Cut over that DJ more zode touchdown touchdown pairs. I am Jeff, Joni whitz is on dot go.
What was like playing for coach?
I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure coming is a big trouble.
Dot Go Motest Sweat.
Bears, et cetera.
Brought to you by Miller Lte with the voices of the Bears, Jeff, Joni and Tom Sayer.
Welcome back to Chicago, Bears to have us all in Lake Forrest. The off season program officially underway as of Monday, the fifteenth, Tax Day time. I know we loved that day. We just love a great time to reflect on how you spent your money over the last year.
I try to save as much as i ken Jeff.
Yes, you do. You know you're about as creative of a fine like financial planners would love you. No, they oh, you are spinthrift.
Right I am? I am spend thrift for sure, But you know that's a story for.
Yes, it is. Anyway, It's good to be back and ready to row in under ten days before draft days, so it's exciting. Indeed, the Bears right now picking one in nine and trying a new course for the future. And the doors did open up at hat US off of the offseason program. I think twenty plus teams underway. So that involves you know, getting in the gym, Tom getting in the weight room. That's a big part of it.
Well, better not just start right now. That's a process that has to start maybe two weeks after the season is over, and then it's you kind of ramp it up and then you get into that strength gaining period that the Bears should be in now. But it's something that they should have been a part of their own trainers at home. But they have the one of the top facilities in all the NFL and some really creative minds up there to get themselves ready for the upcoming season.
And you know, the draft is always an interesting time for guys. This is a young football team. There are some veterans on it, obviously, but roster positions are open for business. And you know, I know you always, at least you always told me you sweat it out the draft weekend a little bit, right, because if they draft your position, it's a full flop sweat right it is.
You know, you got to figure out, Okay, what type of season did I have and how did my season end and my exit interview with my position coach and the head coach. What type of feeling do they give you as you left the building. And then if you sit there and they said, okay with the third picking, uh, the you know, in the third round offensive guard, so and so, all of a sudden you are unnoticed that you did have an exit interview. But they're understanding that
this player was too talented to pass up. So the competition increases at an alarming rate the night of the draft.
You played your whole care with the Bears except for one year with the Dolphins, but there was no exit interview with the Dolphins. Correct you or you were going to retire? But if you did have one, give me a Mike get Ditka exit interview and a Don Shula exit interview.
Well, Mike Dickett interview is more of an ex player and where do you think you are going forward? And the coaches always used to say, look, if your arrow is pointed up, we're going to continue to coach you like you're a member of this team. If your arrows ever pointed down, we're going to look to replace you. So you know, what type of how do how did you what type of season do you feel you have, were you healthy throughout the season, do you feel that
you complimented the offensive line throughout the whole year? And how does your body feel at the end of the year. And then Don Shula when he told me after the last game I played for him, and I told him, I said, Coach Shula, I'm thinking about retiring. He's Tom, he said, Tom. One thing I want to tell you
is I never listened to that trend. The first couple of days after the season's over, as we approach mini camp, give us a call and let us know how you're feeling, and we'll have you know, we'll determine, you know, we'll make a determination at that point. So you know, Mike Dicka never the seriousness never left his face or what
he expected out of you. I think Don Shula had a different type of feeling about you in terms of what you how you could help the football team, and where you were at in your career.
So did he give you like, Hey, Tom, we need you to do X, Y and Z. Why don't you coming in at this particular weight. We're disappointed in your physicality in this particular situation. I mean, did he get that detailed, because I do believe it gets that detail nowadays.
You know, Mike never, Mike Dickon never knew that I ever had to be encouraged to be in the weight room. He never. He always knew that I was always going to show up in shape. He knew that we are kind of a committed group of offensive linemen, that we are there for the everyday work process and with the help of Dick Stanfeld. But you know, as you did get older, and if he felt that your performance was sliding, he would let you know and he would tell it, Look,
we expect better out of you next year. So you know, come ready, but come to compete. You know, we're not gonna sit here and guarantee you a job as you walk out the exit room.
This episode of Bears, Etc. Is brought to you by Miller Lite tastes like Miller Time, Celebrate Responsibly, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and three point two carbs per twelve ounces. So the Bears are going to get better in a couple of weeks. The draft is exciting. Picks one in nine barring any trades, two impact plug and play starters.
What will that mean for this roster that's been reshaped and built by general manager Ryan Poles and his staff and coached by Mattie Refluse in your opinion.
Okay, let's feel that's gonna take Caleb Williams number one. Let's just assume that they bring in Shane Waldron, a new offensive coordinator. These two have to attach a relationship immediately. And then how much does the quarterback position affect the rest of the offensive positions and then the overall performance
of the football team. And I think it's super exciting from what we've seen over the pass of what a new quarterback can bring to an organization for that first year ie C. J. Stroud or many years down the road, i e. Patrick Mahomes. So I think as an exciting position anytime a new quarterback comes aboard this high in
the draft. And then, you know, I don't know what to think about number nine, because Ryan Poles is a super interesting GM that's been able to, you know, add more picks throughout the draft, and that's what we've become accustomed to. So I would target that player at nine that if he was there, I would take him and I would never look back. If I had a targeted player at number nine in a couple different positions and they weren't there, then I would think about moving back
and adding more picks. So I think it's super exciting. It's something that we've been talking about since the day the season ended, because you knew the Bears were going to have the number one pick in the draft because of what the Carolina Panthers and how they finished. But I think whenever you talk about number one and number nine, wow, I mean, you can add so much to a team.
But you know, Jeff, it seems to me that over the last ten years in the draft, no matter what round you pick in, you can add a contributor to the roster, sometimes immediately, like a guy like Braxton Jones or a player that can develop into a special player within a season.
Two. Look at the La Rams did last year with their defensive tackle Kobe Turner, and obviously Pokinako was and they became a playoff team with a veteran quarterback. You know, in Matthew Stafford, I'm the schedule for the Bears. As a matter of fact, this year in twenty twenty four, you know, there's clouds of players when you draft as a general manager, you know there's gonna be a window
of players. So if it is tackle, or if it is edge or if it is wide receiver, there there's going to be a cloud of players, and you'll you'll be comfortable with any of those players at various spots. So, yes, I envision a potential for trading down. If that player that you can live with and you still think is greated the same way as two other players is still there,
you can get more draft picks. So you know, I was almost singularly focused leading up into the really deep dive of what's going on right now and just getting ready for our show, our draft show on ESPN one thousand on Draft Night and just the whole draft weekend,
and that leads us into the rest of the season. Actually, with all this information is that you know, if somebody wants to come up and get ninety, you can get down into an area where you know you're gonna get a really good day, one starter, even if it's in the mid teens or early twenties, and you're gonna be able to add maybe three more draft picks and maybe
one next year. I'd be interested in that. I don't want to like everybody's saying, we're going to be talking to Bucky Brooks here in just a moment from NFL Network, their fine analyst and draft expert, former scout in the NFL, and a former kick returner as well. We're gonna talk
about some of that. But there's so many ways you can go in building this roster even better than with just a one and the nine that you know, I'd be open to that, and I think you have to be as a general manager, I would too, But I.
Would have an edge, a tackle, and a receiver that I would have. If they're there, I'll take them, and I'm not looking back. If I had one of those three designated to one of those three players and they weren't there, then I would do everything in my power to move back and get more picks. Also, Jeff, So, when Roger Goodell opens to the draft and says, okay, with the first pick in the draft, the Bears are on the clock, I'm not gonna run to the podium immediately.
I'm gonna let that time tick away to see if someone is still gonna give me that interest call at number nine. You know what I'm saying. So I'm gonna add I'm gonna add more time to that ninth pick conversation. And so if in everybody's going, oh my god, are the Bears? Are they thinking outside the Caleb Williams pick. No, But I'm offering more time for the number nine pick.
Game day snacking costs for good foods, chunky guacamodi made with has avocados, tomatoes, onions, sodachrowing a squeeze of lime juice. Score some today at your local grocery store because game day is guac day. All right, Let's just look at the receiver position for a moment, because there's a chance that that could be along with offensive lineman. Okay, Peter Schrager from NFL Network did a mock draft, his first one, but he added this nugget that he's just not throwing
stuff up against the wall. It is lying season in the NFL. Of course, nobody's gonna show all their cards, but he insists. And I have a lot of respect for Peter Schrager, former writer and has done a great job with Good Morning Football on NFL Network. But he worked the phones. He's trying to make this an intelligent mock draft. So he had nine offensive linemen in the first round, eight wide receivers and a tight end, five quarterbacks with Nicks the fifth Penix not in the first round,
and nine defensive players. So the most ever has been nineteen offensive players in the first round. If this were the case, would be the first time in history that'd be that number of offensive players. So with the heavy emphasis on the offensive line, receiver, I want to talk about receiver for this podcast. You have what you have on the team right now in DJ Moore. You have Keenan Allen to all pro caliber players. They do different things,
they will compliment each other. You've got Tyler Scott and as of right now, that would be your big three. Baylis Jones is still there. He figures to be the kick returner with competition. So are you looking for what to compliment what you believe Caleb Williams will bring to the table, what Shane Waldron will call as an offensive coordinator and the scheme the Bears are going to run. So you want a guy who separates. Do you want a guy who's going to be a fifty to fifty
contested guy. Do you want to run after the catch guy? I mean, I know you want all that in one but what don't they have what they currently do have that interests you in the type of receiver, not the name, but the type of receiver you're looking for.
You know, the biggest concerned when the Bears had Willie gall was it would always make the safeties lineup deeper than anybody else that didn't have that world class track speed.
And to me, if you know, like we're the kid that ran the fast forty, you know, if you go back and you look at his durability and how many games he played and started, I would have interest in a player that has that type of blazing ability because you're almost guaranteeing yourself you're gonna have one on one coverage or else you're gonna have the safeties that are lining up so far off the line of scrimmage because
of that blazing speed concern. You're going to open up the underneath for DJ Moore, for Keenan Allen, for Cole Kamet, for Gerald Everett, for Swift and you know all the other guys that have the opportunity to touch the football. And so, do I want a six foot receiver to match up with Dj Moore? Not necessarily? Do I want a guy that is a six one six ' two guy like Keenan Allen, not necessarily, but is there that guy?
Is there a guy there that has that blazing speed that every defensive every defensive coordinator is has their safeties already lined up off the line of scrimmage in a backpedal position because if he does have that double move or else he has that streak route and you don't jump them, it's gonna be six.
All right, Well here's how I'm looking U. Okay, so most passes in the NFL these days are ten yards
or less. Correct you're slot receiver that is just a dynamic route runner coming right into the league, a guy not unlike what Puka Nakua did last year or what guys like Edelman over the years, Ammondola or those type of guys that you know they're gonna they are gonna have a symbiotic relationship with their quarterback right out of the gate because they're gonna get completions, they're gonna move the sticks, and the big plays go for the outside guys.
Now not saying DJ and Keenan can't do that as inside guys either, but a guy that is in that kind of where he's gonna get yards after the catch. He's gonna be a physical player, he's gonna be a guy and and and that's somebody that would be different. What do you think of that?
Yes, but where Jeff looks those three guys that you just mentioned, where were they drafted these you're talking receiver? Is that you know, third, fourth?
Yeah?
You know ability? So you don't you you don't have to go out and you know, get a Danny Amadola in the first round.
And I'm not I don't care what round. I don't care what round.
Yeah, but but if you're told so, I'm I was assuming that we're talking about number nine.
No, I'm just talking about what kind of receiver would add to the mix.
You know, you know what is his name, Xavier Leggett. There's another receiver who is a profitable receiver. He's really good, he's got good size, he's got good speed, He's had a great career, and so you have to define exactly what you're looking for out of that receiver position. And again, I was with the assumption that we are talking about number nine, and if you were going to add a receiver, what was going to compliment this this group the most and to me, it's always that guy that you know
a few years ago. The fastest forty in the history of the combine is John Ross. Yeah, this is his last name.
Yeah.
And he he had no catches his rookie year. He really didn't have a very good NFL career. But if you look at worthy and you look at the amount of games played, the type of program he was playing in, he's the type of guy that if you're looking for a blazing speed that has catches attached to it, he's that type of guy.
There's so many it's a matter of what flavor you ice cream you like, right, I mean, there's so many guys that are intriguing you here because of the impact now of spread offenses in high school to the college game, the seven on sevens, I mean, there are so many, no question about it. Were brought to you by pee Official Bank of the Bears. Let's jump into our conversation
with NFL Network analysts Bucky Brooks. Please to be joined by one of the veteran analysts out there on the NFL landscape from NFL Network, Bucky Brooks, And a reminder that NFL Network providing live coverage of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft in Detroit, April twenty fifth through the twenty seventh. He is a busy man and kind enough to carve out fifteen minutes with us. How you feeling, Bucky, Thanks for joining.
Us, Hey, thanks for having on Gus.
How you doing doing fantastic? You've been doing this a while now, So I'm gonna start out before we get a bit into your background. What have you learned about the twenty twenty four draft class? Because each years, as Tom and I dig in as well and get ready for our Bears draft, we also look at the bigger landscape of the league and everyone seems to be its own animal. How are you looking at twenty twenty four?
Well, twenty twenty four is a bit of the COVID class, and so what you have is you still have some older guys who were granted the extra year from COVID. You have some younger guys who are coming out, so
you kind of have a mix of players. When you talk to people around the league, they will tell you that it's a good draft at the top, but it kind of falls off a little bit once you get into the fourth round, just because the depth and the talent, and so what you may see a lot of people get out of those picks at the end of the draft because they feel like there'll be better picks coming down the road in twenty twenty five and beyond.
You know, Bucky. From the time you start evaluating the draft getting closer to this year, and then you see a couple of players that jump up with board. You know, one guy like Mitchell, the defensive back after Jeft did the senior ball, this guy is one of the more talked about risers on the board. Is there anybody else that stands out in your mind that has become that attractive, you know, pre draft.
Guy, I would say like j Mitchell definitely has kind of got the buzz. I think people are coming around on Cooper de Gene from Iowa a little bit more.
I think there's a great appreciation for his game, particularly after he had a great Pro day the other day we were four.
You throw in his time, his athleticism, with what he was able to show at Iowa, which is a really good program when it comes to producing.
Like everybody on defense, but particularly defensive backs, I.
Think the buzz is kind of he's kind of caught fire of late where he probably could be a top fifteen, top twenty pick. And I would say the other guy. Medical is always an issue with Peyton Wilson from NCI State inside linebacker, who prior to the Combine wasn't really
in discussion as a first round pick. But after he runs four four five and does all the things that he's been able to do, people are now considering him as a first round and I think that's something that many of us didn't expect given his medical situations.
Yeah's Tom's been on him. You've been on Peyton Wilson, right.
I'm just a little worried about that because he's so fast and I think about the impacts and the collisions he has with the injuries had How about this for a question, Bucky. So you look at what brock perty has been able to do and I don't like the term mister irrelevant to me, another draft choice. And then you look at the ascension of JJ McCarthy. You know, there's more similarities between those two guys in body style
and four years in a college program, good coaching. And then you see what brock Purty has been able to do. Do you think that helps JJ McCarthy be more highly thought of or is he his own is he as his own person?
I would say the brock Purty example is a good one, but I would say the guys that benefit most from the brock pretty discussion will be Jade Daniels, who finished his career with fifty five starts, Bownicks, who has sixty one starts, and Michael Pennix, who is well over forty.
And the thing that.
We're seeing the guys who start a ton of games at a collegiate level are better prepared to have success at the NFL level.
When it comes to playing quarterback. That's just look.
It used to be an old thing that Bill Barcels used to have the bar Sales rule. The game is different, but he used to want guys that were two and a half three year starters. He wanted them to have thirty starts at least. He wanted them to have twenty three wins. He wanted to be college graduates because there was a level of maturity or whatever.
Now the game has.
Changed where you can't use that hard and fast rule like he was using it. But if you kind of adapt it and you make it where it's about.
More experienced, more game reps more maturity. You tend to find.
Guys who can play because Aid and O'Connell was an older guy last year, we had a bunch of starts and.
It worked out for him. But yeah, brod Perty's.
An example of the many front officers are using trying to figure out how they can find the right quarterback for them.
Bucky Brooks, our guest hereon the Bears et Cetera podcast, Bucky, it drives me nuts. I cannot stand the reference. And we all make it. We all make it as analysts here ourselves is played by a play team. We do it. We don't like to lose grip on the past. We believe football is football right and we say you can't do things nowadays. The quarterback position being the most important in sports, there should be a ramp up period. There
should be the experience level. And to throw these guys out there, like many are going to do in this draft and have done in many it really is a disservice to them. And then you throw in the coaching and if they have an offensive coordinator who makes them makes them sink in year one, they're getting head coaching jobs. And I got to learn something all new them again.
It's this cycle of the quarterback position. Teams are falling all over themselves, Bucky trying to spend the money to find the right guy, and it's not often successful.
No, it's not off his because the hardest position to build around. I would say, like you guys, as Bears fans and followers and supporters will hate this, but having spent three years in Green Bay, like having watched how the organization would develop quarterbacks in the mid nineties, so Brett Fahr was in the middle of his three MVP run. Mike Holmgren and Ron Wolf were big believers and always
bring a quarterback in every two years. They were big proponents of you can never have enough that night sixteen to won a Super Bowl. Jimming Man was on that team. Doug Peterson was on that team as the backup quarterbacks. Todd Deptman was there the year before.
So it was always about developing the quarterback and having multiple guys in.
What has gone away is before it used to be you would sit and you sit behind a veteran you would learn how to play, and no matter how I came in, you weren't getting onto the field for like a year or two. We saw that happen with Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer sat behind John Kitney and he was the number one overall pick. We saw Philip Rivers sit for two years behind Drew Brees. He was a fourth overall pick. But those guys were Pro Bowl players by their third year.
So there is something to taking a slow, methodical approach to the quarterback position. The issue that you have the fan base doesn't typically go forward, and a lot of times that noise kind of filters into the building and ownership is like, Hey, the fans are clamoring for the guy who got to get him on the field, and that kind of changes the timeline for everything.
That brings us to Caleb Williams USC getting to know him as you have from watching tape, analyzing and watching what have you learned about him? That will translate well, assuming the Bears do go with him at the number one overall pick.
Yeah, he's the presumptive number one. I would say that normal a few different.
Ways, right, norm from who he had been at USC and Oklahoma before that.
Super talented player, talent jumps off the tape.
I won't go so far as to say that he's a generation of talent, But what I will say is he's a spectacular playmaker who has a flayer for the dramatic, does a really good job of take raising his game in big games, and so he handles the pressure of kind of being the guy to go from Oklahoma where he dazzled and knocked Spencer Ratler out of his position in Spencer Radler has been talking about in the Heisman Trophy candidate, did him making a way to SC following
Lincoln Riley and handling all the things that comes along with being the star quarterback at SC. You give him credit for that, but when you talk to his teammates swear by him. They say he's a great teammate, really good leader, loves the moment and those things. I was friends of a high school defensive coordinator who went against him in high school when he was at Gonzaga Prep back in the DMV, and he's like, look, man, this dude has been the same way since he was in
high school. So when people talk about like the dad or family or any of that stuff, he's handled everything with class. He's been terrific when it comes to being able to block out the noise, and so that gives me hope that he's going to be able to handle all the expectations and pressure being the number one quarterback in Chicago, because he's stepping into a situation that's different than the one that Justin Field stepped into right now.
I think if you poll people in.
The city, the expectation we're going to drop Killer Williams in and we're going to go to the playoffs and beyond. That's a lot for a young quarterback to do in this first season, but that's gonna be.
The expectation when he steps into the field.
You know, Bucky, I like your top five dark courses, and Joe Milton is always I've always been intrigued by this guy because he's an incredible looking athlete. So if you had an experience of a quarterback like this, to go behind Josh Allen, to go with Jim Harball, or get into a program like the Chicago Bears where they have two guys that start off but they have limited expectations for a while of a guy like Joe Milton,
but you could possibly develop quarterback collateral. What do you think about a guy like that.
I don't think it's ever a bad thing to double down and invest in a quarterback position.
So if you're proposing, like, hey, they take Kelly Williams.
Number one overall, but then Joe Milton is there, maybe in the fifth, sixth, or seventh round, Yeah, you take a flyer on them.
And what you're doing is you're.
Basically doubling up, kind of like the Washington football team did years ago when they took RG three and had Kirk Coveins. And if you're in the business of developing quarterback, it is the biggest and most valuable trade commodity that you can have if it works.
Joe Milton is intriguing because of the size, because of the arm talent. Look. He played at Michigan on the Harbor. I didn't get on the field much, but.
He has that in his bag, and then he had success playing when he had an opportunity at Tennessee. Is not perfect, it's not always pretty, but just in terms of the raw material that he brings, he's certainly worth kicking the tires on a scene if you can develop.
When I was getting ready to do the Senior Bowl for Serious XM, a guy walked out on the field with no uniform and I'm like, I'm not quite sure who that is, but man, that's a man right there. And then he started flinging the ball eighty yards just warming up. So just crazy, all right, final moments. So the number nine pick is also like in a normal year, we're all excited about top ten pick, right, we got the number one overall, we got number nine assuming they
stay there. What the popular discussion has been, Bucky here
is okay, what are the needs for the Bears right now? Well, edge is one of them, certainly, another edge to pair with Montese sweat the discussion at wide receivers certainly because of the talent in that top ten presumably, and then also offensive line because you can never have enough what fits for you based on what you've learned in two prior drafts from Ryan Poles and what he's done after stripping it to the bear wood and building this thing
up to now set the stage with a franchise quarterback coming in as well.
Yeah, so there's so many different philosophies that Ryan Poles could take and subscribe to in terms of building this team up. Some would say, like Bill, strength on strength, which is the quickest way that you can make one side of the ball great.
So you talk about the.
Investment that they have on the offense, Ken Allen teaming up with DJ Moore, you have Cole Comet, you have Jero Everett coming.
In, you went DeAndre Swift.
If you just think about, man, if we had a guy like a Roma done Day and we put him in, we got three legitimate wide receivers that can play, Three big wide receivers that can I always say handle the elements in terms of being able to catch the ball and deal with the cold weather into Windy City in Chicago in December.
To me, that would make a lot of sense.
Look, I would also like for them like Matt Eveflus did a really good job when he took over his decoordinator. Mantest Wet was better than many anticipates when he got traded for.
They need a complimentary rusher. But it comes down to waighing.
How do you create the receiver that is there versus the pass rusus there. I would say if it's one of the big three, those guys probably get the nod with a.
Significant margin over the top pass rusher.
That could be there, which would be Dallas Turner or Layout to Latua Jair Verse.
Well, Bucky and I'd like to get more into talking about a guy like Austin Booker that you highlighted. However, I'd like to get your feelings about Devin Hester because when I look at your background, you have a similar position resume of Devon and now you think of him going into the Hall of Fame. What are your thoughts on a guy like Devin going into the Hall of Fame and what he's been able to accomplish.
One is great and I worried about him getting in because I was like, man, he might be the last of the great kick returners that we talk about having gold jacket consideration. I will say that I remember I just started scouting when Devin Hester was coming out in the big conversation and what position would we play? Like, what would be the position that he plays outside of being the return that will it be a wide receiver, will.
Be a BB in those things?
And I think what Devin Hester would go down as he was an ultimate I would say momentum changer. His his kick and punk returns they were I mean, look they were musty TV.
And the amount of times.
That he was able to flip the field and change the tenor and the temple of the game with a big return.
I think they appreciate that. Part of why I think you saw the change and.
The kickoff rules of the kickoff return rules this year, is they want some of that energy and that electricity back. That play was significant for so long and it become kind of a ceremonious, you know, like play.
But now it's back.
And so I think Devin Hester has a lot to do with how we team builders, people in the media at our and rage, how we view the position because he was nothing sure to spectacle with the ball in the sands of the kick return.
Oh yeah, he was ridiculous, Bucky, ridiculous. And you know, shortly after that new rule change and Tom and I were pounding, man, we're all season long. We would just get annoyed at the you know, the touchbacks, the indifference in returning, and now special teams is back. It's back and hopefully better than ever in twenty twenty four. Bucky,
appreciate it so much. Thank you do a great job. Also, we love you with our buddy Daniel Jeremiah, as you guys break down college talent all season long and certainly on the podcast Move the Sticks. With the NFL season so keep up the great work. Appreciate you, Bucky.
Thank you, Bucky. Appreciate Its awesome.
So, hey, Bucky does a heck of a job. All those guys at NFL Network, Charles Davis, Daniel Jeremiah, and they really break things down in a really understandable way. Everybody's got different opinions. I've been what I've been doing with all these position profiles. I've been putting like the Kuiper grade. You know what position number do they have
them at? Overall? So I have like seven different guys just to get an idea of And you know, guys aren't too far off the beaten track from one another, certainly with the first round, but as you move into the deeper part of it, it definitely changes. But just some really good stuff there from Bucky Brooks. But here's what I love, because you're a thinking man, Tom, You're a thinking You're always thinking. You got a lot of
time to think. You threw in Joe Milton. Yes, when I mentioned in that interview, as you just heard that I saw him walking out of the practice field. You know, I didn't know if he was a defensive player or if he was a tight end. I didn't know, and it was Joe Milton. And that's a football player. That's a football player, and I've seen where teams will likely gonna give him maybe a chance to play tight end.
But I love that your thought process was, Hey, if you got a heck of a coaching staff, and you got guys that you believe are teachers, you can make this guy possibly into something. What a project that would be based on his old overall traits and talent and arm strength. Now that's not all that you need. Obviously, Remember Rohan Davey could throw the ball eighty yards too from LSU and did not amount to much of a
quarterback in the National Football League. The one thing, though, I went back and looked at what his completion percentages throughout his life have been, and in high school not once did he had fifty percent completion percentage, So that inaccuracy is really a challenge.
For him right Well. The only reason that I was, you know, I've seen Joe Milton play, I've seen his arm strength, I've seen you know, his body's size and shape. And if he did come aboard the Bears either in a free agent or a late round draft choice, and he's not going to interfere with the development of Caleb Williams. And so if you brought in a young guy like that and then you took this talent and you started to develop them him in a quarterback capacity, you're gaining
you're gaining value with him. And now you know, I mean, it's not urgency to get him ready to play by week three. No, it may be getting getting ready him, getting him ready to play quarterback in year three, but it is. You know, you've had an eyewitness account and it's hard to deny that when this guy comes out of the locker room, he's spent time in the weight room. He's an incredible athlete. You know, he's he's really strong's
he played in the big Time SEC program. So you know, it's just kind of thinking outside the collateral box.
The moment he gets in the league, he's got the strongest arm in football.
Yeah, that's not no doubt.
I don't think it's debatable. I mean, that's how that's how crazy that is. Hey, when it's time to tackle some game day deals, then go with the grocery. He's been a part of the Chicago area since eighteen ninety nine. Jewel Osco the official grocery store of the Chicago Bears. All right, Larry Mayer, doing great job with Hall of Fame previews of Devin Aster and Steve McMichael. Julius Pepper's coming up in August. But you had the occasion to
be an ALS fundraiser over the weekend. Our good friend Dan Pompeii called me this morning, as a matter of fact, said he has a new partner, and I wasn't picking up what he was laying down. And here it's Tom Thare and you had some really nice things to say about about Steve. As he continues, man, I just hope the Good Lord gets him to Canton in one piece and enjoy that moment. That's you know, that's all you can ask for at this point.
You know, it's a super supportive crowd to the ALS community of four hundred people strong, doctors and people that are afflicted with it and just the supporters. So I think a lot of people that sat in that room really don't know Steve McMichael. So I gave him the perception of Steve McMichael and the reality of Steve McMichael, because at one time one Ming and I were talking and he says, Hey, tom Me, I won't to tell
you something. You ever get the chance to talk to people about Mango, I want you to tell them the truth. I want you to tell them the what kind of guy I was, what kind of teammate I was, and how tough I am, And that is all Steve. But the perception of Steve is is he's one of the most intelligent, congenial, supportive teammates that you could possibly imagine. He was a mentor of mine. He helped me be a better offensive lineman because he was such a great
defensive lineman. He was super supportive in the weight room and around the locker room. So when you talk about the Mango, the ming, the merciless, you.
Know, all the you know these characters.
First the nicknames of Steve McMichael. He was, but he was also one of the greatest men in the history of the Bears.
Well, you know, and the greatest. The greatest name attachment to him that you could possibly have for you is friend.
Yeah he was, Oh, you know, but I had so much respect for me because he is older than me, and he mentored me to be a better offensive lineman through his skills as a defensive Lineman. There's times at practice I would get out there early said hey, Tommy, come here, I've been noticing this about you in your stance, and I want you to try this. And you know, he would give you those hints and clues and just an incredible he's incredible teammate.
That's that's part of why you're a Hall of Famer. It's called intangibles. You know, when you look at Hall of famers, it's not just skill, it's not just their athleticism, it's not their traits. It's the intangibles that get them there.
It is. It's this overwhelming desire to be great, this overwhelming desire to be a good teammate, the insatiable appetite to win and to you know, basically, you know, basically kind of live almost on the edge of fear, you know, on that that straddling that fence of living with fear of failure.
That's that's life.
You know.
That's why two hundred and twenty games he was so incredibly successful. Longevity and dedication.
Busy Heart, Seltzer Flavors for every Vibe, Celebrate Responsibly, Most and Course Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All Right, you're not on Twitter or any of the social platforms, but you get you get stuff sent to you. I know you do. You come up with stuff I don't even see. But there's a guy named Warren Sharpy does a lot of
fantasy football analysis. Very deep guy, very technical, very numerical, but he does a strength of schedule forecast every year in his own way, however he does it, and I thought it was interesting as it pertains to the Bears. So last year against playoff teams, and this is probably a predictable situation, they were one in six against what
amounted to playoff teams. A year ago, non playoff teams, they were six and four against those teams, teams above five hundred, one in seven teams that when they faced him, we're below five hundred or in the end of the story of the season under five hundred six and three. So the Bears beat teams that were in their area code, so to speak, and did not do well against the
really good teams. But now they got a revamp roster that's added some more veteran impact, and we'll add a franchise quarterback, we can say, and another top ten pick potentially, and another year with Matt Eberfluse a new offensive scheme, and they, according to Warren Sharp Web, the third easiest schedule in twenty twenty four. Do you care about that? Do you put that in the pot and shake it around?
I mean, things change because every team's trying to get better, and there's going to be a handful of teams are going to be significantly better than they were a year ago, and they weren't considered a playoff team a year ago or maybe not even considered one this year. So this is somewhat of an exercise in futility because you really don't know. But how do you take it?
Ah, That's kind of why I'm glad I don't have social media because you know, listen, one of the most too important game, most three most important games you have to win twice, and that's Green Bay in Detroit, and they were both playoff teams in Minnesota. You don't know
what's going to happen to those guys this year. So you know, if you talk about, oh, yeah, they got the easiest schedule, okay, but if you don't beat teams within your own division, it doesn't matter what type of schedule you think that you have, right, So can you beat Detroit twice, which you should have last year, and can you beat Green Bay at least once this year? So that's where you know, my concern and my interest is in the strength of scheduling because and I'm glad.
I love the fact that Montes Sweat is already told put his teammates on notice. Look, man, we got to beat the Green Bay Packers or else. So I appreciate that so much by Montes, And when I do get to talk to them, I'm gonna thank them for this because it's something that needed to be said.
Yes, the forehand, it needs to dominate the locker room. Yes, for packer weeks. So the Bears are playing last year's playoff teams this year, the Rams, the forty nine ers, Houston, Green Bay, and Detroit twice. So that's seven games against last year's playoff teams. But I went looked also, they got nine games unless I got the math wrong, Nine games, Tommy against teams with a starting quarterback with two years or lesson starting experience. Do you look at that at
all as anything to hang your hat on. With a defense that finished the year extremely strong and has a lot of momentum moving into twenty twenty four.
I don't minimalize it down to one position. I look at it the overall accomplishment of the football team and where they're where they're headed, you know, So I you know, it's you know, you can look at you know, the Houston Texans with CJ. Stroud. Okay, he's going to be in the second year at the quarterback position, but he also as a rookie let his team into the playoffs, right just Jordan Love is a second year starter and he had a season that was a pretty darn good season.
Jared Goff, I think he's closer to being sacked than he is to escaping the pocket and throwing you know, a lot of completion. So I don't know, to minimalize it down to one position. I think it's unfair for the rest of the guys on the team.
And we're talking about Carolina. We'll face them with Bryce Young, will face a Washington team with a new quarterback, presumably we'll pick in the top three and stay right there. And New England also we'll have a new quarterback, a young quarterback.
Minnesota.
Minnesota, we'll have a young quarterback and maybe it'll be JJ McCarthy who knows all right. Lastly, talk about KEELEB. Williams, Dan Briggler, who does a great job for the athletic and his Beast Report. I think it's eight hundred pages long. I threw this nugget at you the other day, a very impressive stat about Caleb Williams one hundred and ninety nine pass attempts on third and fourth down, did not throw an interception. That's significantly. That is significant.
Well, listen, every offensive coordinator, every office, quarterback, coach, everybody talks about protecting the football, and I mean, that's the ultimate protecting the football, my gosh. And to have that type of knowledge and discipline and everything that goes along with protecting the football on third and fourth down, my gosh, that's one of the most impressive stats that I've heard from a college quarterback in a long long time.
Tastes like Miller Time. Go to Miller lite dot com slash bears pod to find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six cavalies and three point two carbs per twelve ounces. That's going to wrap us up today, Tommy. Nice job out again, Buddy.
Oh yeah, looking forward to it, looking forward to listen. I'm looking forward towards a draft because we've talked about it with such frequency and such role of importance that it's going to have in the future of the Bears. I look forward to when that number one pick is given to Roger Goodell. Then they get down to the rest of the draft and see where Ryan Poles and his staff, you know, kind of figures out the route they're going to take.
Yep, and get down to business. Next week we'll have our podcast with some comments about Ryan Poles and the tune up before the draft. Every NFLGM has to speak on it before the draft, so it'll give us a little nugget or two. I'm sure I've got the annual award at Hallis Hall that leads up to the draft, that is truly a Bears tradition. That's a Brian Piccolow awards. A veteran and a rookie from last year will get
those honors. And so that's the cycle. Like Mattyberflus always talks about the cycle of the snaptom, this is the cycle of the season. Like you get into this rhythm of what to expect different mileposts and then leading into May when you've got mini camps in the start of OTA. So very excited about it all for time and also thanks to Bucky Brooks from NFL Network. Thanks for listening. Please subscribe now on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcast. Speare it out everybody,