Welcome in Tumble Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production download the Chicago Bears Official Act, brought to you by Verizon to follow the team on the go. Bears Weekly is brought to you by African Healthcare, Athletico Physical Therapy, bet Rivers, CD Telling, Connie's Pizza by Gas Energy, and Miller Life Kira. Your hosts, Jeff Chiloniak aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom the Surfmaster. There.
Good to be with you once again. Five weeks from tonight, the Bears are going to be on the clock. Number one pick in the NFL Draft, number nine pick in the NFL Draft. We discussed it all here on Bears Weekly out of ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network. My name is Jeff Joniyak with Super Bowl winning Chicago Bears guard Tom Thayer coming up. Jim Miller from Serious X NFL Radios moving the chain, so join us special thanks to our producers Jordan tread Up and Dan Brially
and the ESPN one thousand studios. Charlie Bevins, the executive Pretty Sure of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrasiti coming up tonight Our guest is going to be Chargers radio voice Matt money Smith. He'll discuss with us the additions of Keenan Allen, Gerald Everett, and of course thoughts on Caleb Williams workout on the campus at the University of Southern California yesterday, which Tom and good evening Tom. Everybody had eyes on, everybody reading about it, and it was
It's just it's an exciting time. It's an exciting time for Bears fans.
Yeah, you know, I watched the entrance of Caleb Willilliams walking out to the field getting ready to put his talents on display, comes walking out with the football super confidently.
And I just kind of wonder what that is like.
Is it like an actor that's going on to do his part of a movie. Is like an actor and a play, but this is more real life and sports. And so when you kind of understand what you've already lived through as an athlete and you.
See a guy like this going out there on a.
Pro day, which it's it's hard to really assess what that's all about. But I mean, it's amazing nowadays and it's covered all over the world and you have a chance to go out there and watch not only Caleb Williams, but some of the other guys that are going to be draft eligible go out there and you know, put their talents on display for all the talent evaluators of the NFL.
Right, what do you take out of those?
You know, I like to excuse me, I like to look at his personality, his confidence, his mechanics, his foot foundation fundamentals, his accuracy, the the display of arm strength in terms of difficult out patterns to long patterns downfield, and just kind of things that sometimes you can look at the for the exact same thing every single rep, but then sometimes you look at different types of accomplishments according to the type of route they're running.
Right, and he kept pretty straightforward, you know what you would expect in the National Football League. Some checkdowns to the backs, some work over the middle, some deep throws ending it on a deep throat connection.
There.
He had some of those guys that will be in the NFL draft, and Lloyd the running back and Rice the wide receiver. Very very impressive. But I you notice it because the ball literally does jump off his hand, like that ball just explodes.
You know it's it does when you see those types of long passes, the difficult out patterns, the long patterns downfield. Yeah, there's kind of a simplicity to the delivery. But you think through a quarterback's mind when they have to let make that last second position of the checkdown to the running back the third receiver, and sometimes that is the oar mechanics that you like to look at the most because there there is a change from snap to decision.
And so I think that's.
As interesting as a throw as if he threw sixty five yard bomb that land perfectly into the striding wide receiver's hands.
These are routes on air, of course, no defenders in your face. But he saw it on tape, and he doesn't need to show that his acrobatic Houdini like moves that he gets out of trouble with his eyes downfield. And again we'll talk more in depth about that too with Matt Muney Smith later out of the program. But how about the other analysis here, And this is under the assumption, of course, that the Bears are going to use that number one pick on Caleb Williams. He's going
to still have a visit here at Hallis Hall. They'll take his physical here they'll get down into the nitty gritty. But everything's been kind of set for his arrival here now, and I wanted to see the body type. I saw it a little bit in Indianapolis walking with him as he walked from interview to interview. But he's a strong guy. He's got a thick lower half and he's got a strong upper body. And the name that keeps popping in my head of a similar frame, I guess you would
say is Russell Wilson. And I think he's taller than Russell wils Yes, yeah, yeah, you know, there's a lot of about six to one, five to eleven for Russell. But he's got good strength there. You could see it in his body, and that's only gonna get better as time goes on.
Well, I mean, he was two fourteen at the combine and he weighed in two seventeen yesterday, So you gained three pounds and you have the ability to add a little bit of weight, which I'm sure adds muscle from
the strength training that you're doing behind closed doors. But I I see of a of a bigger I don't look I look at Russell Wilson into a kind of a similar frame When I look at Caleb Williams, I see, you know, a sturdy bottom half, a good foundation that you have, and there adds to a lot of the strengths of his throws.
And so.
You know six ' to one. Is that what we're gonna call him?
Well, yeah, let's just call it six to one. I mean because I never understand weight. I never understand like, I only go on combine numbers. So I mean, that's because that is universal, right, every you come through with thirty forty years of combine numbers and that's your height and weight and it stays with you for the rest of your career. It's in the media. Guys sometimes wait, hang on a second. Sometimes they alter the weights. But
you're the same size from the combine. But if you measured at the Senior Bowl, it's different at the combine.
Then you measure it your pro day. These guys are all.
Coming in at different Now the weight will fluctuate because these guys got ready to run forties of the combine, not saying him, but they run forties of the combine at a certain weight.
Then at the pro day they're a little.
Thicker because then I gotta run the forty again. If they already had run it. So you're trying to, you know, and hopefully that time period you've gained some muscle weight, which weighs more than fat, so you know, it's a lot to look at. I know you don't care about that at all, and you certainly don't want to hear about arm length or hand size or anything like that, do you, because that'll just aggravate I'm just telling you.
The hype porton stays with The hype porton stays portion stays.
With you the rest of your life.
Because the first time I went to the combine and they stuck that ruler on the top of my head and they said, faire six three and three quarters.
I go, no way, I'm taller than that, and I never was.
You go back nowadays, And I remember because Doug Flutie and I used to lock her next to each other when he was with the Bears, and I was kind of teasing him a little bit about remember how they used to call, you know, say something about his height and then he would immediately go up by three quarters of an inch or an inch. So it stays with you when you've always kind of felt that you are taller than what they do.
I mean, what what were you in the Notre Dame media, No? Six five six?
I know, but I didn't think I was six three and three quarters, you know, even when I went to the Hula Bowl and I was there with a selection of you know, high profile first rounders, and I think they measured measured me at six ' four, you know.
So I was happy there. But when I went to the combine and s sixty three and three quarters cost.
Me money, Well, and you had hair then too, so you lost a little bit and.
Brought it they bring it right down to the scale.
And I was already developing a bad mullet at that point, so it was going it was going straight to the skull.
Well, yeah, five seven and a half on a good day for me. And that's about it. No, you know, no, no movement in any direction. But it's it's always interesting to discuss, that's for sure. All Right, let's take our first break when we come back, we'll take a look at what the Bears have brought in and look at the rest of the division as well, because that matters.
And what about rookie quarterbacks? What are they embracing, what do they have to be wary of As NFL history shows, there's a lot of different ways to skin a cat.
That's Tom there.
I'm Jeff Jonihak and this is Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio networks.
Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years is Jeff Junior on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by Igs Energy. Jeff in time with you on another edition after the un USC Pro Day yesterday Michigan tomorrow and where it is from Brad Biggs from Tribune that that's where the Bears Brass, Ryan Polls, he and cunning Yam matt E Vic Blush will be headed tomorrow. JJ McCarthy, of course, you know, boy, I don't see JJ McCarthy getting out of the top five of the draft. After
listen man, Minnesota and Denver. These are two teams that are gonna, I think, make moves to get into the top five, and I think quarterbacks are going to go in the top four.
What turned for him?
Since the National Championship Game and pre National Championship Game, there was rumors that he would go a high second round. All of a sudden you go to the co and then you're gonna have your pro day. Now there's teams making pre draft trades to try to get up there to get you.
I mean, did he all of.
A sudden grow a bunch or you know, did he I'm not against JJ at all. I'm all for him one hundred percent, but I just don't know why, because before we went to break, you talked about the rookie quarterbacks and what's expected of them, and all of a sudden you do have the success. But again, I think
a lot of JJ. What I would like about the most is playing for a head coach like Jim Harball, because you have that, you have that development, you have that toughness, you have that you know a coach that's not easy on you.
So that's what you know would endure me the most.
To JJ McCarthy, I think the biggest thing just from uh just the average person, the average fan or and analyzing those things. I'm sure scouts were way ahead of it and all of it, but you know he didn't.
He was not asked to do a ton.
They ran the football a lot, so in those moments when he did, he did shine. So I like the player, and it'll be interesting to see how he ultimately, you know, shows people what he can do with the prote how his protea might look a little different than Caleb Williams. Can he make all the throws? Can he hit every blade of grass? Can he make it horizontally and vertically
across the field? I say yes, but we'll see. But in addition to that, you know, again, we talk about this so much, so many quarterback moves here on this almost a quilt of quarterbacks moving around, and you're moving pieces around from the backups to the starters. And you know, a guy like Sean Payton in Denver with all those years with Drew Brees, would love a quarterback that just finds completions like a or a guy like Bo Nicks. And then you think of what Minnesota's doing, What are
they trying to do? They got the two first rounders, now they have Sam Darnold, and we're talking about the division right here. But are they gonna are they gonna make a play and move even higher up and try and get Drake May out of the mix. Because his high school coach was Josh McCown, who's now the quarterback coach of the Viking. So it's all these crazy things you can think of here, but I think there could be some movement.
I do too.
And you know what, so JJ McCarthy, do you know what his hut what he was measured at at the Combine, Because when I listened to some of the critics, not criticisms of just some of the conversation about JJ, they talk about him, Oh, he doesn't They always start the conversation, Oh, he doesn't have that rocket arm, but you know he can.
Still make the throws.
To me, if I can have a quarterback that can intelligently throw the ball from behind the line of scrimmage to fifteen yards downfield and he does it at such an efficient rate, I'm fine with that. So I'm not looking for a guy that can throw it eighty five yards but he can't hit a target within a ten yard range.
JJ at the combine six two and a half two nineteen.
So that's what he was at.
A little a little taller than a Drew Brees type of guy. But you know, Drew Brees also didn't have, you know, a rocket arm, but he was super efficient, intelligent and ran systems as efficiently and kind of you know, was able to change some of the offense that he was using because he was so involved in the development of the weekly game plan.
I also just I think of one thing. I think a toughness, Yeah, I think a toughness with this guy, and very efficient throwing the football in the pocket. So yeah, you know, I just again, the quarterbacks always move up a couple of notches more than people anticipate on draft day, and that goes for the backups included, or you know, but right now, it'll be interesting, it'll be interesting, and in the division, in the division, what's going to happen
as well. But I talk about rookie quarterbacks because we're and we'll hear in our next segment from Matt mney Smith. But Tyrod Taylor in his career started over, Josh Allen started over, Baker Mayfield started over, Justin Herbert when they were all rookies. Again, everybody does it differently, but he he it was that veteran just to try to get things going in the right direction, like Alex Smith did with Patrick Mahomes and others have done in the past.
But that was always that whole discussion about Okay, justin you know, and having a veteran here and now it's Tyson Bagent for the time being, and we'll see what happens Andrew.
You know, CJ.
Stroud changed the bar of quarterback and what's expected out of rookie quarterbacks now. And you talk about a rookie quarterback that was the second pick in the draft. He was a little overlooked when they thought Bryce Young was gonna be the go to guy. And he put that performance on with a rookie defensive minded head coach. So that means the offensive coordinator is in charge of and is in charge of the offense, but then he's also in charge in the development of CJ.
Stroud.
So now are the expectations of rookie quarterbacks now elevated to CJ. Stroud you know type of performance or is it still you know the Jordan Love template where you get drafted, you sit there for a little while and then you know you you play somewhere down the road.
All right, we're gonna take another break. That's top there.
I'm Jeff Jonnyick And when we return, Matt money Smith joins the program here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
This is Bears weekly with a Voice of the Bears for twenty three years Jeff on the Bears Radio network.
Atholitical Physical Therapy visit athletical dot com to requested in clinic or virtual deppointment.
That's Star feeling better tomorrow.
We're feeling better today as Tom and I get to sit and visit with the voice of the Los Angeles Chargers, the.
One and only Matt money Smith. Matt, how you feeling?
Because Tom wants to know for some reason, he's not familiar with the money angle, So you know, I told him he missed the big math for guards in the NFL now because it's spiraled out of control because of the defensive tackles who have spiral dollar the control and Matt, poor Tom was just gonna earn his salary working nine years for the Bears at right guard blocking for Walter Payton in the Fellas.
Right and now he's looking at that Robert Hunt contract, going, you got to be kidding exactly, going to get a hundred million bucks for five years Tom in average football.
In all seriousness, Tom, could you have imagined it mushrooming that big for the guard position interior line.
They'll listen.
We sat in the locker room, and we talked to the generation before us, and that's Gail Stairs and Dick Buckets in the in at Ol Bradovitch and those types of guys, and they talked about salary in getting a job during the week of the offseason so they can help support themselves. But as you know, I guess you've always in an envious position when you see what these
guys are making. However, I look at the guys that have made a lot of money that have never had the opportunity to live the day of a Super Bowl. They live the two weeks of leading up to the Super Bowl after you win the NFC Championship game, and I think that's almost worth what.
The guys are making.
Yeah, I would probably have more dogs with the fenced in the yard, but I've had experiences that some of the guys that are making this big money have not been able to have as of yet.
Yeah.
Well, and Matt, so why the nickname? Because Tom wants to know, so I listen.
I wish I had a good answer, Tom, I don't. And those are beautiful window casinges. You had to make good money in your day window casings like that, Tom, I wish I had a great story. I worked for a stupid morning show, you know, Morning Zoo, Kevin and Bean on k Rock, and everybody had to have a nickname that wasn't Kevin. Well, even Bean was Jane and he had a nickname. But we all, you know, so for whatever reason, I guess there's always a literation involved.
So Matt Money two ms. But yeah, I just became money to sports guy and that's uh, that's it. It's stupid. I wish I should make something up, but that's it. More FM morning show. Gotta have a nickname.
Remember the name Jack Snow, the former Notre Dame and La Ram wide receiver when he was the Rams color man. He every time we go to Saint Louis to see he called him two Ton Tommy.
I don't know if Tommy liked it, but here was two Ton Tommy.
When I met.
Jack Snow, I was playing at Notre Dame and he used to come back for spring ball and spend the whole three weeks there during spring ball, and I got to become really good friends with him, and uh, you know, as I got all in my my senior and stuff here, you know, we would just bum around a little bit, and I was, you know, three hundred pounds at the time.
So that's kind of where the nickname came came out.
That's what it's a it's a literation. It's yes. But see yours fit. You were over three hundred pounds. I was. I was a fresh a freshman sophomore in college. I was working three jobs. I was parking cars at the Charterhouse, I worked in admissions. I answered phones for the morning show. Uh, and just happened to support, you know, and I just got lucky. I stepped in it. Jimmy Kimmel was their sports guy. Adam Corolla was their comedy writer. I am
just no, I'm dead serious. Yeah, Jimmy was. It was Jimmy the sports guy, and he did Am and uh. And Corolla had a couple characters, mister Bircham and they do comedy bits. And I'd be able to sit in with them and and learn and practice and and figure out how to do this radio thing. And yeah, it was the best, you know whatever. With my Pepperdine degree, it was the best schooling I could have ever had. Sitting in that office for five hours every morning from five am to ten am.
That is awesome.
Pepperdine, Notre Dame and little o'd Iowa stayed over here hoping they pulled the Cinderella sucker punch in the NCAA tournament. All right, well, we're here to talk some of those Chargers that have become Bears in this free agency and trade period, the business season.
And Keenan Allen, we're a number thirteen. Maybe I don't know what he's gonna wear here.
But his whole college and professional life in the state of California, at cal in the northern part and then with the Chargers in San Diego, went over to La What are we getting here? I had a great interview with him last week. He seems very excited about this opportunity, even though he played his entire career with one team.
He's incredible. I mean he is. You know, you need a case. He's third down, it's third, and it doesn't matter. Third and three, third and seven, third and fifteen, and Keenan's gonna find the sticks and Keen's gonna catch the ball, and everybody knows it's coming and they can't do a darn thing to stop it. And it's the damnedest thing, you know, he's I don't know what he's what he was, what he would clock in at if he ran it,
maybe four six, five forty. But the thing that I came to learn and appreciate about Keenan talking to as many people as we have over the eight years that we've done it, is he's one speed you have. No, he doesn't. He doesn't gather, he doesn't draw down, he doesn't speed. It's just all one speed, and corners cannot get a read on where he's going because he does it at that exact same pace. It really is something to watch him break down defensive backs and I know
Justin's gonna miss him. He counted on him repeatedly, over and over again. He showed up big and big games, and like, I look, one of the great stats you know you get year and I know you guys saw it because we played the Bears this year. So if you were going through the Chargers game notes, when you look at the superlatives and you see most games in NFL history with sixteen catches Keenan Allen, those games with
fifteen catches Kyan Allen fourteen, thirteen, twelve. It goes all the way down to eleven it's all keenan Like he's got fifteen eleven catch games, like nine twelve catch games. He's he catches the ball. He you know, throwing the ball, he's gonna catch it now. You know. His season long is typically somewhere in the thirties to forties. He's not a breakaway speed guy, but you got that in Dj Moore. I mean, he's gonna be such a great compliment to
what you guys have. I'm excited to see what he does for you this upcoming year.
You know, the thing about it, We're not talking about a six to six receiver. We're talking about a guy that he's got good size for a wide receiver. But we're not We're not looking at him, you know, as he's Harold Carmichael or something.
So what's his biggest asset? Is it the fact that.
He's kind of a one speed guy, or is it is ability through the routes to get into an open position, or does he just have such great hands that he's.
Hard to not give him the opportunity.
I think it's I think it's time mostly the first two. I think it's the way he runs his routes, the speed at which he runs his routes, the ability to find and just the veteran savvy to know what's going on out there, to see it, to process it like that.
And I think the fact that he was paired with such a quick processor and Herbert as well, that he I think he adapted, you know, same thing with Philip when it was Philip rivers here, Like he's so good at adjusting to his quarterback and finding himself on the same page, you know, and just kind of having that connection. I know what they like to do, I know where they want to go, and I know how to get
to where they want me to be. And it was amazing how quickly he did that with Justin and his rookie season, and you could see, like you could sort of see that gradual shift and Herbert first became the
starter unbeknownst to him, you know. And the situation happened with Tyrod and the lung puncture in that game against the Chiefs, where he's spreading it all over the place and it's, oh, it's it's Tyron Johnson here, and it's a j Geidon there, and it's Hunter Henry and it's and then all of a sudden, towards the end of the year, it's like, oh yeah, there's there's there's Keenan's targets.
They've now gone from four to six to eight. Now he's at eleven per game, and and I think the rookie realized this is this is my bread and butter, this is my go to guy.
Hey, Matt.
Speaking of rookies, I think out of anybody that I saw at Caleb Williams Pro Day and Ryan Poles, look, man, he's he's got the magic card. Maddy Iberflus obviously Ian Cuttingham, Ryan's assistant. I was so impressed with the fact that Keenan Allen was there because I think that sends a lot of messages to a lot of these people that are on social media sending these criticisms of why he shouldn't go to the Bears and the decision that he
should make. So in your mind, what was Keenan Allen representing.
At the pro day?
I think you hit it on the head. I think it's it's repro the people that are doing that, it's just stupid. You can't you know, it's it's just not A. It's not the way it works. B. You don't want to start your career like that, especially when you have a team and if look, Caleb said he wants to be legendary, right, well, you become the best quarterbacks and sid luckman in the city of Chicago, and you're going to be legendary in a hurry. And not to mention
the team they put together. I mean, my gosh, why would he not want to come to a squad that's got those receivers, now, those tight ends. Now you know they they've set her all up for him to succeed. So I think I think Keenan probably felt a little bit of that felt. You know, hey, I've they're gonna pay me twenty four million in change, probably because it's part of the pitch. And I think he's he's smart enough, he's a good enough teammate, a good enough person to recognize,
you know, LA traffic be damned. I'm gonna I'm mus sit on the four or five to the one ten and deal with it for you know, he lives deep oc. You know, I'll deal with it for an hour to make sure Caleb knows. I'm all in, man. It's not just about me getting my paycheck. I'm in. I think we can do and I think and I don't know exactly what he would have said to Caleb, but that would have been my message, right, Hey, I've done this. I've done it, man. I put together I helped be
part of, you know, prior to what CJ. Stroud did last year, the most incredible rookie season we'd seen from a quarterback in NFL history, and what Justin Herbert did his first year. So I know what it looks like. I want to be there for you. Let's go get it. And I think that's a I think it's a big part of it, Tom, because of what the narrative kind of shifted to these last you know, five six days.
We call that a veteran move.
Veteran move right there, not just in a sports finnacular, but you make a wise decision, that's a veteran move.
Here with Matt money Smith's remaining moments, the LA Chargers radio announcer and a big name talk show host there in southern California, though with Chicago ties growing up here, Matt, how much conversation throughout the year did you guys have or the last two years about Caleb Williams and how he performed and where his arrow is at right now from your veteran eye as a football guy and an NFL announcer as well.
Yeah, so my radio partner out here, you know, is Petros Papadakis, and he was former captain USC football team. So we have a tie to to Trojan football. His father John, you know, legendary linebacker for the Trojans all those years. So you know, we watched team. We're invested in the team, and you know, it's been interesting because you know, Lincoln Riley brought a style of offense and a style of play to USC that I you know, it certainly was needed. They needed to reinvigorate the program
and had fallen on tough times. Clay Helton was not the right guy. But it's you know, it's a it's a school that's built on the number fifty five on defense and you know, and running backs and so to spread it out and start slinging it around and have a defense that's given up fifty points a game, it's very hard to reconcile as a team. So just and I and I set that as the backdrop because they took a lot of incoming. But there was one thing that no one could dispute, and that is take advantage
of this kid while he's here. Go to the coliseum and watch him play, because you are not going to see many like him. This, this sort of level of play at the college level doesn't doesn't often find itself, you know, to your backyard. I called the I called two USC football games. I do it for Compass Media Network on the radio, syndicated and a lot of times on my off weeks, whatever game they have available, if
there's a West coast game, I'll do it. Happen to get both USC Utah games with kleeb And it's just it's stupid. It really is.
Some of those throws in that Utah game that I saw that is that they were they were stupid throw, Like, how does that even happen?
Yeah, you're you know, you're you're in a full sprint. Like that's a difference, you know, if you want to when you talk about the running quarterbacks and the athleticism and the read and you you throw it down feet or you know, after your first red take off and run, that's not Caleb Man. Caleb is scrambling to throw and his eyes are up and he is processing and going through his progressions like this. The whole time, and he
was just finding one open guy after another. It was really fun that game, you know, just just to finish it up. It was a heavyweight fight, you know, it really was being he and Cam Rising and they were just throwing haymakers at one another and it was a lot of fun to watch. And if that's the Caleb Williams you're getting, my good in the Chicago has got to be darn excited.
Well, let's talk about the tight end we're getting. Because you talk about the career of Antonio Gates, he should have been at first ballot Hall of Famer.
Yeah, it's a shame he's not.
But then when you look at Gerald Evertt with a basketball background, is there any similarities or is it something that you better be in your stance for another eight or nine years Gerald Everett, I'm talking before you can even see if there's anything comparable.
Yeah, look, he's this I'll say about Gerald is he's a competitor. You look at the Jacksonville game where they gave up the twenty seven to nothing lead, and there really was one guy you could point your finger out that was consistent and delivered that whole game, and it was Gerald Everett. He played his tail off and tried like heck to drag them over the finish line, even
though it didn't happen. The second one is I go to the Raider game, you know, when they're up whatever, forty five, forty nine, nothing, and there was one guy out there still competing. So I think you have that and that helps the locker room. That helps the room. I think he and Comet are going to be a great tandem. He's not so much a blocker like you mentioned Antonio Gates, a little bit more of a a pass catcher. You can line them up, you know, out
wide if you want. And one thing Tom too about Gerald, first guy always misses. You're not bringing him down. That was one thing that was consistent with him. Wherever you caught the ball, first guy was not bringing him down. You better gang tackle him, and you better be ready to get to support because he's just got this. He's not the biggest guy, you know, he's really not. I don't know if he's I think he's listed at six ' three.
Maybe I got him at six two and three quarters.
There you go, Yeah, yeah, he's maybe six two ish. But he's tough to bring down and he always makes the first guy, miss, So I just think it's such a perfect fit with with what cole Comet does and how he's a little bit more of your full service. Not to mention all the athletics, but I think Gerald's really gonna gonna have a lot of fun.
Out there, all right, last one? And I hope I don't kill it. But Aimin Ogbang Miga?
Did I get it?
There?
You go? Am and ogbang Bmiga?
Nice?
Everybody calls him.
Amen, did I stick the landing? You did?
You stuck it?
Good special teams player? Sounds like a great kid too, not.
Good a great special teams player, like a great special teams player. And I think the only reason why you got him is because the Chargers still have Nick Neemon and and he's another great special teams player. So Amen is what allowed the Chargers, even though they really didn't want to let Derek Watt go, who was their their
best special teams player, and Aiman filled that void. And now that Nick Neeman his kind of and Dyone Henley as well at the rookie last year filled in became kind of that special team's a So yeah, look that's what he is and and that's what he's gonna be He played some solid linebacker and spot duty. But I think you signed you know, your special team's ace to the guy that you're hoping is gonna take Matthew Slater's spot on that All Pro team moving forward.
Yeah, Matthew Slater legend leaving the game, and I hope one day to become a coach or executive. That guy can bring a lot to the game. Hey, you know Tom's old teammate Jim Harbaugh. Do you need any help breaking in?
I don't know. You guys can chat it up if you want.
Yes. The answer to that is yes, I do. I'm gonna need all the help I please.
And you have Mark Trestman on that roster. You got who else? Tommy Shane Day. We do a lot of guys. Yeah, this shop, this job, yep, So have fun. Matt We appreciate you, buddy. Thank you.
You got it anytime. Love doing it, guys.
Bears Weekly returns after this break out of SPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network is.
Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff j on the Bears Radio Network.
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how you feeling and what do you think? We touched on it early about Caleb Williams Pro Day and the moves that are and have been made to set up whomever the Bear's pick number one for an offense and has a bunch of weapons on it now in a defense that continues to build.
Yeah, I love the addition of Keenan Allen. I mean that guy is just absolutely fearless to go get the football, specially across the middle. I mean that guy will give up his body, he'll take big hits. Obviously extremely productive player. But yeah, I think you know just the excitement of
this week. You know, Bear's sending the big contingent out there to watch the pro day of Caleb Williams, the three day, gettinghim on the chalkboard and all that stuff, or the whiteboard should say, get to know his teammates that he played with, how they interact with him. Everything is scoutable, you know, just even how he interacts with this with his teammates, how they accept him, and things
like that out at USC. So I think it's a good, you know, initial visit, you know, but there's obviously more homework to do. I still don't think the Bears have yet to get a physical right. He probably won't get that until he comes to Chicago and has his official visit so to speak with the Bears that is. You know, people may think, you know, it's just a formality that needs to be done, but it's still needs to be done. But it sounds like everything went swimmingly. I think everybody
expected him to throw. Well, you know, there's there's no pass rush. We know he's got the physical skills in all that, but the evaluation process will will continue. Everybody just seems to think it's a slam dunk, and maybe it is. Maybe it is, but I still think there's a lot of work to do.
Hey, Big Jim, So you bring up Keenan Allen. You saw what you saw the pro day for Caleb. Now, what does that change your thinking or does it change your thought process for that number nine pick.
Yeah, I think for the Bears, you'll have an opportunity to trade down, you know, because I think everybody projected, whether it's neighbors from LSU, the wide receiver O Douonze out there for Washington, most think Marvin Harrison Junior would
already be off the board. But now that you've got solidified a veteran receiver, and you've kind of insulated because right now with what the Bears have the quarterback positioner who's there with Brett Rippin and obviously Tyson Bagent, that's a very young group and it looks like the whoever is drafted will be the starter. And so you typically if you've got a rookie quarterback, you want veteran receivers.
Cole Comet veteran, obviously DeAndre Swift veteran, plus the other running backs are veterans other than Roshan who was drafted a season ago, you know, Dj Moore veteran, Keenan Allen veteran. You've insulated a young quarterback with a really good group of vets who are around him. And I'd say the offensive line too as well. Obviously, down Darnell Wright is no new b anymore as going into a second year
as a tackle. Whether the Bears addressed the left tackle spot, but they certainly have addressed the interior of their line. Maybe there'll be more work done there. But I like how they're insulating the young quarterback and you got better on defense. I think we know that surround a young quarterback with a good team, and I think the Bears
have done that. So yeah, I would think now maybe receiver isn't so much a priority where you could potentially trade down and acquire more picks with that number nine spot.
Jim Miller, Jeff Jonny Aak, Tom Fair on Bears Weekly here on ESPN one thousand.
Of the Bears Radio Network.
Overall, the Bears did load up on backup offensive linemen as well to give the competition and the injury protection or as Maddyberfus likes to say, a pair and a spar And they did that in the secondary as well. When they bring in Kevin Byer to replace Eddie Jackson. They've got a good thing going. There are there things if you're not gonna be able with that nine. If whatever you do, Jim, if you trade down or you
go with a receiver and offensive lineman edge. But if you don't get one of those, are there still some things in free agency towards the summer that you could dip into if you really take a long, hard look after OTA's and see where your team is at.
In terms of especially, I would say that edge rush.
Yeah, there's still guys out there. You know, You've got guys like Emmanuel Agba. You know, he's right at kind of the threshold of a thirty year old guy. And you know there's still other corners that are up there. I mean, Tredevius White still hasn't signed with anybody. I mean, so there's corners, but you know, I think we know those are all going to be one year guys. They're just one year rentals. Say the Bears did want to add a receiver, elected not to draft a receiver. I mean,
look at the guys that are out there. Odell Beckham's still junior, still out there. Michael Gallup just got released by the Dallas Cowboys. So you've got quality guys that have played and logged a lot of snaps, that have years of experience in the NFL that you can always add. The safety position is still pretty deep. Out there right now. And so say if you had an injury through OTAs, I mean the safety population from guys like Quandary Diggs or Jamal Adams, and you'd have to check out the
medical on him. But to say Justin Simmons is still out there for God's sakes, I mean, this guy's had thirty interceptions the past six years at the safety position. So yeah, I do think you know you've got guys that'll be there. Money's going to be a part of it. There's some guys that are injured healing up from injuries. Say at the center spot. Connor Williams down there for the Miami Dolphins, played there last year. He's a free agent right now. DJ Humphreys, who was a starting tackle
for Arizona, he's still out there right now. He tore his acllens trying to come back from injury. So yeah, there's a whole bunch of situations where guys and there's a pool of players that you'll submit at every position
other than probably quarterback. Maybe Ryan Tannehill's probably the only guy that's out there that really this this musical chairs of quarterback that has been pretty crazy when you think about it, here this offseason that a guy you've had that has logged a lot of experience and starters experience that is out there that you could tap into.
Well, let me give you guys something to think about during the commercial. You got a thirteen dollars injured Chase Young. So does it make it untouchable to even think about a Jadavian Clowney when you think about who is on the opposite side of the defensive line from him and how much tension Montes what is gonna get? Or do you still keep a guy like that into your sights?
Yeah?
Well, I think Clowney, you know, miss he played really well last year for the Baltimore Ravens and the reason why they felt comfortable bringing him in for the least this was what I was told Anthony Weaver, what's their defensive line coach? Anthony Weaver is now the defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, and he had a level of comfortability with Clowney and said, hey, bring this guy in here, you know, feel comfortable working with him, and he had
a really good year. But I think we know Clowney and I think unfortunately this is where Chase Young, who New Orleans Saints just signed on that one year deal. He's dealing with a medical with a neck, and so the numbers aren't what there was suggested that he was going to get paid. But typically you'll take a shot with a guy like that, but typically they're going to be one year guy, one year deals moving forward. And that's why Clowney after the Houston Texans experiment, has never
landed a long term deal again, unfortunately. And you know, a lot of it is just due to you know, his history, and I think Chase Young is kind of on that path now. And why you just signed a one year deal with New Orleans when you would you would have thought San Francisco would have sign him to
a long term deal. They just traded a third round pick for him instead, they signed Bears fans knowing Leonard Floyd to a long term deal or a two year, twenty million dollar deal, he chose Leonard Flow over Chase Shall.
Right, and he's been consistent though, he stayed healthy and he's been sacking on the quarterback wherever he goes. All Right, we gotta take a break. Final segment coming up. We'll talk about what's headed next week at the owners meeting. Some rules that need tweaking. We'll discuss and I know we'll get some good reaction here from Tom and Jim. I'm Jeff Joniak on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
This is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff jony Aik on the Bears Radio Network.
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All right, save the best for last. Maybe, I don't know.
Competition committee getting ready to discuss some things at the owners meeting next week. Headed out there on Sunday, Jim. I don't know when you're going, but Monday we'll break it down. We've got Bears et cetera on Monday as well, excuse me, Bears Weekly as well on Monday.
But let's discuss a couple of things.
One is the kickoff, and that's it's got to change so interesting and I don't know if we have enough time to break it down, Jim, but the bottom line is it's going to try to resemble a typical scrimmage play with the kicking team lining up with the forty yard line of the return unit, which will be at their own thirty. So there's a thirty five rather so the five yard window there. With two returners, potentially they can move around and nobody moves until the ball hits
the ground. So you got to kick it off into an area from the goal line to the twenty that's the target zone. If it goes into the end zone on a fly, you get it at the thirty five yard line. So is this going to be something that everybody can rally a on.
Yeah, obviously the coaches will have to practice. It will add more, especially, but the bottom line is kickoff right now, it's inconsequential only twenty two percent of the kickoff returns. Look at the Super Bowls, absolute barfest. All kickoffs weren't even returned. It's the most exciting play in football. It's what motivated the voters to vote Devin Hester in because it was no longer a play anymore. And I think it'll be exciting. If you've got two returners, you can
have reverses, throwback passes, all kinds of things. What you're basically eliminating is the forty yard dash where you're getting the collisions, all right, So these special teams coaches are it's going to be more hand to hand combat. Tom can talk about that because you've eliminated the forty yard sprint down the field. Now to be about the hand to hand combat and how you can, you know, get
the coverage units to get in there. I think they'll be bigger guys on the kickoff covers team because you've eliminated it, and it'll be more like a line of scrimmage play. So I like to hear Tom your thoughts. I hope it gets past because it is the most exciting play right now. Players are being eliminated, like the Matthew Slaters that are drafted for their special teams, or kick returners like Devin Hester that aren't even you know, it's not even the thought to draft those players anymore.
Now it will be if this is passed. I'm one hundred percent for it. This isn't just a guessing game. This is We've seen an example of this in the other league, so I'm one hundred percent behind this.
When you look at a specialty of a design kickoff return, I think it's gonnadd a lot more fun to that return game.
All right, Hip drop tackle NFL Competetition Committee. A new rule would penalize a player fifteen yards and an automatic first down if the hip drop tackle brings a runner to the ground. Richard Sherman, I just wish they forced the entire Competition Committee to create examples of how they expect a defender to tackle the ball carry. I want them to act it out at full speed and create a video for the players. At some point during the creation of that video, they will realize how insane this is.
Tom, you have the floor.
Garbage, absolute garbage.
You're gonna put more on the play to the officials that they're over they have too much on their plate already. I think it's an absolute garbage reaction that it's a It's a bad decision to even sit there and debate.
Jimmie only have ten seconds.
Rip is probably gonna get passed, and so is the kickoff return role. I think both are getting past. Talk to Stephen Jones. These both have a high probability of both pasts.
It's gonna be Can they make it reviewable? That's the question. That is the question, all right for Tom There, Jim Miller, thanks to Charlie Bevins. We've enjoyed Bears Weekly thanks to our special guest Matt money Smith, the voice of the La Chargers. Thanks to our producers as well, Dan Burrilli and Jordan Treadap and thanks most of all to you for listening Blecking of data, our next downt ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Can I thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation The Bears Weekly, hosted by the Mayra, Bearsville, Jeff Juniat and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts are available on the Chicago Bears Official Bears Weekly has been brought to you by Apple Podcasts. Ben Rivers, Igs Energy and Miller liked
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