With so much talk about Alshon Jeffery’s contract and value, it’s been largely forgotten — or ignored — that the Bears wide receiver is poised to have a career season.

You know, if he stays healthy.

While on the field, Jeffery was mostly great last year. His per game averages total out to about 96 catches, 1,435 yards and 7 touchdowns. Great numbers for sure, but not far from what we saw from him in 2013, especially considering the increase in targets. In 2016, however, the stars appear to be perfectly aligned for the fifth-year receiver to explode.

Here are a few reasons why:

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I haven’t written much of late for one reason: I have very little to say. I’m a firm believer in football having a definitive offseason and for me that offseason is from the Monday after the NFL Draft until the start of training camp. But here’s a few thoughts on what’s been going on.

(1) Manny Ramirez retired. So that’s a depth piece gone from the middle of the Bears offensive line. Explain to me again why Matt Slauson is not on this roster.

(2) I’m starting to believe the unit that could hold the Bears back from being a playoff contender is the offensive line. 40% of the unit is a complete question mark. (And someone who wasn’t madly in love with Cody Whitehair could argue 60%.)

(3) Andrew Dannehy was critical on Twitter of Brad Biggs apparently stating Adrian Amos has a make or break season coming up. Didn’t hear the spot but here’s what I’ll say about Amos: he’s being put in the best possible situation to success. Hicks/Goldman up front. Trevathan/Freeman in the middle. Amos won’t have to clean up much in the run game and when he does he’ll be able to do what he does best and that’s hit people hard. (He’s never going to be great in the pass game.)

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It’s the time of the season when major media outlets waste time and space by ranking players. And Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is regularly ranked amongst the best quarterbacks in the NFL, despite not even being on the radar two years ago.

Which begs the question: Can Jay Cutler do the same?

The question isn’t can Cutler be as good as Palmer. I’d argue he currently is and always has been the betteir player. Even after Palmer’s last two monster seasons, they’re comparable statistically. The consensus amongst mainstream media members, however, appears to be that at 36 years old with a number of major knee surgeries and a brief retirement, Palmer is somehow better than he used to be.

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The following is a guest column by the artist known as Data, also going by the name Johnathan Wood. If you’d like to write a guest column for DBB, email jeff@dabearsblog.com.

General manager Ryan Pace has had 2 offseasons to shape the Bears roster the way he sees fit. There are a number of different ways you can look at his moves and draw conclusions about his priorities, many of which have been discussed in detail. Pace himself has talked repeatedly about wanting size, speed, length, and football junkies. He has shipped out locker room problems and replaced them with high character football players (Ray McDonald aside).

But when I’m looking at what a GM prioritizes, I look at how he allocates his resources. Who does he invest his high draft picks and big free agent contracts in? Looking at Chicago’s recent moves through this lens gives a clear answer: Ryan Pace wants to build a team that wins in the trenches.

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All the public buzz about how good Kevin White looked at practice last week was quickly followed by spattering of buzz-kill designed to manage expectations. But, why? There are plenty of reasons to think White is going to have a big year for the Bears.

The big knock on White is that he’s raw because he played in a spread offense in college. Here’s a news flash: over half the teams in the league — including the Bears — run a high percentage of spread concepts. The Bears had 21% of their passes travel behind the line of scrimmage last year and Jay Cutler threw from the gun nearly 86% of the time. Bill Belichick reshaped his entire offense around what he learned from Urban Meyer and Chip Kelly. Even classic West Coast guys like Mike McCarthy have incorporated spread concepts. It’s a safe bet that most of the people saying White won’t make an early impact also said the same about Marcus Mariota.

This is the league now.

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As we find ourselves in the only downtime of the NFL calendar, it’s time for me to reach out to you – the reader – and find out what changes you’d like to see around here for the upcoming season. You can choose to use the comments section below or simply email me (jeff@dabearsblog) if you’re more comfortable.

“Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours”

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(From his poem, Decoration Day)

Thanks to my friend Susan Myerberg.