Iffybiz

Here’s my draft strategy. First off, I question the whole premise of this post. They have two top picks, why are we morphing 1 & 5 into 4? Let’s say they end up with 1 and 4 or 5. I’m trading #1 to 2 or 3 and taking MHJ. Then I’m trading down the 4-5 pick to about 10 where the DL make more sense. Out of the those two moves, they get back two second round picks and at least one first round pick next year. I draft a DL in the first and use the two second rounders on a safety and center.

Then it’s all about adding depth. This gives me another year with Fields but gives you two first round picks in 2025 in case it doesn’t work.

To answer the original question. No, he’s not enough of an upgrade. People forget he was the best OT taken in the draft last year, not the best outside the first round, the best, period. He’s an outstanding run blocker and has a very correctable flaw in pass protection. He has the size, athleticism, arm length and feet to be an outstanding LT. I get really tired of so called fans who think that every player is a bust who isn’t a pro bowler his first year. He played well last year and so far even better this year. And no you can’t just move him to LG, that’s where Tevin Jenkins will be playing. They also have another up and coming guard in Carter and a decent swing tackle in Borom.

Here’s some things I’ve noticed.

1. Option routes. For those who don’t know, option routes are this. For each play, the receiver is given two routes depending on how he sees the defender across from him. So both the QB and WR need to see things the same way. It tends to create indecision in QB. You aren’t going to throw before the break if you don’t know which way the break is. Detroit for instance, only has St. Brown run option routes. The others run a progressive route. This is a good thing when you have a veteran QB and receivers but even Rodgers struggled with it when he was given a group of young receivers he wasn’t familiar with.

2. Too reliant on the “system” vs the players. One play they keep running is called a sail. They never seem to connect on it but still run it every week. On the other hand, when they find a play that works, they don’t run it again. They do well throwing on first down and then go back to running on first down the rest of the game. At times, they have been very stubborn about letting Fields run. They rarely roll out with Fields and have him read half the field, I was stunned to see them do it often with Bagent.

3. In game coaching. Go back and watch the blocking for the Vikings game. The Vikings ran the same blitz 7 times before the OL figured out how to block it. Seemed like every stunt worked. The communication between linemen was dreadful. First play of the game, Vikings line up 6 rushers, Bears counter with an empty backfield. The first read is a 4 yard route the opposite side of the blitz (opposite of conventional wisdom) and Fields was expected to avoid the free rusher and hit the quick, short pass. This is despite the fact that the week before they had great success with having max protection.

4. No accountability. The play described according the coaching staff was Fields fault, not theirs. If you hear the press conference’s it’s never a coaching issue, it’s always a players issue.

5. Terrible job of developing the QB. Fields has flaws, there’s no denying that but instead of playing to his strengths, they seem to purposely play to his weaknesses. He doesn’t get the ball out quickly, so instead of giving him more protection, they ask him to account for a free rusher. He doesn’t read defenses quickly, so instead of making his read’s easier, they make them more difficult. Because they want him to play like Rodgers, they completely changed his footwork, which is the opposite of what most QB do. Compare this to how Wilson was eased into the league. Seattle rolled him out almost every pass. He was asked to only read half the field for his first 2-1/2 years. Fields and to a lesser extent Bagent are basically being asked to play like veterans, whether they are ready to or not.

6. Too conservative with a lead. They do it to “help” the defense but all it does is collect 3 and outs and give the ball back.

I’d bring him in as a consultant if he gets canned mid season which was rumored. Coaching? I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He once was known for having his teams be the most prepared in football. He put tremendous pressure on himself, his coaches and players. I don’t know if he can do that any more to the level he once did.

BTW, there is a coach via both the Belichick (TE coach) and Shanahan tree (through McVay) who might be a better candidate than most. Shane Waldron. I’m mystified why he’s not considered a better candidate than Ben Johnson (though there’s a lot to like). Designed, runs and calls his own offense in Seattle. Similar system to what the Bears run now. Resurrected Geno Smith’s career. Worked for the best offensive mind in football (McVay) and two great defensive HC (Belichick and Carrol).

Michigan has already said they will not be extending his contract. Of course, his contract is through 2026 so take that as you may.

If they did stuff wrong, letting them go is the right step. That’s not what I fault this coaching staff about. What I dislike is that they never take the blame for their failures, it’s always the players fault. You never hear “well we need to coach that better” even when it’s painfully obvious they did a bad job.

What Daniel doesn’t tell you is that coaching creates talent. I’m not talking a few superstars, of which each team may have one or two. I’m talking about players who play great on great teams but would be average at best here. Those are the guys we don’t have and there’s a simple reason why they don’t have them. Coaching.

You know when the announcer says “that’s something that just can’t be coached.” Everything else is. You want a great offensive line? Go hire Bill Callahan away from Cleveland. Add a center, done. No you won’t need a new LT, Braxton Jones will be upper half in the league. Jenkins and Wright will be all pro. Want a better DL? talk Rod Marinelli out of retirement. Dexter and Sweat would be superstars with him teaching them.

Want to fix Fields? hire Greg Roman. In fact, hire Harbaugh to put it all together. Bears fans don’t get it. Ditka and Finks were fine but the real secret was guys like Jim Linehan (OL coach) Ed Hughes (OC) Buddy Ryan (DC) Dave McGinness (LB). You don’t need superstars everywhere, you need good talent that is coached really well. Then it’s a matter of getting the right fit for some players. That’s the GM job, he creates the template for each position and then brings them in. The coaches coach them and bingo, you have success.

I’ve said this many times. The Bears (and probably a lot of teams) would like to be like the Steelers. When they hired Tomlin, he had to conform to what they did. He wanted to switch to a 4-3 and they said no we’re keeping the same defense and coaches. They don’t fire coaches, they fire position coaches. Whatever changes are made are done with the idea of not changing the nature of the team. That’s why they are so consistently successful. The FO knows exactly what kind of players to bring in, they will always fit that template that they look for.

I think your understanding of “coaching” is rather limited. It’s not just watching film and going thru the playbook. In a QB case, it’s tailoring the offense to the QB strengths. For one example, the stats came out for the “quick game” (an offensive play that is run before the defense is completely set). Justin is statistically one of the best at it. It makes sense, the reason you run that is so the defense doesn’t have time to make adjustments to what the offense does and change the defense. So the Bears should be doing this a lot, right? 12%.

The first play against the Vikings. Getsy calls for empty backfield, 5 receivers send out against 0 coverage (no deep safety). Vikes rush 6, leaving a free rusher. Fields only option is a 5 yard pass that’s more than likely batted down or tipped. Fields is sacked. The week before, they kept the TE and RB to pass block and did extremely well. If they’d done that on the first play against the Vikes, it’s a likely TD.

Multiple times this year, the Bears have allowed a free rusher BY DESIGN and then blamed Fields on not being able to avoid it. Fields throws very well on the run, so why don’t they roll him out more? As far as running him, they almost seem to have to be guilted into doing it.

The single worst thing they do is to run nothing but option routes. Justin gets blamed a lot for not being able to read defenses. I don’t think that’s the real problem. The way the Bears offense is set up, each receiver has two routes called on each play. He “reads” his defender and decides which of the two routes he should run. Justin not only has to figure out what coverages he’s seeing but also figure out if the receiver sees it the same way. This creates too much doubt. Rodgers(who Getsy is trying to get Justin to emulate) had the same problem last year because he had a bunch of young receivers he hadn’t worked with. If a veteran like that can struggle with these concepts, is it really fair to expect Justin to be great at it?

The Vikings game was also a master class on how not to block. There were blown assignments constantly. Players not hearing the center making adjustments, so only half the half line would change. Guys not dealing with simple stunts by the defense. There was one defense that took 7 times before the OL blocked it correctly. Justin has a QB rating of over 100 with a clean pocket. Yet it’s rarely coached for him to get a clean pocket.

Now let’s compare this to other coaching. Russell Wilson only had to read half the field the first 2-1/2 years of his career. He wasn’t great at it, so instead of throwing him into the deep end, they eased him into reading defenses.

Ben Johnson, the OC of the Lions, uses a progressive read, similar to the old WCO. All but one of the receivers run a non-option route, the QB reads the coverage in a predetermined order, usually either left to right or vice versa. The QB knows exactly what his receivers are going to run and only needs to know what the defense will do. Johnson also employs his own way of doing the quick game. As soon as everyone is set, the ball is snapped, usually with no sound or motion needed. The defense is rarely completely ready.

In short, the offense isn’t catered to Justin. I’m sure that some will say “well if he’s really good it doesn’t have to be.” My answer is, do you want to develop an certain offense or a QB. Trying to find a QB that fits a certain offense, leads to the carousel of QB the Bears have employed. By the time you find one the offense and coaching staff has changed.