Brick Wall Defense, Trubisky Fantasy Hype, McCown Memories, and Other Bullets

Eloy Jimenez is on pace to hit 41 homers and drive in 93 runs with an OPS of .807 as a rookie despite posting a .663 OPS in his first 33 games this season through May 31. I imagine the team that traded him got a haul and a half!

  • I’m catching draft-week buzz from our friends at BN Bulls. More than that, I’ve got vibes that remind me of how I felt before the 2017 NFL Draft. Back in 2017 when we knew what the team needed, but weren’t totally sure how the front office would go about getting it. We also knew the Bears were connected to a bunch of names who could have filled any number of holes. What we didn’t know is that the Bears would do something wild like trade up and draft the highest-ranked prospect at the most important position. Fortune favors the bold, and I hope the Bulls have a bold trick up their sleeve.
  • The last time a Chicago sports team traded up in the first round of the draft, this guy was selected:
  • I love Mitch Trubisky highlights, but almost want folks to pump the breaks on the offseason hype because someone is going to pick him in their fantasy draft before I can. The fantasy sleeper hype is real. Trubisky wasn’t consistent last year, but the upside of a dual-threat quarterbacking the second year of an offense, with added offensive weaponry should have the Bears’ QB1 going higher than he is. PFF’s Jeff Ratcliffe has the details.
  • Do you guys remember when the Bears ran a two-QB look against the Bucs? That was neat:
  • The Bears’ offensive line was a strength last year, but the front office still prioritized depth in the offseason. JJ Stankevitz (NBC Sports Chicago) shares some nuggets about undrafted free agent signing Alex Bars, a Notre Dame product who likely would have been selected in the middle rounds had it not been for a season-ending injury. Reuniting Bars and Offensive Line Coach Harry Hiestand could lead to the Bears having snagged a steal on the UDFA market.
  • We had our eyes on Bars during the pre-draft process. And while I’m happy with the state of the Bears’ offensive line as it is, I can’t understate the importance of depth.
  • I imagine running against the Bears last year was like running into a brick wall:
  • The accuracy:
  • Of course Khalil Mack was going to land on the Tribune’s top-100 Bears list. And while Mack has only been here for a year, that year was a game-changing and franchise-altering experience. Oh, and you better believe there is more to come.
  • There was so much going on at Bears100 in Rosemont that I didn’t get to pick up the Bears’ Centennial Scrapbook. The team’s official site shared an excerpt highlighting the team’s history of excellent middle linebackers and I can’t get enough. I’m a bit of a history nerd, so I love going back and reading up on guys who were essentially the foundation pieces for what we love today.
  • Some fun Josh McCown nuggets surfaced in the wake of his retirement:
  • I didn’t realize McCown made just about $50 million over the course of his NFL career. Being a great backup quarterback certainly has its perks!
  • Andrew Dannehy (Da Bears Blog) has a Josh McCown appreciation post. We’ll always have that frigid win on Monday Night Football against the Cowboys!
  • The Jets hired not Champ Kelly as their Assistant GM:
  • New York’s AFC football team still has to fill out its front office, but I thought it was possible Kelly would have been up for the assistant general manager position under Joe Douglas. Maybe the Jets will finagle Kelly into a different spot, but I wonder if the Bears’ player personnel assistant will continue to keep plugging away in Chicago for another year, keep building his résumé, and put himself back out there next year when jobs pop up. We’ll keep watching this as it unfolds.
  • Really good Deals of the Day today at Amazon, including Anker charging gear, memory foam stuff, and huge outdoor games.
  • written by

    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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