Welcome in Tubble Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production download the Chicago Bears Official as brought to you by Verizon to follow the team on the go. Bears Weekly is brought to you by Avricute Healthcare, Atletico Physical Therapy, Beth Reverends CD dowed, Connie's Pizza by Gas Energy, and millerfe heire A. Your hosts, Jeff Joniack, aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom the Surfask there.
What is in vogue right now as we're near the month of July and soon the start of training camp is the strength and depth of rosters around the NFL. We dig into that conversation tonight on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Fayer. I'm Jeff Joniak and from Syriacxcess, I'm NFL Radios moving the chains. We have
former Bears quarterback Jim Miller. Thanks to our producers Dan Barrilli and Jordan Tredup, and in the ESPN studios tonight Kevin z Pack and Kendra Smith. The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Well here from Bears quarterback coach Carrie Joseph on the multi tiered coaching approach to helping rookie quarterback Kato Williams in his first NFL season.
Good to see you guys and everybody gearing up for their final vacation weeks before this started training camp, Tom, what do you have planned?
Well?
The topic of the moment for me is I consider what an operation the NFL Draft is. Because I did pay attention last night or this past week to the NBA Draft, and when you look at the comparison of the magnitude of the draft, and I don't know just because we're coming off the first and the tenth or first and the ninth picking the NFL Draft, but when you look at the production what the NFL has become,
oh my god, it is amazing. And so you know, I guess that's going to carry right through to the season.
You know, Jim I mentioned de vacation to Tom, you know, and he doesn't believe in it.
Number one.
He does not believe in time away. It's either surfing or work, and it's.
Not making.
He's Bill Belichick. No days off, no days off. Hey, that's worked for a long time for Bill obviously.
And for Tom. He does not take a day off from football. He's always texting something. We'll get to Tom's thoughts later on the program. But you know, this roster evaluation, this is the downtime before the start of training camp, so the final spasms of roster building is being analyzed
at ESPN dot com. I had the forty nine Ers ranked the number one roster, and Kansas City the number two roster, Baltimore the number three, and the New York Jets the number four roster in terms of talent, and we'll get to some details of that in a second Detroit at number five, green Bay number thirteen, Minnesota number twenty three, the Bears at number seventeen. And so there's a lot of opinions about all that. I'll start with Jim,
because of the Jets angle. I know they have a really good cornerback trio, and they've got Aaron Rodgers, and they've got a really good defensive front. Some questions probably on the offensive line still, But did that surprise you from their evaluation?
Yeah, because well, I think we know that the Jets are going all in, but they're going all in with veterans. You know, you've got the veteran Aaron Rodgers coming off of injury, Tyron Smith. When's the last time he's played an entire season. You know, they brought him over from Dallas, Morgan Moses, they signed him when he was coming back
from a torn peck. He's got some injury history. And then obviously the receiver Williams coming over from the LA Chargers, who's coming off in ACL You got a lot of veteran players that are well over thirty that are coming back from injury. So I don't think anybody denies that the experience is there, But how are they going to hold up the entirety of a season because all of
them are coming off of injury. Like I said in Tyron Smith, I don't think he's played a complete seventeen game schedule or game you know, game time, log, game time. I think it's going back five or six years for him. So you just worried about for them if they can go the entire duration. You know, you're gonna give them veteran days off and try and keep them fresh and
all those things, but will those bodies hold up? So I personally wouldn't put them that high where the Jets are in terms of a ranking of a roster.
Yeah, not a chance.
You know.
The thing about it is say that Zach Wilson half hit the mark for what the Jets and where they picked them. If Zach Wilson was still the quarterback and they were still trying to see if that he was going to be the guy in the future, the Jets
would be about seventeen or eighteen. But because they have Aaron Rodgers and he's recovering from an achilles tear and they brought in, as Jim said, Tyron Smith, they think that all of a sudden, these guys are going to be capable of playing a seventeen game schedule and not miss any snaps. So it's kind of funny that who's ever making these claims are making their claims on the veterans they brought aboard, not necessarily of the talent that already is on hand.
Here's an interesting thing too, look at they say they picked the biggest weaknesses, the biggest strengths to the teams, among other things. But for the forty nine Ers, biggest weakness offensive line, Kansas City biggest weakness offensive tackle, Baltimore number three guard, biggest weakness Miami, Jacksonville, Seattle all the top ten of their roster building guard, tackle, offensive line,
overall biggest weaknesses. They ranked the Bear's biggest strength at wide receiver, the biggest weakness at defensive line, and we know that that still has to vet itself out. Green Bay's biggest strength edge, biggest weakness off the ball, linebacker, minies, biggest weakness interior defensive line.
So it's kind of interesting that.
You got the top teams and everybody likes all the shiny toys, but the line of scrimmage has still got to come through and that and that also applies to the Bears.
Tommy, Hey, Jeff, you know, if you want to, you know, talk about what they evaluated as the Bear's biggest weakness. That's why I say Dominique Robinson is probably the most important, not newcomer, but the what we've seen out of him, his commitment to the weight room, what he looks like now that he did two years ago.
If Dominique Robinson can come in.
And play to his look there, then that's a lot of the Bears issues and concerns. If they feel that they have to go out there and sign a free agent that's on the marker right now, and bring him in. They better bring him in at the beginning of training camp so he has this ramp up time that everybody wants to talk about these days. Don't bring him in a week before the regular season starts and then say, oh, we'll have him ramped up week five of the regular season.
Because you're already in the rearview mirror of a lot of teams.
Then, well, the Bears at eighty nine right now, one roster spot's still available for the start of training camp. Jim, do you agree with most of those assessments and do we often?
I guess. I guess. The statement I'd like to.
Make is, is any team completely one hundred percent comfortable with their starters in depth on the offensive line, because you could always say you have a weakness on the offensive line.
Yeah. I think you go into training camp on paper, you know, thinking that you're pretty good, that you've addressed to all the areas of your team that you need to address, and then maybe you put the pads on and it's not looking the way you thought it was going to look, you know, and that's when you start to say, hey, we've got to go out and find an offensive tackle. We've got to go out and shore up our interior offensive guards. You know, you mentioned Green
Bay about off the ball linebackers. They addressed that with Edgrian Cooper, who's a rookie who they drafted. So how are those rookies going to perform? So again, I think on paper, everything looks good, and then once you put the pads on, you quickly find out, hey, there are some more needs that we're going to have. Injuries happen, Guys go down, Things happen. It's called life, and you're always kind of an addressing those things as it goes along, you know.
Jim and Jeff real quickly is when you look at the offensive tackle position, you look at the penalties from the Kansas City offensive tackles, you look at the injury scenario with the New York Jets offensive tackles, and then you look at the situation. Even though the Baltimore Ravens said their biggest concern is guard, what about the health.
Of Ronnie Stanley.
No, he's not a guy that's been able to stay healthy the last couple of years. So I think, as much as you know, the Bears are in need of an edge rusher or defensive line contributors.
You know every one of these teams.
Offensive tackle could be can be an issue with every team on one side or the other. Maybe Tampa has probably got some of the best offensive tackle play in the league.
Coming up next, well, visit with Bears quarterback coach Carrie Joseph. This is ESP and Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on the Bears Radio Network.
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Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff jony Anick on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by Igs Energy, Jeffen Tom and Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radios, Moving the chains at the end of the offseason program, All the Offensive assistants were available to the media for a few minutes, including quarterback coach Carrie Joseph. He comes over from Seattle, where he spent three seasons
with Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Also on the staff is passing game coordinator Thomas Brown, a highly respected and regarded offensive mind from that same coaching branch of the Shanahan McVeigh tree and last season with Carolina, and rookie
quarterback Bryce Young. There are offensive assistants also available to the quarterback, including Ryan Griffin, a former NFL quarterback, Robbie Picazzo who also comes aboard from Seattle, and as Joseph indicated a few weeks ago, everything coaching wise is falling into place for the rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
You know how it works. You know, it doesn't take a while. You know, when I was Seattle's assistant quarterback coach, he knew the chain of commands, right, you know, I was under the quarterback coach, so you knew. You know, you know, you roll when you know your role, you fulfill that role to the best of your ability. So it doesn't take a while. It's just you know, there's men working together to get a common goal accomplished. And that's what we that's what we're doing and we do
that daily. And like I said, I worked with Shane for three years in Seattle, so right now I kind of know the way he moves.
I know what he's looking.
For, and I'm just making sure that you know, I'm always having his back, you know, that way, if he needs this, he doesn't have to look for to ask for it, because I'm already a step ahead.
You know.
So when you're when you get to know somebody like that and you worked with them before, you know, it's it's a great combination. Her me.
That's the last week that he gave the guys a homework assignment of detailing their three strengths to three weaknesses and asking them to describe their style of play. What was the feedback that Caleb gave yet at this point.
You know what it was.
It was good feedback.
Uh.
I don't know if I wanna put his stuff out there, Okay, but uh you know what he Uh, how can I say everything that he gave back is what you see with him?
Okay?
You know what you see with his work ethic, what you see with his dedication, and he knows his strength. He knows it his weak he knows his weaknesses. And when the player knows that and he owns up to it, now you know that guy's gonna work on him. Same with us as coaches. When you know your weakness, you're gonna say, Okay, how can I get better? You know, how can I get better? There's some on my weakness. And that's the things that they put on those papers.
And what they put is it matches up to what they see. It matches up to what he what he you know, who he is and what he's all about. So I don't wanna put what he said on there, but it was very interesting to see it, like, Okay, well that's what we see every day, you know, and he knows it. So it's it's awesome to see.
He has such a well earned reputation for driving off feedback and thriving off criticism. What is the value of that to the early stages of his career, of being open and receptive to all that that you guys are not born into it.
You know what you're talking about being coachable. You're talking about a guy that wants to be great and to be coachable and is willing to listen to your ideas and your thoughts.
Uh.
You know that's that's light light years ahead, you know, because he's not he doesn't have the mentality of I have my ideas, I have a way I want to do it. He's open, he's seen it, he's unders he understands that. You know, we all have different opinions. Even his opinion matters, right, so we actually speak, you know, speak your opinions so we all collectively can come together for what the good of his football team, but also for the good of him to make sure that he
has the opportunity to succeed. So he's been tremendous with that. And uh, he works at it. It's something, whether it's footwork, whether it's something with fundamentals. You know, we talk about and you know what I love about him he'll ask he'll question you, well, why we're doing it? I love it, you know, cause now he wants to know. He just wants to know why or this is why. And then he's he's the proof in the Uh, in the work that we put.
In the kids.
Who's that gied to?
No?
Why, man, this is not different?
You know what that is?
Different, because I don't think i've ever I can look back. I don't think I ever turned to a coach and said, well, why, you know, when you really think about it, Yeah, I was just talking, you know, just asking me about my career, my journey. But I won't I don't think I've ever like turned to a coach and said, like why. I might have shut the coach off a little bit because I didn't want to hear the screaming and yelling, but I was listening to him. Yeah, yeah, but hey, it's
different times, different generation. And uh that's why you always got to adjust as a as a as a coach, and as a person because it is different. It's not the same one I play. So it's having an understanding. And uh, I always say, man, that's why I got two years to listen, all right, and we can always grow.
We always got different ways to skin that cat.
So just at the end of the day, is about how can we get it together to win football games?
So Tom and Jim, what is the impact of all this coaching support? They really put a lot of thought into it. They targeted specific individuals after the hiring of Shane Waldron to compliment his coaching style. There's familiarity on the staff at other position groups as well. How important is this and it's really a lot of resources put at the most important position in the NFL.
Hey, Jim, let me go first, because I have a question for you kind of to piggyback on this. So you know, Jeff, when you're an offensive lineman, you're really consistent about your fundamentals and techniques because they transfer week to week. And Dick Stanfeld always make a statement saying, look for you guys to improve, you eventually have to start coaching yourself.
And so my question for Jim, being a former quarterback.
Is that the details of the quarterback position is never totally done because you're facing new type of personnel, different types of defenses, different types of analytic.
Responses to the down and distances.
So as offensive line, you can take a player and you can mature them and they can be coached. Quarterback, it seems like you're never completely coached as far as you know. If you want to look at Brady to Caleb Williams and how much there is in between, do you agree or disagree?
Jim?
Yeah, it takes time, It takes experience, It takes growth. You know, think about when Tom Brady first arrived at New England and he learned their system and he stayed in that system for almost twenty years. By the time he was at the end of those twenty years, he's like an Encyclopedia Britannica. You know, if you just pull out what you want. Let's go to red zone package here. Remember when we did this against so and so. Let's bring that back. Let's go to coming out period. Let's
do this. Let me pull the two minute book, you know, out of the out of the Britannica and go over a couple things again. So you do you learn so much you grow. It's just knowledge. And I think the thing for whether it's Carry Joseph and Shane Waldron who have been together, they know what they want it to look like. You know, you mentioned the Three Wives, Jeff, and how highly ranked the Bears are in their three wives. Well, go look at Seattle. They drafted Jackson Smith and Jigba,
they had Tyler Lockett, and they had Metcalf. They know what a talented three wide receiver package should look like. Running the ball with with Kenneth Walker, they know what it should look like. You know, in terms of how Seattle Seattle two years ago walker like burst onto the scene as as as a rookie. So I think they know they've been together, they know what it should look like.
And for Carrie Joseph, he knows what it should sound like when it comes out of when a play is called out of Caleb Williams head, and then how it should be executed. And granted, Caleb's gonna have a different flare than say Geno Smith or Russell Wilson. Everybody's got their own style with how they do it, but it's how it should look like and how they want it to look like to be executed.
Tom, I think you intimated this as well. Eventually it's Caleb going to become his own offensive coordinator in a sense because he's gonna know he's going to have the answers to the test and that's going to take time obviously for every quarterback, but that's that's the goal.
Correct.
Oh yeah, I exactly.
And I think the positive reinforcement that all these coaches can give the quarterback room initially, you know, like Dick Stanfeld, you say, eventually you have to start coaching yourself.
And I think, no matter what position you play.
If you have the luxury of being experienced in the same system for a long period of time, then you do start, you know, coaching yourself, and you become your your best own asset.
Well, I'll tell you what, I'm impressed with this offensive staff. They got great personalities, They're very exuberant, they're very polished. Really enjoy talking to Kerry Joseph, and then the position coaches as well, and of course the returning offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Morgan. I think the offensive staff and I hope it can stay together.
For several years so you get the most.
Out of this without having to reinvent the wheel and go through that whole learning process again. Is that's that's the rub in the NFL. If it's constant change, it's constant trouble. We'll take another break. We'll have back with more with Tom and Jim after this on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Excuse Wars Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff Ji on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by Athletic Ico Physical Therapy Visit Athletico dot Com to request an end clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow. Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller from Serious XMNFL Radios moving the change as we get set for a training camp in twenty twenty four and time for Tom's thoughts, brought to you each week by his unique brain which is always turned on Jim. He's an idea man, That's what he is. So I bet you're on the edge
of your seat. What is he come up with this week?
Are you? I like to hear the thoughts of Jim Miller.
There's you know, he's got as much experience in the everyday football business that.
Ends well, yes, so, but this is Tom Stotts. This is Tom starts here.
And think about him and I'd like to get your guys' reactions.
Well, here's one of them, Jim.
Ready, can the impact newcomers be alphas in the locker room? We're talking about Montese what obviously bridging the gap from last season to this, Kevin Byer, the veteran safety, Keenan Allen, a wide receiver, and then of course the quarterback Caleb Williams. Albeit have to be grown organically everybody's going to be looking to the young man to lead the way and
lead this football team. So I lead off with Jim, can these guys be automatic alphas in the locker room or is there still a transition period that must take place, or maybe it's already happened in the offseason program.
Well, I mean, some guys have it and some guys don't. Some guys can grow into that alpha male, I think again, I always say this about quarterback. By default, you're a leader because you have to communicate, you know, for it to for everything to work. And you know, even I'll give you the example is Brock Perdy out there at San Francisco. I guess when he got into his first game, some of the players were talking in the huddle and he said, shut up, we got a job to do here.
You know, basically listen to what I'm going to say here. So he took control right away, and I think we see the success he had. The other example I'd say is Devin Witherspoon, a corner who was drafted out of Illinois by the Seattle Seahawks. I'll never forget this went to we were doing the training camp tour. We went there and you could tell he already had dominated and proven to the other cornerbacks out there and the guys on the team that hey, I'm in control here, and
they were all following him. So certain guys just have it within him. I thought it was interesting last week when we were talking to the receivers coach Roma Doonza wants to follow the lead of Keenan Allen, and DJ Morey said, well, he's kind of shy right now, you know, but there'll be a point where he steps up and says, oh, I got this. I'm gonna sit back with the veterans,
be respectful and all those type of things. But I think at some point he'll come out of his shell and show that he's a dominator like he did for the Washington Huskies. But that takes time, and I think he's just being respectful of the other veterans, you.
Know, Jimmy Jeff. I would like to see Darnell Mooney. I'd like to see Gervon Dexter. I'd like to see ja Kawan Brisker. I know TJ. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds are already, but the other guys that I was asking about, because they're so new onto the scene of the Chicago Bears.
When you need.
Those personalities inside the locker room that bring that message with them every single day. Are we expecting too much of guys that have only been around for a few months or can they carry the weight of their other experiences the NFL with them into their locker room and try to get that message into the locker room as quickly as possible.
I think it's an automatic because of the way they how they got here.
I mean, they've done this a long time.
Their professional attributes are going to be noticed by younger people, no question about it, and even even guys that have been here a minute, like DJ Moore. We're talking about a thirteen year veteran in Keenan Allen. There's something Marcedes Lewis. They talked about the Big Dog all the time, about just watching how he goes about his daily and that's taking care of your body, for one, and just what you say, when you say it, how you say it.
I mean those things. If you're really.
Paying attention and if you wally really want to be great, you're you're getting these notes down mentally and essentially on your notepad as well about how these guys carry themselves and that goes for any position.
And obviously DJ and you misspoke.
Tommy, Darnell Mooney you mean Darnell right, Darnell right, of course. And and I'll lead this to Jim as well. And Tom do you need to have an alpha or two? Did they have to really be out in front on the offensive line?
Yeah, I think it's important. Yeah, guy who speaks up and you know, for us or for me when I played for the Chicago Bears, obviously that was Olin Krutz.
Yep.
You know. Olin Crutz was very vocal about what was needed, the toughness, the physicality. He led everybody and and kind of you know, communicated to everybody that this is how it needs to be so and you saw it in a in his play, and you also saw it through his leadership and how he communicated to other teammates that he led by example in both those you know, in all areas that were necessary. And it's a good example to follow.
I think Tevin is on the cusp of that. If we could have Tevin Jenkins, the guy that goes out there and shows a motion beyond the whistle, who goes out there and.
Shows a real physical style of play.
If he can bring that from the practice field to the game field into the locker room. I do think that Tevian is on the cusp of being one of these alpha males that has a little bit of nastiness in his game that can spill over to some of the other guys on that team.
Let me ask you this, did you five all have that trait on your offensive line? Jimbo Covert, Mark Boards, Jay Hilgenberg, Tom Thayer, Keith van Horn.
The most alpha male inside the locker room was Mike Ditka, and that's spilled over to the offensive players, and it carried through because we had such respect for Dick Stanfeld, you know. And I was thinking about this, you guys, because you know, of all the success, the ten Pro Bowls, the Hall of Fame career that Mike Singletary had, he wasn't necessarily as alpha as a guy like Otis Wilson was.
Otis was a.
True badass in every sense, the way he practiced, the way he carried himself, his professionalism, his preparedness, and how physical he played on the field.
You go ask Lewis Lips when he came in motion and he was.
Going to crack back on Otis and Ois forearmed him and knocked him out and got. I don't know if he got suspended or fined for it, but he was delivering example of alpha male in every terms of a football player that you needed to have when you're playing alongside a future Hall of Fame er.
So you know that's what I'm saying. But in our sense of our team.
Dicka was as alpha male as you could possibly have, even from the coaching booth.
Jim Best AALFA leader you ever been around, You're on several teams.
Kevin Green, Kevin Green.
I thought you'd say Tom Brady, Yeah.
Well no, Brady was that way too, But Kevin Green was just he was a tone setter. I mean that guy like like Tom said, you know, he'd make he'd make you shiver. I remember when huh so I got I got signed by Atlanta and we were playing Carolina, and I remember we were going through stretch and Tony Graziani was going to be the starter uh that game, and Kevin Green came to the fifty and he just
kept on saying, Grotzi, Grotzi, Grotzi. Because Garrozzi was a young quarterback, he didn't even stretch, didn't even do anything. And he was in this guy's head the entire game, you know, so and it did not go well, and that Caroline had dominated the game, and it it was it was just something to see his present on a field. It was just something to see.
I'll tell you what.
Don't under eight or underestimate the two thousand and one Chicago Bears with Jim Miller as the quarterback and how he led that football team. I remember you going to the podium, owning it and getting a little little chapped at a few things when things weren't going well, and you expressed your opinion. I mean, that always impressed me and Dick Jaron said it all the time. If the man could have just stayed healthy, you know, and that just rings in everybody's ears.
You were a heck of a QB big Jim.
I appreciate that. Thank you. I said it was fun to play for the Bears. A what a just a complete joy yep.
Exactly, all right, we come back. We'll dig in a little deeper to Tom's thoughts. Here on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio.
Network, Excuse Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for twenty three years Jeff Jonyanik on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly has brought to you by CDW. People get it up in Tom and Jim Miller here on Bears Weekly. As we break down the season as it approaches, there's always the talk about extensions. These are part of Tom's thoughts as well. He saw extensions obviously here in the in the past few years to guys like Cole Kmet, Jalen Johnson and Montes what when he got here?
But now who the next guys?
Who's next in the next round of potential extensions In the conversation, well, you start with the free agents at twenty twenty five.
Who is signed.
Only through this season? And of course there's a lot of one year veteran deals. We're going to discount those for the most part. Except for Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen, you gotta consider he has not been shy at the podium in the offseason program. When he got up to the podium there at hallisall said he, you know, he got a new agent, so he's looking to get a new contract.
Tom mentioned it.
Tevin Jenkins is another one and then the guys that have been around, a guy like Larry Borham, who's a swing tackle, hopefully competing for that again this year, Kyrie blasting Game at fullback, Travis Homer an impact special teamer, Khalil Herbert at running back, and Jack Sanborn in the final year of his rookie contract, a twenty twenty five
free agent as a valuable piece to that defense. Other than that, you'd have to go and do advanced work on the twenty twenty six free agents, and obviously DJ Moore is going to be in that conversation for an early extension.
I would one hundred percent imagine.
That that twenty twenty six group includes Nate Davis, TJ. Edwards, DeMarcus Walker, Kevin byerd Gerald Everett, Ryan Bates, and then three intriguing names, Kyler Gordon, your nickel, Jakwan Brisker, your starting safety, and Braxton Jones at left tackle. I put all those out there, Tommy, there you go. It's a lot to think about.
It's a conversation that never dies down because if you watch sports enough, you can hear the topic that is on the TV and radio daily from other teams, and the concerns they have. And then when you think about those young defensive backs of where they're going to be in a couple of years and where the Bears are going to be in the next couple of years, there's a lot of big time decisions for Ryan Poles is going to have to make about where you're going.
To put this money.
And you think about that extension that Justin Jefferson and these receivers are getting, and you think about Keenan Allen and where he's at in his career. You're gonna have a lot of decisions that are gonna have to be made. And then I know it's off in the distance, but you're always going to be thinking about that second contract for a guy like Caleb and rom A Doonza, so you know it's you can never lose sight of those.
But all these other contracts that you brought up is just definite reasons for a guy like Larry Boram, excuse me, a guy like Larry Boram to go out and have the best, you know, a couple of years that he can possibly have if he really if the Bears are going to take him into serious consideration for a future career here or is he opening opportunities for other teams.
And that's the same thing with Jack Sandborn.
You look at how well that he's played and how he's been thought of in the NFL. He's the type of guy like Nick Wakowski that went and got a free agent opportunity from the Raiders because he had some success with the Bears. It's just something that we as Bears fans, can never stop paying attention to.
Jim. What do you think about all that? There's a lot of matt there.
And let me just say it also signifies that the salary cap has been managed beautifully by Ryan Poles. They didn't they have not had to pay the big money at the quarterback position just yet. But right now, for example, according to spot track that track this stuff, cap space right now twenty one point six million, which is fourteenth in the league.
New England, Detroit.
Washington, Vegas, Arizona, San Francisco, Minnesota, Green Bay in the top eight salary cap space. So in your division, all four teams are pretty good spot right now. To still do some things with extensions and whatnot.
Yeah, I think there's layers to it, you know. I think Howie Rossman does a great job for the Philadelphia Eagles and how he signs guys, and they typically Philadelphia has always gone to the younger players early who they believe that are going to be stars, and they throw out in early contracts. So whether that's say Kyler Gordon or Jakwan Brisker, you know, maybe those are guys that you would approach as this season goes along, if they're
really starting to show their star power. I mean, because I think those are two young talented players that you may want to approach early because if they reach what you think the peak that you think they're going to reach, they're going to cost a lot more later, So they'd be nice to lock up now. Probably the receivers. Caleb's obviously on his rookie deal here, so you're going to want to see a little bit maturity through him, you know. So I would think, you know, Keenan Allen maybe is
a guy that you'd want to target. And you mentioned DJ Moores next year or the following year, so you at least you'd have Caleb a couple of years where he's with the veteran guys and then you could probably let them go because you feel roma Doomsay is where he's at in the growth and where he should be at that time. So there's layers to it. There's layers, and Ryan Poles is a smart guy. He'll figure it out. Kansas City's always done a good job. He's been taught
well and we'll see where it goes. But I think so far, so good that the last two years how he's reshaped the roster has been pretty impressive.
You know, guys, I think Tevin Jenkins probably has the most on the line, yep, because if he can come out there and play it in an all level as an offensive guard, and you see what the guards have been getting paid as of late, it's a lot of money. When he was drafted, he was drafted as possible considering being a starting left tackle in this league.
So there's a difference of opinion.
So the best thing that Tevin Jenkins can do is go out there and have a healthy seventeen game season and maybe get some Pro Bowl considerations to elevate his reputation in the league.
And the biggest cap numbers on the Bears Montese Sweat number one at twenty five million, plus Keenan Allen twenty three million plus Tremaine Edmonds twenty two point four, Dj Moore sixteen, Jalen Johnson thirteen, Cole Comet eleven six, and Nate Davis eleven to three. Those are the biggest cap numbers on the Bears. All right, another topic from Tom cole Kmet. He's had twenty eight, sixty fifty and seventy three catches in his first four seasons.
But now you got three receivers of.
Note, you got Gerald Everett on the best two year stretch of production in his career coming to the Bears. So, Tommy, which direction do we expect his catches to go well?
So in the last year of Caleb's career at USC, the tight end had twenty six catches, So it's not an ignored position even on the college level. But my concern is, if you have three receivers downfield and you have a really good running back out of the backfield, you know whether whomever it is, you know the Bears have a lot of good running backs that can catch. Are where is that level of catch gonna go to by Caleb?
Is it gonna go to the running.
Back that's maybe flaring out to the side downfield to a wide receiver, or is the tight end still going to be that seventy catch option.
Jim Shane Alden likes using tight ends. He did in Seattle.
Yeah, I mentioned it two years ago when Gino Smith really took off their four tight ends. They had over a thousand yards in that room total, and he used them all. Cole is obviously a number one, and obviously Gerald, who they picked up, is a nice option for twelve personnel as well. But yeah, I think you know, to predict that room to go over, you know, eight hundred two one thousand yards is not out of the question. I think Shane will not ignore that position.
All right, here's the nugget for you.
So Darnell Moody had the most yack yards after the catch a wide receiver in twenty twenty two for the Bears. It was just one hundred and seventy three yards. Believe it or not, that was what it was. DJ Moore comes aboard. It escalated a five point fifty eight by DJ. He led the team. Mooney was second with one to ninety and then Tyler Scott at sixty five, which now you get the newcomers.
Now the newcomers.
Keenan Allen had four hundred and sixteen for the Chargers Romadoonza in College of Washington last year when he was number one of the FBS at five hundred and fourteen. So then Kerald Everett had two eighty, Cole Komett had two ninety nine, Roseean Johnson had two hundred and fifty four, Kaldil Herbert won thirteen, DeAndre Swift two sixty five. Is this gonna be a team that at the quarterback just finds completions? This group of guys is gonna blow the doors off a yet, Jim.
I think it sounds great, you know, if he you know, it's it's an anomaly what CJ. Stroud did last year, you know, and to expect Caleb to perform at that
level because he's he's his own guy. But he certainly has the talented players around him to do that and have a special season because he's insulated so well at all positions that are there around him, and he's just got to he's just got to do his job, not force things, just let the guys around him support him to get the ball to where it needs to be. And uh, you know, if he does that, it could be a pretty special year.
Offensively, Tom, You're always talking about finding first downs. He can find first downs with these guys.
Yeah, how quickly the ball gets out of Caleb hands. Understanding the vulnerabilities of the protection and how you have to compliment that. And then you know, if you go back, you know, look at the analytics of passes completed from zero to ten yards. If they're you know, if they're you know, whether it's the running back of the tight end, if they can get the ball in their hands with some open space in front of them, Yeah, the yards
after catch will increase. But just imagine if he can get the ball into the hands of one of the talented wide receivers with single coverage against them downfield, and what that yards after the catch means to that position that you know, sometimes computes the multiple touchdowns as much as yards after the catch.
More statistical previews of what's ahead for the Bears in twenty twenty four after this break and he has been one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Bears Weekly with of the Bears for twenty three years. Jeff June on the Bears Radio Network.
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for more information. Again, that's Chicago Bears VIP dot com or call eight sixty six two O two fifty seven to fifty five. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity with Chicago Bears VIP. Jeff, Tom and Jim wrapping things up in this week's edition of Bears Weekly. As we continue to look at things, Jim throw this at you. We know the running ability of Justin Fields was off the charts.
Dynamic indeed led the NFL on third down rushing the last two seasons five hundred nineteen yards in twenty twenty two, two ninety three and twenty three and Q as it always is the case with the top seven third down rushers in the league. In twenty three, Kyron Williams, the running back of the Rams, number eight, he averaged five point twenty seven a carry on third down do you expect that kind of impact with the scrambling. Caleb Williams may now want to do that all the time. He's
even said I like to play from the pocket. But how important is that, just that little bit bit of push from a mobile quarterback to pick up some of those third downs every now and again in the game because they do add up and they do keep a defense on their heels.
Yeah, I think you know his history, Caleb Williams. When he scrambles, he's looking to throw. But I think if you if you're a quarterback in the league in the way the game is played today, if you can get three first downs with your feet, that's that's that's the bonus. And I think when you see guys like Patrick Mahomes during the year, he does that stuff, but in the
postse and he definitely pushes the envelope. Remember the playoff game against Miami whereas in the cold, whereas Helmet shattered Hony gran for that for that first down, so he picked it up. So there are times to do it. But I think typically if you're rushing for about three first downs a game as a quarterback, your team is going to have much more success.
Tom you talk about it all the time. You put it in your keys to the game. You'll come up with us stat Hey, if so and so gets four first downs with his legs, Bears are going to win the game.
Yeah, you know, so, I'll take it kind of opposite. I would go back and I would look at the statistics of sacks given up by the Bears offensive tackles, and then where do the vulnerabilities lie in the protection against Caleb Williams. Do the Bears feel that they can formulate a plan that they can give the offensive line and the best advantage to make sure Caleb is given the maximum amount of protection, to make sure that he can go through the decision.
Process in his head early in the season.
If they can do that, then I think that Caleb got every chance to be super successful and being able to maybe have that extra half or three quarters as a second to hold onto the.
Ball to get it to that open receiver.
The only thing that I would kind of concerns me if there was vulnerabilities on the Bears offensive line and there was immediate pressure in his face and now he's tried to escape from NFL talent, and that's kind of dangerous because it's going to be a lot different than escaping from you know, college type of defensive lineman that
you're facing. So to me, all off season I've been talking about is my concerns about the offensive defensive line, and with a young quarterback, I still have those same concerns. So Braxton Jones is going to be have to become a stronger player at the left tackle position. I think
Darnell Wright is going to make some huge strides. They're gonna have to be healthy on the inside where they miss him practice time last year in training camp, and if Chris Morgan can get an offensive line that sticks together, look for those guys to compliment Caleb Williams as much as the receivers, tight ends and running backs they have.
I'm big on first down sacks. It's now different to me than a first down penalty butt you're in in in bad shape and there's a percentage analysis that you don't score as many touchdowns if you're working from behind the chains right away. But the Bears were last in twenty twenty two and first down sacks allowed with twenty one. They improved with fourteen a year ago, but that was still bottom of the league.
Tied for twenty first.
Seattle Jim the fewest first down sacks allowed in the NFL last season with just four.
Wow, that's yeah, that is a good stat you know. I think if you're you know, if you're a quarterback in league, if you're in the mid twenties, like twenty five, twenty six to twenty eight sacks a year, you're doing pretty good. Once you start getting up to forty, you know, fifty, I think we know the numbers for justin fields. I mean, with fifty five sacks, you know, so you know, but if you're in the mid twenties, you're cooking with gas.
Yeah.
The Bears trail of the Giants only in most sacks allowed the last three years, and second most interceptions with fifty in the last three years, and the fewest passing first down since twenty twenty one. Second fewest pass plays of twenty five yards or more. San Francisco was number one in that for the last three years of one to twenty, Seattle number three, one hundred and ten.
The big pass plays.
Speaking to that talent that they had there at the outside down the perimeter.
Can I give you an on air project, Yeah, sure.
I'm always looking for homework.
Tom next time we're on the air, can you give me the first down sacks that were given up by Tyson Bagent in the four games he started in comparison to the first down sacks that they gave up to the other to the other games that Justin played, because I think there will be a significant difference there in first out sacks. And when you talk about Seattle only giving up fourst down sacks in the.
Season, that is that.
I mean, I that would be one of my first questions that Shane Waldron would how how did you come to that efficiency effectiveness you know of that that because that's an amazing stat to me.
Well, I'll give you the numbers because I ran them between Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent. Justin Fields, one out of eight dropbacks he dropped back to pass, he got sacked. Tyson Bagent won every twenty nine one every twenty nine, So twenty nine times he'll drop back and he'll only get sacked once. That is an an incredible statistic.
That is that really is?
Lastly, before we wrap things up, I was listening to Solomon Wilcotts on Sirius XM in the morning this morning and it was an interesting discussion that I never would have considered. They were talking about obviously, training camp is different. There's not as much practice time and pads, and that has a big factor in the play calling. And they brought up a specific play which I think is one of the most deadliest to a defense but one of the most productive for an offense if they get it right,
and that's the screenplay. And they indicated, Jim and Tom, that some coaches have taken some plays out of the playbook due to the lack of practice time it takes to perfect it, which is shocking. And one of them is the screenplay. And they indicated that even Andy Reid has reduced his percentage of screens because it's a function of timing obviously in rhythm and the absolute repetitiveness of making this thing happen to beat a defense.
Does that shock.
Both of you that that's a statement that coaches are taking plays out of the playbook because of a lack of time together.
Yeah, it's well to me, that's concerning because one of the best ways to stop pressure defensively from you know, pressure or pressuring defense is a screenplay. But you're right, it takes a lot of timing, a lot of rhythm. It takes extra practice time to get that timing that you need because the offensive lineman have to show pass and then they got to get up field to make all the blocks that are necessary. So it's normally a two second count and to get all five guys to
marry up to do that. And then for the running back who's now once he catches the ball, it's he makes a go call, you know, to let everybody know, hey, I've got the ball, we're going here. And so I can see why coaches do do that because you know, a lot of a lot of the NFL now because you got Thursday games and sometimes you're not even practicing.
You know, if you played a game on Sunday and you want to be able to be effective in what you do, and if some things take more time, you're probably not going to call those plays just because it's a short window between two games.
You know, A screen is one of my favorite plays in football, but I to me, I think the the RPO has taken as much time to develop a real RPO that a screen has because you think of how many different reads you have on an RPO for everybody to get it right, whether it's a red buy an offensive lineman, buy a quarterback, buy a running back, all these different scenarios that you can face, the way different defenses play it that you have to run an RPO probably fifty to sixty times per RPO to get it
timed up perfectly under every circumstance you could possibly see within an instance time on in a game day.
Play crazy the dominoes that fall in the National Football League with every adjustment that comes down the road.
All right, that's going to do it for us. Fellas, you guys have a week.
We're off next week, Fourth of July week, Tom, you can take your holiday.
No show next week. We'll be back.
As we get right up butted up against the start of training camp.
We can't just get together and talk to mongst ourselves for an hour.
Hey, phone rings both ways, right.
Jim, that's right, buddy, So we'll keep in touch. Have a good fourth of July.
Same to you, guys.
The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrowski. Thanks to Dan Burrilly, Jordan Treadup, Kevin z Pack, and Kendra Smith for Tom Thayer and Jim Miller, I'm Jeff Joniac, thanks for listening. This has been Bears Weekly on the new radio home of the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago.
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