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Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilliac aka the Mayor of Bearsville and is sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
He's an in the National Football League and explore the new landscape of the Chicago Bears for twenty twenty five and beyond. We do so tonight on Bears Weekly here on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer and former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Sirius XMNFL Radio.
I'm Jeff Joniak coming up of the program.
We visit with the outstanding draft expert from the athletic Dane Brugler who always digs deep and goes deep with every single draft class. I want to thank our producers tonight, Dan Brillly, Jordan Treadup and in the ESPN studio Justin Pottinger. The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrotski. Gentlemen, good evening. This is this is my favorite time of year posting your bulley into the Combine Timmy this week. I know you don't have the opportunity to head over there,
but it's just a wealth of information. It's just something that lives for a long time, and you can recall a lot of what you learn over the course of the year or for years.
Listen, I see more in the Combine off of TV than you guys see in person. You guys may get eye contact or talk to somebody, but I think that's one of the great things about the modern day NFL is the fact that they go there and you get a chance to look at these guys, compete, learn a little bit more about them, read the reports from all the people that go and uh, you know, put in their big boards and their drafts and everything, and you know, it's it's exciting.
You know.
I remember going to the Combine as a kid man, and I was so excited to meet and greet and see some of the guys that I read about, talked about, you know, watch from their All American teams they made and stuff. And I don't you know, Jeff, if you're an actual participating in the Combine and you're not going there with your heart on fire. I think that gives you an indication of what you're really committed to for the next ten years.
You know, the combine was about the medicals, but like Tom said, you can probably see more on TV. But as for the interviews, the interviews are great. You really get to get up close in personal hollow player ticks. And you know, some guys don't get invited. Jeff, you just called the Senior Bowl donomobile. Eight guys from that game did not get invited. But that doesn't mean that you're not going to get drafted or even sign as an underrafted for agent. I always bring up Carl Brooks,
d tackle of the Green Bay Packers. He played at the Senior Bowl. Didn't get an invite to the Combine because a lot of these teams vote on players, and if you get sixteen votes out of thirty two teams, odds are you'll be at the Combine. If you don't get sixteen votes, maybe like eight teams want to see they want to bring another corner, so you may just fall out by one vote and not be able to
go to the Combine. It didn't stop Carl Brooks. He's a big factor for the Green Bay Packers, And so I think for players, after the combine's over, then it'll turn to the to the pro day is what will be the next step for them. But the interviews are terrific where you get to know the players.
On top of that, you're laying the groundwork for free agency.
You're dealing with agents.
There are deals with gms making trades that will emerge once the new league here kicks open, and now free agency is less than a month away. So the conversations behind the scenes Jim are as worth as much as those in person interviews with the college prospects.
Yeah. Here, you know you talk about the two way player you know coming out and Willie. You know, what is he going to choose? Is he going to be a receiver? Is he going to be a corner? That's kind of a turnoff for a lot of teams. I know Pad had talked to my partner Pat Kerwin on serious six times. He had talked to a couple of NFL executives that they want him to commit to one position.
You know, he's going to work out probably at both, but they want him to decide because they have a vision for the player, and maybe it's like what Dane said, they probably think he's a better corner than what he is a receiver. Now, hey, we know Dion Sanders, he did both. He started out at corner, started to flip over a receiver, and maybe that's in the cards. But they want him to focus early on one position early
if he were be a part of their team. So saying hey, I'm a two way player to an NFL owner is kind of a turnoff really at this point. You know, it's also the type of talent your face.
And if you want to be a two way player in college and play against some of the college talent that he did, it's a little bit different than when you're going against a five star wide receiver week in and week out. Whether you're the number one corner on your team or your number two corner on your team, you're going to face a better receiver than basically you've ever faced in college.
What are you most intrigued to learn from the combine about position groups that may impact the Bears?
You know, offensive line, I mean certainly we know the sacks have totaled up. You know, they just have been too many sacks, so I do think they want to focus on the offensive line. I know everybody's focusing on Trey Smith in free agency. Obviously Ryan Poles knows the player very well, but you know you're gonna find out there's some gems in this draft on the offensive line. I talked about Emery Jones down there for LSU's Abel out of North Dakota State. This guy, he's played basically
every position, but he's probably a center. He's a center when it's all said and done. And I think, you know, for positions of the Bears, sometimes you got to think outside the box. You know, we get so caught up on body frames and traits and all those things. And there's a kid right down there at North Carolina. He's not invited to the combine. Don't forget about Willie Lampkin. You know, he's going to be a five to ten center who's about probably going to play at about two
eighty two eighty five. This guy knows leverage and he is very powerful. He you know, he went against the big guys down there in Mobile. He did not embarrass himself. I'm not saying he's going to be a first rounder, but he's a guy who you want on your team. He's forty seven to oh his senior year as a wrestler. This guy kind of reminds me of Carlton hassel Rig when I played for Pittsburgh. He was on practice squad
his first year and then became a starter. He was a grick Old Roman wrestling champion, so we knew he knew wrestling. So this is a very powerful young man out of North Carolina. And I think a lot of teams are like, hey, the traits be damned. You just kind of know a football player is a football player, and they come in all different shapes and sizes, and maybe you don't draft him as high as what you think, but you know, sure enough he's going to make your team one way, shape or form.
Tom where your eye is going to take you.
It's difficult, you know, It's a difficult because I always, you know, gravitate towards offensive lineman. I like looking at their athleticism, their ability to move their feet. You know, I have some interest in linebackers as well, because I think of when you look at think about the Chicago Bears, where they're at the linebacker position, where this defense is going to be going forward, What type of linebackers do
they need in this system against this division. But when you look about where they fit in terms of depth, where they fit in in terms of developmental talent that working to be starters.
You know, I'm interested in that too.
But like I said a couple of weeks ago, if they invested every draft choice and offense and defensive.
Linemen, I'd be willing to go that route.
Bears with the number ten, thirty nine, forty one, and seventy two picks for the first three rounds of the draft top one hundred, and that is prime real estate to take advantage of, no question about it, Jim. The salary cap is going way up. This impacts all teams. So I would say more than half the teams in the league are going to have north to thirty million dollars a cap space Bears right now at number six sitting pretty.
Yeah, and it is it's important every team manages their cap differently. Certainly, some team's got to eat a lot of money. You know, look at Mickey Loomis in the Saints. They kind of live in this world. They had to clear seven or sixty million dollars last year. This year they have to clear fifty million. Now you mentioned with the new cap number that cuts it in half. Since the cap up twenty five million dollars this year, So now the Saints they're twenty five million in the hole.
But to start the league year, you have to get in the positive. You have to get in the positive, or the legal do it for you. They'll just start cutting guys and say hey, all right, now you're in the black and we can start doing some work here. So really, for teams, they really have to focus on their cap. Teams like the Bears will have will be players in free agency because they've got the money to do it. They're not going to use their credit card
like the Saints. The world the Saints have lived in literally over the last decade, it'll be.
Interesting to see what this salary cap, what team it benefits them to release in some veterans, you know, because you got a couple guys out there, and the obviously the veteran cornerback carousel as a daily talked about subject around the NFL. But I think when you look and you kind of understand that maybe there's that guy that I wanted to see what the salary cap was going to add to this, so now I can sign this
veteran who's a big contributor to my team. And I think every single football team out there has one of those guys.
All right, when we come back, we'll be joined by Dane Burgler from the Athletic to deep dive into the NFL Draft and the Combine coming up next week in Indianapolis with Tom Thayren, Jim Metal. I'm Jeff Jonihak, and this is Bears Weekly on an ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network. It's Dane Brugler, the draft analyst from the Athletic. He is a beast and so is his draft publication. Everybody's been calling it the Beast, and
it garners that title because you are a beast. For how in depth you go into putting that thing together every year. I don't know how you do it. Loving it so much, I don't know how you do it. Where did you concoct the Beast?
I first of all, thank you for the kind words.
It made something that at my heart I'm a draft fan, and so I want to create something that I would want to enjoy and really dive into. And I really appreciate so much of the draft process from just of course the analysis, strengths, weaknesses, all of that, but also you know the.
Details, you know the journey these guys take.
So I want to know where'd you grow up, what sports did you play growing up?
What adversities have you hit in your life?
You know, I want to know all the details about your testing. So you know, this is the only the only place that I know of that has all the pro dain information for thousands of players, NFL verified Pro Day numbers in in the Beast, and so it is I want to put together the ultimate draft guide. And I don't know where the Moniker Beast came from. As someone some fans called it started calling it that. I pushed back on it initially, and then it just kind
of stuck. And you know, I figure, if it's going to be called the Beast, I've I've got a lot to live up to. And so every year trying to make it better and better and better, and hopefully able to do that this year when it comes out in early April.
Real quick, how long did you invest to just create connections and you know, to get opinions from mothers, the colleges, knowing that you're getting good information because the market is now flooded with draft analysts.
Yeah, I mean I've been I'm about to go to the Combine here next week. It'll be my fifteenth, and so I've been doing this a while. I first started when I was in college. I went to Mount Union and Pierre Garsona and I were seniors and together that year and we had so we had scouts coming through all the time. I worked for the football team, and so I was taking scouts all, you know, to practice and you know different parts of uh, you know, the facility to meet with Pierre and all and the coaches
and that kind of thing. So that was my first, you know, foot in the door to the scouting world. And so I still have a lot of those connections, a lot of those friends, and that's why I love the combine. Is of course to talk to the players, to see the on field workouts, but everybody's in Indianapolis, so a chance to meet with, you know, my buddies in the league and you know, catch up with them, meet new people, you know, whether whether it's the agent community,
people like that. So it's it's something that I've been doing long enough, and there's mutual respect there you know, I have so much respect for what scouts do or what agents do, and they look at my work and see that I'm not just you know, you know, I invest everything I have into this, and so the mutual respect is something that I think really shows through.
Dan.
What's your foundation for studying a guy like Travis Hunter? What side of the ball do you start with and what kind of preconceived notions of the draft are in your head after studying him a little bit.
Well, he's incredibly unique, right, I mean, we just have We don't see players like this come around. I mean, even Charles Woodson, you know, way back when he wasn't playing the numbers of snaps on offense that we saw Travis Hunter play this year. It's just really a unicorn
type of situation. And so I think, you know, teams are looking at it from that frame of reference too, where it's like, Okay, we've never seen a guy like this, so we have to kind of attack it differently than we would a normal prospect, you know, we have to. The combine is going to be big because this is going to be the first chance for coaches to really get eyes on Travis Hunter. Of course, they know who he is, but coaches have been involved in during the season,
they're focused on the season. Now that the season's over, we're in the offseason, they have a chance to really focus on these prospects. And so when they have a chance at the combine to sit down with him and get a better sense for Okay, where do you want to play? First and foremost? I mean, are you dead set on playing both ways? What's your favorite? Do you
love the play offense? Maybe do you love to play defense and you know you're okay doing the other one on the side, or you know whatever we can work in. So finding out what Travis Hunter wants is going to be paramount during this process, and if he's dead set on playing both, you have to make sure that your coaches are on board with that if you're going to consider drafting him personally, I like because when you felt when you do a skouting report, there's no such thing
as being a two position player. You have a primary position, they have a secondary position, and so I think you have to be to feel comfortable with what you're going to win position you're in write down for that primary position.
For me, it's corner.
I like him better on defense, but he can be an electric wide receiver, There's no doubt about it. So even though wide receiver is a secondary position, it might as well be a primary position as well. He should do some fun things at the combine. He's listed as a corner, but you know, teams request that players work out with different position groups all the time. I'll be shocked if we don't see him work out with the receivers as well.
So what's your approach to offensive lineman? Do you have a primary and a secondary possible developmental position for that player or I'm the type of guy at this stage if you're looking for bona fide offensive lineman, I want to draft you in the position that you play. I don't want you to be an experiment. So what's your feeling about offensive lineman in those terms?
Yeah, and I think every context is so important. You know, what was the situation? You know, for some players, they played a certain position at a necessity because that's what their college team needed, you know. And so you know, you take a guy at Gray Zabel, for example, North Dakota State, where he was the best player in that line.
So the best player is going to play left tackle, and maybe he didn't have ideal measurables, but you don't need ideal measurables to play left tackle at that level. Whereas okay, in the NFL thirty two and change arms, that's not really going to work. So we're going to kick you inside. But that's where these All Star games come in and seeing Gray's able to see your ball at guard at center, and all of a sudden, it'say, Okay, this guy's the best center in the draft. Even though
it is a projection, it is a transition. He did play center in high school, so there is some experience there seeing him do it the Senior Bowl, Okay, that gives me a little bit better feeling that he can make that move. I mean, I certainly understand what you're saying, though, because you want to feel you know, you don't want to draft a project Ideally, you want to draft someone that has done it for a long time at a specific position.
But you know, I think that with some of these.
Linemen it's it's not always that easy, and so some guys don't have the measurables to stay at that position.
You want to move them inside, You want to move.
Them uh to a different part, and for some of these players, you just want to feel comfortable that they have that versatility. And this is where I think the offensive line, this is where the coaches come into play. If you know, you're looking at a player who was a left tackle only in college, but maybe you have a left tackle and you want to you know, Joe Alt last year, he was a left tackle.
In Notre Dame.
But you know, you look at the Chargers, they had their left tackle. They want to know he can he play the right side. Uh, that's where your offensive line coach comes in. And Okay, let's work them out privately, and let's see him in a right tackle stance. Let's see how does he move when he's you know, in his kickout and and you know his slides and these different things that you throw at him. This is where the coaches come in. And it's so important to understand
what their you know, their muscle movements. You know, is it is it something that's natural for them? Is it going to be more of a struggle. And so the offensive line coaches are a big part of that.
Dan Bugler from the Athletic Our guest here on Bears Weekly, the second to Bears Weekly, brought to you by I G. S Shatter with Tom Thayer Jeff Cioniac. So everybody likes to slot where the strengths of the draft are.
Where the Bears are.
They've got plenty of top one hundreds here and probably some of your top one hundreds will be Chicago Bears are their sweet spots.
Yeah, obviously, you know every position is a little bit different this year. You think of the strongest positions, defensive line, tight end, running back, those are the three positions that jump out immediately as Okay, these are the strengths of the draft. And I think that when you look at the first round, specifically offensive line, it's a good offensive line, not like last year. Last year was unbelievable with the
number of tackles we saw go early. But there are some good offensive linemen in the first round this year. And so you look at the Bears and having what three picks in the top forty five, it kind of lines up with where they might be looking with defensive line. Offensive line should be heavy trenches for them. If they want to go offensive line or defensive line at number ten, there's gonna be a good player there. It's just that's that type of draft. And if they wait until the
second round. There's going to be some good players there, so I think they're in good shape. But I mentioned tight end and running back. Those are the two other positions that are just really really deep. We've got guys at the top obviously, Ashon Gent at running back, Tyler Warren, Colson Loveland at tight end, and then you know, maybe the biggest argument not to take those guys early is second round, third round, fourth round.
You feel great.
About the depth at those two positions that you can wait and feel really good about, you know, getting a someone that's going to come in and compete for starting reps in the third round, in the fourth round. So you know, it's a really interesting mix at those three positions.
But at defensive line, this is going to be known as one of those drafts, right, I mean, hopefully these guys all developed, not that all of them will, so I will surprise you.
But you know, how deep are we going?
I mean, I know you've mentioned the number of candidates versus last year is almost.
Double, especially defensive tackle, right, And I think this is gonna be a theme next week at the combine when you know some of these because a lot of these edge rushers are just freaky freaky dudes. Abdua Carter of course at the top, but then after that, Shamar Stewart from Texas A and m what he can do at two hundred and eighty pounds is unbelievable, and so I'm eager to see what his ten yard split is. How does he move in space? He should put on a show.
He's an absolute freak. Mikel Williams from Georgia, who his arms They might need two tape measurers just to get his arms in because they're well over thirty five inches.
He moves well.
You think about like maybe Tyree Wilson a couple of years ago went top ten. I think Michael Williams is probably even a better player than that. Mike Green from
Marshall should test well. So the Combine. A theme of the Combine is on defensive line day, there's gonna be a lot of people owing and on at what these guys look like, how they move, and the promise that they show, because again, the teams draft tre it's not production, and some of these guys don't have the production, but they have the traits and that's what NFL teams are going to bank on. So there's a lot of those guys in it. Yeah, defensive tackle. You know, Mason Graham's
going to go early. He's kind of the opposite where I don't think he's going to necessarily test off the charts, Like his arms aren't going to be super long, his body's gonna be okay, he should be a fine tester, but he's not going to be a freak tester.
But the tape's just that outstanding. He plays at a high level.
But then after that, you know, Kenneth Grant, his teammate at Michigan, at three hundred and fifty pounds, should run pretty well. You know, he's going to have some really good tape and then but it doesn't stop from their second round, third round, fourth round. This defensive line groups, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch the court.
You know, Cam and Shador do they have to throw at the combine to get evaluation or is it something that they'll show up at the combine but they won't throw until they're pro day.
Yeah, and we haven't heard them publicly say yes or no they will or they won't yet. You know, I think when you think back at it, I don't think people remember who did and do who didn't, like, you know, I don't. I don't think people look back and say, remember when Bryce Young didn't throw at the COMBA, Like, I don't think they look at it like that. Now you do kind of take note of it, like, Okay, well, what's he hiding from?
You know?
Is he scared a competition?
Is he?
You know?
Like I take a guy like Shador Sanders, for example, He's gonna be throwing right next to Tyler Shuck from Louisville, who has one of the best arms in this draft, if not the best arm, he has an absolute power arm, and is should or look at that and say, maybe I won't throw next to him at the combine, I'll maybe, well just wait for the pro day where I'm throwing to my guys on my terms, doing it my way, And that would go along kind of with how people.
Think of shoudor Sanders.
So I'd love for him to say fight back and say no, I'm gonna go compete, I'm gonna go show what I can do. And really he should because he's not. I don't think he has maybe a ton of as much leverage maybe as some people think, you know, like he's not penciled in to be a locktop five pick.
I don't think he's a lock top ten pick.
So you know, if he wants to really convince the Raiders or the Giants or one of these teams that hey, I should be your guy, go out and throw show how it show what you can do. In the same thing for cam Ward. I'd love for both these guys to go out and compete.
All Right, Dan, we could talk to you for the full hour, and I know everybody wants to talk to you, So I thank you for taking the time for us on Bears Weekly. I will enjoy the Beast when it comes out. We'll see you at the combine. Thank you so much. Okay, wait things, gentlemen, Thank you Dame Dane Brigler from the Athletic here on Bears Weekly and HESDB in one thousand of the Bears Radio network.
Athletico Physical Therapy.
Visit Athletico dot com to requested in clinic or virtually appointment and start feeling better tomorrow with Jeff and Tom jim Melli from Serious XMNFL Radio. So the Bears released their coaching staff officially. Obviously, we're leaked out. Over the course of the last month or so. We're gonna start with the offensive side of the ball. Guys, just get some some real thoughts on things. The offensive scheme something yet to determined yet. We know it's Ben Johnson and
what he did in Detroit. But he's going to craft it to be a Bears offense. It's his offense. It's going to be a Bears offense. When I sat down with him, he emphasized that.
So, but we look at it.
Three straight seasons where the Lions were top five and scoring number one and scoring in twenty twenty four, where a quarterback, a veteran like Jared Goff. Now it'll be interesting what he does with Caleb Williams, who threw for five ninety five touchdowns and no interceptions in the games against the Lions. That Tom got Ben Johnson's attention, and so why wouldn't it right, But the quote that lives with me is this is from Caleb. He told me
that it'll be my offense. It's going to build around me, but also he's going to test me. I love that quote.
Right, you are going to build around the talents, the athleticism, the intelligence, the arm talent that you have.
In Caleb Williams.
But now we just got done talking about with what the offensive line could include. It can include a couple
of rookies and a free agent. And the best way to break in an offensive line and allow them to be the most aggressive at the line of scrimmage early in the season is what Ben Johnson is known for, his play action pass and so I think when you take everything into account with the receivers, with the tight end, with the offensive line, which you want to do to continue to develop these guys, if you can be a team that has an emphasis on play action passing, you're
really going to have a chance to allow your offensive line to develop and be as aggressive as possible and really help these guys grow into the unit that you ultimately need them to be around the second half of the season. So I'm encouraged by what Ben Johnson has in his offensive wake, and I also look forward to see what Caleb can do in his future.
Yeah, I'm excited to.
I think when you look at the Lions and just how he accentuates player strengths. You know, we know they got a great offensive line, so they run the football over Penny Sewell, who's probably one of the stronger right tackles in the national Footballgue. If you know, just their numbers prove it. They're running over really their best player. And then you look at how he puts Gibbs in space,
look at how the receivers attacked the secondary. I'm un ros Saint Brown has been incredible since he entered the league, but just go watch his routes and how he attacks coverages and Jared Golf I think we can all agree his game has gotten better since under Ben Johnson, since he arrived in that trade from the La Rams. So I'm excited about that. I'm with Tom and you about this. Jeff, your playbook, Yeah, your scheme is your scheme. But I
did always go by Ron Earhart that you know. We would always arrive and the coach would ask, well, how's the offense going to look? He goes, well, I won't know until I see the guy's practice, because I want to see what they can do. And then once I know what they can do, then I'll know how our offense is going to be structured to accentuate the strengths, minimize the weaknesses of every single player, all eleven and
what they do well. And all right, hey, we can run the power play because we're strong at the garden tackle spot. We can do you know, routes in space because we've got a running back, say like Jamiir Gibbs, who we just coach that where he excels as the players. So you know, it's identifying your talent. And I think Ben has done that and he knows the division that
we've talked about. He's been in it. He's game planned again it and game planned in it, and he's going to know what the players can and cannot do to go forward and attack defenses that we'll see in the NFC North.
His offensive coordinator is Declan Doyle Tom what role Declan play and help drafting that game plan and what might he offer it saying protection scheme.
He's been a tight ends.
Coach, right, but I think now that he has the big picture of the entirety of the offense about mentally reinforcing the understanding of the offense, of the terminology and
the assignments for every single player. Probably not as much of a hands on approach with like the offensive line, but when you're talking about all the receivers, the tight end, the running backs and the quarterback position, there is so much information that Declan's going to have to learn before he starts teaching it to a new group of players. And so there's a lot of these guys that are going to really, you know, have a lot on their
plate over the next three or four months. And how well they have to learn the entirety of the offense. They have to learn the audibles of the offense, they have to learn the different points of emphasis depending upon
the opponents. So I think Declan has been around football long enough that when he sits in these meetings and Ben Johnson is installing this offense to every one of his offensive coaches, you know, he's got to be a diligent note taker and understand how he's going to transfer this information to Caleb and the.
Rest of the group.
I don't want to minimize all the other position players, but it starts with the quarterback.
Yeah, well we'll get into Dan Rochari because he's going to be a big part of running the football. Caleb is still only going to be a second year quarterback. In a new scheme, you better be able to run the ball, and you better be able to have play action pass because that's going to clear up a lot of reads for Caleb, and let's be honest, he cannot get sacked as much as he did last year. Part of his on the offensive line, part of it is
on him, It's on his preparation. He's got to know his reads, he's got to get through his his protections, know where he's hot, no where he's not. And Dan roshar That's what's great about the staff. They've got a lot of experience. I was with Dan when I called Michigan State games. He coached offensive line, he coached tight ends,
he's coached running backs, he's coached receivers. Guess what he's been in OC He's called plays before, so he's probably I got to believe Ben's going to rely a lot on Dan rochar to come up with the run game, you know, and maybe Declan will be more in the past game you break it up, They'll give the vision to Ben Johnson how they see the game unfolded, and Ben can do his magic, you know, with his input
as well and calling plays. And so I think it's a really good staff with experience that really come with Let's just say that they've coached more than one position, and I think that's a good thing. Dan Roschar in my experience, and he spent time in New Orleans under Sean Payton will add some interesting wrinkles in my opinion to this offense.
Yeah, Tommy a decade with the Saints at a time when they had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. There was a lot of development there through the draft and through free agency, but last couple of years at Tulane, so he has a feel for what's going on in the college game these days. But nearly forty years of coaching experience, how you how do you look at it?
Yeah? I mean I listen.
I've talked to people about that have coached with him, and that are part of his upbringing, in his background in terms of coaching fundamentals and techniques. It's seemed to be a point that every guy that I talk to that's worked with him has talked about his you know, his role in paying attention and being diligent about the details of that for offensive line play, because you know, you know, if you're a receiver and you're faster and everybody,
then you can now run defensive backs. If you're a running back and you're more powerful than anybody, then you can over you can run over people, but when you're an offensive line as a unit and you're talking about six, seven, eight guys, depending upon how Ben Johnson will use those extra tackles like they did in Detroit, you know you're going to have a lot of bodies that you're going to be able to transfer not only the information in
the classroom, but the specifics of techniques and fundamentals on the practice field. And it's something that repetitiously has learned. And so every one of these guys are going to start with the clean slate and the first meeting they begin, and they're going to have to, like any other position, digest a lot of techniques and fundamentals to improve their play.
And Jim, you mentioned the positions that he also was, believe it or not, the Illinois quarterback coach in nineteen ninety five, but he played his football at NIUS and NIU Grant, so welcome back to the Midwest. But has had plenty of college experience, and certainly in the NFL.
Okay, we've got.
Antoine Randall l he's one of the more intriguing hires. Jim, in my opinion, I love if that's an ex player at the position of wide receiver.
He really got, you know, poach from Detroit where he developed.
I'm on Ross Saint Brown and Jamison Williams Thornton High School in Harvey here. Two time All Big Ten quarterback in Indiana. Nine year NFL career, He's been in the league since twenty nineteen with Tampa Bay and a lot of very pertinent experience implement with this receiving corps.
Yeah, he was a great quarterback in the Big Ten. Obviously went onto a great career as a receiver. And I do I like that when you know position coaches have played quarterback because I think he sees the whole field. I think he sees the big picture that he really gives to the receivers of how to attack coverages where the weaknesses are because he's viewing it from the quarterback size, and he's probably telling the receivers this is what the quarterback has seen, this is what he expects from you
in this type of coverage. So I just think that the receivers will be given really personal knowledge from Antoine Randall's experience of how a route should be run against every coverage out there and what their quarterback can expect of their receiver. And that's really what you want as a quarterback.
One.
You want your receivers to be decisive one. You'll you want to be on the same page that they understand and see the same coverage the way you're seeing it as a quarterback, because that's gonna be that's going to determine where the receiver ultimately is going to be on the field, his depth of his route, where he's going to break to get open, all those things. And if you see it the same way, timing should not be an issue. Timing will be perfect when it's all said
and done. You know one thing real quick.
You know Randall L five five he's not a monster target. So he's got to run routes perfectly in order to get open and find that catch area. And so I like that transferable information to the types of receivers the Bears have right now.
And JT.
Barrett also coming over from Detroit as the quarterbacks coach, Press Taylor passing game coordinator. Spending three years with Doug Peterson as offensive coordinator in Jacksonville, so he worked with Trevor Lawrence the last three years also Philly, Indianapolis uh SO He's got a lot of background, the brother of Bengals head coach Zach Taylor and then Tom before we go to break Eric b Enemy at the running back position.
Yeah, I you know, listen, you know I may be in the you know, the just a case. I like a guy that has a reputation of coming in here and being a tough, hard nosed coach, expects a lot of it out of his players.
He works them hard.
You know, sometimes the players even have a little bit of you know, concern because they are getting worked. Listen, man, Eric, welcome aboard.
They need an attitude like that.
I think if anybody's ever watched him throughout his playing career and his coaching career, you see that certain sense of seriousness on the sideline, and I want to I wanted to transfer to the practice field and then onto the game field.
I always bring up about, you know, say Eric B Enemy or hard coaches. I always go back to Todd Haley. Todd Haley was a very tough wide receivers coach there for the Bears, and Eric the Enemy has done it obviously as a running backs coach, as an offensive coordinator. He knows what he wants it to look like. I mean, that's for sure, and he makes his point very clear of what he wants to get done. But I go back to Steve Preston who called Todd Haley a butthole,
but he made him a better player. He said, he made him a better player. So Eric Panemy, yeah, he may be a little bit over the top, but it'll make you a better player.
I know you guys as old time football players, love that. I'm Jeff Jony Aquat out there, Jim Miller. This is Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly, Come a Bears Wingio Network. Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Joey.
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by CDW people who get it, Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio. All right, we touched on some of the coaches on the offensive side of the ball. Let's move over to the defensive side of the ball. You have the most experienced, Jim, having interviewed all these guys over the years at head coaching level at training camp. So what can tell us about Dennis Allen defensive course.
Dennis Allen, I think as a defensive coordinator, I love his defense. He does a lot in terms of, you know, he can do the base stuff and I think he does it very well for leverage and how you're going to play things if say you're in a base defense type of situation. But his blitzing, I think he's you know, next level with some of the stuff he does with his press and you know, disguises and things like that.
But his history is.
A defensive coordinator has been very good, especially in the NFC South and especially I always bring it up against Tom Brady. Go look at his defenses and what he
did against Tom Brady. Tom Brady some of his worst numbers against Dennis Allen's Dennis Allen's defense, and just go look the past few years of Brady's career, even in Tampa, the two years he played there, those were historically some really bad numbers when they played the Saints by Brady, they got turnovers, they got sacks, they got to him. So every game is its own is you know, you know,
different entities, so to speak. And I think he looks at it that way as a coach, that what we what we did last week, it may not be what we're going to do this week. So he is going to be constantly adjusted in every week's game plan will be a little bit different. So when you hear say Tampa two, he's not running Tampa two every week. Is it's different entity and how he's going to attack an offense.
You know, production for Dennis Allen from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty three never finished below fourteenth in yards allowed in points, and then he was top at thirteen in turnovers out of five out of six seasons. And so he's familiar with this the modern game. It's not something like you're taking a guy that's been around for the last twenty years and he's starting to reinvest himself. He's only fifty two years old. He's got tons of experience.
He knows how to work with the types of players that he's going to have and how to develop the type of young players that need development. So I'm excited to see what this defense is going to do within the division first and foremost, and you know, hopefully create a hostile environment here oldier field. So Dennis has that to work with.
Aggressive and adaptable. That's how I would define Dennis Allen as well. Okay, let's hit some of these. Let's start with Al Harris because that's another one of the more intriguing hires. A guy with great experience at the coaching level as well, now fifty years old, a defensive passing game coordinator as well. Here four years, five years rather in Dallas with Mike McCarthy and last season had assistant head coach titled Jim. This guy was a very aggressive,
very impactful player. How will he impact guys like Jalen Johnson who learned a heck of a lot and developed very well under John Hoak and a young guy like Tyreek Stevenson or Terrell Smith.
Yeah, El Harris, I remember playing against him. He was very long corner. He was hard to throw against because he's very handsy.
You know.
I think he's going to teach the physicality at the position and for guys to play to their stature. El to me, you know, was a very long corner, like when he extended his arms and stuff. He used his length very good and how he could be down balls and made small windows to throw into.
Did he pick you?
Did he pick you?
Yeah?
He picked me?
He did pick me up there in Green Bay. One time I entered threw a round a little bit and he used those long arms to pluck it out in the air. So good ball skills, and I think that will continue. I think that's one thing Jalen Johnson when he had his breakout year with the four interceptions. Hopefully that continues because I think the Bears do have a lot of talent. They have long corners like Tyreek Stevenson
that really plays into, you know, Al Harris's wheelhouse. So I think he's going to teach them much like how he played the game with his physical stature and play to your stature as a player, our ex.
Players being coaches, there's so many points that they can bring up in meetings and on the practice field that they've already experienced and they can have that prethinking portion of the game inside their head before it ever happens. And we see in a lot of instances over the course of time how it affects the defensive back play.
And when you have a guy like Al Harris has been totally invested in the game since college throughout his pro career, got right into coaching, I think he's a great part of this defense and to me, defensive backfield is still one of the most important positions for success in the NFL.
Yeah, fifteen NFL seasons, twenty one interceptions, two time Pro bowler, And it's the little things, the things that the tricks of the trade that the veteran players develop over the course of time that they can point out on tape or something subtle that deals with their technique or how to tackle a certain type of assignment. And that's always beneficial in my opinion as well being a next player. So linebackers coach. Another guy you're familiar with is Richard Smith,
Jim Jim. He's been in the league since nineteen ninety three.
He can offer a lot, Yeah, a year before I arrive, So there's a ton of experience there. Like you said, he's been with Dennis Allen. So again, I think that's important because he shares a vision with Dennis Allen because he knows how it's supposed to look, whether it's man, whether it's zoom, whether it's blitz. Everybody's assignment, you know.
So if Dennis is making a point, you know, a guy like Richard can only accentuate it, and they're going to give all their experiences and they're going to pull up all those tapes and say, hey, this is how we want it played. This is what we're both talking about here. So anything that Dennis says as an install Richard Smith is just going to cement it because he knows it's so through and through with his experience, their shared experiences together and his experiences overall as a coach
since nineteen ninety three in the NFL. Yeah, the game's changed quite a bit, but these coaches, they adapt and they adjust in this modern game. You know, the go look as Tom put out some of the numbers. These guys have been pretty good together in their past.
And with the coach.
Last year he helped develop Zayre Franklin, he led the league and tackles second team All Pro last year in a Pro Bowl.
The timing, but you know, you think about what you're coming here in the Chicago to coach. When you look at TJ and Tremaine and the rest of there, you have a couple of super experienced veteran linebackers that've been around the NFL long enough that you can come in and you don't have to feed these guys a ton of information. All you have to do is reinforce their
the defenses that they are gonna run. Maybe, you know, be that educated eye from above that puts these guys in more efficient positions, quicker, and so I think it'd be an exciting group to come here and coach, and you know, you look at the contributions of the linebackers, I expect more of the same.
What do we know about Bill Johnson sixty nine years old. He's a defensive assistant. He was Dennis's defensive line coach and they both worked at Texas A and M. He's won a Super Bowl, He's won a National Championship. He's been on four NFL teams, three SEC teams, including LSU when they were unbeaten the National Championships.
I mean again, a wealth of experienced gym.
Yeah.
Well, I mean just look at guys that like Cam Jordan. You know, proof is in the putting the numbers that guys have put up. And you know some guys have had to move on, say from the Saints in their past. Together that have gone on and done very well in the NFL. Again, they have a history together. They share the vision of what is supposed to look like defensively, but it's at low levels. You know here you're talking about d line. We just talked about linebacker L Harris
in the mix in the secondary. You know, this is a complete package in my opinion. So yeah, I think we know that the one thing that Bears know in terms of a team, you better have good defense. It's the history, it's the tradition, and I think they want to hold that mantle high because it's been so good for so long.
Defensively, and Jeremy Garrett, the defensive line coach, he was Jacksonville's defensive line coach last year.
Loved this story. Tom.
He was a loan officer at a bank in South Haven, Mississippi, earned his MBA in his high school principal walked into the bank and said, hey, not coach, and that's what happened. So that's what happened. He started coaching high school team and here he is with the Bears.
Yeah.
You know, the journey to coaching is for every single one of these guys. You have guys that are lifers from the minute they get out of college. They go and they have some type of volunteer position at whatever level of football is next for them, and then eventually work their way up the coaching ladder. I think it's exciting because you think of all the time spent behind the counter for Garrett at a bank. Maybe he sat there and thought the whole time, what is out there
that's different for me? And then it happens to walk in the front door.
All right, our final segment come up, Well, look at special Teams and strength and Conditioning, all big factors and the Bears for twenty twenty five here on ESPN one thousand and the Bears ready to network. This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by IGS Energy, ramping up another edition here pre Combined version. Jim, you'll you'll be with me next week at the Combine face to face when we do this show.
So it'll be fun. Well, well, well, a lot of nuggets.
Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to it, Jeff do I got to make this book again for you this year.
I mean, you can't deep with you?
Nellis well, Hey, every little bit helps.
I could pass mine along when I'm way behind right now, since the senior Bull, I gotta catch you.
Dane Brugler is not the only one killing all the trees. Blamed Jeff, Joni, It's good stuff.
A lot.
There's so much information it's crazy. I don't know how to keep keep tabs on it all. All right, let's look at Richard high Tower back. We listened to him last week on the show. He's super excited. He's got the attention of his players. There's some guys on there that are are huge for him as he you know, because the roster is going to change, maybe even drastically. You know, we talked about a third of the roster always turning over, but many of those guys are special
teams players. But a guy like Josh Blackwell, plenty of guys, including the whole operation of the kick game, that can spread the language of Richard high Tower.
Jim. Yeah.
And I think we know rules are going to play into it. What are they going to do with the dynamic return? You know, because last year we saw the guys up front on the line. You know, where they going to be able to use big guys? Where are
they going to use speed guys? And we'll have to see at the NFL owners meetings how rules are adjusted in special teams because that's going to affect decisions on players that Richard high Tower is going to really want a politic forward and say, hey, coach, I really hope you keep this, you know, this fifth linebacker, because I've got him on every core of my special teams. He's on all four, you know, so, and he's got to be aware of all the entire roster that we talked about.
But rules play a part in it too, and certainly they had to come up with new ways and x'es and o's and how you execute things to attack your assignment, and so it's always in flux, and I think Richard high Tower will be on top of it. And you know, the Bears have had great success with their special teams and had some fumbles on returns. I think we understand that,
but that was more player issues. But Richard high Tower's second or special teams have been very solid in the NFL because he's on top of everything that comes out and what his responsibility is.
Tom there's one player I got to bring up regards that that we really saw developed fast and what was violent was Daniel Hardy and I think Richard high Tower deserves a lot of credit for that as well, seeing that potential as he tried to work himself into the defensive line rotation.
But he was a stud on special teams.
I think the best is yet to come from Daniel Hardy. If they bring him in them, they feed him more reps at the defensive end pass rushing position, whether it's in the preseason games or in practice. I still think he's got a tremendous upside. But when you look at the special teams over our career with the Bears, there's some guys that stand out in your mind of being the big bodies who are very vicious and make some incredibly profitable plays. And Daniel Hardy has been able to
do that. And the thing about a guy like Daniel Hardy that he gives as much effort to special teams as he does trying to refine his craft as an outside pass rusher. And that tells you something about the desire of a football player. And you have that desire inside the weight room, inside the locker room, and on the practice field. That's contagious. And I think he's got the type of attitude that can help a lot of other players see the importance of preparation, commitment, and hard work.
And Anthony Blevins, the assistant special teams coach, off in a UFL championship last share with a Birmingham Stallions, a former assistant for the Giants and Cardinals. He's a doctor, believe it or not, a doctorate degree, i should say, in instructional systems and workforce development from Mississippi State. I'll call him doctor Blevins.
Well, that's two coaches now from the UFL, and so I'm glad to see we got a couple of guys that kind of came the same route that I did, and now they're ready for you know, the Marquee matchups, and.
The Bears have changed strength and conditioning. Pierre no gets the promotion. Eight seasons of the Bears over two regimes. Tommy a wonderful guy, a guy who walks around with that strength that we seek.
All right, and listen, he looks good in a T shirt. But that's what you need to see every from every one of his football players. The weight room is never gonna leave the importance of success in the NFL, and I think the stronger of a team you have, the healthier in the long run that team's gonna be. But when you talk about the role in the importance of the offense and defensive line success, success starts in the offseason weight room.
Well, it's interesting when teams do make a change at your strength and conditioning because it normally is an indicator that maybe you had a rash of injured injuries that
are similar, say hamstring like soft tissue injuries. I remember Green Bay before Mike McCarthy left, said hey, we had way too many hamstring issues, and they switched over their strength and conditioning and how they trained, you know, to really minimize because that's really you know, it's we know if you break a bone, you're going to miss games. But these soft tissue injuries, whether it's a tweet calf
or a tweaked hamstring, things that can linger. Maybe there are different ways, better ways to train to attack those soft tissue injuries that really can minimize a player's absence from game day.
Hey, Tom, I know this is a big topic because there are two completely different schemes than what the Bears have had the importance of what happens in the class versus being on the grass in terms of the off season program, training, camp, et cetera.
Where is the importance life for you?
You know, it's the assistant coaches that are being taught the system by Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson to make sure that they have a complete and a total understanding of what they're going to start teaching. Because now you take whatever position you want to talk about, quarterback, offensive lineman. Now you're talking about you're being taught the information you taught the system of a new offense that's being installed
by Ben Johnson. Now you have to be able to go teach that system, understand exactly what you're saying, answer the questions by the players that are going to come at you every single day and meeting. Then you're going to have to transfer that information that you're learning at the speed of a classroom to a speed of a practice field.
And there's a bunch of different levels to that.
But you know, it's you just got to become so second nature by what you're saying, but you got to know it as well as what you're saying it.
And so I think that's going to.
Be a difficult part of overall development in the off seasons. Make sure everybody's on the same page. All right, boys, we hit the finish line. Thank you so much, big Jim. That's gonna do it for us four time. Thayer and Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks to our guest Dane Brugler from the Athletic. We'll talk to you next week from the Combine here on the new radio home of the Chicago Bears. ESPN Chicago Black and Abdalla are next. Good night, everybody,