Speaker 1: Welcome in Tough Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network production. Bears Weekly is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical Therapy, C D. Gallaghy, Connie's Pizza,
Speaker 1: IGS Energy.
Speaker 2: And Men Are Lived.
Speaker 1: Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilliac aka the Mayor of
Speaker 1: Bearsville and is sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 3: He's an in the National Football League and explore the
Speaker 3: new landscape of the Chicago Bears for twenty twenty five
Speaker 3: and beyond. We do so tonight on Bears Weekly here
Speaker 3: on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network with
Speaker 3: Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer and former Bears
Speaker 3: quarterback Jim Miller from Sirius XMNFL Radio.
Speaker 4: I'm Jeff Joniak coming up of the program.
Speaker 3: We visit with the outstanding draft expert from the athletic
Speaker 3: Dane Brugler who always digs deep and goes deep with
Speaker 3: every single draft class. I want to thank our producers tonight,
Speaker 3: Dan Brillly, Jordan Treadup and in the ESPN studio Justin Pottinger.
Speaker 3: The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrotski. Gentlemen,
Speaker 3: good evening. This is this is my favorite time of
Speaker 3: year posting your bulley into the Combine Timmy this week.
Speaker 3: I know you don't have the opportunity to head over there,
Speaker 3: but it's just a wealth of information. It's just something
Speaker 3: that lives for a long time, and you can recall
Speaker 3: a lot of what you learn over the course of
Speaker 3: the year or for years.
Speaker 2: Listen, I see more in the Combine off of TV
Speaker 2: than you guys see in person. You guys may get
Speaker 2: eye contact or talk to somebody, but I think that's
Speaker 2: one of the great things about the modern day NFL
Speaker 2: is the fact that they go there and you get
Speaker 2: a chance to look at these guys, compete, learn a
Speaker 2: little bit more about them, read the reports from all
Speaker 2: the people that go and uh, you know, put in
Speaker 2: their big boards and their drafts and everything, and you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's exciting.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: I remember going to the Combine as a kid man,
Speaker 2: and I was so excited to meet and greet and
Speaker 2: see some of the guys that I read about, talked about,
Speaker 2: you know, watch from their All American teams they made
Speaker 2: and stuff. And I don't you know, Jeff, if you're
Speaker 2: an actual participating in the Combine and you're not going
Speaker 2: there with your heart on fire. I think that gives
Speaker 2: you an indication of what you're really committed to for
Speaker 2: the next ten years.
Speaker 5: You know, the combine was about the medicals, but like
Speaker 5: Tom said, you can probably see more on TV. But
Speaker 5: as for the interviews, the interviews are great. You really
Speaker 5: get to get up close in personal hollow player ticks.
Speaker 5: And you know, some guys don't get invited. Jeff, you
Speaker 5: just called the Senior Bowl donomobile. Eight guys from that
Speaker 5: game did not get invited. But that doesn't mean that
Speaker 5: you're not going to get drafted or even sign as
Speaker 5: an underrafted for agent. I always bring up Carl Brooks,
Speaker 5: d tackle of the Green Bay Packers. He played at
Speaker 5: the Senior Bowl. Didn't get an invite to the Combine
Speaker 5: because a lot of these teams vote on players, and
Speaker 5: if you get sixteen votes out of thirty two teams,
Speaker 5: odds are you'll be at the Combine. If you don't
Speaker 5: get sixteen votes, maybe like eight teams want to see
Speaker 5: they want to bring another corner, so you may just
Speaker 5: fall out by one vote and not be able to
Speaker 5: go to the Combine. It didn't stop Carl Brooks. He's
Speaker 5: a big factor for the Green Bay Packers, And so
Speaker 5: I think for players, after the combine's over, then it'll
Speaker 5: turn to the to the pro day is what will
Speaker 5: be the next step for them. But the interviews are
Speaker 5: terrific where you get to know the players.
Speaker 3: On top of that, you're laying the groundwork for free agency.
Speaker 4: You're dealing with agents.
Speaker 3: There are deals with gms making trades that will emerge
Speaker 3: once the new league here kicks open, and now free
Speaker 3: agency is less than a month away. So the conversations
Speaker 3: behind the scenes Jim are as worth as much as
Speaker 3: those in person interviews with the college prospects.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Here, you know you talk about the two way
Speaker 5: player you know coming out and Willie. You know, what
Speaker 5: is he going to choose? Is he going to be
Speaker 5: a receiver? Is he going to be a corner? That's
Speaker 5: kind of a turnoff for a lot of teams. I
Speaker 5: know Pad had talked to my partner Pat Kerwin on
Speaker 5: serious six times. He had talked to a couple of
Speaker 5: NFL executives that they want him to commit to one position.
Speaker 5: You know, he's going to work out probably at both,
Speaker 5: but they want him to decide because they have a
Speaker 5: vision for the player, and maybe it's like what Dane said,
Speaker 5: they probably think he's a better corner than what he
Speaker 5: is a receiver. Now, hey, we know Dion Sanders, he
Speaker 5: did both. He started out at corner, started to flip
Speaker 5: over a receiver, and maybe that's in the cards. But
Speaker 5: they want him to focus early on one position early
Speaker 5: if he were be a part of their team. So
Speaker 5: saying hey, I'm a two way player to an NFL
Speaker 5: owner is kind of a turnoff really at this point.
Speaker 5: You know, it's also the type of talent your face.
Speaker 2: And if you want to be a two way player
Speaker 2: in college and play against some of the college talent
Speaker 2: that he did, it's a little bit different than when
Speaker 2: you're going against a five star wide receiver week in
Speaker 2: and week out. Whether you're the number one corner on
Speaker 2: your team or your number two corner on your team,
Speaker 2: you're going to face a better receiver than basically you've
Speaker 2: ever faced in college.
Speaker 3: What are you most intrigued to learn from the combine
Speaker 3: about position groups that may impact the Bears?
Speaker 5: You know, offensive line, I mean certainly we know the
Speaker 5: sacks have totaled up. You know, they just have been
Speaker 5: too many sacks, so I do think they want to
Speaker 5: focus on the offensive line. I know everybody's focusing on
Speaker 5: Trey Smith in free agency. Obviously Ryan Poles knows the
Speaker 5: player very well, but you know you're gonna find out
Speaker 5: there's some gems in this draft on the offensive line.
Speaker 5: I talked about Emery Jones down there for LSU's Abel
Speaker 5: out of North Dakota State. This guy, he's played basically
Speaker 5: every position, but he's probably a center. He's a center
Speaker 5: when it's all said and done. And I think, you know,
Speaker 5: for positions of the Bears, sometimes you got to think
Speaker 5: outside the box. You know, we get so caught up
Speaker 5: on body frames and traits and all those things. And
Speaker 5: there's a kid right down there at North Carolina. He's
Speaker 5: not invited to the combine. Don't forget about Willie Lampkin.
Speaker 5: You know, he's going to be a five to ten
Speaker 5: center who's about probably going to play at about two
Speaker 5: eighty two eighty five. This guy knows leverage and he
Speaker 5: is very powerful. He you know, he went against the
Speaker 5: big guys down there in Mobile. He did not embarrass himself.
Speaker 5: I'm not saying he's going to be a first rounder,
Speaker 5: but he's a guy who you want on your team.
Speaker 5: He's forty seven to oh his senior year as a wrestler.
Speaker 5: This guy kind of reminds me of Carlton hassel Rig
Speaker 5: when I played for Pittsburgh. He was on practice squad
Speaker 5: his first year and then became a starter. He was
Speaker 5: a grick Old Roman wrestling champion, so we knew he
Speaker 5: knew wrestling. So this is a very powerful young man
Speaker 5: out of North Carolina. And I think a lot of
Speaker 5: teams are like, hey, the traits be damned. You just
Speaker 5: kind of know a football player is a football player,
Speaker 5: and they come in all different shapes and sizes, and
Speaker 5: maybe you don't draft him as high as what you think,
Speaker 5: but you know, sure enough he's going to make your
Speaker 5: team one way, shape or form.
Speaker 4: Tom where your eye is going to take you.
Speaker 2: It's difficult, you know, It's a difficult because I always,
Speaker 2: you know, gravitate towards offensive lineman. I like looking at
Speaker 2: their athleticism, their ability to move their feet. You know,
Speaker 2: I have some interest in linebackers as well, because I
Speaker 2: think of when you look at think about the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 2: where they're at the linebacker position, where this defense is
Speaker 2: going to be going forward, What type of linebackers do
Speaker 2: they need in this system against this division. But when
Speaker 2: you look about where they fit in terms of depth,
Speaker 2: where they fit in in terms of developmental talent that
Speaker 2: working to be starters.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm interested in that too.
Speaker 2: But like I said a couple of weeks ago, if
Speaker 2: they invested every draft choice and offense and defensive.
Speaker 6: Linemen, I'd be willing to go that route.
Speaker 3: Bears with the number ten, thirty nine, forty one, and
Speaker 3: seventy two picks for the first three rounds of the
Speaker 3: draft top one hundred, and that is prime real estate
Speaker 3: to take advantage of, no question about it, Jim. The
Speaker 3: salary cap is going way up. This impacts all teams.
Speaker 3: So I would say more than half the teams in
Speaker 3: the league are going to have north to thirty million
Speaker 3: dollars a cap space Bears right now at number six
Speaker 3: sitting pretty.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it is it's important every team manages their
Speaker 5: cap differently. Certainly, some team's got to eat a lot
Speaker 5: of money. You know, look at Mickey Loomis in the Saints.
Speaker 5: They kind of live in this world. They had to
Speaker 5: clear seven or sixty million dollars last year. This year
Speaker 5: they have to clear fifty million. Now you mentioned with
Speaker 5: the new cap number that cuts it in half. Since
Speaker 5: the cap up twenty five million dollars this year, So
Speaker 5: now the Saints they're twenty five million in the hole.
Speaker 5: But to start the league year, you have to get
Speaker 5: in the positive. You have to get in the positive,
Speaker 5: or the legal do it for you. They'll just start
Speaker 5: cutting guys and say hey, all right, now you're in
Speaker 5: the black and we can start doing some work here.
Speaker 5: So really, for teams, they really have to focus on
Speaker 5: their cap. Teams like the Bears will have will be
Speaker 5: players in free agency because they've got the money to
Speaker 5: do it. They're not going to use their credit card
Speaker 5: like the Saints. The world the Saints have lived in
Speaker 5: literally over the last decade, it'll be.
Speaker 2: Interesting to see what this salary cap, what team it
Speaker 2: benefits them to release in some veterans, you know, because
Speaker 2: you got a couple guys out there, and the obviously
Speaker 2: the veteran cornerback carousel as a daily talked about subject
Speaker 2: around the NFL. But I think when you look and
Speaker 2: you kind of understand that maybe there's that guy that
Speaker 2: I wanted to see what the salary cap was going
Speaker 2: to add to this, so now I can sign this
Speaker 2: veteran who's a big contributor to my team. And I
Speaker 2: think every single football team out there has one of
Speaker 2: those guys.
Speaker 3: All right, when we come back, we'll be joined by
Speaker 3: Dane Burgler from the Athletic to deep dive into the
Speaker 3: NFL Draft and the Combine coming up next week in
Speaker 3: Indianapolis with Tom Thayren, Jim Metal. I'm Jeff Jonihak, and
Speaker 3: this is Bears Weekly on an ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 3: the Bears Radio Network. It's Dane Brugler, the draft analyst
Speaker 3: from the Athletic. He is a beast and so is
Speaker 3: his draft publication. Everybody's been calling it the Beast, and
Speaker 3: it garners that title because you are a beast. For
Speaker 3: how in depth you go into putting that thing together
Speaker 3: every year. I don't know how you do it. Loving
Speaker 3: it so much, I don't know how you do it.
Speaker 3: Where did you concoct the Beast?
Speaker 7: I first of all, thank you for the kind words.
Speaker 8: It made something that at my heart I'm a draft fan,
Speaker 8: and so I want to create something that I would
Speaker 8: want to enjoy and really dive into. And I really
Speaker 8: appreciate so much of the draft process from just of
Speaker 8: course the analysis, strengths, weaknesses, all of that, but also
Speaker 8: you know the.
Speaker 7: Details, you know the journey these guys take.
Speaker 8: So I want to know where'd you grow up, what
Speaker 8: sports did you play growing up?
Speaker 7: What adversities have you hit in your life?
Speaker 8: You know, I want to know all the details about
Speaker 8: your testing. So you know, this is the only the
Speaker 8: only place that I know of that has all the
Speaker 8: pro dain information for thousands of players, NFL verified Pro
Speaker 8: Day numbers in in the Beast, and so it is
Speaker 8: I want to put together the ultimate draft guide. And
Speaker 8: I don't know where the Moniker Beast came from. As
Speaker 8: someone some fans called it started calling it that. I
Speaker 8: pushed back on it initially, and then it just kind
Speaker 8: of stuck. And you know, I figure, if it's going
Speaker 8: to be called the Beast, I've I've got a lot
Speaker 8: to live up to. And so every year trying to
Speaker 8: make it better and better and better, and hopefully able
Speaker 8: to do that this year when it comes out in
Speaker 8: early April.
Speaker 3: Real quick, how long did you invest to just create
Speaker 3: connections and you know, to get opinions from mothers, the colleges,
Speaker 3: knowing that you're getting good information because the market is
Speaker 3: now flooded with draft analysts.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean I've been I'm about to go to
Speaker 8: the Combine here next week. It'll be my fifteenth, and
Speaker 8: so I've been doing this a while. I first started
Speaker 8: when I was in college. I went to Mount Union
Speaker 8: and Pierre Garsona and I were seniors and together that
Speaker 8: year and we had so we had scouts coming through
Speaker 8: all the time. I worked for the football team, and
Speaker 8: so I was taking scouts all, you know, to practice
Speaker 8: and you know different parts of uh, you know, the
Speaker 8: facility to meet with Pierre and all and the coaches
Speaker 8: and that kind of thing. So that was my first,
Speaker 8: you know, foot in the door to the scouting world.
Speaker 8: And so I still have a lot of those connections,
Speaker 8: a lot of those friends, and that's why I love
Speaker 8: the combine. Is of course to talk to the players,
Speaker 8: to see the on field workouts, but everybody's in Indianapolis,
Speaker 8: so a chance to meet with, you know, my buddies
Speaker 8: in the league and you know, catch up with them,
Speaker 8: meet new people, you know, whether whether it's the agent community,
Speaker 8: people like that. So it's it's something that I've been
Speaker 8: doing long enough, and there's mutual respect there you know,
Speaker 8: I have so much respect for what scouts do or
Speaker 8: what agents do, and they look at my work and
Speaker 8: see that I'm not just you know, you know, I
Speaker 8: invest everything I have into this, and so the mutual
Speaker 8: respect is something that I think really shows through.
Speaker 6: Dan.
Speaker 2: What's your foundation for studying a guy like Travis Hunter?
Speaker 2: What side of the ball do you start with and
Speaker 2: what kind of preconceived notions of the draft are in
Speaker 2: your head after studying him a little bit.
Speaker 8: Well, he's incredibly unique, right, I mean, we just have
Speaker 8: We don't see players like this come around. I mean,
Speaker 8: even Charles Woodson, you know, way back when he wasn't
Speaker 8: playing the numbers of snaps on offense that we saw
Speaker 8: Travis Hunter play this year. It's just really a unicorn
Speaker 8: type of situation. And so I think, you know, teams
Speaker 8: are looking at it from that frame of reference too,
Speaker 8: where it's like, Okay, we've never seen a guy like this,
Speaker 8: so we have to kind of attack it differently than
Speaker 8: we would a normal prospect, you know, we have to.
Speaker 8: The combine is going to be big because this is
Speaker 8: going to be the first chance for coaches to really
Speaker 8: get eyes on Travis Hunter. Of course, they know who
Speaker 8: he is, but coaches have been involved in during the season,
Speaker 8: they're focused on the season. Now that the season's over,
Speaker 8: we're in the offseason, they have a chance to really
Speaker 8: focus on these prospects. And so when they have a
Speaker 8: chance at the combine to sit down with him and
Speaker 8: get a better sense for Okay, where do you want
Speaker 8: to play? First and foremost? I mean, are you dead
Speaker 8: set on playing both ways? What's your favorite? Do you
Speaker 8: love the play offense? Maybe do you love to play
Speaker 8: defense and you know you're okay doing the other one
Speaker 8: on the side, or you know whatever we can work in.
Speaker 8: So finding out what Travis Hunter wants is going to
Speaker 8: be paramount during this process, and if he's dead set
Speaker 8: on playing both, you have to make sure that your
Speaker 8: coaches are on board with that if you're going to
Speaker 8: consider drafting him personally, I like because when you felt
Speaker 8: when you do a skouting report, there's no such thing
Speaker 8: as being a two position player. You have a primary position,
Speaker 8: they have a secondary position, and so I think you
Speaker 8: have to be to feel comfortable with what you're going
Speaker 8: to win position you're in write down for that primary position.
Speaker 7: For me, it's corner.
Speaker 8: I like him better on defense, but he can be
Speaker 8: an electric wide receiver, There's no doubt about it. So
Speaker 8: even though wide receiver is a secondary position, it might
Speaker 8: as well be a primary position as well. He should
Speaker 8: do some fun things at the combine. He's listed as
Speaker 8: a corner, but you know, teams request that players work
Speaker 8: out with different position groups all the time. I'll be
Speaker 8: shocked if we don't see him work out with the
Speaker 8: receivers as well.
Speaker 2: So what's your approach to offensive lineman? Do you have
Speaker 2: a primary and a secondary possible developmental position for that
Speaker 2: player or I'm the type of guy at this stage
Speaker 2: if you're looking for bona fide offensive lineman, I want
Speaker 2: to draft you in the position that you play. I
Speaker 2: don't want you to be an experiment. So what's your
Speaker 2: feeling about offensive lineman in those terms?
Speaker 8: Yeah, and I think every context is so important. You know,
Speaker 8: what was the situation? You know, for some players, they
Speaker 8: played a certain position at a necessity because that's what
Speaker 8: their college team needed, you know. And so you know,
Speaker 8: you take a guy at Gray Zabel, for example, North
Speaker 8: Dakota State, where he was the best player in that line.
Speaker 8: So the best player is going to play left tackle,
Speaker 8: and maybe he didn't have ideal measurables, but you don't
Speaker 8: need ideal measurables to play left tackle at that level.
Speaker 8: Whereas okay, in the NFL thirty two and change arms,
Speaker 8: that's not really going to work. So we're going to
Speaker 8: kick you inside. But that's where these All Star games
Speaker 8: come in and seeing Gray's able to see your ball
Speaker 8: at guard at center, and all of a sudden, it'say, Okay,
Speaker 8: this guy's the best center in the draft. Even though
Speaker 8: it is a projection, it is a transition. He did
Speaker 8: play center in high school, so there is some experience
Speaker 8: there seeing him do it the Senior Bowl, Okay, that
Speaker 8: gives me a little bit better feeling that he can
Speaker 8: make that move. I mean, I certainly understand what you're saying, though,
Speaker 8: because you want to feel you know, you don't want
Speaker 8: to draft a project Ideally, you want to draft someone
Speaker 8: that has done it for a long time at a
Speaker 8: specific position.
Speaker 7: But you know, I think that with some of these.
Speaker 8: Linemen it's it's not always that easy, and so some
Speaker 8: guys don't have the measurables to stay at that position.
Speaker 7: You want to move them inside, You want to move.
Speaker 8: Them uh to a different part, and for some of
Speaker 8: these players, you just want to feel comfortable that they
Speaker 8: have that versatility. And this is where I think the
Speaker 8: offensive line, this is where the coaches come into play.
Speaker 8: If you know, you're looking at a player who was
Speaker 8: a left tackle only in college, but maybe you have
Speaker 8: a left tackle and you want to you know, Joe
Speaker 8: Alt last year, he was a left tackle.
Speaker 7: In Notre Dame.
Speaker 8: But you know, you look at the Chargers, they had
Speaker 8: their left tackle. They want to know he can he
Speaker 8: play the right side. Uh, that's where your offensive line
Speaker 8: coach comes in. And Okay, let's work them out privately,
Speaker 8: and let's see him in a right tackle stance. Let's
Speaker 8: see how does he move when he's you know, in
Speaker 8: his kickout and and you know his slides and these
Speaker 8: different things that you throw at him. This is where
Speaker 8: the coaches come in. And it's so important to understand
Speaker 8: what their you know, their muscle movements. You know, is
Speaker 8: it is it something that's natural for them? Is it
Speaker 8: going to be more of a struggle. And so the
Speaker 8: offensive line coaches are a big part of that.
Speaker 3: Dan Bugler from the Athletic Our guest here on Bears Weekly,
Speaker 3: the second to Bears Weekly, brought to you by I G.
Speaker 3: S Shatter with Tom Thayer Jeff Cioniac. So everybody likes
Speaker 3: to slot where the strengths of the draft are.
Speaker 4: Where the Bears are.
Speaker 3: They've got plenty of top one hundreds here and probably
Speaker 3: some of your top one hundreds will be Chicago Bears
Speaker 3: are their sweet spots.
Speaker 8: Yeah, obviously, you know every position is a little bit
Speaker 8: different this year. You think of the strongest positions, defensive line,
Speaker 8: tight end, running back, those are the three positions that
Speaker 8: jump out immediately as Okay, these are the strengths of
Speaker 8: the draft. And I think that when you look at
Speaker 8: the first round, specifically offensive line, it's a good offensive line,
Speaker 8: not like last year. Last year was unbelievable with the
Speaker 8: number of tackles we saw go early. But there are
Speaker 8: some good offensive linemen in the first round this year.
Speaker 8: And so you look at the Bears and having what
Speaker 8: three picks in the top forty five, it kind of
Speaker 8: lines up with where they might be looking with defensive line.
Speaker 8: Offensive line should be heavy trenches for them. If they
Speaker 8: want to go offensive line or defensive line at number ten,
Speaker 8: there's gonna be a good player there. It's just that's
Speaker 8: that type of draft. And if they wait until the
Speaker 8: second round. There's going to be some good players there,
Speaker 8: so I think they're in good shape. But I mentioned
Speaker 8: tight end and running back. Those are the two other
Speaker 8: positions that are just really really deep. We've got guys
Speaker 8: at the top obviously, Ashon Gent at running back, Tyler Warren,
Speaker 8: Colson Loveland at tight end, and then you know, maybe
Speaker 8: the biggest argument not to take those guys early is
Speaker 8: second round, third round, fourth round.
Speaker 7: You feel great.
Speaker 8: About the depth at those two positions that you can
Speaker 8: wait and feel really good about, you know, getting a
Speaker 8: someone that's going to come in and compete for starting
Speaker 8: reps in the third round, in the fourth round. So
Speaker 8: you know, it's a really interesting mix at those three positions.
Speaker 3: But at defensive line, this is going to be known
Speaker 3: as one of those drafts, right, I mean, hopefully these
Speaker 3: guys all developed, not that all of them will, so
Speaker 3: I will surprise you.
Speaker 4: But you know, how deep are we going?
Speaker 3: I mean, I know you've mentioned the number of candidates
Speaker 3: versus last year is almost.
Speaker 8: Double, especially defensive tackle, right, And I think this is
Speaker 8: gonna be a theme next week at the combine when
Speaker 8: you know some of these because a lot of these
Speaker 8: edge rushers are just freaky freaky dudes. Abdua Carter of
Speaker 8: course at the top, but then after that, Shamar Stewart
Speaker 8: from Texas A and m what he can do at
Speaker 8: two hundred and eighty pounds is unbelievable, and so I'm
Speaker 8: eager to see what his ten yard split is. How
Speaker 8: does he move in space? He should put on a show.
Speaker 8: He's an absolute freak. Mikel Williams from Georgia, who his
Speaker 8: arms They might need two tape measurers just to get
Speaker 8: his arms in because they're well over thirty five inches.
Speaker 7: He moves well.
Speaker 8: You think about like maybe Tyree Wilson a couple of
Speaker 8: years ago went top ten. I think Michael Williams is
Speaker 8: probably even a better player than that. Mike Green from
Speaker 8: Marshall should test well. So the Combine. A theme of
Speaker 8: the Combine is on defensive line day, there's gonna be
Speaker 8: a lot of people owing and on at what these
Speaker 8: guys look like, how they move, and the promise that
Speaker 8: they show, because again, the teams draft tre it's not production,
Speaker 8: and some of these guys don't have the production, but
Speaker 8: they have the traits and that's what NFL teams are
Speaker 8: going to bank on. So there's a lot of those
Speaker 8: guys in it. Yeah, defensive tackle. You know, Mason Graham's
Speaker 8: going to go early. He's kind of the opposite where
Speaker 8: I don't think he's going to necessarily test off the charts,
Speaker 8: Like his arms aren't going to be super long, his
Speaker 8: body's gonna be okay, he should be a fine tester,
Speaker 8: but he's not going to be a freak tester.
Speaker 7: But the tape's just that outstanding. He plays at a
Speaker 7: high level.
Speaker 8: But then after that, you know, Kenneth Grant, his teammate
Speaker 8: at Michigan, at three hundred and fifty pounds, should run
Speaker 8: pretty well. You know, he's going to have some really
Speaker 8: good tape and then but it doesn't stop from their
Speaker 8: second round, third round, fourth round. This defensive line groups,
Speaker 8: it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch the court.
Speaker 2: You know, Cam and Shador do they have to throw
Speaker 2: at the combine to get evaluation or is it something
Speaker 2: that they'll show up at the combine but they won't
Speaker 2: throw until they're pro day.
Speaker 8: Yeah, and we haven't heard them publicly say yes or
Speaker 8: no they will or they won't yet. You know, I
Speaker 8: think when you think back at it, I don't think
Speaker 8: people remember who did and do who didn't, like, you know,
Speaker 8: I don't. I don't think people look back and say,
Speaker 8: remember when Bryce Young didn't throw at the COMBA, Like,
Speaker 8: I don't think they look at it like that. Now
Speaker 8: you do kind of take note of it, like, Okay, well,
Speaker 8: what's he hiding from?
Speaker 6: You know?
Speaker 7: Is he scared a competition?
Speaker 2: Is he?
Speaker 6: You know?
Speaker 8: Like I take a guy like Shador Sanders, for example,
Speaker 8: He's gonna be throwing right next to Tyler Shuck from Louisville,
Speaker 8: who has one of the best arms in this draft,
Speaker 8: if not the best arm, he has an absolute power arm,
Speaker 8: and is should or look at that and say, maybe
Speaker 8: I won't throw next to him at the combine, I'll maybe,
Speaker 8: well just wait for the pro day where I'm throwing
Speaker 8: to my guys on my terms, doing it my way,
Speaker 8: And that would go along kind of with how people.
Speaker 7: Think of shoudor Sanders.
Speaker 8: So I'd love for him to say fight back and
Speaker 8: say no, I'm gonna go compete, I'm gonna go show
Speaker 8: what I can do. And really he should because he's not.
Speaker 8: I don't think he has maybe a ton of as
Speaker 8: much leverage maybe as some people think, you know, like
Speaker 8: he's not penciled in to be a locktop five pick.
Speaker 7: I don't think he's a lock top ten pick.
Speaker 8: So you know, if he wants to really convince the
Speaker 8: Raiders or the Giants or one of these teams that hey,
Speaker 8: I should be your guy, go out and throw show
Speaker 8: how it show what you can do. In the same
Speaker 8: thing for cam Ward. I'd love for both these guys
Speaker 8: to go out and compete.
Speaker 3: All Right, Dan, we could talk to you for the
Speaker 3: full hour, and I know everybody wants to talk to you,
Speaker 3: So I thank you for taking the time for us
Speaker 3: on Bears Weekly. I will enjoy the Beast when it
Speaker 3: comes out. We'll see you at the combine. Thank you
Speaker 3: so much. Okay, wait things, gentlemen, Thank you Dame Dane
Speaker 3: Brigler from the Athletic here on Bears Weekly and HESDB
Speaker 3: in one thousand of the Bears Radio network.
Speaker 4: Athletico Physical Therapy.
Speaker 3: Visit Athletico dot com to requested in clinic or virtually
Speaker 3: appointment and start feeling better tomorrow with Jeff and Tom
Speaker 3: jim Melli from Serious XMNFL Radio. So the Bears released
Speaker 3: their coaching staff officially. Obviously, we're leaked out. Over the
Speaker 3: course of the last month or so. We're gonna start
Speaker 3: with the offensive side of the ball. Guys, just get
Speaker 3: some some real thoughts on things. The offensive scheme something
Speaker 3: yet to determined yet. We know it's Ben Johnson and
Speaker 3: what he did in Detroit. But he's going to craft
Speaker 3: it to be a Bears offense. It's his offense. It's
Speaker 3: going to be a Bears offense. When I sat down
Speaker 3: with him, he emphasized that.
Speaker 4: So, but we look at it.
Speaker 3: Three straight seasons where the Lions were top five and
Speaker 3: scoring number one and scoring in twenty twenty four, where
Speaker 3: a quarterback, a veteran like Jared Goff. Now it'll be
Speaker 3: interesting what he does with Caleb Williams, who threw for
Speaker 3: five ninety five touchdowns and no interceptions in the games
Speaker 3: against the Lions. That Tom got Ben Johnson's attention, and
Speaker 3: so why wouldn't it right, But the quote that lives
Speaker 3: with me is this is from Caleb. He told me
Speaker 3: that it'll be my offense. It's going to build around me,
Speaker 3: but also he's going to test me. I love that quote.
Speaker 2: Right, you are going to build around the talents, the athleticism,
Speaker 2: the intelligence, the arm talent that you have.
Speaker 6: In Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2: But now we just got done talking about with what
Speaker 2: the offensive line could include. It can include a couple
Speaker 2: of rookies and a free agent. And the best way
Speaker 2: to break in an offensive line and allow them to
Speaker 2: be the most aggressive at the line of scrimmage early
Speaker 2: in the season is what Ben Johnson is known for,
Speaker 2: his play action pass and so I think when you
Speaker 2: take everything into account with the receivers, with the tight end,
Speaker 2: with the offensive line, which you want to do to
Speaker 2: continue to develop these guys, if you can be a
Speaker 2: team that has an emphasis on play action passing, you're
Speaker 2: really going to have a chance to allow your offensive
Speaker 2: line to develop and be as aggressive as possible and
Speaker 2: really help these guys grow into the unit that you
Speaker 2: ultimately need them to be around the second half of
Speaker 2: the season. So I'm encouraged by what Ben Johnson has
Speaker 2: in his offensive wake, and I also look forward to
Speaker 2: see what Caleb can do in his future.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm excited to.
Speaker 5: I think when you look at the Lions and just
Speaker 5: how he accentuates player strengths. You know, we know they
Speaker 5: got a great offensive line, so they run the football
Speaker 5: over Penny Sewell, who's probably one of the stronger right
Speaker 5: tackles in the national Footballgue. If you know, just their
Speaker 5: numbers prove it. They're running over really their best player.
Speaker 5: And then you look at how he puts Gibbs in space,
Speaker 5: look at how the receivers attacked the secondary. I'm un
Speaker 5: ros Saint Brown has been incredible since he entered the league,
Speaker 5: but just go watch his routes and how he attacks
Speaker 5: coverages and Jared Golf I think we can all agree
Speaker 5: his game has gotten better since under Ben Johnson, since
Speaker 5: he arrived in that trade from the La Rams. So
Speaker 5: I'm excited about that. I'm with Tom and you about this. Jeff,
Speaker 5: your playbook, Yeah, your scheme is your scheme. But I
Speaker 5: did always go by Ron Earhart that you know. We
Speaker 5: would always arrive and the coach would ask, well, how's
Speaker 5: the offense going to look? He goes, well, I won't
Speaker 5: know until I see the guy's practice, because I want
Speaker 5: to see what they can do. And then once I
Speaker 5: know what they can do, then I'll know how our
Speaker 5: offense is going to be structured to accentuate the strengths,
Speaker 5: minimize the weaknesses of every single player, all eleven and
Speaker 5: what they do well. And all right, hey, we can
Speaker 5: run the power play because we're strong at the garden
Speaker 5: tackle spot. We can do you know, routes in space
Speaker 5: because we've got a running back, say like Jamiir Gibbs,
Speaker 5: who we just coach that where he excels as the players.
Speaker 5: So you know, it's identifying your talent. And I think
Speaker 5: Ben has done that and he knows the division that
Speaker 5: we've talked about. He's been in it. He's game planned
Speaker 5: again it and game planned in it, and he's going
Speaker 5: to know what the players can and cannot do to
Speaker 5: go forward and attack defenses that we'll see in the
Speaker 5: NFC North.
Speaker 3: His offensive coordinator is Declan Doyle Tom what role Declan
Speaker 3: play and help drafting that game plan and what might
Speaker 3: he offer it saying protection scheme.
Speaker 4: He's been a tight ends.
Speaker 2: Coach, right, but I think now that he has the
Speaker 2: big picture of the entirety of the offense about mentally
Speaker 2: reinforcing the understanding of the offense, of the terminology and
Speaker 2: the assignments for every single player. Probably not as much
Speaker 2: of a hands on approach with like the offensive line,
Speaker 2: but when you're talking about all the receivers, the tight end,
Speaker 2: the running backs and the quarterback position, there is so
Speaker 2: much information that Declan's going to have to learn before
Speaker 2: he starts teaching it to a new group of players.
Speaker 2: And so there's a lot of these guys that are
Speaker 2: going to really, you know, have a lot on their
Speaker 2: plate over the next three or four months. And how
Speaker 2: well they have to learn the entirety of the offense.
Speaker 2: They have to learn the audibles of the offense, they
Speaker 2: have to learn the different points of emphasis depending upon
Speaker 2: the opponents. So I think Declan has been around football
Speaker 2: long enough that when he sits in these meetings and
Speaker 2: Ben Johnson is installing this offense to every one of
Speaker 2: his offensive coaches, you know, he's got to be a
Speaker 2: diligent note taker and understand how he's going to transfer
Speaker 2: this information to Caleb and the.
Speaker 6: Rest of the group.
Speaker 2: I don't want to minimize all the other position players,
Speaker 2: but it starts with the quarterback.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well we'll get into Dan Rochari because he's going
Speaker 5: to be a big part of running the football. Caleb
Speaker 5: is still only going to be a second year quarterback.
Speaker 5: In a new scheme, you better be able to run
Speaker 5: the ball, and you better be able to have play
Speaker 5: action pass because that's going to clear up a lot
Speaker 5: of reads for Caleb, and let's be honest, he cannot
Speaker 5: get sacked as much as he did last year. Part
Speaker 5: of his on the offensive line, part of it is
Speaker 5: on him, It's on his preparation. He's got to know
Speaker 5: his reads, he's got to get through his his protections,
Speaker 5: know where he's hot, no where he's not. And Dan
Speaker 5: roshar That's what's great about the staff. They've got a
Speaker 5: lot of experience. I was with Dan when I called
Speaker 5: Michigan State games. He coached offensive line, he coached tight ends,
Speaker 5: he's coached running backs, he's coached receivers. Guess what he's
Speaker 5: been in OC He's called plays before, so he's probably
Speaker 5: I got to believe Ben's going to rely a lot
Speaker 5: on Dan rochar to come up with the run game,
Speaker 5: you know, and maybe Declan will be more in the
Speaker 5: past game you break it up, They'll give the vision
Speaker 5: to Ben Johnson how they see the game unfolded, and
Speaker 5: Ben can do his magic, you know, with his input
Speaker 5: as well and calling plays. And so I think it's
Speaker 5: a really good staff with experience that really come with
Speaker 5: Let's just say that they've coached more than one position,
Speaker 5: and I think that's a good thing. Dan Roschar in
Speaker 5: my experience, and he spent time in New Orleans under
Speaker 5: Sean Payton will add some interesting wrinkles in my opinion
Speaker 5: to this offense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Tommy a decade with the Saints at a time
Speaker 3: when they had one of the best offensive lines in
Speaker 3: the NFL. There was a lot of development there through
Speaker 3: the draft and through free agency, but last couple of
Speaker 3: years at Tulane, so he has a feel for what's
Speaker 3: going on in the college game these days. But nearly
Speaker 3: forty years of coaching experience, how you how do you
Speaker 3: look at it?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I mean I listen.
Speaker 2: I've talked to people about that have coached with him,
Speaker 2: and that are part of his upbringing, in his background
Speaker 2: in terms of coaching fundamentals and techniques. It's seemed to
Speaker 2: be a point that every guy that I talk to
Speaker 2: that's worked with him has talked about his you know,
Speaker 2: his role in paying attention and being diligent about the
Speaker 2: details of that for offensive line play, because you know,
Speaker 2: you know, if you're a receiver and you're faster and everybody,
Speaker 2: then you can now run defensive backs. If you're a
Speaker 2: running back and you're more powerful than anybody, then you
Speaker 2: can over you can run over people, but when you're
Speaker 2: an offensive line as a unit and you're talking about six, seven,
Speaker 2: eight guys, depending upon how Ben Johnson will use those
Speaker 2: extra tackles like they did in Detroit, you know you're
Speaker 2: going to have a lot of bodies that you're going
Speaker 2: to be able to transfer not only the information in
Speaker 2: the classroom, but the specifics of techniques and fundamentals on
Speaker 2: the practice field. And it's something that repetitiously has learned.
Speaker 2: And so every one of these guys are going to
Speaker 2: start with the clean slate and the first meeting they begin,
Speaker 2: and they're going to have to, like any other position,
Speaker 2: digest a lot of techniques and fundamentals to improve their play.
Speaker 3: And Jim, you mentioned the positions that he also was,
Speaker 3: believe it or not, the Illinois quarterback coach in nineteen
Speaker 3: ninety five, but he played his football at NIUS and
Speaker 3: NIU Grant, so welcome back to the Midwest. But has
Speaker 3: had plenty of college experience, and certainly in the NFL.
Speaker 4: Okay, we've got.
Speaker 3: Antoine Randall l he's one of the more intriguing hires. Jim,
Speaker 3: in my opinion, I love if that's an ex player
Speaker 3: at the position of wide receiver.
Speaker 4: He really got, you know, poach from Detroit where he developed.
Speaker 3: I'm on Ross Saint Brown and Jamison Williams Thornton High
Speaker 3: School in Harvey here. Two time All Big Ten quarterback
Speaker 3: in Indiana. Nine year NFL career, He's been in the
Speaker 3: league since twenty nineteen with Tampa Bay and a lot
Speaker 3: of very pertinent experience implement with this receiving corps.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he was a great quarterback in the Big Ten.
Speaker 5: Obviously went onto a great career as a receiver. And
Speaker 5: I do I like that when you know position coaches
Speaker 5: have played quarterback because I think he sees the whole field.
Speaker 5: I think he sees the big picture that he really
Speaker 5: gives to the receivers of how to attack coverages where
Speaker 5: the weaknesses are because he's viewing it from the quarterback size,
Speaker 5: and he's probably telling the receivers this is what the
Speaker 5: quarterback has seen, this is what he expects from you
Speaker 5: in this type of coverage. So I just think that
Speaker 5: the receivers will be given really personal knowledge from Antoine
Speaker 5: Randall's experience of how a route should be run against
Speaker 5: every coverage out there and what their quarterback can expect
Speaker 5: of their receiver. And that's really what you want as
Speaker 5: a quarterback.
Speaker 6: One.
Speaker 5: You want your receivers to be decisive one. You'll you
Speaker 5: want to be on the same page that they understand
Speaker 5: and see the same coverage the way you're seeing it
Speaker 5: as a quarterback, because that's gonna be that's going to
Speaker 5: determine where the receiver ultimately is going to be on
Speaker 5: the field, his depth of his route, where he's going
Speaker 5: to break to get open, all those things. And if
Speaker 5: you see it the same way, timing should not be
Speaker 5: an issue. Timing will be perfect when it's all said
Speaker 5: and done. You know one thing real quick.
Speaker 2: You know Randall L five five he's not a monster target.
Speaker 2: So he's got to run routes perfectly in order to
Speaker 2: get open and find that catch area. And so I
Speaker 2: like that transferable information to the types of receivers the
Speaker 2: Bears have right now.
Speaker 4: And JT.
Speaker 3: Barrett also coming over from Detroit as the quarterbacks coach,
Speaker 3: Press Taylor passing game coordinator. Spending three years with Doug
Speaker 3: Peterson as offensive coordinator in Jacksonville, so he worked with
Speaker 3: Trevor Lawrence the last three years also Philly, Indianapolis uh
Speaker 3: SO He's got a lot of background, the brother of
Speaker 3: Bengals head coach Zach Taylor and then Tom before we
Speaker 3: go to break Eric b Enemy at the running back position.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I you know, listen, you know I may be
Speaker 2: in the you know, the just a case. I like
Speaker 2: a guy that has a reputation of coming in here
Speaker 2: and being a tough, hard nosed coach, expects a lot
Speaker 2: of it out of his players.
Speaker 6: He works them hard.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes the players even have a little bit
Speaker 2: of you know, concern because they are getting worked. Listen, man, Eric,
Speaker 2: welcome aboard.
Speaker 6: They need an attitude like that.
Speaker 2: I think if anybody's ever watched him throughout his playing
Speaker 2: career and his coaching career, you see that certain sense
Speaker 2: of seriousness on the sideline, and I want to I
Speaker 2: wanted to transfer to the practice field and then onto
Speaker 2: the game field.
Speaker 5: I always bring up about, you know, say Eric B
Speaker 5: Enemy or hard coaches. I always go back to Todd Haley.
Speaker 5: Todd Haley was a very tough wide receivers coach there
Speaker 5: for the Bears, and Eric the Enemy has done it
Speaker 5: obviously as a running backs coach, as an offensive coordinator.
Speaker 5: He knows what he wants it to look like. I mean,
Speaker 5: that's for sure, and he makes his point very clear
Speaker 5: of what he wants to get done. But I go
Speaker 5: back to Steve Preston who called Todd Haley a butthole,
Speaker 5: but he made him a better player. He said, he
Speaker 5: made him a better player. So Eric Panemy, yeah, he
Speaker 5: may be a little bit over the top, but it'll
Speaker 5: make you a better player.
Speaker 3: I know you guys as old time football players, love that.
Speaker 3: I'm Jeff Jony Aquat out there, Jim Miller. This is
Speaker 3: Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 9: Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly, Come a Bears Wingio Network.
Speaker 9: Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Joey.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by CDW
Speaker 3: people who get it, Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller
Speaker 3: from Serious x MNFL Radio. All right, we touched on
Speaker 3: some of the coaches on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 3: Let's move over to the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 3: You have the most experienced, Jim, having interviewed all these
Speaker 3: guys over the years at head coaching level at training camp.
Speaker 3: So what can tell us about Dennis Allen defensive course.
Speaker 5: Dennis Allen, I think as a defensive coordinator, I love
Speaker 5: his defense. He does a lot in terms of, you know,
Speaker 5: he can do the base stuff and I think he
Speaker 5: does it very well for leverage and how you're going
Speaker 5: to play things if say you're in a base defense
Speaker 5: type of situation. But his blitzing, I think he's you know,
Speaker 5: next level with some of the stuff he does with
Speaker 5: his press and you know, disguises and things like that.
Speaker 6: But his history is.
Speaker 5: A defensive coordinator has been very good, especially in the
Speaker 5: NFC South and especially I always bring it up against
Speaker 5: Tom Brady. Go look at his defenses and what he
Speaker 5: did against Tom Brady. Tom Brady some of his worst
Speaker 5: numbers against Dennis Allen's Dennis Allen's defense, and just go
Speaker 5: look the past few years of Brady's career, even in Tampa,
Speaker 5: the two years he played there, those were historically some
Speaker 5: really bad numbers when they played the Saints by Brady,
Speaker 5: they got turnovers, they got sacks, they got to him.
Speaker 5: So every game is its own is you know, you know,
Speaker 5: different entities, so to speak. And I think he looks
Speaker 5: at it that way as a coach, that what we
Speaker 5: what we did last week, it may not be what
Speaker 5: we're going to do this week. So he is going
Speaker 5: to be constantly adjusted in every week's game plan will
Speaker 5: be a little bit different. So when you hear say
Speaker 5: Tampa two, he's not running Tampa two every week. Is
Speaker 5: it's different entity and how he's going to attack an offense.
Speaker 2: You know, production for Dennis Allen from twenty eighteen to
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three never finished below fourteenth in yards allowed
Speaker 2: in points, and then he was top at thirteen in
Speaker 2: turnovers out of five out of six seasons. And so
Speaker 2: he's familiar with this the modern game. It's not something
Speaker 2: like you're taking a guy that's been around for the
Speaker 2: last twenty years and he's starting to reinvest himself. He's
Speaker 2: only fifty two years old. He's got tons of experience.
Speaker 2: He knows how to work with the types of players
Speaker 2: that he's going to have and how to develop the
Speaker 2: type of young players that need development. So I'm excited
Speaker 2: to see what this defense is going to do within
Speaker 2: the division first and foremost, and you know, hopefully create
Speaker 2: a hostile environment here oldier field. So Dennis has that
Speaker 2: to work with.
Speaker 3: Aggressive and adaptable. That's how I would define Dennis Allen
Speaker 3: as well. Okay, let's hit some of these. Let's start
Speaker 3: with Al Harris because that's another one of the more
Speaker 3: intriguing hires. A guy with great experience at the coaching
Speaker 3: level as well, now fifty years old, a defensive passing
Speaker 3: game coordinator as well. Here four years, five years rather
Speaker 3: in Dallas with Mike McCarthy and last season had assistant
Speaker 3: head coach titled Jim. This guy was a very aggressive,
Speaker 3: very impactful player. How will he impact guys like Jalen
Speaker 3: Johnson who learned a heck of a lot and developed
Speaker 3: very well under John Hoak and a young guy like
Speaker 3: Tyreek Stevenson or Terrell Smith.
Speaker 5: Yeah, El Harris, I remember playing against him. He was
Speaker 5: very long corner. He was hard to throw against because
Speaker 5: he's very handsy.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: I think he's going to teach the physicality at the
Speaker 5: position and for guys to play to their stature. El
Speaker 5: to me, you know, was a very long corner, like
Speaker 5: when he extended his arms and stuff. He used his
Speaker 5: length very good and how he could be down balls
Speaker 5: and made small windows to throw into.
Speaker 4: Did he pick you?
Speaker 6: Did he pick you?
Speaker 9: Yeah?
Speaker 6: He picked me?
Speaker 5: He did pick me up there in Green Bay. One
Speaker 5: time I entered threw a round a little bit and
Speaker 5: he used those long arms to pluck it out in
Speaker 5: the air. So good ball skills, and I think that
Speaker 5: will continue. I think that's one thing Jalen Johnson when
Speaker 5: he had his breakout year with the four interceptions. Hopefully
Speaker 5: that continues because I think the Bears do have a
Speaker 5: lot of talent. They have long corners like Tyreek Stevenson
Speaker 5: that really plays into, you know, Al Harris's wheelhouse. So
Speaker 5: I think he's going to teach them much like how
Speaker 5: he played the game with his physical stature and play
Speaker 5: to your stature as a player, our ex.
Speaker 2: Players being coaches, there's so many points that they can
Speaker 2: bring up in meetings and on the practice field that
Speaker 2: they've already experienced and they can have that prethinking portion
Speaker 2: of the game inside their head before it ever happens.
Speaker 2: And we see in a lot of instances over the
Speaker 2: course of time how it affects the defensive back play.
Speaker 2: And when you have a guy like Al Harris has
Speaker 2: been totally invested in the game since college throughout his
Speaker 2: pro career, got right into coaching, I think he's a
Speaker 2: great part of this defense and to me, defensive backfield
Speaker 2: is still one of the most important positions for success
Speaker 2: in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Yeah, fifteen NFL seasons, twenty one interceptions, two time Pro bowler,
Speaker 3: And it's the little things, the things that the tricks
Speaker 3: of the trade that the veteran players develop over the
Speaker 3: course of time that they can point out on tape
Speaker 3: or something subtle that deals with their technique or how
Speaker 3: to tackle a certain type of assignment. And that's always
Speaker 3: beneficial in my opinion as well being a next player.
Speaker 3: So linebackers coach. Another guy you're familiar with is Richard Smith,
Speaker 3: Jim Jim. He's been in the league since nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 5: He can offer a lot, Yeah, a year before I arrive,
Speaker 5: So there's a ton of experience there. Like you said,
Speaker 5: he's been with Dennis Allen. So again, I think that's
Speaker 5: important because he shares a vision with Dennis Allen because
Speaker 5: he knows how it's supposed to look, whether it's man,
Speaker 5: whether it's zoom, whether it's blitz. Everybody's assignment, you know.
Speaker 5: So if Dennis is making a point, you know, a
Speaker 5: guy like Richard can only accentuate it, and they're going
Speaker 5: to give all their experiences and they're going to pull
Speaker 5: up all those tapes and say, hey, this is how
Speaker 5: we want it played. This is what we're both talking
Speaker 5: about here. So anything that Dennis says as an install
Speaker 5: Richard Smith is just going to cement it because he
Speaker 5: knows it's so through and through with his experience, their
Speaker 5: shared experiences together and his experiences overall as a coach
Speaker 5: since nineteen ninety three in the NFL. Yeah, the game's
Speaker 5: changed quite a bit, but these coaches, they adapt and
Speaker 5: they adjust in this modern game. You know, the go
Speaker 5: look as Tom put out some of the numbers. These
Speaker 5: guys have been pretty good together in their past.
Speaker 4: And with the coach.
Speaker 3: Last year he helped develop Zayre Franklin, he led the
Speaker 3: league and tackles second team All Pro last year in
Speaker 3: a Pro Bowl.
Speaker 2: The timing, but you know, you think about what you're
Speaker 2: coming here in the Chicago to coach. When you look
Speaker 2: at TJ and Tremaine and the rest of there, you
Speaker 2: have a couple of super experienced veteran linebackers that've been
Speaker 2: around the NFL long enough that you can come in
Speaker 2: and you don't have to feed these guys a ton
Speaker 2: of information. All you have to do is reinforce their
Speaker 2: the defenses that they are gonna run. Maybe, you know,
Speaker 2: be that educated eye from above that puts these guys
Speaker 2: in more efficient positions, quicker, and so I think it'd
Speaker 2: be an exciting group to come here and coach, and
Speaker 2: you know, you look at the contributions of the linebackers,
Speaker 2: I expect more of the same.
Speaker 3: What do we know about Bill Johnson sixty nine years old.
Speaker 3: He's a defensive assistant. He was Dennis's defensive line coach
Speaker 3: and they both worked at Texas A and M. He's
Speaker 3: won a Super Bowl, He's won a National Championship. He's
Speaker 3: been on four NFL teams, three SEC teams, including LSU
Speaker 3: when they were unbeaten the National Championships.
Speaker 4: I mean again, a wealth of experienced gym.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean just look at guys that like Cam Jordan.
Speaker 5: You know, proof is in the putting the numbers that
Speaker 5: guys have put up. And you know some guys have
Speaker 5: had to move on, say from the Saints in their past.
Speaker 5: Together that have gone on and done very well in
Speaker 5: the NFL. Again, they have a history together. They share
Speaker 5: the vision of what is supposed to look like defensively,
Speaker 5: but it's at low levels. You know here you're talking
Speaker 5: about d line. We just talked about linebacker L Harris
Speaker 5: in the mix in the secondary. You know, this is
Speaker 5: a complete package in my opinion. So yeah, I think
Speaker 5: we know that the one thing that Bears know in
Speaker 5: terms of a team, you better have good defense. It's
Speaker 5: the history, it's the tradition, and I think they want
Speaker 5: to hold that mantle high because it's been so good
Speaker 5: for so long.
Speaker 3: Defensively, and Jeremy Garrett, the defensive line coach, he was
Speaker 3: Jacksonville's defensive line coach last year.
Speaker 4: Loved this story. Tom.
Speaker 3: He was a loan officer at a bank in South Haven, Mississippi,
Speaker 3: earned his MBA in his high school principal walked into
Speaker 3: the bank and said, hey, not coach, and that's what happened.
Speaker 3: So that's what happened. He started coaching high school team
Speaker 3: and here he is with the Bears.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, the journey to coaching is for every single
Speaker 2: one of these guys. You have guys that are lifers
Speaker 2: from the minute they get out of college. They go
Speaker 2: and they have some type of volunteer position at whatever
Speaker 2: level of football is next for them, and then eventually
Speaker 2: work their way up the coaching ladder. I think it's
Speaker 2: exciting because you think of all the time spent behind
Speaker 2: the counter for Garrett at a bank. Maybe he sat
Speaker 2: there and thought the whole time, what is out there
Speaker 2: that's different for me? And then it happens to walk
Speaker 2: in the front door.
Speaker 3: All right, our final segment come up, Well, look at
Speaker 3: special Teams and strength and Conditioning, all big factors and
Speaker 3: the Bears for twenty twenty five here on ESPN one
Speaker 3: thousand and the Bears ready to network. This segment of
Speaker 3: Bears Weekly is brought to you by IGS Energy, ramping
Speaker 3: up another edition here pre Combined version. Jim, you'll you'll
Speaker 3: be with me next week at the Combine face to
Speaker 3: face when we do this show.
Speaker 4: So it'll be fun. Well, well, well, a lot of nuggets.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to it, Jeff do I
Speaker 5: got to make this book again for you this year.
Speaker 6: I mean, you can't deep with you?
Speaker 7: Nellis well, Hey, every little bit helps.
Speaker 3: I could pass mine along when I'm way behind right now,
Speaker 3: since the senior Bull, I gotta catch you.
Speaker 5: Dane Brugler is not the only one killing all the trees.
Speaker 5: Blamed Jeff, Joni, It's good stuff.
Speaker 6: A lot.
Speaker 3: There's so much information it's crazy. I don't know how
Speaker 3: to keep keep tabs on it all. All right, let's
Speaker 3: look at Richard high Tower back. We listened to him
Speaker 3: last week on the show. He's super excited. He's got
Speaker 3: the attention of his players. There's some guys on there
Speaker 3: that are are huge for him as he you know,
Speaker 3: because the roster is going to change, maybe even drastically.
Speaker 3: You know, we talked about a third of the roster
Speaker 3: always turning over, but many of those guys are special
Speaker 3: teams players. But a guy like Josh Blackwell, plenty of guys,
Speaker 3: including the whole operation of the kick game, that can
Speaker 3: spread the language of Richard high Tower.
Speaker 6: Jim. Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I think we know rules are going to play
Speaker 5: into it. What are they going to do with the
Speaker 5: dynamic return? You know, because last year we saw the
Speaker 5: guys up front on the line. You know, where they
Speaker 5: going to be able to use big guys? Where are
Speaker 5: they going to use speed guys? And we'll have to
Speaker 5: see at the NFL owners meetings how rules are adjusted
Speaker 5: in special teams because that's going to affect decisions on
Speaker 5: players that Richard high Tower is going to really want
Speaker 5: a politic forward and say, hey, coach, I really hope
Speaker 5: you keep this, you know, this fifth linebacker, because I've
Speaker 5: got him on every core of my special teams. He's
Speaker 5: on all four, you know, so, and he's got to
Speaker 5: be aware of all the entire roster that we talked about.
Speaker 5: But rules play a part in it too, and certainly
Speaker 5: they had to come up with new ways and x'es
Speaker 5: and o's and how you execute things to attack your assignment,
Speaker 5: and so it's always in flux, and I think Richard
Speaker 5: high Tower will be on top of it. And you know,
Speaker 5: the Bears have had great success with their special teams
Speaker 5: and had some fumbles on returns. I think we understand that,
Speaker 5: but that was more player issues. But Richard high Tower's
Speaker 5: second or special teams have been very solid in the
Speaker 5: NFL because he's on top of everything that comes out
Speaker 5: and what his responsibility is.
Speaker 3: Tom there's one player I got to bring up regards
Speaker 3: that that we really saw developed fast and what was
Speaker 3: violent was Daniel Hardy and I think Richard high Tower
Speaker 3: deserves a lot of credit for that as well, seeing
Speaker 3: that potential as he tried to work himself into the
Speaker 3: defensive line rotation.
Speaker 4: But he was a stud on special teams.
Speaker 2: I think the best is yet to come from Daniel Hardy.
Speaker 2: If they bring him in them, they feed him more
Speaker 2: reps at the defensive end pass rushing position, whether it's
Speaker 2: in the preseason games or in practice. I still think
Speaker 2: he's got a tremendous upside. But when you look at
Speaker 2: the special teams over our career with the Bears, there's
Speaker 2: some guys that stand out in your mind of being
Speaker 2: the big bodies who are very vicious and make some
Speaker 2: incredibly profitable plays. And Daniel Hardy has been able to
Speaker 2: do that. And the thing about a guy like Daniel
Speaker 2: Hardy that he gives as much effort to special teams
Speaker 2: as he does trying to refine his craft as an
Speaker 2: outside pass rusher. And that tells you something about the
Speaker 2: desire of a football player. And you have that desire
Speaker 2: inside the weight room, inside the locker room, and on
Speaker 2: the practice field. That's contagious. And I think he's got
Speaker 2: the type of attitude that can help a lot of
Speaker 2: other players see the importance of preparation, commitment, and hard work.
Speaker 3: And Anthony Blevins, the assistant special teams coach, off in
Speaker 3: a UFL championship last share with a Birmingham Stallions, a
Speaker 3: former assistant for the Giants and Cardinals. He's a doctor,
Speaker 3: believe it or not, a doctorate degree, i should say,
Speaker 3: in instructional systems and workforce development from Mississippi State. I'll
Speaker 3: call him doctor Blevins.
Speaker 2: Well, that's two coaches now from the UFL, and so
Speaker 2: I'm glad to see we got a couple of guys
Speaker 2: that kind of came the same route that I did,
Speaker 2: and now they're ready for you know, the Marquee matchups, and.
Speaker 3: The Bears have changed strength and conditioning. Pierre no gets
Speaker 3: the promotion. Eight seasons of the Bears over two regimes.
Speaker 3: Tommy a wonderful guy, a guy who walks around with
Speaker 3: that strength that we seek.
Speaker 2: All right, and listen, he looks good in a T shirt.
Speaker 2: But that's what you need to see every from every
Speaker 2: one of his football players. The weight room is never
Speaker 2: gonna leave the importance of success in the NFL, and
Speaker 2: I think the stronger of a team you have, the
Speaker 2: healthier in the long run that team's gonna be. But
Speaker 2: when you talk about the role in the importance of
Speaker 2: the offense and defensive line success, success starts in the
Speaker 2: offseason weight room.
Speaker 5: Well, it's interesting when teams do make a change at
Speaker 5: your strength and conditioning because it normally is an indicator
Speaker 5: that maybe you had a rash of injured injuries that
Speaker 5: are similar, say hamstring like soft tissue injuries. I remember
Speaker 5: Green Bay before Mike McCarthy left, said hey, we had
Speaker 5: way too many hamstring issues, and they switched over their
Speaker 5: strength and conditioning and how they trained, you know, to
Speaker 5: really minimize because that's really you know, it's we know
Speaker 5: if you break a bone, you're going to miss games.
Speaker 5: But these soft tissue injuries, whether it's a tweet calf
Speaker 5: or a tweaked hamstring, things that can linger. Maybe there
Speaker 5: are different ways, better ways to train to attack those
Speaker 5: soft tissue injuries that really can minimize a player's absence
Speaker 5: from game day.
Speaker 3: Hey, Tom, I know this is a big topic because
Speaker 3: there are two completely different schemes than what the Bears
Speaker 3: have had the importance of what happens in the class
Speaker 3: versus being on the grass in terms of the off
Speaker 3: season program, training, camp, et cetera.
Speaker 4: Where is the importance life for you?
Speaker 2: You know, it's the assistant coaches that are being taught
Speaker 2: the system by Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson to make
Speaker 2: sure that they have a complete and a total understanding
Speaker 2: of what they're going to start teaching. Because now you
Speaker 2: take whatever position you want to talk about, quarterback, offensive lineman.
Speaker 2: Now you're talking about you're being taught the information you
Speaker 2: taught the system of a new offense that's being installed
Speaker 2: by Ben Johnson. Now you have to be able to
Speaker 2: go teach that system, understand exactly what you're saying, answer
Speaker 2: the questions by the players that are going to come
Speaker 2: at you every single day and meeting. Then you're going
Speaker 2: to have to transfer that information that you're learning at
Speaker 2: the speed of a classroom to a speed of a
Speaker 2: practice field.
Speaker 6: And there's a bunch of different levels to that.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's you just got to become so
Speaker 2: second nature by what you're saying, but you got to
Speaker 2: know it as well as what you're saying it.
Speaker 6: And so I think that's going to.
Speaker 2: Be a difficult part of overall development in the off seasons.
Speaker 2: Make sure everybody's on the same page. All right, boys,
Speaker 2: we hit the finish line. Thank you so much, big Jim.
Speaker 2: That's gonna do it for us four time. Thayer and
Speaker 2: Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks to our guest Dane
Speaker 2: Brugler from the Athletic. We'll talk to you next week
Speaker 2: from the Combine here on the new radio home of
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears. ESPN Chicago Black and Abdalla are next.
Speaker 2: Good night, everybody,