I Think Louis Riddick Is On To Something – And Other Bears Bullets

I realize this is a place where we discuss football, but there are times when it’s a must to share something from elsewhere in the professional sports realm.

Seriously, I can’t get enough of this dunk:

It’s equal parts awesome and disrespectful. What’s not to love?

For more basketball coverage, check out BN’s Bulls coverage.

•   The always insightful Louis Riddick is my favorite radio guest on Waddle and Silvy’s show. And this week’s appearance was no exception:

•   Riddick speaks for a wide swath of Bears fans when he suggests the team should go all in for the big fish. And yes, I’m talking about Deshaun Watson. But more than that, Riddick nails it, painting a picture of a desperate team with nothing to lose. The Bears are the type of team that should be willing to put it all on the line for the right player. Risking it all for Matthew Stafford or Carson Wentz wasn’t it. It’s Watson. Full stop. And so long as Watson’s status is up-in-the-air, the Bears should be needling Texans GM Nick Caserio at every turn until he is ready to cut a deal. After Watson? Well, that’s where the dice rolls become riskier.

•   Knowing how well Riddick knows Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy allows us to parse through his words and see if he’s dropping nuggets for keen listeners. And part of me thinks that’s what happened when Riddick dismissed the idea of pursuing Sam Darnold, Cam Newton, or Jameis Winston as the type of solution Nagy and GM Ryan Pace need in order to extend their time in Chicago. Instead, Riddick offers an alternative that I wasn’t sure was a path the Bears would take:

“I would rather start over with someone like a Mac Jones, who I know comes from a very strong program, had very good teaching, who some of the quarterback experts believe has it all.”

•   On the one hand, it’s tough to envision a GM and head coach going into a must-win year with a rookie quarterback under center. HOWEVER, if the end game for Pace and Nagy is job preservation, then drafting a rookie and asking upper management for the time to see it through is a conceivable path to take. Would it be popular? In some circles, no. But teaming a rookie quarterback with this defense counts as a sizable swing. Not the big swing we were hoping for when Chicagos’ offseason began. But a healthy, healthy hack, nonetheless.

•   Here’s one catch in choosing Jones as the option. There’s a good chance he won’t be available at pick 20. In other words, the Bears would need to trade up in the Draft to take him. And if the Bears are going to trade UP in the 2021 NFL Draft, why settle on Jones? With all due respect to the Heisman finalist, this class has other QBs I’d entertain trading up for before him. Because if you’re going to be a team that trades up, and one that has already indicated its willingness to swing for the fences, why stop at Jones?

•   Why not attempt to engineer a deal to position yourself to select Zach Wilson or Justin Fields? Wilson and Fields are duking it out for QB2 designation. Landing the type of prospect who would be QB1 in a class without Trevor Lawrence would be neat. If that swing comes up empty, then go after a prospect like Trey Lance. The Bears attended Lance’s showcase game last fall (it was kind of a dud), but Lance has been viewed as the Draft’s “most interesting prospect” and comes with tremendous upside. In a world where shooter’s shoot, the Bears’ brass needs to be willing to pull up from Curry range and take the biggest shot. Whether that shot is with a top-of-the-line prospect or the long-shot that is Watson is to be determined. Ultimately, this is a group that needs to play on its desperation with a championship-caliber move.

•   Long before he was rumored to be in the hunt for the Bears’ coaching job on an annual basis, Jim Harbaugh was slinging touchdowns. And on this connection, he linked up with birthday boy Tom Waddle:

•   I laughed out loud:

•   This was a neat read:

•   Let’s close Bullets on a light note, as I prepare to run through a wall because of Rob Ninkovich:

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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