What’s your definition of highly touted? There is still plenty of talent outside the first round. Bears fans should know this. Adding pieces will be very important and finding ways to get some draft picks back without losing major talent should be Pace’s goal now. Those pieces around the edges that turn into really good additions is what gets teams from good to great.
Bears / NFL Thread 2018-2019
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What’s your definition of highly touted? There is still plenty of talent outside the first round. Bears fans should know this. Adding pieces will be very important and finding ways to get some draft picks back without losing major talent should be Pace’s goal now. Those pieces around the edges that turn into really good additions is what gets teams from good to great.
Spending a high value pick on a new QB is giving up on Trubisky, period.
There's a good argument that the NFL shouldn't be that way, IMO, but the NFL *is* that way.
I know there was a lot of scuttlebutt on social media about the open guy in the end zone he missed in Green Bay, and some deserved criticism of his ill-advised 3rd down heave into coverage last night when the Bears were in field goal range. But as a general matter, both last year and this year Trubisky generally took care of the ball well and has been able to diagnose coverages and identify open guys. Not at Aaron Rodgers level but at talented rookie with a bright future level. What he hasn't been able to do is deliver strikes to those open receivers he identifies.
Seeing the reads late could explain some of that, footwork issues too, but not all of it. I don't know how to explain it. When you watched him at UNC with an eye toward the NFL, the first box you checked was accuracy. He hit the target, pressure throws, he's hitting guys in stride. And now he's all over the place.
Teams draft QBs even though they already have an established one all the time.
Not a second year one. Not in the early rounds. And Trubisky isn't established yet at all.
The whole idea of the way the Bears have constructed the team is that Mitch Trubisky on a rookie contract allows them to have a disproportionate amount of salary cap and draft assets to utilize elsewhere. An advantage teams with franchise QB's making franchise QB money don't have.
You don't do that, build a win-nowish team, and then spend premium draft assets on guys who you hope don't play a down.
Teams draft their future at QB when they've already won something, the established starter is old and not going to be around forever, and the roster has limited holes elsewhere.
Again, I can see the argument for saying "screw that, all we're missing is a QB, let's take another lottery ticket on a guy in the 2nd or 3rd round and let the best man win". In a bloodless value optimizing sense that's smart. The problem is that QB controversies are all-consuming detriments to the entire team and inevitably result in a trade (or worse) before you've gained any real advantage of seeing which guy is better.
Good post and agree. I haven’t looked into it much but I’ve been wondering how handcuffed are the bears now? Do they have the cap space for at least a little flexibility still? If it’s year 4 and Trubisky isn’t the guy can they go out and sign someone while Mack is still in his prime? Or Trubisky gets injured can they get a Sam Bradford type like the Vikings did after Bridgewater got hurt?
It's the NFL so you can always create some flexibility.
And yeah, if it's year 4 and Trubisky's not the guy you move on. But that's what it will mean, moving on. That was my initial point.
But the way I'd see it, this year and next we're pretty locked into what this team is personnel-wise from the field to the coaches to the front office. Whatever happens this year, and I think it's already clear this is an improved team, the idea will be to run it back next year with a full offseason of preparation and a couple minor tweaks here and there.
Game by game treatises on What It All Means for the quarterback is just the nature of that process. We knew that going in.
average QBR of the last 10 Super Bowl winning quarterbacks.
Wentz/Foles 101.9/79.5
Brady 112.2
Manning 67.9
Brady 97.4
Wilson 101.2
Flacco 87.7
Eli 92.9
Rodgers 101.2
Brees 109.1
Big Ben 80.1
Funny that Peyton wins in his worst year ever and Big Ben wins in his 2nd worst year ever. Would our fan base be happy if Trubisky turns into a Flacco or Eli? Both average to above average (85-95 QBR in general) QBs depending on the year, but both fan bases seem to dislike them.
Wentz/Foles 101.9/79.5
Brady 112.2
Manning 67.9
Brady 97.4
Wilson 101.2
Flacco 87.7
Eli 92.9
Rodgers 101.2
Brees 109.1
Big Ben 80.1
Funny that Peyton wins in his worst year ever and Big Ben wins in his 2nd worst year ever. Would our fan base be happy if Trubisky turns into a Flacco or Eli? Both average to above average (85-95 QBR in general) QBs depending on the year, but both fan bases seem to dislike them.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Pretty sure that GB drafted a qb almost every year when they had Favre, ended up trading talented backups when they started to get expensive. I don't know if they still do it.
New England has being doing that for years as well.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
One thing I noticed, on the two TD drives for Seattle, Mack and Floyd were not playing. I believe Mack started the first drive and came out. I mentioned this to a friend and he said that they showed him on the sideline completely gassed. The effort he gives on every play is pretty inspiring, can't wait till he can play even more!
It wasn't every year but GB did draft Aaron Brooks and Matt Hasselbeck in the later rounds after Favre was well established and after they had won a Super Bowl, and both guys ended up netting higher picks in trades than the picks used to take them.
The Pats have started doing the same thing, again after championships and with an aging superstar starter.
It can be a smart combo of insurance policy and draft pick arbitrage.
Using a 6th or 7th rounder on a developmental lottery ticket QB wouldn't be a bad idea for the Bears. Is Chase Daniel really a trustworthy backup?
But if, let's say, you take Jake Browning in the 2nd round next year, either the Trubisky era or the Browning era will be over almost immediately, too soon to meaningfully assess both guys, and in the BEST case scenario you're selling the loser for pennies on the dollar in a year.
Maybe Trubisky's play will be so poor this season that that becomes an attractive option. But THAT'S the option. It's not "we'll retain multiple starter-quality guys of the same age for multiple years and have them compete and let the best man win". It does not work like that, that is not an available choice.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Favre was traded for in 92 and left after 07, The Packers drafted following QB's;
92 Ty Detmer 9th round
93 Mark Brunell 5th round
95 Jay Barker 5th round
96 Kyle Wachholtz 7th round
97 Ron McAda 7th round
98 Matt Hasselbeck 6th round
99 Aaron Brooks 4th round
02 Craig Nall 5th round
05 Aaron Rodgers 1st round
06 Ingle Martin 5th
08 Brian Brohn 2nd round
08 Matt Flynn 7th round (year after Favre left)
It appears that they try in insure the franchise QB with 5-7 round draft picks, until they are established, since 08, they have only drafted 2 QB's, in 12 and 15.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Teams don't bring in quarterbacks to compete with their starter unless they are disappointed in what their starter is giving them. The Bears have clearly built this team around Trubiskey and they want to see how he develops. Look at the Cutler years, the Bears never brought in a backup that they thought would challenge him for his starting position, just guys that could fill in in case of injury.
How exactly are they going to be able to amass more draft picks without losing talent?
The Aaron Rodgers pick proved to be a stroke of genius.
But on the other hand, the year Favre left and they were ready to hand the reins to Rodgers, they used a 2nd rounder on Brian Brohm, and ended up waiving him, getting rid of their previous year's second rounder for nothing, the very next year.
You put two unproven QB's of approximately the same age who you used big resources to get on the same roster and it ends very, very quickly. Trubisky and Glennon was the same story in a certain way.
If you're doing that intentionally (Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield) that's fine, but don't pretend that's not what you're doing.
I said major talent. And by that I should’ve said guys we would clearly miss if they left. Josh Gordon just got traded for a 5th round pick. If a guy doesn’t exactly fit here or is surplus then get something for him. Good organizations do that consistently without changing the identity of their team.
It's one game against a bad team that had no scouting report on him to work with, and it's not as if the numbers were THAT spectacular, but you look at Baker Mayfield last night and it puts the lie to the idea that a young QB can't show advanced stages of development immediately. Through 14 starts I haven't seen Mitch seize the reins like that yet. John Fox wasn't giving him the chance last year, fair, but that's what I'm looking for.
What is the explanation for the Buffalo - Minnesota game?
To end everyone's survivor pools this week.
Obviously plenty of time left in the game, but it would be so Bears to blow a chance to take first place by losing to the Cardinals.
Oh Mitchell...
I don't think he could have stared down Robinson any more there. Lucky it wasn't picked.
At least Mack is living up to the hype (though 1 DE doesn't make a team a contender).
Yeah, Mack looks like a HOFer
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