Speaker 1: Cut open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown Bears.
Speaker 2: I am Jeff jonihack Blitz is not done court.
Speaker 3: What was like playing for Cody Gooddom.
Speaker 1: I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure
Speaker 1: coming is a big trouble.
Speaker 2: Dottie gos Mottest Sweat Shit.
Speaker 4: Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Light with
Speaker 4: the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Well, we hit the tape and crossed the finish line,
Speaker 1: covering the NFL Draft and the Bears adding weapons that
Speaker 1: will impact the twenty twenty five Bears season in so
Speaker 1: many ways, certainly in the locker.
Speaker 2: Room and on the field in all three phases.
Speaker 1: Welcome into our draft recap on episode one of the
Speaker 1: Bears et Cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer.
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff Jonahak. We're brought to you by Miller Light.
Speaker 1: Thanks to our producer Katie Fox for all our help
Speaker 1: this weekend on tap for this episode, a breakdown of
Speaker 1: the picks and how they impact roster in depth chart
Speaker 1: At advance of the mini camp and Ota portion of
Speaker 1: the offseason program, Tom interesting selections indeed, I know I
Speaker 1: mentioned depth chart.
Speaker 2: That's one thing. There's no depth chart right now.
Speaker 5: Well, Dennis Allen said the same thing when we got
Speaker 5: to meet all the assistant coaches. There's a first team
Speaker 5: that's going to go out there at practices, but there's
Speaker 5: not necessarily a depth chart. So you're going to have
Speaker 5: to earn your way onto that depth chart and then
Speaker 5: impress the coaches enough that they get an opinion of
Speaker 5: you so they know exactly where to place you before
Speaker 5: the draft started. To me, I just like the fact
Speaker 5: that all of these scouts, Ryan Poles and his staff,
Speaker 5: they all have to have a crystal ball because it's
Speaker 5: not necessarily what can you do for me right now,
Speaker 5: but what can you develop into in the future. And
Speaker 5: so when I look at some of the pieces they
Speaker 5: brought aboard, I think there's something for everybody here, whether
Speaker 5: you're an assistant coach like Antoine Randall l or Al Harris,
Speaker 5: a defensive coordinator like Dennis Allen, or a head coach
Speaker 5: and the organizer of the offense like Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1: We had the Middle Light Chicago Bears Draft party back
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field on Thursday night.
Speaker 2: Tommy.
Speaker 1: We celebrated the tenth pick Colston Lovelin and enjoyed the
Speaker 1: live draft coverage and analysis. There were on field activities,
Speaker 1: There was the locker room tour, they had a close
Speaker 1: out sale and more a Tommy.
Speaker 2: It was a fun time.
Speaker 1: It was all sponsored by Miller Lyte, and I think
Speaker 1: they got a great taste of what the Bears are
Speaker 1: building right here.
Speaker 5: You know, one thing about that draft party, The biggest
Speaker 5: thrill to me is when we get to reinterview a
Speaker 5: guy like Devin Hester, because you and I through the
Speaker 5: process of his growth and development as a young man
Speaker 5: to an adult. You can see the change and the
Speaker 5: confidence and why he was so successful throughout his career.
Speaker 4: And I really.
Speaker 5: Enjoyed interviewing these guys that come back. But then again
Speaker 5: we get to interview Roma Doonza for the second year,
Speaker 5: and you get to see what a mature guy that
Speaker 5: he is and how he's going to benefit the position,
Speaker 5: the locker room and everybody at his position and TJ.
Speaker 4: Edwards.
Speaker 5: But the heck, here's a guy that just got a
Speaker 5: new contract and extension. That's a Chicago Land guy that
Speaker 5: belongs in that locker room and on that team. And
Speaker 5: these lived by example so of all the friendly faces
Speaker 5: that we get to see out in the crowd. It's
Speaker 5: really neat to me when we get to reinterview guys
Speaker 5: and you can see their growth as a person.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got to thank ESPN one thousand with Wataw
Speaker 1: and Sylvie helping us out as well in the draft
Speaker 1: party and a part of their coverage as well for
Speaker 1: some eight hours. It was a labor of love, no
Speaker 1: question about it. And great job Caitlin Zicko, Bobby Hack
Speaker 1: for the presentation and help along the way. Paul's Orangler
Speaker 1: engineer as well did an outstanding job. Lot goes into
Speaker 1: that for sure for that one night.
Speaker 2: All right, let's look at what.
Speaker 1: Was addressed as the status and Hollis kicks in here
Speaker 1: three offensive editions Tommy in the first three picks three
Speaker 1: of the top fifty six selected in the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five draft, and Michigan tight end Coaston Lovelin was first
Speaker 1: on that list at number ten. The way the draft fell,
Speaker 1: the Bears had choices there, a couple tight ends. You
Speaker 1: had other players at other positions that they could have
Speaker 1: easily gone in that direction, but they clearly fell in
Speaker 1: love with this player and introducing himself to us right
Speaker 1: there on draft night and then getting to sit with
Speaker 1: him one on one later at Halisa on Friday. I
Speaker 1: can see why they like this guy. You they'll break
Speaker 1: down the tape. You look at the player first and
Speaker 1: the personality second. What do you see from this almost
Speaker 1: six foot six, two hundred and fifty pounds tight end?
Speaker 6: Yo?
Speaker 4: Wwbd? What would Ben do?
Speaker 5: I can't help but think the growth of the Detroit
Speaker 5: Lions and what Ben did there with the personnel that
Speaker 5: he had under his guidance and how he was able
Speaker 5: to develop it. This is a young guy, He's big,
Speaker 5: he still has potential ahead of him. What do you
Speaker 5: want him on the inline line of scrimmage? Do you
Speaker 5: want him lined up a little bit to the outside
Speaker 5: to take advantage of a size mismatch? So when I
Speaker 5: think about what Ben Johnson can do with this tight
Speaker 5: end position and how it can compliment the overall performance
Speaker 5: of the entire offense, I can't wait to see this
Speaker 5: guy grow step by step throughout mini camps, OTAs, into
Speaker 5: training camp, and throughout the regular season.
Speaker 1: Oh Ryan Pauls is a great staff along with Ian Cunningham,
Speaker 1: but also the senior director of Player Personnel, Jeff King.
Speaker 1: Let's listen into his observations on the new tight end
Speaker 1: for the Bears, Colston Lovelin.
Speaker 7: You're adding a guy that's probably a culture changer. That's
Speaker 7: how we felt about him. So tough, smart, dependable, consistent,
Speaker 7: all the things that Coach preaches like this kid embodies.
Speaker 7: The more that we spent time with Colston, the more
Speaker 7: we just felt like he was the pick for us.
Speaker 7: We're adding somebody to our offense that we have conviction on,
Speaker 7: you know, a really good vision for obviously all of
Speaker 7: us being aligned with the pick. You know, just something
Speaker 7: that somebody that we're super excited to add. You know,
Speaker 7: the versatility, what you can do with Colston and Cole,
Speaker 7: you know how they mesh together, I think is going
Speaker 7: to be something that you know, we can build upon
Speaker 7: for the next few years.
Speaker 1: Some of the things you could hear, the excitement and
Speaker 1: his voice, Tommy, But the things that really stick out
Speaker 1: for me, and you've touched on some of them, but
Speaker 1: the separation at the top of the route, when you
Speaker 1: go back and watch his highlights and how he gets open,
Speaker 1: it's effortless. He's got the hip swibble, he's got the
Speaker 1: ability to stick his foot in the ground and make
Speaker 1: sharp cuts and that creates a lot of openings for
Speaker 1: him and an easy target for the quarterback. But it's
Speaker 1: also physicality at the catch point rugged after the catch,
Speaker 1: and they really believe that his hips are able to
Speaker 1: allow him to really develop as an inline blocker when necessary,
Speaker 1: and that's not.
Speaker 2: Always easy for taller people.
Speaker 1: But at the tight end position, if you want to
Speaker 1: keep your defense on their heels, you gotta be able
Speaker 1: to do both and put them on edge.
Speaker 4: Well, there's a couple things about Loveland.
Speaker 5: First of all, I'm you know, playing in the Big
Speaker 5: ten in an outdoor stadium a majority of the time,
Speaker 5: either at home supporter of crowds or loud crowds on
Speaker 5: the road. That's not something that you're going to have
Speaker 5: to develop with him throughout time. He understands crowd noise
Speaker 5: and all that. And then you talk about his ability
Speaker 5: to swivel his hips to get into the blocks, and
Speaker 5: he's got the length in order to get his hands
Speaker 5: inside properly, and he's got the feet and lower body
Speaker 5: power to be a blocker at the point of attack,
Speaker 5: to be a blocker on the backside, fullback, HVAC wherever
Speaker 5: they want to line him up. He's got a vertical
Speaker 5: jump and a catch radius that is almost going to
Speaker 5: be unmatchable. There's not a lot of six y five
Speaker 5: cover guys out there, and so when you put Lvelin
Speaker 5: in a catchable position, whether it's on the line for
Speaker 5: play action, whether it's to the outside on third down
Speaker 5: and red zone. So he brings a lot of assets
Speaker 5: as a receiver, and now you got to take that
Speaker 5: time to develop him as the blocker he needs to
Speaker 5: be in the NFL in order to be and create
Speaker 5: more deception on the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Tom, I know you've done a lot of hard work
Speaker 1: in your life, both in the weight room and just
Speaker 1: being a thayer, but I'm certain you haven't put in
Speaker 1: wire fencing.
Speaker 4: I have not.
Speaker 5: And you know, listen, when I was reading about him,
Speaker 5: and you think about the work ethic that was instilled
Speaker 5: in him on a farm to support his family and
Speaker 5: help out when they needed those types of things. I'm
Speaker 5: glad he referenced back to thanking them for that, because
Speaker 5: there's a lot of people that would have that hard
Speaker 5: upbringing and want to get out of the house as
Speaker 5: quickly as possible. I think the reason that he was
Speaker 5: considered and to develop that work ethic into where he
Speaker 5: was picked. It's because of some of the things that
Speaker 5: he had to do in his upbringing.
Speaker 1: And now let's talk about the pairing. Because we talk
Speaker 1: about twelve personnel. That's one back, two tight ends. That
Speaker 1: means cole Comet, and I don't want people to think
Speaker 1: that this means that cole Comet is being marginalized in
Speaker 1: any way, shape or form. It's going to enhance cole Comet.
Speaker 1: Cole Comet will enhance co and Loveland the pair, and
Speaker 1: we've seen plenty of evidence in the history of the
Speaker 1: NFL where two tight ends can be quite the dynamic
Speaker 1: duo to really keep defenses stressed at all times. I
Speaker 1: think this is going to help cole Comet. You tell
Speaker 1: me in what ways it.
Speaker 5: Will, all right, So, first of all, the first thing
Speaker 5: a defensive coordinator does when they're playing against an opponent,
Speaker 5: they look at the personnel that's coming onto the field.
Speaker 5: So now you got Loveland on one side and Cole
Speaker 5: on the other, and now they're calling about the defense
Speaker 5: that they want to go against. So all of a sudden,
Speaker 5: they break the huddle and now Loveland's lined up as
Speaker 5: a wide receiver. There's scratching their head going, oh my god,
Speaker 5: I got linebackers in the game, and now I got
Speaker 5: to cover Colston with a linebacker that I know can't
Speaker 5: cover them. So it's the like I talked about the
Speaker 5: deception at the line of scrimmage. You can put them
Speaker 5: in the game, but there's no guarantee where he's going
Speaker 5: to line up or vice versa. You put Colston on
Speaker 5: the line of scrimmage and you put Coal outside. So
Speaker 5: they're really versatile athletes and so they can do a
Speaker 5: lot too, kind of in courage the defense to put
Speaker 5: the personnel to match up with a two tight end
Speaker 5: set when one of them's not lining up as.
Speaker 4: A tight end.
Speaker 5: But all of a sudden, like I said, whether it's
Speaker 5: the red zone, third down, first down, now you're trying
Speaker 5: to think, hey, how can we devise a scheme to
Speaker 5: line up against these two guys.
Speaker 1: Potentially can we see a lot of big, safe, big
Speaker 1: nickel put in the lineup, because just a traditional nickel,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of big nickels there. They're diminutive,
Speaker 1: most of them. They're on the smaller side. That doesn't
Speaker 1: mean they're not physical and can be nasty and and
Speaker 1: and win the battle. But more often than not, like
Speaker 1: you said, because this is a three level both of
Speaker 1: these guys are three level players, and in the dirt
Speaker 1: catch the pass, also reach up and get the pass
Speaker 1: because of the wingspan, So that you're talking about a
Speaker 1: really difficult assignment to deal with.
Speaker 5: All that and right, and let's not ignore DJ and
Speaker 5: Rome and the rest of the receivers because Rome is
Speaker 5: a big guy. He was sitting there on stage with
Speaker 5: us on Thursday night, and you kind of realize when
Speaker 5: you stand there eye to eye with them what a
Speaker 5: big receiver or he is. And Antoine's talked about that
Speaker 5: as well. And we all know what a great catcher
Speaker 5: and how tough of a guy DJ is. So when
Speaker 5: you think about putting those types of receivers out there, man,
Speaker 5: you can have a big nickel, you can have a
Speaker 5: wide four receivers. Really, you can do anything you want
Speaker 5: with the tight ends and the wide receivers, because I
Speaker 5: believe they're all interchangeable. We've seen DJ out of the backfield.
Speaker 5: We've seen Rome take jet sweeps. We've seen Cole Comet
Speaker 5: take snaps behind the line of scrimmage and run a
Speaker 5: little quarterback sneaks or whatever you want to call them.
Speaker 5: So the versatility of the offense and how we've gotten
Speaker 5: to know Ben from the other side of the microphone. Man,
Speaker 5: it's going to be exciting to want go in there
Speaker 5: and see his drawing board.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no question.
Speaker 1: And I think the Bears will be able to run
Speaker 1: the ball too in giving these situations because of light boxes,
Speaker 1: it's going to create a lot of mismatches. Brought to
Speaker 1: you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears, Our Bears,
Speaker 1: et cetera podcast. The second second round was Luther Burden.
Speaker 2: The third This is.
Speaker 1: An intriguing individual, number one recruit in the nation in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. He was highly regarded right from high
Speaker 1: school in East Saint Louis. This is a dynamic athlete
Speaker 1: six feet two ten two oh five and the yard
Speaker 1: after the catch and the ability to work his magic
Speaker 1: as a route runner, shedding people physically. He does remind
Speaker 1: a lot of folks of Dj Moore, and he reminds
Speaker 1: a lot of folks of him on Ross Saint Brown,
Speaker 1: and I think that's probably where Ben Johnson envisions him.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree, he kind of When I look at
Speaker 5: what Ben, you know, did in Detroit with his offense
Speaker 5: and what he's going to do in Chicago, and then
Speaker 5: another piece in place he reminds me more inside that
Speaker 5: type of an offensive Almon Ross, Saint Brown, and I
Speaker 5: think that they talk about.
Speaker 4: A lot of quick twitch passes.
Speaker 5: He has either lateral routes at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 5: quick hitter slants from beyond the line of scrimmage. And
Speaker 5: then you think of about incorporating this guy into a
Speaker 5: play action type of game where he's going to be
Speaker 5: open immediately. And again Ben talking about run after catch,
Speaker 5: and so I think if you can put it into
Speaker 5: his hands on the move, maybe against the.
Speaker 4: Third corner or a slot corner, or.
Speaker 5: Someone that maybe is not as you know, doesn't have
Speaker 5: the profile of Rome or DJ yet, so they're not
Speaker 5: putting the number one guy on him. He's going to
Speaker 5: be a guy that you may be able to take
Speaker 5: advantage of early in the season because of the coverage
Speaker 5: responsibilities that the opponents are going to put on him.
Speaker 1: All right, let's listen in to the director of cottage scouting,
Speaker 1: Breck Actley on Luther Burdens traits and skill set.
Speaker 3: The excitement comes from alignment.
Speaker 8: You know, you got a guy that scout Twinton saw
Speaker 8: electric with the ball in his hands.
Speaker 3: Everybody really liked them.
Speaker 8: Coaching staff comes in in the spring, they get involved
Speaker 8: in the evaluation process and they see it the same
Speaker 8: way we do. So to me, the excitement comes when
Speaker 8: everybody's aligned and sees the same vision for the player,
Speaker 8: and then you can certainly see translate to our offense
Speaker 8: and getting targets.
Speaker 1: You talk about the traits, I believe eighty five percent
Speaker 1: of his snaps out of the slots. Yeah, that's right
Speaker 1: in the wheelhouse. So the head coach and play caller
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson, is it the yak? Is it the ability
Speaker 1: to escape, the contact, balance, the force, miss tackles.
Speaker 8: That's exactly what it is. We think he's the best
Speaker 8: rack player in this class his ability. He can beat
Speaker 8: you with speed, he can run through you physicality, and
Speaker 8: he can also elude you. So he's got three ways
Speaker 8: to win with the ball in his hand. He's a
Speaker 8: dynamic player with the ball in his hand who can
Speaker 8: separate from the slot, can also win outside. So all
Speaker 8: of that combined makes them the total package.
Speaker 1: What kind of impression did he leave across the board?
Speaker 8: Passion Like, that's what I would say competitiveness, loves football
Speaker 8: like That's what came across with them is you roll
Speaker 8: the ball out and he loves to play football.
Speaker 1: Toughness, I think is a part of his makeup. Is
Speaker 1: that something that fits Ben Johnson's culture and identity right now?
Speaker 3: Absolutely? Absolutely.
Speaker 8: I think it's easy to see with him when you
Speaker 8: turn the tape on the way he plays with the
Speaker 8: ball in his hand, the physicality, you know, I think
Speaker 8: it's easy to envision that in the UR offense. The
Speaker 8: way coach talks about the things he's going to ask
Speaker 8: our receivers to do.
Speaker 3: I think he fits right in line with that.
Speaker 1: And no block, no rock. So does he like to
Speaker 1: do that?
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's absolutely part of the deal. Coach has made
Speaker 8: that very clear that I promise you he wouldn't be
Speaker 8: on the board to be available to be picked if
Speaker 8: he wasn't doing that.
Speaker 1: One of the first comps that came up is DJ
Speaker 1: Moore and when you really as soon as that hit,
Speaker 1: I'm watching the highlights. Oh yeah, you see a lot
Speaker 1: of everything I just said. The contact balance, behind the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, busting tackles, going deep is something there.
Speaker 1: With the chemistry you can build with this group of
Speaker 1: now potent weapons that kind of fits all together.
Speaker 3: I think that's exactly it.
Speaker 8: I think the cool thing now is the way we're
Speaker 8: structured and build is like the skill set of all
Speaker 8: of them allows them to move around and be multiple,
Speaker 8: which is what coach is looking for obviously, but his
Speaker 8: skill set, the route running, the ability to play inside
Speaker 8: and outside and then get them the ball in space,
Speaker 8: like it's going to be hard to cover DJ obviously
Speaker 8: rome skill set and you throw him in with now
Speaker 8: the two tight ends like now you're rolling.
Speaker 1: Ben talks about a basketball team on offense and this
Speaker 1: individual Luther Burden or it could have been an NBA player,
Speaker 1: couldn't everybody talked about he was a great basketball player.
Speaker 1: This is almost a literal, a literal thing going on
Speaker 1: you with this skill set of all these guys, right.
Speaker 8: That's what yeah, And that's that's an intentional thing. Like
Speaker 8: we talk about that. One of our jobs is not
Speaker 8: only you scout the player, but then you also have
Speaker 8: to where does he fit in our roster and how
Speaker 8: does he produce for us? And with him it was easy,
Speaker 8: you know, you do see the basketball type short area movements.
Speaker 8: That's what allows him to separate. That's also what allows
Speaker 8: him to make people miss with the ball in his hand.
Speaker 3: So it shows up all right.
Speaker 1: How would you describe off the field in the sense
Speaker 1: of getting to know him, what you learned about him
Speaker 1: with the fans want to know what the person's are.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 8: So he's a low key guy. He's from that area
Speaker 8: of Saint Louis. He's close with his family. He goes
Speaker 8: to school down the road at Columbia. You know, has
Speaker 8: a girlfriend that's strong in his life. But he's a
Speaker 8: low key guy. He's just kind of a low key
Speaker 8: good dude that likes to play football. That's the main
Speaker 8: thing I'd say about him.
Speaker 1: A lot of high praise there for Luther had a
Speaker 1: chance to meet him and visit with him. Man, he
Speaker 1: is he's all about football time. He is so dialed
Speaker 1: in and serious about where this is edit for his career,
Speaker 1: loves being a bear and I just think he's taking
Speaker 1: it all in and and this guy is he's a
Speaker 1: very serious person.
Speaker 2: With the leadership he's.
Speaker 1: Going to have there in the locker room in that
Speaker 1: group with a guy like DJ Moore and Roma Dunzay
Speaker 1: could show him the way a little bit after his
Speaker 1: rookie year and his experiences, I think it's a nice,
Speaker 1: a nice blend.
Speaker 5: Well, every interview I hear with him after the draft,
Speaker 5: his attitude kind of sounds like mine because I was
Speaker 5: so disappointed to be drafted in the fourth round. I
Speaker 5: always held that inside and motivated me. I think Luther
Speaker 5: wanted to and thought he would be drafted higher. But
Speaker 5: I think he's going to make a lot of good
Speaker 5: people pay for that. And so when you come in
Speaker 5: with that kind of you know, feeling and confidence about
Speaker 5: yourself and the way you want to go out there
Speaker 5: and perform and put you put your talents on display.
Speaker 5: Know one other guy's passed you up, I think it's
Speaker 5: really important. So I like listening to the interviews by
Speaker 5: Luther because he's a little contankerous about not getting picked
Speaker 5: a little bit higher.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thirty ninth pick in the draft, though, I think
Speaker 1: when your top forty man, that's that's quite the honor.
Speaker 2: But I think he thought he wanted to go higher.
Speaker 2: He no doubt he.
Speaker 1: Never said this out loud, but I believe he believes
Speaker 1: and knows that he's the number one receiver in the draft.
Speaker 5: So hey, listen, I thought I was better. And I'm
Speaker 5: sixty three years old and it's still in the back
Speaker 5: of my mind. So it's not something you're ever going
Speaker 5: to lose the thought of it. It's only trying to
Speaker 5: make yourself better. So people remember you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, and his buddy and a guy who
Speaker 1: played with him in high school, not at Eastaint Louis,
Speaker 1: but the other high school he was there in the
Speaker 1: Saint Louis area is Jamison Williams. He calls him his
Speaker 1: little brother. And so Jamison Williams was filling him in
Speaker 1: on Ben Johnson, and Ben Johnson was getting filled in
Speaker 1: on Luther from him. So and then you know, you
Speaker 1: talk about mon Ross.
Speaker 2: Saint Brown was a fourth round pick, a fourth round.
Speaker 1: Pick, and Ben Johnson has turned him into a two
Speaker 1: time first team All Pro and a three time Pro Bowler.
Speaker 5: At the draft, you're only picked accordingly. It doesn't say
Speaker 5: what how your career is going to turn out. Because
Speaker 5: we've seen guys picked a lot higher that have kind
Speaker 5: of fizzled than we seen guys that are picked a
Speaker 5: lot lower and that have flourished into Hall of Famer.
Speaker 5: So I just like Luther's attitude when he gets interviewed
Speaker 5: about how successful he wants to be.
Speaker 1: Hey Bears Fan Steinhoffels is a proud partner of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears, are now opening Orland Park. Steinhoffels is Chicago
Speaker 1: Lands furniture and mattress leader with the largest selection to
Speaker 1: fit every style and budget, and as one hundred percent
Speaker 1: employee owned shop in store and online at Steinhoffels dot com.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to the third and fourth
Speaker 1: picks of the draft for the Bears. At number fifty six,
Speaker 1: tackle Ozzie Trpilo of Boston College. At at number sixty two,
Speaker 1: Schamar Turner, Texas A and M defensive tackle, two interesting
Speaker 1: big bodies at the line of scrimmage. Everybody was in
Speaker 1: us included talking about just beefing up the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Before we get
Speaker 1: your thoughts, let's let's get the perspective from directive of
Speaker 1: player personnel, Trey Coles.
Speaker 2: You on both these guys.
Speaker 9: You can't have enough big bodies, right, and so you
Speaker 9: know the consistency and dependability that Ozsie showing throughout his career. Obviously,
Speaker 9: you know Ryan and I have a lot of touch
Speaker 9: points there at BC, and you know have a chance
Speaker 9: to follow his career over the past four years, it's
Speaker 9: spent a lot of fun, so thrill for the Bears,
Speaker 9: are really happy for Ozzie too.
Speaker 1: There's probably energy in the draft room because of that.
Speaker 1: The Boston College connection, that's one thing, but you guys
Speaker 1: know that whoever comes out of BC, especially offensive line,
Speaker 1: there's a certain amount of toughness there. It's almost like
Speaker 1: a conveyor belt of that over the history of college football.
Speaker 1: Would you agree, and as is that a part of
Speaker 1: his game?
Speaker 6: Absolutely?
Speaker 9: And I think when you look at the measure of
Speaker 9: consistency in his play and dependability. So we always talk
Speaker 9: about smart, tough, dependable, right, And you know, you can
Speaker 9: watch Ausie's game and you know what you appreciate is
Speaker 9: no matter what game you turn on, everything.
Speaker 6: Is so consistent. It all looks very very similar. You know.
Speaker 9: So not only was he well coached and well prepped
Speaker 9: and and all that, but you know, just the way
Speaker 9: he plays, there's a there's a calmness and dependability about.
Speaker 6: His game, which which you really admired at the tackle position.
Speaker 1: So let's let's dive into the scouting part of it.
Speaker 1: So left tackle is one year and then three at
Speaker 1: right tackle athlete there and then it was you know,
Speaker 1: Bill O'Brien, so an NFL touch point. Just give us
Speaker 1: some traits and qualities beyond the satisfactor and the and
Speaker 1: the violent play factor.
Speaker 9: Sure, I think there's there's a high level football intelligence,
Speaker 9: you know, and that comes from all the experience that
Speaker 9: he has. He's played a ton of snaps there, obviously
Speaker 9: being a three year starter, playing on both sides, so
Speaker 9: you know that speaks to the development that they've had
Speaker 9: through you know, a couple of different systems up there
Speaker 9: at PC. So when you've got a guy who you
Speaker 9: know moves well for a big man and also has
Speaker 9: a high degree of football intelligence and it's technically sounded,
Speaker 9: it checks a lot of boxes you at the tackle position.
Speaker 1: Is there a game or moment that stood out that
Speaker 1: if you close your eyes, that helped you make this decision?
Speaker 9: You know, with with somebody like Ozzie, I think it's
Speaker 9: you know, I keep using the word consistency with him,
Speaker 9: but you know, he had a chance to go against
Speaker 9: some really good players, you know, and rushers coming out
Speaker 9: of the ACC over the past couple of years, and
Speaker 9: it's just impressive because it's you know, no matter what
Speaker 9: the task at hand. No matter who he's playing against,
Speaker 9: it it all looks it all looks the same.
Speaker 6: You know. He just finds a way to get the
Speaker 6: job done, playing and play out.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, did you interview him at combay and if so,
Speaker 1: what impressed you about that experience?
Speaker 9: The maturity, I mean it felt like talking to a
Speaker 9: five year NFL that, you know, just the presence that
Speaker 9: he has as a person, The maturity, the intelligence, you know,
Speaker 9: all that stuff to go along with the mental and
Speaker 9: physical toughness that you see with the kids, right, Really impressive,
Speaker 9: really impressive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, beaar boxes. I don't know if they've changed my
Speaker 1: mind with a new coaching staff, but we know his
Speaker 1: mentality or Yeah, as you work with Ben Jackson and
Speaker 1: what we're building here.
Speaker 6: I think we hit on it.
Speaker 9: I mean, this is this is a gritty, hard nose player, right,
Speaker 9: doesn't miss time.
Speaker 6: He's been healthy, he's been durable, he's smart, he's tough.
Speaker 9: The dependability factor, you know, I think for an offensive lineman,
Speaker 9: when you talk about the makeup, it's it's critically important
Speaker 9: for us, you know, and that's something that you know,
Speaker 9: we've tried to make some additions in the off season,
Speaker 9: and we love the group of guys that we have,
Speaker 9: and we're really excited to throw Ousie in the mix
Speaker 9: because he's fitting the blueprint of what we're trying to establish.
Speaker 1: Okay, motion, when Shamar Turner comes aboard, if there's a
Speaker 1: man who plays with a violent approach to the game,
Speaker 1: a lot of knock back in his game, yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we were thrilled that we were able to get here.
Speaker 9: Here's another guy that we've been tracking these these last
Speaker 9: two days and we weren't sure if he would be there,
Speaker 9: and we're absolutely thrilled because he's he's embodying what we're
Speaker 9: trying to do defensively with Coach Allen and fun player
Speaker 9: to watchman.
Speaker 6: We're thrilled to have him.
Speaker 1: Coach Allen likes length, right, that's just a small part
Speaker 1: of what he likes. What else does he throw on
Speaker 1: the table that fit what he's trying to look for?
Speaker 9: Well, I think you hit it. It's violent, it's knocked back,
Speaker 9: it's relentless play. But you can tell that this kid
Speaker 9: loves football by the way that he plays the game.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 9: So it's snap in, snap out. You know you're going
Speaker 9: to get somebody who's going to change the line of
Speaker 9: scrimmage and give you everything he's got to empty the.
Speaker 1: Tank, all right. From the scouts break down, break it
Speaker 1: down for me, and the trades and qualities stand out
Speaker 1: besides all of what I just said.
Speaker 9: Yeah, so this is a guy that played some defensive
Speaker 9: end earlier in his career and then kicked inside full
Speaker 9: time this year. So you see the athlete, but you
Speaker 9: also see explosive power coming out of his hips. You know,
Speaker 9: you see a guy who can play with low bad
Speaker 9: level and change the line of scrimmage and can overpower
Speaker 9: blockers and builth the run and pass game. So I
Speaker 9: think he's still scratching the surface of his potential as
Speaker 9: he continues to feel comfortable and learn playing on the
Speaker 9: inter But you know, really physical, violent, aggressive, you know,
Speaker 9: everything you want in a defensive line.
Speaker 1: Any standout moments games or stories you heard about Shamar.
Speaker 9: Shoot, you know you watch them and A and M
Speaker 9: gets you know, obviously in the SEC he's playing against
Speaker 9: a lot of NFL caliber players week in and week out.
Speaker 9: But you know when you cut the tape on within him,
Speaker 9: it jumps out right. You know, who's five, Who's that
Speaker 9: guy that's going you know, consistently knocking people back in
Speaker 9: the backfield, and Chason plays and obviously we watched a
Speaker 9: lot of Texas A and M defensive line tape, you know,
Speaker 9: with his two teammates going in the last two days
Speaker 9: as well, So they did a heck of a job done.
Speaker 1: There are you looking at him at least at the moment,
Speaker 1: Coach Allen as a three technique or across the board
Speaker 1: because he did play many spots. And that being said,
Speaker 1: a guy like Greedy Jarrett with so much experience, is
Speaker 1: that a nice guy to have him learn from a
Speaker 1: little bit here?
Speaker 9: Absolutely? You know, Grady's the consummate pro. Right, the Guy's
Speaker 9: played at a high level for a long time. And
Speaker 9: I think either fun part with these rookies is you
Speaker 9: throw them in the fire and you see how it
Speaker 9: all shakes out in terms of where they play best,
Speaker 9: what the vision is. I know that he can play interior,
Speaker 9: and you know, I think that the more big bodies
Speaker 9: you have that you can play in the rotation, the
Speaker 9: better the Bears are going to be.
Speaker 1: All Right, Tommy, you heard the excitement in Drey's voice,
Speaker 1: A former Boston college guy himself on Ozzie Tripidolet's let's
Speaker 1: take one at a time, Ozzie Tripillo, and then you
Speaker 1: can have Shamart Turner as well.
Speaker 5: You know, Jeff we talked about, I've always liked Boston
Speaker 5: college players. No matter what position they come out. They're
Speaker 5: very disciplined. Football means a lot to them. They kind
Speaker 5: of have that East Coast toughness in them. I knew
Speaker 5: Ozzie's dad, and I'm familiar with his his bloodlines. The
Speaker 5: thing about Ozzie is it's kind of a develop along
Speaker 5: this Dan Skipper that played for Detroit, where you're that
Speaker 5: sixth lineman. Dan Skipper is six nine, three thirty. Ozzie
Speaker 5: is six eight, three hundred and seventeen poundsish, And I
Speaker 5: think when you're trying to get feed some reps to
Speaker 5: a guy that you really think has the ability, the toughness,
Speaker 5: the dedication, that all the kind of traits that you
Speaker 5: need to be an offensive lineman long term in the NFL,
Speaker 5: if you can feed him those sixth linemen reps, you
Speaker 5: can put them a little bit at right tight end,
Speaker 5: you can put them a little bit at left tight end.
Speaker 5: You can put him in motion, you can put him
Speaker 5: in a scenario where he can really benefit the strength
Speaker 5: of the side that you use him. So I really
Speaker 5: think that's when you get to tap into the creativeness
Speaker 5: of a guy like Ben Johnson, when you have an
Speaker 5: athlete like Ozzie. But it's gonna be hard to deny
Speaker 5: when you see him in pads or autopads for the
Speaker 5: first time of how big of a man this guy is.
Speaker 5: And I think that he still has a lot really
Speaker 5: development to go through in terms of NFL weight room,
Speaker 5: NFL dietitians and all this stuff that he's going to
Speaker 5: benefit from.
Speaker 4: When he gets to Tallas Hall.
Speaker 2: But you know, he will compete for a starting job.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know, but I'm telling you you're gonna You're
Speaker 5: always gonna be competing for a starting job.
Speaker 4: That's never gonna stop.
Speaker 5: But how you expedite that competition is by feeding those
Speaker 5: fifth offensive lineman reps. Get him in the game, make
Speaker 5: it comfortable, let him hear the crowd noise, let him
Speaker 5: get in a stance, let him face a defensive end,
Speaker 5: all those types of things that can speed up his development.
Speaker 5: I think it's a great option and opportunity for him.
Speaker 1: Our aes pains or injuries, keeping you on the sidelines
Speaker 1: Athletico's movement experts are here to help you turn your
Speaker 1: setbacks into comebacks and create a personalized game plan for
Speaker 1: your recovery with no.
Speaker 2: Prescription or referral needed.
Speaker 1: Athletical physical therapy is where your comeback story begins. Athletico
Speaker 1: proud to be the official physical therapy partner of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. All right, Tommy touch on, what defensive tackle
Speaker 1: Schamar Turner out of Texas San mbrings to the table.
Speaker 2: You're gonna love this guy when you meet him. First
Speaker 2: of all, he sat down across from me. He never
Speaker 2: stopped moving.
Speaker 1: He was so wound up and excited about this opportunity.
Speaker 1: It just hadn't hit him yet. Even a day after
Speaker 1: when he was just shaking his head. He just cannot
Speaker 1: believe what has happened here. He believes in himself. But
Speaker 1: the fact that he is a Chicago Bear and the
Speaker 1: kind of physicality and violence he plays with, I think
Speaker 1: the fans are going to love him.
Speaker 5: To me, the best thing that happened to him is
Speaker 5: coming to a team that has Grady Jarrett. Because for
Speaker 5: Bears fans that don't know a lot about Grady, and
Speaker 5: you're going to see a fast twitch muscle. You're going
Speaker 5: to see an explosive defensive tackle. You're going to see
Speaker 5: a guy that you want every defensive tackle to develop
Speaker 5: those traits that come along for the Bears. And if
Speaker 5: you're a young guy coming out of college and you
Speaker 5: are kind of the alpha male of your defensive line room,
Speaker 5: and now you're not necessarily not the alpha male, but
Speaker 5: you're learning from guys that have a world of experience
Speaker 5: at this level. And then you start on understanding how
Speaker 5: to line up, how to get more of an efficient stance,
Speaker 5: how to anticipate the snap count, how to make sure
Speaker 5: I work efficiently against the guard and the center.
Speaker 4: So all these.
Speaker 5: Little things that this young defensive lineman can learn from
Speaker 5: an experienced defensive lineman like Grady, I think it can
Speaker 5: speed up his learning process as well.
Speaker 2: I mean, he says he can play all across the
Speaker 2: defensive line. Do you think that that Eddy has. Yeah,
Speaker 2: But when you think.
Speaker 1: About Dio a Dembo, you talk about Jervon Dexter, you
Speaker 1: talk about all the guys up front Grady, the mixing
Speaker 1: and matching that they could do to create Also, much
Speaker 1: like an offensive coordinator tries to create mismatches, can you
Speaker 1: create mismatches with the current collection of Bears and Montes.
Speaker 1: Wet included an Austin booker to get this best one
Speaker 1: on one matchups you possibly can upfront.
Speaker 5: You know, first of all, I think that Dio and
Speaker 5: Dexter could both play to the outside. They could play
Speaker 5: all the way to the outside shoulder, a tight end
Speaker 5: to tackle. They have that type of size and athleticism.
Speaker 5: But yeah, Jeff, you know when we played in you know,
Speaker 5: kind of a bad memories for me. When we went
Speaker 5: and played the Washington Redskins in nineteen eighty six, they
Speaker 5: started playing a five man defensive line.
Speaker 4: They took out one linebacker.
Speaker 5: Now, every single offensive lineman has a one on one matchup.
Speaker 5: There is no sliding, there is no helping, and it
Speaker 5: was something that really benefited the Washington Redskins at that point.
Speaker 5: So when you take a look at the talent that
Speaker 5: the Bears have and he said, okay, I'm going to
Speaker 5: start playing a five man front on third down, the
Speaker 5: Bears have the five caliber athletes to do that. And
Speaker 5: if now in modern day football, yeah, why doesn't everybody
Speaker 5: play the forty six defense because you don't have the personnel.
Speaker 5: But when you have the personnel to go out there
Speaker 5: and play a five man front. You could do it,
Speaker 5: and I think Dennis Allen probably in the history of
Speaker 5: his career has seen it and hopefully have done it before.
Speaker 1: In the fourth round, Tom Maryland linebacker Hippolyte A five eleven,
Speaker 1: two forty. The dude can fly. We know a lot
Speaker 1: about the traits. He tested very well. With the loss
Speaker 1: of Jack Sanborn off to the Dallas Cowboys, there's going
Speaker 1: to be competition for that third linebacker spot.
Speaker 5: You know, one thing I like about Hippo is he's
Speaker 5: really difficult to block. When you go back and you
Speaker 5: look at some of his tapes, he reacts so quickly
Speaker 5: that he gets in a winning position against the offensive
Speaker 5: player who's dedicated to block him. And one thing about
Speaker 5: it is you don't want linebackers that necessarily square up
Speaker 5: the big offensive lineman. You want linebackers that are on
Speaker 5: the shoulder or are giving really little contact space. And
Speaker 5: I think when you're talking about what you can do
Speaker 5: on special teams and what Dennis Allen needs out of
Speaker 5: is that second tier of defensive players, the linebacker. I
Speaker 5: do think that he's a good fit for this defense.
Speaker 5: Dennis Allen wants his defensive lineman to engage and disengage
Speaker 5: quickly on the offensive lineman, so that gives these linebackers
Speaker 5: a little bit more free him to run. And so
Speaker 5: when you talk about a guy and I've seen a
Speaker 5: forty attached to him at four three nine, you know this,
Speaker 5: this dude can run all right.
Speaker 1: Another four to three upper four threes. Za Frazier on
Speaker 1: a ut San Antonio. He was a fifth round pick
Speaker 1: for the Bears. Tall, long, bump and run corner, six
Speaker 1: interceptions and had a lot of pass breakups. But is
Speaker 1: the mold of what Dennis Allen's gonna want in the future.
Speaker 1: He wants to play a lot of press, and he
Speaker 1: wants speed. He wants speed everywhere on the defense.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I would put my desk right in Al
Speaker 5: Harris's office because when you talk about a young player
Speaker 5: that has the length that he has, and now you
Speaker 5: have to learn the footwork that's going to put you
Speaker 5: in the best position, the quickest and throughout the entirety
Speaker 5: of the routes you're facing. I don't think there's a
Speaker 5: better coach right now than Al Harris because of the
Speaker 5: similarities in their size, their length, and the type of
Speaker 5: things that Al Harris had to learn from the time
Speaker 5: he went to Tampa Bay to Philly and then how
Speaker 5: he flourished after that. So I just think that the
Speaker 5: Bears put him in a really good position to learn
Speaker 5: develop from one of the brighter ex playing coaching minds
Speaker 5: in the league.
Speaker 1: And it was Al Harris who really was interested in
Speaker 1: this guy and said, Hey, Ryan, Hey Ian, Hey Jeff King,
Speaker 1: let's take a look at this guy. And I think
Speaker 1: it's that smaller school attitude Al Harris came from that
Speaker 1: probably caught his attention to what these guys have to
Speaker 1: do to get to the NFL.
Speaker 5: And you know, Al's a big guy. You know, he's
Speaker 5: the type of guy that had to learn athleticism that's
Speaker 5: going to compete at an NFL level, and then how
Speaker 5: his assets can be used on an NFL field. And
Speaker 5: so when you're taking a young guy like that that
Speaker 5: has untapped potential but he's got unique length and size,
Speaker 5: I think it's a great opportunity for you know, Al
Speaker 5: Harris to help him develop and grow.
Speaker 1: And Al went to Texas A and m Kingsville on
Speaker 1: his way to the NFL on a long career and
Speaker 1: a lot of great defensive play all right. In the
Speaker 1: sixth round, Tommy back in your neighborhood there, offensive guard
Speaker 1: Luke Newman out of Michigan State, strong dude, rep. Twenty
Speaker 1: nine on the bench during his workout. He was a
Speaker 1: holy Cross left tackle and an FCS on American one
Speaker 1: year at Michigan State. They played him at left guard,
Speaker 1: but it was his center snaps at the East West
Speaker 1: Shrine game that really got the Bears attention watching him
Speaker 1: in practice during that week and showing that he could
Speaker 1: do that, and I think that's.
Speaker 2: Probably where he's gonna do a lot of reping. Well.
Speaker 5: You know, the thing that he had to show first
Speaker 5: is he could transfer his talent from Holy Cross to
Speaker 5: Michigan State in the Big Ten and compete not only
Speaker 5: on the practice field, but on the game field. And
Speaker 5: he showed all those types of traits and that's what
Speaker 5: starts getting you recognized of having the talent to get
Speaker 5: invited to bowl games and then ultimately get yourself drafted.
Speaker 5: And when you go from Big Ten football and come
Speaker 5: to compete at the offensive guard position, if you're comfortable
Speaker 5: and that left handed stance, I think that speeds up
Speaker 5: the opportunity because if your right handed guy still is
Speaker 5: a little bit of a transition to play out of
Speaker 5: a left handed stance, and if he's comfortable there, I
Speaker 5: think he can come in and compete immediately.
Speaker 1: And the seventh round Tom finally they got their running back.
Speaker 1: They wanted to get one, and they did Rutgers Kyle Manungui.
Speaker 1: He is a durable, reliable, dependable running back at just
Speaker 1: over five eight. The biggest stat I think that sticks
Speaker 1: out with everybody aside from his production, is zero fumbles
Speaker 1: in over seven hundred snaps.
Speaker 4: And a willingness to pass block.
Speaker 5: You know, you get a guy that's tough enough to
Speaker 5: carry the football without having a ball stripped out of here,
Speaker 5: or you know, having the reputation of a fumbler. I
Speaker 5: think it's unbelievable. But I think if you have that
Speaker 5: reputation and the willingness to stand up into the line
Speaker 5: of scrimmage and bury your head into the middle of
Speaker 5: a blitzer, I think that is one of the true
Speaker 5: talents and qualities that it's difficult to teach. But if
Speaker 5: you already come in here and it's one of the
Speaker 5: things that compliment you for it can go a long
Speaker 5: way to get you on the field.
Speaker 1: Much like Boston College Tommy with the offensive line, of
Speaker 1: the toughness of the tight ends. I think Rutgers, I
Speaker 1: think also tough. I think of Isaiah Patchecko run of
Speaker 1: the football. I think of this guy running the football.
Speaker 1: There's just something about the edginess of those schools on
Speaker 1: the East Coast.
Speaker 5: Would you agree? Yeah, Rutgers. It starts with our head coach.
Speaker 5: Because our head coach is an all time tough guy.
Speaker 5: He does nothing to make these guys comfortable. He demands
Speaker 5: toughness out of him, and so I think that's a
Speaker 5: trait that every one of these guys leave their college program.
Speaker 2: With and that would be great.
Speaker 1: Schiano, former Bears assistant coach as well. Brought you by
Speaker 1: PNC Official Bank of the Bears. All right, before we
Speaker 1: depart and dig in more to this as we go
Speaker 1: throughout the course of this offseason, let's take a look
Speaker 1: at the NFC North Detroit drafted four players in the
Speaker 1: trenches and added a wide receiver in Isaac Tislaw from Arkansas. Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Two in the trenches and a wide receiver Ty Felton
Speaker 1: who is uber talented Green Bay Or in the trenches
Speaker 1: and two wide receivers in their top three picks, Matthew Golden,
Speaker 1: the speedster, and Saveon Williams, who's like a Deebo Samuel
Speaker 1: type of player that could do a lot of different things.
Speaker 2: Is everybody beefing up?
Speaker 1: I guess because this whole division wants to run the
Speaker 1: football as well. That's a stated point forget about quarterback
Speaker 1: play for a minute, just adding speed all of them
Speaker 1: and adding more in the trenches on each side.
Speaker 3: Of the ball.
Speaker 1: What does that tell you about the division and what
Speaker 1: everybody's looking at.
Speaker 5: You know, there's a lot of young guys that they
Speaker 5: hope that they can develop into NFL caliber offensive lineman
Speaker 5: and eventually earn and compete a job. But then you
Speaker 5: look every single one of these teams that brought free
Speaker 5: agent veteran offensive linemen, and the Bears are brought in three,
Speaker 5: the Minnesota Vikings brought in the center, the Green Bay
Speaker 5: Packers brought in a guard. So it's not like they've
Speaker 5: ignored the importance of the offensive line by you know,
Speaker 5: bringing some veterans in, but they also need they also
Speaker 5: know that at the beginning of training camp, you better
Speaker 5: have about fifteen offensive linemen that are competing for those
Speaker 5: seven to eight game day spots.
Speaker 1: Also on the defensive line that the Packers went four
Speaker 1: to five and six with defensive ends and defensive tackles,
Speaker 1: and that has been a big part of Minnesota's restructuring
Speaker 1: as well. On the defensive line with Javon Hargrave and
Speaker 1: Jonathan Allen. I mean, it's it's going to be a
Speaker 1: I still believe, and correct me if you disagree, and
Speaker 1: tell me if I'm wrong. But it's to me the
Speaker 1: most intriguing division in the NFL because it's going back
Speaker 1: old school a little bit here, but with the creativity
Speaker 1: of these offensive minds, whether it's the head coach calling
Speaker 1: the plays, which is in the case of three of
Speaker 1: the division, three of the teams in the division, or
Speaker 1: the tough attitude of the head coach up there in Detroit.
Speaker 2: I just think it's a fascinating division.
Speaker 5: It's all about trench warfare, Jeff, you know that, and
Speaker 5: that's what football is always going to be about. And
Speaker 5: then the creativity of the other pieces in place, that's
Speaker 5: what it's going to be.
Speaker 1: The Miller like Chicago Bears draft party was a great time.
Speaker 1: We appreciate their sponsorship of it, and we'll look forward
Speaker 1: to the next one that comes along in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Four time there, I'm Jeff Joniack. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Everybody, please subscribe now I'm the Chicago Bears official. I
Speaker 1: have Apple, Spotify, YouTube o, wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2: Spear down, everybody,