Speaker 1: Welcome in Tubble Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production
Speaker 1: download the Chicago Bears Official Act brought to you by
Speaker 1: Verizon to follow the team on the go. Bears Weekly
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical Therapy,
Speaker 1: bet Rivers, Cddlling, Connie's Pizza by GIS Energy and Miller
Speaker 1: LIKEE Kira. Your hosts Jeff Chioniac aka the Mayor of
Speaker 1: Bearsville and his sidekick Term the surf Maaster. There.
Speaker 2: We are now a month away from the start of
Speaker 2: training camp and still lots to discuss about what promises
Speaker 2: to be a wild ride in twenty twenty four with
Speaker 2: Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniyak
Speaker 2: from Serious X NFL Radio's Moving the Chains. We have
Speaker 2: former Bears quarterback Jim Miller thanks to Dan Brilliant, Jordan
Speaker 2: tread Up, our producers and of the ESPN studios Kevin
Speaker 2: z Pak Tonight, the executive producer of the Bears Radio
Speaker 2: Network is Eric Ostrowski coming up our conversation with Adam
Speaker 2: Rank from NFL Network. Always entertaining Fella's house.
Speaker 3: Everybody doing.
Speaker 2: We got lots to discuss and not a lot of
Speaker 2: time to do, so I'm going to start tom with
Speaker 2: DeAndre Carter coming aboard this week, another wide receiver, kick return,
Speaker 2: punt return candidate. He only played four games in two
Speaker 2: thousand with the Bears. He's been here before, but DeAndre
Speaker 2: Carter since twenty eighteen, I should say, number two in
Speaker 2: punt return yards, number four and kick return yards in
Speaker 2: the NFL.
Speaker 4: It just makes me think that either is there either
Speaker 4: something more wrong le Deontay pattis that we don't know
Speaker 4: because he didn't really participate very much in OTAs in
Speaker 4: mini camp and number two, if he is healthy, it's
Speaker 4: going to increase the competition of that position.
Speaker 3: Even more, both of the returners.
Speaker 4: And I think with the inclusion of the new kickoff
Speaker 4: return game, if you feel that you've had a past
Speaker 4: with the player that you figure their talent is super
Speaker 4: electric for what the new return game is about, you
Speaker 4: want to bring every one of those guys aboard that
Speaker 4: you can.
Speaker 2: And Jim Chris Batty had him in charge your land
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, second in the NFL and punt
Speaker 2: returns at eleven point seven, so he can he can
Speaker 2: doodge for him too.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And you know I do. I think whether it's
Speaker 5: Petus or Baylis Jones, I think it's up to it.
Speaker 5: It's been kind of a slow burn with Bayles Jones Junior.
Speaker 5: I think we know that he's got to get going.
Speaker 5: He's got to get more production in terms of what
Speaker 5: he's doing. So when you bring in a veteran like this,
Speaker 5: I think it just amps it up a lot more,
Speaker 5: you know, and what's expect because it's going to be
Speaker 5: hard for him to crack that lineup with Roma Donze,
Speaker 5: you know, just drafted for Bayless Jones. So it's got
Speaker 5: to be as a kick returner in my opinion, because
Speaker 5: you've got Dj Moore, you drafted Roma Dunes, and then
Speaker 5: you bring in Keenan Allen. You know, eleven personnel, which
Speaker 5: is three wide receivers for the listeners out there, it's
Speaker 5: the most used personnel grouping in the league. So for me,
Speaker 5: it puts more pressure on Bayleis Jones. How are you
Speaker 5: going to crack the lineup to get in? And it's
Speaker 5: got to be as a returner in my opinion. So
Speaker 5: it's a good, healthy room, let's just put it that way.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it definitely is.
Speaker 3: Tom.
Speaker 6: We talked about the running back room all the time.
Speaker 2: Going to talk more about running backs here, but the
Speaker 2: depth at receiver and you've got a factor in Tyler
Speaker 2: Scott as well. He had chances to return the ball
Speaker 2: last year as well. I'm looking for him to have
Speaker 2: a really good training camp and really tackle some of
Speaker 2: the issues he may have had last season. Yes, the
Speaker 2: burners on Vallas right now too. I mean this is
Speaker 2: year three for Vallas Jones.
Speaker 4: You know, a couple of weeks ago, we are introduced
Speaker 4: to the term dirty ball by Jim Miller talking about
Speaker 4: what the new kickoff could be. You know, Jeff, I
Speaker 4: don't think there's any athlete that's on the Bears roster
Speaker 4: that's not capable of being a kick returner. Because if
Speaker 4: you're not necessarily talking about a four second hangtime son
Speaker 4: in your eyes, trying to concentrate on the flight of
Speaker 4: the ball, maybe in a windy outdoor stadium or a
Speaker 4: confusing indoor stadium. If you're a you know, a Cool Herbert,
Speaker 4: or if you're a Roshawn Johnson, if you're any of
Speaker 4: these guys that are.
Speaker 3: Great with the ball in their hands, you are a candidate.
Speaker 4: And it nowadays, in this new modern day return game
Speaker 4: to be a returner. So we're not so much anymore
Speaker 4: stuck on that proto type returner. We're gonna be looking
Speaker 4: at athletes and what they can do with the ball
Speaker 4: in their hands. That's why even in Pittsburgh the conversation
Speaker 4: of Justin is a part of it, and you know,
Speaker 4: you can't ignore it, and I don't think you can
Speaker 4: ignore anybody on the roster that's an athlete.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they almost have to be like an outfielder in baseball.
Speaker 5: I think it was Special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn of
Speaker 5: the Chargers brought that up, because you're right, with that
Speaker 5: dirty ball, you're gonna need athletes that can field like
Speaker 5: a center fielder. You know, a line drive that just
Speaker 5: comes out and you've got to be able to, you know,
Speaker 5: to and if that ball hits the ground and is
Speaker 5: bouncing around, guys that can scoop it up and field
Speaker 5: a ground ball and those type of things. So they're
Speaker 5: almost gonna be like center fielders, you know, on a
Speaker 5: baseball team with what they're gonna be asked to do.
Speaker 5: And normally you're center fielder is a guy who can
Speaker 5: run and get to those gaps like in the outfield
Speaker 5: to retrieve the ball as quickly as possible, and that
Speaker 5: ball could be bouncing all kinds of crazy ways.
Speaker 4: Because if this new return infiltrates the college game and
Speaker 4: you see college returners, if they go to one knee
Speaker 4: and they catch the ball, they're down. So they're gonna
Speaker 4: have to change that rule if it ever does go
Speaker 4: into the college game to try to get more guys
Speaker 4: ready for the pro game. And so in the pro game,
Speaker 4: if you get down to that knee, like Jim says,
Speaker 4: an outfielder that's taking in an aggressive ball at you, boom,
Speaker 4: You're still alive until you're touched.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: We usually save Tom's thoughts for segment five, our last segment.
Speaker 2: We're gonna throw one in here because we didn't get
Speaker 2: to it last week. Jim so he wanted to know
Speaker 2: division MVPs.
Speaker 6: Of each team.
Speaker 2: So I'll speak for Tommy at Goffer Detroit, Jefferson from Minnesota,
Speaker 2: love for the Packers, and then a debate about the Bears,
Speaker 2: Tom a four pack sweat, DJ Caleb, Jalen Johnson, Jim
Speaker 2: take the baton and then Tom can fill in the blanks.
Speaker 5: I would definitely say golf for the Detroit Lions. I
Speaker 5: think for the Green Bay Packers, to me, it's going
Speaker 5: to be Jeff Haffley. He has to come through, dude.
Speaker 5: They haven't stopped the run in forever under Joe Barry,
Speaker 5: who is their former defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley. They've been
Speaker 5: literally twenty eighth and thirtieth the last three or four years.
Speaker 5: They don't have the ability or have not shown the
Speaker 5: ability to stop the run. So I'd say halflee for them.
Speaker 5: For the Minnesota Vikings, that's hard. I think that defense
Speaker 5: it's going to be Brian Flores, their defensive quarter because
Speaker 5: I think that defense is going to have to carry
Speaker 5: the offense due to Sam Darnold his issues with throwing
Speaker 5: the turnovers and things like that. And we may see
Speaker 5: JJ McCarthy by the end of the year, so I
Speaker 5: would say it's Brian Floor is there as well. And
Speaker 5: for the Bears, I agree with joh I mean, I
Speaker 5: would go with Montes Sweat. He's the leader on defense,
Speaker 5: and much like what Adam Ranks said, they need to
Speaker 5: pass Rusher opposite him to really show up. And I
Speaker 5: think we know about to Von Dexter, But offensively, I'm
Speaker 5: going to say it's Caleb Williams. I just think less
Speaker 5: is more. He shouldn't put pressure on him to do more.
Speaker 5: Less is more for him in order for him to
Speaker 5: get his sea legs under him and get sturdy as
Speaker 5: a quarterback in the NFL.
Speaker 4: But you know, I mean, you heard my other choices
Speaker 4: within the division. If I had to now narrow it
Speaker 4: down to one guy with the Bears, I would like
Speaker 4: to see Montese Sweat if he came up and he
Speaker 4: had a twelve or fourteen SAX season with the contributions
Speaker 4: of the other guys and the aggressiveness now that the
Speaker 4: defensive coordinator can have on against every one of the opponents.
Speaker 4: If Montes Sweat has that type of season, You're going
Speaker 4: to look at some of that resulting in extra possessions
Speaker 4: for the Bears offense, time on the field, and we
Speaker 4: you know, having you know, a defensive MVP from the
Speaker 4: defensive end position from any football team, it really it
Speaker 4: sparks a lot of opportunities downfield for the by linebackers
Speaker 4: and defensive backs.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna throw my angle in it. I agree Golf,
Speaker 2: I'm go Jefferson, Minnesota.
Speaker 6: I love the idea of.
Speaker 2: Hatlee Halfley for the Packers. Because that's the big change there,
Speaker 2: and because of the one ball. We'll discuss this with
Speaker 2: Chris Beatty coming up in segment three, the wide receivers coach,
Speaker 2: So one.
Speaker 6: Begets the other.
Speaker 2: If Montes and his group are killing it, the ball's
Speaker 2: coming out and the ball is getting intercepted. But what
Speaker 2: if Jalen Johnson returns a few touchdowns, cleans up some
Speaker 2: of those dropped interceptions a year ago, and shuts down
Speaker 2: everybody's top.
Speaker 6: Weapon in the division.
Speaker 2: He would definitely be a defensive MVP and MVP of
Speaker 2: the team because there's a lot of great receivers.
Speaker 6: In the division. All Right, we got to take our
Speaker 6: first break.
Speaker 2: Adam Rank of NFL Network joins us here on ESPN
Speaker 2: one thousand.
Speaker 6: Of the Bears Radio Network is.
Speaker 1: Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for twenty
Speaker 1: three years, Jeff Jonyak on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletical dot com to request an
Speaker 2: in clinic or virtual deployment that start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Segment two of Bears Weekly here on ESPN one thousand
Speaker 2: and the Bears Radio Network, Jeff Joniyak tent there, Jim Miller,
Speaker 2: and our old pal Adam Rank, Chicago Bears fan but
Speaker 2: crazy NFL expert from NFL Network the Sick Podcast. Catch
Speaker 2: him on that and mister Fantasy Football as well. Adam,
Speaker 2: thanks for getting up there in California for us.
Speaker 6: We can see you.
Speaker 2: We're only using the audio for the purposes of the show.
Speaker 6: But boy, you got got quite the setup back there.
Speaker 6: I see a lot of a lot of bibblehead.
Speaker 2: You got a fair bobblehead, a Miller bobblehead in the background.
Speaker 6: What do you got?
Speaker 7: You know, I'm still waiting for it.
Speaker 8: You know what I think that they I think we
Speaker 8: should talk to the Bears administration. I think there should
Speaker 8: be some bobblehead. If there isn't, I have not been
Speaker 8: sent one, which is a grave mistake. And number two,
Speaker 8: we should have one, Like why who wouldn't want one?
Speaker 8: I know the Bears already do it job of packing
Speaker 8: the stadium, but that would be a hot ticket.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what a hot ticket would be, Tom
Speaker 2: and Jim, Tom, there should be the five blocks of
Speaker 2: Granite offensive line of the nineteen eighties through the nineties
Speaker 2: of you.
Speaker 6: Guys as one big bibblehead.
Speaker 2: I'm certain a combined bibblehead has never been done.
Speaker 6: What do you think that's gonna come.
Speaker 4: Be the only time that we were all the same height,
Speaker 4: because when he got Van Horne at six seven, me
Speaker 4: and Jay at about the six three six four, and
Speaker 4: Bortsy's sixty six and Jimbo six ' five, it sure
Speaker 4: would be the first time that we all saw eyed die.
Speaker 5: Let me ask you this time because I remember whether
Speaker 5: it's uh, you know, whether it's Olin Crutz or big
Speaker 5: Kat Williams. You know, did you like wearing the darks
Speaker 5: or the whites? Because nobody liked wearing the whites because
Speaker 5: you look like michelin men out there. They always complained
Speaker 5: about the whites when we had to play with.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, that's kind of funny because McMichael used
Speaker 4: to talk about that all the time because he was
Speaker 4: a big fan of the blue. Because as he pulled
Speaker 4: his white pants up so high, it made his torso
Speaker 4: look like it was about eighteen inches long. So I
Speaker 4: think all of us that carried a little bit of
Speaker 4: extra weight were more.
Speaker 3: Fan of the blue than the white.
Speaker 2: Hey, Adam, that's a great entree into what's going on
Speaker 2: with the Bears. We'll talk about the current iteration twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four bouts to unfold, but the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: coming up, and then a matter of days really August
Speaker 2: first did the game, the induction a couple of days
Speaker 2: later of Devin Hester, Steve McMichael, and we got to
Speaker 2: give it to Julius Peppers as well. He had a
Speaker 2: great career obviously with the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers as well as a Bears fan.
Speaker 6: It's a big day. It's a big day with a
Speaker 6: triple threat there.
Speaker 8: No, it is huge, and I think for a lot
Speaker 8: of us, we've wanted to see Devin Hester in the
Speaker 8: Hall of Fame for quite some time. I think for
Speaker 8: a big reason why is during the era that he played,
Speaker 8: he was the biggest weapon for this team, and so
Speaker 8: much so that Tony Dungee fretted about it during the
Speaker 8: before the Super Bowl and was determined not to kick
Speaker 8: in the ball and then decided at the last moment
Speaker 8: or overnight or whatever, it.
Speaker 7: Was like I'm not going to let somebody do this
Speaker 7: to me.
Speaker 8: And then they kicked it to him and he returned
Speaker 8: it for a touchdown and then I don't know what
Speaker 8: happened the rest of the game, but still in that
Speaker 8: moment one of the brightest moments for a lot of people.
Speaker 8: And so it was great to see him in And
Speaker 8: it's interesting too that he's going into the Hall of
Speaker 8: Fame the same year that the Bears took Tory Taylor
Speaker 8: at number four or in the fourth round, I should say,
Speaker 8: because we've been preaching special teams for the last six years,
Speaker 8: trying to get Devin Hester into the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 8: You're like, yeah, like this is this is how important
Speaker 8: it is, like how important special teams players are. So
Speaker 8: it's great to see Devin Hester. And we've talked about
Speaker 8: see McMichael every time that we come on, and I
Speaker 8: can't talk about it enough about how great he was
Speaker 8: as a player. You know that that's one of the
Speaker 8: things about the eighty five Bears is the personalities. And
Speaker 8: it's hard to be, you know, with a with such
Speaker 8: a great team and still try to find your way
Speaker 8: is a part of it, and Steve McMichael is certainly
Speaker 8: one of those guys, and I think statistically belonged to
Speaker 8: the Hall of Fame a long time ago. Finally getting
Speaker 8: his due and I remember I always joke about this too,
Speaker 8: because he was one of my dad's favorite players, and
Speaker 8: then he went into professional wrestling, which I was into,
Speaker 8: and like, oh my god, Michael's here.
Speaker 7: And so for a lot of people who who.
Speaker 8: Enjoyed wrestling who might not have been, you know, either
Speaker 8: alive during the time of the Bears playing in the
Speaker 8: eighties or just didn't realize, like, no, he was an
Speaker 8: excellent football player too, So it's good to see him there.
Speaker 7: And I know that you're.
Speaker 8: Being very nice to Julius Peppers. I don't know that
Speaker 8: I will be, but those two guys, it's great having them.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I want to ask one question about the Hall of
Speaker 4: Fame game, because we're talking about Devin Haster, we're talking
Speaker 4: about Steve McMichael, we're talking about this short term career
Speaker 4: that Julius Peppers had with the Chicago Bears. But and
Speaker 4: I don't know if he'll play a player, no plays.
Speaker 4: But we don't talk about Caleb Williams at all. And
Speaker 4: that's his first NFL game, first time he's going to
Speaker 4: walk onto a field. But we're talking about being ductees,
Speaker 4: not about the newcomers. So I find that kind of
Speaker 4: funny that as much as attention as we are giving
Speaker 4: Devin and Ming and so on and so forth, that
Speaker 4: we're really not given a lot of attention to a
Speaker 4: cast of players.
Speaker 3: Including CJ.
Speaker 4: Stroud, who came on and have one of the most
Speaker 4: explosive rookie seasons of any quarterback in the history of
Speaker 4: the league.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 8: I was thinking about that too, and I'm actually curious
Speaker 8: to see how Caleb sort of handles it because everything
Speaker 8: that he's done since he's been drafted, he's really ingratiated
Speaker 8: himself to the Chicago community. You know, you see him
Speaker 8: around town, you see him at ballgames, you see him
Speaker 8: joining in chance with the fans, and so I'm curious
Speaker 8: how he plays this because he's done such a nice job.
Speaker 7: I want to see.
Speaker 8: I'm sure there's gonna be something, you know what I like.
Speaker 8: I'm sure there's gonna be some sort of homage, And
Speaker 8: I'm excited for the Bears to really embrace this. And
Speaker 8: it's one of the things that I've really enjoyed about
Speaker 8: the short tenure of Ryan Pole.
Speaker 7: Not that the Bears have never embraced.
Speaker 8: The past, but there's really been an emphasis on owning
Speaker 8: the Bears legacy, and it's always been kind of a
Speaker 8: shock to me because you know, this is a team
Speaker 8: that's won nine NFL championships. I know, the super Bowl,
Speaker 8: the last Super Bowl win hasn't been since the eighties.
Speaker 8: But there is still a great lineage here for this team.
Speaker 8: So I'm I'm curious to see how it plays. But
Speaker 8: like you said, you know, you would think that it
Speaker 8: would all be about it would be all about Caleb
Speaker 8: because this is gonna be the friend.
Speaker 7: He's probably not gonna.
Speaker 8: Play, and he'll be on the sideline and he'll be
Speaker 8: you know, interviewed during the game at some point. But
Speaker 8: it is about the guys going in and I think
Speaker 8: that's a that's a nice tribute to those fellas.
Speaker 5: You know, it's interesting, Adam, because this new kickoff rule,
Speaker 5: I think one of the reasons why it passed because
Speaker 5: of great players like like Devin Hester. You know, nobody's
Speaker 5: done what he's done in the game as a returner
Speaker 5: and it you know, you look at the Bears, they
Speaker 5: just signed DeAndre Carter. Teams are teams are investing now
Speaker 5: back into special teams and just how to you think
Speaker 5: it's all going to play out? We may not see
Speaker 5: a lot in the Hall of Fame game. Maybe teams
Speaker 5: don't want to show what they're going to do in
Speaker 5: the preseason, but you know it's going to be interesting
Speaker 5: how it all plays out.
Speaker 8: No, and I think a lot of people too were
Speaker 8: talking about Baylis Jones junior, you know, how this could
Speaker 8: be an opportunity for him to really show himself. They
Speaker 8: and they brought in Carter, as you said, because they
Speaker 8: want a competition there, because they know how important it is.
Speaker 8: And so for me, I thought it was kind of
Speaker 8: a disservice to get rid of that part of the game.
Speaker 8: And again we're spoiled because we're Bears fans. We had
Speaker 8: Devin Hester for so so long.
Speaker 7: But it's like the.
Speaker 8: Kickoffs used to be exciting, Like growing up that was
Speaker 8: that was a real exciting time to watch those kickoffs.
Speaker 8: And I understand player safety is of the utmost importance,
Speaker 8: but you really want to go out there and bring
Speaker 8: back that element of the game, bring the special teams
Speaker 8: back into it. And so again, with what the Bears
Speaker 8: have done during this offseason, it shows me that they're
Speaker 8: really serious about special teams and making this a huge advantage.
Speaker 8: And so I again like you, I don't think we're
Speaker 8: gonna see much of it in the Hall of Fame game,
Speaker 8: but I can't wait to see a play out during
Speaker 8: the season.
Speaker 2: Heck, justin fields are turning a kickoff at the start
Speaker 2: of the Madden twenty five revealed trailer apparently today, how
Speaker 2: about that? But yes, wearing his number two, but it
Speaker 2: was a double reverse again kicking off the idea literally
Speaker 2: that there are going to be some very exciting plays
Speaker 2: in the return game in twenty twenty four and beyond.
Speaker 6: Hopefully, hopefully, I would love.
Speaker 8: To see that. I know that there was a joke
Speaker 8: made about it, but at some point, you know, and
Speaker 8: people are, you know, oh, we don't want to risk
Speaker 8: our back up. But like remember when Cordell Stewart was
Speaker 8: playing like that was such a huge advantage. Anton Randall
Speaker 8: l you know, was a good college quarterback in Indiana
Speaker 8: and went on to be a special team's ace. And
Speaker 8: I think there's a real you know, like there's a
Speaker 8: way to really embrace what you're good at. You know,
Speaker 8: if you think back to Tim Tebow a couple of
Speaker 8: years ago, like he kept giving it a go at quarterback,
Speaker 8: and not to compare these two, but it's like, you know,
Speaker 8: at some point he realized, like I need to find
Speaker 8: other ways to really to get on the field, and
Speaker 8: he realized it too late. I'm curious to see what
Speaker 8: the Steelers do and the special teams.
Speaker 7: Aspect of it.
Speaker 8: That's something that I thought about, and it's a Madden player.
Speaker 7: I'm interested in it.
Speaker 8: And I did not check Twitter today, so I haven't
Speaker 8: seen it yet.
Speaker 6: So I'm sure, Oh, it's out there. It's out there, Adam.
Speaker 8: I'm sure people let that go without without many Yeah,
Speaker 8: knowing the Internet.
Speaker 2: Adam Rank our guest here on He has been one
Speaker 2: thousand of the Bears Radio network. Here on Bears Weekly, Jeff,
Speaker 2: Tom and Jim, you obviously never turn your football mind off,
Speaker 2: even in this so called down period. You're always thinking,
Speaker 2: you got this, uh, this fantasy Lounge series. I caught
Speaker 2: it on I think Instagram. Somebody sent it to me
Speaker 2: and so and you had a picture of Montes' sweat,
Speaker 2: I believe in the background and a little old Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2: So where you hat on fantasy for these Chicago Bears.
Speaker 8: Well, it'll be interesting because the Bears for the for
Speaker 8: the first time in a long time. It's I mean,
Speaker 8: I guess you could say, you know, when Brandon Marshall
Speaker 8: and now Jeffrey were there and Forte, it's similar to that,
Speaker 8: where it's there's a lot of good players and a
Speaker 8: lot of good options, and it's curious because we don't
Speaker 8: know what We don't know what Caleb Williams is gonna
Speaker 8: do yet, don't We don't know where he's going to
Speaker 8: funnel his targets. Now, we knew when Jay Cutler was
Speaker 8: playing quarterback that all the balls were going to Brandon Marshall.
Speaker 7: Okay, that was easy.
Speaker 8: We don't know because there's a lot of varieties and
Speaker 8: a lot of options. You know, Dj Moore obviously was
Speaker 8: fantastic last season. A big reason why Justin Fields was
Speaker 8: throwing to him because kind of, you know, one of
Speaker 8: the few guys who was getting open on a consistent basis.
Speaker 8: But now you bring in Keenan Allen, who's coming off
Speaker 8: his best season, you use a first round pick on Romadonda,
Speaker 8: you still got Cole Comet, and you've got a bevy
Speaker 8: of running backs to try to try to figure out
Speaker 8: which way you were going.
Speaker 7: So the Bears could end up being one.
Speaker 8: Of those teams that's one of the top offensively, but
Speaker 8: still a little bit fuddling to fantasy enthusiasts. We're trying
Speaker 8: to figure out which combination, which player that we're going with, and.
Speaker 7: Guys are not getting overdrafted for that thing.
Speaker 8: The one player that I really like, I think DeAndre
Speaker 8: Swift has an opportunity to really break out this season.
Speaker 7: He was fantastic for the Eagles.
Speaker 8: Last year, but we all know that when they got
Speaker 8: near the goal line, it was going to be Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 8: It was the brotherly Shove who scored fifteen touchdowns. Like
Speaker 8: that has a huge impact on your fantasy running back.
Speaker 8: And I truly believe that Caleb Williams is not going
Speaker 8: to be put in that position when they get near
Speaker 8: the goal line, which should breed opportunities for DeAndre Swift,
Speaker 8: which I think, you know, ever the optimist here that
Speaker 8: he's going to get a lot of those chances. So
Speaker 8: I think it's going to be fun. I think it's
Speaker 8: it might be one of those things. I anticipate Jeff
Speaker 8: going out there and people complaining about, look, well he
Speaker 8: doesn't DJ Morgan all like, okay, sorry, they're winning games.
Speaker 8: I don't care they're scoring points.
Speaker 7: I don't care.
Speaker 8: I think Caleb's actually the guy that you're gonna want
Speaker 8: because he's probably going to show his athleticism running the
Speaker 8: football a little bit, not as much as Justin, but
Speaker 8: still enough to give you a little taste, and they're
Speaker 8: going to be moving the ball. I really do believe that.
Speaker 8: So I think that Caleb is a really good option.
Speaker 8: And of course I would draft him over any of
Speaker 8: the rookie quarterbacks like the Bears did. So I think
Speaker 8: I think there's some good chances, some good opportunities there.
Speaker 4: Hey, Anda, let's stay in the fantasy world and you
Speaker 4: look at this division, because I don't think in my
Speaker 4: lifetime I've ever seen the entire division have the receivers
Speaker 4: that they have, whether it's a receiver, tight end or
Speaker 4: double receiver combination. Where do you think these receivers rank
Speaker 4: in terms of just in the division? When you look
Speaker 4: at a mont Saint Brown and their tight end, you
Speaker 4: look at the two receivers in Minnesota, you look at
Speaker 4: what or what Green Bay has to offer, and as
Speaker 4: you mentioned, all the weapons here in Chicago. In the
Speaker 4: fantasy world, where do the receivers rank in this division?
Speaker 8: Well, I think Jordan Love ruled out the Packers receivers
Speaker 8: by saying none of them were in number one. So
Speaker 8: I got those are Jordan Love's words, not mine, So
Speaker 8: I'm sorry Christian Watson and Dantavian Wicks. Jordan Love himself
Speaker 8: said none of you are number one wide receivers. I'm
Speaker 8: gonna let I'm gonna that stand as far as a duo,
Speaker 8: as a duo goes, nobody beats the Minnesota Vikings because
Speaker 8: Justin Jefferson, we'll see how he rebounds from his injury,
Speaker 8: and his.
Speaker 7: Quarterback, Kirk Cousins, was pretty good like that.
Speaker 8: I know that we made our jokes about Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 8: but that's a really good quarterback, one of the best,
Speaker 8: actually the best downfield thrower since two thousand and twenty one,
Speaker 8: I think, statistically, statistically speaking, one of the best, the best, no,
Speaker 8: the best downfield thrower, which benefited guys like Justin Jefferson
Speaker 8: and Georg Daddison's really good.
Speaker 7: So those two guys are good.
Speaker 8: Aman Ross Saint Brown might be the best singularly, like,
Speaker 8: might be the best number one guy. Listen, Justin Jefferson's
Speaker 8: coming off that injury. I think a mon Ross Saint
Speaker 8: Brown's in that conversation. I was talking about this a
Speaker 8: couple of weeks ago, about my top five receivers in
Speaker 8: the league, and I was like, justin Jefferson, it was
Speaker 8: Jamar Chase, Tyreek Hill. Those three pretty unanimous. And then
Speaker 8: it's like, who are four and five? And there's all
Speaker 8: sorts of combinations. I think a Mon Ross, Saint Brown,
Speaker 8: and DJ Moore belong in that conversation. So but I
Speaker 8: look at the Bears, I think because they're so deep
Speaker 8: as a trio. Again, Keenan Allen is a wonderful wide
Speaker 8: receiver and somebody who lives out here in southern California
Speaker 8: go to a lot of Charger games because it's right
Speaker 8: next to the NFL Network studios. He is the If
Speaker 8: he's not the best route runner in the NFL, I
Speaker 8: would like to know who is. I would really like
Speaker 8: to know who is. And I think the best the
Speaker 8: best part of his game this season will be anytime
Speaker 8: the Bears are facing like a third and eight and
Speaker 8: you're like, Okay.
Speaker 7: Who's covering who?
Speaker 8: Like, Keenan Allen will be wide open nine yards down
Speaker 8: the field, first first down. So you've got those two
Speaker 8: guys and then you've got a mon roster or you've
Speaker 8: got excuse me, Roma Dunza, who to a lot of
Speaker 8: to a lot of people, he was the he was
Speaker 8: the number one prospect on some boards at wide receiver.
Speaker 8: I know Marvin Harrison got all the pub and everything
Speaker 8: like that, but there's a real big buzz for Roma Dunes.
Speaker 8: So I think that trio unbiasedly puts the Bears as
Speaker 8: the top trio in football. Real football fans see football
Speaker 8: all that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's what's going to be fascinating to watch for me,
Speaker 5: adam Is, because when you look at the Bears, they
Speaker 5: were the number one rushing team last year, and what
Speaker 5: they've done to insulate Caleb Williams. You know, I think,
Speaker 5: if you know, for all being honest, we'd ranked the
Speaker 5: quarterbacks in the division Jared Golf probably then Jordan Love.
Speaker 5: And it's going to be interesting how Caleb Williams And
Speaker 5: we'll see what happens with Sam Darnold, but he could
Speaker 5: be replaced by JJ McCarthy and how that plays out.
Speaker 5: Because I think the Bears have insulated Caleb were he
Speaker 5: could have a fantastic rookie year with what is around him.
Speaker 5: Because you mentioned the three wide receivers a Doonza added,
Speaker 5: you know, Cole Comet, the running game, the specialty players
Speaker 5: around Caleb Williams as a whole, I think are pretty
Speaker 5: darn good.
Speaker 8: And you and Jerald Everett is actually a pretty good
Speaker 8: receiving tight end as well, and it kind of goes
Speaker 8: under the radar, but he's pretty good. And then we're hopeful,
Speaker 8: you know, our guy Tyler Scott is going to step up.
Speaker 8: You know, this is I was I was talking a
Speaker 8: Tyler on draft night and I said, this is you know,
Speaker 8: I know it's disappointing, but it's like a real good
Speaker 8: opportunity because Deanna, you need depth at wide receiver and
Speaker 8: that that's one of the things that I really really
Speaker 8: appreciate what Ryan Poles did is because listen, you know
Speaker 8: as well as I do, years ago, they would have
Speaker 8: signed there, they would have traded for Keenan Allen been like, Okay,
Speaker 8: we're good, we're good at We're good at wide receiver.
Speaker 8: It never never addressed it again until something happened. But
Speaker 8: now you really you by adding Roman Dunes and having
Speaker 8: Tyler Scott, who I think at times last year really
Speaker 8: showed some stuff. He's got some things to work on,
Speaker 8: but This is a perfect learning opportunity for him. And
Speaker 8: if he goes out there and he kind of studies
Speaker 8: under these guys and just takes advantage of his opportunities,
Speaker 8: we're going to be looking at four wide at times
Speaker 8: and it's going to be really special.
Speaker 2: Final moments with Adam Rank from NFL Network. So you
Speaker 2: pick every teams record. I don't know how long that took,
Speaker 2: but you did it. You had to blove it at
Speaker 2: twelve and five the Lions in ten and seven and
Speaker 2: swept by the Bears.
Speaker 6: I love that.
Speaker 8: Listen, we we led that.
Speaker 7: We listened to me. I still do this.
Speaker 8: I'm I'm embarrassed because with with tomm and Jeff, I
Speaker 8: always feel embarrassed when I do this in front of
Speaker 8: former greats. We were beating the Lions for one hundred
Speaker 8: and sixteen minutes last season, okay, and then everything fell apart.
Speaker 8: And that's again like everybody's like, well, you thought they'd
Speaker 8: be twelve and five last year. I go, you know, honestly,
Speaker 8: like they had those three games where they had over
Speaker 8: a ninety percent chance of winning in the fourth quarter
Speaker 8: that they did not finish. It should have been ten
Speaker 8: and seven, should have been ten and seven to the
Speaker 8: point like Week eighteen wouldn't have mattered. They would have
Speaker 8: they would have probably sat justin fields, they would have
Speaker 8: started Tyson Bagent, nobody would have cared, and they would
Speaker 8: have went to the playoffs, probably lost. But whatever the
Speaker 8: thing is is like the team is much better than
Speaker 8: everybody wants to give them credit for him And it's
Speaker 8: something that the Lions went through last season where people
Speaker 8: are like, Okay, you were fine last year, but are
Speaker 8: you really good? Then the Lions went out there and
Speaker 8: proved themselves. And I think the Bears are in a
Speaker 8: very similar situation with a team that's top to bottom
Speaker 8: very good. The one, the one leap of faith that
Speaker 8: I was taking with that is that they're gonna address
Speaker 8: the extra edge rusher position, which I truly believe it's
Speaker 8: gonna happen. Whether it's unique in Goatkway or whoever it is,
Speaker 8: There's gonna be somebody, somebody's gonna be brought in. There's
Speaker 8: either gonna be a trade and free agent signing. Something's
Speaker 8: gonna happen, and this defensive line is gonna be even
Speaker 8: better by the time that we get to training camp
Speaker 8: or maybe through training camp.
Speaker 7: So I think I feel comfortable with that.
Speaker 8: I think that the Bears and the Lions are the
Speaker 8: two teams that are I think they're they're above everybody.
Speaker 8: The Packers are good. Like I didn't say that they
Speaker 8: were not bad. I didn't say they were bad. Yeah, good,
Speaker 8: they were good. I'm I'm curious. I know that they
Speaker 8: they were able to vilify Joe Berry and like now
Speaker 8: we'll have it. I'm like, there's still something about your organization.
Speaker 8: It's fine, you're good, but are you good like it's
Speaker 8: it's been a thing.
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 8: I don't want to I don't want to use this
Speaker 8: time dashing. The Packers and then the Vikings, I think
Speaker 8: just have a lot of question marks. We love Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 8: I actually really like Sam Darnald. I'm interested to see
Speaker 8: what he does. I feel like I feel last year
Speaker 8: brought purty when he was injured, got healthy real quick.
Speaker 8: Because I think there was some like don't don't blow
Speaker 8: up my spot here, because if Sam Donald came in
Speaker 8: and played well, then I think that things.
Speaker 7: Could have been different. But it'll be interesting.
Speaker 8: But I got a lot of confidence in the Bears,
Speaker 8: as I always do, and I think it's justified. I
Speaker 8: think the season sets up perfectly for them to gain
Speaker 8: some momentum. I think having a first game against the Titans,
Speaker 8: against a first year head coach, a quarterback who in
Speaker 8: his second year, who didn't play a lot as a rookie,
Speaker 8: you couldn't ask for a better opponent at home, the
Speaker 8: noon game at home, like, no, keep us out of
Speaker 8: prime time, keep us out of Green Bay. That first week,
Speaker 8: we're fine. And then and then I think there's a
Speaker 8: real chance to put some momentum together early in that
Speaker 8: schedule before we get to the back end of it
Speaker 8: where you play all the division opponents.
Speaker 3: Adam, real quick, hard knocks. Are you a fan? Do?
Speaker 4: What do you want to see and is there anything
Speaker 4: you'd like to see them cover?
Speaker 7: I would like I want to see it.
Speaker 8: I do, And I think too, Like I know, people
Speaker 8: think about distractions and everything. These kids grow up with
Speaker 8: phones in their faces since the time they were born.
Speaker 8: For us old guys, god, a distraction. For these young bucks.
Speaker 8: They know what they're doing. They're savvy, especially Caleb. So
Speaker 8: I'm interested to see it. My breakout star is going
Speaker 8: to be Tevin Jenkins.
Speaker 6: Oh okay, very good. That's a good topic.
Speaker 2: As we pick up the conversation as we leave you
Speaker 2: beast to your summer vacation.
Speaker 6: Adam Rank, appreciate it so much.
Speaker 8: Thank you, thanks for having me always honoring a privilege
Speaker 8: to be hog with you.
Speaker 2: And coming up next, our conversation with Bears wide receiver
Speaker 2: coach Chris Beatty. This is the ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 2: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bear's Weekly with a portion of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years Jeff Joni on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is sponsored by IGS Energy.
Speaker 6: Jeff, Tom and Jim. You're on Bear's Weekly.
Speaker 2: At the end of the offseason program, the wide receiver
Speaker 2: coach Chris Beatty, among the other offensive assistants available to
Speaker 2: the media, had a chance to visit with him about
Speaker 2: his arrival in Chicago and.
Speaker 6: What he has to work with in that room.
Speaker 2: And I started the conversation fellas with a simple question
Speaker 2: about do the young guys ask questions?
Speaker 9: But they don't ask him quite as much when they
Speaker 9: vests around. So those guys, you know, you can answer
Speaker 9: questions that they are a little bit embarrassed to ask
Speaker 9: when the older guys are there.
Speaker 6: And since you.
Speaker 2: I aint never considered that honestly, you know, the whole
Speaker 2: classroom thing we get a little interesting.
Speaker 3: It does.
Speaker 9: And Rom is really really smart. I mean, he's a
Speaker 9: really smart guy. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 9: he's got a lot of really good questions.
Speaker 7: All right.
Speaker 2: So you've obviously had a great success where you've been
Speaker 2: and with Keenan and other receivers DJ, but to have
Speaker 2: them all together now in this new group as well,
Speaker 2: how exciting are you.
Speaker 5: As a coach?
Speaker 7: Extremely?
Speaker 9: I mean DJ, I've known for the last ten years
Speaker 9: or so, and then having Keenan the last three. You know,
Speaker 9: I know how good those guys are, and they know
Speaker 9: how I coach, so it's kind of a good, you know,
Speaker 9: melding of each other. And then you know the rest
Speaker 9: of the room is trying to catch up to those guys.
Speaker 9: They all aspire to be in the position that DJ
Speaker 9: and Keenan aren, So those guys are hungry and trying
Speaker 9: to learn and trying to get in a position to
Speaker 9: be successful themselves. So it's really exciting time for all
Speaker 9: of us, I think.
Speaker 2: And and how would you describe that way you coach?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm you know, I would say you know. I
Speaker 9: I always say I'm fair but firm, you know, I
Speaker 9: I I don't. I rarely raise my voice. That's really
Speaker 9: not my style. But at the same time, I wanna
Speaker 9: make sure I we get things done a certain way.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 9: The great thing for me is DJ knows how I coach.
Speaker 9: Keenan knows how I coach. So those guys, you know,
Speaker 9: can give those other.
Speaker 7: Guys ahead the work.
Speaker 9: Yeah, Hey, this is how coach deals with this, and
Speaker 9: this is h kind of my attitude towards things. So
Speaker 9: these are the things that I like. So those guys,
Speaker 9: you know, it makes it easier when you have people
Speaker 9: in the room that know your personality, you know, So
Speaker 9: that's always a bonus not to mention those guys are
Speaker 9: really good.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Are they fun in there too?
Speaker 2: I mean the personalities, I mean things that pop up
Speaker 2: them in an intimate setting of a meeting room like that.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean it's it's interesting to say the least.
Speaker 9: You know, you got different personalities and then you got
Speaker 9: different areas as far as where they are in their
Speaker 9: career stages in their careers. So there's people that feel
Speaker 9: good and open to be themselves, and then some people
Speaker 9: that aren't quite there yet, so they're like just wanting
Speaker 9: to keep to themselves, stay there and leaning until they
Speaker 9: establish themselves. So but you know, I really like our room.
Speaker 9: I like the guys in it. They're working really hard
Speaker 9: and at the end of the day, we're all learning
Speaker 9: because this is a third different system for me in
Speaker 9: three years. So you're trying to make sure that you
Speaker 9: get all the intricacies of it down so you can
Speaker 9: teach it to them, you know, and be in the
Speaker 9: right language, being the right friend of mind of everything,
Speaker 9: trying to get done the right way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't have the luxury right to have. I
Speaker 2: often hear about new new systems, new playbooks and and
Speaker 2: granted it's similar to what these guys did last year,
Speaker 2: but you gotta.
Speaker 3: Know it Cole.
Speaker 6: Now, So is that being a challenge for you with
Speaker 6: three different Nah.
Speaker 7: It always is.
Speaker 9: And the challenge is not necessarily the place a similar
Speaker 9: it's the language, you know. It's being able to speak
Speaker 9: the exact way that Shane wants us, you know, cause
Speaker 9: sometimes you you catch yourself calling something that you used to,
Speaker 9: particularly with Keenan being here. So like Keenan will look
Speaker 9: at me and I'll say it's old this, or it's
Speaker 9: old that as opposed to Hey, it's this, because I
Speaker 9: know he'll understand what it is. But I wanna make
Speaker 9: sure that I get all the burgers down that Shane wants. Yeah,
Speaker 9: and say it in the same language, cause that's important.
Speaker 9: It's important one to let to set the tone the Hey,
Speaker 9: we're all in this together as a coaching staff, and
Speaker 9: it's important to be able to communicate. So if it's
Speaker 9: not me saying it, they're ex understanding what Shane is saying,
Speaker 9: or they're understanding what Carries or Thomas is saying. So
Speaker 9: we're all talking the same language.
Speaker 2: And when when you keep looking at make sure that
Speaker 2: the language is gonna come out.
Speaker 7: Right Day one, Yeah, there's no question.
Speaker 9: You know, my son's already waiting for me to bring
Speaker 9: the iPad back so he can read the calls to.
Speaker 2: Me, there's one ball, a lot of weapons. How does
Speaker 2: everybody stay content within? And I would I would say
Speaker 2: it requires a great deal on selfishness because there are
Speaker 2: a lot of great players on this offense.
Speaker 6: There's one football.
Speaker 7: Yeah, but how do you address that?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Winning?
Speaker 9: You know, at the end of the day, it's it's winning,
Speaker 9: you know, Like when I got here. One of the
Speaker 9: first conversations we have in our room was like, DJ,
Speaker 9: how many Playoffs have you been to?
Speaker 7: DJ was like none.
Speaker 9: You know, Keenan, how many have you been to in
Speaker 9: twelve years? He's been to three? You know, we went
Speaker 9: to one together. And so you say back, it's hard
Speaker 9: to make it to the dance, you know, and if
Speaker 9: you don't make it to the dance, you can't make
Speaker 9: it to the to the super Bowl. So at the
Speaker 9: end of the day, you know, whatever you have to
Speaker 9: do to sacrifice to get there, it's gonna be worth
Speaker 9: it when you win. So of course you want the numbers,
Speaker 9: you know, in that process, But at the end of
Speaker 9: the day, you know, w we all gotta work together.
Speaker 9: Like it's it easier with Keenan and DJ and Gerald
Speaker 9: and Cole and DeAndre Swift and all those guys. Sure, yeah, right,
Speaker 9: Will your numbers be the same as they were when
Speaker 9: it was you and somebody else? Maybe not, But that
Speaker 9: sacrifice is worth it if we all wins. You know,
Speaker 9: everybody always just takes it for granted, you know, and
Speaker 9: then you can't like it's you know, I go home
Speaker 9: and you talk to your college buddies or whatever. And
Speaker 9: they go to bowl games every year. You like, it's
Speaker 9: six and six ain't getting us to a to a
Speaker 9: playoff game in this league. So the end of the day,
Speaker 9: it's a lot harder than than it is, you know, perceived.
Speaker 2: Like one more question, because dj Ab I've always been
Speaker 2: impressed with when he makes even a sideline catch that
Speaker 2: he's his suddenness to create separation is really, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: makes him the special play there. Keenan does that with
Speaker 2: his movements and the way he gets in a position
Speaker 2: to run away with the ball. Are these things just
Speaker 2: instinctive for these two particular talents, in addition to being
Speaker 2: talked to proper well over the course of their life.
Speaker 7: What's what's the what's the key ingredient? Yeah?
Speaker 9: I think there's a little bit of both, you know.
Speaker 9: I think you want to teach them how to attack
Speaker 9: the ball, how to make sure they create space to
Speaker 9: give them a chance. That's one of the things Keenan
Speaker 9: and I have been working on for the last two
Speaker 9: years is trying to be better after the catch, and
Speaker 9: that starts with creating space on the routes, you know,
Speaker 9: and that starts with us calling plays to give them
Speaker 9: a chance. To create space, So all those things kind
Speaker 9: of go together. But then a lot of that stuff.
Speaker 7: Is natural too.
Speaker 9: You know, we all want to take credit for things
Speaker 9: that God sometimes blessed people with or they're hard work
Speaker 9: busts them with too, So you know, I think it's
Speaker 9: a little bit of both. You know, DJ has been
Speaker 9: unbelievable with the ball in his hands for a lot
Speaker 9: longer than I've known, and you know, those things haven't changed.
Speaker 9: And you know since he was at Maryland or at
Speaker 9: Emo Tip in Philly, you know, those things, they just
Speaker 9: more people see him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you project Rome to have that kind of impact
Speaker 2: as well after the catch.
Speaker 9: I also, you know, he did it in college and
Speaker 9: I think he's shown right now he's got the ability
Speaker 9: to do it, and he's got a great frame to
Speaker 9: be able to make you know, he could play a
Speaker 9: lot of different ways because he's rugged, and he's quick,
Speaker 9: you know, and he's got speed, so he's got a
Speaker 9: lot of things to be able to create space and
Speaker 9: have run after the catch. So definitely looking forward to
Speaker 9: working with him, you know, and building up that to
Speaker 9: where we got a lot of run after catch capabilities.
Speaker 2: All right, So Chris Beaty a real interesting perspective because
Speaker 2: he knows DJ Moore so well, Tommy knows Keenan Helen
Speaker 2: so well from his few years in LA with the Chargers.
Speaker 2: What was your takeaway in that conversation.
Speaker 4: Well, I'm glad he encourages the guys who ask questions,
Speaker 4: because I think going into an experienced specter in room,
Speaker 4: the most difficult thing is for a rookie to either
Speaker 4: show he's a better understanding of what they're talking about
Speaker 4: or the courage to ask a question in front of veterans.
Speaker 4: So I like to hear that, but I'd like to
Speaker 4: hear the experience coming out of Baby's mouth, understanding that
Speaker 4: he could take something from every single one of his
Speaker 4: coaching stops talking about bringing his iPad home and he
Speaker 4: and his son going over the information, because it's equally
Speaker 4: as important for him to learn the new information as
Speaker 4: it is any one of his players. So you know,
Speaker 4: it is still we'd look at this four weeks left
Speaker 4: and before they get underway a training camp this time.
Speaker 3: Is probably or is as important to the new.
Speaker 4: Coaches on the staff that as it is to any
Speaker 4: new player trying to make this team.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's interesting to me how he just talked about
Speaker 5: the entire room. You know when we talk about the
Speaker 5: wide receiver room, because there's a big spectrum there. You know,
Speaker 5: you've got these two established veterans that command a lot
Speaker 5: of respect in DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, and then
Speaker 5: you've got this youngster in Roma Doomsay and Baylis Jones
Speaker 5: and Tyler Scott and all the young guys that we've
Speaker 5: talked about that are probably pretty shy. When you go
Speaker 5: in that room and you got those two veteran guys
Speaker 5: that have done it all on every level, and they're
Speaker 5: probably a little bit you know, shy about, you know,
Speaker 5: chirping up a little bit. They're going to kind of
Speaker 5: keep them in check and say, hey, this is what
Speaker 5: you need to know. And I think Coach touched on
Speaker 5: that that how those guys, well, it's an exciting room,
Speaker 5: but how those guys really understand the young guys, I
Speaker 5: should say, understand that. Just watch what these guys do.
Speaker 5: I guarantee you Coach Baty, he doesn't have to say
Speaker 5: a lot in that room because those veterans are leading
Speaker 5: the way and he knows they'll bring those young guys along.
Speaker 6: Coming up.
Speaker 2: One of the biggest stories in the NFC North in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four with Tom and Jim. I'm Jeff Joniyak
Speaker 2: on Bears Weekly and ESPN one thousand of the Bears
Speaker 2: Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff Jonyyak on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: CDW's people to get it.
Speaker 6: Jeff, Tom and Jim on Bears Weekly.
Speaker 2: Fellas want to talk about the biggest stories in the division.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna start with the Bears. I'm gonna throw a
Speaker 2: wrinkle in here. I know everybody and.
Speaker 6: It is about the quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: But I'm gonna go back to our discussion last week
Speaker 2: because Bears dot com Gebbi Haidu did an article on
Speaker 2: Javon Dexter and he's put out there some goals. He's
Speaker 2: got it on his phone. Eight sacks, fifteen tackles for
Speaker 2: lost Pro Bowl, All Pro. He's thinking, Big Tom, how
Speaker 2: important is that just to have that out there in
Speaker 2: his mind? Cleaned up his body, nutrition, diet, lost ten
Speaker 2: pounds of fat, added five pounds of muscle, and still
Speaker 2: a young man and a growing frame.
Speaker 4: What Dicky used to say, what your mind believes your
Speaker 4: body can achieve, and that's what kind of the way
Speaker 4: that you have to think about that in numbers as
Speaker 4: a defensive lineman, as an offensive lineman, my whole life,
Speaker 4: my goal was to limit the penalties and start every
Speaker 4: game because you didn't have a lot of things that
Speaker 4: you could really attribute to numbers.
Speaker 3: And if Jervon Dexter is.
Speaker 4: Able to climb to those numbers in year two, expect
Speaker 4: even better numbers.
Speaker 3: In year three and so on and so forth.
Speaker 4: Gervon Dexter is proved throughout his rookie year that he
Speaker 4: never really hit a rookie wall and he was improving
Speaker 4: fundamentally and technically throughout the entire season. So now he's
Speaker 4: had this time off during the offseason to kind of
Speaker 4: get away from things unlike a year before. Now, if
Speaker 4: he comes in there and he compliments Montese Sweat, and
Speaker 4: Andrew Billings and mar DeMarcus Walker and the rest of
Speaker 4: those guys in the defensive line, that means the defensive
Speaker 4: line is going to take a significant step forward. If
Speaker 4: you're talking about eight sacks in double digit and tackles
Speaker 4: for loss, and I would love.
Speaker 3: To see him be able to do that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's good to have overall goals. Like
Speaker 5: as a quarterback, obviously you want to limit your turnovers.
Speaker 5: But I never put numbers on any of that stuff
Speaker 5: because at the end of the day, card keep your
Speaker 5: mouth shut and good things will happen. The numbers will
Speaker 5: be there if you're out there working, doing what your
Speaker 5: job is, what your responsibility is, and strive to get
Speaker 5: better every every single game, every single snap, every single practice,
Speaker 5: all those things in at the end of the day,
Speaker 5: that your numbers will be where you want him to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The biggest thing for him, I think, and naturally because
Speaker 2: of his length and I'd like to study some of
Speaker 2: those other long defensive tackles and those playing three technique
Speaker 2: is just that pad level, right, Tommy, keeping it down
Speaker 2: as best as possible on every snap, because what do
Speaker 2: you always say, you know, fatigue impacts that over the
Speaker 2: course of a game.
Speaker 4: Well, you know the thing about Travon Dexter, unlike a
Speaker 4: lot of the other guys, well montes sweating, he's a
Speaker 4: much bigger guy.
Speaker 3: After meeting him on the night of the draft, and
Speaker 3: you kind of what you.
Speaker 4: See on TV, Travon Dexter is always going to have
Speaker 4: to be coached to have that great bendability, just like
Speaker 4: every tall defensive lineman, because once you start losing the
Speaker 4: game of leverage against these strong offensive lineman, you're going
Speaker 4: to lose the battle on the line of scrimmage. So
Speaker 4: it's just something that guys that are uniquely are just
Speaker 4: tall and have that length. Even a guy like Hampton,
Speaker 4: he understood how to use his length as a weapon.
Speaker 4: And if Javon Dexter can learn how to use his
Speaker 4: length as a weapon, he's going to be even more
Speaker 4: difficult to block.
Speaker 2: Hey, Jim, we had Gary Fencik on our podcast that
Speaker 2: will drop next Wednesday, Bears, etc. On all the Bears
Speaker 2: platforms or wherever you get your podcasts, and he mentioned
Speaker 2: the loss of the forty nine ers by the Bears
Speaker 2: that preceded their Super.
Speaker 6: Bowl winning year in eighty five.
Speaker 2: And I'm looking at the Lions because sometimes teams don't
Speaker 2: recover from that. But you believe the type of coach
Speaker 2: and the way the Lions are built that that will
Speaker 2: not even be.
Speaker 6: In their mindset.
Speaker 2: They're thinking really big right now like the Bears did
Speaker 2: in eighty five.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't think it's slowing him down. I mean,
Speaker 5: Dan Campbell was, you know, He's going to put the
Speaker 5: pedal to the metal, you know, and push those players
Speaker 5: even And I think they the type of players they've
Speaker 5: drafted are mentally tough players. You know, Jared Golf has
Speaker 5: been through the fire. When they traded for him, Brad Holmes,
Speaker 5: the general manager, knew that he knew what he was getting,
Speaker 5: and Jared Golf when he traded for him because he
Speaker 5: had drafted him out there or seeing him work and
Speaker 5: seen him take a team to a Super Bowl. So
Speaker 5: I think Detroit is a mentally tough team where I
Speaker 5: do not think that, you know, what happened last year
Speaker 5: and how they lost that game to San Francisco, is
Speaker 5: even going to come to the equation. They're not even
Speaker 5: thinking about that.
Speaker 2: Tom Jordan Love, is there any chance you could have
Speaker 2: a sophomore slump?
Speaker 6: And I say sophomore.
Speaker 2: I know he's been in the league a while, but
Speaker 2: as a starter, could that rear its ugly head?
Speaker 3: I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I think it's more up to the health of Watson,
Speaker 4: who hasn't really been an on field guy much, even
Speaker 4: though he's got world considered world class type of speed.
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of changes on his offensive line.
Speaker 4: If he's running away from pressure more than he is
Speaker 4: being protected, you know, he could have that a little
Speaker 4: bit of slump. But I think what he learned of
Speaker 4: the game and his time on the bench, I think
Speaker 4: it allows him to carry carry on what he's been
Speaker 4: able to do throughout his rookie year, all right throughout
Speaker 4: his first year as a starter.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then lastly the Vikings again back to the quarterback.
Speaker 2: Does some Donald have something that he hasn't shown yet
Speaker 2: in your mind, Jim, because I think you keep alluding to. Yeah,
Speaker 2: by the end of the year, JJ McCarthy will probably
Speaker 2: be the starter. But could he surprise I think, well,
Speaker 2: a Geno Smith type comeback, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Adam Gasee coached him in New York obviously for the
Speaker 5: New York Jets. He Sam Donald has all the ability
Speaker 5: in the world, all right, He's got a great arm,
Speaker 5: he's athletic. But his issue is he never know when
Speaker 5: a play. He never understands when a play is over. Okay,
Speaker 5: at USC he had over thirty turnovers and that's been
Speaker 5: kind of his history in the National Football League. He'll
Speaker 5: go out there and try and do too much, which
Speaker 5: can lead to a bad play and to a bad
Speaker 5: series that ends up in a turnover. He's talented. I
Speaker 5: think if Kevin O'Connell's gonna have to be very careful
Speaker 5: in how he calls plays to what are in order
Speaker 5: to corral that. But his history is that's always come out.
Speaker 5: And so for Minnesota, I think at some point, if
Speaker 5: those turnovers start happening, they're going to make a change.
Speaker 5: And they did that last year after Kirk Cousins got hurt.
Speaker 5: You know, whether Allen was in there and all those players,
Speaker 5: Joshua Dobbs and they were rolling through all those quarterbacks.
Speaker 5: He always pulled them as soon as they start having
Speaker 5: turnover issues. That's why they went through four quarterbacks after
Speaker 5: Kirk got hurt.
Speaker 2: Next up, we talk running backs, a deep Tom Thoughts discussion.
Speaker 6: It's coming up next here on Bears Weekly.
Speaker 2: And he asked in one thousand of the Bears Radio
Speaker 2: Network is Bear's Weekly.
Speaker 1: With a voice of the Bears for twenty three years,
Speaker 1: Jeff Junior on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Greek two, calling all Bears fans want unforgettable access to
Speaker 2: see the Chicago Bears play at Soldier Field. This season
Speaker 2: VIP Official Ticket Package is.
Speaker 6: Now available for every home game.
Speaker 2: Unlock access to exclusive ticket packages that may include entry,
Speaker 2: deal in stadium, hospitality, lounges, pregame, sideline credentials, and the
Speaker 2: Chicago City Pass. Visit Chicago Bears VIP dot com or
Speaker 2: call eight sixty six two two fifty seven to fifty
Speaker 2: five for more info. Again at Chicago Bears VIP dot
Speaker 2: com or called eight sixty six two two fifty seven
Speaker 2: to fifty five. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity with Chicago
Speaker 2: Bears VIP. Final segment with Tom Thayer, Jim Mellarim, Jeff
Speaker 2: Joniyak the running back discussion. Tom jogged my thoughts and memories.
Speaker 2: So I filed up with some research. But he talked
Speaker 2: about the back of the decades in the division and
Speaker 2: who that might be here in twenty twenty four as
Speaker 2: the Bears get ready to go. And Tom, since you
Speaker 2: brought it up, what sparked this thought in your mind?
Speaker 2: Because we talk about only it seems eleven personnel. What
Speaker 2: team has a tight end that can threaten the seam
Speaker 2: the quarterback that's going to give him the ball?
Speaker 4: No, I was just thinking about some of the great
Speaker 4: backs within our division through all of our lifetimes. You know,
Speaker 4: Jim and yourself and myself, we're at an age that
Speaker 4: we remember these decades well. And when you go from
Speaker 4: Walter Payton, you go to Barry Sanders, you go to
Speaker 4: Adrian Peterson, and then and I really I'm glad you
Speaker 4: brought up Matt Portey because then I went immediately went
Speaker 4: to Aaron or Aaron Jones, And I was thinking throughout
Speaker 4: the course of our lifetime. You know, the great backs,
Speaker 4: you know, Hall of famers, guys that are on the
Speaker 4: list of all time greats in the history of the league.
Speaker 4: You know, where is the running back position of this
Speaker 4: division going? Are we going to have those runners that
Speaker 4: we've become accustomed to in this division or are we
Speaker 4: going to have to look at multiple personnel backfields, in
Speaker 4: multiple dimensional athletes at the running back position. And so
Speaker 4: that's where we're at, and you know, to ty twenty
Speaker 4: four in where are we going with that position?
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's in true.
Speaker 5: You know, it's you'd very rarely see the bell cows anymore.
Speaker 5: You know, I think right now in the NFL we
Speaker 5: probably say Derrick Henry's one of the last big bell
Speaker 5: cows that Baltimore just picked up that. You know, you
Speaker 5: could probably give him the ball thirty times just running
Speaker 5: it and he can grind it out and finish a game.
Speaker 5: It's more of a specialty gam unit now where guys
Speaker 5: are put in situationally we see running backs split out
Speaker 5: as wide receivers. Now see them coming out of the
Speaker 5: backfield in motion, and they're more of a say like
Speaker 5: Jamier Gibbs of the Detroit Lions. They use him more
Speaker 5: as a as a receiver at the end of the day.
Speaker 5: So it's just more of a specialty position. I think
Speaker 5: in the Belcow backs, the Campbell's of the world, and
Speaker 5: the Walter Payton's of the world, and herschel Walkers of
Speaker 5: the world, and these guys that could just do it
Speaker 5: down in and down out and just carry the load.
Speaker 5: That's kind of gone away by the Dodo yep.
Speaker 2: So who's the best in the division? What back's the
Speaker 2: best in the division? Start with Jim.
Speaker 5: I'd say it's Aaron Jones And I'm telling you you
Speaker 5: watch this Jamiir Gibbs and what he does is his
Speaker 5: second year for Detroit. That is a specialty player who
Speaker 5: is very special.
Speaker 4: I like Gibbs and but I like DeAndre Swift, and
Speaker 4: I like what he can do when you look at
Speaker 4: the weapons that he has already downfield. I think, when
Speaker 4: if you can get an offensive line that keeps their
Speaker 4: pieces and in place for a majority of the seventeen games,
Speaker 4: a guy like DeAndre Swift could come into this division
Speaker 4: and light it up because you have four playmakers downfield
Speaker 4: when you're talking about the three receivers and Cole Kmet So.
Speaker 6: Here's something interesting.
Speaker 2: This is only rushing yards, so it's not a fair
Speaker 2: representation of well you consider the best overall back during
Speaker 2: and this is league wide. I just went back, So
Speaker 2: the seventies, the top back in yardage was OJ Simpson.
Speaker 2: In terms of production, Walter Payton was fourth on that list.
Speaker 2: Eighties it was Dickerson number one, Eric Dickerson, and Walter
Speaker 2: was number two. So Walter bridging two decades yeh right, nineties, EMMITTT.
Speaker 2: Smith far and away in the two thousands, Ladanian, Tomlinson.
Speaker 2: Thomas Jones was number eight on that list, playing for
Speaker 2: a couple of different teams in the twenty tens.
Speaker 6: This one shocked me.
Speaker 2: Lashawn McCoy Shady McCoy twenty twenties Derrick Henry that comes
Speaker 2: to mind, but Josh Jacobs number three on that list,
Speaker 2: with Dalvin Cook at four, David Montgomery six, and Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones at number seven.
Speaker 6: I just find it good conversation, funny and interesting.
Speaker 4: It is because you just bring off names at the
Speaker 4: top of your head and then you start doing some
Speaker 4: real investigative work like that, and then you know you're
Speaker 4: reintroduced to some names that maybe you weren't thinking about
Speaker 4: because we didn't see him twice a year, or they
Speaker 4: weren't on our teams as kids.
Speaker 3: So it's it's interesting to bring up those types of numbers.
Speaker 2: Personally, Jim, I want it all around back that the
Speaker 2: defense has to account for. And you know, if he's
Speaker 2: going to be a three down back, I don't know
Speaker 2: if he's catching it on backfield, I don't know if
Speaker 2: they're just going to run it. But you're right, I
Speaker 2: do believe multiple backs will be used in all four
Speaker 2: cases in the division for sure.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I do think it's it's become a substitution game. It's
Speaker 5: become a down specific game where you're going to use
Speaker 5: specific traits of players and what you're going to showcase
Speaker 5: and what you're trying to accomplish to get the matchups
Speaker 5: that you that you want, and so there's this you know,
Speaker 5: it's that's why it's kind of been devalued over the
Speaker 5: past couple of years. You know, you look at Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 5: He just got the big bump and pay out there
Speaker 5: for San Francisco because what that guy is literally he's
Speaker 5: probably about ninety eighty to ninety percent of their offense
Speaker 5: is going through him with all the other players that
Speaker 5: they have there, but he sets a lot of it
Speaker 5: up and he's he's a special back.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, Tom, if your defense is
Speaker 2: in staff of the run, you're in big trouble. So
Speaker 2: it's gonna it's gotta haunch you on that side of
Speaker 2: the ball. With all these different types of backs, I.
Speaker 4: Mean, we could have a complete show about running back
Speaker 4: choices and like a fantasy world. Okay, you got Christian
Speaker 4: McCaffrey on the board and you have Eric Dickerson on
Speaker 4: the board.
Speaker 3: Where are you gonna go.
Speaker 4: Are you gonna go with the guy that's six '
Speaker 4: to two plus that has the frame of Eric Dickerson
Speaker 4: and what he's accomplished, or are you gonna go with
Speaker 4: an undersized guy like Christian McCaffrey. Where if you put
Speaker 4: Eric Dickerson on a team like the modern day forty
Speaker 4: nine ers, would eighty nine, eighty or ninety percent of
Speaker 4: the offense.
Speaker 3: Still go through his trades.
Speaker 4: I I just think it would be and be a
Speaker 4: really fun discussion you know about you know then and now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Walther Peyton would fit in any era, correct, not
Speaker 2: even a discussion fellas, we are out of time.
Speaker 6: Thank you once again.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next week for Tom Thaird, Jim
Speaker 2: Miller and Spank to our special guest from NFL Network,
Speaker 2: Adam Rank, and thanks to our produce Kevin z Pak
Speaker 2: coming up next Black and Abdalla. Thanks for listening everybody.
Speaker 2: This has been Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 2: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation
Speaker 1: The Bears Weekly, hosted by the Mayra Bears, Bill, Jeff
Speaker 1: Junia and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts are available on the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Official Bears Weekly has been brought to you
Speaker 1: by Apple Podcasts, Ben Rivers, Igs Energy and Miller Lite