Our current roster view + needs

[Chifaninca]

I don't panic till week 1...

There will be additional cuts, trades, etc...up till then.

Not going to say I'm pumped by any of the signings, but not surprised. We are viewed as the back of the pack for NFC North and until that changes - overpays are the only way to sway the quality guys...

I am hopeful that changes with our improvement in wins this year and a superstar on the rise QB in tow.. Yes, insert your preferred QB on the rise...

The defense is going to be really good, even with an average signing for DL. So not worried about the D....

I am worried, not panicked, about the offensive side... We need a Quality experienced WR... Would love another quality C.... To me Bates is stop gap at Center, Ultra Gap as sing C/G. With Jenkins and Davis at G, he'll probably start 6-8 games... so he's a strong IOL spot starter...

I have faith in you Ryan... please reward it...

[southdakbearfan]

Scratch terrible offensive lineman and qb son of former nfl qb off your free agent bingo card.

[BigDaddy]

I am truly disappointed in Poles. He knows how bad we need a good 3T DT and DE and WR. What did he do? Brings in the cheapest RB in Swift.why even bother with that? He passed on 2 elite defensive players Wilkins and Hunter, why? Their asking price? Hunter got 49m from Houston, Wilkins got 110m. We paid swift 100m last year. I think Poles is making some big time mistakes. Our defense needs A strong 3T at least but Poles is out there bargain hunting. All we got this year was cast offs and mediocre talent.

[dplank]

I am truly disappointed in Poles. He knows how bad we need a good 3T DT and DE and WR. What did he do? Brings in the cheapest RB in Swift.why even bother with that? He passed on 2 elite defensive players Wilkins and Hunter, why? Their asking price? Hunter got 49m from Houston, Wilkins got 110m. We paid swift 100m last year. I think Poles is making some big time mistakes. Our defense needs A strong 3T at least but Poles is out there bargain hunting. All we got this year was cast offs and mediocre talent.

We don’t call him the Dollar Store Bandit for no reason

[TheWorldBreaker]

I am truly disappointed in Poles. He knows how bad we need a good 3T DT and DE and WR. What did he do? Brings in the cheapest RB in Swift.why even bother with that? He passed on 2 elite defensive players Wilkins and Hunter, why? Their asking price? Hunter got 49m from Houston, Wilkins got 110m. We paid swift 100m last year. I think Poles is making some big time mistakes. Our defense needs A strong 3T at least but Poles is out there bargain hunting. All we got this year was cast offs and mediocre talent.

He drafted two 3Ts early in the draft and he’s already spending 25 million on a DE. I think you weren’t being realistic if you expected him to admit failure on his draft picks after one season (especially with Dexter coming on strong the second half of the season) and invest over 50 million in the DE position for two players.

Hunter’s initial asking price was 30 million a year, he took less because the market wasn’t there Houston is close to home and Texas has no state taxes.

They need a Justin Jones replacement not a 110 million 3T. I’m hopeful they’ll sign Armstead. Then a good rotational DE.

WR is a need but none of the free agents were super exciting and it’s a deep draft. Samuel would be a good signing, I guess. But there’s nobody they could have signed at WR that would have been a slam dunk that got everyone excited.

Edit: I forgot to mention Swift is 25, has elite speed and is a good receiver coming off career year while the big two are coming off career lows. Could be anomalies but sometimes when running backs that are heavily used start to decline in production they end up falling off a cliff.

[Bearfacts]

WR need is obvious. Still need one in FA and one in the draft for now. After that another DE/Edge Rusher is on top of the list.

After that you have IOL and OT needs that could be met in the draft.

I'm ignoring QB and letting Poles and Co torture the media and CW cult a bit longer.

It's not as if Poles is allowing FA to pass him by it's more than he simply won't overpay for anyone and if a player who he has made an offer to decided to play elsewhere that''s not on him. Gabe Davis fit what he was looking for in a WR and he made him a good offer. Davis opted to take JAX similar offer instead. If the former Vike DE signs with CAR before coming to CHI what's he gonna do?

If the market for positions he wants to fill goes dry then keep the cap cash and see who gets released post draft or after June 1st. I see Poles as being the polar opposite of Pace who seemed to panic and press to get players we wanted then and now. Poles is more relaxed with it. I'm sure he's made some plays that haven't worked out just like he did last offseason that failed. Shit happens.

Yeah, the Bears aren't exactly desperate. They already have a good, young team. They're going to add a franchise QB.



All is well.

Maybe.....

[Heinz D.]

Maybe.....

Well...the whole "good, young, team" assessment isn't really up for debate, is it? Going from two wins to seven? The defense surging the latter half of the season?

And hey, even if Williams ends up not being everything as advertised, 2500 yards passing is an incredibly low bar to clear...

[The Kaiser]

Perhaps Poles and Flus are convinced that this guy is ready to make a 2nd year leap and so we don't need a flashy investment on the IDL?

I must admit, that would be nice....

[Bearfacts]

Maybe.....

Well...the whole "good, young, team" assessment isn't really up for debate, is it? Going from two wins to seven? The defense surging the latter half of the season?

And hey, even if Williams ends up not being everything as advertised, 2500 yards passing is an incredibly low bar to clear...

To be fair 2562 yards in 12.5 games so if we extrapolate that to 17 games using only the average from 12.5 games he throws for nearly 3500 yards or more if he has another 300 yard game or two but I'd settle for 3500 if he'd played all 17 games.

To be clear. I've never had an issue with CW skills as a passer. But even the smartest out there admit he will need time to learn how to work within a more structured NFL offense and adapt to the speed of the game. Every rookie does. Will that set our momentum back? I dunno but it seems logical to believe it might. Then there's the question of how well the rest of the offense is prepared to work with CW? I agree that it's far better than what JF stepped into but it still lags behind the defense and the defense still needs help with few draft picks to provide for both offense and defense. That's the challenge Poles faces but then he seems to enjoy them.

I do believe that unless he gets an offer he can't turn down and sees a way to still come out with a QB he likes or if he can parlay that #1 into trading down twice and expand even more on his draft booty or players he's gonna be thinking hard on that and all of that is what we don't know and won't until it's become a done deal one way or the other. No matter what I believe he'll draft a QB and may keep JF as well at least for now. Does he believe they can win with JF? Yeah, I believe he does and that he's not blind to the improvements he's made. He knows JF is nowhere near a finished product or even close to his ceiling but CW may be special.

He's in a perfect spot to be in yet he has a career making or career breaking decision to make. I think like always he'll take his time and be very thorough considering all of his options before he makes it. That's what I think and have all along.

And other than that how you doin' my friend?

[spudbear]

Thanks Kaiser for the X clip. Didn't really care for the background music, but it was nice to see the young man Dexter working hard.
I kept hoping he wouldn't try something silly like jump out of the pool.

[dplank]

Maybe.....

Well...the whole "good, young, team" assessment isn't really up for debate, is it? Going from two wins to seven? The defense surging the latter half of the season?

And hey, even if Williams ends up not being everything as advertised, 2500 yards passing is an incredibly low bar to clear...

3500 yards would be the 17 game bar to clear, and yards aren’t the most important thing. Points are, and turnovers. Most rookies turn the ball over a lot. I like our chances in 2024 A LOT more with Fields than any rookie, Stroud really broke peoples brains on this. Rookies struggle, even ones who turn out great.

[Moriarty]

Well...the whole "good, young, team" assessment isn't really up for debate, is it? Going from two wins to seven? The defense surging the latter half of the season?

And hey, even if Williams ends up not being everything as advertised, 2500 yards passing is an incredibly low bar to clear...

and yards aren’t the most important thing. Points are, and turnovers.

Sometimes, but not always

2018 Mitchy put up 24 TDs and the Bear Offense was top 10 in points, but it wasn't a sign of competence for either.

[dplank]

and yards aren’t the most important thing. Points are, and turnovers.

Sometimes, but not always

2018 Mitchy put up 24 TDs and the Bear Offense was top 10 in points, but it wasn't a sign of competence for either.

There is no magic bullet stat, all things work together and all things require context. Yards certainly are not a singular indicator of player A being better than player B, otherwise the Commanders wouldn’t be looking for a QB.

[Heinz D.]

Perhaps Poles and Flus are convinced that this guy is ready to make a 2nd year leap and so we don't need a flashy investment on the IDL?

I must admit, that would be nice....

Gervon had some VERY nice games last year. And yeah, they're counting on both him and Pickens.

And other than that how you doin' my friend?

How y'all doin'?

3500 yards would be the 17 game bar to clear, and yards aren’t the most important thing. Points are, and turnovers. Most rookies turn the ball over a lot. I like our chances in 2024 A LOT more with Fields than any rookie, Stroud really broke peoples brains on this. Rookies struggle, even ones who turn out great.

I'm confused by this post. This all isn't only about next year. And, are you saying Fields didn't struggle? And there's absolutely no way he will next season?

As a side note, Fields will rarely play a full seventeen game season, as he runs too much. I'm sure that factors into Poles' calculus, as well.

[dplank]

Fields solved one of the problems he had his 1st two years, he reduced his turnovers (particularly fumbles). And when you focus primarily on his play after his return from injury, he was also dropping his sack rate and generally his negative play rate. He was controlling the games, it's very revisionist history to claim he wasn't. He was in control, making first downs, controlling the clock, not turning the ball over, and consistently putting us in a position to win. We could have EASILY gone 7-1 but for two statistical anomaly level 4th quarter defensive collapses. And had we gone 7-1, I don't think there's any discussion to be had about his future here in Chicago.

Did he struggle? OF course he did. I saw Mahomes struggle for a stretch this year, every QB can and will struggle. As will Caleb. What we risk with Caleb playing in 2024 instead of Fields is more than just a "match his yardage" view, which is what you posted. It's about turnovers, yards, points, TOP, leadership, everything. Not just yards, was my point.

[Grizzled]

With Poles' dithering, about the only bridge QBs left for a rookie are Tannehill and Dobbs. Rypien is a camp body; surely the Bears don't think he is adequate as their starter. They can't keep Fields around for this role.

[Yogi da Bear]

Why not?

Incidentally, the one thing I've taken from Poles is that he almost always refuses to get into bidding wars. But he is willing to spend. It could be because he feels he's still building the roster. Maybe if he feels we're one player away, he might be willing to do it. Look at what he gave Sweat last fall.

[crueltyabc]

It feels like a dangerous game Poles is playing with the dline and WR room.

[RichH55]

Fields solved one of the problems he had his 1st two years, he reduced his turnovers (particularly fumbles). And when you focus primarily on his play after his return from injury, he was also dropping his sack rate and generally his negative play rate. He was controlling the games, it's very revisionist history to claim he wasn't. He was in control, making first downs, controlling the clock, not turning the ball over, and consistently putting us in a position to win. We could have EASILY gone 7-1 but for two statistical anomaly level 4th quarter defensive collapses. And had we gone 7-1, I don't think there's any discussion to be had about his future here in Chicago.

Did he struggle? OF course he did. I saw Mahomes struggle for a stretch this year, every QB can and will struggle. As will Caleb. What we risk with Caleb playing in 2024 instead of Fields is more than just a "match his yardage" view, which is what you posted. It's about turnovers, yards, points, TOP, leadership, everything. Not just yards, was my point.

He fumbled 10 times last year - in 12 Games. That isn't fixed

Also - please dont compare his year to Maholmes - that's - not good

The 7-1 is a bad talking point too

There is a reason that seemingly no one wants him

[Bearfacts]

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Heinz D.
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Unread post Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:14 am

The Kaiser wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:12 am
Perhaps Poles and Flus are convinced that this guy is ready to make a 2nd year leap and so we don't need a flashy investment on the IDL?

I must admit, that would be nice....

Gervon had some VERY nice games last year. And yeah, they're counting on both him and Pickens.

Bearfacts wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:35 am
And other than that how you doin' my friend?

Image

How y'all doin'?

Same as always. Just another year older and another year crankier. LOL

[Rusty Trombagent]

Why not?

Incidentally, the one thing I've taken from Poles is that he almost always refuses to get into bidding wars. But he is willing to spend. It could be because he feels he's still building the roster. Maybe if he feels we're one player away, he might be willing to do it. Look at what he gave Sweat last fall.

I've got a bunch of theories bouncing around the ol noggin, and one of them is that poles views this roster as one more year away. Which honestly would be pretty bold.

But if we're about to reset the QB clock, I sorta understand it.

[LacertineForest]

Why not?

Incidentally, the one thing I've taken from Poles is that he almost always refuses to get into bidding wars. But he is willing to spend. It could be because he feels he's still building the roster. Maybe if he feels we're one player away, he might be willing to do it. Look at what he gave Sweat last fall.

I've got a bunch of theories bouncing around the ol noggin, and one of them is that poles views this roster as one more year away. Which honestly would be pretty bold.

But if we're about to reset the QB clock, I sorta understand it.

I've had that thought, as well. I really wonder what kind of timeline (assuming he gave one) he put forth during his initial interview with the Bears and whether he's ahead, on-target, or behind that.

[Bearfacts]

Fields solved one of the problems he had his 1st two years, he reduced his turnovers (particularly fumbles). And when you focus primarily on his play after his return from injury, he was also dropping his sack rate and generally his negative play rate. He was controlling the games, it's very revisionist history to claim he wasn't. He was in control, making first downs, controlling the clock, not turning the ball over, and consistently putting us in a position to win. We could have EASILY gone 7-1 but for two statistical anomaly level 4th quarter defensive collapses. And had we gone 7-1, I don't think there's any discussion to be had about his future here in Chicago.

Did he struggle? OF course he did. I saw Mahomes struggle for a stretch this year, every QB can and will struggle. As will Caleb. What we risk with Caleb playing in 2024 instead of Fields is more than just a "match his yardage" view, which is what you posted. It's about turnovers, yards, points, TOP, leadership, everything. Not just yards, was my point.

Adam Mason has done a nice job of analyzing JF and how he finished out last year. For all but the CW Cult and JF Haters it's something worth watching and digesting. Their minds are already made up. At any rate even with a potential drafting of CW it tells me JF is worth far more than a Day Three pick and Poles knows it. Sometimes it's just not the right time to sell something.

If we can extrapolate his numbers to a 17 games season he has just under 3500 yards passing w/22 td and 10 ints. He also runs for nearly 900 yards and scores another 5 tds, his sacks and fumbles come down, and his completion percentage rises slightly. No, he didn't pass for over 4000 yards but he contributed almost 4400 yards of total offense and scored 27 tds. They asked him to improve his game. He did and for that he should be traded for a Day Three pick? I don't believe that and I don't think Poles does either.

I'm not arguing for or against drafting CW but I am gonna argue against anything that says JF sucks or that Sam Howell and a whole lot of other QBs who changed teams are far better than him. Good QBs will struggle on bad teams and for most of his time in Chicago JF has played on a bad team. When the team finally got competitive in the second half of 2023 he went 5/2 and might have gone 6/1 with a few breaks. The entire team improved around him and so did he. JF did what was asked of him.

Now, all that remains is whether the Bears will honor what he and quite a few teammates asked of them. He has earned it.

[RichH55]

Fields solved one of the problems he had his 1st two years, he reduced his turnovers (particularly fumbles). And when you focus primarily on his play after his return from injury, he was also dropping his sack rate and generally his negative play rate. He was controlling the games, it's very revisionist history to claim he wasn't. He was in control, making first downs, controlling the clock, not turning the ball over, and consistently putting us in a position to win. We could have EASILY gone 7-1 but for two statistical anomaly level 4th quarter defensive collapses. And had we gone 7-1, I don't think there's any discussion to be had about his future here in Chicago.

Did he struggle? OF course he did. I saw Mahomes struggle for a stretch this year, every QB can and will struggle. As will Caleb. What we risk with Caleb playing in 2024 instead of Fields is more than just a "match his yardage" view, which is what you posted. It's about turnovers, yards, points, TOP, leadership, everything. Not just yards, was my point.

If we can extrapolate his numbers to a 17 games season
his sacks and fumbles come down, and his completion percentage rises slightly.

That is - Not how extrapolating works.

That is how magical thinking works

[dplank]

Fields solved one of the problems he had his 1st two years, he reduced his turnovers (particularly fumbles). And when you focus primarily on his play after his return from injury, he was also dropping his sack rate and generally his negative play rate. He was controlling the games, it's very revisionist history to claim he wasn't. He was in control, making first downs, controlling the clock, not turning the ball over, and consistently putting us in a position to win. We could have EASILY gone 7-1 but for two statistical anomaly level 4th quarter defensive collapses. And had we gone 7-1, I don't think there's any discussion to be had about his future here in Chicago.

Did he struggle? OF course he did. I saw Mahomes struggle for a stretch this year, every QB can and will struggle. As will Caleb. What we risk with Caleb playing in 2024 instead of Fields is more than just a "match his yardage" view, which is what you posted. It's about turnovers, yards, points, TOP, leadership, everything. Not just yards, was my point.

Adam Mason has done a nice job of analyzing JF and how he finished out last year. For all but the CW Cult and JF Haters it's something worth watching and digesting. Their minds are already made up. At any rate even with a potential drafting of CW it tells me JF is worth far more than a Day Three pick and Poles knows it. Sometimes it's just not the right time to sell something.

If we can extrapolate his numbers to a 17 games season he has just under 3500 yards passing w/22 td and 10 ints. He also runs for nearly 900 yards and scores another 5 tds, his sacks and fumbles come down, and his completion percentage rises slightly. No, he didn't pass for over 4000 yards but he contributed almost 4400 yards of total offense and scored 27 tds. They asked him to improve his game. He did and for that he should be traded for a Day Three pick? I don't believe that and I don't think Poles does either.

I'm not arguing for or against drafting CW but I am gonna argue against anything that says JF sucks or that Sam Howell and a whole lot of other QBs who changed teams are far better than him. Good QBs will struggle on bad teams and for most of his time in Chicago JF has played on a bad team. When the team finally got competitive in the second half of 2023 he went 5/2 and might have gone 6/1 with a few breaks. The entire team improved around him and so did he. JF did what was asked of him.

Now, all that remains is whether the Bears will honor what he and quite a few teammates asked of them. He has earned it.

Folks generally won't watch something if they know in advance it may challenge what they currently want to believe, but I appreciate the effort here and completely agree. I also agree with Poles standing his ground and not trading Fields unless he gets something of real value in return and not before golden boy decides he's willing to grace us with his presence for a medical exam. He's got a gamer right here and right now, who as you correctly note was winning football games for us and playing well. I'll be very pleased if we roll into next season building on that success.

If we bring this back to the thread purpose, which is our roster view and where our holes are - there's no viable argument that would identify QB as our biggest need. WR is clearly that by a wide, wide margin. You cannot roll into 2024 with VJJ and Scott as WR2/3. Trading down, IMO, gives Poles the best opportunity to fill these needs since he clearly isn't willing to spend a damn thing in the FA market.

[RichH55]

Dplank - if Johnny Rando said Fields sucked - I'm sure you would take that as Gospel right?

Also - Fields the player- had a worse year in 2023 than 2022. Mainly because the runs became 5 -10 Yards instead of a good chunk of 30+

This is also why Mitch's best year was with his legs. And why its very very hard to sustain that unless you can consistently beat teams from the Pocket

[thunderspirit]

Good news, everyone! RichH55 is gonna Richsplain everything to us.

[Bearfacts]

Adam Mason has done a nice job of analyzing JF and how he finished out last year. For all but the CW Cult and JF Haters it's something worth watching and digesting. Their minds are already made up. At any rate even with a potential drafting of CW it tells me JF is worth far more than a Day Three pick and Poles knows it. Sometimes it's just not the right time to sell something.

If we can extrapolate his numbers to a 17 games season he has just under 3500 yards passing w/22 td and 10 ints. He also runs for nearly 900 yards and scores another 5 tds, his sacks and fumbles come down, and his completion percentage rises slightly. No, he didn't pass for over 4000 yards but he contributed almost 4400 yards of total offense and scored 27 tds. They asked him to improve his game. He did and for that he should be traded for a Day Three pick? I don't believe that and I don't think Poles does either.

I'm not arguing for or against drafting CW but I am gonna argue against anything that says JF sucks or that Sam Howell and a whole lot of other QBs who changed teams are far better than him. Good QBs will struggle on bad teams and for most of his time in Chicago JF has played on a bad team. When the team finally got competitive in the second half of 2023 he went 5/2 and might have gone 6/1 with a few breaks. The entire team improved around him and so did he. JF did what was asked of him.

Now, all that remains is whether the Bears will honor what he and quite a few teammates asked of them. He has earned it.

Folks generally won't watch something if they know in advance it may challenge what they currently want to believe, but I appreciate the effort here and completely agree. I also agree with Poles standing his ground and not trading Fields unless he gets something of real value in return and not before golden boy decides he's willing to grace us with his presence for a medical exam. He's got a gamer right here and right now, who as you correctly note was winning football games for us and playing well. I'll be very pleased if we roll into next season building on that success.

If we bring this back to the thread purpose, which is our roster view and where our holes are - there's no viable argument that would identify QB as our biggest need. WR is clearly that by a wide, wide margin. You cannot roll into 2024 with VJJ and Scott as WR2/3. Trading down, IMO, gives Poles the best opportunity to fill these needs since he clearly isn't willing to spend a damn thing in the FA market.

Yeah, I follow politics these days quite a bit more than I ever did and that ain't no lie.

JF IS a starting caliber NFL QB. He's proven that. He's not a top 10 guy right now and barely a top 20 guy but with the exception of Cousins most of these other deals were for guys who will either be #2 QBs or vet bridge QBs for a rookie yet to be drafted. I can't see any reason to trade JF for "whatever Poles can get". That's lunacy and Poles is not a lunatic.

Since your post Poles trade for Keenan Allen. Now our top four pass catchers are Moore, Allen, Kmet, and Everett. I don't care who playing QB in 2024 that receiver core is better than any I've seen the Bears have in my lifetime and better than most other NFL teams. JF will be better for it or CW will adapt more easily with that group to throw to. Poles isn't just good. He's sneaky good at this.

[RichH55]

Good news, everyone! RichH55 is gonna Richsplain everything to us.

If only I could say phrases like "Smash that subscribe button Fam!" without needing to stick my head in the oven - then I'd be all over this!

[crueltyabc]

DE3
DT3
WR3
OT3
QB3 who be a future Waldron QB coach type

Other additions would be fighting to knock other young players off to the practice squad