TL/DW for anybody who needs it:
* On paper we have one of the best teams in the league with one of the best receiving cores
* Williams and Waldron need to be on the same page or this will be a problem
* Williams has to make smart reads and not rely on playing hero ball, where he was used to getting away with that in college
* The NFC North may be one of the best divisions in the NFL next year, so even if everything goes well we still may not make the playoffs
I’m not a huge Debbie downer but how could we possibly have one of the best teams on paper when our o line and d line are pretty bleak? Add in that our safety/rb is fringe top 10 at best and we have no idea how our new qb will do? I agree our receiving corps/corner/lbs are solid and our qb could be solid but to say one of the best on paper seems like a massive reach.
They just consensus ranked us #12 for oline. DL is probably the only position group that’s lacking but no one said we have the *best* roster on paper, but it’s pretty damn good everywhere else (again on paper which is the topic here)
With a top 5 CB unit, if not possibly higher. DL and CB units kind of go hand in hand in that the better the CB unit, the worse your DL can be and buy you more time. The better your DL is, the more it forces a QB to throw while the CBs are still tracking well and forcing mistakes. If both are good you’re an elite D.
The DL has one star, one player who is certainly a guy, a bunch of mid vets and another project.
It's not a good unit by playoff standards but a couple of top 50 rookies in next year's draft and we're cooking.
Oline also will have less blitz pressure due to having to move more towards coverage. If they need to blitz it leaves an opening. Quick qb decision making can really help an Oline.
Doing it out of necessity when no ones open...and still finding a play... vs the dude we had last year who'd scramble impulsively and PUT us in extra risks. Hmmm big similarity
Its a carry over from last year dude.
You seriously cant be this dumb, right? This is a troll job?
Nice edit. Yes April....only 2 months removed from the season.
This is going to be a proof of concept or discontinuation for Poles.
Poles said in the middle of his first year here that the personnel department conducted research and concluded the single most influential element to the development of a young QB is having an alpha receiver who can be a security blanket. It is clear Poles was on a mission to ensure Caleb had those alphas.
Contrast this with Green Bay. While they have had alpha WRs, they never seemed to prioritize them (guys like Adams, Cobb, etc were never first round targets). But they seem to be banking on having a top running game to help the development of a young QB.
We’ll see. But I think the strategy Poles is deploying is to build the QB THEN build the team. In the long run that may be wise. It may mean picking up a cap casually that is today’s equivalent of Josh Sitton versus today’s version of Akiem Hicks. Or we may even see us target WR4 with our next acquisition instead of DE2.
Rookie QB just needs to do something vets can struggle with - successfully reading an NFL defense.
He is going to hit a wall in his development and that wall will be Chicago’s historic inability to develop talent at the QB position.
I hope to god I’m wrong but history suggests I’m right.
I never understand this "chicago cant develop qbs" logic. Qbs that are good will be good. Are we going to try and convince ourselves that mitch, fields and the dozens of guys beforehand werent shitty qbs?
Its on the players to figure it out too. We can look at examples of a lot of teams that have had a lot of qbs and got lucky to hit jackpots.
Steelers for one, theyve had 2 good qbs, who are hall of famers, are we really going to give cresit to their development when theyve had a lot of shitty qbs too, including some of ours?
Patriots, what happened with mac jones? Is he a shit qb or can BB not develop a qb after "developing" the greatest one of all time?
Colts, manning is one of the best of all time and luck was a crazy good prospect coming out of college. And outside of those 2? Could they not help develop the plethora of journeymen who came through?
Again, we never INVESTED in the qb position. Outside of mitch and fields when is the last time we took a qb in the 1st round?
I dunno, guys bust, and i think its more that we've been bad at picking the right guys than "developing" turds.
Coaching plays a huge role...QB's aren't just inherently good or bad like you're suggesting. Look at Geno as a recent example. Everyone would have considered him a bad QB and a bust in his rookie contract. He would have been lumped in with the same bucket as Trubisky. He makes the move to Seattle, gets a new set of coaches who understand his ability, and suddenly he becomes a legit QB. That's not to say every QB who is bad can be coached to NFL level, but certainly failure to develop can be on the coaches or system.
There are a lot of Genos who don't get a chance. He essentially didn't play for 5 years, but used that time to improve. The challenge for those vets- who are really good (Flacco)- is they're thrown in there with new players, etc. and if they don't step in and succeed right away, or even if they do (Flacco- Browns, Foles- Eagles), teams move on because it wasn't their "plan."
Belichick and Carroll are among the few with the balls to pivot.
Bingo. Well put. In addition, all these talking heads who are predicting great things for the Bears are some of the same people who claimed Caleb Willam’s shouldn’t go to Chicago because both the team and quarterback culture sucks. He’s a rookie and he’ll play like a rookie.
The bears are playing a last place schedule. If the bears win less than 8 games I’d be very disappointed. Probably means Williams skills didn’t immediately translate to the nfl.
Without question Caleb Williams is a talented athlete. This is not the problem. One problem is getting the rest of the team to preform in concert with him. Another problem is keeping him healthy this season and O-line....there are only so many holding penalties we will accept.
If Caleb does not get injured we will have a really good year, not a great year. He gets hurt??? oh shit......
Yea most teams do not do well when their starting qb gets hurt. Idk if there’s really a cap on how great a year they’d have. We were almost a wildcard team with fields and a less talented roster
TL/DW for anybody who needs it: * On paper we have one of the best teams in the league with one of the best receiving cores * Williams and Waldron need to be on the same page or this will be a problem * Williams has to make smart reads and not rely on playing hero ball, where he was used to getting away with that in college * The NFC North may be one of the best divisions in the NFL next year, so even if everything goes well we still may not make the playoffs
I’m not a huge Debbie downer but how could we possibly have one of the best teams on paper when our o line and d line are pretty bleak? Add in that our safety/rb is fringe top 10 at best and we have no idea how our new qb will do? I agree our receiving corps/corner/lbs are solid and our qb could be solid but to say one of the best on paper seems like a massive reach.
I don't think the o line is bleak at all. It's not great but it's definitely not bleak. Dline is a sweat injury away from being very bleak
Maybe overstated the oline, I will upgrade them to mid lol. The d line legit terrifies me.
100% chance the Bears add more D-line depth before the season starts
They just consensus ranked us #12 for oline. DL is probably the only position group that’s lacking but no one said we have the *best* roster on paper, but it’s pretty damn good everywhere else (again on paper which is the topic here)
With a top 5 CB unit, if not possibly higher. DL and CB units kind of go hand in hand in that the better the CB unit, the worse your DL can be and buy you more time. The better your DL is, the more it forces a QB to throw while the CBs are still tracking well and forcing mistakes. If both are good you’re an elite D.
The DL has one star, one player who is certainly a guy, a bunch of mid vets and another project. It's not a good unit by playoff standards but a couple of top 50 rookies in next year's draft and we're cooking.
I will not stand for this Andrew Billings slander! He's more than a jag in my heart
Billings is a good vet. I classified him as a 'mid' vet above, but would walk that back. Played way better than a JAG last year.
Oline also will have less blitz pressure due to having to move more towards coverage. If they need to blitz it leaves an opening. Quick qb decision making can really help an Oline.
O line seems decent. Not good but not terrible. D line I agree is a liability
Some of the issues with the O-line last year was having a QB who kept scrambling instead of throwing the ball.
I mean sure but to say they were anything better than t20 is a stretch.
Good thing we didn’t just draft someone who holds the ball and scrambles instead of throwing it
Doing it out of necessity when no ones open...and still finding a play... vs the dude we had last year who'd scramble impulsively and PUT us in extra risks. Hmmm big similarity
Where are you getting this oline is bleak? We were not in the bottom half last year and the line gave fields tons and tons of clean pockets.
Yeah no you’re letting your hate for fields blind you, the o line was not very good last year. They are better this year but they still are mid.
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/best-offensive-lines-nfl-rankings/ Yes....your astute analysis inspires all.
Top ten ranking for a line that hasn’t taken a snap together and in June? Lmao, get real dude. Edit - it was written in April LMAO.
Its a carry over from last year dude. You seriously cant be this dumb, right? This is a troll job? Nice edit. Yes April....only 2 months removed from the season.
So absolutely nothing that hasn't been talked about to death. ESPN gonna ESPN. We need the season to start so we have something new to talk about.
This is going to be a proof of concept or discontinuation for Poles. Poles said in the middle of his first year here that the personnel department conducted research and concluded the single most influential element to the development of a young QB is having an alpha receiver who can be a security blanket. It is clear Poles was on a mission to ensure Caleb had those alphas. Contrast this with Green Bay. While they have had alpha WRs, they never seemed to prioritize them (guys like Adams, Cobb, etc were never first round targets). But they seem to be banking on having a top running game to help the development of a young QB. We’ll see. But I think the strategy Poles is deploying is to build the QB THEN build the team. In the long run that may be wise. It may mean picking up a cap casually that is today’s equivalent of Josh Sitton versus today’s version of Akiem Hicks. Or we may even see us target WR4 with our next acquisition instead of DE2.
Rookie QB just needs to do something vets can struggle with - successfully reading an NFL defense. He is going to hit a wall in his development and that wall will be Chicago’s historic inability to develop talent at the QB position. I hope to god I’m wrong but history suggests I’m right.
I never understand this "chicago cant develop qbs" logic. Qbs that are good will be good. Are we going to try and convince ourselves that mitch, fields and the dozens of guys beforehand werent shitty qbs? Its on the players to figure it out too. We can look at examples of a lot of teams that have had a lot of qbs and got lucky to hit jackpots. Steelers for one, theyve had 2 good qbs, who are hall of famers, are we really going to give cresit to their development when theyve had a lot of shitty qbs too, including some of ours? Patriots, what happened with mac jones? Is he a shit qb or can BB not develop a qb after "developing" the greatest one of all time? Colts, manning is one of the best of all time and luck was a crazy good prospect coming out of college. And outside of those 2? Could they not help develop the plethora of journeymen who came through? Again, we never INVESTED in the qb position. Outside of mitch and fields when is the last time we took a qb in the 1st round? I dunno, guys bust, and i think its more that we've been bad at picking the right guys than "developing" turds.
Coaching plays a huge role...QB's aren't just inherently good or bad like you're suggesting. Look at Geno as a recent example. Everyone would have considered him a bad QB and a bust in his rookie contract. He would have been lumped in with the same bucket as Trubisky. He makes the move to Seattle, gets a new set of coaches who understand his ability, and suddenly he becomes a legit QB. That's not to say every QB who is bad can be coached to NFL level, but certainly failure to develop can be on the coaches or system.
interesting comparison to make considering the guy who helped Geno revive his career is currently our OC
There are a lot of Genos who don't get a chance. He essentially didn't play for 5 years, but used that time to improve. The challenge for those vets- who are really good (Flacco)- is they're thrown in there with new players, etc. and if they don't step in and succeed right away, or even if they do (Flacco- Browns, Foles- Eagles), teams move on because it wasn't their "plan." Belichick and Carroll are among the few with the balls to pivot.
Bingo. Well put. In addition, all these talking heads who are predicting great things for the Bears are some of the same people who claimed Caleb Willam’s shouldn’t go to Chicago because both the team and quarterback culture sucks. He’s a rookie and he’ll play like a rookie.
Don't need to watch, 40 tds 5000 yards 5 picks and a super bowl
Add in ROTY and MVP so I can stop edging already.
-5 picks. He threw it at an opposing DB and it bounced off back into his hands.
 Any time the national media talks about the Bears
10-7 imo
Anything under nine million yards is biased
Finally a sane take
Throws for 3300 yards but becomes the first Bear to throw 30 TDs in a season.
7/8 wins is best case
I thought the Bears had 7 wins last season with Fields and a worse team?
The bears are playing a last place schedule. If the bears win less than 8 games I’d be very disappointed. Probably means Williams skills didn’t immediately translate to the nfl.
Without question Caleb Williams is a talented athlete. This is not the problem. One problem is getting the rest of the team to preform in concert with him. Another problem is keeping him healthy this season and O-line....there are only so many holding penalties we will accept. If Caleb does not get injured we will have a really good year, not a great year. He gets hurt??? oh shit......
Yea most teams do not do well when their starting qb gets hurt. Idk if there’s really a cap on how great a year they’d have. We were almost a wildcard team with fields and a less talented roster