Since the start of the offseason....

[Lake Shore Drive]

I'm at the risk here of sounding of overly dramatic, but I think this has turned out to be one of the most radical makeovers from year to year ever for our beloved Bears. From the coaching changes to the free agent signings to the retention or release of key players from the previous year, and of course to the most recent draft.

Yeah we have a lot of returning faces in numerous key positions, yet this has the feel of an almost brand new team. I love the new found energy, which to me starts with the hiring of Coach Nagy and the staff brought in or retained, ie Fangio and Ragone. I love that we get to see Trubisky from day one as the starting QB. I love that we may have more weapons on offense than just about any time I can remember being a Bears fan, and let me tell you that goes back a looooooooooong ways.

I'm not expecting miracles, hell I'm not even expecting to see us in the postseason this year. There will be growing pains, especially early on. But I do expect to see a team that is going to be fun to watch and will not have an ounce of quit in them.

 

[richig07]

It's crazy. Honestly, it's really just down to Trubs/Nagy making it work now. The rest of the roster has most of what you need in place.

Our D - Front to back. Just looks primed to make the jump from top 10 to top 5, IMO. We have a lot of talent up front on offense (if we stay healthy, obviously). Two talented backs. A bundle of talent at TE and WR corp that may not be "good" yet. However, I think it's more than serviceable.

I'm getting excited, but I want to be cautious. I think we could stun some people this year. However, I need to see how it all looks on the field for that first quarter of the season before I go all crazy. lol

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

It's crazy. Honestly, it's really just down to Trubs/Nagy making it work now. The rest of the roster has most of what you need in place.

Our D - Front to back. Just looks primed to make the jump from top 10 to top 5, IMO. We have a lot of talent up front on offense (if we stay healthy, obviously). Two talented backs. A bundle of talent at TE and WR corp that may not be "good" yet. However, I think it's more than serviceable.

I'm getting excited, but I want to be cautious. I think we could stun some people this year. However, I need to see how it all looks on the field for that first quarter of the season before I go all crazy. lol

I placed a distinct emphasis on the if part. One of the local rags last year brought up the sad fact that since 2013, no team has suffered as many game-missing injuries as have the Bears. I've always hated using injuries as an excuse, considering all teams experience these. But it just seems to have been overkill for our boys the past 4-5 years. I'd like to see a season where we're not at the top or near the top of the list when it comes to injuries.

 

[richig07]

I placed a distinct emphasis on the if part. One of the local rags last year brought up the sad fact that since 2013, no team has suffered as many game-missing injuries as have the Bears. I've always hated using injuries as an excuse, considering all teams experience these. But it just seems to have been overkill for our boys the past 4-5 years. I'd like to see a season where we're not at the top or near the top of the list when it comes to injuries.

Yeah, even before Wentz went down. I heard a bunch of Eagles fans talking about how they've been "ravaged by injuries" because they lost Kelce and one of their best DB's. I immediately called them on how silly I thought that was. Then, when I thought about it. I guess losing your best LT and DB is pretty bad, relatively speaking. Not outside of what the average team faces, but on the rough side of it. We've just had it so bad... I'm so used to having entire positional groups without any opening day starts. 2016 was a massacre. We played multiple games where Whitehair was our only Week 1 starter healthy on offense. While the D was simultaneously missing 8-9 of their starters.

2017 was better... but barely. Pace is making health a priority this year - as he should. I think it was also a good idea to turn over the conditioning and training staff. Can't hurt.