Speaker 1: Gout open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown pairs. I
Speaker 1: am Jeff Jonia Blitz is not done go.
Speaker 2: What was like playing for Coche Good. I don't want
Speaker 2: to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 1: Pressure coming is a big trouble dot gos Motest Sweat.
Speaker 2: Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Lighte with
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Speaker 1: It's mock draft Mania right now. So many opinions, so
Speaker 1: many ideas, so much uncertainty, and we tackle it all
Speaker 1: with you here on episode number one forty of the
Speaker 1: Bears et cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. We are brought to you
Speaker 1: by Miller Lite and we kick off this week's program
Speaker 1: with our special guest ESPN insider and analyst Field Yates.
Speaker 1: Catch him at at Field Yates on x YouTube dot
Speaker 1: com slash at e NFL. He is all things classy,
Speaker 1: all things NFL, and in our business, that's how praise
Speaker 1: feel because everybody I talked to classy, nicest guy in
Speaker 1: the business. So thank you so much, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Thank you for that great introduction and thanks for having
Speaker 2: me on. Guys. I'm looking forward and talking all things well,
Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be just Bears, but I imagine lots
Speaker 2: of things Bears and pick number ten overall is they've
Speaker 2: got one of the more exciting outlooks right now, free
Speaker 2: picks in the top forty one, and a roster that
Speaker 2: I think is ready to take off.
Speaker 1: All right, Why do you feel it's ready to take off?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that the quarterback is in place, and
Speaker 2: it's a transition, no doubt, as Kaylee Williams learned last
Speaker 2: year first year going from the college life to the
Speaker 2: NFL life. But I do feel as though there is
Speaker 2: much more harmony right now between the talent in place
Speaker 2: and the coaching staff to lead that talent in place.
Speaker 2: You know, Ben Johnson inarguably one of the best play
Speaker 2: callers that we have seen over the past at least
Speaker 2: half decade and maybe even further back than that, and
Speaker 2: it feels like koheshould he has with Caleb Williams is
Speaker 2: going to go a long way to allowing this roster
Speaker 2: toke a big step forward. And then on top of that,
Speaker 2: nothing that Bears can't address the offensive line further, but
Speaker 2: feeling a lot more confident about the starting five at
Speaker 2: minimum right now than we did at this time last year.
Speaker 2: Along the offensive line makes me feel as though a
Speaker 2: big jump is in place. And then on defense, the
Speaker 2: defense actually was okay for much of last year, maybe
Speaker 2: even better than okay for much of last year. It's
Speaker 2: just harder to see that effort defensively when your offense
Speaker 2: is still figuring things out for significant portions of the season.
Speaker 2: So the pieces in place, the coaching staff in place,
Speaker 2: an opportunity to compete in this NFC North so Field.
Speaker 3: I was drafted four years before you were born, nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty three draft, and the nineteen eighty three draft that
Speaker 3: there was a lot of guys that were sentenced on't
Speaker 3: you know Elway was going to go number one, you know,
Speaker 3: Bruce Matthews and Jimbo Kover and all these guys and
Speaker 3: so on and so forth. So now we have a
Speaker 3: template of success, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, play caller,
Speaker 3: when you look at a position out there that the
Speaker 3: Bears still need to run that type of offense that
Speaker 3: Ben's familiar with. In Detroit, we saw Jamiir Gibbs, we
Speaker 3: saw Laporta. We saw the growth and the development of
Speaker 3: those types of star players. What do you project for
Speaker 3: Ben Johnson as much as the Bears.
Speaker 2: You know, Ryan Poults talked about this after they had
Speaker 2: made the trade for Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney and
Speaker 2: then signed Drew Dolman. Is that what they had accomplished
Speaker 2: was they had really opened the board up at number ten. Right,
Speaker 2: if you don't make all of those moves, or don't
Speaker 2: make two out of those three moves, we might be
Speaker 2: sitting here staying to them to ourselves, all right, Bears
Speaker 2: are taking a tackle or taking a guard at ten,
Speaker 2: it's a lock. You might as well put it in sharpie.
Speaker 2: But because of the fact that if they played a
Speaker 2: game tomorrow and Braxton Jones is fully recovered from that
Speaker 2: ankle surgery, this is a team that has it starting
Speaker 2: five penciled in. So if the board falls in a
Speaker 2: way that Ashton Genty or Tyler Warren, or even when
Speaker 2: Campbell is available, the Bears can have a thoughtful conversation
Speaker 2: about what direction they want to turn. You know, Ashton Genty,
Speaker 2: I think is going to end up drawing comparisons to
Speaker 2: one of the Lions running backs because of the fact
Speaker 2: that people think of it as a one two punch
Speaker 2: and that has sort of been associated with Ben Johnson.
Speaker 2: I think they had significant success last year, not just
Speaker 2: because those two players and David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs
Speaker 2: are talented, but also because rarely was it ever we
Speaker 2: need just one of you to tote the rock entirely
Speaker 2: up until Monty got hurt last year, this was a
Speaker 2: nice even split between these two backs. I think Genty
Speaker 2: more resembles David Montgomery than he does Jamior Gibbs, which
Speaker 2: isn't to say that he's not an awesome, awesome player
Speaker 2: as well. I just think if you're kind of assign
Speaker 2: him as one of those two types of backs more
Speaker 2: than the other, he probably reminds me more of Monty
Speaker 2: with the power and the contact balance. Probably the most
Speaker 2: intriguing guy at number ten for me is Tyler Warren,
Speaker 2: only because it's a position where there aren't a ton
Speaker 2: of difference makers in the NFL. There are some very
Speaker 2: good tight ends right now, but the number of guys
Speaker 2: that can legitimately be the number one passing game option
Speaker 2: on an offense that defense feels threatened by is pretty narrow. Me.
Speaker 2: Brock Bauers in Las Vegas hasn't even reached the peak
Speaker 2: of his powers, and he's certainly one of them. You know,
Speaker 2: to a degree, steal Travis Kelcey, but it's George Kittle,
Speaker 2: it's Trade McBride. The list is not long. Tyler Warren's
Speaker 2: part of that list. That isn't to say that he
Speaker 2: immediately leap frogs Romadunze or DJ Moore, but he's the
Speaker 2: kind of guy that if Ben Jhonson wants to innovate
Speaker 2: anything under the sun that involves a tight end, Tyler
Speaker 2: Warren has the skill set to allow him to do
Speaker 2: exactly that.
Speaker 3: This year. Ben Johnson is going to call twelve outdoor games.
Speaker 3: Last year, being in Detroit and being in Minnesota and
Speaker 3: all the other indoor facilities, I think you can have
Speaker 3: a different approach because you know you're going to have
Speaker 3: perfect conditions when you think about an outdoor tight end
Speaker 3: like Tyler Warren, an outdoor back like Jenty. Do you
Speaker 3: take any of those into account when you're thinking about
Speaker 3: the players that could be there at ten.
Speaker 2: I think it's part of the equation. It's definitely more
Speaker 2: prominent when we're evaluating the quarterbacks right, Not that handsize
Speaker 2: is the end all be all, but I'm just using
Speaker 2: that as an example where if you're playing in bad
Speaker 2: weather and you find a quarterback with smaller hands, how
Speaker 2: can that impact the quarterbacks ability to be secure with
Speaker 2: the football. It's part of the equation to a degree
Speaker 2: as far as the prospects are concerned. But really it
Speaker 2: just makes me think about what kind of football do
Speaker 2: the Bears want to play now? With Ben Jonson. I
Speaker 2: remember that game in Chicago last year when Ben was
Speaker 2: still coaching up the Lions, the game in which they
Speaker 2: ran the fake trip play where Jared Goff ends up
Speaker 2: throwing the touchdown pass. And that was a cold day, right,
Speaker 2: I remember golf being long sleeved and gloves on and
Speaker 2: all that. So Ben, I think, has shown himself that
Speaker 2: even when the weather is not ideal, there's still going
Speaker 2: to be a lot enough innovation here that they're going
Speaker 2: to put Memphis on playmakers, and Tyler Warren has a
Speaker 2: lot of great things. One thing that you can't question
Speaker 2: Tyler Warren is that the ball and him are a
Speaker 2: match made in heaven. Very natural playmaker. This past season
Speaker 2: we saw him run as a wildcat quarterback from Penn State.
Speaker 2: If anybody watched the USC game last year, in which
Speaker 2: he had seventeen catches, Tyler Warren had one of these
Speaker 2: unbelievable touchdown grabs where he's basically sprawling over a USC
Speaker 2: defensive player. He began the play as the center. On
Speaker 2: that play, he actually handled a shotgun snap. So just
Speaker 2: a natural, innovative mover that I think would have a
Speaker 2: lot of appeal to. Ben Johnson ended a position where
Speaker 2: there just aren't that many guys that have the same
Speaker 2: level of upside.
Speaker 1: Well, he hangs out with mel Kiper Junior, the NFL
Speaker 1: draft guru, and they just did a three round mock
Speaker 1: draft yesterday. If I'm not mistaken for ESPN and you
Speaker 1: guys alternated picks, Kuyper was the Bears pick at ten.
Speaker 1: He did chose Tyler Warren. Then you chose at number
Speaker 1: thirty nine, Trayvon Henderson, the running back of Ohio State.
Speaker 1: Then you chose Nick Gorton at forty one from Texas
Speaker 1: A and m wal Kuiper picked Arianta Ursery from Minnesota
Speaker 1: at tackle at number seventy two. Before we go further
Speaker 1: in your reaction to those the middle of light Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears Draft Party is back at Soldier Field on April
Speaker 1: twenty fourth. Celebrate our number ten pick and enjoy live
Speaker 1: draft coverage and analysis. On field activity is a locker
Speaker 1: room tour, a closeout sale, and more. Buy tickets now
Speaker 1: at Chicago Bears dot com slash draft. So in analyzing
Speaker 1: those and if you happen to have the tenth pick instead,
Speaker 1: would you also have chosen Tyler Warren?
Speaker 2: Based off the way that the board fell, I would
Speaker 2: have gone with Tyler Warren as well. Gent not being
Speaker 2: on the board, I think you know those two. I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't have a definitive answer right now if both
Speaker 2: Ashton Genzy and Tyler Warren are available. Part of the
Speaker 2: reason why I don't have a definitive answer is I
Speaker 2: don't think that's going to be the case. I think
Speaker 2: if it's possible one of the two makes it there,
Speaker 2: I don't think it's likely that both of them make
Speaker 2: it to number ten overall. But moving forward to thirty
Speaker 2: nine and forty one, Trevan Henderson is juice. This guy
Speaker 2: is electric. He is very very capable in the passing game,
Speaker 2: an explosive runner as well. I don't know if this
Speaker 2: sounds like not great praise, but I am intending it
Speaker 2: as such a few years ago when Tony Pollard broke
Speaker 2: out for the Dallas Cowboys and they did a remarkable
Speaker 2: job of maximizing him as a playmaker on the perimeter,
Speaker 2: and some of these tosses and sweeps and even design
Speaker 2: passes to Tony Pollard really allowed him to become this
Speaker 2: excellent play in space player. Henderson has some between the
Speaker 2: tackles ability, but one of the great benefits he had
Speaker 2: this past year was playing with Quinjohn Judkins, who transferred
Speaker 2: from Ole Miss to Ohio State for one season. They
Speaker 2: were thunder and lightning, with Judkins being more the thunder
Speaker 2: Henderson being more the lightning. I thought he was great
Speaker 2: this path. Both of them were great this past year.
Speaker 2: But Henderson would give the Bears kind of like microwaveable
Speaker 2: instant offense because he's a threat every time the football
Speaker 2: is in his hands. Shorton probably a familiar player to
Speaker 2: some in Big Ten country up there in Chicago. He
Speaker 2: was at Purdue for a pair of seasons two years ago,
Speaker 2: so twenty twenty three he actually led the Big Ten
Speaker 2: in sacks. He had a lesser year this year in
Speaker 2: the sack department, just four and a half of Texas
Speaker 2: A and M. But this guy has an incredibly advanced
Speaker 2: arsenal of rush moves. He's just a big, powerful three
Speaker 2: down player because he sets an edge now he is
Speaker 2: unafraid to meet force with force at the point of attack.
Speaker 2: We've talked a lot about Will Campbell, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: if he's on the board at number ten, he'd be
Speaker 2: a consideration for the Bears. And one of the big
Speaker 2: question marks around new Will has been armlength. Does he
Speaker 2: have the requis at length to handle NFL pass rushers.
Speaker 2: I thought it rarely showed up for Will at the
Speaker 2: college level. I thought Nick Gorton, though, is one of
Speaker 2: the guys they gave him all he could handle it
Speaker 2: because Nick's got this advanced arsenal that I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2: He can beat you with speed or explosion coming around
Speaker 2: the corner. He can beat you with power kind of
Speaker 2: running through you, and then he's got a nasty spin
Speaker 2: move to work inside as well. So a pretty complete
Speaker 2: player who if he had maybe a couple more inches
Speaker 2: on him we'd be talking about, is maybe a top
Speaker 2: twenty to twenty five lock.
Speaker 3: Let's not ignore Dennis Allen because when you talk about
Speaker 3: the Bears defensive line, even though they did bring in
Speaker 3: a couple of guys, Grady Jarrett being one of them,
Speaker 3: you can't ignore the role in the importance of the
Speaker 3: three technique inside this defense. Who is that guy for you?
Speaker 3: And I know Mason Graham has talked about it a
Speaker 3: lot of the top of the boards, But who is
Speaker 3: that guy for you that could possibly fall to the
Speaker 3: Bears in that second round even a tenth of you?
Speaker 3: Is that attractive?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Mason Graham's probably the only one that
Speaker 2: I would say if he's there at number ten, I'm
Speaker 2: making the selection there as we look at thirty nine though,
Speaker 2: and he ended up going higher than this by quite
Speaker 2: a bit. But he's a wide range player. Walter Nolan
Speaker 2: from Old Miss is just a fascinating player, fascinating prospect.
Speaker 2: He can be really as good as he wants to be.
Speaker 2: He came out of high school, as you know, one
Speaker 2: of the number one recruits in the country. He ended
Speaker 2: up at Texas A and M for a couple of
Speaker 2: years and then transferred to Old Miss.
Speaker 3: Switch.
Speaker 2: We need to get used to that, by the way, now,
Speaker 2: like guys playing multiple at multiple schools is just sort
Speaker 2: of the norm. Uh, maybe half the guys that I've
Speaker 2: graded in this year's class or forty percent were multi
Speaker 2: school players. Nolan had six and a half sacks this
Speaker 2: past year. He absolutely can destroy people with his power.
Speaker 2: He's a very, very disruptive pass rusher. If the Bears
Speaker 2: or any team is allowed is going to allow him
Speaker 2: to just be a single gap penetrator and rush up
Speaker 2: the field, He'll thrive in the NFL. I had him
Speaker 2: going seventeenth in the mock to Cincinnati. But one of
Speaker 2: the themes of this year's draft class is some player
Speaker 2: or some team may view a player as a top
Speaker 2: twenty guy and another team may say he's closer to
Speaker 2: forty for us. A lot of variants as opposed to
Speaker 2: last year, where I really felt like the top of
Speaker 2: the board was pretty saturated with guys that you know,
Speaker 2: I felt like the high end outcome for Romadunze was
Speaker 2: like fifth or sixth overall, the low end outcome was
Speaker 2: no worse number nine overall. I ended up playing out
Speaker 2: that way. There's not nearly as many players with narrow
Speaker 2: rangers this ranges this year as there were last year.
Speaker 1: I got a question about something that Tom and I
Speaker 1: discussed the other day off the air, but personally, and
Speaker 1: maybe I'm I'm wrong. I just don't remember. But I
Speaker 1: don't recall such a wide range of opinions from quoted scouts,
Speaker 1: unnamed scouts, unnamed personnel guys, NFL analysts that are out
Speaker 1: there like yourself on positional certainty of the offensive line.
Speaker 1: We got guards that should be tackles. We've got tackles
Speaker 1: should be guards, guards that could be centers, tackles to
Speaker 1: be centers. Do you agree in all your analysis you
Speaker 1: started at DESPN in twenty twelve, I don't recall.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a correct assessment of it. I
Speaker 2: think that what it comes down to, this has been
Speaker 2: my process at least this year, is you just got
Speaker 2: to pick a spot for guys and you got to decide. So,
Speaker 2: if it's a tackle, who you projected guard? Why are
Speaker 2: you doing that? It's because of the arm length? Is
Speaker 2: it because of the body mass. There's a guy, Marcus
Speaker 2: Bow from PERNW, another big ten guy who I think
Speaker 2: is a guarter center because he's three hundred and six pounds.
Speaker 2: I just don't see that many right tackles or left
Speaker 2: tackles at three hundred and six pounds because this year
Speaker 2: mass whereas Will Campbell again highly discussed players. The guard
Speaker 2: is the tackle. I think he's a tackle. I don't
Speaker 2: care about the thirty two and five eighth inch arms
Speaker 2: because the tape's too good. So to me, it is
Speaker 2: really just planting your flag on a player at a
Speaker 2: specific position because you have conviction for why that spot
Speaker 2: makes sense. But make no mistake about it, there is
Speaker 2: a ton of variants based off or based off of
Speaker 2: whoever you talk to on a given day about a
Speaker 2: specific player.
Speaker 3: Maybe this is off the radar completely, but you have
Speaker 3: a guy like Trey Hendrickson who is still out there.
Speaker 3: Could his name factor in the draft if there's a trade,
Speaker 3: if there's someone that you cover it up there that
Speaker 3: maybe he's part of a deal or are we talking
Speaker 3: about him in a month or two.
Speaker 2: I think it's possible the draft to create some mac
Speaker 2: for this reason. If Cincinnati is going to trade Trey Henderson,
Speaker 2: and that's still an if. The big thing about Cincinnati
Speaker 2: and doing so is they're gonna want capital this year, right,
Speaker 2: They're not gonna want to trade Trey Hendrickson, which makes
Speaker 2: them decidedly worse for a twenty twenty six pick because
Speaker 2: they don't get to rape the benefits for a full season.
Speaker 2: So I'll lie Aj Brown a few years ago on
Speaker 2: the drafts and every year there are a couple guys
Speaker 2: whose names float right around the draft itself. Trey Hendrickson
Speaker 2: is probably amongst the most natural candidates to consider as
Speaker 2: a possible trade name in the next seven to ten days.
Speaker 2: I don't know that I would bet on it per se,
Speaker 2: but you can imagine Cincinnati will be at least getting
Speaker 2: calls from teams to say, I know there's no deal
Speaker 2: done yet with Trey. Does that mean that if we
Speaker 2: offer up insert trade package here, we could at least
Speaker 2: have a conversation about it.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
Speaker 1: We'll let you go, but I want to remind everybody
Speaker 1: your excellence. But it also started, if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: you were pulled out of a crowd and a New
Speaker 1: England Patriots Rocky mintiicamp to be a ball boy in
Speaker 1: high school and this is where it all started.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the first ever exposure to the NFL life was
Speaker 2: being a ball boy, a real Patriots rookie Mini Camp
Speaker 2: and I got tackled pretty good, all good. I survived.
Speaker 2: I showed a little bit of toughness, not too much.
Speaker 2: And that was how it all started. And some fun
Speaker 2: pit stops along the way, and now here we are
Speaker 2: at ESPN talking.
Speaker 1: And working with Ryan Poles in Kansas sty at a time,
Speaker 1: and that's kind.
Speaker 2: I knew him when I knew at the time he
Speaker 2: was bound for a GM career, So I always loved
Speaker 2: watching his you know, success personally and hoping that the
Speaker 2: Bears have a ton of wins this year as well.
Speaker 2: And I do have a lot of confidence and not
Speaker 2: just the person he is, the GM he is, and
Speaker 2: I do believe this is a big breakthrough year for
Speaker 2: the Bears.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you very much. Thank you so much in this
Speaker 1: busy time.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys, Thank you Field.
Speaker 1: He actually was a football player too. Let's not forget
Speaker 1: that he played at Wesleyan University and lacrosse safety, but
Speaker 1: really wanted to be in football and got involved with
Speaker 1: the Patriots.
Speaker 3: In high school.
Speaker 1: He worked there for several years, then college, then the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: worked with Todd Hayley when he was the head coach
Speaker 1: of the Chiefs. He was assistant to head coach, which
Speaker 1: is now a popular position in the NFL. Maybe that
Speaker 1: was one of the rare, rare ones at that time.
Speaker 1: He was charting defensive plays. So just how he presents himself,
Speaker 1: he's always optimistically powerful. He's just got a presence about him.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate his work.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know the thing about it that we were
Speaker 3: talking the other day, I was watching the Life of
Speaker 3: Mike Dick on TV and you look in the background
Speaker 3: when he was playing for coach George Hallis and all
Speaker 3: the coaches on the sideline. There is only a few
Speaker 3: of them, but they are all football guys. Now the
Speaker 3: responsibility of the coaching staff has expanded to so many
Speaker 3: roles that you have guys that create different niches or
Speaker 3: kind of carve out what their interest is in football.
Speaker 3: And it's not all the x's and o's of tackling
Speaker 3: and blocking. A lot of it has to do with
Speaker 3: the analytics, studies and all the other different elements and
Speaker 3: segments that put together a football team nowadays. So it
Speaker 3: doesn't surprise me. And if you're passion that passionate about
Speaker 3: the sport, then there is a spot for you.
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Speaker 1: It's a now official. The Bear's announcing Kydler Gordon, the
Speaker 1: first pick of the Ryan Poles era. He was the
Speaker 1: second round pick they did not have first picked that year,
Speaker 1: but now the highest paid nickel corner in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Tommy three years, forty mil thirty one point twenty five
Speaker 1: guaranteed he'll get another bite of the apple of all
Speaker 1: goes well. Spider Man wearing that number six probably one
Speaker 1: of my favorite Bears players because of the style by
Speaker 1: which he plays and the attitude he carries. Love it.
Speaker 3: You know, we talk about the different emergences of people
Speaker 3: on coaching staffs, then you talk about the emergence of
Speaker 3: the nickel cornerback and the importance and their role they
Speaker 3: have on a football team. Today. It is no defensive line, linebacker,
Speaker 3: defensive back. They have an equally important role as a starter.
Speaker 3: Is any position on the football team, and I think
Speaker 3: Kyler Gordon has proved to this organization, how much the
Speaker 3: sport means to him, how much he means to the team.
Speaker 3: You always use the word deployable, and from the line
Speaker 3: of scrimmage to the defensive backfield. He can be put
Speaker 3: in place anywhere. So I'm super excited for that kid. Man.
Speaker 3: I love his energy, I love his excitement. He does
Speaker 3: things in full pads that I never thought could be done,
Speaker 3: talking about front flips on his way to being introduced
Speaker 3: as a starter. So I'm super happy for him and
Speaker 3: his accomplishment so far.
Speaker 1: We're also starting to see the locker room get rewarded
Speaker 1: for those players that have a future with the Bears.
Speaker 1: So you got the extensions, you got Jalen Johnson last offseason.
Speaker 1: You had Cole com a couple of years ago, you
Speaker 1: had Andrew Billings a couple of years ago. Players like
Speaker 1: that player Andrew Billings carries a very big impact in
Speaker 1: that locker room. DJ Moore was extended as well last summer.
Speaker 1: So these are significant signs that things are moving in
Speaker 1: a certain direction. Tom in Chicago, So these are very
Speaker 1: important signings.
Speaker 3: It's a positive reflection inside the locker room because if
Speaker 3: you're a guy that's been brought to the Bears or
Speaker 3: you're a homegrown guy from the day that you were drafted,
Speaker 3: then you have an opportunity to earn quite a living
Speaker 3: if you do everything that's required of you, asked of you,
Speaker 3: and you make those incremental improvements throughout the course of
Speaker 3: your career. So I just think that when you see
Speaker 3: a guy like Kyler Gordon walking into the locker room
Speaker 3: and Cole and all the other guys, it's just a
Speaker 3: positive reflection to what the capabilities are for you if
Speaker 3: you do what's required of you.
Speaker 1: Are aches, pains or injuries keeping you on the sidelines, well,
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Speaker 1: to be the official physical therapy partner of the Chicago Bears. So,
Speaker 1: as you've been listening and you've been following all these
Speaker 1: mock drafts from everywhere, and I don't know where you're
Speaker 1: gonna place your weight, Like, which analysts do you listen
Speaker 1: to the most? For example, I'm not asking you to.
Speaker 1: But you know, there's certain guys that I just lean towards.
Speaker 1: But when you weigh that tenth pick, should they keep
Speaker 1: that pick? Because there's not been a first round trade yet.
Speaker 1: There may not be until draft night, if any, but
Speaker 1: I have a suspicion there will be. But when you're
Speaker 1: in the top ten, I think the belief is you
Speaker 1: kind of especially top five, but top ten, you kind
Speaker 1: of weigh the premium spots. Right, you're talking about left tackle,
Speaker 1: you're talking about edge rusher, you're talking about an impact
Speaker 1: three technique, you're talking about cornerback, you're talking about quarterback.
Speaker 1: But are you open to the con Hey, certain players
Speaker 1: at certain positions, like tight end, like running back, like
Speaker 1: wide receiver, sometimes you invest in those spots because they
Speaker 1: just happen to be the best player rated on your board,
Speaker 1: regardless of position.
Speaker 3: You know, in the fantasy world of draft, if you
Speaker 3: have a player that's designated your guy and he's there,
Speaker 3: then you run to the podium. However, this year, unlike
Speaker 3: any other year, I think the most important device in
Speaker 3: the draft room is going to be the telephone. Because Jeff,
Speaker 3: my phone is on. I'm working the phone. I think
Speaker 3: we saw a behind the scenes shot of the draft
Speaker 3: room last year when they're talking about Jeff King making
Speaker 3: a deal passing it to Ryan Poles, and maybe it
Speaker 3: was for Austin Booker. I'm not sure who it was for. However,
Speaker 3: this year, it's the most complicated draft I've ever looked at,
Speaker 3: and I just think that my phone is going to
Speaker 3: be on until the last second, and if someone comes
Speaker 3: up there and tries it makes me a deal that
Speaker 3: I get a number of picks, and I still think
Speaker 3: my guy is going to be down. You know, wherever
Speaker 3: that pick is extended to me.
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk.
Speaker 3: I'm negotiating my deal. My deals are open. So that's
Speaker 3: the way I'm looking at this draft.
Speaker 1: And then at number ten, are you okay, like I
Speaker 1: alluded to, if it's a non if whatever the league
Speaker 1: calls a premium position, the ones that get paid the most,
Speaker 1: If it's not one of those positions, that you still
Speaker 1: okay with it? Yeah?
Speaker 3: So am I? If If Ryan Poles feels strong about
Speaker 3: the player that he has designated that fits into a
Speaker 3: role at that tenth pick, and they come in here
Speaker 3: and they start creating competitiveness or improvement or whatever it
Speaker 3: is at whatever position he's thinking about, be positive and
Speaker 3: move forward.
Speaker 1: The wayfield Yates described some of those players, and I
Speaker 1: started to think about and digest what he's saying with
Speaker 1: what has already in place, especially offensively. It got me
Speaker 1: really excited.
Speaker 3: I gotta be honest to me, I think more about
Speaker 3: Ben Johnson because you know, there is a template of
Speaker 3: success in culture change, in offensive profitability, playing at home
Speaker 3: and playing on the road equally as well.
Speaker 1: Those questions, they were great, Those are great, But.
Speaker 3: You know the thing about it is the ty warn pick. Listen.
Speaker 3: You see what he did with Laporta immediately in Detroit.
Speaker 3: You think of Jamiir Gibbs and what he did with
Speaker 3: the one two punch in the backfield. You look at
Speaker 3: what their offensive line did for really the alpha male
Speaker 3: status of that locker room. What Hutchinson did? You know?
Speaker 3: So I look at Ben, you know, I look at
Speaker 3: his example, and I take, you know, a lot of
Speaker 3: his advice and suggestions going into this draft as much
Speaker 3: as anybody.
Speaker 1: Thank you to our partner CDW and Lenovo who make
Speaker 1: amazing happen. Learn more at CDW dot com slash Lenovo.
Speaker 1: You know, recently Ryan was on ESPN Sports center, and
Speaker 1: they asked him to describe the kind of player he's
Speaker 1: looking for in the first round. He used one word toughness,
Speaker 1: and that then was added on. We're looking to establish
Speaker 1: an identity to kick this thing off and really get
Speaker 1: this team going in the right direction. I don't care
Speaker 1: what position you play if you bring that that attitude
Speaker 1: of toughness and the physicality that this team is. Coaching
Speaker 1: staff has been talking about this hair on fire approach
Speaker 1: to what the Bears want to be. You know again,
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone should really wring their hands or
Speaker 1: gnash their teeth about what position that player plays. I
Speaker 1: really listen, if they hadn't done anything on the offensive
Speaker 1: line in free agency or anything in the off sea,
Speaker 1: i'd be concerned. Yeah, you got to just be narrow cast.
Speaker 1: But no, I am open to anything right now. I
Speaker 1: really am. All right.
Speaker 3: I'm going to guarantee you something. For the first time
Speaker 3: in my football life, I can guarantee you they're not
Speaker 3: going to draft a quarterback in the first round. But
Speaker 3: Halo Williams put a displayoff toughness on the record that
Speaker 3: is at admirable by everybody who watches the sport of football.
Speaker 3: But when you're talking about toughness and the other positions,
Speaker 3: anybody can be that character and toughness is an essential
Speaker 3: and to play the sport at the level and the
Speaker 3: culture changing that Ryan wants here. So whatever position you
Speaker 3: deem that that the first guy you're gonna pick, you
Speaker 3: know toughness is a prerequisite for that role.
Speaker 1: A lot of chatter going on that's touch on it
Speaker 1: quick around the league because it's going to impact the draft.
Speaker 1: Shador Sanders I didn't think would be a top ten pick.
Speaker 3: He might be.
Speaker 1: Giants are going to work him out on Thursday. Could
Speaker 1: it be just for show? Who knows? But then you
Speaker 1: got the New Orleans Saints situation with Derek Carr and
Speaker 1: basically without him if he is truly injured, there's no
Speaker 1: quarterback there. So Shod Sanders could wind up at number
Speaker 1: nine or there and well, who in the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 1: is going to have a quarterback? Is Aaron Rodgers still
Speaker 1: in play? I mean it's pretty fascinating. In a year
Speaker 1: without the big heavy quarterback talk and who's going to
Speaker 1: stack the quarterbacks, it's still a big topic.
Speaker 3: No matter what you know, there are secondary conversations about
Speaker 3: every one of those teams you brought up, Brian da
Speaker 3: Ball says he doesn't like going to pro days because
Speaker 3: he'd rather see him in person. And then you got
Speaker 3: the New Orleans Saints who just became aware that car
Speaker 3: maybe has a shoulder issue that keeps him out of
Speaker 3: the season. They have Spencer Rattler in the background. He's
Speaker 3: five to eleven, one ninety five. Shador Sanders is six
Speaker 3: foot one ninety five, so it's basically the same template
Speaker 3: of quarterback. And then the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know, man,
Speaker 3: I just I'm so confused by that situation. Unless they
Speaker 3: have an underground conversation already going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Rabbits, they're gonna pull out of the hat.
Speaker 3: Right yeah, and that could involve Aaron Rodgers. So I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, but you know, I don't want to say it.
Speaker 1: Pub Just leave it there, Tommy, leave it there, all right.
Speaker 1: One final question to wrap us up, A fun question,
Speaker 1: all right. The reason I bring it up because I
Speaker 1: know you watched The Masters and it was phenomenal. The
Speaker 1: finish was phenomenal, the drama was phenomenal. Uh. The fun
Speaker 1: question of the day for you, Big tom Now you
Speaker 1: got to play with me here Okay, did you know
Speaker 1: there was photos taken that were put on X which
Speaker 1: you don't see. But Ken Griffy Junior was given a
Speaker 1: credential to be a photographer in the photographer pool at
Speaker 1: the Masters. He's taking it up as his retirement hobby,
Speaker 1: and he captured a beautiful couple of beautiful shots of
Speaker 1: Rory on his knees and you know, winning his first Masters.
Speaker 1: The emotion was coming through. So my question to you,
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer, because you've retired once from football as a player,
Speaker 1: your retirement still to come from maybe another two decades
Speaker 1: as an announcer. What is your retirement hobby? What will
Speaker 1: be Tanteayer's retirement hobby.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what. If I had a fenced in yard,
Speaker 3: I would be a dog rescuer. I would go to
Speaker 3: to these different type of rescue housing for dogs. And
Speaker 3: if there was a dog that was in a cage
Speaker 3: for a year or that's just needs a passionate, loving existence.
Speaker 3: If I had a fenced in yard, I would have
Speaker 3: ten dogs, because you know, in my life that's what
Speaker 3: I've grown to know and love, and I would have
Speaker 3: some type of passion plan for dogs that need it.
Speaker 1: I like it. I like it big time. That is
Speaker 1: part of your passion. There's not a day that does
Speaker 1: go by you don't talk about your dogs or other dogs.
Speaker 1: All right, Tommy, good job. The middle of Light Chicago
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