Here Comes the NFL Draft! And Other Bears Bullets

Good morning, friends.

If you’ve ever been curious as to how to add the title “Chief Taco Officer” to your résumé, then this might be right in your wheelhouse:

🌮 Feeling hungry for a new job? Interested eaters can create a video application and submit a short form on Favor’s website before May 12. https://t.co/LU34Nujdw2

— CNN (@CNN) April 25, 2022

 

•   Finally! NFL Draft Week is here. The time for speculation is *ALMOST* over. Unfortunately, for the Bears, their week begins dealing with something that isn’t draft related. New receiver Byron Pringle was reportedly arrested in Florida and is facing charges of reckless driving and driving with a suspended license after being pulled over for doing donuts in his car on Saturday. The report notes how Pringle had a child with him at the time, which further mucks this up. Frankly, this is careless and reckless behavior that is just such a bad look. And to do it just one month after signing with the Bears? Blegh.

•   As is often the case in situations like these, there is a vocal segment of fans that believe the Bears should make an example of Pringle and cut him. I won’t tell you how to feel, but if you feel that way, then I can understand where you’re coming from with that feeling. But I’ll note that, unless there is something written in a contract that voids his deal with Chicago, a cut will cost the team a $3.9 million dead money hit from the guarantees on the deal. But it would also create $225,000 in cap space. Pringle’s deal was a one-year pact worth up to $4.125 million.

•   Not that it wasn’t already top of mind, but the Pringle incident serves as yet another reminder of how the Bears need to be aggressive in attacking the receiver market in the upcoming draft. Double-dipping is a possibility. Perhaps triple-dipping could be plausible, too. It all depends on who’s available, of course. But in a hypothetical situation in which Pringle would be unable to play, the Bears’ receivers room behind Darnell Mooney looks like this: Equanimeous St. Brown, Nsimba Webster, Dazz Newsome, David Moore, and Isaiah Coulter. It isn’t the most inspiring collection of receivers in the league.

•   To be clear, I don’t think Pringle’s situation makes the Bears sway too hard in one direction or another. But it sure does let us know how fragile the current construction of the receivers room. With that in mind, I’d bet on seeing a bunch of mock drafts that look like this:

The #Bears “Post-Donuts” draft:

– Started with Pickens
– Traded back 3X
– Picked up Tolbert at a major value spot
– Still got Strange, Diesch, and a host of others at all kinds of positions

Instant WR, OL infusion with a lot of depth down the road. pic.twitter.com/rq2iDrzURQ

— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) April 25, 2022

•   Gimme all the trade backs, please!

•   Inject all the Fields-Mooney content directly into my veins, please:

Comin to an endzone near you 👀🔥 | #ChicagoBears #Football #SportsPhotography #Chicago#Canon #CanonPhotography #JustinFields #DarnellMooney pic.twitter.com/Algn5bi8c9

— Elijah Harris (@EliSnapped) April 22, 2022

•   Receiver injury updates worth keeping tabs on:

Interesting aspect with the ACL recoveries of Alabama WRs John Metchie and Jameson Williams is that they are training and rehabbing together. Pushing one another. Williams gets to see Metchie, who is about 3 week ahead of him, everyday and it’s helping him stay ahead of schedule

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) April 25, 2022

•   This draft could go in so many different ways when it comes to wide receivers:

Eleven takeaways from @MoveTheSticks conference call (via @TheNickShook): Six WRs going in first roundhttps://t.co/Fu47H7yJXe pic.twitter.com/tEQishQC1t

— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) April 21, 2022

•   We’ll dive deeper into this kind of stuff when we dig into our NFL Draft Week primer. But the “Pre-draft opinions from anonymous scouts and coaches can never be trusted” headline from Mike Florio at PFT nudges me to remind all of us (myself included) that this is peak lying season in the NFL. There will be so much misdirection thrown out there in the coming days, it’ll make your head dizzy. Surely, there will be some morsels of nuggets hinting at the truth. But finding those might be kin to unearthing anything from a haystack. I mean … have you ever tried digging through one of those? Nightmarish!

•   Speaking of nightmares, those are the things that come when I go to sleep while thinking about every worst-case scenario regarding the Bears offensive line. If there is one group that contends with needing as much help as the receivers room, it’s the one with the offensive linemen. The Bears *DID* make it officially official with Julién Davenport, who could be a useful piece of depth for this team. Davenport’s arrival won’t help fans sleep easier at night. But between building up to a 90-player roster and the team’s lack of bodies at the position, I’m not going to thrash what figures to be a veteran minimum contract for a player who could be a useful swing tackle.

•   But, to be clear, Davenport needs some work. We want to see more clips like this:

Trying to finish up charting I am behind on. This is a small sample of why I feel Julién Davenport is trending up. No doubt has work to do to improve his game but has the skill set. Davenport vs Garrett. That is what you want from your LT. #Texans pic.twitter.com/osJ5fPBXnR

— patrick (@PatDStat) December 8, 2018

•   And fewer like this:

So I’ve rewatched the first half of the Texans game. My Julien Davenport scorecard thru 30 minutes:

False starts: 3
Holding: 1
Nearly getting Watson killed: 10

This is yucky… pic.twitter.com/3KUoZ3Bg6J

— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) September 24, 2018

•   If Davenport is the Bears’ Week 1 starter at tackle, something went terribly wrong this offseason.

•   The Echo Dot is 44% off today at Amazon, so if you’ve been looking to get a smart speaker, there you go. #ad

•   Kyle Schwarber was all of us (especially when we see the officiating during a Bears-Packers game):

Kyle Schwarber Just LOOOOST IT on Angel Hernandez and Got the Immediate Boot – https://t.co/unu3U6vbaP pic.twitter.com/WQVDKOlHSa

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 25, 2022