The Bears 2024 offseason thread

[Lake Shore Drive]

Looks like the post-draft/UDFA phase is well under way:

2024 Bears undrafted free agent tracker

The 2024 NFL draft has concluded, but the Chicago Bears aren't finished building their 90-man roster. The Bears will be looking to bring in some undrafted free agents t

bearswire.usatoday.com

Poles usually finds a gem or two in these. Let's see if the new batch will produce any keepers.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Looks like the post-draft/UDFA phase is well under way:

2024 Bears undrafted free agent tracker

The 2024 NFL draft has concluded, but the Chicago Bears aren't finished building their 90-man roster. The Bears will be looking to bring in some undrafted free agents t

bearswire.usatoday.com

Poles usually finds a gem or two in these. Let's see if the new batch will produce any keepers.

Still a long way to go before determining if there's a keeper in this UDFA batch. My initial reaction was if there's anyone who on paper seems to be a decent candidate for making the cut, it's Illinois DT Keith Randolph. However, according to this analyst, there's another who could potentially be a steal for the Bears, Jamree Kromah out of Div III James Madison College. Check out this YT review:



Maybe he makes the cut, maybe he makes the practice squad. I guess anything's possible. I'll be keeping an eye on both of these players this summer.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

In reading an article in the Sun-Times, it was brought up that there will be high expectations for Rome Odunze, based on recent history where there has been very good to excellent numbers by WRs taken in the top 10 of the draft, such as the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase (81-1,455, 13 touchdowns), the Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle (104-1,015, 6) and the Eagles’ DeVonta Smith (54-916, 5) in 2021; the Falcons’ Drake London (72-866, 4) and the Jets’ Garrett Wilson (72-866, 4) in 2023.

One glaring difference tho on all these examples is Rome will be the only rookie of this bunch clearly established as the team's #3 receiver. None of those other teams had two 1,200+ yard receivers ranked ahead of their respective rookies. My early take is Odunze's production, barring injury that could thrust him into a #2 role, will likely resemble that of London's or Wilson's vs Chase's or Waddle's.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Still plenty of offseason left, including OTAs, camp, and preseason games. There will undoubtedly be some changes as the Bears cut or add to the roster in the coming weeks. But at least we have a pretty good idea how it's shaping up. At this point, does anyone care to throw out an early guess as to the Bears record this year? I'm sure later down the road we'll have a more formal record predictions thread started, but right now I'm feeling 9-8, maybe 10-7 if things generally go well.

 

[NCChiFan]

I would love to believe Caleb leads a stronger offense all else being equal, so more wins. Time will tell.

 

[richig07]

Still plenty of offseason left, including OTAs, camp, and preseason games. There will undoubtedly be some changes as the Bears cut or add to the roster in the coming weeks. But at least we have a pretty good idea how it's shaping up. At this point, does anyone care to throw out an early guess as to the Bears record this year? I'm sure later down the road we'll have a more formal record predictions thread started, but right now I'm feeling 9-8, maybe 10-7 if things generally go well.

10-7 and a WC berth sounds right. Especially considering the games we handed away last season - a 3 game improvement is quite reasonable. If things really fall in place, I think they might surprise people and be a year ahead of schedule. Obviously, I have to put the "health asterisk" next to any prediction. Anyone is capable of getting ravaged with injuries and suffering through an awful season.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Been curious since we signed Allen and drafted Odunze how our trio ranks amongst the league's other top threesomes:

Top 10 wide receiver trios heading into 2024 NFL season

WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his best WR trios in the NFL heading into 2024.

www.windycitygridiron.com

Since this is from a local source, Windy City Gridiron, we have to acknowledge there could be some bias at play here. I believe the Niners, Eagles, and definitely the Dolphins should all be ranked higher than they are in this article. Nice to see the Bears right up there. I said from the moment Poles selected Odunze that we had the top trio in the Norris and one of the better threeseomes in the league. Not sure at this point with Odunze still unproven that I'd have them ranked 2nd - that's where the local bias comes in. But I'm confident by season's end our boyz will be in the conversation for ranking amongst the best.

 

[richig07]

Been curious since we signed Allen and drafted Odunze how our trio ranks amongst the league's other top threesomes:

Top 10 wide receiver trios heading into 2024 NFL season

WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his best WR trios in the NFL heading into 2024.

www.windycitygridiron.com

Since this is from a local source, Windy City Gridiron, we have to acknowledge there could be some bias at play here. I believe the Niners, Eagles, and definitely the Dolphins should all be ranked higher than they are in this article. Nice to see the Bears right up there. I said from the moment Poles selected Odunze that we had the top trio in the Norris and one of the better threeseomes in the league. Not sure at this point with Odunze still unproven that I'd have them ranked 2nd - that's where the local bias comes in. But I'm confident by season's end our boyz will be in the conversation for ranking amongst the best.

Does anyone have a trio like ours AND a solid pass catching TE like Kmet? I feel like Kmet gets lost in the midst of all of this talk about our stable of pass catchers.

 

[Jiddy]

The hype machine is on overdrive again.

Every time the Bears show some semblance of competitiveness we set ourselves up for massive letdown.

Maybe this time will be different...but damn if I'm not bracing for impact. Way too many people are riding this train that it feels too good to be true.

Hopefully we don't open the season with Green Bay again...Losing to that team really sucks the winds out of our sails. Prefer we get a few games under the belt before we face them.

 

[wood20ks]

Hopefully we don't open the season with Green Bay again...

I was kinda thinking this.......

I Think there would be a lot of pressure on Caleb to start the season vs GB......

Hopefully he gets a couple games under his belt before we see them.

 

[richig07]

The hype machine is on overdrive again.

Every time the Bears show some semblance of competitiveness we set ourselves up for massive letdown.

Maybe this time will be different...but damn if I'm not bracing for impact. Way too many people are riding this train that it feels too good to be true.

Hopefully we don't open the season with Green Bay again...Losing to that team really sucks the winds out of our sails. Prefer we get a few games under the belt before we face them.

A-fucking-men on the Green Bay portion of this.

You just know DAMN well how much the NFL adores opening with that game in week 1.

When we lose to them, no matter how much of an overreaction it is? It's like 9/11 happened all over again, if you were to listen to Bears fans. Also, the early season losses as well. It has really created a sense of panic early on.

The headline makes itself for the NFL with the new generation of Bears/Packers QB's. "CW vs Love. How will this be different? Will GB continue to turn out sensational QB's? Is Love going to make the jump and be next in line? Is it finally the Bears turn? Is this the beginning of a 10-15 year QB rivalry and a golden age of Bears/Packers games? A rivalry renewed?"

The hype trailers and narratives create themselves. It seems so obvious.

Damnit...

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

The hype machine is on overdrive again.

Every time the Bears show some semblance of competitiveness we set ourselves up for massive letdown.

Maybe this time will be different...but damn if I'm not bracing for impact. Way too many people are riding this train that it feels too good to be true.

Hopefully we don't open the season with Green Bay again...Losing to that team really sucks the winds out of our sails. Prefer we get a few games under the belt before we face them.

If we aren’t over 500 this year, then it’ll be a disaster. That might even be cause to fire coaches. Not what we want for our new qb.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Hey, @wood20ks I know you spend more time here now but I sent you a PM over on HN since I could not find one between you and I here....

And I cannot create new ones here.....

 

[richig07]

If we aren’t over 500 this year, then it’ll be a disaster. That might even be cause to fire coaches. Not what we want for our new qb.

Flus is almost certainly gone if we finish with a losing record, IMO.

I'm starting to come around on him. I hope everything goes well and he sticks.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

Flus is almost certainly gone if we finish with a losing record, IMO.

I'm starting to come around on him. I hope everything goes well and he sticks.

I don’t mind flus, but if the offense dominates this year, we probably have a new offensive coordinator next year. That’s a problem that I hope we have a good solution for.

 

[NCChiFan]

I believe this team is good enough to be a bit better than last year's win loss record. Having said that, I do temper that guess with the full knowledge the Bears will be fielding a rookie at QB. He will have his "moments" as he gets acclimated to the NFL. Fact is, this off season was all about the Offense, when the Bears had a few obvious holes on the D line. Can't do it all in a few years, but I love the direction the Bears are heading in.

 

[richig07]

I don’t mind flus, but if the offense dominates this year, we probably have a new offensive coordinator next year. That’s a problem that I hope we have a good solution for.

If the offense is top ten, we probably don't. Waldron already has a very good reputation.

IMO, we will promote from within. We're not going to have CW come in, learn a system, play well, grow, and then pull the rug from under him. I don't know who the next guy up would be, but let's hope Bears brass has thought about this as well.

 

[averagejoe]

Heard Eberflus' presser today. When asked about Caleb, seemed like deja vu when Eberflus said, "We're looking for progress."

 

[justanidiot]

Heard Eberflus' presser today. When asked about Caleb, seemed like deja vu when Eberflus said, "We're looking for progress."

Well, the progress we saw was at least we have a quarterback that had a tough time throwing the ball doing 7 om 7 drills, but at least he threw the ball.
Fields was getting his ass kissed when he took off scrambling during these same drills.
This is the time to make and learn from mistakes, not during the regular season.

 

[averagejoe]

Just a little worried that Eberflus is applying the same clichè about progress when it became evident with Justin there was no progress.