Mooney Knows Best, Mapletron, Here Comes Sanborn, and Other Bears Bullets

My childhood best friend’s 1-year-old is having a birthday party. Back when we were doing parties, they definitely weren’t morning affairs. I guess this is growing up.

  • I can’t front. Mapletron is an elite nickname:
  • And he’s ours. ALL. OURS.
  • Chase Claypool has been putting in extra work since arriving on scene, tweets CHGO’s Adam Hoge. Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus guesses Claypool could play between 10-35 snaps depending on how he handles what is thrown on his plate. But I suppose Claypool’s snaps could be wholly dependent on how many snaps the offense plays. Everything is relative. Even still … it is a large range of snaps, which means the Dolphins should be ready for anything. But forget the Dolphins. If Claypool is putting in the extra work, let him play. The worst-case scenario is Claypool being a high-profile decoy for a week. And that’s not the worst thing that could happen.
  • It’s just practice, but Claypool is already making good first impressions at Halas Hall. This Darnell Mooney quote (via NBCSC’s Josh Shrock) has elevated my presence to another plane of existence:
  • “He had a crazy catch out there today,” Mooney told NBC Sports Chicago. “It was like a deep ball and he just like went up and big-boyed someone. He Mossed them. Exactly. The things he has been doing. It was nice to see it in person.”

  • How long until we get to see Claypool put someone on a poster in a Bears uniform? Asking for a friend.
  • More Mooney:
  • Don’t get me wrong. I understand why there are concerns in some circles regarding if there are enough balls to go around for Mooney and Claypool. However, I don’t share those concerns. These two players, while both playing the same position, do different things well. It’ll be up to Luke Getsy as a play-caller to get the most out of both of these players’ skill sets. Frankly, I’m here to see defensive coordinators need to worry about covering two dynamic pass-catchers.
  • This is a fun tandem comp:
  • I’m not going to say the Bears have a top wide receivers room right now. But how many teams have a better 1-2 punch than Mooney and Claypool. Sure, there’s a bunch. However, I’d put the Bears in the middle of the pack now that Claypool is in the fold. And that certainly takes them out of that bottom tier. Improvement, however small, still is a good thing in my book.
  • Some more quality Claypool content from The Athletic:
  • Of course! The Patriots sniffing around a Claypool trade before the deadline makes so much sense. But knowing Bill Belichick’s thrifty ways, he was probably offering just a stick of bubblegum and some old Jets practice footage tape as a return in the deal. (NBCS Boston)
  • On the other side of the ball, somebody has to fill in for Roquan Smith at the weakside linebacker spot. Will it be Nicholas Morrow? He seems to be a better fit for that role than his previous one. I suppose we could see UDFA fan favorite Jack Sanborn get into the mix. Sanborn was the starter in the SAM linebacker spot against the Pats (h/t Courtney Cronin), so we could continue to see a youth movement at the position.
  • Remember Sanborn’s preseason run? He made a good impression on Brian Baldinger. And that’s not easy to do:
  • Don’t get it twisted. I thoroughly enjoyed Roquan’s time with the Bears. Watching him play linebacker was a treat. But this Bears defense gave up 49 points to the Cowboys with him in the middle of it. So it’s not as if things can get monumentally worse by taking him out of the lineup.
  • This is an interesting Sanborn comp:
  • Cool, cool, cool:
  • Another college football Saturday is here. And there are a bunch of premier games worth keeping tabs on:
  • I’m mad at myself for whiffing on Johnny Knox’s birthday. But if it is any consolation, at least I didn’t blow it as bad as the refs who stole this epic punt return touchdown from him:
  • Hockey can be fun when Jonathan Toews is turning back the clock with his play:
  • I’m not in the business of helping sports teams residing in the cheesehead state. But one piece of free advice: Don’t let one player tank your offseason plans. Trust me on this:
  • 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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