Speaker 1: Welcome me in double Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production.
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Speaker 1: Weekly with the Voice of the Bears Jeff Shodynia on
Speaker 1: the New Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Them New Bears drafted last week, providing more building blocks
Speaker 2: for the future. We hear from the men who built
Speaker 2: that class and from the tenth pick in Round one,
Speaker 2: offensive tackle Darnell right here in moments. Good to have
Speaker 2: you alongside this evening, great weather here in Chicagoland beautiful
Speaker 2: and this is Bears Weekly on ESPN Chicago and the
Speaker 2: Bears Radio Network. Joining me as always a broadcast partner,
Speaker 2: Tom Fair and from Serious XMNFL Radios. Moving the chains,
Speaker 2: Jim Miller. We're here today until seven o'clock. Our producers
Speaker 2: Dan Really, Jordan Treadup. Thank you to the executive producer
Speaker 2: of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrotski, and thank you Jay.
Speaker 2: Can't you taking care of business at the e PN
Speaker 2: one thousand studios, gentlemen, reactions dominating the headlines over the
Speaker 2: course of the week. Of course, everybody's grading everything. We
Speaker 2: don't do that, but what do our experts believe happen here? Tommy,
Speaker 2: We'll start with you.
Speaker 3: Big Jeff. Thanks.
Speaker 4: You know what, all I'm looking forward is to getting
Speaker 4: the rookies on their feet and look how they take
Speaker 4: the classroom onto the field and look to see what
Speaker 4: their assets have been presented to us.
Speaker 3: Before they were ever drafted, to see.
Speaker 4: Really how they fit into that role, to see how
Speaker 4: they're going to be able to fit into the competition
Speaker 4: of the position that they've been picked for.
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of things that you have.
Speaker 4: To look at individually about the player, but it's all
Speaker 4: about their athleticism, how they react according to the position
Speaker 4: they play.
Speaker 5: And Jim, Yeah, you know, I like the draft. Obviously
Speaker 5: when you get Darnell right, many thought he was definitely
Speaker 5: one of the top right tackles in this draft. I mean,
Speaker 5: this guy was down at the Senior Bowl and he's
Speaker 5: just was ascending the whole time. You come away from
Speaker 5: the Senior Bowl. He started to work his way into
Speaker 5: the first round, and you know, I think they got
Speaker 5: themselves a nice right tackle. Well, we'll see how these defenders.
Speaker 5: I think Tyreek Stevenson, the cornerback from Miami, a lot
Speaker 5: of length there. He's a bigger defensive back like a
Speaker 5: James Bradbury type of player for the Philadelphia Eagles. And
Speaker 5: you know, the defensive tackles both Gervin Dexter and Zach
Speaker 5: Pickens a little bit different when you look at the size.
Speaker 5: But Pickens to me is really quick off the ball,
Speaker 5: so we'll see if he can have an impact defensively.
Speaker 5: And rush On Johnson, the running back who they took
Speaker 5: from Texas. Unfortunately he had the broken hand at the
Speaker 5: Senior Bowl and had to leave, But you know, when
Speaker 5: you're sharing time with one of the best running backs
Speaker 5: in the draft, Bijon Robinson, this guy is still a
Speaker 5: quality back that I think can be a player for
Speaker 5: the Chicago Bears as well. But a lot of picks.
Speaker 5: We'll see where they all find a spot and if
Speaker 5: they can all fit and they'll have that opportunity, because again,
Speaker 5: I don't think there's any sacred cows or anything slated
Speaker 5: for everybody just to be an automatic starter. These guys
Speaker 5: are going to have to earn it.
Speaker 2: Bears are already reportedly agreeted terms with their fifth round picks,
Speaker 2: linebacker Noah Sewell out of Oregon and cornerback Terrell Smith
Speaker 2: out of Minnesota. Too very athletic and very nasty players
Speaker 2: of their positions. All right, before we break things down,
Speaker 2: coming up tonight, we've got Ian Cunningham, the Bears assistant
Speaker 2: general manager, kind enough to join us for a second
Speaker 2: consecutive We will join us live coming up at the
Speaker 2: bottom of the hour. We'll also here from general manager
Speaker 2: Ryan Poles. But I had a chance to sit down
Speaker 2: right after the draft and his arrival in Chicago with
Speaker 2: the first round pick, the tenth pick in the draft
Speaker 2: and hopefully signaling a long tenure career in Chicago tackle
Speaker 2: Darnell Right. You know, for me, it's always an honor
Speaker 2: to interview guys who get to this level because you're
Speaker 2: one tenth to one percent of the greatest athletes in
Speaker 2: the world to get the honor of playing this game.
Speaker 2: And then you're doing it now for this franchise, charter
Speaker 2: franchise in the National Football League, just dripping with history.
Speaker 2: How's that settle away?
Speaker 6: I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 7: I mean, like you talk about a team or a
Speaker 7: franchise that's one of the original teams of football, probably
Speaker 7: popularized football for all of America.
Speaker 6: Really, So it's just it's crazy that.
Speaker 7: I'm here and they thought I could blend in and
Speaker 7: do something good for this program as much as I
Speaker 7: think that I can. So it's just I'm happy to
Speaker 7: be here.
Speaker 2: What is it that you think you can.
Speaker 6: I don't think.
Speaker 7: I don't only think I've already scratched the surfaces of
Speaker 7: what I could become, really, and I'm just happy to
Speaker 7: take that next step and see what that next level is.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, now you don't have to study classes anymore.
Speaker 8: You don't have to be a college student.
Speaker 2: Now you're a businessman, right, ready to play a sport
Speaker 2: that you.
Speaker 8: Grew up love.
Speaker 2: And that's also a big hurdle for some folks, you know,
Speaker 2: to getting over to that. Are you excited not just
Speaker 2: to be football focused no more?
Speaker 8: You're not training for track anymore? No, right?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm not running around and fan X. You know, yeah,
Speaker 7: I don't think it would be a big hurdle for me.
Speaker 7: You know, there's also there's that foundation you got to build,
Speaker 7: like anything, But you know, I'm happy to just focus
Speaker 7: straight ball. I mean, it's something that I've been I've
Speaker 7: loved to do since I don't know how long. But
Speaker 7: just to do it as a job of me is
Speaker 7: I feel like I'm I feel like I'm pulling the
Speaker 7: biggest trick ever. I'm out here making you know, money,
Speaker 7: just to do something I love to do.
Speaker 2: So well, it'll get serious, man, It's gonna get serious.
Speaker 8: And a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: I heard one of the best quotes I read about
Speaker 2: you was one of the scouts that I follow said,
Speaker 2: he's a grizzly bear. Plays the game like a grizzly
Speaker 2: bear that's just coming out of hibernation.
Speaker 8: You ever hear that one?
Speaker 7: You know, I never heard that exact quote, But I mean,
Speaker 7: is that how you play? I mean, we'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 2: I think you play with an edge of my friend
Speaker 2: and a little hungry like that bear. Now you're going
Speaker 2: from Grizzly Bear to Chicago Bear. So that's how they
Speaker 2: used to play in this team. Franchise history is all
Speaker 2: about that, that kind of nastiness, and you can see
Speaker 2: it in your snaps for sure. Is this something that
Speaker 2: you were born to do?
Speaker 7: It's definitely in me, So you know, I just got
Speaker 7: to make sure I don't flip that switch too much,
Speaker 7: flip it game there so.
Speaker 2: Well, you know I've heard you say that more than once.
Speaker 2: So do you need to flip a switch to get into.
Speaker 8: That mode on game day? Or are you always on
Speaker 8: the edge a little bit?
Speaker 7: You might hear the same people might say, you know,
Speaker 7: there's nobody that can just flip the switch. I think
Speaker 7: that's just I don't think that's real. You know, if
Speaker 7: I was sitting here staring at the face, you think
Speaker 7: this guy is probably something wrong with him, you know
Speaker 7: what I mean. But when it's you know, when it's
Speaker 7: time to go like it's you know, you feel that
Speaker 7: you get I don't know what to talk about it
Speaker 7: for real, might flip the switch right now?
Speaker 8: Yeah, but I I'd love to see it.
Speaker 2: What do you love about this game? And do you
Speaker 2: love this game at at a level that is beyond.
Speaker 8: Passion for the sporting?
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's I mean, this is I don't have a plan,
Speaker 7: and there's no plan b you know what I mean,
Speaker 7: there's no It's not like y'all be like, oh yeah,
Speaker 7: I have to make it. I'll do this and that's
Speaker 7: all I got. So this is what you see here
Speaker 7: is what I got to give.
Speaker 2: So when did it crystallize for you that you were
Speaker 2: going to be NFL possible?
Speaker 7: It doesn't necessarily just crystallize at once. I guess if
Speaker 7: you say it would have when it did crystallize, be
Speaker 7: like somewhere around my junior year in college. And but
Speaker 7: you know, you go through those times where you think
Speaker 7: maybe I'm not good enough, but then you get better
Speaker 7: and then you think, oh, I can really do this,
Speaker 7: so just it changes.
Speaker 6: But we're here now.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think the SEC can make a lot
Speaker 2: of players think they're not good enough because it's essentially
Speaker 2: an extension of what we have right now in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Right you face to everybody. I mean you can go
Speaker 2: all the way back to your freshman year. Uh that
Speaker 2: did that harden your edge to get here to play
Speaker 2: the same I mean.
Speaker 8: It's not gonna be too big for you.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and definitely it's not gonna be too big. And
Speaker 7: I've I've obviously NFL you're not gonna get the competition
Speaker 7: that you're gonna get, and you're not gonna you're not
Speaker 7: facing the NFL players every single like every single player
Speaker 7: in the SEC. But it's the closest, like you said,
Speaker 7: it's the closest you can get to it, and it
Speaker 7: definitely helped me a lot.
Speaker 2: Would it be fair to say it seems like maybe
Speaker 2: you got up for the big ones?
Speaker 7: Though, I mean I think you everyone, I think everyone.
Speaker 7: I mean it's hard to not to. And in this league,
Speaker 7: everyone's the big one. So if that's my problem, you know,
Speaker 7: I guess we're all do it.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I enjoyed the personality, and you know, you flip on
Speaker 2: Tom and Jim the tapes of his play against Georgia,
Speaker 2: his play against will Anderson and Alabama, those are very
Speaker 2: signature moments and he really hauled himself up really well.
Speaker 8: Tom overall reaction and head over to Jim.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: You know the thing about it is when you're six
Speaker 4: five plus three hundred and thirty three pounds, you don't
Speaker 4: blend in.
Speaker 3: You are it.
Speaker 4: The reason that you were picked in the first round
Speaker 4: is you guys have to come in here and be
Speaker 4: a difference maker on this football team is that struggled
Speaker 4: last year on the offensive line and is searching for
Speaker 4: immediate help. So this is not a passive approach to football.
Speaker 4: In the flipping the switch thing. I think it's more
Speaker 4: of a game day adrenaline. You don't carry the same
Speaker 4: adrenaline a round with you Monday through Saturday during the
Speaker 4: course of week of preparation and practice, but you have
Speaker 4: that adrenaline flow unlike any other on game day, whether
Speaker 4: it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, Thursday, whatever the case is.
Speaker 4: So I like his personality. I think he'll be more
Speaker 4: engaging the more time he has. But Darnell, it's not
Speaker 4: time to blend in, it's time.
Speaker 3: To be in.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's He's definitely not a band aid on the
Speaker 5: offensive line. This guy's going to be a foundational player.
Speaker 5: Agree with the tape on Will Anderson. He kind of
Speaker 5: just swallowed him up that whole game against Alabama. When
Speaker 5: I talked to Darnell, he thought the toughest pass rusher
Speaker 5: he went against was bj Ojulari. But this guy's a bulldozer.
Speaker 5: When he gets his hands on you, forget it, it's over.
Speaker 5: He can physically redirect you, and very rarely do you
Speaker 5: see that happen in the NFL, where an O lineman
Speaker 5: can physically move a defender. Normally it's about stalemates. Tom
Speaker 5: can talk about that, but This guy can physically like
Speaker 5: redirect defensive opponents that he's going against. This is a
Speaker 5: very strong football player.
Speaker 2: YEP six five and three h three thirty three the
Speaker 2: last listed weight for darn l Right. He was named
Speaker 2: the best blocker by opposing linebackers and defensive tackles during
Speaker 2: Senior Bowl practices.
Speaker 8: He definitely had a great week.
Speaker 2: When we come back, a conversation with general manager Ryan Poles.
Speaker 2: This Bears Weekly on AESPN one thousand and the Chicago
Speaker 2: Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff jony Aik on the Bears
Speaker 1: Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Tom a student one day, prepare for the combine and
Speaker 2: all the testing season the next drafted, then you're in town,
Speaker 2: meet the media. This week you're at mini camp and
Speaker 2: a couple of guys already signed this Bears draft class,
Speaker 2: reportedly Noah Sewell and Terrell Smith out of Oregon to
Speaker 2: Minnesota respectively. Before we rejoined, Jim and Tom sat down
Speaker 2: with the general manager, Ryan Poles. Look back at what
Speaker 2: occurred last week.
Speaker 8: In the draft. All right, can you exhale now?
Speaker 6: Yeah, just a little bit, just a little bit.
Speaker 2: Hey, recap the four months January, February, March, April, and
Speaker 2: did you check all your boxes?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 9: I think we did, I really do. You know, once
Speaker 9: the draft ended, you kind of sat back in your
Speaker 9: chair and I had our guys pull up our depth chart,
Speaker 9: and I just I couldn't be happier about the work
Speaker 9: that we put in and the progress that we've made.
Speaker 6: The roster's heading in the right direction. Again.
Speaker 9: The goal is to compete for championships, and you got
Speaker 9: to have the players to do that.
Speaker 6: You know, our.
Speaker 9: Job is to build a football team. It's to build
Speaker 9: a locker room. It's to build a culture that can
Speaker 9: withstand a lot.
Speaker 6: Of different things. And so there's different pieces.
Speaker 9: It's the talent, and we do a fantastic job in
Speaker 9: this room identifying talent. But then it's the person, the makeup.
Speaker 9: How do they what do they bring into our locker room?
Speaker 9: What do they bring to our team. I've talked about
Speaker 9: it before. You know, we're gonna go through some hard times.
Speaker 9: You always do, no matter if you have a Super
Speaker 9: Bowl roster or a roster that you're just trying to
Speaker 9: get up off the floor. And that resilience piece, that
Speaker 9: group that can stay together. That's so important to us,
Speaker 9: so we always keep that in mind. We want to
Speaker 9: bring a really good group in here that can play
Speaker 9: well together.
Speaker 6: So that's the emphasis.
Speaker 9: And a lot of times you may find some really
Speaker 9: good talent that at the time it just doesn't make
Speaker 9: sense for your roster at that time.
Speaker 2: Culture's big. Obviously it was established, you've established it. Same
Speaker 2: mind thought on it process with Matt Eberfluss. Was there
Speaker 2: anything about it that it needed a boost in in terms.
Speaker 6: Of the locker room, in terms of culture, I.
Speaker 9: Just say, just continue to bring in some good young
Speaker 9: players that have energy, that have charisma that they're hungry,
Speaker 9: and that's what we did. All these guys have a
Speaker 9: chip on their shoulder and they want to prove that
Speaker 9: they can play in this league and then help this
Speaker 9: organization win championship.
Speaker 2: Are you only looking for guys with chips on their shoulder? Yes,
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean a lot of these guys, man,
Speaker 2: they were five star prospects, had great careers in some
Speaker 2: of the big conferences like the SEC. Obviously in the
Speaker 2: Big ten that do most drafted conferences. But even those
Speaker 2: guys have chips on their shoulders.
Speaker 9: They do because you know they're driven to prove that
Speaker 9: they can do it.
Speaker 6: At the next level.
Speaker 9: They might be five star recruits, they have a good
Speaker 9: college career. Now that next step is to be great
Speaker 9: at the highest.
Speaker 6: Level, at the pinnacle of this game.
Speaker 9: And you can tell through our research, through you know,
Speaker 9: folks at the schools that are with these players, to
Speaker 9: sitting down and interviewing them, you know one on one
Speaker 9: that they have something.
Speaker 6: To prove, and that's what you look for. Lukeatz, you
Speaker 6: had the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 2: A lot of your coaches for the top five drafted
Speaker 2: from the Senior by accident or was that really an
Speaker 2: important evaluation process in terms of find out what makes
Speaker 2: guys tick?
Speaker 9: Yeah, important part of the evaluation process.
Speaker 6: We had a unique view.
Speaker 9: Just with Luke being the head coach, we had an
Speaker 9: opportunity to even go into.
Speaker 6: Myself and coach Eberflues. We had the opportunity to go
Speaker 6: into the meeting rooms as well.
Speaker 9: So I remember sitting behind Darnell, you know, in those
Speaker 9: offensive line rooms and first of all seeing how wide
Speaker 9: his shoulders are, big head, big neck, but also how
Speaker 9: he approached the game, how he interacted with his teammates,
Speaker 9: and then seeing him going on the field and executed
Speaker 9: at a high level. Being up close and personal. You
Speaker 9: got to feel that part. And then just when you
Speaker 9: get good competition going against you know, other top end talent,
Speaker 9: you can see how they react. I remember, you know, Stevenson,
Speaker 9: just the poise that he had in coverage and the
Speaker 9: speed and the size and his press technique up and
Speaker 9: close and personal. So you carry those things through the
Speaker 9: process and I think it helps.
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about Darnell. What was your opinion
Speaker 2: of him before testing season and what was your opinion
Speaker 2: clearly after?
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, I think we did a good job
Speaker 9: identifying that he was going to be a good tester
Speaker 9: for his size. And I try not to get too
Speaker 9: crazy with the testing part for offensive lineman, but you
Speaker 9: want some of those top end traits in your guys.
Speaker 9: So by his tape, I could see for how big
Speaker 9: of a man he was to move with light feet
Speaker 9: on contact, you see shock on defenders, and from there
Speaker 9: you could see, Okay, this guy's explosive, he's got good quickness.
Speaker 9: We look at lean body mass. He's got big, lean body.
Speaker 9: He's a big human being. He's got functional mass to him.
Speaker 9: So you can see that on tape. So just the
Speaker 9: testing part was a confirmation that he had all of
Speaker 9: those things.
Speaker 6: And you like to check both both boxes, all right.
Speaker 2: So many coaches that I've spoken to many in this
Speaker 2: scheme defensively say hey, if I had a started defense,
Speaker 2: I'm starting on the defensive line, but I'm starting at
Speaker 2: the interior defensive line. Yeah, and do you agree with that?
Speaker 6: Do you subscribe to that? I do.
Speaker 9: I talked about this the other day. You know, those
Speaker 9: guys can be multipliers. They can help everybody else around them.
Speaker 9: The linebackers flying around free, blitzing free, They dent the
Speaker 9: pocket to create a shorter edge for defensive ends and
Speaker 9: blitzers on the outside, and then they just when you
Speaker 9: have a stout defense, especially in this division late in
Speaker 9: the season. To me, I think that's a key component
Speaker 9: to being a championship caliber team. So we invested in
Speaker 9: that space and we made some good shrites.
Speaker 2: Yeah, give me a little nugget on Javon Dexter out
Speaker 2: of Florida and Zach Pickens's South Caroline.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 9: What stands out with Gravan is just it's the athlete
Speaker 9: and the traits that he has to develop to be
Speaker 9: a top end interior player. Really let on his feet,
Speaker 9: former basketball player who also has that density to him
Speaker 9: on contact, can shed blockers off of his body and
Speaker 9: find the ball with good quickness and feet.
Speaker 6: So all of those pieces came together.
Speaker 9: And I think even with his tape and what he
Speaker 9: was asked to do in that scheme down there, I
Speaker 9: think it masked some of the high end penetrating and
Speaker 9: pass rush that he actually has in his body. I
Speaker 9: think we'll be able to bring that out even more here.
Speaker 6: Pickens, Yeah, Pickens.
Speaker 9: Another one just long armed, ability to shock and keep offensive,
Speaker 9: you know, blockers off of his body, shed to the ball.
Speaker 9: Another guy that has some high end physical traits. And
Speaker 9: then through our sports science program, we even see more
Speaker 9: growth coming in his body in terms of lean mass,
Speaker 9: getting even bigger than what he is. So and both
Speaker 9: of those guys play extremely hard too, which is also
Speaker 9: big for coach Flufs.
Speaker 2: You have drafted six defensive backs in two years. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and now you add a guy that is long Yep,
Speaker 2: seems nasty. Does he like to tackle on the run game,
Speaker 2: Tyrek Stevenson.
Speaker 9: Yeah, loves the tackle, loves to play physical. Another big
Speaker 9: man with great length. The one thing that stands out
Speaker 9: when you watch his press tape. He will get in
Speaker 9: your face and disrupt timing, which is one again, a
Speaker 9: multiplayer that can help everybody else the safeties over the
Speaker 9: top of the pass rush to get home.
Speaker 6: So we're excited about what he has to offer. And
Speaker 6: what is that Terrell Smith bring you? Yeah, speed in size.
Speaker 9: He's the guy that has all the trace and you
Speaker 9: know from his tape you can see vertically going against
Speaker 9: other players that could run. He was comfortable at top
Speaker 9: end speed stand in the phase and.
Speaker 6: I know that.
Speaker 9: You know, the next step in his development is just
Speaker 9: continuing to work on finishing.
Speaker 6: And he showed his flashes of that. So I think
Speaker 6: he's gonna get better too.
Speaker 2: John City, I've never seen a scout look me in
Speaker 2: the eye.
Speaker 6: Yeah, repeatedly and.
Speaker 2: Say this guy is different. Roseean Johnson there running back
Speaker 2: from texts.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he's different.
Speaker 9: When you watch the tape, when he had his opportunities,
Speaker 9: it flashed and it was impressive.
Speaker 6: And then when you get to meet the person.
Speaker 9: From my chair, when I listened to my scouts talk,
Speaker 9: the conviction that came out of them was incredible.
Speaker 6: I actually joked with them like, oh, you don't like him,
Speaker 6: do you?
Speaker 9: And they actually got mad at me, like they love
Speaker 9: this kid.
Speaker 6: We love this kid his makeup.
Speaker 9: When you hear your scouts talk and they say, you know,
Speaker 9: it's gonna be hard for this guy to fail because
Speaker 9: of his makeup.
Speaker 6: Those are the things that you love.
Speaker 9: So again, he's another player that I think is gonna,
Speaker 9: you know, come here and help us get to where
Speaker 9: we're trying to go.
Speaker 2: He's a blur and that Cincinnati program turning out a
Speaker 2: lot of really good offensive players.
Speaker 9: Tell us about Tyler Scott, Yeah, Tyler's explosive. The one
Speaker 9: thing that you see is he gets off the spot
Speaker 9: with a very quick, you know, first step, and then
Speaker 9: he has the rare ability to get faster as he
Speaker 9: goes down the We thought that that combination with Justin's
Speaker 9: deep ball would be a really good combination and a
Speaker 9: good duo where we can create explosive plays with all
Speaker 9: of our receivers at this point, so we've gotten faster
Speaker 9: at that. And then he's also a really good special
Speaker 9: teams player too, so he's going to compete.
Speaker 6: He's going to press the guys in the room.
Speaker 9: But what stands out to me is just the explosive,
Speaker 9: big playability that he has, so it.
Speaker 2: Looks like all three phases have been improved. Yes, I
Speaker 2: believe all ten draft picks finished on the relative athletic score.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you follow that at all, but
Speaker 2: it's this process that they If it's a ten point scale,
Speaker 2: they're all over eight.
Speaker 6: Yep.
Speaker 2: So you got some better athletes, you got some nasty players,
Speaker 2: you got some violent players. So how do you think
Speaker 2: this team has improved overall?
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, we got like you said, bigger, longer, faster,
Speaker 9: more athletic. I think offensively, just we've gotten more explosive,
Speaker 9: you know, at the receiver position, but also given our
Speaker 9: quarterback time with protection, and then probably enhance our run
Speaker 9: game as well, which is a really good combination because
Speaker 9: at the end of the day, I think teams that
Speaker 9: can stay balanced can be highly productive and score a
Speaker 9: lot of points, which is important. And then defensively, again, bigger, longer, faster,
Speaker 9: defensive backs that can fly, and interior players that are
Speaker 9: going to allow to be disruptive in both the run
Speaker 9: of the pass game. So I think we took the
Speaker 9: next step. We're getting better. I've always mentioned it's on
Speaker 9: paper now, but we have to put it to action
Speaker 9: and all these players that to come in and compete
Speaker 9: and we'll see what we got.
Speaker 8: We use this analogy.
Speaker 2: Last year, you're building the house, so okay, you put
Speaker 2: the studs up the roof sign. Now I think the
Speaker 2: walls are up and you can start decorating.
Speaker 9: Yeah, we're getting closer to the decorating part. And that's
Speaker 9: kind of the you know, what we're going with this
Speaker 9: year is just elevate. Everyone's got to elevate off the
Speaker 9: foundation that we built and elevate their game and the
Speaker 9: little details and get a little bit better.
Speaker 6: And that's what we're after.
Speaker 2: Bears general manager Ryan Polls back here on Bears Weekly,
Speaker 2: Jeff Joniak time there, Jim Miller Fellas, I think we
Speaker 2: get a clear idea now after two drafts, exactly what
Speaker 2: kind of player Ryan Poles digs for the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 4: You know one thing, Jeff is last year when I
Speaker 4: was sitting here talking, I was talking about one of
Speaker 4: the most uncompetitive positions on this football team is the
Speaker 4: defensive backfield. I think with the picks that you mentioned,
Speaker 4: six picks in the last two years, the defensive backfield
Speaker 4: is probably the most competitive position on the football team
Speaker 4: right now. In its high quality competition, from the experience
Speaker 4: the guys got that were drafted last year to the
Speaker 4: traits that you see on tape of the young guys
Speaker 4: he's bringing in this year. So I'm excited to see
Speaker 4: the continuous development of that position. However, it's about the
Speaker 4: offensive defensive line, how they improved, and how they make
Speaker 4: the running back and receivers better on offense and the
Speaker 4: linebackers and defensive backs better on defense.
Speaker 2: Jennating a signal in that conversation that that caught your attention.
Speaker 5: Well, I think it's clear they do value traits. You know,
Speaker 5: when you look at go look at the player's numbers,
Speaker 5: whether it's the broad jump, the vertical jump, you know,
Speaker 5: these are explosive numbers that they're looking for. You know,
Speaker 5: we call it the explosion. There is an explosion number
Speaker 5: out there. It's the bench plus the broad plus the vertical,
Speaker 5: and these guys all tested well in those where they
Speaker 5: get close to a good explosion number is seventy. If
Speaker 5: those add up to seventy, it's an explosion number. Clearly,
Speaker 5: they value the traits. Obviously, the size aspect, when you're
Speaker 5: drafting cornerbacks that are over six foot I think those
Speaker 5: check all the boxes there, and I think the key
Speaker 5: thing that he said they're about, you know, here they're
Speaker 5: trying to make this jump from year one to year
Speaker 5: two under Eberflus. You know, last year they're watching tape
Speaker 5: of Indianapolis, right and how to this is how I
Speaker 5: want you to play defense. This year, they'll be watching themselves,
Speaker 5: at least for the players that have been in there,
Speaker 5: and these players will now see what the Bears are
Speaker 5: trying to accomplish offensively and defensively. But they'll be watching
Speaker 5: Chicago Bear tape at the end of the day and
Speaker 5: what is expected where it needs to be, and really
Speaker 5: they'll they'll learn a lot faster, in my opinion, on
Speaker 5: how they incorporate these young players into it watching what
Speaker 5: they're trying to do as their own team on tape
Speaker 5: rather than say a team, you know, because it's always odd.
Speaker 5: I remember, coach, we go in there. Yeah, we were
Speaker 5: going to watch a lot of you know, we were installing
Speaker 5: the West Coast offense. We watched a lot of Raider tape,
Speaker 5: you know, and here I'm watching rich Gannon and hey,
Speaker 5: this is how they do it, this is how we
Speaker 5: want to do it. But then when we get in
Speaker 5: the year two, we're watching ourselves all we need to
Speaker 5: be better here. This is where we need to be better.
Speaker 5: But it's about yourself in order to make that jump
Speaker 5: and take it to another level. And I think that's
Speaker 5: a good thing for the Bears.
Speaker 2: I enjoyed the conversation. I love the idea that he
Speaker 2: thinks all his ten member class and maybe these undrafted
Speaker 2: free agents that they just signed officially, it just came
Speaker 2: out the fourteen that will join the rookies at Rookie
Speaker 2: Minicamp starting tomorrow, that they have chips on their shoulder.
Speaker 8: I know Jim Miller, did I know? Tom Thayer did
Speaker 8: for sure? Hey, even I got one. Even I got one.
Speaker 2: I'm unfortunately not an NFL player, but I'd put it
Speaker 2: to good U. When we come back, we'll be joined
Speaker 2: by the assistant general manager, Ian Cunningham will join us
Speaker 2: live here on ESPN Chicago.
Speaker 8: Here on Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff j on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 8: Welcome back to Bears Weekly.
Speaker 2: As the Bears officially have signed fourteen undrafted free agents,
Speaker 2: including Tyson badget the quarterback out of Shepherd. They'll be
Speaker 2: up at Hallis all this weekend. Bears Minicamp getting rolling,
Speaker 2: reporting today, meetings tonight, back on the practice field on
Speaker 2: Friday and Saturday. Jeff Joniak along with Tom Thayer and
Speaker 2: Jim Metal from Serious x MNFL Radio's Move the Chains
Speaker 2: and kind of Enough to join us once again this
Speaker 2: week becoming a regular. We're back to back weeks for
Speaker 2: Assistant general manager Ian Cunningham.
Speaker 8: Ian, how you doing tonight?
Speaker 10: How you feeling I'm feeling great, guys. I'm feeling great.
Speaker 10: You know, I thought you guys would bring me into
Speaker 10: It's the most wonderful time of the year because it's
Speaker 10: got a Christmas field here at Hallis. We're ready to
Speaker 10: unwrap our present tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, isn't that some what's that feeling like it?
Speaker 2: Since you opened that door, let's.
Speaker 8: Go walk through it.
Speaker 10: Yeah, it's exciting. I mean, we get to see these guys.
Speaker 10: We just been sure first team meeting with the rookies.
Speaker 10: There's a great team meeting. Good to see those guys
Speaker 10: walk around, get to get their picture taken, put them
Speaker 10: through the physicals, all those sorts of things. Got a
Speaker 10: chance to talk to a few of them here earlier. Yeah,
Speaker 10: we're just excited to have them in the building.
Speaker 4: Hey, Ian, how you doing this top there? When you
Speaker 4: so it's nice to hear Ryan Pole saying we look
Speaker 4: for players that have a chip on their shoulder. And
Speaker 4: then I like to hear earlier in the interview that
Speaker 4: Darnell Wright said that he had no other options, and
Speaker 4: that describes exactly what I was about.
Speaker 3: Coming out of college. I was disappointed.
Speaker 4: I was drafting the fourth round and I didn't leave
Speaker 4: college with any other options at wanting to make the NFL.
Speaker 4: When you're interviewing these players, you're reading them. Can you
Speaker 4: read that part of that chip on their shoulder or
Speaker 4: the dedication and the no other option type of attitude?
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think I think you can. I think you
Speaker 10: got to take into account their background as well, and
Speaker 10: our Scott's do a really good job of getting that
Speaker 10: background for us. And then when you couple that with
Speaker 10: just the demeanor and their outlook on life or their
Speaker 10: outlook on football, and you know when he says he
Speaker 10: has no other options, those sorts of things, and then
Speaker 10: you couple that with his work ethic and his toughness
Speaker 10: and how he plays on the field. Those sorts of things,
Speaker 10: you have a better feel for the person and what
Speaker 10: you're getting. So I do think that plays a plays
Speaker 10: a part in and plays into account, you know what.
Speaker 3: I'm kind of interested in.
Speaker 4: You guys had a late pick in the draft, maybe
Speaker 4: two fifty eight or something.
Speaker 3: How do you process going from draft to free agency?
Speaker 4: And can you describe a little bit of that process
Speaker 4: of the guys that you were you know or taught.
Speaker 10: Yeah, that process really starts two to three weeks ahead
Speaker 10: of time. Our scouts do a really good job of
Speaker 10: evaluating the back end of the draft and those backboard
Speaker 10: players that we call them, and we make sure to
Speaker 10: get with our coaches, and they do a good job
Speaker 10: of kind of setting that board with the coaches so
Speaker 10: they have a feel for the players at their cross
Speaker 10: check positions. The coaches have a feel for the players
Speaker 10: and the particular players in which we're targeting through the draft,
Speaker 10: and then in real time, we're adjusting that board digitally
Speaker 10: while we're you know, while the draft is going on.
Speaker 10: So as players get taken, some of those guys that
Speaker 10: we're targeting as free agents, those guys are getting drafted
Speaker 10: in the seventh round. So we're adjusting that board as
Speaker 10: the draft goes on, and once the draft is over,
Speaker 10: we're making sure the coaches and our scouts are talking
Speaker 10: to the players and we're trying to recruit those players here.
Speaker 10: And we have a lot of coaches that have had
Speaker 10: experience in recruiting before, so they do a really good
Speaker 10: job of getting on the phone with the players and
Speaker 10: the agent's trying to get those guys here. And I
Speaker 10: feel like we did a really good job of getting
Speaker 10: you know, fourteen undrafted guys here, and we actually have
Speaker 10: thirty three tryal guys here tomorrow in this weekend too.
Speaker 5: Hey and Jim Miller, congratulations on the draft, and man,
Speaker 5: everybody's wheeling to deal in these days. You guys make
Speaker 5: the trade before the draft from one to nine, then
Speaker 5: you make three trades during the draft, you know, obviously
Speaker 5: to trade down one spot with Philadelphia, and then to
Speaker 5: trade up five spots to get Tyreek Stevenson, and then
Speaker 5: to trade down twelve spots to get Roshan Johnson. Just
Speaker 5: to read the tea leaves. Obviously, the Philadelphia move, you
Speaker 5: know that everybody kind of knew what was going on there,
Speaker 5: but to have the conviction or reading the tea leaves
Speaker 5: that hey, we need to trade up to get Tyreek
Speaker 5: Stevenson and then to trade down twelve spots to get
Speaker 5: Roshawn Johnson. And it sounds like, just listening to Ryan
Speaker 5: Pole's interview, everybody in the building love this kid.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 5: How do you know when you trade down twelve spots
Speaker 5: read in the tea leaves that another organization didn't love
Speaker 5: the kid as much as you guys did. What a
Speaker 5: talented running back from Texas right right.
Speaker 10: Our guys are pro staffed. They do a really good
Speaker 10: job of setting our team needs. So we go into
Speaker 10: it kind of looking at those teams that are behind
Speaker 10: us and try to almost try to predict if they're
Speaker 10: going to take a running back or take a position
Speaker 10: that we're targeting at that spot. Obviously, there's no exact science.
Speaker 10: We try to read the TV leaves like you said,
Speaker 10: but you know, trying to just make sure that we
Speaker 10: do our best job of projecting, Hey, this guy's going
Speaker 10: to be there. And in that case, we were able
Speaker 10: to trade back those twelve spots. Rochann was there. We
Speaker 10: were fired up high five and everybody was excited. But
Speaker 10: within that trade back we were able to recoup that
Speaker 10: fifth round pick that we lost in that trade up
Speaker 10: that we did for Tyreek, So that was you know,
Speaker 10: I feel like it was a win win and we
Speaker 10: were just fortunate to be able to get Rochar when
Speaker 10: we did.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and that's for the players because it sounds like
Speaker 5: you already got them in there. Are they gonna fly back?
Speaker 5: And then when they come back again, they'll be there
Speaker 5: for the long haul? Like, how does the schedule work
Speaker 5: for these young men as you get them introduced to
Speaker 5: your schemes offensively and defensively.
Speaker 10: Yep, they'll be here this weekend. We'll have two days,
Speaker 10: we'll practice on Friday, we'll practice on Saturday, they'll fly out,
Speaker 10: they'll be gone for a week, and then they'll come
Speaker 10: back the following weekend. Then they can get with the
Speaker 10: rest of the team. And that's going to be really
Speaker 10: fun and exciting when they all get together.
Speaker 2: Good assistant gm Ian Cunningham here joining us on Bears Weekly,
Speaker 2: Jeff joniak tm Fayer and Jim Miller from Serious x
Speaker 2: MNFL Radio moving the chains. So Larry Merrier did a
Speaker 2: nice job in an interview with Ryan about Grizzlies and
Speaker 2: the Bears logo that goes on some of these potential
Speaker 2: draft picks, and it signifies a lot. The name alone
Speaker 2: tells you that you want some fierce players there, and
Speaker 2: that all of these guys had that tag. You're not
Speaker 2: gonna only draft those guys. But why is that so important?
Speaker 2: Is it have to do a lot with you know,
Speaker 2: the passion for the game and find out if they
Speaker 2: love the game.
Speaker 10: Yeah, that's really what is about. You know, Ryan touched
Speaker 10: on them with the Grizzlies. We look for those guys
Speaker 10: who we designate as Grizzlies, people that have passion for
Speaker 10: the game. They have a high pain tolerance, they're coachable,
Speaker 10: they're dependable, they have a high they're resilient, and they
Speaker 10: have really good work ethics. So those are the things
Speaker 10: in which we really look for in Chicago Bears and
Speaker 10: Ryan gave it the name of the Grizzly tag, and
Speaker 10: so our scouts go out there and we try to
Speaker 10: find as many Grizzlies as we can.
Speaker 8: I love it.
Speaker 2: No prospects on blemish, no matter how high you pick
Speaker 2: them to my hot, no matter how you love them.
Speaker 2: And you can see it on tape, but within the snap,
Speaker 2: you know if the technique isn't perfect, but they adjust
Speaker 2: and still get the job done. And then you bring
Speaker 2: your coaches in to the mix throughout the course of
Speaker 2: this process. How important is their input on what?
Speaker 8: Hey, you know what? I I can fix that or
Speaker 8: I can't fix that.
Speaker 10: It's very important.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 10: They really get into the process. During the All Star
Speaker 10: season and the combine. We prep them in terms of
Speaker 10: sending the table and putting these players in buckets, and
Speaker 10: they do a really good dub and they're excited. Like
Speaker 10: I mentioned earlier, a lot of them do have a
Speaker 10: college background, so they evaluation piece. They're excited about getting
Speaker 10: into them, digging into those guys, evaluating stacking them. And
Speaker 10: a large part of it is really just the scheme.
Speaker 10: Do these players fit what they want to do? And
Speaker 10: I feel like that's the major part that goes into
Speaker 10: it is Hey, Parsimo, does Darnell fit the scheme with him?
Speaker 10: And Luke want to implement so And in that case
Speaker 10: he does because he's tough. He says, he's all the
Speaker 10: things at which we look for an offensive lineman, and
Speaker 10: he's actually more athletic than I think a lot of
Speaker 10: people give him credit for.
Speaker 4: Hey, and when a guy like Jalen Carter signs his
Speaker 4: contract and the way money is distributed amongst the rookie
Speaker 4: draft choices, when you have the pick right above Darnell right,
Speaker 4: does that speed up the signing process for you guys?
Speaker 4: Or is it still an open market?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 10: Everything is flatted, tom, you know nowadays, and so that
Speaker 10: makes it makes it a little bit easier for us.
Speaker 10: I won't say, I won't speak on fine Steam's behalf,
Speaker 10: but you know we'll be working on that here and
Speaker 10: hopefully we can get that deal done soon.
Speaker 5: And since I brought up the trades, and I don't
Speaker 5: want you to name any names, but you know you
Speaker 5: saw DeAndre Swift he gets moved to the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 5: or say Adam troutman tight end for New Orleans, gets
Speaker 5: shipped to New Orleans. Were there any discussions about that,
Speaker 5: because it seemed like there were some players available that
Speaker 5: potentially and maybe compensation wasn't there. But were any of
Speaker 5: those discussions with other teams happening.
Speaker 10: For us? No, No, we didn't have those those types
Speaker 10: of conversations. We were slowly looking at the draft and
Speaker 10: potentially trading up for trading back.
Speaker 5: Okay, well, how about when you look at these fourteen
Speaker 5: undrafted free agents. It was good to see Tyson Bagent
Speaker 5: was one of the players. Saw them down at the
Speaker 5: Senior Bowl. And you know, just to explain to listeners
Speaker 5: out there, I mean, those phone calls are probably going out,
Speaker 5: you know, in the fifth, sixth, even in the seventh
Speaker 5: round where you're kind of recruiting these players to see
Speaker 5: if they have an interest to sign with your team.
Speaker 5: So all that's ongoing, even though you're still conducting the
Speaker 5: draft with players who you're going to select. Maybe to
Speaker 5: just talk about that for the listeners out there.
Speaker 10: Yeah, we try to wait till we wait till after
Speaker 10: the draft to get those deals done, and we try
Speaker 10: to do his best the job of recruiting these guys
Speaker 10: ahead of time. Like I said, we have our board set,
Speaker 10: our free agent board. We try to send them gifts,
Speaker 10: maybe a care package here there, those sorts of things.
Speaker 10: Try to recruit them as much as we can just
Speaker 10: to show that we are interested. And that doesn't mean
Speaker 10: that we wouldn't necessarily draft them either, but just to
Speaker 10: let them know that they are on our radar. The
Speaker 10: communication is really ongoing and buy our coaches and staff
Speaker 10: ahead of time but then as the draft goes on,
Speaker 10: we wait till after the draft to sign those guys.
Speaker 2: All right, Ian, well more, and I'll let you go
Speaker 2: appreciate all the time. I know you got things to
Speaker 2: do as well this evening as you look at it
Speaker 2: now and Ryan talked about you know, now it's on paper,
Speaker 2: but now you got to take it to the field.
Speaker 2: But just from your analysis, two things. One the Bears
Speaker 2: better today and two how more much more competitive is
Speaker 2: training camp going to be this year? Given that all
Speaker 2: those young players you got, all those snaps a year
Speaker 2: ago now are going to compete against a bunch of
Speaker 2: new guys with the same kind of determination that they
Speaker 2: had a year ago.
Speaker 10: Yes, I believe that we are better. We are better
Speaker 10: on paper than we were in the past before this weekend,
Speaker 10: and I will share this. I don't think the competition
Speaker 10: is going to change. You know, Flus and his crew,
Speaker 10: they do a really good job of that. There's the
Speaker 10: Hits principles and we're going to see those guys flying
Speaker 10: around no matter what.
Speaker 8: All right, we'll be good, good to see it.
Speaker 2: We always look forward to, as you indicated at the
Speaker 2: outset here opening up those presents. You guys did a
Speaker 2: heck of a job, and the works already beginning on
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: I know it.
Speaker 2: This is how it works in the NFL. Appreciate it
Speaker 2: very much. Ian, thanks for the time. We'll see you
Speaker 2: up at Hallashall. Thanks, thank you, Jim Bear's assistant general manager,
Speaker 2: Ian Cunningham. We'll take a break. Tom and Jim rejoined
Speaker 2: the program, will break down some things that have happened
Speaker 2: over the course of the last twenty four hours around
Speaker 2: the league. It's some interesting nuggets about the Bears as
Speaker 2: well as they get ready for Mini Caamp. This is
Speaker 2: Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the Chicago Bears
Speaker 2: Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff jony Yik on the Bears
Speaker 1: Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Appreciate the input from Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham.
Speaker 2: We heard from the top pick darn all right tonight,
Speaker 2: Ryan Poles as well, and now we're looking to see
Speaker 2: what all you know. I remember guys, Jim Miller down there,
Speaker 2: Jeff Joningygg with the Jim Tom. I remember back when
Speaker 2: Curtis Enis was drafted. I couldn't wait to get to
Speaker 2: rookie miniicamp. I want to hear see what this big
Speaker 2: thumping running back from Penn State was gonna look like,
Speaker 2: or when you get a new quarterback into the mix.
Speaker 2: And here we're going to be looking on both sides
Speaker 2: of the ball to see exactly what they got. But
Speaker 2: it's gonna be on the line of scrimmage gym.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I think you know, I think we knew.
Speaker 5: I've been calling for war daddies for quite some time,
Speaker 5: you know, and this guy, Darnell Wright is definitely a
Speaker 5: war daddy. I mean, this guy can physically push guys around.
Speaker 5: He's a dominator. Interested to see how the defensive tackle
Speaker 5: because I think we know, you know, stopping the run
Speaker 5: was a big problem last year. So we'll see what
Speaker 5: Zach Pickens and Dexter and all these young defensive tackles,
Speaker 5: what they could do to impact and can they free
Speaker 5: up guys at the end of the man on the
Speaker 5: line of scrimmags the defensive ends free them up and
Speaker 5: maybe with some double teams to get some pass rush,
Speaker 5: because I don't think the Bears want to be a
Speaker 5: high blitz team. They want to do it with the
Speaker 5: front four and so we'll see if they've increased themselves
Speaker 5: in the trenches where the games are truly won or lost.
Speaker 4: You know, rookie minicap after the draft, it's the it.
Speaker 4: Hey did these guys look what they're presented to be.
Speaker 4: My freshman year at Notre Dame, the incoming freshmen. We
Speaker 4: came in for a week of practice in full pads,
Speaker 4: and I remember the day. You're thinking, Okay, I'm a freshman,
Speaker 4: I'm part.
Speaker 3: Of this crew. I'm gonna win a job here.
Speaker 4: And all of a sudden you walk into cafeteria and
Speaker 4: there's all the upper classmen.
Speaker 3: And I'm thinking, WHOA.
Speaker 4: When I thought I was had this week of great practice,
Speaker 4: all of a sudden you start seeing all the upper
Speaker 4: classmen on this football team. And so I think that's
Speaker 4: one of the things that these players have to overcome. Yeah,
Speaker 4: they're gonna come in here for rookie manicam. They're gonna
Speaker 4: look good amongst their peers of all the same age
Speaker 4: and the same experiences. But it's gonna be can they
Speaker 4: take what they're gonna do this weekend and put it
Speaker 4: into a training camp atmosphere or OTAs when all the
Speaker 4: veterans are around, Because you're gonna have to have some
Speaker 4: of these rookies come in here with the confidence that
Speaker 4: they can earn a starting.
Speaker 3: Position or make their position a lot more competitive.
Speaker 2: All Right, I got a good one for both of you.
Speaker 2: All Right, this one, I'll be interesting to hear your opinions.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna start with Jim. But it's all about the
Speaker 2: interior of either side. Have guards and centers gotten better
Speaker 2: over time versus interior defensive lineman or interior defensive lineman
Speaker 2: become more athletic, quicker off the ball, and more of
Speaker 2: a concern to deal with in your opinion, say, in
Speaker 2: the last five to seven years. And how is this
Speaker 2: evolving with spread spread offenses from college to the NFL
Speaker 2: incorporated here.
Speaker 5: That's a good question. Part of me thinks it's a wash,
Speaker 5: but part of me thinks the offensive players have gotten
Speaker 5: better because you do see defenses getting lighter and speedier
Speaker 5: because they quote unquote want to cover every blade of grass.
Speaker 5: But here yet teams are still drafting for for size
Speaker 5: and traits that we're just talking about. And the Bears
Speaker 5: did get bigger, Like if you go look at Pittsburgh
Speaker 5: ste Dealers draft, they got a lot bigger as a team.
Speaker 5: And I do think the trend is because they think
Speaker 5: defensive players are becoming lighter and speedier that they want
Speaker 5: to pound them a little bit more. And plus you
Speaker 5: just look at the rushing averages of teams. You know,
Speaker 5: here the Bears led the league in rushing. But look
Speaker 5: what the Trench Warfare for Philadelphia did, right, They kind
Speaker 5: of ran themselves to a Super Bowl, right because they've
Speaker 5: got big, athletic offensive linemen that can deal with the
Speaker 5: speedier defensive tackles. Right lane, Johnson, you got Kelsey there,
Speaker 5: and you just look at how that team's built. That
Speaker 5: offensive line can get it done. So I would probably
Speaker 5: lean towards the offensive lineman getting a little bit bigger
Speaker 5: to take advantage of some undersized defensive linemen in college.
Speaker 4: You know, if I had the opportunity to play against
Speaker 4: a bigger, slower defensive lineman, that's what I would want
Speaker 4: to play against.
Speaker 3: I played against Leroy Glover. You knowed you who John
Speaker 3: Randall is.
Speaker 4: You know what Aaron Donald has been able to accomplish
Speaker 4: in his time. If you have guys like that, And
Speaker 4: I'll even go to Keith Millard when he was in
Speaker 4: the nineteen ninety one defensive MVP that was hard to
Speaker 4: get your hands on when you went to block him.
Speaker 4: These guys that had superior quickness were made me more nervous.
Speaker 4: And the guys that you knew exactly where they're going
Speaker 4: to be, because then it's about creating that stalemate, you know,
Speaker 4: getting a little bit of movement with the double team
Speaker 4: that you're concentrating your block on. So you know, years
Speaker 4: ago when it was all about the Ted Washingtons and
Speaker 4: the Dan Salamuas and those type of huge guys that
Speaker 4: were hard to move, now it is you know, some
Speaker 4: of these guys that have superior quickness can make a
Speaker 4: slow offensive guard or a center that's a little bit
Speaker 4: undersized movable, and then that takes up the interior of
Speaker 4: the performance of your interior offense.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be interesting across the board. You know, just watching,
Speaker 2: for example, Dexter, watching him, you know he is a
Speaker 2: basketball player, Jim for the better part of his growing up.
Speaker 2: But you know you see him on tap and yes
Speaker 2: sometimes he plays a little too tall or whatever. But
Speaker 2: looking through the offensive lineman, looking into the backfield and
Speaker 2: shedding that guy and still making the tackle on the gap.
Speaker 2: Those are the things I'm interested to see him at
Speaker 2: this level. If he can handle that, you know.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well why just think when when you look overall,
Speaker 5: I mean, like, what did Philadelphia do in order to
Speaker 5: show up their defense before the Super Bowl? They signed
Speaker 5: in Domakan su In Dalvin Tomlinson, right, they wanted to
Speaker 5: get bigger. And I do think, you know, there's a
Speaker 5: place for the penetrating guys like Aaron Donald. But I
Speaker 5: think even even the Rams know when you look at
Speaker 5: the undersized defensive tackles that beach you with speed and quickness,
Speaker 5: they'll move those guys around a lot. People just think, oh, yeah,
Speaker 5: he's a explosive three technique. No no, no. If you
Speaker 5: go look at the Rams, they play him at five.
Speaker 5: They moved him up and down their defensive line the
Speaker 5: year they went to the Super Bowl. So that type
Speaker 5: of athleticism does have its place. And then I think
Speaker 5: there's the size guys that have their place too, like
Speaker 5: what Philadelphia did prior to signing those guys late in
Speaker 5: the year to just get bigger upfront defensively where he
Speaker 5: can present kind of both both schemes at your opponent.
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes you have to give these guys a
Speaker 4: little bit time on the shelf to see how their
Speaker 4: basketball trades converted into football players. Sam Clancy is a
Speaker 4: guy that played for the Cleveland Browns. He played basketball
Speaker 4: for Pitt but he was a great NFL pro. There's
Speaker 4: a really long guy that used to play for the
Speaker 4: New Orleans Saints named Jumpy Gathers, and he was able
Speaker 4: to use his length as such an asset. So if
Speaker 4: you can take your tools and turn it into an
Speaker 4: asset and make it super difficult for the offensive line
Speaker 4: to maintain controlling position, that's the trades you're looking for.
Speaker 2: Back for our final segment here on Bears Weekly after
Speaker 2: a time out here on the Bears Radio Networks.
Speaker 1: Bears Weekly with a Force of the Bears for twenty
Speaker 1: three years. Jeff j on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: A few minutes left before we close out this week's know,
Speaker 2: so we go on our lightning round, guys, said Jim.
Speaker 2: The NFL players Rookie Premiere forty five players get invited.
Speaker 8: What's going on?
Speaker 2: Unless I haven't paid attention, Bears are gonna get Roshawn
Speaker 2: Johnson and Tyler Scott their fourth rounders over there. Jalen Carter,
Speaker 2: the Eagles, Tyree Wilson of the Raiders and Houston's and
Speaker 2: Anderson the only three defensive players.
Speaker 8: Everybody else's offense. So what's going on with the defense.
Speaker 8: They're all wide receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks. What's up?
Speaker 5: They're getting their Panini cards right, that's where they get
Speaker 5: shot in their uniforms and get their pro cards. And
Speaker 5: it normally is about the skill position players believe it
Speaker 5: or not. The Jeff so, but that's really what's going down.
Speaker 5: So I had to do that one year. We were
Speaker 5: out at the Rose Bowl and so they had to
Speaker 5: shoot right down on the field and they just go
Speaker 5: from set to set where they do all these action shots,
Speaker 5: and guys will be diving on match to show like
Speaker 5: they're laying out for football and things like that, or
Speaker 5: a quarterback throwing the football. So they can get the
Speaker 5: po and you get to get the perfect you know,
Speaker 5: rookie card that you get to distribute to your family
Speaker 5: members and friends and then it goes out there on
Speaker 5: the open market. Yeh, fun time, all right.
Speaker 2: International Player Pathway program eight players this year the NFC
Speaker 2: North and I believe the NFC West or AFC West.
Speaker 2: But Tom Chibu otherwise he is known as roy Mbatika.
Speaker 2: I think that's how you say his names from Nigeria
Speaker 2: twenty three. He was with the Giants last year for
Speaker 2: a bit. He has now been given to the Bears.
Speaker 2: He is six eight three thirty one on the leg
Speaker 2: press recently. I don't have kilograms versus pounds, but I
Speaker 2: was counting the plates on the bar.
Speaker 8: It was significant.
Speaker 2: The guys super strong, interesting offensive lineman prospect here.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I played with the six to nine
Speaker 4: offensive lineman in college. And the point of ephesis there
Speaker 4: is you have to kind of fabricate your bendability, especially
Speaker 4: in your knees if you're that tall, still have to
Speaker 4: win the game or leverage. So when you bring a
Speaker 4: player into the mix that really doesn't have a lot
Speaker 4: of experience, you just have to start explaining the fundamentals
Speaker 4: so he understands them.
Speaker 2: He was discovered in trained by Ocia Minor is doing
Speaker 2: a great job there in African Nations and the Nigeria
Speaker 2: pipeline continue. Six of those eight players are from Nigeria.
Speaker 2: The Eagles, of course, hit the jackpot in eighteen drafting
Speaker 2: Australian tackle Jordan Mileta in round seven. Became a starter
Speaker 2: and a very good player. That's going to do it
Speaker 2: for tonight's show. Thanks fellas, Jim Miller, Tom Thare. Thanks
Speaker 2: to Ian Cunningham, Eric Ostrowski, our executive producer on the
Speaker 2: Bears Radio Network. Also our producer Jake Cantu in studio,
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff Joniek. Thanks for listening to everybody, Stay tuned.
Speaker 2: Tyleraki is next on Esbon one thousand. Good night, everybody.
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Speaker 1: Am Miller Like
Speaker 6: Yeah,