Bears 11.0: Free Agency, College Pro days, Draft & beyond

[JohnnyKILLroy]

This free agency shouldn’t be a win now scenario if anything it puts more pressure on the draft to sustain all this long term. Poles has to value his draft picks even more now. We should always be trading down acquiring more chances at it. The draft should still be about the trenches those first 4 picks definitely. Poles and Johnson are going older with the roster and now Poles has to hedge his bets with some more kids and keep the pipeline going. Poles hasn’t drafted as well as I’d like but he hasn’t been bad either. I hope he’s learned his lesson and considers the trenches far from finished and that’s where we focus in the draft. Say no to the Jeantys of the world. Show some **** patience for Christ’s sake. People here that want to go all in now did they forgot about our other wheeler dealer GM in Pace? It’s like that never happened and people want to be impulsive about it .

The problem is we just spent a lot of money on Swift that we can't get rid of. If it weren't for that, I'd be all in on Jeanty right now. From what people say, backs like him don't come around very often. He could get you 1200-1400 yards on the ground, and 3-400 in the air. that's more than a WR will get you. It's tempting to take him, but since we already have Swift, it would be a bit redundant, although as everyone points out, Johnson likes having two running backs.

Yeah you kinda prove my point. We have a top 10 pick hope fully lower because we trade down but as it currently stands you could get a Tackle or Edge which are more important positions to lock down. I would even say DT and Gs too.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Swift could be really good for us. He looked great running behind that Philly line. I’d be willing to wait and see what we have with Swift and the new look offense.

Trade down from #10 or use it on a more premium position. LT/edge/CB/WR

[Betta Bulleavit]

You think old man Keenan Allen at 15 million is an all in win now move? Hes old and he’s unnecessary. New offense will look fine without him we’re not going to miss him on that end of the ball. When you factor in cost and the role he should have it would be grossly overpaying for a not very good 4/5/6 option

You think Allen is going to command 15M? I mean, I’ve been all wrong about player values so far. But I didn’t see him getting more than 10 from anyone. But based on what you’re saying, even that may be too much for your taste??

Yeah I’m not a fan of him coming back at all, especially when cheaper and younger should be the goal.

This is completely reasonable. I’m more in the club of being Allen back at the right price (that price being 10M or less) mainly because it seemed like he and Caleb had started to develop a nice rapport. But I’m with you in the sense that it’s not going to be a make or break for the offense either way.

[Dresden]

I think of all the moves so far, the one that worries me the most is Dayo. He's getting paid if not like an elite Edge, at least like a very solid one, and I don't think his performance so far really merits that. So I guess they think he's got room to get better, or else they wouldn't be paying him as much as they are. But if he doesn't make that next step, we're still going to be weak at the Edge position. I guess what I'm saying is that they devoted a lot of cap space to this signing, but it's far from certain that he's going to be as good as say, Montez Sweat is on the other side.

It would be a good idea to pick up another Edge, if not at 10, then in the second or third rounds.

Would you take an Edge at 10 though, if you have Sweat at one position, and just signed Dayo for the other? Do they see Dayo also playing inside some of the time, alongside Dexter or Jarret? And if so, is Billings someone that might be cut? Would that make sense cap wise?

[Dresden]

You think Allen is going to command 15M? I mean, I’ve been all wrong about player values so far. But I didn’t see him getting more than 10 from anyone. But based on what you’re saying, even that may be too much for your taste??

Yeah I’m not a fan of him coming back at all, especially when cheaper and younger should be the goal.

This is completely reasonable. I’m more in the club of being Allen back at the right price (that price being 10M or less) mainly because it seemed like he and Caleb had started to develop a nice rapport. But I’m with you in the sense that it’s not going to be a make or break for the offense either way.

I think it's going to be up to Ben Johnson as to how much he values what Keenan Allen can bring to the table. If used properly, I think Allen can still be a WR1b, and definitely a WR2. But how well does he fit in Johnson's offense? And do the Bears now need that cap space in other areas- such as a LB, or another safety or even a TE?

I like Keenan, and he had some pretty good games last season. He can still get separation, and he's a big target, and like as has been said, Caleb seems to like throwing to him.

[fleet]

If I was in on Booker, it would be a different story, but I have heavy doubts. #1, he’s not a good fit with Allen. So if I’m right, the Bears still need a young rotational edge to be the heir apparent to Sweat or the new guy. Or opposite the new guy. Can never have enough pass rush, and the Bears don’t have a claim like that either. Go best available edge in the FR. And there’s really only 4-5 that fit Allen. Stewart, Williams in the FR, Tuimoloau, Sawyer and Perhaps Jackson in SR. But I go edge FR, and hit another OL guy in SR. The other SR pick goes to RB.

The Jeanty or Tyler Warren picks obviously cause the edge to go in SR. But they do need an edge early. Booker ain’t it IMO.

[biggestbullsfan]

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I feel like Tevin wouldn’t come back, and probably shouldn’t. He won’t start. Unless we try him at LT. He probably needs a change of scenery.

Keenan I’m happy to bring back. I think with the new offense, he will play much better. He was uncharacteristically off last year and I blame the OC and HC.

[biggestbullsfan]

If I was in on Booker, it would be a different story, but I have heavy doubts. #1, he’s not a good fit with Allen. So if I’m right, the Bears still need a young rotational edge to be the heir apparent to Sweat or the new guy. Or opposite the new guy. Can never have enough pass rush, and the Bears don’t have a claim like that either. Go best available edge in the FR. And there’s really only 4-5 that fit Allen. Stewart, Williams in the FR, Tuimoloau, Sawyer and Perhaps Jackson in SR. But I go edge FR, and hit another OL guy in SR. The other SR pick goes to RB.

The Jeanty or Tyler Warren picks obviously cause the edge to go in SR. But they do need an edge early. Booker ain’t it IMO.

When we drafted him, they said Booker would have been a first round pick this season but he came out a year early. Players need to develop. I think a full nfl offseason can do him good. I’m holding out judgment on Booker and Kiran. I think both can be serviceable

[fleet]

Kiran is probably better as a prospect than Braxton Jones was, how much better we don’t know. The Bears likely think he’s an eventual starter somewhere. Booker is potentially serviceable, but maybe that’s about it. JAG that is roster churn. The first hurdle for Booker in Chicago now to get reps is gonna be he’s just not Dennis Allen’s kind of edge in size.

[fleet]

Grok is a closet Bears fan. The Bears may have it gassed up with the offseason championship, but I doubt it read the schedule

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[Dresden]

You can't say you want to build through the draft and then give up on a 5th round pick after one season.

[El Ridda]

You can't say you want to build through the draft and then give up on a 5th round pick after one season.

Great point. And add Kiran Amegadjie in too. People very quick to write him off because of his play last year, but he was thrown to the wolves without much chance for success (coming from small school and no training camp). Doesn’t diminish his potential. Could be a stud for all we know.

[IliketheBullsNBearstoo]

I think of all the moves so far, the one that worries me the most is Dayo. He's getting paid if not like an elite Edge, at least like a very solid one, and I don't think his performance so far really merits that. So I guess they think he's got room to get better, or else they wouldn't be paying him as much as they are. But if he doesn't make that next step, we're still going to be weak at the Edge position. I guess what I'm saying is that they devoted a lot of cap space to this signing, but it's far from certain that he's going to be as good as say, Montez Sweat is on the other side.

It would be a good idea to pick up another Edge, if not at 10, then in the second or third rounds.

Would you take an Edge at 10 though, if you have Sweat at one position, and just signed Dayo for the other? Do they see Dayo also playing inside some of the time, alongside Dexter or Jarret? And if so, is Billings someone that might be cut? Would that make sense cap wise?

Yeah that Dayo signing must be due to the fit of what Dennis Allen wants to do. He has the size and looks like they want to shore up the run defense by making a stout dline and the pass rush will be boosted by bringing the heat from LB's and DB's. Thats my guess. They will probably still look at an edge in the draft for pure pass rush downs I'm guessing in the 2nd round but probably depends on who is available when they pick.

[chitowndish]

I'm excited, and I think Poles did the main thing I wanted which was to free us up in the draft so we can react to who is falling or what is available. I am kind of worried to hear that Graham is small for the way the position is going as that was one guy I was hoping would be a good pick up if he fell but I actually agree there I do want size in the lines. OT all have short arms except the one guy with the significant sounding injury and picking a guard there seems kind of a waste since we have 2 second round picks which is prime guard area of the draft. I watched Stewart tape and he looked good but people have pointed out that he's still pretty raw but it's after 3 years he shouldn't be as much of a project he should be pretty polished at this point. Maybe I'm missing something I did like the video but that is kind of concerning.

I'm still Jeanty, he has an elite skill which is being able to be hit but keep running and I feel like that is a fundamental skill for a RB and Jeanty is special about it. People point out the conference and I think Pitt game but in that game it sounds like they were stacking 8 in the box at points and basically putting their entire team to stop him and he still ended up with 130 yards I think. Like yeah if an NFL team wants dedicate a bunch of defenders to stop the guy I would hope Caleb can make them pay. Even the conference thing if every team was throwing waves of defenders at him and couldn't stop him that's pretty impressive regardless of what conference it is. It's true that if you have a good O line any RB will look good but if you have a great RB with a good OL that is pretty back breaking and to put that with our receivers and QB could be one of the best offenses in the league. I think the argument about the highest paid RB being 12 mil is the most persuasive argument but that probably means we can keep him through his second contract easily. Then I guess the fact that Swift has contract left but just trade him for an extra pick and maybe beef up one of our lines or get a fast WR3 with that pick.

Really though I just don't know if I like the guys that are projected at those premium positions so even if that makes financial sense I want to get a good player with this pick. I guess this flies in the face of modern NFL economics but I feel like a lot of times in sports the edges are found in spotting issues in the conventional wisdom and I do think high end RB are likely undervalued and Jeanty doesn't seem like just a random decent running back he has that elite skill to keep running with break away speed he can be a special player. If there were actual OT's available that looked good or if there was a Edge that stood out I would be all over them but they all just kind of seem like the guys that happen to be where we would be drafting than guys that look like they are worth our last high pick in hopefully a long time. It could definitely change though and if someone drops but I think this is where I'm at right now.

[patryk7754]

Swift could be really good for us. He looked great running behind that Philly line. I’d be willing to wait and see what we have with Swift and the new look offense.

Trade down from #10 or use it on a more premium position. LT/edge/CB/WR

I wouldn’t say swift was great for the eagles but he was definitely productive. Swifts biggest issue is recognizing open running lanes. But I think he’s definitely good enough to be 1000 yard rusher for us and he has really good pass catch ability. He put a lot of good stuff on tape last season. Which is why I’m not as convinced that we draft a RB high. I don’t think swift is the RB of the future so I still expect to draft a RB, especially with Johnson’s health, but I don’t think it’ll be in the 1st

[Charlesareed]

Swift could be really good for us. He looked great running behind that Philly line. I’d be willing to wait and see what we have with Swift and the new look offense.

Trade down from #10 or use it on a more premium position. LT/edge/CB/WR

I wouldn’t say swift was great for the eagles but he was definitely productive. Swifts biggest issue is recognizing open running lanes. But I think he’s definitely good enough to be 1000 yard rusher for us and he has really good pass catch ability. He put a lot of good stuff on tape last season. Which is why I’m not as convinced that we draft a RB high. I don’t think swift is the RB of the future so I still expect to draft a RB, especially with Johnson’s health, but I don’t think it’ll be in the 1st

I hope poles take RB Kaleb Johnson he’s going to be really good

[patryk7754]

Swift could be really good for us. He looked great running behind that Philly line. I’d be willing to wait and see what we have with Swift and the new look offense.

Trade down from #10 or use it on a more premium position. LT/edge/CB/WR

I wouldn’t say swift was great for the eagles but he was definitely productive. Swifts biggest issue is recognizing open running lanes. But I think he’s definitely good enough to be 1000 yard rusher for us and he has really good pass catch ability. He put a lot of good stuff on tape last season. Which is why I’m not as convinced that we draft a RB high. I don’t think swift is the RB of the future so I still expect to draft a RB, especially with Johnson’s health, but I don’t think it’ll be in the 1st

I hope poles take RB Kaleb Johnson he’s going to be really good

Is he Iowas guy? Cant say I’ve seen much of him but what I did see was impressive. I lean towards Treyveyon Henderson. I think has the elite explosiveness Johnson wants in his off and he’s a really good pass catcher. I would say he runs like Johnathon Taylor and catches like Joe mixon. But, regardless of they go with in this class, it’ll be hard to miss

[patryk7754]

You can't say you want to build through the draft and then give up on a 5th round pick after one season.

Great point. And add Kiran Amegadjie in too. People very quick to write him off because of his play last year, but he was thrown to the wolves without much chance for success (coming from small school and no training camp). Doesn’t diminish his potential. Could be a stud for all we know.

Agreed. I think there needs to be a balance that’s struck. When you have guys that are clearly not ready to be on the field, you shouldn’t necessarily move on from them, but bring in a cheap vet and drop someone like booker or Kiran down the depth chart and give them more time to develop.

Managing offensive lineman is already very delicate because blocking in the nfl is so different from college, it takes you linemen sometime to adjust because they literally have to recondition themselves on how to block. Kiran had to deal with that plus playing at such a low level skill, it would have been a miracle if he played well at all.

I think bringing in a vet min OT is still the way to go.

[Charlesareed]

I wouldn’t say swift was great for the eagles but he was definitely productive. Swifts biggest issue is recognizing open running lanes. But I think he’s definitely good enough to be 1000 yard rusher for us and he has really good pass catch ability. He put a lot of good stuff on tape last season. Which is why I’m not as convinced that we draft a RB high. I don’t think swift is the RB of the future so I still expect to draft a RB, especially with Johnson’s health, but I don’t think it’ll be in the 1st

This is a good RB class aswell as defensive class

I hope poles take RB Kaleb Johnson he’s going to be really good

Is he Iowas guy? Cant say I’ve seen much of him but what I did see was impressive. I lean towards Treyveyon Henderson. I think has the elite explosiveness Johnson wants in his off and he’s a really good pass catcher. I would say he runs like Johnathon Taylor and catches like Joe mixon. But, regardless of they go with in this class, it’ll be hard to miss

[Dresden]

The one hesitation with Treyveon is his injury history. If it weren't for that I think he'd be the second back chosen, and maybe in the first round. If his medicals check out, I'd be happy to get him in the second or third round.

Cam Skatterboo is another interesting prospect. He's hard to peg. Doesn't have elite speed, but he had more long runs that just about anybody this year I believe. So he's got a knack for getting big chunks of yards. He's likely to be there in the 3rd round.