Category: Bears

Chicago Bears’ best sleeper pick: Austin Booker, EDGE, Kansas

Kansas rookie edge-rusher Austin Booker could be a surprise star for the Chicago Bears’ defense.

Bears fans who were over the moon with the picks of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze in the first round might have cooled a bit when their team selected an offensive tackle and a punter with their remaining two picks. What about the need at edge-rusher? Well, general manager Ryan Poles apparently had similar concerns, so the Bears traded back into the fifth round and took Kansas edge defense Austin Booker with the 144th overall pick.

Last season for the Jayhawks, Booker had nine sacks and 38 total pressures, and though he’s a smaller man for the position (6′ 4½’, 240), his speed off the edge speaks volumes, and it will be accentuated over time with a more complete palette of pass-rush moves.

Bears trading Justin Fields to Steelers for draft pick

The Steelers are acquiring Justin Fields from the Bears

Russell Wilson will have company at quarterback in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers and Bears worked out a trade on Saturday that will send Justin Fields to Pittsburgh for a 2025 sixth-round draft pick.

Talk about the market drying up for Chicago on the former first-round pick out of Ohio State.

Chicago will almost assuredly keep the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Speculation is Caleb Williams of USC will be the player chosen with the No. 1 overall pick.

The pick the Bears receive could improve to a fourth-rounder.

Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting Wilson will start at quarterback and Fields will be the backup.

Fields was the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft.

He was 10-28 as a starter in Chicago, throwing for 6,674 yards with 40 TD passes against 30 picks.

Field rushed for 2,240 yards and 14 touchdowns as a Bear.

Fields posted a classy message to Chicagoans.

Bears agree to terms with RB D’Andre Swift in a deal that could go either way

The Bears took a shot on running back D’Andre Swift, hoping that Swift can transcend any offensive line concerns.

The Chicago Bears have added to their running back rotation by agreeing to terms with former Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions back D’Andre Swift. The deal will go through on Wednesday at the beginning of the new league year, and it’s a three-year, $24 million deal.

Last season, Swift had a career year behind Philly’s offensive line, with 1,083 yards and five touchdowns on 239 carries. Swift forced 45 missed tackles, and had 12 runs of 15 yards or more. Swift also caught 43 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown.

Chicago’s offensive line isn’t on the Eagles’ level just yet, which ostensibly puts Swift in a position where he’ll have to create more yards on his own. 578 of Swift’s rushing yards came after contact last season, but he also had 25 negative runs to his 21 explosive plays. That’s not to say that Swift is entirely a product of his line, but the Bears will hope for as many of these kinds of plays as possible.

One voter’s 2023 AP First-Team All-Pro ballot

If you’ve ever wanted to see an official First-Team All-Pro ballot, we have you covered.

There are moments in your career where you think to yourself… “Yeah, this is a moment to remember.” Two years ago, when the Associated Press asked me to be one of the analysts responsible for voting for the First- and Second-Team All-Pro teams, as well as NFL Most Valuable Player and all other individual awards, that was certainly such a moment for me.

So, this is my second year of voting, and I wanted to share my first-team ballot with our readers. It’s an honor I take incredibly seriously, and this process involves a ton of advanced metrics, tape study, and reflections from a season of diving into both.

Some of these votes were easy; some were incredibly difficult. But it will give you a bit of insight into what happens with an All-Pro vote.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: End-of-season quarterback decisions lead to surprising picks

How many NFL teams will stick with their current quarterbacks? A high number could make for an interesting first round of the 2024 draft.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, every team turns its attention to the draft — even those teams that are part of the postseason. Area scouts will start to move to the home facility to interact with scouting directors and general managers, and with the scouting combine less than two months away, it’s time to start putting your big boards together.

This applies especially to those teams with crucial quarterback decisions to make. For the purposes of this mock draft, we’ll assume that the Chicago Bears are sticking with Justin Fields, the Arizona Cardinals are committed to Kyler Murray, the Tennessee Titans think they have a future franchise quarterback in Will Levis, and the New York Jets think that eventually, Aaron Rodgers will stop shooting his mouth off long enough to play quarterback in 2024.

Conversely, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons will avail themselves of the best draftable quarterbacks possible in the interest of turning things around.

So, four quarterbacks go in the first round here, with more teams looking to build around the guys they’ve already got. That makes for one notable omission (Oregon’s Bo Nix), and a whole bunch of talented prospects at other positions pushing themselves up the boards.

Montez Sweat becomes first player ever to lead two teams in sacks in same season

Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat becomes the first player in recorded pro football history to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

When the Washington Commanders traded edge-rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat to the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears respectively on October 31, it was a move toward an uncertain future for the Commanders. The 49ers were looking to upgrade their already fearsome pass rush, and the Bears were just trying to get someone on the field who could disrupt quarterbacks from the edge.

In Sweat’s case, it worked out pretty well. With his six sacks for the Bears over the last nine weeks, and his 6.5 sacks for the Commanders in the first eight weeks, Sweat is now the first player in the recorded history of professional football to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

We don’t have all sack numbers throughout pro football history — the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982, and thanks to the work of John Turney and other devoted historians, we now have sack totals going back to 1960. But it’s a pretty nice range of years, and it’s good enough to assume that Sweat has done something no other player ever has.

After the trade, Sweat signed a four-year extension with the Bears worth $98 million in new money, $41.96 million fully guaranteed and $72.86 million in total guarantees. Which might turn out to be quite the bargain at this rate. Per Pro Football Focus, who count half-sacks as full sacks, Sweat finished the 2023 season with career highs in sacks (16) and total pressures (63).

He also made history in quite a unique fashion.

Montez Sweat becomes first player ever to lead two teams in sacks in same season

Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat becomes the first player in recorded pro football history to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

When the Washington Commanders traded edge-rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat to the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears respectively on October 31, it was a move toward an uncertain future for the Commanders. The 49ers were looking to upgrade their already fearsome pass rush, and the Bears were just trying to get someone on the field who could disrupt quarterbacks from the edge.

In Sweat’s case, it worked out pretty well. With his six sacks for the Bears over the last nine weeks, and his 6.5 sacks for the Commanders in the first eight weeks, Sweat is now the first player in the recorded history of professional football to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

We don’t have all sack numbers throughout pro football history — the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982, and thanks to the work of John Turney and other devoted historians, we now have sack totals going back to 1960. But it’s a pretty nice range of years, and it’s good enough to assume that Sweat has done something no other player ever has.

After the trade, Sweat signed a four-year extension with the Bears worth $98 million in new money, $41.96 million fully guaranteed and $72.86 million in total guarantees. Which might turn out to be quite the bargain at this rate. Per Pro Football Focus, who count half-sacks as full sacks, Sweat finished the 2023 season with career highs in sacks (16) and total pressures (63).

He also made history in quite a unique fashion.

NFL officials need to start treating Justin Fields like a quarterback

Justin Fields has a problem in that the NFL isn’t treating him like a quarterback, and that lack of officiating protection is starting to multiply.

Mobile quarterbacks have always gotten short shrift from NFL officials when it comes to unmercenary roughness and roughing the passer penalties. When it’s assumed that you’re more of a runner than a thrower, referees will lay off the calls they give to more pocket-based quarterbacks. Cam Newton had to deal with that throughout his estimable career, and Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears has inherited Newton’s unfortunate legacy.

ESPN’s Teddy Bruschi brought this up with much frustration on Sunday morning, and you know it’s bad when a former linebacker is sticking up for a quarterback.

It happened again in Sunday’s game between the Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Fields was sliding to protect himself, but that didn’t stop safety Jonathan Owens from causing Fields’ head to hit the turf with this tackle.

You could argue that Fields slid late, but you tell me how many roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness penalties there have been this season against defenders who even come close to harming the quarterback.

Most likely, Owens will be fined by the league for what the officials missed, which is the nature of the beast these days. But in a larger sense, the NFL needs to start treating Justin Fields like a quarterback when he’s acting like one.

Jordan Love might lead the Packers to the promised land sooner than you think

Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been as good as any QB in the second half of the season. Here’s one play that proves it.

If the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday, quarterback Jordan Love will have done something that Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, his predecessors at his position, were unable to do — lead his team to the postseason in his first full year as a starter. The 1992 Packers just missed the boat at 9-7, and the 2008 Packers were 6-10. The 2023 Packers, who currently stand at 8-8, are on the precipice, and they’re on the precipice with a young group of receivers who are still figuring it out for the most part.

One thing we know — in the second half of the 2023 season, Love has been as good as any quarterback in the league. Since Week 9, Love has completed 210 of 313 passes (67.1%) for 2,350 yards (7.5 YPA), 19 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.5. Love has also completed 22 of 44 passes of 20 or more air yards for 665 yards, seven touchdowns, one interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.9. So, he’s not only one of the league’s best passers overall; he’s also one of the best aggressive passers, and that can take you a long way if you get into the tournament. 

Let’s get into one play in the Packers’ 33-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday night. Love completed 24 of 33 passes for 256 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.3, and he did that against a Vikings defense under Brian Flores who will throw the entire kitchen at you schematically — they just start with the sink, and move on from there. Love’s first touchdown pass, a 33-yarder to rookie receiver Jayden Reed, showed how well Love can deal in the face of just about anything right now.

With 5:15 left in the first quarter, the Packers went four verts on second-and-10 from the Minnesota 33-yard line. Minnesota showed a single-high safety look pre-snap,  but as the Vikings have played the NFL’s highest rates of Cover-0 (11.5%) and Cover-2 (27.5%), Love probably had a pretty good feeling that the middle of the field would be open eventually. It was, but as is often the case with Flores’ defenses, it was in ways you might not expect. The Vikings went with inverted Cover-2 to the boundary with cornerback Mekhi Blackmon dropping to two-deep, and linebacker Jordan Hicks as the middle hole defender.

Love also had to deal with pressure here, as defensive tackle Harrison Phillips pushed center Josh Myers into the pocket. Love made a little hop out of the pressure, righted his body, and made the throw with ideal accuracy and velocity.

“Yeah, they kind of disguised it, went to a cover-two-ish coverage and we had four verts on, and I knew I was going to have J-Reed right there,” Love said after the game. “Kind of didn’t see him at first where he was at, and then he came into my vision, so just let it out there, let him go get it. It was an awesome play.”

Postgame, head coach Matt LaFleur couldn’t wait to talk about his quarterback.

“I can’t say enough great things about him. Just his ability to hang in there versus some tough looks, drifting away from pressure, putting the ball in play, allowing his guys to go make plays. I think he is playing at an incredibly high level. I’m super happy for him because he’s put in a ton of work to get to this point, and I really think the sky’s the limit for him. I think he’s just showing a glimpse of what he can ultimately be, and he’s been more consistent as the season has progressed with a young group around him.”

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how much Love has progressed as a passer this season.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

What should the Chicago Bears do with Justin Fields?

The Chicago Bears have a tough decision to make with Justin Fields. What do the tape and metrics say about Fields’ ultimate potential?

The Chicago Bears have a serious decision to make this upcoming offseason.

Right now, the Bears have the first overall pick in the 2034 draft by dint of their trade with the Carolina Panthers before the 2023 draft, and the 10th overall pick because of their 7-9 record. No matter what happens in their regular-season finale against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the Bears will be set up to stack talent onto their roster as they rarely have before.

But what to do with quarterback Justin Fields? If the front office is unconvinced after three seasons that Fields is the guy to lead them to the proverbial next level, they could trade him (likely for less than a first-round pick), and avail themselves of the best possible quarterback in the upcoming draft. Or, they could hold onto Fields, assume they have the game’s most important position covered, and continue to build around him.

There are no easy answers. Right now, among quarterbacks with at least 100 passing attempts this season, Fields ranks 16th in touchdown rate at 4.5%, and his 2.5% interception rate ranks 19th. Fields ranks 30th in Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt at 5.28, 39th in Success Rate at 38.2%, and his EPA of -66.38 is eighth-worst in the NFL. Fields is a dynamic runner and playmaker, but there’s only so far you can get with that if you don’t have play-to-play consistency as a passer. Only Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa have thrown more third-down interceptions this season than Fields’ five, and Fields’ third-down EPA of -23.68 is sixth-worst in the league.

The positive side is what Fields has done in the second half of this season, as the Bears have risen from 27th to 16th in Passing DVOA. He hasn’t been as much of an explosive passer, but he has been more efficient, completing 60.2% of his passes for 6.4 yards per attempt, five touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 80.2.

There have been factors beyond Fields’ control. He was selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Ohio State, and Matt Nagy was his first head coach. If you want to know what Matt Nagy running your offense looks like, go watch the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs as long as you can stand it. His best receiver by far has been D.J. Moore, who the Bears also got in that trade with the Panthers. His offensive line is starting to improve, and you can start to see clear paths to significant improvement in 2024. If they keep him, and put someone like Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. on the field with Moore, that process could accelerate quickly.

But that’s all contingent on whether the Bears decide to keep Fields, or to move along.

Against the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday in a 37-17 win, Fields completed 20 of 32 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 99.5. And he made throws that were both impressive and maddening.

The maddening throws still tend to come from Fields’ relative inability to read through progressions quickly. On this incompletion with 8:23 left in the third quarter, Fields had receiver Tyler Scott wide open on a stack release crosser against Atlanta’s Cover-3. The Falcons sent a safety blitz with Jessie Bates III, and the Bears picked it up, so that was a clean pocket. And it was one of those “throw it… throw it… throw it…” moments we’ve seen far too often. Fields waited until Scott crossed the field, and he then overthrew Scott. That’s the kind of stuff that will drive you nuts. 

But the 32-yard pass to D.J. Moore with 2:15 left in the first quarter on third-and-7 was the kind of play that gives you hope. Moore got open to Fields’ backside on a switch release, cornerback A.J. Terrell followed Moore from the slot, and Fields made a perfect throw, allowing Moore to grab it over his head as if Fields had walked up and handed the ball to him. 

Fields’ seven-yard touchdown pass to Moore with 8:52 left in the first quarter was another example of Fields reading through and getting it right.

“Yeah, three by one, or one by three,” Fields said. “They were in what we call triangle coverage where basically the safety and the slot [are] outside leverage, and outside is basically one on one. Yeah, D.J. just really has to beat the safety on that. Just make sure the corner outside attaches to the under route and then, boom, D.J. ran a corner route or had good leverage on it. At that point [Moore] did a good job. [The offensive] line did a great job protecting on that one, and great catch, great route by D.J.”

If the Bears can build on those Fields attributes, and continue to add talent around him, who knows how far Fields can take it?

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys further discuss the decision the Bears have to make. You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…