Jaylon Johnson has requested a trade and the Bears gave him permission to seek one before the deadline today. Because Poles is a fucking moron.
This fucking team, unless they have a reasonable extension already worked out, this trade makes little sense to me. For a team that's going nowhere this season, and for the foreseeable future. I guess so much for using that pick and developing a player on a rookie contract. Well done Ryan Poles you fucktwat.
Per ESPN via the Athletic: Chicago Bears running backs coach David Walker was fired Tuesday over his behavior in the workplace, a source confirmed to ESPN. The Bears' human resources department was involved in the decision, which the team has not yet announced. A source told ESPN that Walker had previously been reprimanded by Bears HR for his workplace behavior and that a second such instance led to his firing.
Was President of Diversity & Inclusion Tanesha Wade involved in this decision or is she busy prepping for her next involvement in hiring another Head Football Coach?
lol Well if that is the case he's on the right track because there's a mountain of asses to be slapped around there.
Well at least somebody got an extension. Andrew Billings 2 years 8.5 with 6 guaranteed. Actually like the deal. A solid run stuffing DT. now do Montez Sweat
Putting my thoughts in the F this team thread, because why not. Our mod is asleep at the switch with 3 weeks of game threads pinned, heh. I've only seen two of Bagent's games, but he is impressive for where he came from, and his issues are fixable. But his ceiling is a really good backup, and there's nothing wrong with that - someone to maybe get you through a few games when the starter goes down. What he is not is someone who can put the team on his shoulders and win the game. He gets the ball out faster than Fields, which is less an endorsement of him and more an indictment of Fields. I honestly hate our media and fans. Bagent vs. Fields nonsense for weeks. I get it in the sense there's not much else to talk about with a team this shit, but it's so much of the same story over and over again. We need to beat Carolina, I don't know why I thought if we lost it helps out draft pick, our #1 pick rides on Carolina because unless Kyler comes back and balls out, the Cardinals are playing to lose in a big way. Carolina is our hope for the 1st overall. Sweat had....1 pressure I remember? A second 24.5m apy for a pressure. And it looked to me like they had him 1v1 most of the time. Kmet had a good day? Foreman looked pretty damn solid. Once again, we go into the locker room looking decent in the first half, and come out like ass in the second. It's like the coaches give DE-motivation speeches. This team sucks.
I'm sorry, but I'm not this optimistic. Was Bagent impressive? I'll give him credit for the win, but if the Raiders fired McDaniels sooner, can't help but think that game is an easy L given how if they scored 24 in the 1st half against like they did yesterday against this team there'd be no comeback and I'd even go as far to say the luster of this kid would be significantly lower. But where you lose me is 'His issues are fixable.' We don't even know what the full scope of his issues are, because he'd need to keep starting games to get full bearings and the kid doesn't need to start any more. For example, after the Minnesota game, fans (myself included) didn't think the kid could throw longer than a 15 yard pass--and he showed he did, albeit seldom accurately. We've seen 3 and a half games now from the kid, we've seen some inconsistencies, not enough to know what for certain is 'weakness,' vs the limited strengths we painstakingly convince ourselves to divert from reality--from the quick release, footwork, "poise," (this one always gets me, the appearance of looking comfortable, its not really measureable, its just one of those aesthetically pleasing things we like to see). I'm ready for Fields to be back. I don't need to see any more of Bagent. So the honeymoon is over and people like him as a back up now in stead of the whole debate vs starting with Justin? Great, except when I compare him to recent back ups (Simein, Chase Daniel, even BDN,) I don't see pathetisad games where the other 3 making the same bad throws when defenses disguise coverages, Nick Foles being the closest to being turnover-happy of the three names listed--but he also won a superbowl. I don't want Getsy here, and Getsy/Der Flus made the decision to keep this kid on the roster. He's not a better option than Justin. I was critical of his ducks in preseason, and he wasn't throwing ducks yesterday, he was throwing bad passes, Mitch/shitwad style--into blanketed areas you just can't throw a football to. He also did this in preseason. We'd rake Mitch/Jay over the coals for those shitty passes appropriately but we keep the kid gloves on with Bagent? I think the big part of a reason people really like him, and I too fall into this category when it comes to looking at players--he wore a different college jersey than most of the back up retreads being passed around the NFL right now trying to keep a job, and that he hasn't fucked up in multiple pro situations. I don't care if I sound like a broken record. Draft a QB. Is it Caleb Williams--who scouts/fans/haters are going nuts with over the camera shot of him crying on the sidelines losing a shootout by his mom in the stands? Doesn't need to be. Is it Drake Maye? Again, doesn't need to be. Regardless, it doesn't need to be the top guy. Look at what CJ Stroud is doing. Since the beginning of last college season, not a single person pegged Stroud as the better NFL QB over Bryce Young, and he's slinging video game numbers in wins. The nice part here, is after the top 2 there are talented names/arms still to be available, from JJ McCarthy, to Michael Penix (may be the smart move because he's left handed and the bears have a RT/not a LT), Quinn Ewers, Riley Leonard, even Shadeur Sanders (kid should stay in school another year IMO and be a top 10 pick next year). Plenty of names without putting your back against the wall, forcing yourself to hold your nose and draft a mid-late 20s guy who's been on his 6th year of college eligibility for seemingly years now in Bo Nix, Sam Hartman, even Spencer Rattler.
It is only 3 starts and that's why we shouldn't be ruling him out as a potential backup. I do think some of his issues are fixable, though yes, we don't know the full scope of his game. His arm strength, no, that's not going to improve. The decision making, yes, that is something that can be improved with experience and adjusting to the game speed of the NFL. That doesn't mean Bagent will improve it, just means it is a fixable issue. I'm happy he's had a chance and even if Fields comes back this week I assure you we haven't seen the last of Bagent because Fields won't make it through the rest of the season injury free. And yeah I fully admit I'm a sucker for "poise" even though you're right it doesn't mean shit. It does look pleasing and it's one of the reasons why I want him to continue to have an opportunity to prove himself. I've now watched 2.5 games of Caleb Williams this year. Seems to go into hero ball mode way too often, even way more than Fields does in the NFL. And Fields didn't do that in college, I remember him being a mostly pure pocket passer. Williams is more athletic than Fields, can make some pretty sick throws, but tbh I haven't seen anything from him that shows he knows how to read/process the field and consistently make the right read. Again, that's from a sample size of 2.5 games. I thought Michael Penix, although not as gifted, was just as effective if not more so on Saturday.
I've always held him as potential backup so this isn't new, and you're right that the full scope of his problems aren't known yet, but things like blang points out about decision making are definitely fixable. He was never going to be a replacement for Fields no matter how nice the story is. The kid did look great in the first half with the int there being a pretty poor diagnosis of the play. The second half he looked horrific, no question. He is not a starter (never was) and Fields will be back as soon as he can. Not sure if that's this Thursday on a short week though. That said, I'd rather have him as a backup than any of the guys you listed, because there is some potential there, and he's going to be dirt cheap for the foreseeable future. It was definitely more fun to watch until the backbreaking turnovers. I'm not going to be sad if they go a different route though, backup QB is not a position I generally care about and it's getting all the air time right now. The turnovers ended up not mattering as much because the Saints were horrifically incompetent. And finally, who's giving him kid gloves? The media? He throws ducks and I think we all call it when they are. He's also holding on to the ball, but I haven't seen any tape where WRs are wide open all over the field. He's definitely getting the ball out faster and not taking sacks. There's good and bad with this kid. I don't know how much college you've been watching this year pat, but it would be something with the Bears likely having two top 5 picks to see what options they are going to have there. If they have the top 1 or 2 pick in the draft, I would personally be shocked if it isn't Maye or Williams. I saw a projection that Penix would go as high as 11 or something. QB is an obvious need unless Justin comes back from his injury and has magically changed. Do the Bears think they've solved the pass rush with Sweat, or are we in the market for an edge, maybe a 3T? LT is of course still a need. So many needs to fill on this team they could almost go BPA, so I'd be curious to know what you have lined up. Though you did break my heart with Skoronski last year, who the titans did put as a Guard.
Bagent did an excellent job of not sucking enough that Fields will feel no pressure to up his game when he returns. I’m not going all Collinsworth but Bagent kind of fucked up some of the excuses everyone has been making for Fields. Fields needs to come back with a sense of urgency to once and for all show he can be the man or not because the Cardinals are going to have the first pick and the Bears are going to have some decisions to make.
Blang mentioned in the game thread about it being a very winnable game and it totally was. I know they lost by a TD, but it felt like the possessions either side of halftime were very important. An improbable miss by Santos before halftime and the Moore fumble when they were driving and would've had 1st down near midfield. Those were both chances to retake the lead and some control of the game. It slipped away after that. - I think its fair to say after the Raiders honeymoon Bagent has been introduced to some realities about NFL life the last 2 games including another tough lesson yesterday. A confused coverages pick, O-Line giving up more pressures as the game went on, blitz pressure, scoreboard pressure, team mates making some mistakes pressure. Its happened to far better rookies than Bagent. Hey if you're lucky enough to be drafted by the 49ers some of these problems dont exist, but thats not your gig kid. Welcome to life on the bottom rung heh. I think it only fair tho to recognise multiple Saints DB's balled the F out yesterday. They played really well. They were aggressive all game, made tackles that needed to be made, broke up passes in the endzone, punched the ball out and most importantly made picks when they had a chance. The last two in particular, call em bad throws and i wont argue, but they were not easy picks. A lot of DB's drop those. 2- Stat sheet watch: TJ Edwards once again led the team, including Sanborn, but if you watched the game Sanborn clearly played the better game. The guy just gets around the football constantly. Surest tackling LB we have. You can point to him in pass coverage but i'll then point out no one has been worse than Edwards and he's still out there. Sanborn only got all the snaps he did cos Edmunds was out. There's nearly $100mil in contracts for #48 & #53. Could've dropped one, ridden with Sanborn and done something better with the money. Poles. C- The reason Jenkins will be going straight back to LG the second Davis is healthy is the same reason they started calling run plays left to no effect after having great success running to the right. These guys have no idea what they're seeing. And Getsy is the worst of all. Just give a fucking monkey the play sheet! It'll point to a good play call by accident and follow it up with a point to a bad play right after just like Getsy does! I mean the WR screens against DBs that are just flying up is one thing, but you're calling QB keepers??! You have one fucking QB worth a shit, he alone stands between you and another fast L for your team.... and your giving him designed runs?! You shitstain Getsy. Big agree with varder tho, v good games by Kmet and Foreman. Kmet's such a lumberer after he makes the catch heh, but give the guy credit, he is well on course for career numbers across the board. Inc im gonna say catch %. Seems to have become a far more reliable pass catcher among other things. Foreman must be wondering how in the hell he came out that game without a 100yards rushing.
I think dealing the 2nd rounder means Poles is trading down again. Is it the higher of 2 picks? Possibly. I think with neither Williams and Maye really standing out (Blang hits the nail on the head that Williams goes into 'hero' mode too often, but then again--this past weekend USC couldn't stop a runny nose.) Maye has plenty of underwhelming IMO. Granted I've only seen 2 NC games this year, but in both, it seems like any time he is hurried, he throws low and behind his guys, even if they're open and has loads of footwork problems. When things are perfect, yeah, he can sling a pretty pass--but I think Zach Wilson a couple of years ago should have been a red flag that some pretty tape running around an indoor field in shorts/no pads slinging up passes against no simulated pressure--to why you shouldn't buy on that. I'm over Skoronski. I like Darnell Wright. Though I'm fucking agitated I read the stat when the Titans run behind him, their RBs average 4 ypc before contact (per playerprofiler OL midseason awards article). And he's the highest graded pass blocking rookie again, only giving up 1 pressure this past Sunday (per PFF). But clearly...his short arms were the problem and not the eyeballs of scouts. I'm not sure if Penix goes THAT high. He fits the category I brought up, in that he'll be 24 going on 25 as a rookie in the NFL and he's on his 6th year of eligibility--but I'll take him over Hartman from ND and Bo Nix from Oregon. He's certainly good at working with what he's got with lesser talents at Indiana and UW, and having a rock solid RT helps a lefty QB, especially when the plan at LT is ass.
This reminded me that I did not call out fucking Velus Jones AGAIN. That fuck belongs nowhere near the offense. So he's decent at kick returns? Great, he can't catch punts so was pulled off that, and has hands not seen seen "Stone Hands" Davis. This kid sucks, and Getsy, Flus and Poles are all responsible for seeing him on the field. Remember teams in the past where you'd say, "I wonder where X is?" The answer was always they actually suck, and VJJ fits that fucking bill a thousand times over, yet somehow I KEEP SEEING HIM ON THE FIELD. It's nice to see Sanborn balling out though, good call. Another undrafted kid, though at least D1. Interesting, I had not thought about Poles willing to trade the second, because he'll get it back in yet another trade down. But QB is such a crapshoot. I remember the debates on Stroud vs. Young last year, and early on this year Stroud is making the case he should not have been looked over. But then who knows what Poles will do, we had two picks in the second, and John Michael Smitz was drafted after both of them, and he's currently the #10 ranked C in the league, and was as high as #4 or something early in the year. We needed a Center then, and we need a Center now, and our plan was to go forward with Whitehair. That urgency may have him use that higher pick on QB, and the other we trade down and pick up a few more CBs. Heh, I like Wright too, I think he's been a bright spot this year along with Jenkins. But I would just love the blind side to be taken care of for once on this team. I'm just saying you got me hyped for him all offseason. Wondering where the hype will be this year. The thing is, QBs are getting more and more overdrafted as nature of the position, and how many teams need them. Last year I remember in the lead up there was just Young, then it became Young and Stroud, then in the few weeks before the draft suddenly Richardson and Levis were shooting up the boards. Richardson came out of nowhere to get drafted as high as he did, and Levis ended up going the second round. It's such a risky proposition, some team is going to get desperate and draft a QB higher. And the Bears definitely NEED a QB. 2024 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Quarterbacks | NFL Draft | PFF - this is what PFF has for rankings, not sure how updated it is though.
Totally agree. I questioned when they signed him why it was a pointless 1 year deal and not 2 years. Billings has been that rare thing, a Poles FA signing who's actually done something!
I miss the days of 2005-2012. Not that there weren't bad moments and horrible losses, there were plenty. But every year I felt like we had a shot at the start of the season. We played so many big games year after year, won some, lost some. There's nothing like the anticipation of a big game during a competitive season. You think about the game the whole week, takes forever for Sunday to arrive. The anticipation. I miss that type of feeling. Not sure if it'll ever come back. Some might say it's sad that I'm pining for an era in which we never even won the Super Bowl. I don't care. I just want to be excited as a Bears fan again. It seems so far off and so unlikely to return. Fuck this team.
The more I look back at it, maybe we're just getting jaded as fans of a stupid franchise. Then again, I'll say this--division opponents have gotten better too, they deserve some credit. The Vikings are smarter than Mike Tice and Brad Childress. The Loins are smarter than Jim Schwartz and Rod Marinelli while wasting a QB's career who won a SB the second he got out and one of the best WRs of all time. The Packers are smarter than Mike McCarthy (but they don't have the HOF at QB anymore). The bears...thought they were smart when they hired Matt Nagy, its just the dipshit visor really had an ego he couldn't get past to the point he squandered what window he had, then they went back to good old comfort food, defense/outdated scheme. The bears have gotten dumber. The fanbase has gotten exponentially dumber. We used to be a patient bunch but I think the sensationalization of sports media has helped torpedoed that (fuck Skip Bayless). I remember when QBs got 3+ years and we weren't splitting hairs, now we (myself included) were ready to discard Mitch/Justin long before year 3. It's kind of like rooting for the White Sox. The owner has no clue what being good entails and can't get out of the way, they refuse to adapt with the times and field a modern-era competitive team (in baseball, its about OBP and UZR and advanced metrics for offense and defense which the white sox think is science fiction fantasy/only have 2 metrics analysts in the scouting department while good teams have full on brigades of 20-30+; whereas in football--the game's won and lost in the trenches and most of the bears idiot fanbase seems to think WR is the problem as to why the offense never works or they just draft the wrong guy at QB--point is in both sports there are correlations, easily made and observed of what good teams do in the players they draft/acquire and the roster/general team management to have winning records and maintain them for sustained success and in my example, both Chicago teams are excited to show everybody how stupid they can be by outright refusing to do what's pretty easy once you understand it), and every chance to be incompetent is done whole-heartedly. And when challenged, more than enough people defend the stupid.
I hear you blang, at least we were playing for something. We've had bad stretches before (I mean look at the late 90s) but the problem is outside of a miracle year from Nagy and Mitch, this team has been hot garbage since 2012. Lovie couldn't get them over the hump, but his teams were worlds better than what we've had since. Ownership is terrible, we know that. Jury is out on Kevin Warren, but odds are he's here for the stadium and more a finance guy than a football guy. Poles? Lots of bad thus far. Eberlose/Getsy? Garbage. You look at this team and there's just not a lot to be hopeful for. Back in the day you had lots of big names, Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, and so on, the defense was at least something to hang their hat on. What do you hang your hat on with this team? That they can run the ball well? And that's it? Fuck me. You nail it pat on the fact that the Bears just make it harder than it needs to be. Invest in trenches. There are some bright spots here and there but for the most part their lines are garbage. And better lines contribute to everyone behind them. It's not rocket science. That game last night might have been a win, but it was beyond painful to watch. The Panthers are legitimately terrible and it went to the wire. So many mistakes on both sides of the ball for both teams. And what in the actual fuck was Reich thinking attempting a 59 yard FG in SF in November? Stupid is being entirely too kind. 4th and 10 probably doesn't convert, but that FG had no chance. None. Bagent is not good, and was not fun to watch. Where I disagree pat, is that I don't think it's a lack of patience. It's not just 3 years with Justin, it is 11 years of complete incompetence from the org. You want to see progress, last year they get a pass for tanking and this year...we are in the conversation for the #1 overall fucking pick again?? Half of this team should be built, it should be missing a few key pieces, but there are questions marks ALL OVER the roster. I think Justin would get year 4 to grow if he had shown anything, but early this year we had a full regression. Incremental progress earns you the next chance, even back in the day. How much more patience should we have with Bagent (as a backup)? Do you need to see a lot more of Getsy's scheme? Eberlose? If we have patience, that means we should see all of these guys again next year at least, maybe another beyond that. You can call me impatient, but I've seen what I need to of these guys, and I think the Bears are going to keep them around - so I just have to hope I'm wrong. Poles ringing endorsement of Eberlose says to me he's all about being patient.
