Spring is in the air. I can tell because there is a little extra pep in my step. So here’s hoping you’re having as good of a week as I am. If you’re not, I hope your fortunes change soon. You deserve it.
Seeing Ha Ha Clinton Dix in blue is going to take some getting used to:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxN0KXvH90r/
The Bears-Packers rivalry is going to feature some jarring images in Week 1. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in blue-and-orange chasing around Davante Adams and other guys wearing uniforms decorated in mustard and relish. Adrian Amos in the box with eyes on Mitch Trubisky, Tarik Cohen, and others in the Bears’ backfield. Just the thought of it is driving me to push for September football.
It’s been months since Clinton-Dix signed with the Bears and I still feel good about the signing. Beyond having name recognition and a strong prospect pedigree, Clinton-Dix is an established professional safety who is still in the prime of his career and has a lot to prove as he is playing on a one-year deal. There would have been notable concerns had the Bears settled on starting Deon Bush at safety or taken a shot with a mid-round safety without NFL experience. But signing Clinton-Dix tosses those possible worries away, and I couldn’t feel any better about it.
Imagine getting to work next to this guy on a weekly basis:
It’s a bit wild to think about how three of the top-5 safeties in football last year came out of the 2017 and 2018 draft classes. To me, it shows how advanced the best players at that position are despite being so young. There was a time when finding young defensive backs who were good from the get-go was difficult because adjusting to the style of game and added responsibilities were real challenges that not all could handle. The game is changing, and I can dig it.
And yet, part of me still wishes the Bears would have drafted a safety at some point in the 2019 NFL Draft. Another reminder you can’t get everything you want.
Aren’t you glad this isn’t an image we’ll have to see in 2019:
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
I bet Duke Shelley is going to be fun to watch this year:
Cornerbacks who play the ball aggressively are everything I need out of a player at the position. Shelley showed a knack for doing that at Kansas State, which is why the Bears took a chance on him with a late-round pick. If he can do a lot of that at the next level, he’ll grow into a fan favorite before you know it.
NFL.com’s Adam Rank has someone in mind for fans who are looking for someone to root for on the Bears, but isn’t already a fan favorite. Nothing like hopping on a bandwagon before everyone else does!
If you’re still unsure who to hitch your wagon to in 2019, The Athletic’s Adam Jahns ranks the Bears’ best undrafted free agent signings:
Rating the #Bears ’ best undrafted rookies — and why they have a chance to make it. My thoughts: https://t.co/QjKQVFiRUD
Bryce Callahan and Cameron Meredith were undrafted free agents before becoming fan favorites in Chicago. These underdog stories are fun to watch unfold, so I’m looking forward to seeing which ones catch my eye.
At least someone is enjoying the Bears’ kicking spectacle:
I love the #Bears kicking competition. I explain why with a little help from @SieraSantos and Matt Nagy on the podcast. Take a listen and let me know if I’m in point: https://t.co/xumMp9qUKj
“An uncomfortable fact still hovering over the entire kicking situation is that the Bears are not better as a team without Cody Parkey” is not a sentence I expected to read this morning. HOWEVER, John “Moon” Mullin (NBC Sports Chicago) expresses concern that ridding the Bears of Parkey doesn’t mean the team has improved itself at that position. I’m of the belief that cutting ties was the right thing to do, though I suppose there is a valid point in that no current Bears kicker has had the success Parkey had in the NFL – prior to arriving in Chicago, of course. Then again, none of those kickers has ever missed a field goal that would have won the Bears a playoff game.
Where did they find these images of Bears fans after Parkey’s double-doink?
This is a refreshingly honest, mature, and thoughtful response during a time when all of those things are hard to find:
To be fair to today’s athletes I would say our platforms are larger and we’re more readily available to the public. I’m sure opinions haven’t changed drastically over the years regarding “politics”. Athletes talk about everything now – it’s not like guys are just talking politics https://t.co/Bc1PbJSX8Y
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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