Bears 10.0: GM and coach watch before the draft

[panthermark]

There are many misses you that poles has had but Carter isn’t one. There were legit character concerns about him. And he’s shown why those concerns exist during his time with the eagles on more than one occasion. The reason the eagles taking him made so much season was because of the great veteran leadership and how many of his actual friends from Georgia were already on the team. He wasn’t getting either of those here or anywhere else.

Would he be a murderer if we picked him? No. But there’s a good chance his outbursts would have been more significant. Passing on him wasn’t a mistake.

No!
Poles is the one who "built" this team. Saying the locker room could not handle him is a reflection on the architect of said locker room

um...poles had been here exactly 1 year at the time of that draft. they were coming off the tank year. the rebuild was just beginning. poles had been the architect of jack squat. jalen carter would have been the first new hire after eberflus!

In a little bit, we are going to watch one of those vet leaders (on defense no less) play against the Bills. Poles traded him away his first year.

No Jalen Carter on the roster and three years in, how is that team character? Using that line of reasoning, if the identical situation happened this draft, we should still pass on such a player because the team has no leadership. Who's fault is that?

[patryk7754]

I was actually in favor of draft Carter. He was the best player in the draft, imo. But I’m not gonna hold it against poles for passing on someone with those character issues.

This is very much revisionist history. Most everyone understood passing on him.

[patryk7754]

No!
Poles is the one who "built" this team. Saying the locker room could not handle him is a reflection on the architect of said locker room

um...poles had been here exactly 1 year at the time of that draft. they were coming off the tank year. the rebuild was just beginning. poles had been the architect of jack squat. jalen carter would have been the first new hire after eberflus!

In a little bit, we are going to watch one of those vet leaders (on defense no less) play against the Bills. Poles traded him away his first year.

No Jalen Carter on the roster and three years in, how is that team character? Using that line of reasoning, if the identical situation happened this draft, we should still pass on such a player because the team has no leadership. Who's fault is that?

You’re missing the point. We should have never traded Mack and smith. I was very vocal about that. But we did. Our team at the time had no vets, no leadership, nothing. So it made sense if a gm didn’t think it wise to bring in someone who they were confident in.

[dice]

Of all the excuses on passing on Carter, the ‘lack of team support’ thing is most baffling. Oh, we didn’t build a good team, or we don’t think we can build one, so Carter is out? Talk about a self fulfilling prophecy. But at least they weren’t wrong on their self scouting.

The guy dropped out of the sky into your lap at #9. It would have been perfectly fine to draft him there. More than fine.

i don't think anybody wouldn't have understood taking him there. but it's also perfectly understandable that they didn't. we got a solid OT instead, which is substantially more important. along w/ dexter, who is no slouch. even w/ carter balling out and keeping his nose out of trouble i'd argue that the bears won the trade. and which is more likely going forward: carter not maintaining for whatever reason or our two guys declining?

That ignores who you would have taken with the 2nd round pick.
Maybe they go OL with the 2nd round pick.
Personally, I wanted the guy that went one pick after Stevenson. That is actually who I thought we were going to take (that is part of my bias against Stevenson).

For all we know, they still take Dexter, but don't take Pickens.

Funny to look at now, but JMS, O'Cyrus and Juice all went right after Stevenson, but before Zach.

i'm going with who they actually did take. same way the carter fans are doing w/ the other side of the argument

[dice]

No!
Poles is the one who "built" this team. Saying the locker room could not handle him is a reflection on the architect of said locker room

um...poles had been here exactly 1 year at the time of that draft. they were coming off the tank year. the rebuild was just beginning. poles had been the architect of jack squat. jalen carter would have been the first new hire after eberflus!

In a little bit, we are going to watch one of those vet leaders (on defense no less) play against the Bills. Poles traded him away his first year.

No Jalen Carter on the roster and three years in, how is that team character? Using that line of reasoning, if the identical situation happened this draft, we should still pass on such a player because the team has no leadership. Who's fault is that?

THIS time the lack of leadership would be poles's fault. not complicated

[panthermark]

um...poles had been here exactly 1 year at the time of that draft. they were coming off the tank year. the rebuild was just beginning. poles had been the architect of jack squat. jalen carter would have been the first new hire after eberflus!

In a little bit, we are going to watch one of those vet leaders (on defense no less) play against the Bills. Poles traded him away his first year.

No Jalen Carter on the roster and three years in, how is that team character? Using that line of reasoning, if the identical situation happened this draft, we should still pass on such a player because the team has no leadership. Who's fault is that?

You’re missing the point. We should have never traded Mack and smith. I was very vocal about that. But we did. Our team at the time had no vets, no leadership, nothing. So it made sense if a gm didn’t think it wise to bring in someone who they were confident in.

That isn't missing the point nor revision history.
That is getting to the source and understanding how decisions play out.

If a key reason being touted as to why we could not draft Carter is because guys like Mack and Roq were gone, then you need to look at that decision, who made it and what actually played out. It all points back to the GM that we are hoping can finally get it right this off-season.


If we didn't have the leadership (because we got rid of it), so could not draft Carter, but three years into the rebuild the team implodes because of lack of locker room culture, all why said GM who got rid of the leaders, and didn't draft Carter (because of lack of leadership) was all too happy touting the great locker-room culture, there is a major disconnect.

[dice]

Shoulda signed Barkley

Barkley would have had a disappointing season with the Bears due to our O-Line and Waldron. We don't need a RB as good as Barkley. What we need is the Eagle's Offensive Line. Mailata is better than any O-Lineman we've had in decades. And Philly plucked him out of Australian Rugby in the 7th round. He had never played American Football before. But at 6'8", 365 ponds, less than 20% body fat and able to run the 40 in 5.1 seconds they took a shot. Every single player on the Eagle's O-Line is better at their position than ours.

If we had an O-Line I'd be willing to pick up a player like Jeanty with our First Rounder. But it would be a wasted pick. We have got to vastly improve our O-Line through the Draft and Free Agency in this offseason. And we have to add a player on defense that can get after QBs with regularity. The teams in these playoffs almost all have great O-Line and D-Line. We have neither.

ironically, philly had the worst pressure rate in the league and 2nd worst sack rate. because their QB also holds onto the ball!

[fleet]

I was actually in favor of draft Carter. He was the best player in the draft, imo. But I’m not gonna hold it against poles for passing on someone with those character issues.

This is very much revisionist history. Most everyone understood passing on him.

His character issues are overblown. He drove drunk. Street racing. Pretty common in college age. He ran away from the accident. Ok. But I’d be way more concerned if he was robbing and selling drugs. His practice habits leave a lot to be desired. But a lot of great players can say that. They can get away with it. And like Greg Gabriel says, Defensive lineman are different cats. Oh look, Carter forces a big fumble

[dice]

I was actually in favor of draft Carter. He was the best player in the draft, imo. But I’m not gonna hold it against poles for passing on someone with those character issues.

This is very much revisionist history. Most everyone understood passing on him.

His character issues are overblown. He drove drunk. Street racing. Pretty common in college age. He ran away from the accident. Ok. But I’d be way more concerned if he was robbing and selling drugs.

a broke kid selling drugs is way less of a character issue than a dumb kid doing what carter did. and he had already been ticketed for going double the speed limit within the previous few months. maybe contributing to someone's death was the wakeup call he needed. but that remains to be seen. and the dumbness doesn't go away

[Dresden]

Rams are just self destructing. Too bad, they had a real shot at the upset.

[Dresden]

I wish they'd get rid of domes. Football is so much more interesting when you have weather like this.

[Dresden]

It's a bit like golf- in the US, the courses the pro's play on are so carefully manicured you never get a bad bounce, the greens are all perfectly uniform, but it's a bit sterile. Compared to courses where they play the British Open, which often look burnt out, you get crazy bounces and caroms all over the place- it's just much more interesting and challenging.

[Dresden]

Rams still down only one TD despite coughing up the ball in their own territory in back to back drives.

[panthermark]

I wish they'd get rid of domes. Football is so much more interesting when you have weather like this.

I'm all for roofs that open and close.

I got a bit spoiled in college.

Heavy, wet snow falling straight down in 30 degrees is awesome.
But when it is 20 degrees, gray and windy....making the windchill -5, I enjoyed being in a T-shirt.

[Dresden]

Pro Football Focus dubbed Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken the best fit for the Bears head coach job, and it's not hard to see why he'd be a good fit in Chicago.

Caleb Williams needs to play better within structure. Todd Monken has spent the past two years developing that exact skill with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Jackson is now one of the best pocket passers in the league. Of course, Monken also understands the value of running the football and playing stout defense. Perhaps he looks toward former opponents like ex-Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo or current Michigan play caller Wink Martindale to assist on that side of the ball.

[fleet]

Puka!

[fleet]

Carter shut off that drive. Playoffs are won by dudes

[IliketheBullsNBearstoo]

Carter finished them off.

[panthermark]

Carter just saved their ass! Sack, then pressure!
Game!
(And it sucks because I dislike Philly)

[dice]

Puka!

almost earned a 'hawaiian ice' nickname there