I think we Bears fans are traumatized

[IotaNet]

Like everyone else here, I’ve been reading mock drafts, listening to the pundits, and counting down the days until the draft. Along the way, it hit me:

We have two top ten picks in the draft!

We basically control the draft this year. Poles can do all kinds of stuff but ultimately, he is in a position to fill TWO positions of (dire!) need with bona fide blue chip prospects. When was the last time we were in this position???

We are so UN-used to being in this spot that I think collectively, we can’t believe it’s us. We’ve been inept for so long that we’re convinced that Lucy is gonna find a way to snatch away the ball at the last minute.

I say we take the time to enjoy this. For once, we have smart, visionary leadership that’s making BOSS LEVEL moves.

We must OVERCOME our trauma.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

We’ve been inept for so long that we’re convinced that Lucy is gonna find a way snatch away the ball at the last minute.

[dplank]

I’m a big “law of averages” guy, so I feel near certain that we have a big run of good football coming our way. We are way past due.

[spudbear]

The last time we had two high first round draft picks? Ummm, Butkus and Sayers? Unfortunately getting them did not result in championships as neither played QB. DIck Butkus came close to QB during his time playing Center for the Illini, but by the time he hit the NFL they didn't have players play both ways on offense and defense.

For now I'm enjoying the moment, particularly glad that we do not have a doofus GM who willingly gives up first round picks far into the future. We seem to be at a turning point now where we switch from quantity (multiple picks in later rounds) to quality (first round bluechippers). I still can't reconcile a trade down from #9 unless another team is desperate to get a QB and gives up several high picks. Otherwise Poles runs the risk of getting a combination mid-teens 1st and mid-round pick and missing out on a top ten pick.

Time for quality play-makers.

[dave99]

The last time we had two high first round draft picks? Ummm, Butkus and Sayers? Unfortunately getting them did not result in championships as neither played QB. DIck Butkus came close to QB during his time playing Center for the Illini, but by the time he hit the NFL they didn't have players play both ways on offense and defense.

For now I'm enjoying the moment, particularly glad that we do not have a doofus GM who willingly gives up first round picks far into the future. We seem to be at a turning point now where we switch from quantity (multiple picks in later rounds) to quality (first round bluechippers). I still can't reconcile a trade down from #9 unless another team is desperate to get a QB and gives up several high picks. Otherwise Poles runs the risk of getting a combination mid-teens 1st and mid-round pick and missing out on a top ten pick.

Time for quality play-makers.

2003
Michael Haynes at 14 (passing on Troy Polamalu)
Sexy Rexy at 22 (passing on Willis McGahee and Dallas Clark)
But the McCaskey's were firmly in charge back then and you could count on them to f***k up a one car funeral.
I think we are a much better "top down" organization.
Past is not prologue.

[wulfy]

The last time we had two high first round draft picks? Ummm, Butkus and Sayers? Unfortunately getting them did not result in championships as neither played QB. DIck Butkus came close to QB during his time playing Center for the Illini, but by the time he hit the NFL they didn't have players play both ways on offense and defense.

For now I'm enjoying the moment, particularly glad that we do not have a doofus GM who willingly gives up first round picks far into the future. We seem to be at a turning point now where we switch from quantity (multiple picks in later rounds) to quality (first round bluechippers). I still can't reconcile a trade down from #9 unless another team is desperate to get a QB and gives up several high picks. Otherwise Poles runs the risk of getting a combination mid-teens 1st and mid-round pick and missing out on a top ten pick.

Time for quality play-makers.

2003 was the last time we had two 1s … but in 1989, we had two picks and drafted two outstanding players in Donnell Woolford and Trace Armstrong. Unfortunately, they gave up on Armstrong who went Beast Mode in Miami.

[Moriarty]

For once, we have smart, visionary leadership that’s making BOSS LEVEL moves.

It's WWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too soon to be confidently claiming something like that.

A majority of people were saying the same thing twice as far into Pace's reign.

[Rusty Trombagent]

For once, we have smart, visionary leadership that’s making BOSS LEVEL moves.

It's WWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too soon to be confidently claiming something like that.

A majority of people were saying the same thing twice as far into Pace's reign.

As someone who likes Poles and the job he's doing so far, it is amazing that there's an alternate reality where this doesnt happen:



...and our outlook is 100% different right now. I hope Poles sent Davis Mills a Rolex or a Lambo or something special.

[Grizzled]

Bears fans have and continue to go through the 5 stages of grief:

Denial - no way this team can suck year after year and look embarrassingly bad against the Pack the past 30 years;

Anger - god danged team can't continue to be this bad, stupid ass owners need to sell if they're not committed to building a winner, I hate the Pack

Bargaining - I'd sell my soul for a winner or readily give up one of my kids

Depression - not going to say this crowd doesn't regularly drink somewhat heavily but the Bears losing might be a factor

Acceptance - we can yell and scream and cuss but the Bears ain't ever going to change so just roll with their suckage

The tides, though, boys have been shifting since '22. There is a competent president of football ops. A GM who extricated the team from salary cap hell, continues to bring in talent on both sides of the ball, and pulled off a trade which should be declared illegal, the other team getting fleeced so badly. A HC who guys respect and play hard for, A new OC who might just bring the Bears, for the first time ever, to the era of modern NFL offenses. Maybe happy days are finally here.

[Bearfacts]

The last time we had two high first round draft picks? Ummm, Butkus and Sayers? Unfortunately getting them did not result in championships as neither played QB. DIck Butkus came close to QB during his time playing Center for the Illini, but by the time he hit the NFL they didn't have players play both ways on offense and defense.

For now I'm enjoying the moment, particularly glad that we do not have a doofus GM who willingly gives up first round picks far into the future. We seem to be at a turning point now where we switch from quantity (multiple picks in later rounds) to quality (first round bluechippers). I still can't reconcile a trade down from #9 unless another team is desperate to get a QB and gives up several high picks. Otherwise Poles runs the risk of getting a combination mid-teens 1st and mid-round pick and missing out on a top ten pick.

Time for quality play-makers.

This is pretty much where I'm at as well. Given what Poles did so far to add talent and depth to the offense and that our first pick will be a QB it seems fairly certain the pick at #9 will focus on defense if possible. If Turner is on the board I believe Poles will take him. If not I can see him taking Odunze simply as the BPA at that pick. If neither is there and a QB is it's trade down time.

I don't know how they view other defensive players but as for a pass rusher at DE I like Robinson above Verse or Latu or maybe they prefer one of the DT, Murphy or Newton, although I do believe DE will likely be rated over DT. Those are DE Poles may still be able to get after trading down a bit or he can take a different WR like Thomas and take a DE in the third were he'd have two picks.

I always wonder if teams see as much difference between certain players as the draft analysts seem to. For instance. Chop Robinson is ranked as 1st round pick whereas his teammate Adisa Isaac is ranked as a 3rd round pick yet Isaac was more productive in college. So it's Robinson's athleticism and his upside that boosts his ranking yet he's still a bit of a gamble as a 1st round pick.

I have to wonder if this entire DE/Edge class this year wouldn't be ranked lower in a year with better edge talent. So does it pay to wait for the 2025 DE class and simply take the BPA on their board wherever they pick? Another possibility for adding a pick is to trade one of their 2025 2nd round picks for a low 2nd or a high 3rd this year and add a WR or DE there which ever they didn't take on one.

It's gonna be a mystery pick all the way up 'til they're on the clock.

[IotaNet]

For once, we have smart, visionary leadership that’s making BOSS LEVEL moves.

It's WWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too soon to be confidently claiming something like that.

Totally disagree.

Just off the top of my head, this regime has:

1) Brought in real football people.
2) Gotten us out of salary cap hell.
3) Resisted the temptation to load up on expensive has-beens.
4) Handled the problem of a lame-duck underperforming quarterback about as well as it could have been handled.
5) Masterfully negotiating the AH/Chicago new stadium deal. (It's not done yet, but Just the fact that they avoided negotiating against themselves with AH is a plus.)
6)Turned last year's #1 pick into all kinds of draft/player capital.
7) Gotten 2 top 10 picks this year.
8) Reconfigured the roster in a "rookie quarterback friendly" way. (When was the last time a #1 drafted QB walked into such a favorable situation?)

Yes, they got some breaks (God bless Lovie) but those read like boss-level moves in my book. The picture is hardly complete, but the arrow is pointing up and EVERYBODY knows it.

[Bearfacts]

I gotta agree with IotaNet. This management staff is on a different planet compared to what we've had since early Jerry Angelo and I'd say they're even better than that era because there's no McCaskey or Phillips looking over their shoulders. The Bears haven't been run 100% by true football people top to bottom since the days of GSH and Jim Finks. I can feel the difference as well as see it.

[o-pus #40 in B major]

“A thousand fires were burning there on the plain and beside each fire sat fifty fighting men poised in the leaping blaze, and champing oats and glistening barley, stationed by their chariots, stallions waited for Dawn to mount her glowing throne.”

― Homer, The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles

Dawn is breaking on a new victorious era for our Chicago Bears. Take heart, fellow Bear fans!

[otis]

For once, we have smart, visionary leadership that’s making BOSS LEVEL moves.

It's WWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too soon to be confidently claiming something like that.

A majority of people were saying the same thing twice as far into Pace's reign.

i wasn't ever saying that with pace's reigns.
take fast rising one hit wonder receiver
trades up for scrawny ass defensive end
trades up for biscuit
takes roquan, who i thought was kinda small, fair pick
trades two firsts
trades another first for fields

i'm pretty sure he jacked up more. passing on tunsil is probably my biggest hate fire for him, after biscuit of course.

this feels so much better.

[dplank]

It is hard to not like what Poles is doing with our franchise IMO, he is building the team the way I had hoped when we announced him as our new GM. He's taking a patient, long view for long term success. He focuses on the OL as much as I hoped he would (and despite my Y1 protests - those concerns have been fully abated). He handled the Roquan situation really well (also despite my protests, he was right I was wrong). He quickly revamped our salary cap situation from cap hell to one of the best, if not the best, cap situations in the entire league.

As a fan I am sure I will be disappointed in the future when he sticks with his plan and let's some talent leave vs paying them, or not signing a big FA that I feel would help us immediately. But that's ok, Poles isn't a fan, it's his job to build a team that can sustain success and this is the way to do that. It's the Steelers/Ravens way and I'm fully on board with it.

It is fair to wonder where we would be without that incredible stroke of luck a year+ ago when Lovie gifted us that #1 pick, which Poles turned into a franchise changing haul. But Poles also made his own luck in a lot of ways, so I'm not going to ding him for that I'm just thankful it happened to us for once.

Boys, we have a decade of good football in front of us. Let's enjoy it and kick the shit out of the Packers for a while and get back on top of that all time head to head matchup, where we fucking belong.

[crueltyabc]

There is some specific trauma around the offense that people haven't overcome. Normal fanbases are all watching highlights from skill-position players fantasizing about Malik Nabers magically falling to their teams against all odds. Meanwhile we're at #9 and this fanbase (and this board) is like "let's draft Verse because he's a good run-stopping edge" or "we need an elite OT3 because injuries happen and braxton jones loses against bull rushes". Like we can't believe that there's a way to win other than 12-10 in a game where the Bears run it 80% of the time.

The Bears are probably going to have a good offense next year. Caleb Williams can lead comebacks with his arm. We're all going to have to adjust to new game scripts

[dplank]

There is some specific trauma around the offense that people haven't overcome. Normal fanbases are all watching highlights from skill-position players fantasizing about Malik Nabers magically falling to their teams against all odds. Meanwhile we're at #9 and this fanbase (and this board) is like "let's draft Verse because he's a good run-stopping edge" or "we need an elite OT3 because injuries happen and braxton jones loses against bull rushes". Like we can't believe that there's a way to win other than 12-10 in a game where the Bears run it 80% of the time.

The Bears are probably going to have a good offense next year. Caleb Williams can lead comebacks with his arm. We're all going to have to adjust to new game scripts

Defense wins championships - it's still true even in today's game. When the playoffs come around, the best defenses advance and the games are uber tight. We saw it again this year, KC's defense carried them and kept them in games to allow Mahomes to win in the 2 minute drill. If KC didn't have a Top 3 defense, they are not super bowl champions this year.

[crueltyabc]

I don't think the Chiefs had a top 3 defense or top 3 offense. They were a flawed team that made a run. DVOA agrees. They won the super bowl because they have star players on both sides of the ball and excellent coach who all stepped up at the right time.

https://www.ftndaily.com/nfl/tools/team-total-dvoa

Anyway, stars (plus injury luck) win super bowls in my opinion. Mosty star QBs but they're usually helped by a star defender. I don't see Chris Jones in this draft so mostly we're arguing about whether we want a red defender or a blue offensive player at #9. Bears history has brainwashed us to think the defense must be absolutely elite because we cant trust an offense.

[dplank]

We disagree, and my logic has nothing to do with Chicago's historical incompetence on offense. Every year we see high flying teams, scoring more and more points, right up through wild card weekend. Then they separate the men from the boys, and the games are won/lost at QB and Defense. We're taking Caleb for the QB part, from there I want a bad ass defense for playoff time.

[HurricaneBear]

We disagree, and my logic has nothing to do with Chicago's historical incompetence on offense. Every year we see high flying teams, scoring more and more points, right up through wild card weekend. Then they separate the men from the boys, and the games are won/lost at QB and Defense. We're taking Caleb for the QB part, from there I want a bad ass defense for playoff time.

QBs need help especially rookies. We are one injury away from Caleb throwing to a #1 and VJJ, Dante Pettis, Tyler Scott.

Caleb can't do it himself. By the time this teams window is truly open(2-3 years from now), Allen will be gone and DJ could be holding out for a historic contract. Would be nice to have Nabers/MHJ/Odunze there already in sync with him and past that receivers own growing pains.

Getting a QB, giving him a couple weapons and then focusing on defense is the same formula that has gotten the Bears no where for nearly my entire lifetime

[dplank]

We have the best weapons since Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett, Forte already. I’d take a WR in the 3rd. JMO

[Sweetness34]

Boys, we have a decade of good football in front of us. Let's enjoy it and kick the shit out of the Packers for a while and get back on top of that all time head to head matchup, where we fucking belong.

Please let this be true. I am so damn tired of the Packers and more so of their elitist, spoiled fans. 30 consecutive years of HOF QB play has their arrogance level beyond reason. I get where it comes from, but it sickens me to my core.

[Grizzled]

Boys, we have a decade of good football in front of us. Let's enjoy it and kick the shit out of the Packers for a while and get back on top of that all time head to head matchup, where we fucking belong.

Please let this be true. I am so damn tired of the Packers and more so of their elitist, spoiled fans. 30 consecutive years of HOF QB play has their arrogance level beyond reason. I get where it comes from, but it sickens me to my core.

We can hope for a sophomore slump from Jordan (Davis) Love.

[Umbali]

Isnt there a possibility of getting your defensive stud cake and eating your wr cake too? Trade back about 5 spots or so. Still get a good D players and grab a good WR in 2nd round. Its a deep WR class. That being said next year is supposed to be good for edge rushers and if Nabers fell to 9....ooooh baby lol

[dplank]

Isnt there a possibility of getting your defensive stud cake and eating your wr cake too? Trade back about 5 spots or so. Still get a good D players and grab a good WR in 2nd round. Its a deep WR class. That being said next year is supposed to be good for edge rushers and if Nabers fell to 9....ooooh baby lol

I feel like we already are, we’re getting our QB and defensive stud. But yea if Nabers falls go BPA and take him. I’m only on DE if we miss out on Alt, MHJr, Nabers, and even Odunze.

[HurricaneBear]

Isnt there a possibility of getting your defensive stud cake and eating your wr cake too? Trade back about 5 spots or so. Still get a good D players and grab a good WR in 2nd round. Its a deep WR class. That being said next year is supposed to be good for edge rushers and if Nabers fell to 9....ooooh baby lol

I feel like we already are, we’re getting our QB and defensive stud. But yea if Nabers falls go BPA and take him. I’m only on DE if we miss out on Alt, MHJr, Nabers, and even Odunze.

I go back and forth on Odunze as I feel he's a step down from Nabers and MHJr. Top defender vs the third wideout is a tough decision. Hopefully the draft will fall our way and drop an elite talent to us

[Bearfacts]

There is some specific trauma around the offense that people haven't overcome. Normal fanbases are all watching highlights from skill-position players fantasizing about Malik Nabers magically falling to their teams against all odds. Meanwhile we're at #9 and this fanbase (and this board) is like "let's draft Verse because he's a good run-stopping edge" or "we need an elite OT3 because injuries happen and braxton jones loses against bull rushes". Like we can't believe that there's a way to win other than 12-10 in a game where the Bears run it 80% of the time.

The Bears are probably going to have a good offense next year. Caleb Williams can lead comebacks with his arm. We're all going to have to adjust to new game scripts

Color me normal then because if Malik Nabers is still there at #9 all debate over a DE, DT, or OT should cease while they send is card up to the podium. He is already what Poles had hoped Velus Jones might become. He's points on the board every game. We can find other ways to prevent scoring. His biggest weakness will be learning to run routes with more precision and he couldn't have two better teachers for that than Keenan Allen and D J Moore. If we can keep Allen for two years Nabers should be peaking by then.

IMHO Verse isn't worth the #9 pick. The DE class is not all that good this year so Poles and Flus may need to come up with another solution to add more pressure and sacks. The OL class has some talent but we've drafted OT in both the last two drafts and Jones is a serviceable LT whose improving. What this team needs most is more impact players on offense. We have for far too long depended on defense to win games and it hasn't worked well. The defense is already good. We need an offense that even better.

[Mikefive]

I’m a big “law of averages” guy, so I feel near certain that we have a big run of good football coming our way. We are way past due.

We often agree. But this logic is a head scratcher in my eyes. This assumes great similarity among NFL ownership competence which is clearly not the case. If this is true now, wasn't it also true 5-years ago in 2019? What about 10 years ago in 2014? How about 15 in 2009?

Yes, teams have their ups and downs. But some teams have more ups than the others. It's not a dice roll.

I'm not saying what the Bears have done by bringing in Warren and Poles is destined to fail. It seems positive to me. But let's see how it plays out.

I think the topic is spot on and applies to me. Am I a "traumatized" Bears fan? Definitely.

[Bearfacts]

I actually thought the '90s were more traumatic. There we were coming off half a decade or more of NFCN dominance and an annual contender only to see a team without a decent QB and a defense that had cratered. After Ditka was fired Mikey McCaskey and Wanny were basically in charge of coaching and player personnel. The last decade hasn't exactly been a joy but it hasn't been quite that bad.

[Bearfacts]

Duplicate post.