231]

36 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

 

season.

“Obviously, we haven’t done it yet — you have to actually go do it — but it’s been cool to see,” Kmet said. “In practice, it feels a little more . . . a little more competent. It flows correctly. . . . It’s starting to look like a real NFL offense day in and day out. We had days in the past where you strung three or four training camp days together and were like, ‘Ooh, this is tough.’ ”

There are myriad reasons why it doesn’t feel that way anymore, Kmet said. But it’s mostly because of Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick.

“I think, obviously, the big thing is who’s under center,” Kmet said. “When you’ve got a guy like we’ve got now, who I think is going to be really special, you just see him operate at a different clip. . . . That’s, quite frankly, 70%-plus of it. And then, having the talent that we have around it is also really cool. What a cool situation for him to come into, with all this talent for a first-round pick.”

Yeah but what about the leadership, aura and the fear of breaking up the locker room?

[Sugashane]

7 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

Yeah but what about the leadership, aura and the fear of breaking up the locker room?

BUT PAINTED FINGERNAILS!!!

 

 

[beardown3231]

2 minutes ago, Sugashane said:

BUT PAINTED FINGERNAILS!!!

 

 

Did you see how good USC was in their bowl game? That says everything you need to know

[soulman]

On 8/27/2024 at 8:34 AM, dll2000 said:

My last post for awhile as I have 10 mil things to do today and not enough time to do them.

Hopefully you don't see me again because I come here to procrastinate.

But I have said for 2 decades now that teams should draft Dlinemen and convert them to Olinemen because they are better athletes.  I went away from it in recent years because I realized the NFL just doesn't have the practice set up to properly develop guys starting from that far away in skill.  

But I think my theory is sound.  Look at Bill Murray.  A scrub dlinemen that may be a 2nd teamer on Bears in just a few years of converting.   Imagine taking a great college Dlinemen who isn't quite NFL top tier and converting him.  It could work really well if NFL had more practice reps to give to back ups and any kind of farm system.  

 

We've done it before.  "Big Cat" Williams came into the NFL as a DL and was converted to a RT.

[dll2000]

Remember before monsoon game versus 49ers I got into a big argument with 49ers fans about Trey Lance not being named captain by his teammates, which is how 49ers did it that year, in his 2nd year having a negative meaning.  

The fans said it didn’t.   I think I was proved right.  It is a big deal when your starting QB for all offseason isn’t named or elected a captain.  

In end neither of our QBs worked out, but still we had more hope and positive signs at that point.
 

 

[dll2000]

22 hours ago, soulman said:

We've done it before.  "Big Cat" Williams came into the NFL as a DL and was converted to a RT.

Another example.  Coaches at lower levels (HS/college) almost always put better big athletes on DL first.  

As it goes through narrowing pipeline this means there are superior big athletes not making the league and some inferior ones that are simply because they gained skill of the position. 

To a lessor extent this is true of WRs to DBs generally and CB to safeties as well.

 

[dll2000]

2 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Another example.  Coaches at lower levels (HS/college) almost always put better big athletes on DL first.  

As it goes through narrowing pipeline this means there are superior big athletes not making the league and some inferior ones that are simply because they gained skill of the position. 

To a lessor extent this is true of WRs to DBs generally and CB to safeties as well.

 

I first got this idea after listening to Lou Holtz and Jimmy Johnson in 80s talk about this. 

They said they would recruit Safeties/Dbs/Rbs and make them LBs and recruit Lbs and make them DL.   

They were all about getting faster and more athletic athletes on the field.

  It took a couple of years, but college practice is very different.   They got a lot of live reps.  

[dll2000]

And seeing converted TEs like Joe Thomas go onto greatness at OT as well.  

[vike daddy]

The Bears have named their captains for 2024. Continuing the trend of having too many in lieu of too few, the Bears have eight.

Too little surprise, quarterback Caleb Williams has emerged immediately as a leader. The other captains are receiver DJ Moore, tight end Cole Kmet, tight end Marcedes Lewis, linebacker T.J. Edwards, safety Kevin Byard, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

With the exception of Kmet and Johnson, all captains arrived in Chicago in 2023 or later. Byard signed with the Bears earlier this year.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bears-eight-captains-include-rookie-qb-caleb-williams

[Sugashane]

3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

Remember before monsoon game versus 49ers I got into a big argument with 49ers fans about Trey Lance not being named captain by his teammates, which is how 49ers did it that year, in his 2nd year having a negative meaning.  

The fans said it didn’t.   I think I was proved right.  It is a big deal when your starting QB for all offseason isn’t named or elected a captain.  

In end neither of our QBs worked out, but still we had more hope and positive signs at that point.
 

 

Also @vike daddy Not a fan of Lewis getting the nod over Allen TBH. Being 40 shows a ton of experience but Allen is the one you're relying heavily on rather than paying a min contract (or near it). Love the rest though. I would prefer 6 to 8 captains and only 1 per group (QB, skill, OL, DL, LB, DB) but that is just a preference. If they can not botch Williams they can list 22 starters and 6 practice squad players as captains for all I care.

 

3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

And seeing converted TEs like Joe Thomas go onto greatness at OT as well.  

Jason Peters as well. I had a draft magazine that had him ranked as like the 8th rated TE but said he was a 330lb guy who could run in the 4.7s, so I immediately overdrafted just to put him on the OL just off of that. I would have loved seeing a tank like that pulling around to crush a scraping LB, but he turned into a badass OT.

 

 

[AZBearsFan]

31 minutes ago, Sugashane said:

Not a fan of Lewis getting the nod over Allen TBH. Being 40 shows a ton of experience but Allen is the one you're relying heavily on rather than paying a min contract (or near it). Love the rest though. I would prefer 6 to 8 captains and only 1 per group (QB, skill, OL, DL, LB, DB) but that is just a preference.

So long as the team determines the captains by vote and they’re not picked by the coaching staff (the players should decide who they look to in leadership roles) I don’t really care who the captains are. I’m surprised Allen wasn’t seen that way, but if the team sees more leadership characteristics in Lewis than in Allen that’s their call.

With that said I like that there seems to be a good mix of leaders seen amongst the elder statesmen and the younger core guys, and that they already see Williams fitting in that role (which was super obvious watching Hard Knocks) is a good thing. 

[dll2000]

18 hours ago, Sugashane said:

Also @vike daddy Not a fan of Lewis getting the nod over Allen TBH. Being 40 shows a ton of experience but Allen is the one you're relying heavily on rather than paying a min contract (or near it). Love the rest though. I would prefer 6 to 8 captains and only 1 per group (QB, skill, OL, DL, LB, DB) but that is just a preference. If they can not botch Williams they can list 22 starters and 6 practice squad players as captains for all I care.

 

Jason Peters as well. I had a draft magazine that had him ranked as like the 8th rated TE but said he was a 330lb guy who could run in the 4.7s, so I immediately overdrafted just to put him on the OL just off of that. I would have loved seeing a tank like that pulling around to crush a scraping LB, but he turned into a badass OT.

 

 

Lewis was probably a respect nod that he has lasted in league so many years as a position player.   A rare feat.  Also he is probably a more vocal leader.  

I personally would have kept one of young guys and sent him packing.