NEWSLETTER
I woke up with The Cure’s Friday I’m In Love stuck in my head. And while I can’t explain why I woke up with it on my mind, I felt like sharing it with you this morning:
- The first domino has fallen! An NFL team with a head-coaching vacancy has hired someone to fill it. What a miracle. Congrats to Frank Reich, who returns to Carolina (where he began his career) as the Panthers’ next head coach. Maybe now we’ll see other teams follow suit.
- More good stuff from around the league from Patrick at BN’s NFL wing. Follow along on Facebook and Twitter, too.
- I want to dive into some Panthers-Bears mock draft scenarios, but we can do it after Bullets. In the meantime, this thread is a helpful one as we continue to explore the trade-down process:
- The Bears don’t need to draft a quarterback. That’s good. Other teams should be desperate to move up to draft a quarterback. That is also good news for the Bears. If all things are equal, the Bears would leverage offers from other teams against each other to unearth the best trade-down option. But if it doesn’t include a future first-round pick in 2024, then I’m not sure the Bears should green-light a trade.
- I’m not big on the trade points charts that float around online, mostly because the actual trades that happen don’t always line up with the point values associated. However, they are still a good resource for the sake of depth, knowledge, and perspective. With that being said, if the Bears were able to get the equivalent of a 2024 first-round pick with multiple picks in 2023, then maybe I’ll soften my stance.
- Yes, we saw David Montgomery’s tweet. And I appreciate his candor. Athletes sharing their raw feelings is one of the reasons folks flocked to social media in its early stages. Anyway, my DMs are open if he’d like to discuss what has been floated publicly:
- We really went from whispers of a Monty extension last offseason to nary a whisper nearly a year later. It’s fair to ask what gives in this situation. And I don’t think it is a major leap to consider that money might play a factor in why nothing has come to fruition on the extension front. It would be nice to keep Montgomery. Teaming Montgomery with Justin Fields and Khalil Herbert, then leaning on the ground game was the best thing Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy did in 2022. It doesn’t take much imagination to envision Montgomery having a successful role in Chicago’s offense. But I’d bet the ground game would have even more success if the passing attack could get cooking.
- Is there anyone more electrifying with the ball in his hands?
- A second-year leap from Velus Jones Jr. could boost the offense to another level. Jones had an uneven rookie season. Muffed punts and fumbles drew the ire of fans (and his coaches). But that Week 18 touchdown against the Vikings was a nice reminder of what it can look like if VJJ gets the rock. Jacob Infante (Windy City Gridiron) chops it up with Jones, who laid out his offseason plans for improvement. Getting a jug machine to help build those hands seems like a good start. As does working on separation and ball-tracking. Jones being open about what he needs to do to step his game up also serves as a refresher as to why so many rookie receivers don’t hit the ground running. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a good bounce-back story, so I’m rooting for Velus to write his own chapter in 2024.
- If Jones wants inspiration, all he has to do is look in Eddie Jackson’s general direction:
- I like the makeup of Chicago’s secondary with Jackson and Jaquan Brisker on the backend with Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson manning the cornerback spots. But it feels like there is one spot in the cornerbacks room that could use an upgrade. Maybe a boundary corner who can move Gordon into the slot on a full-time basis? I thought that is where he looked most comfortable for most of last year. However, I must say I like the flexibility Gordon brings in being someone who can play outside and inside. With that being said, Head Coach Matt Eberflus and Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams can get creative in how they want to go about deploying the secondary. We’ll be watching how this position group evolves with heightened interest.
- On the one hand, this Daniel Jeremiah tweet has me thinking about the Bears snagging a tight end in a class that seems loaded at the position for a change:
- But on the other hand, I’m not sure if using draft capital on a tight end is the best use of resources. You can talk me into it, but you’d need to build a compelling case. Then again, maybe it doesn’t need to be that compelling. Because even though we know the Bears need receivers, they need to draft best player available at positions of need. If we lump together tight ends and receivers into the “pass catchers” category, then maybe it makes it easier to grasp the concept of drafting a tight end. Let’s keep it real. The Bears need to be flexible with how they build this team. And by that I mean, just because a particular receiver isn’t available doesn’t mean you stop building the passing game. This might be an off-season where GM Ryan Poles gets creative in finding alternatives to traditional ways. In other words, if it means building an offense with a bunch of two tight end sets because that is the best way to go about business, then so be it.
- It was cool to watch former Bears defender Sam Acho surprise someone who does so much for their community Super Bowl tickets:
- Corey!
- The Blackhawks keep winning:
- Meanwhile, the Bulls continue to lose in befuddling ways. And, yeah, Eli is right. This thing ain’t working:
- COOKIES!
