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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
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Speaker 1: Welcome into another edition of Bears All Access says we
Speaker 1: bring you the latest on the Bears. After the rookie
Speaker 1: mini camp, moving through the phases of the offseason training camp,
Speaker 1: will be here before you know what. I'm Jeff John
Speaker 1: Yac along with Tom Thamer, broadcast partner from News We're
Speaker 1: gonna go seven eighty and one to five point nine
Speaker 1: FMWBBM coming up at our next segment where we joined
Speaker 1: is always by former Bears quarterback Jim Miller. And at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the hour, kind enough to take some
Speaker 1: time to night general manager Ryan Pace to look back
Speaker 1: at the draft class at twenty twenty one, Big Tom,
Speaker 1: how you you know, Big Jeff, I'm glad you said
Speaker 1: that things are going to be star starting at such
Speaker 1: a rapid pace, because I don't think unless you've been
Speaker 1: around the NFL for a long time, how quickly time
Speaker 1: goes in between all the different landmarks you go through
Speaker 1: in an off season. But then before you know it, man,
Speaker 1: you're in training camp and it's serious business with last
Speaker 1: year's off season unlike anything we've ever seen in our life,
Speaker 1: with so much uncertainty about whether it will happen, how
Speaker 1: is it going to happen, how is everything going to
Speaker 1: play take place? Now you have a little bit better
Speaker 1: understanding and hopefully things are back to normal. But again
Speaker 1: that pushes the pace of these off seasons. And whether
Speaker 1: you're an experienced veteran, whether you're a veteran that's fighting
Speaker 1: for a position, or you're a new kid on the
Speaker 1: block that you know these things, these playbooks, they're gonna
Speaker 1: come at you at a rapid rate. So invest your
Speaker 1: time wisely and be prepared once you start getting ready
Speaker 1: for training camp. I was just thrilled to see the
Speaker 1: guys on the grass, as they say, you know, working
Speaker 1: towards getting to understand what the is ahead here at
Speaker 1: training camp. Real football, certainly a rookie mini camp is
Speaker 1: not real. A lot of guys running around, But you
Speaker 1: do get impressions of players, and I was pleased to
Speaker 1: see a lot of things, especially on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: For example, just watching Tevin Jenkins and Larry Born both
Speaker 1: through their drills, you you kind of instantly get an
Speaker 1: idea on their footwork, their body types, and just how
Speaker 1: athletic they are. And I know that's right up your
Speaker 1: alley of course, being an offensive lineman. We'll get that
Speaker 1: out of the way before we start talking at Jim
Speaker 1: Miller about quarterbacks and whatnot. But you know it's and
Speaker 1: we're going to bring this up with Ryan Pace. Just
Speaker 1: a lot of home grown offensive lineman by virtue of
Speaker 1: the draft and undrafted free agency over the last several years,
Speaker 1: provide the bulk of what is going to be the
Speaker 1: offensive line here in twenty twenty one. Yeah, but you know,
Speaker 1: I think you have a lot of certainty and a
Speaker 1: lot of versatility and the interior this offensive line. So
Speaker 1: a lot of the question marks going into the season
Speaker 1: was about the offensive tackle position. They allowed Charles Leno
Speaker 1: to move on, they allowed Bobby Massey to move on.
Speaker 1: They know what they have and you heard when Wan
Speaker 1: Castillo approached the Zoom meeting about what Jermain Effetti is
Speaker 1: going through and what an asset he's become. But jeff
Speaker 1: I was probably as I was as excited about the
Speaker 1: offensive lineman that I saw in the rookie minicamp as
Speaker 1: I was about all the high, high profile positions. So
Speaker 1: I'm really excited about the future, about the development and
Speaker 1: about the role that the offensive line is gonna play.
Speaker 1: Because when you talk about the development of an offense
Speaker 1: and the different the different ways this offense could go,
Speaker 1: I think it's a it's as as exciting as any
Speaker 1: position on the field. Yeah, Obviously Tevin Jenkins, the second
Speaker 1: round draft pick, Bears thought very highly of him. He's
Speaker 1: already got budding relationship with the guy that he needs
Speaker 1: to right now, and that would be Cody white Hair.
Speaker 1: I had a few reach out to me. The one
Speaker 1: that I've been talking to mostly is Cody Whiteher, who's
Speaker 1: a guardier, and I've been talking back and forth with him,
Speaker 1: and basically he's just reached it out to, you know,
Speaker 1: if I need helping hand or anything, if I need
Speaker 1: an extra help anywhere I can, And all that I
Speaker 1: really say is I really appreciate him, and I really
Speaker 1: appreciate things he's doing for me. And now, now that
Speaker 1: doesn't happen everywhere. You could say it does, but people
Speaker 1: aren't competing for jobs. It didn't happen in your day.
Speaker 1: You tell me the story after story after story, but
Speaker 1: you know what, that's the guy Cody is though. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know all the offensive lineman that I was competing against.
Speaker 1: I didn't expect them to reach out to me and
Speaker 1: give me any congratulatory welcoming about being a bear because
Speaker 1: it was all about competition from that point out. However,
Speaker 1: the one thing Tavian has to realize is that Cody
Speaker 1: is an extremely talented offensive lineman and there's no assurance
Speaker 1: that he's going to be the guard playing next to him,
Speaker 1: because Cody Whitehair can fill any role in the interior
Speaker 1: or that offensive line. If James Daniels is a more
Speaker 1: balanced and well prepared offensive lineman at the guard position,
Speaker 1: those two guys will know each other equally as well. However,
Speaker 1: I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cody Whitehair.
Speaker 1: Everything that's ever been asked of him throughout his career,
Speaker 1: he's done at a moment's notice, and he's performed at
Speaker 1: a high level. He is a professional, So I think
Speaker 1: Tevin is really fortunate, just like boram Is, to have
Speaker 1: assets on the offensive line like these guys that have
Speaker 1: the willingness to reach out to them to get them
Speaker 1: acclimated to what they're gonna go through. Once this whole
Speaker 1: season gets underwent, It's always a tight group, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: When the center of the roster is settled, it's a
Speaker 1: tight group. That's how they hang, that's how they are
Speaker 1: supposed to and it's an important part and maybe the
Speaker 1: most important part of offensive football. What happens up front
Speaker 1: of the offensive line will continue on our discussion talk
Speaker 1: more about the old line and all the rookies and
Speaker 1: more with Jim Miller coming up after this break. Our
Speaker 1: producer tonight, Brandon Friar, Thanks Dan BURRELLI and Jordan trut Up,
Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. Tonight, Ryan Pace, the
Speaker 1: Bears general manager. At the bottom of the hour, just
Speaker 1: ahead here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score,
Speaker 1: Welcome back to I Bears All Access, brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy with Tom Tare I'm Jeff Joni. Choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at IGS dot com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. Sorry, everybody.
Speaker 1: We have these inside humor that you just can't share
Speaker 1: on the radio. And he got me. He got me
Speaker 1: right before the commercial coming out. Thanks a lot, Tom.
Speaker 1: You know, he's just a little bit of a little
Speaker 1: bit of a knuckle, a little little bit of a rascal,
Speaker 1: I would say, And it doesn't take much to crack
Speaker 1: me up. So I got nobody else antagonized. You're my
Speaker 1: only guy, he's going. Plus we're looking at each other
Speaker 1: on Skype, so we get all this right. That brings
Speaker 1: us to our good buddy and serious sex and the
Speaker 1: NFL radio host and former Bears quarterback Jim Miller. We
Speaker 1: get out the laughing out the way now in the
Speaker 1: offseason before it gets all serious. Jim, Well, it's such
Speaker 1: an easy target time. You know that. Remember when you
Speaker 1: were recovering up recovering punts on a beach. Yeah, everyone
Speaker 1: saw that on the social Oh no, I mean that
Speaker 1: covering punts. That was a Bears Bears fan trip. Wait,
Speaker 1: you gotta bring that up. A Kim Hicks is running
Speaker 1: the show and teaching selected fans and this person wasn't
Speaker 1: a part of the traveling party. It was a woman
Speaker 1: that was on vacation there and she said, well, let
Speaker 1: me try to punt, and I was standing right there
Speaker 1: with a microphone. She punted it right that the nose
Speaker 1: of the football right in my mouth like and Keim
Speaker 1: was so stunned his jaw dropped. He could not believe
Speaker 1: what transpired. He goes, dropped the ball and kick it,
Speaker 1: and that's exactly what she did, right in my face.
Speaker 1: And thankfully nothing broke, didn't break a jaw, didn't lose
Speaker 1: any teeth. That was my number one concern, losing my chicklets.
Speaker 1: But I think people have a lot of respect for
Speaker 1: punters because they know that there's a couple different ways.
Speaker 1: Now they tom immediately shifts into the analysis. Oh my gosh, Well,
Speaker 1: I know what was worse me going through that experience
Speaker 1: on a vacation slash work trip, or when I did
Speaker 1: a story on brand Maynard and how his ball would
Speaker 1: tail away from the returner. And I went out there
Speaker 1: in a suit and wingtips and tried to catch punts
Speaker 1: inside the Bayton Center. Didn't catch a one, not one,
Speaker 1: not one. Does the return ability that's why you're getting
Speaker 1: hit in the jaw. All right, big Jim, how's it going?
Speaker 1: How's it going? And I know you weren't here to
Speaker 1: watch rookie minicamp, but it was good to see the
Speaker 1: guys running around and see exactly what new blood comes
Speaker 1: into the organization. I think it's a bunch of versatility overall.
Speaker 1: I think there's some undrafted guys. And you know, we'll
Speaker 1: talk with general manager Ryan Pace coming up at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the hour about what he saw. But you know,
Speaker 1: the first thing I think you look for as a
Speaker 1: coach or an observer is is somebody way out of place?
Speaker 1: And no one look way out of place. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I like what I saw. I caught what I could
Speaker 1: of the players when they were on the field. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a shame coach Naggie wasn't able to be out
Speaker 1: there with the players, but he got all the intel
Speaker 1: that he needed. And like Tom said it, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to see the shake up on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: How is it ultimately going to settle for the best
Speaker 1: five guys to get on the field, and how they
Speaker 1: because they have some guys that have some position flexibility,
Speaker 1: so that's always interesting how the best five will will
Speaker 1: work itself out. But no, I don't think anybody looked
Speaker 1: out of place. I'm excited about the plan for Justin Fields.
Speaker 1: They've named Andy Dalton the starter right now, and again,
Speaker 1: you know, there's nothing that needs to be forced here
Speaker 1: for Justin Fields. He's a tough, strong, athletic quarterback from
Speaker 1: Ohio State, and he's gonna get the opportunity and he
Speaker 1: will get the reps that he needs to prepare himself
Speaker 1: to play. I don't think Nick Foles really needs to
Speaker 1: take a lot of reps. So Justin Fields still going
Speaker 1: to get a lot of work, even though Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: is named the starter, and there's no rush to really
Speaker 1: get them on the field. So I'm excited to talk
Speaker 1: to Ryan Pace about that tonight. But I think overall
Speaker 1: the bearers were pretty happy with how they're draft unfolded.
Speaker 1: You know, It's kind of funny because you finally get
Speaker 1: a and they always say you got to pass the
Speaker 1: eye test, And this is our first opportunity to get
Speaker 1: an eye on approach of a lot of these players.
Speaker 1: And when you see the athleticism of Justin, you see
Speaker 1: the size of Tevin and Larry Barham, and then I think, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think we are most impressed with the lower body
Speaker 1: of Khalil Herbert. Yeah, okay, because you know we're not
Speaker 1: like we don't see these guys very often. When you
Speaker 1: guys go to the combine, you have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: see these guys go through all the drills and you
Speaker 1: didn't have access to all these types of workouts. And
Speaker 1: so every single guy from daz Knewsome to Graham to Herbert,
Speaker 1: every one of these guys had a trait that you
Speaker 1: could see why they were drafted. You can see how
Speaker 1: much depth and competition they're going to provide. So this
Speaker 1: is an exciting group of rookies that are gonna come
Speaker 1: in here and you know, have a chance to change
Speaker 1: the face of their positions, but also get in there
Speaker 1: and compete no matter who the veterans are in front
Speaker 1: of them. Great time to get your reps now, because
Speaker 1: when training camp comes, you know, the tomb starters, however
Speaker 1: they lay out on both sides of the ball, they're
Speaker 1: gonna get the majority of their reps. And now you're
Speaker 1: just biding your time to hopefully impress. And that's what
Speaker 1: happened last year with Darnel Mooney. He brings up the
Speaker 1: running back position. I feel it's a tough position to
Speaker 1: evaluate when you're just looking at workouts and then watching
Speaker 1: their game tape depending on where they play, what was
Speaker 1: around them. Yes, instincts usually come and come fast. So
Speaker 1: a guy who's undrafted can immediately make an impact in
Speaker 1: the national football They gonna really matter what round you're
Speaker 1: drafted in it. But this Khalil Herbert can do more
Speaker 1: than just that, and I think that to me as well.
Speaker 1: He also has all this special team's ability and he
Speaker 1: touched on that as we interviewed him on Zoom last week.
Speaker 1: Able to use my vision, you know, playing running back,
Speaker 1: being able to set up blocks, frank tackles, and you
Speaker 1: know running north and south thing is a really big thing.
Speaker 1: To just be able to hit that whole full speed,
Speaker 1: no fear and ghost man. Now that's added you also,
Speaker 1: who knows what else he can do on special teams?
Speaker 1: He already knows. That's we're pretty much where his ticket
Speaker 1: gets punched to be on the active roster and game
Speaker 1: day Jenner, Yeah, no, this guy's impressive. He had a
Speaker 1: twenty three point five average as a kick return ability
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, so we know that he that he transferred.
Speaker 1: But this guy gets after I saw him down to
Speaker 1: threesa's senior Bowl. He had four plays last year of
Speaker 1: fifty plus runs in twenty twenty, so he does have
Speaker 1: the ability for it to be a big playback. Not
Speaker 1: proven on the third down stuff. Gonna have to prove
Speaker 1: some stuff in the in the blocking ability, I would
Speaker 1: think from that standpoint. But you know, it's kind of
Speaker 1: a breakout year for him last year. It's kind of
Speaker 1: you know, it's basically a one year starter after transferring
Speaker 1: his own scheme runners. So I think that fits what
Speaker 1: the Bears are trying to do. Here's what I love
Speaker 1: about him too. Out of his five hundred carries that
Speaker 1: he had during his college career, but essentially only two fumbles.
Speaker 1: Only two fumbles, So he is he secures the football
Speaker 1: is what he does. And so you know he's a
Speaker 1: guy you take a flyer on, has that breakout year
Speaker 1: and won't be wholly finds himself with an opportunity for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. I mean, but minimum, like you said,
Speaker 1: he knows where he's got to make his hay is
Speaker 1: on the special team side of it. You know, no
Speaker 1: matter what position we're talking about in this draft, from
Speaker 1: offensive line to quarterback to receiver, a defensive back to
Speaker 1: running back, there is no more one dimensional football player
Speaker 1: in the NFL anymore. If you don't fill a variety
Speaker 1: of roles from special teams to everything that's required out
Speaker 1: of you from your specific position. Could you see if, yeah,
Speaker 1: we drafted this offensive lineman because he's exclusively a great
Speaker 1: run blocker, and so now every time we throw the
Speaker 1: ball will sub No, that's not the case. You have
Speaker 1: to be multidimensional. I think that was kind of neat
Speaker 1: thing to see with all these guys. When Chris Tabor,
Speaker 1: the special team's coordinator, has his periods, he has all
Speaker 1: these guys involved in active roles of what they can
Speaker 1: possibly do in terms of game day roster requirements. And
Speaker 1: when you talk about return ability both on the punt
Speaker 1: return and kickoff return, it's it's it's fun to watch.
Speaker 1: And then when you look at what the quarterback in
Speaker 1: the offensive linemen are capable of being throughout throughout the
Speaker 1: course of their career, they can fill every phase of
Speaker 1: what's going to be asked to them. So there is
Speaker 1: no one dimensional football player in the NFL anymore. And
Speaker 1: even when you look at das Knewsom, this guy can
Speaker 1: play a wide receiver, he can play a slot receiver.
Speaker 1: And you saw some of the really nice connections that
Speaker 1: were made between he and justin doing the course of
Speaker 1: that rookie Meani camp. And it excites you because Darnell Mooney,
Speaker 1: he earned his burst onto the scene, wasn't just handed
Speaker 1: to him. And so you look at every one of
Speaker 1: these guys and you think they're all capable of the
Speaker 1: same opportunity. Dads is somebody. It looks like he's gonna
Speaker 1: be an entertainer, a guy who pulls people together, a fun,
Speaker 1: fun loving guy. He's not afraid to, you know, have
Speaker 1: fun with the media. But told us football really is
Speaker 1: in his blow from the time of your little kid,
Speaker 1: my dad was coach. I want to and and really
Speaker 1: just me just seeing a bunch of players. I've been
Speaker 1: in the water boy since I was like six year
Speaker 1: ago oldtil I was in seventh grade. Just seeing all
Speaker 1: those players, I said, when I first got on the sideline,
Speaker 1: I thought he was in high school. And we just
Speaker 1: seeing all the players and seeing my brothers the game
Speaker 1: through my city and all that. We've just seen all
Speaker 1: those players how to move and had missed. I just
Speaker 1: picked the pieces of man righting and just be putting
Speaker 1: in my game. Yeah, that area the country or Newport
Speaker 1: News where he's from. Me he had a lot of
Speaker 1: connections to a lot of great players. It's it's not
Speaker 1: the easiest place to grow up there either, but athletics
Speaker 1: really really gets them on the right track, and many
Speaker 1: have found their way to professional sports, just not the NFL.
Speaker 1: We need to take a break coming back with Jim
Speaker 1: Miller and Tom There. This is Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IDs Energy Juice Clean Energy for your
Speaker 1: home at I dot com because every good choice ended
Speaker 1: up to a better world. Back with more on the
Speaker 1: score after this. The second of the Bearers All Access
Speaker 1: has brought to you by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletical
Speaker 1: dot com to request an appointment in clinic or virtually
Speaker 1: and start feeling better tomorrow with Tom There, Jim Miller
Speaker 1: from six or second of the NFL Radio's Boot and
Speaker 1: Chains with Pat Crowin on, Jeff Jonahac justin fields. Um.
Speaker 1: Maybe this was the best quote of the week last
Speaker 1: week when he met the media as he began his
Speaker 1: NFL pro career at Allis Hall. Because the spotlight is on,
Speaker 1: it always is on every quarterback and he's had plenty
Speaker 1: of experience dealing with that. Yeah, I mean, just like
Speaker 1: you said, I've been, you know, kind of by licensed
Speaker 1: high school song. I kind of feel like I'm you know,
Speaker 1: made for this. I'm built for this. So it's it's
Speaker 1: it's nothing new to me. I'm just going to confine
Speaker 1: the right card every day. How significant is that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think for him, I think his toughness is gonna
Speaker 1: be something that carries him through. And I when I
Speaker 1: talked to his coach, Ryan Day, he raved about his toughness.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just in that game against Clemson. He said
Speaker 1: there were other games too that he continued to play
Speaker 1: that that he was beat up in. And I think
Speaker 1: there is a great desire because I think when people
Speaker 1: were trying to shoot bullet holes into him leading up
Speaker 1: to the draft, I mean, it's about his desire for
Speaker 1: the game and does he work hard enough. This is
Speaker 1: the guy that petitioned the Big Ten to even play
Speaker 1: football last year. It was justin fields. So I think
Speaker 1: his leadership, his toughness are going to carry him through.
Speaker 1: I think he does have a great work ethic. He's
Speaker 1: young at playing the position. You know, he's basically only
Speaker 1: a two year starter. He transferred from clem or from college.
Speaker 1: We know why he transferred to to Ohio State. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was Georgia. Excuse me that he transferred from just
Speaker 1: due to tough from and from was going to be
Speaker 1: the quarterback and from ultimately got drafted by the Buffalo
Speaker 1: Bills out of Georgia, but goes into the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: He's the two time Big Ten quarterback of the Year.
Speaker 1: And he's still young in his game. So he's he's
Speaker 1: still I don't want to say he's raw in a
Speaker 1: lot of respects because he's not raw. He's a tremendous player,
Speaker 1: and he can throw the ball, and he's athletic and
Speaker 1: in all those things. But he is still young in
Speaker 1: terms of his sample size of playing the position a quarterback.
Speaker 1: And so just take your time with him and if
Speaker 1: you if you bring him along the right way, he's
Speaker 1: a quarterback that definitely has every tool to succeed in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Tom, would you think of how
Speaker 1: he moved out there? Inspiring? You know, because it was
Speaker 1: so fluid, it was so easy, it was so natural
Speaker 1: to him. There wasn't a thinking process after the ball
Speaker 1: left his hand to make sure his hand or his
Speaker 1: body or his feet were in the right position. It
Speaker 1: was a natural kind of movement for him. And when
Speaker 1: you see the accuracy and the relationships that he was
Speaker 1: developing throughout the reps, throughout the periods they were going
Speaker 1: through throughout the couple days that they were going through practices,
Speaker 1: it was kind of it was kind of fun to watch.
Speaker 1: But you know, that kind of goes along with the
Speaker 1: quarterback position when they choose or they gravitate towards that
Speaker 1: position whenever it becomes their role in football. I came
Speaker 1: from a high school that we never threw the ball,
Speaker 1: but everybody was always, you know, looking at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: So as the quarterback and the whole position started a
Speaker 1: morph into a role of such extreme importance for a team, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is something these guys become used to and adapting
Speaker 1: to the playbooks something you have to work hard on it. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, at whatever. So um, I want to be
Speaker 1: great at you know, knowing the playbooks. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: work hard at it, of course, But it has been
Speaker 1: I would say, you know easy with you know, coach
Speaker 1: Naggie Flip Laser Snide, everybody teaching me the playbooks. So
Speaker 1: they made my job way easier by teaching it to me.
Speaker 1: And of course it's just kind of coming time with
Speaker 1: with with me studying that and you know, just just
Speaker 1: just getting it down. Hey, Jim In regards the playbook,
Speaker 1: because plays are installed. Even during rookie Minicamp on the
Speaker 1: second day on Saturday, there was more added into it,
Speaker 1: according to Matt Naggie. And it's almost like when you
Speaker 1: go to college and if you if you miss your
Speaker 1: first couple of classes or you didn't buy your books
Speaker 1: and you missed a well you're already behind. And if
Speaker 1: you don't adapt immediately at the quarterback position and the
Speaker 1: other ten guys in that huddle, whether it be in
Speaker 1: his role, which we anticipate what his role will be,
Speaker 1: it's really problematic because it's going to keep building, right, Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a foundation. You know, even through a
Speaker 1: rookie mini caamp, like when I went to my first
Speaker 1: one for the Pittsburgh steel As, they didn't give you
Speaker 1: the whole enchilada. You know, they're just giving you the
Speaker 1: basics of the base offense just so you have that
Speaker 1: foundation underneath you. But you're right, it's going to continue
Speaker 1: to grow every single day. You know, plays or added
Speaker 1: every single day, and it's going to compound and get
Speaker 1: bound and it's going to continue to grow. And he's
Speaker 1: gonna have to continue to learn. And you do. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I remember because even then we did two
Speaker 1: days back in our rookie mini camps. I remember, even
Speaker 1: over the course of in between practices, I found myself,
Speaker 1: you know, just in the playbook the whole time. No,
Speaker 1: I don't need lunch. I need to be able to
Speaker 1: go out there and be confident to call plays because again,
Speaker 1: you're you're trying to present yourself as a leader to
Speaker 1: your team. You're in control that huddle, and how can
Speaker 1: you be in control if you don't know what your
Speaker 1: assignment is, let alone what their assignments are going to be.
Speaker 1: So you try to be confident, exude all the things
Speaker 1: that are necessary that you need to present at the position.
Speaker 1: And it's it's a grind, it'll take a little time,
Speaker 1: but if you're putting in the work, players see it.
Speaker 1: They will buy in to what you're doing. All right, Jim,
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a break. When we come back, we'll
Speaker 1: be joined by the general manager of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: Ryan Pace. This is Bears all Access brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. This score,
Speaker 1: this segment of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by CDW. People to Get It with Tom Fair, Jim
Speaker 1: Miller from Sirius sex M, NFL Radio. I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 1: Welcome into the program, everybody, with our producer Brandon Friar
Speaker 1: in time to turn it over to gentle manager Ryan Pace. Ryan,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us tonight. Thanks for taking some time
Speaker 1: as we walk back through the NFL Draft twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: I know every draft has its own story to it,
Speaker 1: and this story when it involves a first round as
Speaker 1: tense as it was, and it was a great piece
Speaker 1: written by Adam Johns of The Athletic all about it
Speaker 1: in great detail. Fans haven't read to check it out.
Speaker 1: When you await the call from the New York Giants,
Speaker 1: I'm going to hand the ball off to you there
Speaker 1: and take us from there because it is a great moment.
Speaker 1: It's probably something you're never gonna forget. Hey, Jeff, Yeah,
Speaker 1: good to catch up with you, guys. Yeah. I guess
Speaker 1: as you reflect back on that moment, you guys know,
Speaker 1: there's so much work and preparation that goes into it
Speaker 1: from so many differ from people in our buildings. So
Speaker 1: that's the culmination of a lot of hard work, a
Speaker 1: lot of preparation, playing out a lot of scenarios. You know,
Speaker 1: we had kind of talked throughout the day with numerous teams,
Speaker 1: but you know, a lot with the giants and got
Speaker 1: a really good rapport with day gentlemen. So to see
Speaker 1: it kind of come down to that moment and you're
Speaker 1: on hold for it seemed like forever. It's probably about
Speaker 1: a minute and a half. Then to realize, okay, guys,
Speaker 1: it's going to happen. We're on the clock and we're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to get this quarterback. Was it was
Speaker 1: a great moment I think for the for the entire building.
Speaker 1: I think Adam Rhodo was eight thirty nine PM because
Speaker 1: forget about it, Yes it's a quarterback, and that that
Speaker 1: gets so much attention, certainly in the in the top
Speaker 1: ten fifteen doesn't matter really anymore with quarterbacks, could be
Speaker 1: a third round pick grabbed the attention. But just were
Speaker 1: you calm? I mean, do you stay calm or were
Speaker 1: you I mean, how do you handle that moment? Because
Speaker 1: some of it is out of your control. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's crazy. Jeff, you are you are calm, It's it's
Speaker 1: you'rem And I think I think it just comes from
Speaker 1: going over it over and over and over and plan
Speaker 1: out every single scenario that could happen. UM. So yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you're calm through all that, and we all work
Speaker 1: really well together. I think we've got a real cohesive unit.
Speaker 1: So you know, between everybody, you know, obviously we've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about Josh Lucas and Joey Laine and Mats
Speaker 1: at my side and in Champ and Jeff King and Sadowski,
Speaker 1: and we're all there kind of working through it. Um.
Speaker 1: And so it is it is calm at that moment.
Speaker 1: And then I think you once you're you're finally on
Speaker 1: the clock, you make the selection, you call the player.
Speaker 1: Then there is a delay, like by the time that
Speaker 1: TV kicks in, there's there's been a delay. UM. So
Speaker 1: we might not you might not feel the emotion in
Speaker 1: the room that that that took place just minutes before
Speaker 1: when it's on TV. UM, But then that's when it
Speaker 1: kind of hits you and it settles in. Like, man,
Speaker 1: we put so much work into this We've talked about
Speaker 1: this for so long, We've been through so many scenarios
Speaker 1: and we made it happen and that and that's what
Speaker 1: it feels gratifying. Hey, Ryan, the difficulties in scouting this
Speaker 1: past season because of the depth and the um the
Speaker 1: versatility of the interior offensive line. Did you were you
Speaker 1: able to focus on the offensive tackles specifically because I
Speaker 1: love what I see out of Tevin, I like what
Speaker 1: I see out of Boreum, and I think they have
Speaker 1: exciting futures in the NFL. Yeah, Tom, You're right. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of depth of offensive linemen this year,
Speaker 1: and we knew it, and we knew there were there
Speaker 1: were some lead players, uh, some some tackles that we're
Speaker 1: gonna go that we're gonna go high that we really liked.
Speaker 1: Then we knew there was going to be this kind
Speaker 1: of this next bash of guys. And when we got there, Tom,
Speaker 1: in that second round, there was a span of seventeen
Speaker 1: players selected there in the second round, and eight of
Speaker 1: them were offensive linemen. So that was kind of the
Speaker 1: run on lineman Um. But for us to get to
Speaker 1: get Tevin at that spot, Um, we were excited about that.
Speaker 1: And then Larry Boreum to get him in the fifth round,
Speaker 1: and that's that's a player that we would have been
Speaker 1: excited about on the second day of the draft. So
Speaker 1: for us to get him on the third day of
Speaker 1: the draft in the fifth round, Um is something we
Speaker 1: feel really good about. Just fortifying our offensive line, continuing
Speaker 1: to add young talent to that position is really important. Ryan,
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, good to talk to you again. It was
Speaker 1: funny because I talked to Dave Gettleman. Everybody was blasting
Speaker 1: him up to the draft that he never trades down,
Speaker 1: and here he traded down in the first and the
Speaker 1: second round, so he's opened up Trader Daves like Trader
Speaker 1: Joe's No, I guess what I was talking about. But
Speaker 1: let me let me ask you this before we get
Speaker 1: into talking about the draft picks. How was it for
Speaker 1: you collecting data here this offseason because you had no combine,
Speaker 1: you can't get apples to apples numbers. You're going into
Speaker 1: these pro days where you know, some guys got fast
Speaker 1: tracks that are out there in terms of these college
Speaker 1: campuses or what they're the surfaces they're jumping off of
Speaker 1: to get to your vertical jump and all the things
Speaker 1: like that. How were you able to digest all that
Speaker 1: and really weed through it to get the comparisons in
Speaker 1: the data that you needed. Jim, that's a great question
Speaker 1: because there were so many challenges and you're dead on
Speaker 1: some of these pro day numbers come in. Are they
Speaker 1: running on a trampoline? Like? It seemed like crazy result
Speaker 1: it's coming back, But you know what a lot of
Speaker 1: it comes down to. And I remember when I first started,
Speaker 1: there was an older scouts kind of took me under
Speaker 1: his wings. His name was Bill Quinner, and he always
Speaker 1: just said, trust your eyes. Trust your eyes when you're
Speaker 1: watching this film. So it comes back to that, like
Speaker 1: what are you seeing on game film on how these
Speaker 1: guys are performing and not getting caught up so much
Speaker 1: and a lot of the data we collect once football
Speaker 1: has done playing. I mean, some of that stuff is important.
Speaker 1: The medical information was a challenge is here, But it
Speaker 1: really comes back to him to trust in your eyes
Speaker 1: on what you're seeing on the film. And then and
Speaker 1: then our area scouts, our area scouts having relationships in
Speaker 1: those schools because there are some guys you know that
Speaker 1: didn't play football as you guys know this past season.
Speaker 1: So if you're really digging deep, you're going back on
Speaker 1: the tape if you're relying on area scouts that have
Speaker 1: built up a lot of rapport through those schools, and
Speaker 1: you're trust in your eyes what you see on tape
Speaker 1: with them playing football, which is the most important thing.
Speaker 1: This is BEARS All Access brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy at Chicago, which Radio six seventy The Score General
Speaker 1: manager Ryan Pace with us for a few minutes here.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us once again. With Tom there, Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac. I want to talk about the offensive line
Speaker 1: more because if you put all the numbers together, you
Speaker 1: have four drafted linemen in the last two years on
Speaker 1: the roster. You got two undrafted with playing time one
Speaker 1: and Sam must have her. That's really grown quickly here
Speaker 1: and when given an opportunity. So it's a homegrown approach
Speaker 1: to the offensive line. I think, I know, I think
Speaker 1: the numbers ten on the roster right now. Is that
Speaker 1: a plan that you put together in your mind to
Speaker 1: do that the home grown fashion? And if so, why
Speaker 1: is that important? Because I've heard Cody many times talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, having the right guy in the right culture
Speaker 1: for that room as well and believing you have that
Speaker 1: with Boram and Jenkins added to the mix. Jeff, I
Speaker 1: really do, and I think it starts with Blancasto and
Speaker 1: just our confidence in our trust in him as the
Speaker 1: offensive line coach. You know, wherever we draft a play,
Speaker 1: or if it's in the second round, if it's in
Speaker 1: the seventh ront, wherever it is, Wan's going to develop
Speaker 1: those guys. Wane's going to maximize those players. And I
Speaker 1: just have so much confidence that whoever we put in
Speaker 1: his room, those players are going to grow because one
Speaker 1: is so passionate about making these players better. So I
Speaker 1: think that's what you see. What's been really cool to see, guys,
Speaker 1: is how tight our officsive line is right now. Wherever
Speaker 1: they go, they're all together. All fifteen of them are
Speaker 1: always together. They all live together, they walk to the
Speaker 1: practice fields together, They're around each other all the time.
Speaker 1: It's one of the tightest, most cohesive old line groups
Speaker 1: that I think a lot of us have seen. And
Speaker 1: it's early, but it's really neat to see. And there's
Speaker 1: some natural leaders in that room. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: young emerging talent in that room. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: versatility in the room too, where they can all play
Speaker 1: different positions and they're kind of cross train, which is
Speaker 1: going to protect us. So we're excited about the growth
Speaker 1: of development of that position. But a lot of it,
Speaker 1: Jeff goes back to Juan Castillo and our belief and
Speaker 1: trust in him. You know, Ryan daz Knewsome really looked,
Speaker 1: he had a really nice rookie camp. He had nice
Speaker 1: relationship with Justin going early. So then you look back
Speaker 1: of what the contributions that Darnell Mooney meant to the
Speaker 1: wide receiver positioned from this football team, you think that
Speaker 1: inspires these young guys. Don't matter where they drafted. They
Speaker 1: have the feeling that they can come in here and
Speaker 1: have an impact or be an influence on that position
Speaker 1: because they have an example of Darnell and how he
Speaker 1: was able to succeed his rookie year. Yeah, there's no doubt, Tom.
Speaker 1: You know, we talked to those guys about it. As
Speaker 1: soon as they come in the building. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: where you were drafted, if you were a high pick
Speaker 1: or if you were a college free agent. We owe
Speaker 1: it to our locker room to keep the best players,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of examples of that. So once
Speaker 1: they get on the field, it's a clean slate, and
Speaker 1: I think there are some commonalities when you talk about
Speaker 1: those guys, and you know, Darnell is a perfect example,
Speaker 1: a guy that came in with professional mindset, worked his
Speaker 1: tail off and it paid off on Sunday. And I
Speaker 1: think Dad Das has like you know, every team you
Speaker 1: kind of need those spark plug guys. You know, Tarik
Speaker 1: Cohen's one of those guys. Um, Dad has that personality,
Speaker 1: just a lot of choose, a lot of energy, UM,
Speaker 1: a lot of humor in a really good way. UM.
Speaker 1: And he's kind of had some spark plug to him.
Speaker 1: He plays like that. You know, he's he's hard to
Speaker 1: cover from the slot. He's a good punt returners. For
Speaker 1: us to get him late in the draft like that,
Speaker 1: we felt pretty good about it. Well you know where
Speaker 1: I'm going right to the quarterback end. Justin Fields had
Speaker 1: the opportunity to talk to him. Very impressed with that
Speaker 1: young man. I specifically like the mental toughness about him.
Speaker 1: Ryan Day. I told him it's not just his ability
Speaker 1: to go out there and play hurt. Everybody saw that
Speaker 1: with the Clemson game and there are other games he
Speaker 1: did that where he came in and played through a
Speaker 1: knee injury and some other things. But to have the
Speaker 1: mental makeup, you know, I do think there are certain
Speaker 1: markets out there. Chicago is one of them. I would
Speaker 1: say New York as another that you have to have
Speaker 1: a tough mental makeup as a quarterback to endure. There's
Speaker 1: going to be criticism. I mean everybody understands that. And
Speaker 1: just a little on ut Fields in his mental makeup
Speaker 1: and what you saw on him, Yeah, no doubt, Jim.
Speaker 1: I mean you're right, you know, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York,
Speaker 1: there's certain markets where you need that. Justin naturally has
Speaker 1: that um you know, you saw it throughout college. You know,
Speaker 1: we did a lot of research on that. And then
Speaker 1: now watching him walk in our building right now, Jim,
Speaker 1: and you just feel it right away. Just he's off
Speaker 1: to such an impressive start. You know, obviously the physical talent,
Speaker 1: but there's a work ethic and there's a focus that's
Speaker 1: really cool to see. There's a calmness to him and
Speaker 1: a confidence to him that's really cool to seem. I
Speaker 1: was just talking to our strength condition and coach, Chasing Loscazo,
Speaker 1: and he was telling me how hard he works in
Speaker 1: the weight room and how focused and dialed he is
Speaker 1: in the weight room. Things like that. You know already
Speaker 1: just you know, we've been together for what a week
Speaker 1: and a half and already feel that just confirms a
Speaker 1: lot of the things we knew about him. And you
Speaker 1: know he's entering a quarterback room with two vets in
Speaker 1: there and that are really going to help him. You
Speaker 1: can already feel that cohesion those guys with Andy, with
Speaker 1: Nick Um, I think it's a really good environment for him.
Speaker 1: But he has the mental toughness, the focus, the work
Speaker 1: ethic and the determination I think to have a lot
Speaker 1: of success in any market, but especially this one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well how about you know, because I know what Naggie
Speaker 1: had said about Andy Dalton being the starting right away,
Speaker 1: everybody assumes, oh, he's getting all the reps. You know,
Speaker 1: Justin Fields is going to be able to get reps.
Speaker 1: You know, you look where Nick Foles is that and
Speaker 1: Nick can still get his work done. But can you
Speaker 1: give us anything of how they'll they'll be distributed, because
Speaker 1: everybody just thinks, because Andy's the starter, that Justin Fields
Speaker 1: isn't going to be getting his plethora of work and
Speaker 1: reps that's going to be dedicated to him to bring
Speaker 1: him along growth of development. Yeah, Jim, it's a good question.
Speaker 1: And that's when you know, you rely on the experience
Speaker 1: of our staff. So with Matt and with Bill Laser
Speaker 1: and Flip, and they spent a ton of time thinking
Speaker 1: about that right there, like how can we maximize all
Speaker 1: these reps for the quarterback accident. It's important, you know,
Speaker 1: make sure you know, Andy's getting getting these reps as
Speaker 1: are as our starting quarterback, and and he's learning the offense,
Speaker 1: and he's learning the new players, but also the development
Speaker 1: adjustin fields and making sure he's getting the reps. So
Speaker 1: I think our coaches you can already feel it, I've
Speaker 1: done a great job at making sure that that's handled
Speaker 1: the right way. Um, and it will continue to be
Speaker 1: handled that right way, you know, fortunately for us, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll have a preseason this year which will be big
Speaker 1: for us, not just for the quarterback but for a
Speaker 1: lot of positions. But I think our coaches are our
Speaker 1: veteran coaching staff, We've got, you know, three coaches right
Speaker 1: there that are very familiar with this position, has spent
Speaker 1: a ton of time focusing on that right there and
Speaker 1: making sure the reps are handled its appropriate way. Hey, Ryan,
Speaker 1: when you look at the defensive back Grammy drafted. I
Speaker 1: love his confidence. Um when he answered the phone because
Speaker 1: he said he was frustrating a little tired. And when
Speaker 1: we talked to him last week, I said I had
Speaker 1: the same thing I was. I wanted to be drafted higher.
Speaker 1: And I think every guy in the NFL all does.
Speaker 1: But that's the kind of the attitude that you want
Speaker 1: to have, Like you said, coming in the locker room,
Speaker 1: for a guy that has a lot of tremendous amount
Speaker 1: of belief in his self is development and how badly
Speaker 1: he wants to be a part of this for sure,
Speaker 1: Tom and I felt that from Clio Herbert. I felt
Speaker 1: it from Tonga. I felt it from Boring like that.
Speaker 1: That's a good you want him to have a chip
Speaker 1: on your shoulder like that. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: with Thomas Graham, you know, I think him not playing
Speaker 1: last year, you know, maybe that affected some of it.
Speaker 1: You know, he did go to the Senior Bowl and
Speaker 1: had a good Senior Bowl. But what we like about
Speaker 1: him is the first thing that stands out. I thought
Speaker 1: every scout said this when we were evaluating him, was
Speaker 1: really good ball skills and really good ball clock, so
Speaker 1: like the ability to time up PBUs when the ball
Speaker 1: arrives or interceptions. He just has a knack for timing
Speaker 1: for time that up, the coordination that comes with that,
Speaker 1: and then I you know, he has this instincts awareness
Speaker 1: feel peripheral vision to kind of play that nickel spot too,
Speaker 1: which is going to be important for us. So you know,
Speaker 1: he's training outside and inside. But there's just a lot
Speaker 1: of traits, Like I said, his instincts, but I think
Speaker 1: his ball skills are something that he naturally has um
Speaker 1: and you know what, maybe maybe if this is you know,
Speaker 1: such a different season in twenty twenty, he could have
Speaker 1: possibly gone higher. But we're fortunate to have him on
Speaker 1: our team and it fell the way we wanted to fall. Ryan,
Speaker 1: one more question. We'll let you go appreciate it as always,
Speaker 1: you touchdown. Herbert and Tom got two very serious guys
Speaker 1: about how they go about their business too, and that
Speaker 1: showed just real quick snapshots on what you saw and
Speaker 1: just in general how you felt the rookie minicamp point
Speaker 1: and we'll let you go. Yeah, so, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: when when you go to uh, when you go to
Speaker 1: clear Herbert, to me, he was standing out Jeff on
Speaker 1: our draft board and we looked up that magnet standing
Speaker 1: out because we had him great to hide in that
Speaker 1: area the draft, and he's got such natural vision and
Speaker 1: patience and running stincts. He really sits in to kind
Speaker 1: of the wide zone the scheme. Just yeah, just some
Speaker 1: guys just have a knack for that. He one hundred
Speaker 1: percent does when you see him in person. Just how
Speaker 1: he's built, his body type is perfect for the running
Speaker 1: back position and what we want to do. And then
Speaker 1: you throw in the added special team's value that he provides,
Speaker 1: the kick return value that he provides, just a real
Speaker 1: pro mind set, and he's off to a great start.
Speaker 1: And then Tonga just a you know, I thought last
Speaker 1: year with us losing you know, Roy Robertson Harris and
Speaker 1: John Jenkinson, Brent Urban, you know that's going to happen
Speaker 1: in free agency. But and we were able to resign
Speaker 1: Mario Edwards, but he had a guy like Tonga late
Speaker 1: and he's just got a strong stout player can naturally
Speaker 1: naturally anchor in there. It just gets us excited about
Speaker 1: our d line. When you talk about a team Hicks
Speaker 1: getting Daddie Goldman back Blal Nichols you know, we talked
Speaker 1: about Mario Edwards and then a guy like Tonga coming in.
Speaker 1: He's kind of a natural nose tackle that can place
Speaker 1: out inside. Was a big did for us. So everyone
Speaker 1: was excited. Rookie minicamp. You know, you can tell this
Speaker 1: this rookie class, it's just a real serious, focused field
Speaker 1: to them, a real professional feel to them. You know,
Speaker 1: I think you know, Justin kind of leads that. And
Speaker 1: we had a productive mini camp starting with him. All right, Ryan,
Speaker 1: we appreciate it all the time. Hope to talk to
Speaker 1: you soon again, and good luck with the offseason program.
Speaker 1: As he continues forward here, thank you, thanks right, thanks guys,
Speaker 1: Thank you As Bears general manager Ryan Pace back with
Speaker 1: Moore on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. The Chicago Bears Network presents Inside the Bears,
Speaker 1: brought to you by a Verizon Anthony Adams and Lauren
Speaker 1: Screeden to cover the world of Bears football on and
Speaker 1: off the field every Sunday I had at ten thirty
Speaker 1: five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime
Speaker 1: at Chicago Bears dot com or on the Bears official app.
Speaker 1: Jeff Jony acc along with Tom there. Jim Miller from
Speaker 1: Sirius XM NFL Radio just heard from general manager Ryan Pace, said, Jim,
Speaker 1: any any thoughts on anything that jogged your mind about
Speaker 1: what he had to say. No, I think you know
Speaker 1: Ryan Pace, And you know the reason why I asked
Speaker 1: me that question is, I was, you know, about just
Speaker 1: collecting data. I kind of took a you know, it's
Speaker 1: not a scientific poll or anything, but that's what I
Speaker 1: asked a lot of the gms but that we talked
Speaker 1: to on serious sexm and there were quite a few
Speaker 1: of them. Uh, they were struggling with the medicals. And
Speaker 1: here Ryan brought that up. That was some of the
Speaker 1: last data that even came in prior to the draft.
Speaker 1: Uh that that teams you know, we're trying to collect
Speaker 1: and get all the information so they could make an
Speaker 1: informed decision about drafting players. Granted, everybody's draft boards different
Speaker 1: and how they're going to grade players because it's it's
Speaker 1: what they do for your your scheme and what they
Speaker 1: you know, present to utilize in your schemes. So every
Speaker 1: board is stacked different. That's why the Bears when he said, hey,
Speaker 1: when we saw Herbert there, he stood out like a
Speaker 1: sore thumb because on the Bears board they had him
Speaker 1: probably graded higher than than what they had another team
Speaker 1: maybe had him or rated and why and he brought
Speaker 1: it up. Hey, he runs a lot of the wide
Speaker 1: zone there. That's the principles we lies here with the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. So he's going to have more value to
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears then say the Baltimore Ravens, who run
Speaker 1: a gap scheme. So everybody's board is graded differently. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, he was pretty expansive with all
Speaker 1: his answers and why they love the players they did,
Speaker 1: even Kiris Tonga, the defensive lineman they drafted. If you
Speaker 1: go back and look at at Tonga, everybody's said, oh
Speaker 1: he's three undred twenty five pounds, he's a run stuffer.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's true. Go look at his batdowns. The guy
Speaker 1: has twelve batdowns, so he is awareness level is good,
Speaker 1: so he may be in there on first and second down.
Speaker 1: We all know though, teams are gonna run play action
Speaker 1: and do certain things on first and second down where
Speaker 1: they throw. This guy's a very aware player and all
Speaker 1: those batdowns kind of prove that and why Ryan Pace says, hey,
Speaker 1: kind of trust your eyes time. They also feel very
Speaker 1: good about Larry Boram. He could tell that they had
Speaker 1: him ranked a lot higher than being a fifth round pick,
Speaker 1: but he happened to be there. Yeah, you know, one
Speaker 1: thing that we talked about before this draft was the
Speaker 1: draft players according to where they play. And I think
Speaker 1: when you look at Das Newsome, you look at Graham,
Speaker 1: you look at Larry Boram, and Tevin Jenkins, every one
Speaker 1: of these guys, you know they have a foundation of
Speaker 1: a career that's gonna move further. And I think all
Speaker 1: of these guys can have an impact on the Bears.
Speaker 1: And I know that. You know when you look at
Speaker 1: Herbert he's a little bit different of a back than
Speaker 1: David Montgomery, but David Montgomery's one hell of an example
Speaker 1: of the kind of back you want to emulate yourself after,
Speaker 1: and he is a three down back. So I got
Speaker 1: to say that one of the most exciting players that
Speaker 1: you know, kind of cap caught my attention at rookie
Speaker 1: camp because I didn't know a lot about him, was
Speaker 1: Larry Boram. When you'll listen about this guy playing at
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty two pounds in college, to me,
Speaker 1: that's a little heavy, but when he showed up at
Speaker 1: the Bears mini camp, he was in shape, he was
Speaker 1: more fit. He moves very fluidly for a big man,
Speaker 1: and so I'm excited to see the type of competition
Speaker 1: that he provides. And you know, is he one dimensional
Speaker 1: at right tackle? I don't. I'm not so certain about that.
Speaker 1: I think he has the capability and moved to a
Speaker 1: couple different positions on the offensive line. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: to watch each and every one of these guys. And
Speaker 1: the guy that probably created the most excitement and the
Speaker 1: most big plays is das Knewsome. He had a kind
Speaker 1: of a relationship that developed early with Justin Fields, and
Speaker 1: Justin Fields put the ball in the exact place he
Speaker 1: needed to. But the types of catches acrobatically in coverage
Speaker 1: in a small window that he was able to go
Speaker 1: up and make. It was fun to watch man, It
Speaker 1: was fun and bore him on his strengths and weaknesses.
Speaker 1: Sorry as I felt our capathit say, with the best
Speaker 1: of them. And I'm a big body that could run
Speaker 1: off the ball. And one thing I'm need to work
Speaker 1: on just just smaller, just a little technique things regarding
Speaker 1: just some things in the in the wine game. Maybe
Speaker 1: full work here and there and placement buzz or now
Speaker 1: I feel like I can passalk with the best of them. Hey, Jim,
Speaker 1: typical offensive line conversation right from from an offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: Work on technique, that's the story. Yeah, hand placement, He's
Speaker 1: talking about all the all the right things that you
Speaker 1: need to focus on. From that standpoint, he knows what
Speaker 1: he needs to work on, and obviously offensive line coach
Speaker 1: is going to work with him hard. When you look
Speaker 1: at a Wan Castile, you know, I think you know
Speaker 1: you try him out at tackle. I think that's the
Speaker 1: goal for for his size, but who knows. I'm with Tom.
Speaker 1: I think he easily could be a power right guard
Speaker 1: if need be too. As his career starts to get
Speaker 1: cranked up. I also thought about one thing, sorry about
Speaker 1: one thing about Larry Boreham, though, is he's gonna have
Speaker 1: to condition himself like and like any other time throughout
Speaker 1: his career. When you're that big of a man, you
Speaker 1: can go out there and damn dominate the college talent
Speaker 1: you face. But at the NFL level, if you can't
Speaker 1: play from the snap of the ball to the whistle
Speaker 1: blows in a good knee bending position. You're gonna have
Speaker 1: guys like Khalil and stuff that can tip you over
Speaker 1: if you place two stiff legged. So that will be
Speaker 1: his challenge. Yeah, I know, I'll add this. I know
Speaker 1: Paul Alexander worked with him. He's Paul for There's out there.
Speaker 1: He coached over thirty years as an offen line coach.
Speaker 1: He said, this is a big man with thought. He
Speaker 1: is powerful, has the bend that you're talking about, uh Tom,
Speaker 1: and thinks he will be ultimately become a good starting
Speaker 1: right tackle in the in the National Football League within
Speaker 1: a year. He thinks he could do that. Who knows.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's on an accelerated pace where he could fill
Speaker 1: that role right away for the Chicago Bears. And one
Speaker 1: last sound bite back to Tevin Jenkins, because there is
Speaker 1: going to be a process flipping from one side of
Speaker 1: the offensive line to the other. He's had over four
Speaker 1: hundred snaps in college at that position, but it's a
Speaker 1: different ballgame in the NFL. That's i'd say right now
Speaker 1: is just muscle memory. That's the best two things ever.
Speaker 1: That's just we keep on doing it over and over
Speaker 1: and over until your body's very used to it. Your
Speaker 1: body is uh more, you know. I guess they're used
Speaker 1: to it and just keep on doing over and over
Speaker 1: until I'm normal. Like it just feels normal every day
Speaker 1: and like everyday life, I'm gonna becomesay, I'm gonna become
Speaker 1: just less dander or something because I's gotta have to
Speaker 1: do how I kill myself. Is there a validity in
Speaker 1: that tommy muscle memory? Yeah, there is, you know, but
Speaker 1: you also recognize if you have the ability to convert
Speaker 1: to that. I played the year in college at left tackle.
Speaker 1: I knew that my days were numbered at that position.
Speaker 1: I kind of suffered through it my junior year and
Speaker 1: then went back to the interior the offensive line and
Speaker 1: played with a great deal a lot more confidence. But
Speaker 1: when I listened to Teban at the podium, it almost
Speaker 1: sounds like Wan Castillo. You got to do it over
Speaker 1: and over and over and over again. And that is everything.
Speaker 1: Offensive football is repetitiously learned. And when you get those
Speaker 1: ten fifteen thousand reps underneath your belt, you start making
Speaker 1: that comfortable non thinking about transition. Well, and the thing
Speaker 1: is stuck out the most, you know, the overall view
Speaker 1: of rookie minicamp, and we didn't get into talking about
Speaker 1: some of these undrafted guys or whatever. I would say.
Speaker 1: What Ryan hit on it was that they kind of
Speaker 1: took the queue from Justin Fields, who is quite serious
Speaker 1: and admitted that he is a serious business for Justin Fields,
Speaker 1: and that kind of was the own of those couple
Speaker 1: of days. We were not there on Sunday, they had
Speaker 1: a shortened walk through level, but on those two days,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's I always find it funny
Speaker 1: fellas when you you grab aunch of a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys from parts unknown, all over the country, you throw
Speaker 1: them on a practice field, you get them coached up
Speaker 1: for a couple of days in the in the classroom,
Speaker 1: and they go out and it looks like football. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, and it's good that Justin Fields did that.
Speaker 1: And I would think that all the young draft picks
Speaker 1: there are something. There is something to be said about
Speaker 1: first impressions. You know. I'm sure Tom wanted to make
Speaker 1: a good first impression when he was working out for
Speaker 1: for any team, and I would think, you know, I
Speaker 1: know what I personally felt that way when I went
Speaker 1: into the Pittsburgh Steelers. I actually arrived a day early.
Speaker 1: Bill Cower had to kick me out of the out
Speaker 1: of the three Rivers stadium. You know, to make a
Speaker 1: good impression early and uh, because if you do that,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get more opportunities, potentially more reps. And then
Speaker 1: if you're able to build that trust with your coaches
Speaker 1: that they know that you're serious about football and you're
Speaker 1: going to attack it and you're you're taking everything that
Speaker 1: that you're being given and understand it and are able
Speaker 1: to apply It's that's why they want you as a player,
Speaker 1: and you're backing it up every single day you walk
Speaker 1: in that building. Yeah, and I leave you at this now,
Speaker 1: let the process play out. I know everybody's got opinions
Speaker 1: on where things are going to be and what should
Speaker 1: be and what they want to be. But process is
Speaker 1: as important as the player you pick and the player
Speaker 1: you bring into the organization. Jim, thanks for hanging in
Speaker 1: there the entire show. Appreciate it and we'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next week. You got a guy's always good to
Speaker 1: be with you. Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio
Speaker 1: Moving the chains, Tommy, We're out of time. Thank you.
Speaker 1: You have a good week as well. We'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next week. Thanks everybody for listening. Thanks to our
Speaker 1: guest gentle manager, Ryan Pacer, the Bears, and our producers
Speaker 1: Tonight Brandon Fryer and the Score of Studios along with
Speaker 1: Jordan tread Up and Dan Barelli, Mark Rody and Anthony
Speaker 1: Hair on our next on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to Score. Good night, everybody, thanks for listening to this
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