That said - I liked in general what I saw. But the lack of playmakers at receiver is a huge issue still but you can’t fix everything in a offseason. 

8 hours ago, Chisoxfn said:

That said - I liked in general what I saw. But the lack of playmakers at receiver is a huge issue still but you can’t fix everything in a offseason. 

A perceived huge issue. Lol. 

Poles really looked to have hit it out of the park with this draft class. With the other picks thriving the way they have, here's hoping he hit on Velus too. 

I still want to believe in Pringle as well, but I'm bummed to have not seen anything out of him in preseason.  

I believe wholeheartedly that Mooney is gonna be looked at as a #1 regardless of team. 

Gonna see a lot of production in the pass game out of the RB and TEs too. 

10 hours ago, scs787 said:

A perceived huge issue. Lol. 

Poles really looked to have hit it out of the park with this draft class. With the other picks thriving the way they have, here's hoping he hit on Velus too. 

I still want to believe in Pringle as well, but I'm bummed to have not seen anything out of him in preseason.  

I believe wholeheartedly that Mooney is gonna be looked at as a #1 regardless of team. 

Gonna see a lot of production in the pass game out of the RB and TEs too. 

It is 100% not perceived. It is real. Maybe somehow we are shocked, but random dudes 3 or 4 years into the league like Brown/Pringle don't just become #2 wideouts very often. It could happen, sure. Mooney is a guy I love - he is a mediocre #1 but a great #2. Kmet is solid - probably shot at a top 10 maybe back end top 7 TE in time (and he's not far from there now). Montgomery is a solid, but not special back.  No - that is one spot the Bears have earned there rep until proven otherwise.

They had a top 7 or so unit one time (in terms of playmakers) in my life and that was Alshon, Bmarsh, Forte, and Martellus Bennett. That was a unit that had playmakers on every level of the offense (at skill position spot).  That is what it means to have real weapons - the Bears, until they show something otherwise are far from it.  They can get there - but it will take time and they need to invest more picks to it and reality is probably some cap space.  

10 hours ago, scs787 said:

A perceived huge issue. Lol. 

Poles really looked to have hit it out of the park with this draft class. With the other picks thriving the way they have, here's hoping he hit on Velus too. 

I still want to believe in Pringle as well, but I'm bummed to have not seen anything out of him in preseason.  

I believe wholeheartedly that Mooney is gonna be looked at as a #1 regardless of team. 

Gonna see a lot of production in the pass game out of the RB and TEs too. 

It's fine to be optimistic, but these guys haven't played a single snap in the regular season. No one has any idea who these guys will be, including the Bears. 

Let's slow it down a little bit before we start talking about an unknown GM "hitting it out of the park" with a bunch of unknown players. 

I'm actually pretty excited for Montgomery after that preseason game. The running game was so stupid under Nagy, and so often had huge tells that it was a run, that I think i underappreciated what Montgomery can do with just a wee bit more space to charge into guys. And he can pass catch and block. I think he's really a tier 2 guy, better than solid, just had bad lines and bad offenses for RBs.

Just looking back at Jordan Howard, a guy that was not a pass threat and was on an offense that had worse playmakers but was outside zone (I'd def say likely a better oline) and he was at 5 ypc with a Jay Cutler season and then 4.1 still in that situation with a lot of volume production.

Montgomery can do pass downs well, and a better run scheme here where it's not so obvious that we are running may really get him some good productivity.

Laviska Shenault traded to Carolina. He's someone I was interested in. 

Mario Edwards gets cut. I was definitely wrong on him, I thought he was the best fit they had at 3T. Justin Jones has been pretty impressive and I feel a lot better about him as a disruptor than I did before. Looks like he was held back in San Diego. 

 

Schofield gone now too. Little surprised by this. I love that Jenkins really won the RG spot and is running with it, but I woulda liked Schofield as a backup. It was just 2 years ago he was rated as a top 20 offensive lineman.  

17 hours ago, scs787 said:

Schofield gone now too. Little surprised by this. I love that Jenkins really won the RG spot and is running with it, but I woulda liked Schofield as a backup. It was just 2 years ago he was rated as a top 20 offensive lineman.  

He was really bad in the preseason 

 

looks like they snagged NT Armon Watts from the Vikings too

Interesting - claiming him means they are going to pay him vs. waiting for him to go through waivers.  Although I'm sure it is easier to waive him since Raiders are on the hook for his bonus, etc.  I'm good with them taking a shot.  Leatherwood was over-drafted as a FRP but a change of scenery could be a good option.  

Hopefully Leatherwood comes in hungry AF. The size and altheticism is there. 

Watts is a solid pickup as well. 

12 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Interesting - claiming him means they are going to pay him vs. waiting for him to go through waivers.  Although I'm sure it is easier to waive him since Raiders are on the hook for his bonus, etc.  I'm good with them taking a shot.  Leatherwood was over-drafted as a FRP but a change of scenery could be a good option.  

Yea I read they assumed his contract which is 3 more years for about 5.9M

 

14 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Interesting - claiming him means they are going to pay him vs. waiting for him to go through waivers.  Although I'm sure it is easier to waive him since Raiders are on the hook for his bonus, etc.  I'm good with them taking a shot.  Leatherwood was over-drafted as a FRP but a change of scenery could be a good option.  

This is the kind of pickup that makes sense for a rebuilding team like the Bears.  He's owed $1.3M this year and $1.9M next year.  We can cut him in 2024 with $0 dead cap if needed.  Small investment for a talented guy.  Worth taking a chance on.

 Looking more into Watts, he could really be a steal. There was a 4 game stretch last year where PFF had him rated as the 9th best defensive lineman in the league. 

 

I'm still not sure who starts next to Jones. Tonga is a fun player to root for and Blackson quietly had a solid year with 43 tackles. At the very least Watts should add a quality rotation piece. 

Edited August 31, 20223 yr by scs787

24 minutes ago, scs787 said:

 Looking more into Watts, he could really be a steal. There was a 4 game stretch last year where PFF had him rated as the 9th best defensive lineman in the league. 

 

I'm still not sure who starts next to Jones. Tonga is a fun player to root for and Blackson quietly had a solid year with 43 tackles. At the very least Watts should add a quality rotation piece. 

He seems like a scheme cut not a talent cut and those happen.  So definitely seems like a solid overall move.  

Ooof. Tonga cut right as I was typing that last post out.  Little surprised there, but Watts looks to be a clear upgrade 

Leatherwood was the Outland trophy winner in college. That's given to the best lineman (offensive or defensive) in college football. You'd think that a winner of this trophy would be a lock to go on and have success in the NFL, but in the last 20 years, only 3 offensive lineman to win the trophy also went to the pro bowl. For every Joe Thomas and Brandon Schreef, there has been a Gabe Carimi or a Robert Gallery. 

 

I hope Leatherwood comes in hungry and the Bears can fix him. 

1 hour ago, scs787 said:

Leatherwood was the Outland trophy winner in college. That's given to the best lineman (offensive or defensive) in college football. You'd think that a winner of this trophy would be a lock to go on and have success in the NFL, but in the last 20 years, only 3 offensive lineman to win the trophy also went to the pro bowl. For every Joe Thomas and Brandon Schreef, there has been a Gabe Carimi or a Robert Gallery. 

 

I hope Leatherwood comes in hungry and the Bears can fix him. 

Gallery had a solid career - let’s hope leatherwood has more Gallery in him than Carimi. Gallery was, however, not worthy of a #2 overall pick. 
 

Leatherwoods attitude and technique seem to lack. Got to hope the release resets his attitude and maybe the combo of a fresh attitude and maybe a more suitable scheme (guessing here) can help him turn into something. 

14 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

 

Nice call @Harold's Leg Lift

5 hours ago, Chisoxfn said:

Gallery had a solid career - let’s hope leatherwood has more Gallery in him than Carimi. Gallery was, however, not worthy of a #2 overall pick. 
 

Leatherwoods attitude and technique seem to lack. Got to hope the release resets his attitude and maybe the combo of a fresh attitude and maybe a more suitable scheme (guessing here) can help him turn into something. 

https://www.raidersbeat.com/raiders-have-the-two-worst-pass-blocking-linemen-in-the-nfl-and-they-play-right-next-to-each-other/

 

As the article says the raiders had the 2 worst pass blocking lineman in the playing right next to each other. That had to make things even harder for the both of them. Maybe playing next to a more competent lineman would make things a little easier. 

 

I remember doing film study on Jermon Bushrod with the saints yearssss ago and he consistently got help from his LG which made the both of them a lot better. You have to work as a unit, and having 2 guys who are struggling mightly next to each other can really hurt. 

 

Regardless,  Leatherwood has a lot to show before he gets inserted into the lineup. 

I thought Leatherwoods technique was supposed to be his strength out of college and he just was not that athletic.

Who knows, hope he is competent. When a guy struggles that bad I don't have a lot of faith in the prior pedigree stuff but maybe the scheme fits him better here.