How Senior Bowl Helped Bears, Peanut on Rebuilding, Colts and 49ers Hire New GMs, and Other Bullets

Jan 30, 2017

Super Bowl week is officially here. The Patriots are favored by three points right now, and the over/under is currently a whopping 58.5, which would be the highest in Super Bowl history. If those numbers hold come Sunday, then the oddsmakers are projecting one of the most exciting Super Bowls imaginable, eh?

Zay Jones (who owned Saturday’s game) and O.J. Howard (who owned the entire week) were two of the 10 players who stood out and helped themselves the most at the Senior Bowl, according to Pro Football Focus. There are some familiar names that we’ve covered here such as Pitt quarterback Nathan Peterman and UConn safety Obi Melifonwu, but going through the list serves as a reminder of how deep this senior class is … except at the quarterback spot. Still, if the Bears did their homework, they could do well in drafting some of this week’s top performers.

Over at CSN Chicago, Chris Boden details how the Senior Bowl allowed the Bears to identify the kind of players they would ideally target and take in the upcoming NFL Draft – which is still three months away, if you’re curious. In hindsight, the roster broke down very well for the Bears, in that it featured many of the kinds of players they should target who will be available to them after the first round. For example, wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson was able to work with two top-flight receivers in Jones and Cooper Kupp, while defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was given a good look at Melifonwu and Lorenzo Jerome – a pair of safeties who contributed to a five-turnover day. Presently, none of those four players is projected as a first rounder.

If you missed it this weekend, we got into the Senior Bowl more here, here, and here.

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Former Bears cornerback Peanut Tillman spoke with Adam Hoge, Jarrett Payton and Mark Carman, touching on several topics from his letter to his younger self at The Players’ Tribune, transitioning from a life as a NFL player to an analyst and his open letter to the City of Chicago. You’ll want to listen to the full interview here. As for Tillman’s thoughts on the field with the Bears, he says the team should pick the best player available at three. “If he can create takeaways at safety, corner, linebacker, (defensive) tackle, (defensive) end, whatever – get it, do it.” The Bears defense created a league-worst 11 takeaways in 2016, so it’s safe to say defensive playmakers are a need across the board.

Tillman went on to add: “As a Bears fan and Bears alum, I think they’re a couple of years away from being good. They got to get the right pieces and they’re not there yet …. They’re going to have to address the quarterback situation, but they’re in rebuild mode – they have to address a lot of stuff right now.” What Tillman provided was nothing short of a fair, honest assessment of the team’s current state.

Speaking of Tillman, kudos to Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins on a perfectly executed Peanut Punch:

KIRK OUTTA NOWHERE!#ProBowl pic.twitter.com/LlZfd7lAsY

— NFL (@NFL) January 30, 2017

The San Francisco 49ers announced John Lynch was hired as the team’s new general manager. You might be familiar with Lynch from his role as a color analyst on FOX games upon his retirement in 2008. It’s more likely you are familiar with Lynch as a three-time first-team All-Pro, with nine Pro Bowl appearances with the Buccaneers, Broncos, and Patriots from 1993 to 2008. Lynch, who had a Hall of Fame-caliber career, will now transition to the front office where he will be in charge of rebuilding a once proud franchise that has gone 7-25 since the team’s ugly split with former head coach Jim Harbaugh.

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Hiring Lynch is a bit of a surprise given his lack of experience at the position. But the big shocker was the reported six-year deal he signed. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports the 49ers want Lynch’s contract to be tied with that of incoming head coach Kyle Shanahan. Needless to say those are major (and lengthy) commitments to a first-time head coach and rookie general manager.

In other front office news, Chris Ballard was named GM of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Ballard is a long-time NFL front office executive who worked most recently for the Kansas City Chiefs (director of player personnel), but also worked in the Bears’ front office for 12 years. Interestingly enough, Ballard interviewed to replace Phil Emery and was at one point considered the favorite to replace Emery. In 2015, Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote about how Ryan Pace came out of nowhere to beat the odds-on favorite for the job. Greg Gabriel, who once was the Bears director of college scouting, told The Boers and Bernstein show on WSCR 670-AM that Ballard’s familiarity with the organization worked against him. Gabriel, who hired Ballard in 2001, was proud of his former pupil after learning of his new gig:

When I came to Chicago in 2001, Chris Ballard was the first scout I hired. I'm so happy and proud that he is the Colts new GM. THE right guy
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) January 29, 2017

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Jordan Howard received some playing time in Sunday’s Pro Bowl, recording a game-high 21 yards on five carries in a 20-13 win by the AFC in a game that rewarded gamblers who bet the under on total points scored – which prior to kickoff was 79.

5th-round draft pick ➡️ 3rd-string RB ➡️ #ProBowl. pic.twitter.com/Cm0FpIm3x9

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 30, 2017

written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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