Bears Combine Standouts with Eric Edholm

Who were the standouts at each position at the NFL Combine that the Bears should be looking at? NFL.com’s Eric Edholm joins the Adams to dive more into the players who we left Indy thinking about, the Caleb Williams convo, Drake Maye, and more, plus notes on the franchise tag and the upcoming free agency window.

0:00 Bears News & Notes
13:54 Eric Endholm
40:54 Reaction & Final Thoughts

#chicagobears #chicago #dabears

What’s up welcome in poog and John’s back with you post NFL combine got a good episode for you today it has been a while since I’ve been sitting in my home office doing this podcast with you John’s I’m like little out of sorts here to make sure everything works that seat

Is cold very very cold there’s a lot of dust on my on my board here and I’m like I go to I got to wipe this thing down so uh yeah it’s been it’s honestly been like over a month since I’ve uh sat here

We’ve been on the I feel like I was on the road for all of February uh because I pretty much was um but good to be back and we got a lot of things to talk about post combine Eric edol from nfl.com is going to join us uh one of their lead

Draft writers and um talk about takeaways from the combines winners losers things like that he’s going to join us here in a little bit make sure you’re following us on Twitter Adam hog Adam Johns Hogan Johns is our show account you get all the merch at Hogan

Johns.com of course read all of johnsy’s coverage in the athletic theathletic.com Hogan Johns uh and I have a newsletter up for C show die hards at all chg.com with my takeaways on pretty much everything I learned about Caleb Williams Justin Fields while we were in in excuse me in

Indianapolis um but we start this show with a little bit of news and reaction to um what we expected and been expecting honestly for months um barring some type of change which didn’t happen um but Jaylen Johnson did get the franchise tag that’s the road this thing

Was going down and um what’s your reaction Jony um expected that’s how I felt Tuesday when Ryan poles met us when he even though he said he didn’t want to use the franchise tag you got the sense that he was ready to use it just in case

Negotiations didn’t go the way well the way he wanted the way the Bears wanted with Jaylen Johnson’s representation so here we are not surprising $19.8 million that’s a good contract for a cornerback but of course you want some long-term stability for Jaylen Johnson yeah and um look it sounded like

They were maybe close at one point um I not exactly sure what happened but I think that’s why you heard Paul say what he had to say sort of publicly negotiating uh last Tuesday in Indie and um nothing really changed from that point on so

Look this this is a tool to use in the negotiations um it’s not all that surprising and then we’ll I mean we’ll see what the next step is I mean typically what happens after the tag is nothing for a while yeah break yeah and then you move on to free agency you

Work on the rest of your roster um which I get guess if is just sort of the downside for Jaylen Johnson temporarily is funds get allocated elsewhere in the meantime not to say that they can’t pay him but it’s just maybe a corner gets drafted you

Know who who knows it’s just you’re not locked in long term right now you’re locked in for one year and uh it’s his move to either sign the tag or not sign the tag in the meantime and he can always hold out in of the offseason program or even training camp if he

Wants too do you think this changes the Bears plans in any way for free agency here they are with an estimated $80 million in cap space here is 20 million now gone I’m sure the Bears projected this in some shape or form but do you think this

Changes how they attack next week in anyway I don’t because that money was going to be allocated towards Jaylen either way whether it was the tag or long-term deal the numbers are relatively similar um if anything the tag might be saving the pairs a little bit in the short term it depending on

How they were going to structure that deal I guess but um I’m sure they’ like a lower cap hit right 19.8 million is a big CIT but it’s not exactly doesn’t tie them up in any way in terms of of their books right because you could have done more signing bonus

Up front and had that spread out maybe it doesn’t hurt as much this year but look the Bears aren’t in cap trouble um I don’t think this changes much there the only the only thing it would possibly changes if there’s anywhere in the back of their heads where they don’t

Think Jaylen Johnson’s going to be a bear come to fall and that’s not where my head’s at but I guess you know he wouldn’t be the first player to potentially hold out and end up getting traded in August before the season starts I don’t necessarily feel like that’s the road this is going

To go down I think it’d be way more likely he played on the tag for a year and revisit this in the future um I still feel relatively optimistic though that they’re going to reach a deal at some point is that before training camp begins or do you see this I see this

Going all the way up until training camp to be honest which is yeah I do too which is which is fine like a lot of these franchise tag deals I I’d say they actually the majority of them don’t result in long-term deals at least in the past few years some of these players

Will just go play in the tag and hold out for another opportunity down the road this is what happens I think there’s a set out there from our friend Brad Spielberger off to look for but something about over the past few years only 38% of franchise tags resulted in

Long-term deals at least immediately within that year so the odds aren’t in that favor so that’s why I could see this going all the way to July but you never know well and that’s been the Bears history with this too um because and we had a graphic on CH yesterday

Looking back at like the last five or six tag so that would be Alan Robinson um Alshon Jeffrey Henry Melton Matt Forte and Lance Briggs and the only one of those guys that got a an extension before the franchise tag um remember there’s a deadline in July

Where you have to come you after that deadline in July you can’t negotiate anymore you either have to play on the tag or not um Matt Forte was the only one who got a deal done before that now Lance Briggs ended up getting resigned but that wasn’t until the following off season so

He did play on that tag all the other ones aam Alshon Jeffrey none of those guys got a long-term deal done despite being Tagged so it’ll be interesting to see how this play out plays out I do feel like it will come down to that July

Deadline and then I think it’s what July 14th I could be wrong but it’s in the it’s usually right there in the middle of July right in the the time period where we don’t want to be thinking about football at all right before training camp um here’s the the stat from Brad

Spielberger our friend at PF Brad this is from Over the cap he got this from um from 2013 to 2023 73 franchise tags were placed on players 28 of those players agreed to extensions before the deadline 38% yeah well it’s too bad they couldn’t work something out but I’m not terribly

Surprised that we’re here I did want to do a quick kind of explainer on the different tags because I know there’s some confusion about this I know I got a lot of questions on social media about it so here’s a really quick explainer so Jaylen Johnson got the non-exclusive

Franchise tag what that means is technically other teams are allowed to negotiate with Jaylen Johnson it’s non-exclusive so to the Bears so other teams could negotiate and theoretically he could agree to terms with a different team and the Bears would have the right to match or if they don’t match that team

Would have to give the Bears two first round picks we just think about that no team’s gonna do that no team’s gonna give up two first round picks for Jaylen Johnson so there’s not necessarily a risk of team coming in and sort of messing with the negotiations or jacking

Up the price beyond what the Bears already value him at and if somebody were to do that Ryan Poes is probably gonna be like okay I’ll take those two first round picks that sounds pretty good um thank you yeah thank you very much so that’s why the majority the

Overwhelming majority of tags are this non-exclusive franchise tag it’s the nor it’s 100% the nor I would say if you’re confused on this the franchise tag as you know it and understand it is the non-exclusive tag yeah it’s this one it’s this this one yes and every single

Tag handed out yesterday except for one the Kyle Dugger um with the Patriots he got the transition tag which I’ll talk about in the second but all the other ones were the non-exclusive franchise tag yeah explain the transition tag because this is the different one and

Well we know it here in Chicago because the Bears used it and Kyle Fuller so the the difference with the transition tag is the number is lower so you save a little bit by applying the transition tag the one-year number that goes with the tag it’s cheaper

But same deal allowed to negotiate with other teams the difference being if you agree to terms with a different team that team does not have to give up anything so in the case of Kyle Fuller the Packers offered him a contract they agreed to terms the Bears had the right

To match but if they let him go they let him go they get nothing back so so that you don’t see it used as much because of that but sometimes there are rare situations where it’s like maybe you’re unsure of what the actual outside Market would be and you just kind of

Reached a point where let somebody else do the negotiating for you exactly you you don’t want to lose the player but depending on what the contract looks like you might be willing to just say okay goodbye now the one now we’re getting a little bit into the week

The one catch with that as I understand it is if you do let that player go it does not help you in the comp pick formula so whereas if you just let a free agent go it helps you in in the comp piic formula now that doesn’t necessarily matter the last one which

You don’t see a lot is the exclusive franchise tag and that is just nobody else can negotiate with the player and and the only times you really see that would be like if Patrick Mahomes quarter or Tom Brady in his prime uh I shouldn’t say only times you see that but those

Are the types of players that you would do the exclusive because you’re just like there’s no price there’s no amount of draft picks that could come back in return that that we would want to let this guy go um and we don’t want another team meddling or setting the price way

Higher um in in our negotiations because as we know like teams will part with first round picks for quarterbacks right no now we saw this last year with Lamar Jackson the Ravens actually did the non-exclusive tag on Lamar Jackson so a team could have come in and offered the

World and been willing to give up two first rounders for Lamar Jackson and that’s part of the conversation last offseason if you remember it like a lot of us were like well why doesn’t a team just do that but I think the reality is remember you’re giving up two first

Round picks and paying the player that’s a huge price and the the Ravens were probably going to match anything anyway so that was kind of a unique situation but it goes to show you even in that case they did the non-exclusive franchise tag they didn’t even go exclusive so long story

Short completely normal the tag Jaylen got I’ll be shocked if anybody comes in and is willing to give them two first round picks so and if they do I would probably expect Ryan poles to let him go and take the take the first round picks but that’s probably not what’s going to

Happen here and just a note on the transition tag my understanding is why teams don’t use it as often even though they want to retain players is that well teams structure contracts differently they have different approaches if you can remember the conversation about Kyle Fuller’s Tad that that was a very Packers likee

Contract and like the Bears didn’t structure contracts that way they they were yeah the Packers backloaded that thing yes yes that’s just how they do it um so the Bears weren’t going to get rid of Cal Fuller but that’s the risk of using the transition tag is that teams will

Structure contracts differently than how you want to structure contracts yeah so well that’s the latest on Jaylen Johnson not necessarily surprised hopefully that made sense to you um but we are going to move the conversation back towards the NFL draft now and uh bring days still it’s here I

Know it’s trust me as I’m staring at this database I got to keep plugging into um at any given moment of the day I’m counting down I’m I’m starting to get worried here um hopefully our friend Eric edol doesn’t feel as rushed but uh we’ll find out right now as we bring in

Eric edol from nfl.com all right we’ve known Eric edol for a long long time now and uh he is now the lead draft riter at nfl.com um which is which is awesome and uh Eric we saw you last week you’re scrambling around the convention center trying to get all all the Nuggets you

Possibly could and uh we we thank you for jumping on with us today to to to help share some of those nuggets with us yeah how frazzled did I look be honest like because I when I’m in Indie you know like the clothes are disheveled my hair is not perfect you know nothing

Looks right but I I try to keep my head on straight for most of the week anyway you know if I’m a scout and Grading you there’s some red flags definitely going up you know Fair definitely fair rest over caffeinated you know don’t don’t tell Bob mcin okay just as long as Bob’s

Not sending his scouts out on me you know yeah the secret scouting reports that come out right before the draft I think they’re out now I think they’re already being teased at this moment it’s the only reason I mentioned I saw a batch was released this morning it felt

Felt like an early Christmas SL dark Christmas I’m not sure oh boy I’m have to check those out well you can follow Eric on Twitter and you should be erore atol and reading all his draft coverage at nfl.com um let’s just start with this most impressive players at the combine

Who stood out to you yeah I mean there were a lot I mean depending on what position you’re looking at you know I thought day one Braden Fisk the Florida state D lineman and I got a chance to see him down in in Mobile as well uh rare senior bow trade

He practiced with the the American team all week and then switch to the National or maybe it was the other way around but you know it came off a great senior ball week goes to the combine kind of kicks things off for us on Thursday night with

His oh yeah 40 and if you didn’t hear it he kind of you know uh celebrated his 40 which is always fun for a big man but you know more than that I mean he just moved really well through the drills the overall athletic profile was better than

I thought it might be um you know a little short arms maybe but but I don’t know I just the The more I’ve sort of watched him and and now the athletic numbers kind of back that up uh he’s a horse I mean he’s a really good player

Up front so he was one who stood out to me for sure obviously Xavier worthy the the record-breaking 40 time you know he didn’t work out in the positional drills afterward I’m hoping he does so at his pro day you know we’ve seen a good amount of him the last couple years in

College football and we knew he was fast but there’s something about breaking that number that’s gonna GNA give you a pretty high floor as far as the draft is concerned I mean I would sort of be surprised at this point if he made it past like the Panthers pick at 33 you

Know I mean I if he’s not a first rounder then he’s not lased long in round two so he’s got to be up there on that list and there were several other receivers who look really good and I know we’ll kind of go position by position but um you know quarterbacks

Was hard to say whether there was one clear standout I don’t know that there was but just by throwing JJ McCarthy kind of gave himself an opportunity to showcase his skills and overall I think had a very good day and you know you probably heard the same Buzz that that

He’s going a lot higher than I think a lot of people imagined you know even a couple weeks ago is it just me you know I love to talk quarterbacks but yeah let’s take a break for just a second yeah right all of these linemen as big

As they are I mean they were just flying offensive lineman defensive linemen like Joel all is 68 and change right running the the 40 in just over 5 Seconds like that is amazing to me but then there’s like another guy you know running in 5.01 seconds like what do you think of

All that it it’s pretty amazing I mean the the caliber of athlete especially at offensive tackle this year I mean you know there’s some some good edges some good Corners some great receivers for sure but I think relative to body size when you you know we we G at the 42 tws

For good reason but I don’t know if people fully appreciate how difficult it is for a like you said Joe all is 68 and 58s I mean that’s almost as big as tall an offensive lineman as as I’ve seen enter the league there’s been a half a

Dozen or so who’ve been in the combine who’ve been taller for him to run a five flat basically and have a good 10 yard split which is sort of the key number for for those uh the big guys is incredible I mean this is a player that

If some people know his backstory his dad was a a Chief’s left tackle for 12 13 years in the in the 80s and 90s and uh his dad was a tight end and then his dad basically said look if you want to keep your athleticism don’t play offensive line in high school they’re

Going to recruit you as a o lineman but keep your athleticism and then you can add the weight and this guy was starting Midway through his freshman year and you know couple little bumps in the road but boy for the last two years he’s been unbelievable and to maintain that

Athleticism while building up your your core strength and body size and everything and yeah I mean between him and amarius Mims Tyler gon you know we didn’t really see JC lean work out but he’s another big dude who can you know move a little bit and the strength boy I

Mean it just it goes on and on I mean this this tackle glass is really impressive uh what did you who’s did anyone stand out to you in with the running backs because I I it’s it’s an inter class and that it seems like the more and more I was watching the combine

Coverage it seems like there’s a lot of them that could be contributors relatively early and and help a lot of teams but they just seem like so bunched that it’s just like you know the you know pick pick your pick your favorite flavor yep I think you you set it up

Perfectly you know I think there was last year with with bean and and Gibbs in round one and and some other guys kind of just after that you know it felt like a big running back class this year I think up until about a month ago people are saying it’s not a great

Running back class but I’m like you the more I kind of step back and look at it there’s sort of a flavor for everybody you know you want the the the the tough interior Runner um kind of in the Roshan mold a little bit you know audri EST is

Going to be your guy if you want speed we just saw Jaylen Wright run a really really good 40 time at 20 like 20 pounds I want to say um and doesn’t have a lot of mileage on him at Tennessee didn’t have an abundance of carries so he’s got

Tread on his tires you know Trey Benson was an electric college football player who who performed well this weekend Marshon Lloyd I I’m a little surpris the USC back hasn’t gotten a little more attention so I’m trying to think you know it wasn’t a great workout for Bucky

Irving but I think his tape is good and I think he’s a good football player who may not be special but the South Dakota State kid Isaiah Davis opened my eyes at the Senior Bowl and then again at the combine you know Isaac gendo Barely Used at Louisville in Wisconsin and now he’s

Running blazing 40 so yeah I’m with you I think there’s there’s some Talent here it may not be that super rare you know unicorn high-end oneof one type talent but some pretty functional useful backs in this group if you’re the Bears and you’re looking at wide receivers like

Yep how low is it really because I I I feel like I don’t know you’re looking at maybe 15 16 guys that could go in the top 50 like how would you like take me through some names beyond the top three but like how loaded is this class a

Receiver yeah we just brush past the the Marvin Harrison Roma dun Malik neighbors group they’re they’re at the top they’re going in the first you know whatever single digit number of picks I don’t know whether you know one of them will be there at nine or not but the talk out

Of Indie that I kind of heard from from a Personnel director an assistant GM um even an area Scout who was who in that in the Southeast said don’t forget about Brian Thomas uh Brian Thomas even with some drops some inconsistency in his game is an explosive player who you know

Athletically and me you know measurements wise looks like a top 10 pick now maybe the Bodywork isn’t quite complete enough but he told me he’s going top 15 or so it wouldn’t shock me at all so really it could be a top four and then the question is how does it

Unlay lay out after that we mentioned worthy his teammate ad Mitchell at Tex Texas another you know bigger player maybe a little more well-rounded receiver big play guy um you have the Malachi Corley Debo Samuel light kind of guy um there’s lad makoni from Georgia

Who had a not missed a few games I think would have come in with a little more hype people saw what kind of a natural receiver he was his Gauntlet drill was just beautiful you know like the straightest line I’ve ever seen anybody run that just fluid yeah I loved it

Roman Wilson you know there were a couple guys who maybe underwhelmed a little uh Troy Franklin from from Oregon kind of was a little disappointed with him I know he ran fast but it’s at 170 something pounds um um Keon Coleman I almost said Brandon Coleman from um Florida state would be

On my disappointing list although his fieldwork was better than his his timing but still you know I just rattled off 12 names without even sweating you know and and that’s man other than last year I feel like you know what eight or nine of the past 10 drafts we’ve said man is

This receiver class something else but this one really is so here’s my followup to that though because with the depth in mind yeah you know there’s the conversation about positional value and I think we’re all assuming that Marvin Harrison Jr and romad dun go and in leag Neighbors potentially too I

Think there’s some questions that about him off the field that still need to be answered at least a little bit y but um you know I think we’re all assuming that these guys go I mean potentially even four five six I mean some people have said but if

There’s so much depth later on I just wonder does is is it smarter to go grab Joe Al or or you know grab one of these other positions where there’s not as many of those guys because you know you can still grab a pretty damn good receiver in the second round yep oh

That’s that’s always the debate and it’s an interesting one I can see it from both sides right we we’ve had it different positions over the years whatever but it’s a good one to have at receiver this year where you say is you know getting Roman Wilson in round two let’s say

Uh can you live with that like is he 85% of Malik neighbors you know and is that a better tradeoff than getting another position where you know like the the first guy is really good but the the the fourth or fifth guy there’s a he’s only 70% of the player if that makes

Sense and I’m not explaining it well but yeah I mean that’s the that’s the question and that’s where you have to really you know if you want to use like a fantasy football term like tears right you have to see where the drops are in these things and of course you know if

You’re the Bears and you don’t have currently a second round pick you say you know how how are we going to get one so that we can get into that position where we have that that choice we can either take alt or you know fuaga or one of these other great offensive tackles

And feel good enough about you know Wilson or Germaine Burton or whoever else in round two so it does drop off after a certain point it always does obviously um I don’t I think it drops off a little earlier than some people say it will just my opinion

I don’t know that there are going to be a ton of day three receivers who are great maybe even late day two it starts to thin out a little but it’s definitely a discussion you have to have I feel like we’re not talking about like defensive players enough like right like there’s offensive

Tackles receivers not just this ation but just like generally and I get it’s because you have these these teams that need quarterbacks high in the draft you have these three great quarterbacks maybe four quarterbacks bring JJ McCarthy in it but who are you looking at defensively like who should the Bears

Consider it number n like how would you grade out the the top three or four defensive players and that’s the crazy thing they Tech they could get the first defensive player off the board at number nine I mean that that is not a wild possibility you know we don’t know

Atlanta’s plans at eight but I’ve been hearing quarterback for them you know obviously you know Tennessee at seven new regime there they could go in a million different directions but there’s a decent chance that we could go 10 plus picks without a defensive player taken I don’t think we’ve ever had that I

Remember there was a draft recently where it was seven out of 10 in the first 10 picks were offensive players and we said wow you know what a what a slant towards the offense but this year is going to be different than we’ve ever seen so you know that you could have

Quinon Mitchell the the Toledo corner be the first Defender off the board you know maybe it’s Dallas Turner he had a great workout in Indie you know any questions are probably about size or or you know specific scheme fit but he’s pretty darn good so those are those are

The two that I’ve heard a lot about I don’t personally view chop Robinson is a good player don’t get me wrong but to me he’s this year’s Nolan Smith and there was a ton of Nolan Smith Buzz last year I kept wanting to see it like his effort

Was unbelievable but I kept thinking I’m like I must be missing something with him and the athletic traits are are so exciting but I didn’t see a player that was going to step in and be a 10 sack guy or an immediate contributor and he

Wasn’t you know granted on a on a pretty good defense but yeah I kind of view chop the same way I think right now he’s going to be a third rusher and those athletic traits will help him but I’m not quite as enamored and from there it’s like everybody has a

Little flaw teron Arnold red shirt sophomore had a tough game against Texas you know a little bit up and down I didn’t think he was outstanding in the Rose Bowl um latu latu from UCLA was medically retired at one point has short arms there’s some you know there’s some negatives there

So you know if you start looking through like the top 10 defensive prospects they all have I don’t want to say a fatal flaw but a but a noticeable one where you say I can’t really endorse him in the top 10 or 12 picks and so that’s

Just kind of the draft it is I think there’s there’s decent depth at corner um safety’s okay not bad not terrible not as bad as I thought um but there’s no really truly exciting linebacker Byron Murphy the Texas D tackle I forgot about ask about him yeah

Yeah three I think option maybe yeah I think he’s really good I the more I watched him I kept say well you know he’s a little short and he’s sort of length you know uh restricted a little bit but his quickness and and his his nose for the ball is really good his

Effort I mean it’s it’s all there you know they had him running in touchdowns and catching touchdowns too he’s you know he’s got a little like Christian Wilkins to him I guess maybe but yeah I I I’m a fan well shout out to Texas because they they just seem to have guys

Everywhere at the combine like at every position just you know I guess except for quarterback all I can’t resist I’m sorry you know me I’m I I we got to talk some quarterback here at least a little yeah um here’s my bold prediction actually I ran into Alec Lewis covers

The Vikings of course for uh for the athletic right at the end right as I was leaving uh the combine and I and I left him with this I said here’s my bold prediction JJ McCarthy ends up on the Vikings yep and and what was Alex’s

Response he was like oh okay and that was before yeah I don’t think he agreed with me but um that was honestly before now all these this you know the the the winds are blowing here uh last few days that Kurt Cousins might be headed to

Atlanta and we’ll see how that all plays out um I don’t I just I’m trying to figure out Eric where JJ is gonna end up um I don’t know that he fully took advantage of his opportunity at the combine and kind of stand out I I will say this cuz I was

Actually up last night watching the rest of the quarterback workouts that I missed um on Saturday just from the television copy obviously but uh not I don’t know like McCarthy and penck were the only two that really I’m just gonna say some of those quarterbacks are not good like like they

Were they were just struggling to even complete passes at times so I I like McCarthy I’m just trying to figure out how much the NFL is really gonna like him yeah it’s funny I kind of came into Senior Bowl week and you know viewed him

As like the the draft wild card at that position and you know I thought his best Hope was to compete for for quarterback four honors and you know somewhere down the line after um Williams May Daniels whatever order you want to put those guys in you know McCarthy was battling for number four

I’m not sure he is I know it sounds crazy but like just based on some of the and these are people who have no reason to lie to me like I always think about that too like am I talk to a person who is trying to sort of lead me down the

Wrong path here and they’re all you know like I talked to one team that that drafted a quarterback last year and has a starter in the prime you know in the prime of his career and he’s like look man I just I think he’s gonna end up

Being qb3 when it’s all said and done I QB okay wait a minute now there’s apparently people aren’t as enamored with Drake may as I thought they might be there’s some a little bit of Suspicion there I mean there was suspicion about Justin Herbert and same

Respect too and I mean I know he went sixth but there were some people who wondered whether he should have gone sixth so I’m with you I think there aren’t very many quarterbacks after a certain point that that are redeemable you know as far as

Taking using a Draft pick on um but that only helps I think McCarthy go higher in a certain respect so whether it’s Atlanta if they don’t go the cousins route the Giants at six I mean could you not picture JJ McCarthy as a giant just forget the Daniel Jones situation for

Right now he just sort of looks like what the Mars would dream up in a quarterback um and I don’t know that it would last too long after that with you know the Broncos are desperate to get somebody the Raiders may be a little more patient I don’t know if they’re involved in

Fields or not we’ll see but um how about this hypothetical how about this hypothetical John’s bears are on the clock at 9 Vikings are trying to call up oh you let them have McCarthy you hold them like hostage on that yeah right for as long as possible

To get as much as you want like Vikings have been wheeling and dealing on draft night with the Lions now we’ve seen some NFC North trades here but you ask for everything this is your division rival and like even if if you’re the Bears and you have any your

Evaluation McCarthy’s good right like well okay give us you know your first round or 2026 just just for good measure so you so they can’t like get a receiver for him down the road you know make it hard for him to build around the quarterback I agree especially if it’s a

Team you’re gonna be playing twice a year for I mean yeah why not I mean if they don’t want to make a deal then somebody else will I mean he’s going high I just I mean I’d be shocked if he didn’t at this point just based on what

I’ve heard I wasn’t expecting that coming into you know February March all right go ahead sorry go ahead Adam I was going to say you can’t get out of here about not talking about kale Williams can we um tell us what you know what you heard what you thought as you watched

Him at the media session give us everything you got from the combine and kale Williams yeah let’s let’s dump it all out there first of all I don’t have to tell anybody like he’s he’s really really gifted just a natural natural thrower and player and and you know

Obviously the 2022 tape was was a little bit more exciting and a little bit more uh upside and thrilling and everything all I mean it felt like it was a generational type quarterback watching him in 2022 and there was just a little less than that last season because of some of the

Defensive issues they had I mean he had to play a certain way to keep them in games he had to take more risks and he talked about that a little bit um but yeah I mean like the the play style it’s not going to be perfect there are shades

Of Aaron R there are shades of Kyler Murray there are shades of Patrick Mahomes but you know he’s he’s his own guy he’s gonna have to live with his mistakes along the way because he’s one of the few guys who can atone for him you know I mean he could

Make enough plays to where you forgot that second quarter interception where he threw across his body you know and that’s just what he’s gonna have to be so the team that gets him I think has to be a little bit more tight defensively and and and have something

To kind of back him up you know like Mahomes had last year with the Chiefs defense right I mean that I know that doesn’t get talked about BR often but Pat didn’t have his best year until the playoffs and you know that’s I think a little bit of the style of play You’re

GNA see from him now as far as the personality goes you know maybe he’s got a little Aaron roders to him too in the sense that he’s a highly confident intelligent kid independent thinker may not do things exactly the way a team wants Kyler Murray was sort of that way

Too I think he was maybe Caleb’s a little more extroverted in my opinion and maybe a little bit more of a outward personality face leader for a franchise but there have obviously been people who’ve questioned him on that regard and you know look it’s like if I want to use an NBA

Analogy you know Kyrie Irving was clearly the best player in his his class when he came out whatever year that was 2010 11 whatever he was a he’s a you know he led the Cavs to a championship and he also was difficult along the way

He went to the Celtics led him to you know success and was difficult I mean I don’t know if that’s him or not but I I kind of got some of those vibes from him a little bit we’ll see sometimes a combine session and everything else I’ve watched of him could be misleading

I’ll be fascinated to see how he meshes with a head coach with a team with a with a maybe a veteran locker room that’s already been established so I don’t know it’s it’s a little bit curious look one of my favorite things about this discussion is it and look

There’s no question his 2022 tape overall is probably better than his 2023 tape overall but um it’s not like it was bad it wasn’t bad no you know this guy still through for 30 touchdowns and five interceptions last year I know he like like I’ve heard some people like just

Casually throw that out there like well he didn’t have a great year last year I’m like he’s guess what his completion percentage was higher he actually averaged more per completion than he did the year before he threw the ball like aund what is it 112 times fewer last

Year than he did the year before a lot of it just like the def they weren’t on the field as much because the defense was terrible so like yeah I it’s it’s kind of comical he set the bar so high in 2022 that like there was almost no

Situation in which he could have lived up to it and I just feel like that Notre Dame game and John’s you were at that game like I just feel like too many people are focused on one game that just didn’t go that well in that and by the

Way there’s amaz there’s like a handful of amazing throws in that game too yeah I mean go watch Patrick Mahomes against K State and ask if if you saw a future three-time Super Bowl champion on that you know I mean it’s like ice skating you throw out the highest score

And the lowest score I mean I really feel like you have to do that on some level and I mean you’re right I think the biggest thing for me is the the ball security with the fumbles and the sacks taken and there are times when he passes up scrambling opportunities where it’s

Like man you could have had six seven yards right there you know instead of now it’s second and 10 or you know third and 10 it could have been third and four right now those kind of situations if he learns that that instinct a little bit

Better I think he’s going to be fine um and and that offense I don’t think really did him any favors like can you give me a checkdown once in a while like he didn’t even have that option in in a lot of his passes so fivan protections

Ask him to kind of create and buy time and do all this stuff and and put up the numbers you said it’s pretty darn good man like we we’ve almost become spoiled or numbed to the fact these guys are making ridiculous plays more often than than not would you be surprised if he

Doesn’t go first to the Bears yeah I would at this point I I went into the week with an open mind you know maybe polls is doing this creative trade down thing and he’s actually secretly like somebody else but I I I extinguish that fairly quickly I mean again you never

Know uh something could come up but as assuming Kay like Nuke it and say you know pull an Eli Manning and just say nope not happening then I don’t see how he passes him up yeah yeah and I don’t think it’s head down that road right now at least

It doesn’t really doesn’t really seem like it Eric uh outstanding insight as always we love your draft coverage uh everybody should be following him at Eric home on Twitter uh go check it all out nfl.com uh appreciate all the work you put in especially this time of year

Eric thanks for jumping on my pleasure thank you yeah it’s good being out with you guys thanks man so John’s uh what the pod we recorded last week we didn’t get really a chance to react to uh Caleb’s press conference on Friday um I I was impressed I mean I didn’t

Know what to expect it it’s the biggest circus I can remember some people brought up Manti Tao the Manti tail year I remember that one there I mean actually see me on the the documentary like to the side manil yeah yeah yeah so I mean there was a lot of people there

Uh that crazy first question that in the moment I didn’t even realize had been asked um but going back and understanding what that question actually was and how aggressively like attacking it was I thought it was impressive how Caleb just like Shrugged it off and answered

It I don’t know I just I thought he came off as affable and had good answers to everything that was thrown his way um you know he had to deal with I don’t know was it five or six questions from Greg Braggs Jr that didn’t phase him

That alone in itself is you know that’s something that’s yeah I’m trying to trust my first impressions and instincts more in situations like this like in terms of like there had to be hundreds of media there just just for him in a crowded what what’s that like convention

Hall right like Ju Just for him and just how he handles that he was comfortable he was confident I didn’t get a sense of any some people describ them as arrogant I no I didn’t get any of that I I sense more confidence from him and and really

To to Eric’s point if there’s some Aaron Rogers in him in that capacity I’m willing to tell you that’s a good thing like it’s about time the Bears maybe had a quarterback who who had that be need that oh man right right I mean it’s it goes back to what I’ve

Been saying on this podcast for years Aaron Rogers pain in the ass but he was good Jay Cutler Jay Cutler was pay in in the ass too but if Jay Cutler played better and was more consistent Bears probably have a Super Bowl you know what

I mean like it it it’s you could live with it so this is this is professional sports man it goes back to I don’t necessarily agree with what Eric was saying like the comparison to Kyrie Irving but I his point is well taken Kyrie Irving’s a pain in the ass but you

Know at least early on in his career he was winning a lot now it’s I think it’s gone a little off the rails and I don’t think that that’s NE I don’t I don’t the sense or and I you guys know at this point people I’ve talked to that have

Coached and dealt with or played with Caleb Williams I don’t get that sense that he’s Kyrie Irving but the point there is like you need some edgy players at some point you just need the right balance you just don’t want to go overboard with it like Phil Emery did where you had way

Too many conflicts uh going on there but it’s I I I think it’s gonna be fine if anything I got the sense that he could handle us that he could handle Chicago yeah there’ll be some things that happen surely it happens with every single quarterback that I’ve ever covered with

The Chicago Bears even the nice ones like Josh mcau like the overly nice ones yeah like Josh mcau like stuff stuff happens it’s it’s the Chicago media there’s no market like it and a lot of things happen during the football season well and to that point as whatever

Reputation we might have here Chicago for being tough as Media Group and fan base and all like I I we’ve been doing this for it’s my 14th season I think it’s your 13th I I’ve never heard anyone ask a question like that first question like say what you want about

Chicago media like hey you’re not going to hear anyone asking an aggressive question like that that’s just like um I I mean most of the questions are very very with some rare exceptions very respectful even if they’re tough so I I thought that was a a big box to check

That was a legitimate question I mean Josh Lucas has been on this podcast talking about that how does you know Justin Fields can handle this Market do you know that about Caleb Williams but so far I think he’s passing that test absolutely two thumbs up I agree with

You I think the Bears think that too by the way so it’s important all right uh fun episode today appreciate everybody uh listening thanks to Eric edol for jumping on again please go check out Hogan John for all our merch Johnson’s got the hoodie on right now now is a great time

Too to get those golf polos available it is golf season hope it stays that way this is the year where we’re gonna get three snowfalls in April we’re gonna pay for this now we’re you know the the ice storm an opening day for like Little League season here

Oh yeah oh it’s gonna be we’re gonna have 10 rain outs in April for baseball for sure um but anyway get those golf polos it’s all up at Hogan johns.com follow us on Twitter Hogan Johns and US individually at Adam hog Adam Johns uh please rate and review the podcast hit subscribe on

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Much we will be back uh later in the week with uh with another episode is Our Guest confirm I think so yes I think so yeah Diana R is gonna jump on uh and I think that episode’s going to drop on Friday so we yeah it’s Wednesday today I’m

Already losing track of my days it is Wednesday today we’re gonna talk to Diana Rini on Friday she’s had a l she had a lot of insight including on the Bears that came out of that combine so we’re going to talk talk about all that

With her on Friday so we will talk to you then see you