top dawg

I know, right. There's a bit of revisionist history going on in this thread. I remember when the OP was leaning towards Stroud. He came around though. He never jumped all-in on the Young hate-train though. I will give him that.

Hey, I'd love Diggs. I don't care about his attitude (most receivers worth a damn are divas), and I think that his 6th highest salary (~3½ mil more than DJ Moore) is in line with other true ones in the league. But, I do think that we could use our cap a little more efficiently---at the very least for more suspect position groups. Moreover, even if we don't spend another dime of our cap, there is great value in rolling over cap into next season, particularly since we don't have a first round pick.

I predict our passing offense will be closer to top 5 than bottom 5. TMJ is a potential beast! Mingo is a potential beast! Chark is a potential beast! Thielen "is not as good as [he] once was, but [he's] as good once as [he] ever was." (Shout-out to Toby Keith). Hurst has shown to be solid, and Tremble's potential is largely untapped. Bryce is exactly the guy to unlock the beastly potential in every one of them. Yeah, I may have the process blue-colored glasses on, but I believe what I believe and I know what I know... One thing that people should remember this season and beyond: there is no Rhule requiring any receiver to suck!

AI will be making all the calls in a few years...

We all knew this was coming from everything we've been hearing about Young for months, and particularly the last month. Now, when the QB2 is announced later this year, it will be way more surprising to some than this.

Rhule was so awful. Honestly, we probably should've taken Teddy's criticism of Rhule's lack of coaching without the grain of salt. There was another player that publicly gave us an idea that they weren't being properly coached? I just can't remember who it was. Now Tremble. In some respects, we probably need to legitimately give these younger guys a mulligan. We're just thinking that they're no good, but how can we genuinely draw such conclusions in light of Rhule's profound incompetence? We must take our own feelings about them with a grain of salt; Such is the ineptitude of Rhule's coaching at the professional level. It is not so far out to think that we must give everyone a clean slate.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but...knowing the history of this team, I am not ready to make any definitive declarations this early. Now, I don't believe the Bears will be getting a high pick (which is definitely a plus---a moral victory, even if it may appear somewhat petty from one perspective, but at the end of the day it all speaks to a competitive advantage...or disadvantage). Now, as for the "right staff," I very much think that still remains to be seen. I think it's easy to fall in love with Frank Reich because he generally says all the right things. It's amazing, right? My problem is that the reality is that he made some very questionable in-game decisions particularly in the postseason. I guess for me, I'm skeptical, but hopeful. I'll keep an open mind until I see a pattern of screwups. I'm thinking that Young will be able to cover over a lot of deficiencies if it comes to that (he'll, he literally already caught an OTA script error). And speaking in reference to Young, I do believe that the staff is absolutely the "right staff" in terms of his development. There seems to be some great support for QBs (Reich being one of them), and I am eager to see the results.

As for our receiving corps, I think that was more of a bigger question mark. We were taking a real chance (mainly on TMJ). We didn't know if we'd be able to secure Thielen or Chark. It seemed like Chark waited forever to make up his mind. It took Thielen a couple of minutes also. But it's obvious that Mingo must have been on their minds as well. It just turns out that we were able to provide Young with some pretty apt pass catchers, including Hurst who was somewhat of a surprise, but perhaps not as big of a surprise as Boobie (who was arguably the best free agent RB this off-season).

That's about it. I don't know if we won or lost the trade, but at this point I can say that Young is a different cat, and super compelling as a QB prospect. I suspect that he could be generational in every aspect of the word. I mean, dude caught an incorrect play on the play script as a rookie QB during his first few practices. What other young guy would've done that? The list is super short, I assure you. Thanks for bringing the cap space up. It's one of the first things that I thought about. I'm close to 100 percent sure that it was taken into account before we made the trade. I didn't get but so far in the thread, but another part of the calculus I'm sure was the presence of Matt Corral. Between him, the relatively massive cap space (relatively now), and the penchant for Fitterer to be able to manipulate and master the curves and twists of the draft---or at least the belief that he can---were all taken into account when deciding to trade. I believe that all these things, as well as Bryce Young himself made the reward well worth the risk. We will win, or even if we lose, the risk factors will be mitigated. But, I love the position that we're in. On an off note, I probably wouldn't feel as secure or as good had we drafted anyone else but Young. I always said that if we traded up to one it would be for him, and I said it for a reason.

I mean, are they really? Don't confuse use with being more versatile. They've had more opportunities out of necessity. But when you look at the entire context, as well as compare the average production, Hubbard is really right in there with them. It's not like any of the guys you mentioned have displayed appreciably more versatility than Hubbard is what I'm saying. Plus, our O-line was pretty horrible in 2021 in reference to the run game.

And the lack of appreciation for him continues...

It speaks to the absurdity of some, especially when they just gloss over information that directly proves their entire thesis is incorrect. They're attempting to write short stories, but their tall tales just make them look smaller than the kid they lambaste.

Dumb me. LOL

Wow. That kinda sucks, but I guess we'll get used to it. I guess kickers will have to learn to kick the ball out of bounds to make teams go more than 75 yards. Hell, I don't know.

Right now, Corral isn't going anywhere, nor should he. If it's up to him, he's going to stay here.

I think it would be highly foolish not give Corral significant reps in camp if he shows that he's ready for them. That would be a very "Rhule thing to do." People can say what they want, but Dalton is limited. That's exactly why he's a journeyman now. Sorry to spell it out, but sometimes that's the only way that some people seem to understand. The other thing that plays into this is Young. How can people on one hand say that Young's historically small frame is a real concern---the risk of injury is this gigantic concern---and then say things to the effect that they hope that they never see Corral? Yes, I'm saying it: you better be hoping that Corral ends up our QB2, and soon, because Dalton definitely ain't taking us anywhere we want to go in the event that Young goes down for any considerable amount of time.

I disagree. Saying he has a "low chance of success fine and realistic" is simply just talking, if not needlessly pontificating. First, you must define what "success" is within context. Within that same vein you must set realistic expectations. With this highly experienced coaching staff, the talent that Corral displayed during his collegiate career, and the determination that Corral has displayed to get where he is today notwithstanding many unfortunate (if not unfair) obstacles during his journey playing football, I feel that there are many reasons to believe that he can and will be successful. I understand that Corral has some things working against him, but he has some great things working for him as well. Will he be our QB1? Probably not. Will he be an NFL QB for the next decade or more? I wouldn't bet against him. Obviously the passion and desire is still there, or he wouldn't have tweeted what he tweeted (and deleted). Look, I know you were being positive while others seem to just want to troll, but I think that people are still suffering effects from the Rhule era. That was a clown show and Corral was akin to a marionette in the performance. He is free of those strings now, so whatever happened during that time no longer exists for me in reference to Corral. It's a totally new day, with open expectations.

The only thing that's going to stop this WR corps from being highly productive are multiple injuries.

No. He's been on several teams. He was originally drafted by the Colts during the Covid draft.

Some of you will simply continue to discount Corral as a legit talent. It makes some sense, I guess, but it makes more sense to say, "Here is a very talented kid who got a raw deal his rookie year, so let's see what he's got with sound coaching and development, because the sky just may be the limit."

I mean, if that's all you can talk about, have at it, but the term "ad nauseam" came into existence for a reason. Everyone knows he's short and small of stature for a QB. Questioning if he can stay healthy is normal, I guess, and certainly expected. But to keep questioning Young's health repeatedly like a broken record, especially before you've even received concrete, direct evidence that should give you reasons to keep questioning his health, is kind of irrational. Like I said before, in so many words, he has always been one of the smallest trees in the forest, but that hasn't precluded him from bearing great fruit. His size has not prevented him from succeeding at any level of football, and if I had to bet, I'd bet that that's not going to magically change just because of his natural progression to the NFL. I mean, he's been the smallest all along (relatively), but he's also gotten bigger, stronger and smarter all along---enough so that he's not some player with a significant injury history which should give fans some comfort, though admittedly the only real comfort for most people will come with Bryce proving himself (all over again in a sense) at this level. There are so many things to discuss with a QB. At some point it would seem that one would actually want to discuss Bryce's body of work as opposed to just his body.

OK, unlike Rayzor, I am a bit more understanding (though I'm not a mod) FWIW. This is still a time of transition. Some Huddlers and skeptical fans everywhere, like maybe you and @Hoenheim, will just have to see Young do his thing at a professional level on a consistent basis. I get it. I get it. Yesterday was obviously a "jarring" time for some because apparently it's the first time they've actually paid attention to Young and/or have actually seen him in person. Again, I get it. There's going to be a certain amount of surprise considering what we've all become accustomed to for however many years that we've watched the game. As such, there should be a certain amount of latitude for the reactionists who exclaim, "Oh, my god, he's tiny." What some of the reactionists must understand is that some of us have been watching Bryce be the smallest guy among giants for years, so his mere existence on the football field is not "jarring," much less surprising. Moreover, I disagree about football. There's always been a discussion about Bryce's pure football abilities---quarterbacking abilities---to be had, as there is now, but some people just refuse to do it. To Rayzor's credit, he hasn't banned anyone or gotten saucy or over-the-top (like he did with me when I was going back and forth with Scot). It's probably less about low-key "spamming" than it is actual surprise. Don't get me wrong, I know that message boards are rife with trolls and assholes, but apparently this Bryce thing is a thing that's not going to go away quickly, or anytime soon. https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/05/12/panthers-bryce-young-first-practice-fans-stunned-about-his-size But, again, it shouldn't be that hard to talk about Young and football, because the guy has been good at it at all levels.

I don't know when mini camp starts today, but I do know that Bryce will feel right at home...at mini camp. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

It's time to focus on Bryce's football ability. If you do that, you'll be right in line with most people here.