Kevin Byard, D’Andre Swift, Gerald Everett, and Jonathan Owens are now Chicago Bears! But how good are they? What do they bring to the team? And who remains unsigned that Ryan Poles may target? Robert & Nick review all this and more on the latest episode of Bear With Us!
Your Turn: Who’s left out there that you’d like to see signed?
According to a PFF metric called “True Cap Space” (shown below), your Chicago Bears have the 3rd most cap space to make use of over the next few days.
Does that mean we’ll see splash signings? I really don’t know — Ryan Poles’ cagey approach to the Bears’ Free Agency plans has left me grasping at straws when looking for future moves. But with cap space like this to burn, I’d be surprised if Chicago doesn’t have at least one major signing by the time Monday’s dust has settled — who will it be? Let’s find out together.
The fact that we heard a lot about coaches willing to take over LAC was either
– a sign that those coaches have little idea which teams are well-prepared for the mid-term future
– a sign that ressources don't matter when coaches want to work w/ Justin Herbert.
Probably both. pic.twitter.com/cTQFsbXxF4
— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) March 10, 2024
As if he’s anticipating a big week, Ryan Poles got the Bears’ Free Agency party started early with the signing of former Titans and Eagles safety Kevin Byard — my brief thoughts on him are listed below, but we’ll have more on each of the signed Free Agents later throughout the week.
Kevin Byard's tape has Eberflus written all over it. I can see why the #Bears felt they needed to move quickly with him.
Handles deep space well in both half-field & center-field roles, but his eyes stand out to me — he reads the offense with confidence & breaks accordingly.
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 11, 2024
The latest episode of Bear With Us is out — give it a listen below!
In it, we talk through:
Check it out and let me know what you think!
Your Turn: What moves do you want to see made in the upcoming Free Agency window?
There’s a new Chicago Bear in town! As yesterday evening wound down, Ryan Poles sent a 5th round pick to Buffalo to get IOL Ryan Bates, the same Ryan Bates that Poles tried to sign to an RFA tender just two offseasons ago.
🚨TRADE!! 🚨
We’ve agreed to terms on a trade that will send OL Ryan Bates to Chicago for a 5th round pick in the 2024 draft: https://t.co/TBCWPhUbB3 pic.twitter.com/yV2q1LDp7y
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) March 5, 2024
Bates brings with him athleticism (check RAS below) and experience at all three interior positions, most recently working at Center. Does that mean he’s Chicago’s future starting Center? Or is he a depth handcuff for Teven Jenkins (health) and Nate Davis (health & poor play)? We’ll find out next year, but either way I think the move works.
Cost wise, a 5th round pick isn’t nothing… but it’s not worth making a meal over either. The Bears’ latest 5th round pick (Noah Sewell) played a grand total of 27 defensive snaps as a rookie last year, a reminder of how hard it is for late-round rookies to contribute on the field quickly.
Assuming that Bates is slated for either the OL’s premiere backup role or a starting position at Center, this move suggests to me that Ryan Poles has prioritized the upcoming 2024 season — given Bates’ cheap 2-year contract, I can get behind that. Regardless of whether the front office rolls with the incumbent Justin Fields or a newly-drafted rookie QB, Chicago has lost the privilege of betting the health of their line’s interior on an inconsistent right-guard, an oft-injured left guard, and what is currently a gaping hole in the line’s center.
The latest episode of Bear With Us is out — give it a listen below!
In it, we talk through:
Check it out and let me know what you think!
The latest episode of Bear With Us is out — give it a listen below!
In it, we talk through:
Your Turn: Who are you excited to watch in this weekend’s drills?
A few months ago I walked through Caleb Williams’ Notre Dame game & Drake Maye’s Georgia Tech game — it’s a great stream if you’re looking for a review of the presumed top 2 QBs in the 2024 NFL Draft Class.
I’m working on a few draft breakdowns this week, so we’ll be back with more content tomorrow. In the meantime, check this out if you missed it.
We have hit the point of the offseason where we are tracking whether the Chicago Bears’ current QB follows the team on his Instagram account. Nothing epitomizes the fanbase’s current state of limbo quite like this becoming a story last night.
https://twitter.com/zachknowsball/status/1759751423380644058
I understand why it blew up — us fans will chase any crumb of insight into the 2024 Bears’ QB plan — but the speculation feels like a major reach to me. We aren’t long removed from Kyler Murray unfollowing the Arizona Cardinals (admittedly during a contract dispute) before re-signing with the team, but beyond that we’ve had much stronger intel recently tell us that Fields is likely on the move.
If Luke Getsy’s offense was like a finely-tuned orchestra, with every aspect of each play meticulously planned & each game script dependent on all 11 offensive players consistently doing their jobs, Shane Waldron’s offense is more like a jazz band.
“Here’s a general idea of what you’re doing, but at the end of the day go be a football player.”
It’s a fun pivot towards an offensive coordinator who empowers his best players to be field-tilters & difference-makers, but don’t let the idea of simplicity fool you — Waldron uses concepts like motion & formation shifts to his players’ advantage well. Below I walk you through a nice example of Waldron baiting out Cincinnati’s 3-by-1 defensive check before then motioning out of that 3-by-1 and forcing plenty of defensive communication, which both allows the Seahawks to identify a key Bengals’ check early in the game while still exploiting the defense and picking up a first down.
It’s a pretty design. Give it a look.
I love the way shifts & motions within #Bears OC Shane Waldron's offense give his QB information.
Here's a great example of a shift forcing a defensive check, and how sending a TE in motion after that shift leads to a smooth 1st play of the game.
🔊 on for this one 👌 pic.twitter.com/TiKUcXawaB
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) February 14, 2024
Your Turn: Who are you interested in at #9 Overall?
