Bear Hands

I see we’re at the stage where everyone is trying to showcase how OG they are lol.

I mean nothing is wrong with some coddles but we’re simply acquiring weapons. This isn’t overindulgence or anything to compensate for Bryce/make him extra comfortable. It’s to elevate this offense and add firepower that can win us games. Need to score if you wanna win.

What happened to just prank calling your closest Chinese restaurant amiright?

Nice good stuff

Yep… if we took those offers, we’d basically be looking at Nolen or one of the outlier or low production guys (Walker, Mykel, Stewart) paired with maybe Higgins or Noel at WR. This McMillan+Scourton+Princely combination just seems way more sound, has far less/no flags and way greater potential. Honestly, stepping back and looking at it, it really is one of the stronger scenarios we could’ve asked for. WR1 and 2 potential starting OLBs. The Denver trade we made was a very cool package that gave us a lot of flexibility. One of the more interesting mid-draft trades we’ve made and I think it really helped us out.

This guy is a bit cerebral. He’s very into refinement and figuring it all out. You don’t see this with a lot of prospects. Super sharp kid.

That’s interesting to know. He’s adjusting and conditioning to what feels like the optimal situation for him. I’ll tell you, sounds like he’s been coached very well to recognize those things, have the strong run game skills and continuing to build out his moveset. He really seems like a high floor guy that I’m just surprised lasted that long. Feel really strong about him and Princely. Just tough guys with good experience, size, skills, there’s no weird outlier question marks with either of them.

Figured to group all the picks in one place so we can take a more holistic & zoomed out look at the class. My overall one sentence glance: We played it smart, moving up to get guys we wanted, however in that process, maximized value without mortgaging the future picks. Strong blend of smart + aggressive this year. Some initial notes: We've got ourselves a real WR1. Coker & Legette can fill into very complimentary roles. Then we took a swing on a returner/shiftier type later on, with real juice, in Horn. Pass Rush was nonexistent last year - so landed a guy in Scourton who many had pegged as a 1st -- he's back to his Purdue weight, where he looked like a potential superstar, has great measurables, and attitude. Power guy, growing moveset, & real edge setting ability. Princely may start out as a specialist (maybe more), but he has real upside and the frame to fill into a 3-down edge. Nick Bonitto-ish. Etienne I like. He's basically our 3rd down back who we can trust catching balls. He may get more playing time than expected and we have a bit of a 70/20/10 type thing with Chubba/Dowdle/Etienne I've said it before, Evans is excellent value. True inline TE that can play every role at the position. Good hands, good blocking. Thought he'd be a 3rd-4th rounder. Cam Jackson we keyed in on, interviewed him a few times. Big boy, we definitely had a connection and affection. All for it. And last but not least, Ransom who was one of my top safeties. I was thinking Watts or Sanker to compliment Moehrig, but before FA, Ransom was the one I was hoping for, and we freaking landed him. Tenacious, physical, pure football talent (& film junkie) with a nose to end plays. Where I find this to make sense is we have a lot of DB heavy looks, and FS is not the most critical position these days. Having insurance and someone who can get in sub packages is important. And I think we like our FS Richardson (Maybe we sign Blackmon, but I feel very comfortable here) Oh and we landed one of the top kickers via UDFA

Smitty has a bit of the Chris Simms complex. Became a personality, identified a mid rounder who became great (Kupp), and then ran on that juice for a while, as someone with that keen eye for talent. But over time, the hit rate adjusts and you see he's not the best at it by any means. And now they have a falsely built-up confidence in their evals and get all defensive about it. It's all good. I hope McMillan proves to be a top-WR in the league and shuts these knuckleheads up. Now it's time to get this team rev'd up for a big improvement year.

Thought this should get some attention being Matthew Wright (our rostered kicker) was on 3 teams last year. Ryan Fitzgerald Factoids: #2 Ranked Kicker on the Beast Was perfect in 2024, including a long of 59 yards Was 19/21 in 2023 Hasn't missed an XP in over two years Seems like we may have ourselves a new kicker:

Okay well I feel like this has run its course. Not happening BigKat. Have a nice Sunday all lol

That’s fair, we don’t need the reminders they started their own “club” haha

oh and to answer TBK's question - no. And you won't

Icege has been good because he continues to discuss and help create the good convo. So I feel like it's aight on his part if he tries to make it better. Where it truly gets toxic are those who are gone and entirely on discord. There were a few who literally turned every thread into this - about how they couldn't understand how others didn't agree with them, how the board was never the same, and rather than try to debate football, turn it into questioning the person's football intellect or how "the board has gone downhill". I hope people just keep contributing, keep posting, keep making it worthwhile folks. A community makes it a community, so if y'all want it to be like it was, make it so. Network in the QC, try to get a tailgate together, etc. The Bleys, Boo, Beach, AKs of the world drift away, some come back, some don't, life goes on. Hell, I didn't even mind Bwood lol. I'm somehow able to sneak in mod'ing and posts with a 10-mo y/o, city arch gig, in a sea of Bears fans in northshore Chi-town but it could happen to me too. But if you love football chat, I encourage all to keep it going, keep it spicy, I love the fiery debates in here. Some can't take the heat and turn it into the "quality of posts" whining and then run to discord. Just don't do that.

In order of expected snap count: McMillan Thielen XL Coker Horn Moore Honestly, after really analyzing this roster again, McMillan is a super investment. Between him and Coker, that's a very reliable duo and opens up XL's role for better chess playing. Get XL into the slot to beat out the shorty NBs. If we can geta Tmac/XL/Coker thing going, that is entertaining as hell. And if Horn or a guy like him hits in that shiftier role, that's a super complete room.

I was just coming in to say that exact thing. JT could be our TE1. Evans could surprise - I may be the most surprised value wise with his pick (along with Scourton). He has legit all-around Y/F/T usage ability. Great blocker, great hands, some unexpected shiftiness for his size. And I've always been a Tremble fan. He's a great TE2 who has made plays and knows how to block. He's not a world beater, but he fills his role very well.

I'm instantly a fan purely off how he handled his first Davis Newton question. Smart kid. He's got swag.

He honestly has a nice vision/quickness combo skillset. Makes solid moves when he gets to the second level to evade LBs and box safeties. I'm kind of digging him. Good receiving back, which we don't have, and averaged 5.6 ypc over 3 years in the SEC. Maybe he's the inverse of his brother - not the college stud, but turns into one in the NFL.

He's a rather promising TE and this was very solid value. Good stuff.

Love it - great physical run d

A depth RB was expected. Again, we don’t go for any burner but seems like a solid pick with little mileage

RB University of Georgia RB9 on the Beast - the blurb: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/the-beast/2025/player/trevor_etienne-running_back-Nv8RI8P1e7cEORfU/

It's a really good haul. Had been flirting with both these OLBs in eval but never thought we'd end up with both. Just thought we could land 1 like them if we went DT/Walker/TE/WR high. The Athletic Football show discussed Scourton before round 1 -- how he was the perfect type of target for Philly at the end of R1 who could develop into a monster. Not to mention people were eyeing him since before the 2024 season thinking he would be a top-10 overall guy, but then got shoved into a containment role. Value wise, feel like we got a 1st round talent at 51 and a solid solid 2nd with Princely at 77.

Final Day is here! Recap so far: 1-8 Tetairoa McMillan WR Arizona 2-51 Nic Scourton OLB/DE Texas A&M 3-77 Princely Umanmielen OLB Ole Miss -- We've still got 5 picks left after two trade ups, no future picks mortgaged: 4-114 (Pick 12) 4-122 (Pick 20) 5-140 (Pick 2) 5-163 (Pick 27) 6-208 (Pick 32)

Was hoping Charles Grant would slide a bit more. Mbow (Purdue G/T), Miles Frazier (LSU G) and Cameron Williams (Texas OT) all good options that could be best available. Think we met with Mbow and Williams.