Bears Keenan Allen trade & tons more with Josh Lucas

The Bears have added a legit WR again during an offseason, trading for Keenan Allen of the Chargers for a fourth. Hoge & Jahns give their takes before bringing in Josh Lucas to help us figure out what exactly Allen brings to Chicago, how this affects their draft plans, the other free agency additions and, oh yeah, Justin Fields.

#chicagobears #chicago #dabears

What’s up welcome in hog and John’s with you almost exactly 12 hours after the Bears traded for Keenan Allen Big Move johy how about that how about that um it’s like the the type move that’s straight out of your text messages a little bit you know not that

You know I’m talking about like the your readers and fans and your family and friends that are in your text M messages oh hey how about they do this you know like where they send out all these fantasy football like trades and uh here it comes the

Fruition yeah I mean I think the Bears did a good job of keeping this kind of Under Wraps we I we did talk about it earlier in the week just this idea of you know which of the uh I guess we could call them the big four

Chargers uh that had cap problems would come loose and you know Mike Williams got released so it’s was like okay well now they’re going to hang on to Keenan Allen and that just I think that’s kind of why it went on the back burner a little bit but um

Reportedly I know you guys had this in your athletic story that they they asked uh Joey Bosa khil Mack and Keenan Allen to take pay cuts yesterday Bosa and Mack restructured their contracts to accommodate and Keenan Allen said no and that opened the door for this big trade

To add another legitimate wide receiver so um we’re going to give you our initial reactions to this here on the first segment of the podcast and then we were already planning on having Josh Lucas on the show so Josh Lucas will jump on too to give his thoughts on Kean

Allen what’s been going on with Caleb Williams Justin Fields um hard to find somebody who would have a better idea of you know how where Justin Fields might be at in all this uh than one of the guys that drafted him so we’ll hear from Josh luk is here shortly make sure

You’re following us on Twitter Adam hog Adam Johns and uh and of course Hogan Johns on Twitter as well Hogan johns.com is where you go to get the merch John’s rocking the Navy walking bear Polo today if you’re watching on YouTube it’s kind of hiding behind the uh Hogan John’s

Logo here a little bit there you go yeah it is it kind of lines up perfectly um I wish I was playing golf in that Polo this morning it’s a little cold I do have golf on my TV Caleb Williams was at a golf tournament yesterday some people

Didn’t like that that was funny um the PJ put out of a nice video last night of him taking in the 17th hole I’m all for that by the way yeah what just being at the 17th hole at DPC yeah well I thought I thought you

Talking about us yes I I am also for being at the 17th hole generally like the idea when other Elite athletes take in other Elite athlete performances yeah and the attention he’s getting before even getting into the NFL tells you a little bit about the super stardom um

And of course of course it needs to be backed up on the football field so we’re a long way from getting there but it is it is pretty fascinating at this point um I’m just noticing that I’m wearing black you’re wearing Navy my wife that’s

One of her pet peeves so she’s not gonna like watching this with the the the black and navy we should have worn green we should have especially you um because I feel like St Patrick’s Day is more like your Christmas holiday I just wanted to model the golf polo

Though yeah I know that’s a good job by you I’m just modeling Under Armour apparently so I’m not helping us at all uh let’s jump into the Keenan Allen deal just your initial reaction how he fits in age contract all of the above uh my initial reaction is that the Bears

Are significantly and immediately improving their situation for a rookie quarterback like I get it Justin Fields is under contract he’s still their starter for the time being but the situation for any quarterback has significantly improved really throughout free agency I look DeAndre Swift he upgrades the running

Back room you have a true center now in Coleman Shelton Not A guy like Ryan Bates who could play center but has that versatility to play guard to you have a center who has played that position for Two Plus Seasons now including for a playoff team in the Los Angeles R Rams

That’s a plus to me and now you add Keenan Allen who has widely been considered one of the best slot receivers in the NFL he doesn’t have to be a true number one you have that in DJ Moore so the pressure isn’t on to produce in the ways he has produced in

The past but he’s a true slot receiver a veteran with a lot of experience Pro bll clout in that locker room it immensely improves the situation for the Bears quarterback I mean yes 100% And even if you lower expectations a little bit like look he’s going to cost a lot against

The cap it’s $23 million including the $5 million roster bonus he he’s due on Sunday um but you know and and we’ll see I guess there’s a chance they could restructure this if they wanted to had a year to it maybe yeah maybe we we’ll

Just have to wait and see on that but regardless you know even if we take into account the last two years since hitting 30 Keenan Allen missed seven games in 2022 and he missed four games last year well he still had 108 catches last year for 1200 yard like let’s say he

Misses three to four games again and even that number comes down to 80 catches I mean that’s more than double what you got out of Darnell Mooney last year I’m just thinking about what this means in terms of quarterback development it’s on and off the field right it’s the the invaluable experience

Of having a six-time pro bowl receiver with you every single day at practice even if he’s not practicing the tips he could give you Keenan Allen has played with Justin Herbert but also Philip Rivers what a great resource to have plus you have DJ Moore Plus’s you have K

Met this is a good move for the Bears yeah I mean it’s hard to especially when you have the space um unless you’re obsessed with losing a fourth round pick which they do trade here uh their fourth round pick they also have the Eagles fourth round pick a little

Bit later in the fourth fourth round but come on a fourth round pick for Keenan Allen and I mean this guy regularly look last uh what is this seven years 102 catches 97 catches 104 100 106 66 two years ago when he only played 10 games and then 108 last year in 13

Games I I just think you need to keep this always in the context of what this means for potential quarterback development it is this situation that the Bears are creating with this Superstar power this name power that Keenan alen provides it’s just it’s just vastly different than

What the Bears provided Mitch Tris in his rookie year it’s also different than what the Bears had for Justin fields in his rookie year and year two especially year two yes especially year two just in terms of what Caleb Williams could be walking into DJ Moore Keenan Allen Cole KT Gerald

Everett plus maybe some draft picks too like it it’s just a vastly better situation for a rookie quarterback to walk into and we all expect that to be the case I know Justin still in their contract he’s still here there’s no trade market I get all that but if

You’re improving his situation you’re improving his potential replacement situation as well yeah um I I mean I don’t really see any downside to this because anytime you make a move ass signing you have to think worst case scenario right so like worst case scenario is you get him

For one year and he’s hurt a bunch and he doesn’t go as you thought it might right okay you had plenty of cap space you gave a fourth round pick and he’s still in that building to help mentor and bring along a rookie quarter he will provide Caleb Williams with so much more

Than a rookie fourth round pick which may not even be a receiver which could be a linebacker right you get what I’m saying like just keep it in the context of the quarterback position building around the quarterback helping a rookie come along in the NFL this is a big move for the

Bears especially in that context and even if it is a a rookie receiver that use with that pick like that guy’s not going to be able to give you a Keenan Allen that could be Tyler Scott that could be veis Jones Jr right 100% um and even if

It’s more like Darnell Mooney who was great as a rookie I mean that’s still not a polished player who I mean really is one of the best route runners in the entire league in Kon Allen and just having um remember last year when the Bears traded for DJ Moore and there was

Like that Viral stat that he would already be the Bears all-time leading receiver in yards mhm well Keenan Allen would already be their all-time leading receiver in receptions yards and touchdowns so well ain’t that something they they they’ve never had two productive players like this the only

Thing I can think of that would rival it is when they had Brandon Marshall with a young Alshon Jeffrey yeah I’m going back to that season right now um so that season you had let’s see here so it’s 2014 When was The Big Year 2015 is when they exploded

Is that right no 201 I think it was the 2013 season 2013 but alsam was just in his second year that year yeah 2013 would be the year when you had here are the numbers he so mat Forte yeah Brandon Marshall 100 catches 1,295 yards 12 TDS alshan Jeffrey 89 catches for

1,421 yards and 7 TDS and you still Matt Forte 74 catches 5 195 yards that would be Jay Cutler where did he rank that year let’s see in terms of yards one of his best seasons one of the one of his better Seasons um actually hold on a

Second no that was that the Josh mcau year the Josh M year that was that was when Josh mcau got a bunch of games but then that’s when guys like Mark Carmen became a County yeah might not have been wrong but well look they have something that Rivals that and at least

Careerwise because these you know Kean all certainly way older than um Brandon Marshall and alsan Jeffrey were at that point in their careers but you’re talking about two 10,000 yard receivers and hun catch type guys this is big no matter who’s playing quarterback it’s a it’s a big addition

You just hope he stays healthy and you know it’s going to be exciting it’s going to be exciting all right well we’re going to reset here we’ll bring in Josh Lucas we love having him on the show it’s been uh a few weeks so we’re g

Got a lot to talk to him about and we’ll do that right now all right good to have Josh Lucas back on with us as we inch closer and closer to the NFL draft and lean on his expertise and years of going through this process uh and continuing

To to do so this year um with us and Josh thanks for jumping back on with us we had some big news last night the Bears making a big trade for Keenan Allen just uh what was your initial reaction to adding um a you know I

Mean one of the best wide receivers in the league quite frankly obviously he’s older now but this is still a 100 yard or 100 catch player thousand yard receiving uh every single year it seems like uh that they’ve just added to the wide receiver room yeah I think first reaction I I’ve

Always have not been a big fan of of adding any skill position over 30 years old into your roster um especially one you’re going to have to pay uh has not worked out too favorably um in any in any of those situations I’ve been around in the past that was my first blink

Thought then I watched this tape then I thought about the landscape of what the Bears wide receiver room looks like right now um void of Mooney you know there’s there’s one starting receiver on that depth chart now you’re adding a Bonafide starter who after watching his tape last night can clear clearly still

Play he’s best in the slot I I I would compare him to you know the the 32y old pitcher in baseball who tops out at 86 miles an hour but still wins 15 20 games a year because he’s got outstanding command of four different pitches and he can locate

But as good as anyone like this this dude speed’s never been a part of his game so it’s not like a a a little decline in speed is going to take too much away from him he’s sudden and he’s really athletic he changes Pace as good as anyone you’ll

See and that’s how he creates one-on-one wins against DBS um even on the outside he can still play if he has to he’s best when he’s in the middle super good feel uh vers Zone coverage um he’s always been a high volume kind of low yards per

Catch guy um he’s definitely going to make them better I think if you’re a Bears fan they got better um if you’re if you’re a Keenan Allen fantasy football owner his his numbers are about to take a a plummet because regardless of who’s playing quarterback if it’s Justin or or

A rookie I still think this thing’s going to be built through the run you know they added Swift they’re goingon to have a nice compliment of backs they’ve shown the last two years they can run the [ __ ] out of the ball um and you don’t want to take too many targets away

From DJ uh so the I don’t think there’s going to be quite the volume of targets to go his way but he makes them better I was a little shocked that they were willing to take on $23 million uh this year so don’t I I wouldn’t be

Surprised if there’s some kind of U extension renegotiation to to lessen that cash hit in 2024 or maybe they have it and and are just saying hey we’ll we’ll ride with it for a year and see what happens um I would imagine they’re going to try to

Get some kind of extension out of it less in the cast [ __ ] and then know know know you have him for another you know two or three more years as he finishes out his career um and then just to add if if it is a rookie quarterback it’s

Nice to have two really really you know Bonafide vet mature experienced guys um in DJ and and obviously Keenan to help that kid out that’s what I wanted to hit on because in a way it’s starting to like remind me what you guys did in 2018

When Mitch was your guy was time to build around him you brought in Allen Robinson Taylor Gabriel Trey Burton you drafted um Anthony Miller at that time like the investment was made to to improve the quarterback back situation so like maybe expand on that a little

Bit like if it is Caleb Williams what do you think he’s walking into now with DJ with Keenan with Cole with Gerald effort with a true Center this time in Coleman Shelton like what do you think the Bears are now providing a rookie yeah they’re they’re I I thought even before these

Moves were made they were pretty well set up to to to to handle um bringing in a rookie back if he if he’s got to play year one um you know they they they shown they can protect they shown they can run the ball um they have a number one receiver and

Now like you said they’ve just made these additions if you know you’re taking a quarterback in the first round it is your responsibility as an organization to do everything you can to put as much talent around that player as possible to help him succeed because no

Matter who it is is Caleb or any of these guys the rookie year especially for Caleb Caleb’s going to have to change the way he plays football it’s like it’s a different style of football um so if he’s forced to play year one um you know the more help it’s just obvious

The more help you have around him um the better off he’s going to be because there’s gonna be less pressure on him um I still think this thing you know the the OC’s coming from Seattle you know they run I think it’s going to be high

Volume run um so I think the pressure is going to be off whichever quarterback is playing next year and when he’s got to throw the ball they’ve they’re starting to put together a nice little basketball team of of targets for him because if they were to hit at nine on

One of these receivers or even later you know in the second round like there’s um there’s some good receivers in this draft so you know if they were a hit at nine on one of these receivers and you’re rolling out there with with TJ Keenan and and one of those top three

Cats that’s in this draft the consensus top three um you know of of Marvin Malik and um and dun um that’s that’s a pretty good that we didn’t have anything close to that you know for Mitch we had we had some good players but that that that would be some

Highlevel talent to to to put around a a rookie quarterback or even if it’s Justin well okay speaking of Justin what do you make of the developments kind of going back to the combine the last few weeks here in um you know first of all general manager openly talking about

Publicly the idea of trading him not committing to trading him publicly but even talking about that publicly and doing right by Justin is not typically something you hear a general manager um say public publicly with the media unless it’s you know going to happen I I think we’d probably agree that Ryan Pace

Probably would not have been so open um you know in in talking about that publicly and then nothing really happened in here and a bunch of other moves a bunch of other trades quarterback movement across the league now down to backups being moved and Justin still in Chicago what do you

Make of all this so yeah I felt when I when I saw the the IND press conference that um something was imminent because they had something done um and maybe maybe maybe Atlanta didn’t think they were gonna get cousins and and were prepared to move on Justus and if that

Cousin dealed didn’t go through um you know cousins obviously could have easily said hey I just want to stay here in Minnesota or he was just being open and candid with everyone saying you know you know we obviously have the first pick and it’s looking like we’re taking a

Quarterback and and you know if we get the right deal we’ll move on him um there’s two things that could be going on right now one it’s just a extremely depressed market for the player specifically uh if you look at his career numbers you look at his performance in the fourth quarter the

Fumbles uh the win loss record you know you can make an argument that his value probably isn’t as high as what everyone thought it was going to be you know postseason when he had a little bit of momentum going um so you could have a depressed Market where hey it’s not

Worth moving him for a fourth or fifth round pick um the other thing that could be happening is the NFL is screaming and telling everyone that the best thing to do for a rookie quarterback is not to play them like without a doubt it helps any of them whether it’s Caleb whether it’s

Jaden whe whether it’s Drake whether it’s JJ the best situation is to not have to play Justin would be an ideal bridge to get to the second year for the rookie quarterback we tried to do it with Mike Glennon and it blew up in our

Face and we had to play Mitch way too soon Andy got hurt in the second or third game against Cincinnati and then we got into this rotation thing but ideally Andy could have stayed healthy that whole year and Justin could have played his second year so I don’t I don’t know what they’re

Thinking inside halis Hall but it’s not a bad idea the the in a vacuum to me it’s the best situation let Justin play this fourth year let the rookie sit especially if it’s Caleb because he’s going to need an adjustment to not only how he plays but he could probably use a

Year of where the media is not breathing down his back and to grow up and to mature and to to see what it’s like to be a pro and to learn from Justin in a vacuum to me it’s the best scenario for Justin to play and then for the rookie

To sit but we all know it’s not a vacuum and if it is Caleb and you’re deciding to keep Justin the circus is coming to town like training camp will be nuts every throw will be will be micro analyzed um and if you’re mature enough inside your building if you have quality

Leadership if you have good people in your locker room that part shouldn’t matter the risk of playing Justin next year and letting the rookie sit is if it divides the locker room if somehow people start taking sides I don’t anticipate I couldn’t see that happening because I feel like Justin has

The backing of his teammates and I don’t see some rookie coming in and and pulling that support away from Justin no matter who it is and no matter how well he’s practicing but there is the risk of that it has happened before in our league and it’s damaged a team and

Ruined Seasons so like you have to weigh that risk um versus the positive of being a is sit a rookie quarterback um and play with a vet who’s going to be surrounded by a good team and look at the end of the year they showed you not

Only can they hang with playoff teams they can beat playoff teams so like their defense is going to be better Justin will be better if it’s in his fourth year um and you get to sit a rookie quarterback which I I know like it there’s just pressure when once you

Draft a guy in the first round you gotta play him you gotta play him if you can sit him and let him learn history has told us it benefits the kid greatly with what you know about Justin do you think he’d be okay with that like you just drafted a quarterback

First overall and you want me to stay to be your Bridge quarterback like I was your first pick not too long ago like do you think he would accept that do you think he would be okay with that or is it just a hard reality that I’m looking around the League this

Is my best chance to play to reprove myself to everybody like knowing what you know about Justin you think I I think I think the League’s telling him his value right now and all he wants is a chance to start somewhere and prove that he can get better and be better and

To me what better place to do it than the place he’s done it the last three years where he’s comfortable he knows the building he knows the teammates he knows the team’s going to be better um obviously the GM did not draft him so you know obviously he he’s well aware of

That and he’s probably known for a long time that there’s always a chance that that this new regime could come in and get their own guy um I think Justin would handle it well um my concern would be more how the rookie handles it um you know I think there’s probably a you’re

Talking about these top four quarterbacks um without me knowing enough about their character and their back and their makeup um because that’s not something I’ve had a chance to to really go learn you know alls I know is the tape um I’m guessing a couple of them would probably

Handle it much better than a couple of the other ones and and the one I would be worried about the most is Caleb because I think Caleb walks into any building and he thinks he’s the best player and that’s probably a healthy thing in a lot of ways um but could

Cause some distractions early on um but I think Justin is mature enough self-confident enough to to say hey I’ll welcome the competition and and this will give me a chance to to be a starter um and show the league that I can play and and in the long run that could

Benefit the Bears um you know obviously uh if if he were to play really well um you know and and obviously they’re not going to do his fifth year options so he would be a free agent and if he were to sign somewhere for a lot of money that’s

You know it opens the door to compensatory picks down the road so there’s a lot of ways it could benefit them um if he were to stay in play so Josh I mean let’s play this out a little bit you’re because I agree with you in a vacuum that’s not a terrible situation

The reality is training camp comes like you said every single throw is going to be overanalyzed it will be anyway you know whether Justin state are calebs here um but now you got some type of even if the Bears come out and say there’s no competition Caleb sitting everyone will make it a

Competition on a day-to-day basis over who’s playing well in each practice uh I remember when Mitch was sitting behind Mike uh there was the issue of us even having availability to trabis because everybody wanted to hear from the rookie quarterback and I think during Camp before they’re required to talk every

Week it was like every other week we would talk to Mitch something like that and then once the season began every player has to be made available so you had Mike Glennon in a press conference room that’s much bigger with half the amount of media that was huddled around

Mitch’s Locker um in the locker room cramping things up that’s just the reality of how it would be again once again with Caleb Mania coming to town um meanwhile Justin has struggled to stay healthy so the second he gets hurt which is bound to happen at some point Caleb

Probably comes in and plays um or he does and somebody else Brett rippen’s going to come in and play or Tyson be is going to come in and play um that’s going to set up another controversy and the the compensatory pick sounds great but if Justin’s playing well don’t you

Look to trade him before the trade deadline then well with that I I was going to bring that up but if he’s playing well and you’re in in the playoff hunt this all comes down to another interesting topic that you know we won’t have time to to delve into um

Today because it’s you know there’s everyone in that building’s got an agenda and and that’s all 32 buildings the GM’s got an agenda the head coach has got an agenda and the first year OC’s got an agenda so if you’re the head coach who’s got a win

This year or he’s gone and you’re playing well because Justin’s playing well you think he’s going to want to trade the quarterback in the middle of the year and throw a rookie out there so like that that’s a whole another two-hour discussion um so the bottom

Line is this is I think for all of us on the outside looking in this could go A Million Ways um you know most likely scenario obviously you know they they they probably think they can get a fourth recoup that fourth they they lost last night you know for Keenan um but

Maybe they just waited out a little bit to see what happens in the draft and see if someone’s willing to give him something a little richer uh and Justin’s in another building next year that’s probably the most likely situation um but I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all to think that in the

Back of their minds they’re having that discussion of hey what if what if we just let Justin play a year and let let whoever we take sit all right so let’s beyond the quarterback conversation beyond the first pick like what do you think Keenan Allen’s arrival place on this roster means for

Number nine like I think it helps you if one of those top three receivers isn’t there and there’s a run on them before you like okay now I could take the best pass rusher like or I could trade back because someone’s calling up for JJ McCarthy like what do you think that

Means for the number nine pick I I I thought on Tuesday or Wednesday when I was just kind of looking over the gu they’ve signed and what that Dept chart looked like that someway somehow before the draft they needed to add a legit wide receiver or pass rusher whether that’s a three technique

Which obviously we know are impossible to find and they went fast um or a defensive end to play opposite of sweat um to allow you some versatility and and um allow more options at pick nine um so I think I think you’re right in saying having Keenan in the building and having

DJ if they want to take the best defensive player available which which re realistically could be the first or second guy on your board defensively like you’re hoping all four of these quarterbacks go two of those receivers are going to go for sure and there’s a really good chance

That the uh tackle from Notre Dame could go and you’re getting really close to nine and no defensive player has gone yet my guess the most likely defensive player to go before nine is going to be Dallas Turner because of that rare upside um and so you could be sitting

There at nine with your your your second and third and maybe even the your first defensive player on the board so did that adding that so A solid starting wide receiver so now you have two um and and obviously you still got to add another one and there’s a lot of receivers in

This draft um if they don’t get one at nine Josh getting back to the quarterbacks is Caleb Williams still qb1 for you is there have you had any new information I know you’re going off mostly the tape as you said earlier but I mean do you do

You still feel that way and is there a gap between him and everybody else where are you at with these top four quarterbacks let’s say no no Gap him and then a gap as far as pure talent uh pure throwing ability mixed in with the athleticism and the instincts

That’s never changed for me um as this process wears on you start to hear more and more stuff there’s a handful of things I’ve heard that would scare the [ __ ] out of me with that player specifically um but I do not know that they’re true these are this is coming from sources

You know so there’s so much smoke right now I don’t know Caleb Williams I’m not going to pretend to know him um he could be the Great guy in the world for all I know um but there’s a few things that I’ve heard that um could be quite

Disruptive um to his to his process and um that has to be vetted you know before you are willing to take him at that pick um and they’ll have plenty of time and plenty of exposure and plenty of opportunity to make sure they know what they’re getting in the player um

As far as the other three guys go um you know I think they’re all worthy from a talent standpoint but none of those three guys to me are going to be Transcendent just drop them into every any bucket of any team and they’re going to change your

Organization I think all three of those guys are going to need a lot of help around them do you have any favorite I guess rers with with with all the tape that you’re watching like are you creating a list of favorite players for yourself like players that you would yeah on your

Board the player there there’s two players right now that I’m absolutely in love with both go to Texas both from Texas um the defense of Li and Byron Byron Murphy he is special he’s a hell of a player um you know when I originally saw the body type you know little bit of

Concern with the height and the length but the way he plays and the power in his hands he can compensate for a little bit it still shows up you watch the Washington game there’s a few times where the lack of Link really shows up but you want to talk about an ass kicker

With a motor that has instincts he’s [ __ ] strong he can leverage he can Rush the quarterback he can win on edges he can win with power he’s really really Dynamic um he’s going to be the first defensive tackle taken and he’s gonna he’s going to be a hell of a player in

The NFL and he’s extremely scheme versatile you know whether you could play him at the three you could play him at the one you could play him at all different types of positions in in in in an odd front um you know even though he’s not that ideal 64 65 long guy he

Can compensate for it with a lot of ways man his his grip strength is rare he gets his hands into tackles and or guards chests and the way he can just snatch and jerk those guys it’s it’s pretty special uh and he can run you know he ran 488 at the

Combine he’s a guy that you know I would be super excited to draft at any point in this draft uh in the first round and then the other guy I turned on the tape um to watch worthy from Texas this is pre- combine this is before the combine but obviously we all

Knew wory had world class speed and I wanted to watch it Adonai Mitchell is the most talented wide receiver in this class right alongside Marvin Marvin Harrison wow if these guys all hit their ceiling in three years to me those are going to be the top two guys

He and he he didn’t just do it this year this kid did it since the first day he walked on georg’s campus you know a fun a fun fact on Adon Mitchell five College playoff games his true freshman year they played Bama and then and they beat Bama no they

Beat Michigan and then they beat Bama his sophomore year they beat Ohio State and then they beat TCU his junior year they lost to Washington five playoff games he’s got he scored a touchdown in every one of those games including the game-winning touchdown against Ohio State in the

Fourth quarter where he ran a hell of a route against a f a a future first round pick um in Denzel Burke for Ohio State he is Uber talented he’s a little raw he’s just scratch in the surface he’s got to get better after the catch because he’s got

The skill set to be a good run after catch guy but of all these receivers even Marvin no one consistently whoops corners on the outside I didn’t see anyone who can cover him he’s played Bama three times they can’t cover him like he has high-end ability um and really I think

There’s some character stuff people are concerned about because he really in my opinion he belongs in that top three group he he belongs in that category there’s no Gap um and and he’s got the biggest upside missed his senior year of high school football you know missed his

Pretty much his whole sophomore year at Georgia due to an injury he he hasn’t played a ton of football um and he’s just got the body type the burst a guy that big that can drop his weight and change directions like it’s the stuff he does is pretty special so those are two

Guys that are really hot right now and then the other receiver from uh uh North Carolina who’s who’s much more of a wild card TZ Walker he is extremely interesting he’s play speed when you talk about on the outside against a corner stacking a corner vertically

He’s the fastest guy in the draft he runs by guys on the outside better than worthy does at Texas his play speed is sick and he can track the ball and he’s tall and he’s long now he’s a terrible rout Runner he’s not played a ton of

Football two years at Kent State one year in North Carolina he’s stiff in his lower body so there’s limitations um but there could be I wouldn’t be surprised at all if if this kid becomes you know uh a a Bonafide deep threat in this league that scares to death out of defensive

Coordinators because he is tall long and can roll uh all right we’re gonna finish with uh two more questions uh and we’ll try to get through them quickly but uh any any of these free agent additions that the Bears sign this week really stand out to you or any that you’re like

I have no idea why they signed that guy you know I think they went um I I like the kind of you know Bargain Basement shopping in free agency you know I think there’s always one to three guys that are big ticket items that you want to try to land I think for

Them this year is probably if one of those three techniques popped open and the only one that hit the market really was was uh the Dolphins guy um um Wilkins and and I don’t know if they got in it or not um you know I heard they got they got on saquan you

Know and there’s there’s only so many of them that that you can get in on and and whether they just got out bid who knows but what they did do was add um they were prudent I think they were fiscal fiscally responsible they didn’t go out

And spend crazy money on anybody um the the new OC’s coming from Seattle so obviously he wants a quality stable of backs they upgraded their there he’s the most talented back they have now um I really like his ability in the past game which was featured more in Detroit than

It was in Philly um the trade for Ryan Bates you know a guy that’s only making four million dollars a year if he’s got a start at any position you’re going to be happy he’s going to get you through the game he can be your starting center

If he has to be um I’m not as familiar with the Rams guy that they signed you know as far as uh him being the for sure starting center I know Bates can start if he has to um I didn’t mind that trade at all jald Everett is a upgrade uh we talked

About this as far as needs when we did the Personnel they had to get a u tight end he is an upgrade over tanyan um he’s getting close to 30 he’s not a true one-on-one winner that you want at that position but he brings much more speed

He can threaten you vertically um and he’s also a better Blocker in space than tanion was um he’s kind of been on these career one one year $6 million deals twoe 12 it’s kind of been his thing since 21 um so I like that signing as

Well Josh let me uh let’s let’s hit on Gerald ever for a second because I I he I I mentioned this the other day that he was drafted one spot ahead of Adam Shaheen in that 2017 draft is there any type of uh story from that unfolding in that second round

That year that that you can share just with Gerald Everett going off the board did you guys like him too yes I have I have the board right in front of me um you know the the the idea for us was you know we had signed Deon Sims to kind of be a

Band-Aid y tight end and we had Eric M Um Zack Miller who we thought we could get a couple more years out of the the priority if it came down to it was drafting a a true why tight end that could be a hand in the dirt guy control the line of scrimmage

And add value in the past game um and joku was our top tight end as far as a guy that could do it all obviously he went in the first round there was a couple um U receivers um you know that that we really like that were you know

Just pass catchers Gerald Everett weighed 227 pounds coming out so there was there was um Ingram there was OJ Howard there was Everett um Ingram and Howard went in the first round as well or before we picked so when we got to our pick like even though

Uh um ever was graded right we had him right behind Shaheen like we were going to take the Y tight end you know you know that that’s what we thought are harder to find um the smaller pass catching guys are easier to find um we knew we were taking a huge risk and

Taking a guy that that you know was coming from Ashland um and and and there was a possibility of a grand slam or a strike out and obviously we struck out um you know and it’s unfortunate that that of all those guys he was the one

That you know by far had the least prod ction in in in the least um impressive career but you know that was the the situation you know we we grade those guys in two separate categories like the true why versus more of the the U undersized pass Catcher And we were

Coveting the Y tight end more um but we had all those guys graded in the second round they were all kind of clumped together all right well now he’s on the Bears anyway a few years later it’s funny how that works out and then the last thing I like

By because you have a young secondary you lose the maturity in the vet and Eddie and even though V byed has fallen off he lacks ideal range he can be compromised in some one-on-one situations he’s a Savvy vet that can get his hands on the ball and I think that’s

Kind of been an an undervalued not talked about talked about all lot addition for the Bears um you really just replaced um Eddie with a similar type player you know a guy that’s more instinctive and and gonna get his hands on the ball then he is physically gifted

And fast um so I think they’re doing a really good job um I don’t think this team as long as this regime’s in place is ever going to have to go wild and free agency um because they’ve shown they can draft really well um and then

The other thing is we didn’t talk about is cap space and cash are two different things people talk about the cap all the time it’s the most meaningless discussions if you have no cap space you can create cap space with cash it’s all about cash so the Bears are working

Under a budget so even though they have a huge cash or cap space it doesn’t necessarily mean they have the cash to spend it and we all know what’s going on they got they’re saying they’re going to commit $2 billion dollar to a Stadium downtown they spent 160 million on an

Empty plot of land like that stuff plays into your yearly cash budget um so they could be operating under some restraints um you know due to those situations that could also lead them to be more bargain shopping than than perhaps they would have been if if they

Had more cash available I’m glad you Circle back to that because I heard you mentioned that earlier when we talking about keen and Allen how you were sub you were you mentioned the cash you didn’t mention the cap and we know the Cap’s not a problem right now so that

Did caught my ear and I’m glad you Circle back because I was going to ask you about that so that’s super interesting that the cap is the most over talked about thing I’ve spent 10 years in New Orleans we are over the cap every year it’s like a rning year we’re

Way over the cap how we gonna do this how we gonna do that guess what we signed who we wanted to signed we kept pushing contracts out into the future I’m sure it’ll come back to bite them in the ass at some point in time but it’s

Been 15 years later and they’re still competitive and obviously they’re not as good anymore because they don’t have Drew and Sean but like if you don’t have cap space and you want to create it you can create it if your owner is willing to spend cash

Cash is king that’s all it’s all about that the whole the whole cap thing is is just kind of you know a parameter that is needed but it can be circumvented in all types of ways all right well we’ll keep that in mind if they end up restructuring that Keenan Allen deal

Here will be interesting to see Josh thanks so much man we always appreciate it yeah thanks guys thanks Josh all right my biggest reaction that I think we have to go back to uh in that entire interview with Josh Lucas did he call did he say Byron Murphy is

Cockrong you took note of that too yeah I mean he did he did I I I probably should have jumped in and followed up but um do we have a definition on what that means literally within that moment like I was what you you know me I love scouting

Buzzwords I mean that’s you gotta be careful Googling that I feel [Laughter] like true also true but if you put the word definition in there it’s it’s safe okay so I have uh an individual who acts manly in noragi okay uh here’s another one a type of physical strength that is not derived

From the weight room but rather from balls of steel oh now I’m spitting on my mic yep all right this is where this podcast is gone well I was just like is this one of those like borderline uncom able scouting terms or is this a real this is

A this is a real definition and then our producer K here has brought to our attention um I think we dive into this uh for because this there might be a connection to Matt Eber flu like we might actually have to ask Flo a question here because

We know Flo has his nicknames we know Rod Marinelli is his mentor one of his mentors um and there’s a story from the Dallas Morning News from 20 uh it’s actually from 2015 but it goes back to when Rod Marinelli arrived in 2013 to help the Dallas Cowboys defense key members of

The unit were given nicknames do sound familiar flu in his nicknames Nick Hayden Badger by the way Nick Hayden graduated from Wisconsin the same year as me Nick Hayden’s nickname given to him by Rod Marinelli was golden [ __ ] don’t get mad at me this is in the Dallas Morning News it’s legitimate yeah

Yeah um why would be man at I think everybody’s now thankful that you we’ Revisited this story from the Dallas Morning News well this is all Kent I mean he he’s the Cowboys guy and he brought it to our attention and this is great um and apparently now I’m clicking on a Twitter

Link apparently there were actually t-shirts made up so what we are now suggesting that when the Bears do draft Byron Murphy with a ninth overall pick that t-shirts we’re not saying Hogan John shirts but t-shirts be made with the nickname [ __ ] strong I mean I don’t know if it quite qualifies

As an obvious shirt little less obvious of a shirt but but it’s an Obviously good nickname this is what I love about can get behind this for a t-shirt like I I love talking the just talking ball with with Josh because all the The Scouting terms get thrown in there again

Like like he reverts to that and that’s like I love it I love scouting lingo and this is this is a good one yeah um but it also makes me wonder about the uh less clean nicknames that might have for members on the team that we haven’t heard I mean I

Feel like we’ve only heard like makeo shark okay but if Rod Marinelli is really your Mentor there must be some there must be some better nicknames than this heast Tam it down a bit Yeah and makes me wonder what the nicknames really are for us the idea the visual of like one of

Those Bears miked up behind the scenes Cameras walking around high-fiving guys before the game this you know golden if we get to talk to flu if we get to talk to flu at the owners meetings this year I mean we might just have to do the whole interview on this no it’s coming up for

Sure but like you come on dude we’re we’re here at the owners meetings the weather’s nice we’re in Florida we need every nickname that you have on us right now come on spill it spill it and the nicknames that he has for the media that’s what I’m saying oh okay oh yes

Okay we need those yeah all revealed in this episode I think it’s it’s coming um that’s fantastic all right um anything else serious that we should react to um in all honesty like the stuff on Justin Fields is is fascinating like forget the depress Market conversation just the

Idea of the Bears being his best situation to to prove himself to the league again and how the Bears might be actually okay with providing that given the right selection of quarterback and who they put in that QB room with Justin field see the only thing I really

Because because I do agree with him that it’s not in a vacuum as he said yeah I I would also there’s a couple things I quibble with one is I I think Caleb is a little bit different and that I do think he probably should play right away um

Two like you’re followup of whether or not Justin would be okay with that I I I I think publicly he would do what he’s done from day one that he’s gotten here and put on a brave face and say you know yeah whatever the team needs me to

Do and all this stuff I think privately how could you not be like dude you’re gonna make me learn another offense here and then I’m gonna have to learn another offense next year because everyone involved in the situation knows he wouldn’t be here in 2025

I I I just I keep coming back to this conversation I think it’s a conversation worth having because he’s still on the roster but I don’t we’ve been through this twice now we went through it with Mitch Tris we went through it with Justin Fields the idea of sitting these guys sounds good

It it’s not very real realistic and before you bring up the Chiefs and Ryan poles was there completely different situation and the fact he was there he knows it’s a different situation well history history is against this idea it is it really is um who knows though something to think about you

Don’t want to think about it I’m thinking about it more than I ever have right now so if you’re like you’re part of that Justin Fields fan club like if you’re that person running that Twitter account like just Adam Fields is thinking about this did you just call yourself Adam

Fields did I call myself Adam Fields I think you called yourself Adam field Adam John’s is thinking about this field situation I I’m still I’m laughing internally still right now sorry I’m lost we gotta end this podcast that was a good one all right uh well thank you to everybody listening

And thanks to Josh Lucas of course for jumping on with us once again um we will be back next week with a couple more episodes um some important Pro dayss going on next week Caleb Williams JJ McCarthy um well USC’s Pro days is on the same day as Alabama in Ohio State

Yeah so that’s interesting because the Bears are going have to split up resources at least a little bit there yeah yeah it’s one of those all hands in deck everybody’s out of the building well maybe just send the defensive guys to Alabama yeah because but Flo has to go to

California that’s a good point you got to have your head coach there with with the potential quarterback but there’s also JC leam at Alabama for if you’re looking at offensive tackles potentially so um resources will have to be split up you also got Notre Dame on Thursday next

Week you got Michigan on Friday so it’s it’s uh it’ll be a busy week on the pro day circuit uh we’ll have it all covered for you along the way and we’ll see if any more moves are made over the weekend I’m expecting Kane and Allen to be uh uh

Introduced as well um at some point over the weekend so everything that happens we will have you covered on the back end of it be back Tuesday with another episode I think that’s the plan Tuesday Morning um and please follow us on Twitter in the meantime at Adam hog Adam

Johns Hogan Johns is our show account on Twitter go give it a follow please hit the like button if you’re watching on YouTube please subscribe to our Channel regardless of if you watch on YouTube or if you listen to the podcast um it would help us grow the channel so please uh do

That we appreciate all the love and support along the way all the merch is up at Hogan johns.com go get yourself a golf ball ens golf season it’s here I might even go play some holes later this afternoon the sun’s coming out looks kind of nice outside um we’ll be back

Next week we’ll talk to you then see you