Fields Catches a Stray, Murphy Jumps on Our Radar, Look Who Voted Against a TNF Flex, and Other Bears Bullets
I’ve been drawing a bunch of parallels between the Cubs and Bears lately, but this isn’t how I was thinking it would go after one weekend of games. Because the Brewers taking 2 of 3 from the Cubs at Wrigley felt reminiscent of what I felt a lot of during the Bears season. That feeling of “sure, the Bears lost … but they got strong contributions from players you were really hoping would do well” is something I can’t shake today. Swap out Justin Fields’ name for Dansby Swanson and it is almost a 1-for-1 comp.
Perhaps a road trip to Cincinnati will help matters.
- Happy NFL Draft month! There are just 24 days until the 2023 NFL Draft. And as Patrick recently said, April is for draft time. The last 84 days that have passed since the end of the 2022 NFL regular season have felt long and arduous at times. But we’re coming down the stretch. And I’m looking forward to diving into more prospects in the weeks and days leading up to hearing the magic words “the Chicago Bears are on the clock.”
- With the Bears doing only some minor tinkering along the defensive line in free agency, my gut is telling me this team will use the draft to unearth potential long-term fits in the trenches. For what it’s worth, it seems as if this is a good draft to do it. This class appears loaded with talent, including Clemson’s Myles Murphy. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets Murphy is having his Pro Day workout on Tuesday at Clemson. I imagine the Bears will be watching with great interest.
- Murphy has been a game-wrecker at Clemson, picking up 14.5 sacks and 25.5 tackles-for-loss in 23 games over the last two seasons. The Bears could use that type of production up front, as it would be a tremendous upgrade from what it got from the trenches last year. Good luck pegging where Murphy will land in the draft. Murphy’s range seems to go from 8th (USA Today), to 15th (ESPN), to 21st (CBS Sports). In other words, Murphy is probably going somewhere in Round 1 — but a firm landing spot isn’t known just yet. Even still … this is a name to keep an eye on from a Bears fan’s perspective.
- I want to dive into more mock drafts later today. But not before I try to figure out how Bears QB Justin Fields caught a stray from an anonymous coach in Bruce Feldman’s latest mock draft at The Athletic:
“He’s so accurate and so calm. I wasn’t sure about the (Buckeyes’) previous guy’s ability to read coverage. But I know C.J. can. He has such a good ability to process, and his anticipation is so good. He runs better than you think. He’s the complete package.”
- Don’t get me wrong. I love that Feldman got coaching insight from those who went up against the draft’s top dawgs. But I didn’t see that coming. It makes me wonder what Fields did to that coach’s team. After all, Fields was the most accurate quarterback per a Pro Football Focus data study using Completion Percentage Over Expected in an attempt to encompass a quarterback’s accuracy. Since 2014, there has been no-one better than Fields in that category. It makes me think there is a non-zero chance that Fields hurt that coach’s feelings. Hence, the clap back.
- Someone was in my Twitter mentions complaining about how Fields can’t throw. And I’m so glad that this is bookmarked for deployment at a moment’s notice:
- The Bears voting against the Thursday Night Football flex proposal is a fun nugget in Albert Breer’s latest for The MMQB. Don’t get it twisted. I like the idea of flexing out of bad games on a Thursday. But that Sunday-to-Thursday turnaround is still problematic for players and coaches. Ultimately, it isn’t good for fans either. The body just wasn’t meant to take that type of punishment on a Sunday, then turn it around to do it all again after just four sleeps.
- It is a pleasant surprise to see where the Bears land here:
- And to think, that number could tick-up a bit if the Bears were able to sign Darnell Mooney or Chase Claypool to an extension.
- Ah, yes, a history lesson from Bill Barnwell:
- You can tell me the Bears lost the trade ’til you’re blue in the face. I don’t care. Because I’ll counter that the real losers of that trade are the 49ers, who could’ve had Patrick Mahomes with the No. 3 pick, Alvin Kamara with the No. 67 pick, and a dynasty on their hands. Somehow, that conveniently gets overlooked. Which, to me, is pretty wild when you consider Mahomes took a Super Bowl trophy out of the Niners’ hands in February 2020. And that is before considering the quarterback shortcomings in the last two postseasons that were part of San Fran’s playoff demise. Or maybe we’re not ready to have that conversation.
- The Bulls got a big win against the Grizz and a sick highlight:
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