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Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Lighte with the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
It's mock draft Mania right now. So many opinions, so many ideas, so much uncertainty, and we tackle it all with you here on episode number one forty of the Bears et cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. We are brought to you by Miller Lite and we kick off this week's program with our special guest ESPN insider and analyst Field Yates. Catch him at at Field Yates on x YouTube dot
com slash at e NFL. He is all things classy, all things NFL, and in our business, that's how praise feel because everybody I talked to classy, nicest guy in the business. So thank you so much, appreciate your time.
Thank you for that great introduction and thanks for having me on. Guys. I'm looking forward and talking all things well, it doesn't have to be just Bears, but I imagine lots of things Bears and pick number ten overall is they've got one of the more exciting outlooks right now, free picks in the top forty one, and a roster that I think is ready to take off.
All right, Why do you feel it's ready to take off?
Well, I think that the quarterback is in place, and it's a transition, no doubt, as Kaylee Williams learned last year first year going from the college life to the NFL life. But I do feel as though there is much more harmony right now between the talent in place and the coaching staff to lead that talent in place.
You know, Ben Johnson inarguably one of the best play callers that we have seen over the past at least half decade and maybe even further back than that, and it feels like koheshould he has with Caleb Williams is going to go a long way to allowing this roster toke a big step forward. And then on top of that, nothing that Bears can't address the offensive line further, but feeling a lot more confident about the starting five at minimum right now than we did at this time last year.
Along the offensive line makes me feel as though a big jump is in place. And then on defense, the defense actually was okay for much of last year, maybe even better than okay for much of last year. It's just harder to see that effort defensively when your offense is still figuring things out for significant portions of the season. So the pieces in place, the coaching staff in place, an opportunity to compete in this NFC North so Field.
I was drafted four years before you were born, nineteen eighty three draft, and the nineteen eighty three draft that there was a lot of guys that were sentenced on't you know Elway was going to go number one, you know, Bruce Matthews and Jimbo Kover and all these guys and so on and so forth. So now we have a template of success, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, play caller, when you look at a position out there that the Bears still need to run that type of offense that
Ben's familiar with. In Detroit, we saw Jamiir Gibbs, we saw Laporta. We saw the growth and the development of those types of star players. What do you project for Ben Johnson as much as the Bears.
You know, Ryan Poults talked about this after they had made the trade for Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney and then signed Drew Dolman. Is that what they had accomplished was they had really opened the board up at number ten. Right, if you don't make all of those moves, or don't make two out of those three moves, we might be sitting here staying to them to ourselves, all right, Bears are taking a tackle or taking a guard at ten, it's a lock. You might as well put it in sharpie.
But because of the fact that if they played a game tomorrow and Braxton Jones is fully recovered from that ankle surgery, this is a team that has it starting five penciled in. So if the board falls in a way that Ashton Genty or Tyler Warren, or even when Campbell is available, the Bears can have a thoughtful conversation
about what direction they want to turn. You know, Ashton Genty, I think is going to end up drawing comparisons to one of the Lions running backs because of the fact that people think of it as a one two punch and that has sort of been associated with Ben Johnson.
I think they had significant success last year, not just because those two players and David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs are talented, but also because rarely was it ever we need just one of you to tote the rock entirely up until Monty got hurt last year, this was a nice even split between these two backs. I think Genty more resembles David Montgomery than he does Jamior Gibbs, which isn't to say that he's not an awesome, awesome player
as well. I just think if you're kind of assign him as one of those two types of backs more than the other, he probably reminds me more of Monty with the power and the contact balance. Probably the most intriguing guy at number ten for me is Tyler Warren, only because it's a position where there aren't a ton of difference makers in the NFL. There are some very good tight ends right now, but the number of guys that can legitimately be the number one passing game option
on an offense that defense feels threatened by is pretty narrow. Me. Brock Bauers in Las Vegas hasn't even reached the peak of his powers, and he's certainly one of them. You know, to a degree, steal Travis Kelcey, but it's George Kittle, it's Trade McBride. The list is not long. Tyler Warren's
part of that list. That isn't to say that he immediately leap frogs Romadunze or DJ Moore, but he's the kind of guy that if Ben Jhonson wants to innovate anything under the sun that involves a tight end, Tyler Warren has the skill set to allow him to do exactly that.
This year. Ben Johnson is going to call twelve outdoor games. Last year, being in Detroit and being in Minnesota and all the other indoor facilities, I think you can have a different approach because you know you're going to have perfect conditions when you think about an outdoor tight end like Tyler Warren, an outdoor back like Jenty. Do you take any of those into account when you're thinking about the players that could be there at ten.
I think it's part of the equation. It's definitely more prominent when we're evaluating the quarterbacks right, Not that handsize is the end all be all, but I'm just using that as an example where if you're playing in bad weather and you find a quarterback with smaller hands, how can that impact the quarterbacks ability to be secure with the football. It's part of the equation to a degree as far as the prospects are concerned. But really it just makes me think about what kind of football do
the Bears want to play now? With Ben Jonson. I remember that game in Chicago last year when Ben was still coaching up the Lions, the game in which they ran the fake trip play where Jared Goff ends up throwing the touchdown pass. And that was a cold day, right, I remember golf being long sleeved and gloves on and
all that. So Ben, I think, has shown himself that even when the weather is not ideal, there's still going to be a lot enough innovation here that they're going to put Memphis on playmakers, and Tyler Warren has a lot of great things. One thing that you can't question Tyler Warren is that the ball and him are a match made in heaven. Very natural playmaker. This past season we saw him run as a wildcat quarterback from Penn State.
If anybody watched the USC game last year, in which he had seventeen catches, Tyler Warren had one of these unbelievable touchdown grabs where he's basically sprawling over a USC defensive player. He began the play as the center. On that play, he actually handled a shotgun snap. So just a natural, innovative mover that I think would have a lot of appeal to. Ben Johnson ended a position where there just aren't that many guys that have the same level of upside.
Well, he hangs out with mel Kiper Junior, the NFL draft guru, and they just did a three round mock draft yesterday. If I'm not mistaken for ESPN and you guys alternated picks, Kuyper was the Bears pick at ten. He did chose Tyler Warren. Then you chose at number thirty nine, Trayvon Henderson, the running back of Ohio State. Then you chose Nick Gorton at forty one from Texas A and m wal Kuiper picked Arianta Ursery from Minnesota
at tackle at number seventy two. Before we go further in your reaction to those the middle of light Chicago Bears Draft Party is back at Soldier Field on April twenty fourth. Celebrate our number ten pick and enjoy live draft coverage and analysis. On field activity is a locker room tour, a closeout sale, and more. Buy tickets now at Chicago Bears dot com slash draft. So in analyzing those and if you happen to have the tenth pick instead, would you also have chosen Tyler Warren?
Based off the way that the board fell, I would have gone with Tyler Warren as well. Gent not being on the board, I think you know those two. I mean, I don't have a definitive answer right now if both Ashton Genzy and Tyler Warren are available. Part of the reason why I don't have a definitive answer is I don't think that's going to be the case. I think if it's possible one of the two makes it there, I don't think it's likely that both of them make
it to number ten overall. But moving forward to thirty nine and forty one, Trevan Henderson is juice. This guy is electric. He is very very capable in the passing game,
an explosive runner as well. I don't know if this sounds like not great praise, but I am intending it as such a few years ago when Tony Pollard broke out for the Dallas Cowboys and they did a remarkable job of maximizing him as a playmaker on the perimeter, and some of these tosses and sweeps and even design passes to Tony Pollard really allowed him to become this
excellent play in space player. Henderson has some between the tackles ability, but one of the great benefits he had this past year was playing with Quinjohn Judkins, who transferred from Ole Miss to Ohio State for one season. They were thunder and lightning, with Judkins being more the thunder Henderson being more the lightning. I thought he was great this path. Both of them were great this past year.
But Henderson would give the Bears kind of like microwaveable instant offense because he's a threat every time the football is in his hands. Shorton probably a familiar player to some in Big Ten country up there in Chicago. He was at Purdue for a pair of seasons two years ago, so twenty twenty three he actually led the Big Ten in sacks. He had a lesser year this year in the sack department, just four and a half of Texas A and M. But this guy has an incredibly advanced
arsenal of rush moves. He's just a big, powerful three down player because he sets an edge now he is unafraid to meet force with force at the point of attack. We've talked a lot about Will Campbell, and I'm sure if he's on the board at number ten, he'd be a consideration for the Bears. And one of the big question marks around new Will has been armlength. Does he have the requis at length to handle NFL pass rushers. I thought it rarely showed up for Will at the
college level. I thought Nick Gorton, though, is one of the guys they gave him all he could handle it because Nick's got this advanced arsenal that I mentioned earlier. He can beat you with speed or explosion coming around the corner. He can beat you with power kind of running through you, and then he's got a nasty spin move to work inside as well. So a pretty complete player who if he had maybe a couple more inches on him we'd be talking about, is maybe a top twenty to twenty five lock.
Let's not ignore Dennis Allen because when you talk about the Bears defensive line, even though they did bring in a couple of guys, Grady Jarrett being one of them, you can't ignore the role in the importance of the three technique inside this defense. Who is that guy for you? And I know Mason Graham has talked about it a lot of the top of the boards, But who is that guy for you that could possibly fall to the Bears in that second round even a tenth of you? Is that attractive?
Yeah, I think Mason Graham's probably the only one that I would say if he's there at number ten, I'm making the selection there as we look at thirty nine though, and he ended up going higher than this by quite a bit. But he's a wide range player. Walter Nolan from Old Miss is just a fascinating player, fascinating prospect. He can be really as good as he wants to be. He came out of high school, as you know, one
of the number one recruits in the country. He ended up at Texas A and M for a couple of years and then transferred to Old Miss.
Switch.
We need to get used to that, by the way, now, like guys playing multiple at multiple schools is just sort of the norm. Uh, maybe half the guys that I've graded in this year's class or forty percent were multi school players. Nolan had six and a half sacks this past year. He absolutely can destroy people with his power. He's a very, very disruptive pass rusher. If the Bears or any team is allowed is going to allow him to just be a single gap penetrator and rush up
the field, He'll thrive in the NFL. I had him going seventeenth in the mock to Cincinnati. But one of the themes of this year's draft class is some player or some team may view a player as a top twenty guy and another team may say he's closer to forty for us. A lot of variants as opposed to last year, where I really felt like the top of the board was pretty saturated with guys that you know, I felt like the high end outcome for Romadunze was like fifth or sixth overall, the low end outcome was
no worse number nine overall. I ended up playing out that way. There's not nearly as many players with narrow rangers this ranges this year as there were last year.
I got a question about something that Tom and I discussed the other day off the air, but personally, and maybe I'm I'm wrong. I just don't remember. But I don't recall such a wide range of opinions from quoted scouts, unnamed scouts, unnamed personnel guys, NFL analysts that are out there like yourself on positional certainty of the offensive line. We got guards that should be tackles. We've got tackles should be guards, guards that could be centers, tackles to
be centers. Do you agree in all your analysis you started at DESPN in twenty twelve, I don't recall.
Yeah, I think that's a correct assessment of it. I think that what it comes down to, this has been my process at least this year, is you just got to pick a spot for guys and you got to decide. So, if it's a tackle, who you projected guard? Why are you doing that? It's because of the arm length? Is it because of the body mass. There's a guy, Marcus Bow from PERNW, another big ten guy who I think is a guarter center because he's three hundred and six pounds.
I just don't see that many right tackles or left tackles at three hundred and six pounds because this year mass whereas Will Campbell again highly discussed players. The guard is the tackle. I think he's a tackle. I don't care about the thirty two and five eighth inch arms because the tape's too good. So to me, it is really just planting your flag on a player at a specific position because you have conviction for why that spot
makes sense. But make no mistake about it, there is a ton of variants based off or based off of whoever you talk to on a given day about a specific player.
Maybe this is off the radar completely, but you have a guy like Trey Hendrickson who is still out there. Could his name factor in the draft if there's a trade, if there's someone that you cover it up there that maybe he's part of a deal or are we talking about him in a month or two.
I think it's possible the draft to create some mac for this reason. If Cincinnati is going to trade Trey Henderson, and that's still an if. The big thing about Cincinnati and doing so is they're gonna want capital this year, right, They're not gonna want to trade Trey Hendrickson, which makes them decidedly worse for a twenty twenty six pick because they don't get to rape the benefits for a full season. So I'll lie Aj Brown a few years ago on the drafts and every year there are a couple guys
whose names float right around the draft itself. Trey Hendrickson is probably amongst the most natural candidates to consider as a possible trade name in the next seven to ten days. I don't know that I would bet on it per se, but you can imagine Cincinnati will be at least getting calls from teams to say, I know there's no deal done yet with Trey. Does that mean that if we offer up insert trade package here, we could at least have a conversation about it.
We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears. We'll let you go, but I want to remind everybody your excellence. But it also started, if I'm not mistaken, you were pulled out of a crowd and a New England Patriots Rocky mintiicamp to be a ball boy in high school and this is where it all started.
Yeah, the first ever exposure to the NFL life was being a ball boy, a real Patriots rookie Mini Camp and I got tackled pretty good, all good. I survived. I showed a little bit of toughness, not too much. And that was how it all started. And some fun pit stops along the way, and now here we are at ESPN talking.
And working with Ryan Poles in Kansas sty at a time, and that's kind.
I knew him when I knew at the time he was bound for a GM career, So I always loved watching his you know, success personally and hoping that the Bears have a ton of wins this year as well. And I do have a lot of confidence and not just the person he is, the GM he is, and I do believe this is a big breakthrough year for the Bears.
Appreciate you very much. Thank you so much in this busy time.
Thank you guys, Thank you Field.
He actually was a football player too. Let's not forget that he played at Wesleyan University and lacrosse safety, but really wanted to be in football and got involved with the Patriots.
In high school.
He worked there for several years, then college, then the Chiefs, worked with Todd Hayley when he was the head coach of the Chiefs. He was assistant to head coach, which is now a popular position in the NFL. Maybe that was one of the rare, rare ones at that time. He was charting defensive plays. So just how he presents himself, he's always optimistically powerful. He's just got a presence about him. I really appreciate his work.
Yeah, you know the thing about it that we were talking the other day, I was watching the Life of Mike Dick on TV and you look in the background when he was playing for coach George Hallis and all the coaches on the sideline. There is only a few of them, but they are all football guys. Now the responsibility of the coaching staff has expanded to so many roles that you have guys that create different niches or kind of carve out what their interest is in football.
And it's not all the x's and o's of tackling and blocking. A lot of it has to do with the analytics, studies and all the other different elements and segments that put together a football team nowadays. So it doesn't surprise me. And if you're passion that passionate about the sport, then there is a spot for you.
Hey Bears. Fan Steinhoffels is a proud partner of the Chicago Bears are now open in Orland Park. Steinhoffels is Chicago dands furniture and mattress leader with the largest selection fit every style in budget and is one hundred percent employee owned shop in store and online at Steinhoffels dot com. It's a now official. The Bear's announcing Kydler Gordon, the
first pick of the Ryan Poles era. He was the second round pick they did not have first picked that year, but now the highest paid nickel corner in the NFL. Tommy three years, forty mil thirty one point twenty five guaranteed he'll get another bite of the apple of all goes well. Spider Man wearing that number six probably one of my favorite Bears players because of the style by which he plays and the attitude he carries. Love it.
You know, we talk about the different emergences of people on coaching staffs, then you talk about the emergence of the nickel cornerback and the importance and their role they have on a football team. Today. It is no defensive line, linebacker, defensive back. They have an equally important role as a starter. Is any position on the football team, and I think Kyler Gordon has proved to this organization, how much the sport means to him, how much he means to the team.
You always use the word deployable, and from the line of scrimmage to the defensive backfield. He can be put in place anywhere. So I'm super excited for that kid. Man. I love his energy, I love his excitement. He does things in full pads that I never thought could be done, talking about front flips on his way to being introduced as a starter. So I'm super happy for him and his accomplishment so far.
We're also starting to see the locker room get rewarded for those players that have a future with the Bears. So you got the extensions, you got Jalen Johnson last offseason. You had Cole com a couple of years ago, you had Andrew Billings a couple of years ago. Players like that player Andrew Billings carries a very big impact in that locker room. DJ Moore was extended as well last summer. So these are significant signs that things are moving in
a certain direction. Tom in Chicago, So these are very important signings.
It's a positive reflection inside the locker room because if you're a guy that's been brought to the Bears or you're a homegrown guy from the day that you were drafted, then you have an opportunity to earn quite a living if you do everything that's required of you, asked of you, and you make those incremental improvements throughout the course of
your career. So I just think that when you see a guy like Kyler Gordon walking into the locker room and Cole and all the other guys, it's just a positive reflection to what the capabilities are for you if you do what's required of you.
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to be the official physical therapy partner of the Chicago Bears. So, as you've been listening and you've been following all these mock drafts from everywhere, and I don't know where you're gonna place your weight, Like, which analysts do you listen to the most? For example, I'm not asking you to. But you know, there's certain guys that I just lean towards. But when you weigh that tenth pick, should they keep that pick? Because there's not been a first round trade yet.
There may not be until draft night, if any, but I have a suspicion there will be. But when you're in the top ten, I think the belief is you kind of especially top five, but top ten, you kind of weigh the premium spots. Right, you're talking about left tackle, you're talking about edge rusher, you're talking about an impact three technique, you're talking about cornerback, you're talking about quarterback.
But are you open to the con Hey, certain players at certain positions, like tight end, like running back, like wide receiver, sometimes you invest in those spots because they just happen to be the best player rated on your board, regardless of position.
You know, in the fantasy world of draft, if you have a player that's designated your guy and he's there, then you run to the podium. However, this year, unlike any other year, I think the most important device in the draft room is going to be the telephone. Because Jeff, my phone is on. I'm working the phone. I think we saw a behind the scenes shot of the draft room last year when they're talking about Jeff King making a deal passing it to Ryan Poles, and maybe it
was for Austin Booker. I'm not sure who it was for. However, this year, it's the most complicated draft I've ever looked at, and I just think that my phone is going to be on until the last second, and if someone comes up there and tries it makes me a deal that I get a number of picks, and I still think my guy is going to be down. You know, wherever that pick is extended to me.
I'm going to talk.
I'm negotiating my deal. My deals are open. So that's the way I'm looking at this draft.
And then at number ten, are you okay, like I alluded to, if it's a non if whatever the league calls a premium position, the ones that get paid the most, If it's not one of those positions, that you still okay with it? Yeah?
So am I? If If Ryan Poles feels strong about the player that he has designated that fits into a role at that tenth pick, and they come in here and they start creating competitiveness or improvement or whatever it is at whatever position he's thinking about, be positive and move forward.
The wayfield Yates described some of those players, and I started to think about and digest what he's saying with what has already in place, especially offensively. It got me really excited.
I gotta be honest to me, I think more about Ben Johnson because you know, there is a template of success in culture change, in offensive profitability, playing at home and playing on the road equally as well.
Those questions, they were great, Those are great, But.
You know the thing about it is the ty warn pick. Listen. You see what he did with Laporta immediately in Detroit. You think of Jamiir Gibbs and what he did with the one two punch in the backfield. You look at what their offensive line did for really the alpha male status of that locker room. What Hutchinson did? You know? So I look at Ben, you know, I look at his example, and I take, you know, a lot of his advice and suggestions going into this draft as much as anybody.
Thank you to our partner CDW and Lenovo who make amazing happen. Learn more at CDW dot com slash Lenovo. You know, recently Ryan was on ESPN Sports center, and they asked him to describe the kind of player he's looking for in the first round. He used one word toughness, and that then was added on. We're looking to establish an identity to kick this thing off and really get this team going in the right direction. I don't care what position you play if you bring that that attitude
of toughness and the physicality that this team is. Coaching staff has been talking about this hair on fire approach to what the Bears want to be. You know again, I don't think anyone should really wring their hands or gnash their teeth about what position that player plays. I really listen, if they hadn't done anything on the offensive line in free agency or anything in the off sea, i'd be concerned. Yeah, you got to just be narrow cast. But no, I am open to anything right now. I
really am. All right.
I'm going to guarantee you something. For the first time in my football life, I can guarantee you they're not going to draft a quarterback in the first round. But Halo Williams put a displayoff toughness on the record that is at admirable by everybody who watches the sport of football. But when you're talking about toughness and the other positions, anybody can be that character and toughness is an essential and to play the sport at the level and the
culture changing that Ryan wants here. So whatever position you deem that that the first guy you're gonna pick, you know toughness is a prerequisite for that role.
A lot of chatter going on that's touch on it quick around the league because it's going to impact the draft. Shador Sanders I didn't think would be a top ten pick.
He might be.
Giants are going to work him out on Thursday. Could it be just for show? Who knows? But then you got the New Orleans Saints situation with Derek Carr and basically without him if he is truly injured, there's no quarterback there. So Shod Sanders could wind up at number nine or there and well, who in the Pittsburgh Steelers is going to have a quarterback? Is Aaron Rodgers still
in play? I mean it's pretty fascinating. In a year without the big heavy quarterback talk and who's going to stack the quarterbacks, it's still a big topic.
No matter what you know, there are secondary conversations about every one of those teams you brought up, Brian da Ball says he doesn't like going to pro days because he'd rather see him in person. And then you got the New Orleans Saints who just became aware that car maybe has a shoulder issue that keeps him out of the season. They have Spencer Rattler in the background. He's five to eleven, one ninety five. Shador Sanders is six foot one ninety five, so it's basically the same template
of quarterback. And then the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know, man, I just I'm so confused by that situation. Unless they have an underground conversation already going.
Yeah, Rabbits, they're gonna pull out of the hat.
Right yeah, and that could involve Aaron Rodgers. So I mean, you know, but you know, I don't want to say it.
Pub Just leave it there, Tommy, leave it there, all right. One final question to wrap us up, A fun question, all right. The reason I bring it up because I know you watched The Masters and it was phenomenal. The finish was phenomenal, the drama was phenomenal. Uh. The fun question of the day for you, Big tom Now you got to play with me here Okay, did you know there was photos taken that were put on X which
you don't see. But Ken Griffy Junior was given a credential to be a photographer in the photographer pool at the Masters. He's taking it up as his retirement hobby, and he captured a beautiful couple of beautiful shots of Rory on his knees and you know, winning his first Masters. The emotion was coming through. So my question to you, Tom Thayer, because you've retired once from football as a player, your retirement still to come from maybe another two decades
as an announcer. What is your retirement hobby? What will be Tanteayer's retirement hobby.
I'll tell you what. If I had a fenced in yard, I would be a dog rescuer. I would go to to these different type of rescue housing for dogs. And if there was a dog that was in a cage for a year or that's just needs a passionate, loving existence. If I had a fenced in yard, I would have ten dogs, because you know, in my life that's what I've grown to know and love, and I would have some type of passion plan for dogs that need it.
I like it. I like it big time. That is part of your passion. There's not a day that does go by you don't talk about your dogs or other dogs. All right, Tommy, good job. The middle of Light Chicago Bears Draft Party a celebration for everyone, and we want you to be a part of it. Enjoying electric atmosphere, delicious food and drinks, and exclusive close out sale, plenty of photo ops in more. Buy tickets now at Chicago
bears dot com Slash Draft Special. Thanks to our special guest Field Yates from ESPN for Tom There, I'm Jeff Jonahak. Thanks for listening everybody. As always, please subscribe and join us on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Big week Ahead, Bear Down, Everybody,