These Bears Are Strong and Other Bullets

Making plans with people who don’t like making plans (or committing to them) is asking for trouble. Sure, the exhilaration of getting stuff done off-script is unmatched … but so is the disappointment when you’ve laid out your schedule mentally and things go off the rails. Plan first. Adjust later. And have a wonderful weekend. Football is coming.

  • If your team isn’t winning in the trenches, it probably isn’t winning at all. So with that in mind, I am absolutely loving that Chris Wesseling (NFL.com) ranks the Bears’ front seven as the second deepest position group in the league. Only the Ravens’ secondary is believed to be deeper. In this situation, there is no shame in finishing second. Think of it this way, the Bears have the deepest front seven in football. That group features the likes of Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan on the front lines, but also has Aaron Lynch, Nick Kwiatkoski, and Roy Robertson-Harris as depth pieces. This group is silly good and I can’t wait until they are unleashed on the Packers in 55 days.
  • On the other side of the ball, the Bears have an offensive lineman who Pro Football Focus is very proud to have hit on during the pre-draft process. Left guard Cody Whitehair popped up on PFF’s list of prospects it was rightfully high on in recent years. Not every analytics site is going to nail every pick, so you might as well celebrate the ones you nail over the years. Long before Whitehair was the Bears’ center transitioning to life as a left guard, he was a Kansas State product set to make the move from tackle to guard. Back in 2016, Whitehair was the 17th-ranked player on PFF’s board and has been the site’s 13th-highest graded interior lineman since the start of the 2016 season. That’s as good as it gets, folks.
  • While the guys in the trenches are on our mind, it’s time to put some respect on Charles Leno Jr.’s name.
  • Is it just me, or do you hear the JAWS music when you see this picture?
  • (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

  • Strength up front is one thing, but the Bears also have a bunch of talent coming back from the 2018 team:
  • And then there’s the place-kicker position, where the Bears have an open competition and are set to roll the dice with an unproven kicker who may (or may not) have some upside. Because sometimes you absolutely have to state the obvious, Bleacher Report underscores Chicago’s kicking competition as the biggest spot up for grabs at training camp.
  • There is plenty to watch for in the NFC North, which figures to be the NFL’s toughest division:
  • https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1149468456149901328

  • For the record: The answer to question No. 1 is “Yes.” The answer to question No. 2 is “Even if he does, it won’t matter.”
  • Khalil Mack is a monster, but you already knew that:
  • If the NFL Draft was today, I’m not sure Las Vegas wouldn’t be prepared to host. With that in mind, it’s probably too early to think about the 2020 NFL Draft. HOWEVER, Jacob Infante (Windy City Gridiron) puts together the Bears’ outlook for the next draft that is worth checking out and storing in your memory banks for a later date. Because while it’s far too early to think about needs, strengths, and weaknesses, it’s never too early to think about the Bears not having the last pick of the first round because it was dealt to the Raiders in the Khalil Mack deal, and the Raiders not having the first pick of the second round because it was dealt to the Chicago in the same deal.
  • Nothing like a Friday flashback to set the mood:
  • Eight weeks from now, I hope to be writing about the Bears’ dismantling of the Packers from the night before:
  • https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzy7pzzIJCu/

  • Go get ’em, Coach Nagy:
  • NICE!
  • The Bulls didn’t get Russell Westbrook:
  • 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K; BS, L. That was Will Smith’s line on October 11, 2016 when the Cubs rallied back to score four runs in the top of the ninth en route to a win in Game 4 of that year’s NLDS. The Cubs won that game, the series, the NLCS against the Dodgers, and the World Series against the Indians. It’s time for things to come full circle and have Smith on the winning side of an LDS appearance:
  • 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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