NEWSLETTER
My fantasy football title defense begins in earnest this weekend with this roster:
» Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger (QBs)
» Josh Jacobs, Kenyan Drake, David Montgomery, Chris Thompson (RBs)
» Amari Cooper, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Courtland Sutton, Curtis Samuel, Alshon Jeffery (WRs)
» Evan Engram, Mike Gesicki, Irv Smith (TEs)
» Justin Tucker (K), Bears (D/ST)
How’d I do on draft day?
• Buyer’s remorse is real. And I’d be lying to you if I said I haven’t experienced it a time or two. However, it’s a different level when I purchase a Bears jersey of a player who won’t be here past his rookie contract as opposed to when a team trades valuable assets for a quarterback who can’t beat out an incumbent on the ropes. Jason Lieser (Sun-Times) wonders if the Bears have buyer’s remorse in the wake of the news that Mitchell Trubisky, and not Nick Foles, will start Week 1. For what it’s worth, Head Coach Matt Nagy’s response to the question was “No, not at all.”
• It’s fair to ask such a question after the Bears failed to sign Teddy Bridgewater, balked at Cincinnati’s asking price to trade for Andy Dalton, passed on Cam Newton, and rejected the idea of drafting a quarterback. In essence, the Bears are set to start 2020 where they finished 2019. Trubisky is the starting quarterback, while his backup is someone who is highly experienced operating within the offense. I’d hate to think the Bears used their offseason draft and financial capital to upgrade from Chase Daniel at QB2, but that’s kinda what it looks like.
• So what does Trubisky need to do in order for the noise around the QB derby to quiet down? Johnathan Wood (Da Bears Blog) offers up a road map to success for Trubisky in 2020. The easy answer is to re-capture the magic of 2018, but that solves only some of Trubisky’s issues. More specifically, Trubisky needs to be more aggressive with shots down the field, doing so while being smart with his decision-making. On top of that, he’ll need to take advantage of his mobility more and be more aggressive on the run. Maybe back-to-back years with shoulder injuries made Trubisky think twice about getting on the move. But perhaps offseason shoulder surgery will help him get back into an aggressive mindset. The NFL is a make-or-miss league. And if Trubisky doesn’t make progress by doing these things, I don’t imagine the Bears will wait long to insert Foles to get things on the right track.
• Marcus Mariota, one of the QBs the Bears declined pursuing in the offseason, is on injured reserve due to an undisclosed injury. (ESPN)
• Meanwhile, Cam Newton calls his relationship with Bill Belichick “a match made in heaven” so far. Additionally, Belichick heaped a bunch of praise onto Newton, saying: “He’s come in and done everything we’ve asked him to do. He works hard. He’s obviously a very talented player and looking forward to continuing to work with him. We’ll just take it day-by-day, but he’s given us everything he’s had and we’ve tried to put the team in the best position we can competitively. We’ll see how that all comes out.” So that’s what a loving relationship between a head coach and a sure-fire QB1 sounds like. Neat.
• Phil Emery had his moments. There weren’t many of them. But this counts as a good one:
I’m back, and I’ve had some time to think about big Bears news from the weekend…
It really is remarkable that Sherrick McManis is entering Year 9 as a Bear. Say what you will about Phil Emery, but he definitely won the McManis for Tyler Clutts trade.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) September 8, 2020
• The Bears appear on Monday Night Football in Weeks 7 and 10. But you can get to know the knew crew long before then:
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1303294450840612864?s=20
• Penei Sewell, one of college football’s best offensive line prospects, has opted out to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft:
https://twitter.com/peneisewell58/status/1303025312142209024?s=20
• It’s ridiculously early in the pre-draft process, but Sewell projects to be the first offensive lineman off the board. He earned the distinction of being college football’s highest-graded offensive tackle since PFF began grading in 2014. That’s well-earned praise.
• Former Bears tight end Trey Burton continues to have tough luck with injuries:
Looks like the calf of Colts TE Trey Burton isn’t responding as well as the team would like — so they decide to move him to IR. Probably a month before he’s back on the field.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 7, 2020
• Bo Scarbrough landing on the Lions’ injured reserve list (via Tori Petry) to start the year makes the addition of Adrian Peterson a bit more sensible.
• Heads up to an Obvious Shirts sale that lasts through today:
Happy Labor Day! 20% off with code LABORDAY20 #obviousshirts https://t.co/KzpHy7Qw7b pic.twitter.com/bhjxvsj2hJ
— OBVIOUS SHIRTS® (@obvious_shirts) September 7, 2020
