Corey: I am usually a "wait and see" kind of guy when it comes to the draft because every guy drafted is unproven by NFL standards. Sure, some did very well in college. But we know about 50% of the first round picks fall with a thud when trying to get to and produce at this level. We also know there are sleepers in the draft every year.
You are talking about a completely different time period from when Ditka coached to the present day. You can't compare that part of it to today's athletes or society. I am talking about the starting point...wins and losses and talent or lack of. And a guy like Ditka couldn't coach in today's game.
LTHSCorey: I am usually a "wait and see" kind of guy when it comes to the draft because every guy drafted is unproven by NFL standards. Sure, some did very well in college. But we know about 50% of the first round picks fall with a thud when trying to get to and produce at this level. We also know there are sleepers in the draft every year.
This isn't an easy task and I have always said the toughest thing about scouting is trying to project where a player will be in the future. It's hard.
You seem a little impatient. But, you brought up the 1985 Bears. I will remind you when Mike Ditka took over that team in 1982, I would argue he had a better starting point compared to where the Bears are today. He told his players to give him three years. I know in today's NFL teams go from bad to good, in general, in a shorter period of time. But the 2022 Bears were one of the worst teams the organization has had in our lifetimes.
The Bears had a ton of holes from 2022 and anyone who thinks you can plug all those holes in one draft hasn't been watching much of the team's games. The Bears need players. Lots of players who can hopefully plug some of those holes this year and next.
I am still skeptical of the Bears as an organization and past evidence makes it that way. But, I do like what I see so far with this draft for the most part. There are people who say Fields needs protection. Then when they draft an OT you have other people saying their run defense was the worst in the league last year. That is what I mean by all the holes that need plugging.
But carry on. I am enjoying your posts.
But, it's not just "we got the OT from Tenn for the #1 pick"
You’re right but let’s see what they do this year and then next year. I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Bears brass but I am trying. The other big factor to consider is the Bears are cheap.
The “Bears are cheap” narrative is just not true. It’s 2023 btw, the league is totally different.
They are very cheap! Have been and still are. Sure the Bears will pay a couple players but if they build a team that is SB worthy they won’t keep the team together because they won’t pay what they are worth! It’s they way they do things.
You're not alone. I hope I am wrong about him as a person, but I wish he would have followed another 1st round pick in staying out of the spotlight for the draft. IMHO, too soon to be standing on a stage basking in the glory of being a top 10 pick when your most recent headlines appeared in the paper for the wrong reasons. Could have had a much better public showing by being heard but not seen. I hope Philly supports and guides him to be a gracious and humble pro. The irony is that the other first rounder had no reason to stay out of the spotlight, just pure humility and privacy. #respectthat
Agree. The draft is such a crapshoot I like getting as many picks as possible, trying to pick smart, and hoping more pan out than crap out. Especially when you have so many needs. That said they could've gone for an edge rusher instead of a 3rd DT.
100 percent correct. The (insert NFL team here) are just cheap and not committed to winning is always a false flag. As was mentioned, almost all teams spend approximately the same on players. What is different is how it is spent. That is a matter of wisdom and future forecasting, not one of commitment to trying to spend/win.
The Bears have had one of the lowest cost scouting departments in the nfl for a while. Players aren’t the only equation into team costs and investing for success. I don’t think the McCaskey’s cheapness is the reason for the bears lack of success however.
Yes the cost of a scouting operations dept. may play a role. A bigger role is probably the choice of GM, which the Bears have gotten wrong several times in a row. Hoping that has changed. Either way, it is organizational functionality more than investment that has been hindering success.
I have told this story before and for some who didn’t see it I will tell it again. I was on vacation with the family in Florida. We were out at the hotel pool sitting at the bar kids swimming having a good time. Along comes a couple of guys from the beach area. As I looked up at the guy sitting next to me I couldn’t help but notice it was Mike Alsott. He was hanging out after just doing a radio show. Mike was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yes this was the year they won the superbowl. Great guy very humble. He was actually trying to keep a low profile so not to be bothered. We talked a little about how TB was doing and his role with the team. Mike couldn’t have been more down to earth. I asked him why he never played for the Bears being an Illinois guy. He told me he was a big Bears fan growing up. His words, he would never play for the Bears and he said it wasn’t because the fans. He said the fans in Chicago are great. The Bears ownership is horrible and they are cheap. Sure they will pay the star or two, but all you have to do is look at what they did with the 85 team once they had to resign players that were deserving.
I feel like Thibs will destroy his knees like Thibs is known to do ie Rose Deng & Levine.
Sure we can move on from the 1985 Bears...just as soon as they finally win another SB which won't be for a while now. In a way you're making Corey's point. Because it goes to show just how awful the McCaskeys have been all these years.
If the Bears management wasn’t so cheap and would have resigned players they could have won several more. Okay now I will move on. 🤣
Corey, Speaking of sh*tty owners...Rick Morrissey has an outstanding column in today's Sun Times where he rips Jerry Reinsdorf. This follows another outstanding column written yesterday in the Sun Times by Lawrence Holmes in which he did the same thing. I cannot stand Reinsdorf. The guy is a thief and a liar. And I always go back to what Harry Caray once said years ago about him. "I didn't like Jerry Reinsdorf and I didn't trust him" Harry was spot on.
Lol
I actually was kicking a soccer ball around this past weekend with my 4 year old granddaughter in California. Don't tell anyone.
But even if the Bears end up playing in Soldier Field for another 100 years, the demo will happen. Whatever that property becomes, it won't be another horse track.
I meant it's not 100% Bears build a stadium on the site.
If Vallas had won, the Bears would be talking to the City again"Chicago Bears officials met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli Friday morning to discuss the possibility of abandoning their plans for a new stadium development in Arlington Heights in favor of building it in Naperville."
"There remains outstanding questions on the team getting certainty on property tax limits and public subsidies to help build infrastructure for the project."
Chicago Bears meet with Naperville about plans for new stadium
Plans to build “the largest single development project in Illinois history” are “at risk” in Arlington Heights, the Chicago Bears said in a statement they released Friday in conjunction with their meeting.www.chicagotribune.com
The latest episode from the soap opera staring the McCaskey family.
We get it, the Bears want us to chip in for their new stadium at the least cost to them.
Unfortunately for the McCaskey's, history has shown us that the projections as to benefits to the communities where new stadiums are built are pie in the sky and the tax payers end up with the short end of the stick.
www.investigativepost.org
