Mighty Joe Young
Living in Troll's Heads Rent-Free for Decades
- Joined:
- Feb 8, 2021
- Posts:
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My favorite teams
First things first - I want to preface this by saying I felt like Pace and Nagy should have been fired this offseason, and the rebuild should have begun now.
And for perspective, the situation we are in now is what happens when you get it wrong on a franchise QB, and then are unable to get a QB good enough in trade or free agency to jump in when your window is.
Had the Bears drafted DeShaun Watson, we would have been on schedule. The defense peaked in 2018, and is still a top 15 defense the past 2 years but sliding in the wrong direction. Having a franchise QB would have more than equalized that, and the defense would have been good enough to be contenders. The truth that is so damn hard for Bears fans to accept is that, for the most part, Ryan Pace built a damn good team, and it's peak readiness to compete was these past 3 years...
...Except for that damn quarterback position. And because of the importance of that positon, that is why I was willing to say so long to Pace - he's gotten it laughably wrong every....single...time.
I don't hold Dalton against him though - any player after the rush of potentially getting Russell Wilson will seem like dog crap, and frankly, all that's left are quarterbacks of Dalton's caliber, even the ones that signed elsewhere - sure, they all have different ways of losing, but they are all roughly in the same tier of quarterback - just pick one of your 31 flavors of bad.
But that's what you are left with when you get the quarterback wrong.
And even with Nagy - I won't overall say he's a "bad" coach. But he is a coach who just runs a collection of plays - no real identity whatsoever. So he needs a strong-willed quarterback to give his "collection of plays" an identity, for that quarterback to take ownership and put his own personal stamp on it. That is something Wilson would have done. That is something "aw shucks" Mitch never would have been able to (along with never being able to consistently make it past his first read).
Put Wilson on this team right now, or a Derek Carr or a Watson, and this team, as is, competes for a Superbowl. Even without Allen Robinson.
But that caliber of quarterback rarely becomes available.
And I don't feel like even if the Bears were to trade up in this draft, that any of these quarterbacks they could get would be "the guy".
Which leads me to my point; the Bears are faced with a choice now that I know they won't get right:
Either trade off all your older players for whatever picks you can get them for, or suffer in mediocrity as your team slides into NFL hell for the next 5 years, and by the time you are able to climb out and draft another QB, it will likely take another 3 years to build something back up. I know some of you can point out quick turnarounds of other NFL teams, but the Bears are not in a position to be one of those - they are in Salary Cap hell, and will be for at least 2-3 years.
The right call here is to sell the farm and restock with young talent.
Players to trade/release:
Core to build around:
That is actually a core you can build with, using the right moves.
Unfortunately, even though pulling the trigger on this is the right move right now, Pace and Nagy won't do it - because they won't be around to rebuild.
All because the Bears whiffed on their shot at a franchise Quarterback.
The next time anyone here wants to understate the importance of the franchise qb position, reference this thread. Because everything you see the Bears going through right now, and the NFL we fans are about to experience, are all consequences of NOT HAVING A FRANCHISE QB.
And that's why even if you have to trade the other 52 players and all your draft picks for a sure thing Franchise QB - it is ALWAYS worth it....
..... So long as you get it right......
And for perspective, the situation we are in now is what happens when you get it wrong on a franchise QB, and then are unable to get a QB good enough in trade or free agency to jump in when your window is.
Had the Bears drafted DeShaun Watson, we would have been on schedule. The defense peaked in 2018, and is still a top 15 defense the past 2 years but sliding in the wrong direction. Having a franchise QB would have more than equalized that, and the defense would have been good enough to be contenders. The truth that is so damn hard for Bears fans to accept is that, for the most part, Ryan Pace built a damn good team, and it's peak readiness to compete was these past 3 years...
...Except for that damn quarterback position. And because of the importance of that positon, that is why I was willing to say so long to Pace - he's gotten it laughably wrong every....single...time.
I don't hold Dalton against him though - any player after the rush of potentially getting Russell Wilson will seem like dog crap, and frankly, all that's left are quarterbacks of Dalton's caliber, even the ones that signed elsewhere - sure, they all have different ways of losing, but they are all roughly in the same tier of quarterback - just pick one of your 31 flavors of bad.
But that's what you are left with when you get the quarterback wrong.
And even with Nagy - I won't overall say he's a "bad" coach. But he is a coach who just runs a collection of plays - no real identity whatsoever. So he needs a strong-willed quarterback to give his "collection of plays" an identity, for that quarterback to take ownership and put his own personal stamp on it. That is something Wilson would have done. That is something "aw shucks" Mitch never would have been able to (along with never being able to consistently make it past his first read).
Put Wilson on this team right now, or a Derek Carr or a Watson, and this team, as is, competes for a Superbowl. Even without Allen Robinson.
But that caliber of quarterback rarely becomes available.
And I don't feel like even if the Bears were to trade up in this draft, that any of these quarterbacks they could get would be "the guy".
Which leads me to my point; the Bears are faced with a choice now that I know they won't get right:
Either trade off all your older players for whatever picks you can get them for, or suffer in mediocrity as your team slides into NFL hell for the next 5 years, and by the time you are able to climb out and draft another QB, it will likely take another 3 years to build something back up. I know some of you can point out quick turnarounds of other NFL teams, but the Bears are not in a position to be one of those - they are in Salary Cap hell, and will be for at least 2-3 years.
The right call here is to sell the farm and restock with young talent.
Players to trade/release:
- Nick Foles
- Jimmy Graham
- Kyle Fuller
- Khalil Mack
- Akiem Hicks
- Danny Travathan
- Tashaun Gipson Sr
- Demetrius Harris
- Eddie Jackson
- Anthony Miller
- Rober Quinn
- Allen Robinson
- Eddie Goldman
- Anyone other than Cody Whitehair 27 and older.
Core to build around:
- Interior Line - (Whitehair-Mustipher-Daniels)
- Young O-Line up and comers (Barrs, Simmons, Hambright)
- Cole Kmet
- David Montgomery
- Darnell Mooeny
- Roquan Smith
- Bilal Nichols
- Jaylon Johnson
That is actually a core you can build with, using the right moves.
Unfortunately, even though pulling the trigger on this is the right move right now, Pace and Nagy won't do it - because they won't be around to rebuild.
All because the Bears whiffed on their shot at a franchise Quarterback.
The next time anyone here wants to understate the importance of the franchise qb position, reference this thread. Because everything you see the Bears going through right now, and the NFL we fans are about to experience, are all consequences of NOT HAVING A FRANCHISE QB.
And that's why even if you have to trade the other 52 players and all your draft picks for a sure thing Franchise QB - it is ALWAYS worth it....
..... So long as you get it right......
