[REDACTED] is a fella I’ve known for a long time and he’s made some appearances on this here site previously. He’s a neighborhood friend, who just happens to be a high-profile member of a professional football organization. His brother is somebody who can drink as much Guinness as I can. (And that ain’t easy to do.) It’s been a crazy summer but I finally got him to respond to an email.
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DBB: I think the Bears have one of the best defenses in the league. So here’s my hypothetical question. Aside from injuries, if they’re not a great defense, why?
[REDACTED]: I got nothing, Jeff. They’re not great opposite Fuller or Jackson on the back end but with that front they don’t have to be. Nobody can afford eleven All-Pros on either side of the ball but that defense is pretty close. Without Goldman, they need Hicks to stay healthy or the middle of their defensive line could become an issue against the run.
DBB: Do you think Ryan Pace will start Mitch Trubisky to protect his own ego?
[REDACTED]: Once they declined the fifth year, they made their feelings pretty well-known around the league. But we do feel ownership over the guys we draft, especially the guys we draft early. He and Matt will be looking for signs from Trubisky whereas they won’t be with Foles. They know what they’re getting there. But our folks just think Trubisky doesn’t process the game fast enough and that deficiency doesn’t reveal itself until Sundays.
I drafted a back once. Fought like hell in the organization for him. We took him relatively early and in camp we thought we found the next Barry Sanders. His first action was later on in our second preseason game and he was lost. Third preseason game was worse. Kid never got off the practice squad. I still defend the pick. I mean, I was clearly wrong about him but I defend picking him.
DBB: How has this summer been different for NFL organizations?
[REDACTED]: Listen, it’s been bizarre. But I have actually loved it and most of my friends are telling me the same thing. No travel. All football. All of the focus is on getting the guys here ready to play. We’d normally have scouts watching every second of every preseason game, trying to find guys to fill out the bottom of our roster. Not this year. It’s only about the guys in this building. And I know many people think the first few weeks of the season will be very sloppy but man, from what I’m seeing on our practice field, I’m not sure that will be the case.
