ESPN analyst- bears had worst offseason

[jbunch14]

Sorry, what's sos? Not sure what your first sentence means.

Yeah, Floyd should improve. I think Dix will be an upgrade. Nichols, RRH and Irving have noticeably been improving. But we're probably taking a dip at DC and NB.

Strength of schedule

 

[Briggs is GOAT]

I'm here to hate on John Fox

 

[Rory Sparrow]

What Woody and Fox said makes sense. Kicker and DC will continue to be issues until proven otherwise. I wouldn't say the Bears had the "worst offseason" (Giants?), but Pace has left himself open to criticism with his maverick decision-making.

I thought his FA signings were fine, because for the first time he didn't have the ability to sink guaranteed money into black holes (McPhee, Royal, Sims, Parkey, etc). Every contract was reasonable and every player could conceivably fill a need. The lack of kicker is beyond ridiculous, though.

The draft was meh. Trading up to take a 'guy' while you have limited draft capital could obviously be questioned. I wasn't impressed with Pace's selections, but who knows.

Not sure who Pace could have gotten that wouldn't have been viewed as a step down from Fangio. Some on CCS were hyping up Rob Ryan, which would have been the equivalent to the Bulls hiring a proven loser like Tim Floyd. I view Fangio as a small victory for Pace.

 

[bearmick]

Damien Woody and John Fox both claim the bears had the worst offseason in the nfl. Woody because we lost Fangio therefore defense will take a step back and they set up our offense with so many turnovers.
Fox because we need a good kicker.

It seems a little absurd to me to consider the bears had the worst offseason. Defense will probably take a little step back, but our talent on defense is phenomenal and should be top 5 almost no matter who the coordinator is. And yeah we should have addressed kicker better, but really worst offseason because of that??

I’d say giants and Steelers both had rough ones. Raiders a losers regardless of what they do, they also have zero direction with their moves. Miami looks awful.

Any thoughts?

Really? I think the raiders had one of the best offseasons in the league.

 

[bearmick]

Don't get me wrong here I like Fangio but his defense is great when he has great players. His 1st year here the Bears ranked 20th in overall defense, his 2nd year they ranked 24th. Then the talent started to roll in and they went to 9th. What happens to the 9th ranked defense in the NFL when you add Roquan Smith and Khalil Mack?

When he was the d coordinator in San Fran they had great players all over the place as well. It's about the Jimmy's and the Joe's not the X's and the O's. Bears defense will be fine.

Exactly this. The defense is great because they have great players. I have no worries about the coordinator.

 

[iueyedoc]

Don't get me wrong here I like Fangio but his defense is great when he has great players. His 1st year here the Bears ranked 20th in overall defense, his 2nd year they ranked 24th. Then the talent started to roll in and they went to 9th. What happens to the 9th ranked defense in the NFL when you add Roquan Smith and Khalil Mack?

When he was the d coordinator in San Fran they had great players all over the place as well. It's about the Jimmy's and the Joe's not the X's and the O's. Bears defense will be fine.

Yeah, Fangio to me is a modern day Buddy Ryan. He's a lifer defensive coach, grizzly and gruff, adored by his players, excellent at creating a masterpiece when given the right components, passed over many times and finally getting a shot at HC late in his career. I expect a similar result as Buddy's Eagles in Denver, decent teams, but ultimately showing that he is a much better DC than HC. Sort of a little Lovie Smith-ish as well.

 

[iueyedoc]

What Woody and Fox said makes sense. Kicker and DC will continue to be issues until proven otherwise.

Agreed kicker "will continue to be issues until proven otherwise," but I woulndn't say that phrase applies to DC. DC is an unknown, for all we know Fangio was leaving some untapped potential unrealized. Pagano may be better, he may be worse, I expect similar results, but until DC becomes an issue, it can't "continue to be" an issue. Now had they rehired Mel Tucker...

 

[Rory Sparrow]

Yeah, Fangio to me is a modern day Buddy Ryan. He's a lifer defensive coach, grizzly and gruff, adored by his players, excellent at creating a masterpiece when given the right components, passed over many times and finally getting a shot at HC late in his career. I expect a similar result as Buddy's Eagles in Denver, decent teams, but ultimately showing that he is a much better DC than HC. Sort of a little Lovie Smith-ish as well.

Its interesting to me that Ryan inherited an Eagles team that already had a QB who would win POY honors twice in the next 5 years in Randall Cunningham, and a DE who would win DPOY honors within two years in Reggie White. It would be like Nagy becoming the Bears HC and not only having Mack on the roster, but also Mahomes. Could you imagine if 5 years later you were still wondering when you'd ever win a playoff game? That kind of sums up Buddy Ryan's HC career.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

DC is an unknown, for all we know Fangio was leaving some untapped potential unrealized.

Really??? 1st in points allowed, 1st in turnovers? I think even Windy wouldn't make such a "thank God Jordan Howard is gone" type statement.

 

[iueyedoc]

Really??? 1st in points allowed, 1st in turnovers? I think even Windy wouldn't make such a "thank God Jordan Howard is gone" type statement.

I say that in that Pagano is known to be a bit more blitz aggressive than Fangio was. It will be interesting to see if that aspect will make the defense more feared or more victimized.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

I say that in that Pagano is known to be a bit more blitz aggressive than Fangio was. It will be interesting to see if that aspect will make the defense more feared or more victimized.

If by "more feared" you mean "better", and by "more victimized" mean "worse", then I'm guessing that logic dictates a team that was #1 in points and turnovers most likely would not be getting better...the odds would say the Bears most likely would be getting worse.

But as you pointed out...the unknown of having a new DC can't "continue to be an issue" until it becomes an issue.

 

[iueyedoc]

Woody and Fox failed to address the real elephant in the room, replacing Josh Bellamy.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

Woody and Fox failed to address the elephant in the room, replacing Josh Bellamy.

Honestly the most surprising thing is that ESPN hired Fox to be an analyst...he was abhorred by the local media, his press conferences were nothing but condescending cliche`s and coachbabble, and he literally cannot enunciate his words. Give me this guy instead:

 

[nvanprooyen]

I wonder if Dan Hampton made Fox cry.

 

[r1terrell23]

Damien Woody and John Fox both claim the bears had the worst offseason in the nfl. Woody because we lost Fangio therefore defense will take a step back and they set up our offense with so many turnovers.
Fox because we need a good kicker.

It seems a little absurd to me to consider the bears had the worst offseason. Defense will probably take a little step back, but our talent on defense is phenomenal and should be top 5 almost no matter who the coordinator is. And yeah we should have addressed kicker better, but really worst offseason because of that??

I’d say giants and Steelers both had rough ones. Raiders a losers regardless of what they do, they also have zero direction with their moves. Miami looks awful.

Any thoughts?

I have no thoughts as I stopped reading after John Fox.

 

[Bearly]

What Woody and Fox said makes sense. Kicker and DC will continue to be issues until proven otherwise. I wouldn't say the Bears had the "worst offseason" (Giants?), but Pace has left himself open to criticism with his maverick decision-making.

I thought his FA signings were fine, because for the first time he didn't have the ability to sink guaranteed money into black holes (McPhee, Royal, Sims, Parkey, etc). Every contract was reasonable and every player could conceivably fill a need. The lack of kicker is beyond ridiculous, though.

The draft was meh. Trading up to take a 'guy' while you have limited draft capital could obviously be questioned. I wasn't impressed with Pace's selections, but who knows.

Not sure who Pace could have gotten that wouldn't have been viewed as a step down from Fangio. Some on CCS were hyping up Rob Ryan, which would have been the equivalent to the Bulls hiring a proven loser like Tim Floyd. I view Fangio as a small victory for Pace.

This. Depending on how you feel about Montgomery, we did fine for what transpired but what transpired leading up into this offseason absolutely limited this offseason. The less than great kicker, cap and draft situation were created here. I think Pace navigated 2 of those well so far but it's open for debate and starting with a handicap doesn't figure in the overall result, especially when that handicap was created in house. This was a pay the piper year and I'm totally fine with this in the big picture but we couldn't do much in FA and a draft is just pick value until the guys actually perform.

Kicker issue is still that.
FA was meh with parallel moves other than Ha Ha but the kicker is part of this as well so more dislike than pos.
Draft is up in the air. I liked it but I was a Monty fan. If you're not or just looking at the #s, it could easily be viewed at as throwing away a 4th for a player that could have been had (or equivalent) at your original spot and that drafting a WR was a waste with our current depth and needs elsewhere.

A neutral tally would be that this offseason was meh at best by being on the wrong side of the value equation. I'm actually good with all that's happened as there appears to be a method to the madness but then again, I'm a Bears fan, I wanted Monty and was also willing to take the risk of moving on from Parkey even though it may not be the best move on paper. These moves plus taking a WR in 4 can be scrutinized. No early picks and your biggest offseason decisions debatable will give you low offseason scores.

 

[Bearly]

I have no thoughts as I stopped reading after John Fox.

Either does Fox..

 

[Bearly]

I say that in that Pagano is known to be a bit more blitz aggressive than Fangio was. It will be interesting to see if that aspect will make the defense more feared or more victimized.

Likely both. More fun as well.

 

[Bearly]

Damien Woody also defended Hue Jackson. On a serious note, how can those guys call that analysis? More like hot takes. You are supposed to get gigs like this because you offer some special insight.

 

[iueyedoc]

Honestly the most surprising thing is that ESPN hired Fox to be an analyst...he was abhorred by the local media, his press conferences were nothing but condescending cliche`s and coachbabble, and he literally cannot enunciate his words. Give me this guy instead:

You have to remember I was at IU during the Bobby Knoght years. Fox isn't even in his rear view mirror in that regard and ESPN hired him. Though surprisingly, Knight was an excellent analyst as his insight and knowledge when not influenced by his contempt for the press was amazing.