- A lot of emails flooding the DBB inbox involve an OUTRAGED question: “How is this team better than they were a year ago?” The question completely misses the point. Why I refer to this season as a “scrap metal” season is because that’s what it is. The Bears were driving a beater. It could get them from Point A to Point B (hover around .500/sneak into the playoffs), but it was also capable of breaking down at any moment and it did in 2021. Poles could have could have kept Mack and signed big names to big contracts, but he knows none of those moves would make them contenders in 2022. And that should be only goal. Pole is starting from scratch.
- I do all of my draft research in the few days before the draft, but I found myself reading Daniel Jeremiah’s top 50 rankings the other day and one name seemed interesting to me: Bernhard Raimann. “Raimann has a fascinating story. He was a foreign exchange student from Austria, and he developed himself into a tight end prospect. In his third season at Central Michigan, he made the transition to left tackle. He is a fun player to study. In the passing game, he has enough foot quickness to handle speed rushers, and his combination of core and hand strength jumps off the screen. When he lands his punch, the play is over. He will occasionally get too wide with his base, which left him susceptible to counter moves. He is a mauler in the run game. He has knock-back power and looks to finish consistently. Overall, Raimann has picked up the position incredibly fast and should be a reliable starter early in his career.”
- Whenever someone asks me about Eric Fisher, I wonder this: Poles had him in KC, Flus had him in Indy. Isn’t it telling that they’re not rushing to sign him?
- ACTUAL BEAR NEWS: A Massachusetts native was killed by a grizzly bear in Montana but apparntly “he knew the risks of the wild.” I have a rule I follow. Don’t die doing something where people can react with, “Well, you know, he probably shouldn’t have…”. I don’t jump off high things. I don’t fuck with “the wild”. I don’t ski. I don’t fly in tiny planes piloted by rich guys or celebrities.
- Yes, Cliff Stein is back running contracts and cap for the Bears. But he is also the in-house frontrunner to replace Ted Phillips in 2023. There are many strong outside candidates – including Trace Armstrong – but Stein has a lot of support in the McCaskey family.
- My friends at The Irish Bears Show celebrated their first anniversary yesterday so go over to their YouTube channel, subscribe and watch my Thursday appearance!
- I’ve had my issues with Dan Pompei over the years but his piece on Steve McMichael for The Athletic is a thing of beauty. Must read stuff.
- Larry Ogunjobi’s foot issues are considered pretty serious around the league, with even the Bengals essentially ruling out his return.
- You can’t read Adam Hoge anymore without a subscription. Honestly, I’m tired of subscribing to shit. I pay for The Athletic because Jahns is my friend and I consider that supporting HIM. But I’m not paying for another outlet that’s just going to report the same shit I can read in 50 different places.
- And finally, a WR draft Twitter thread from Data:
There’s been a lot of talk about Bears taking a WR at 39, and people are wondering who might be available for them. History can be a helpful guide there, so here’s a list of how many WRs have gone in round 1 and top 40 for each of the last 10 drafts pic.twitter.com/SDXZXmUs0V
— Johnathan Wood (@Johnathan_Wood1) March 31, 2022
