April 16, 2025 • 30 mins
ESPN insider Field Yates joins Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer on Bears, etc. to take a look at the needs the Bears might address in the NFL draft.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gout open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown pairs. I
am Jeff Jonia Blitz is not done go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche Good. I don't want
to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Pressure coming is a big trouble dot gos Motest Sweat.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Lighte with
the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It's mock draft Mania right now. So many opinions, so
many ideas, so much uncertainty, and we tackle it all
with you here on episode number one forty of the
Bears et cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. We are brought to you
by Miller Lite and we kick off this week's program
with our special guest ESPN insider and analyst Field Yates.
(00:54):
Catch him at at Field Yates on x YouTube dot
com slash at e NFL. He is all things classy,
all things NFL, and in our business, that's how praise
feel because everybody I talked to classy, nicest guy in
the business. So thank you so much, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you for that great introduction and thanks for having
me on. Guys. I'm looking forward and talking all things well,
it doesn't have to be just Bears, but I imagine lots
of things Bears and pick number ten overall is they've
got one of the more exciting outlooks right now, free
picks in the top forty one, and a roster that
I think is ready to take off.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
All right, Why do you feel it's ready to take off?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, I think that the quarterback is in place, and
it's a transition, no doubt, as Kaylee Williams learned last
year first year going from the college life to the
NFL life. But I do feel as though there is
much more harmony right now between the talent in place
and the coaching staff to lead that talent in place.
You know, Ben Johnson inarguably one of the best play
callers that we have seen over the past at least
(01:56):
half decade and maybe even further back than that, and
it feels like koheshould he has with Caleb Williams is
going to go a long way to allowing this roster
toke a big step forward. And then on top of that,
nothing that Bears can't address the offensive line further, but
feeling a lot more confident about the starting five at
minimum right now than we did at this time last year.
(02:17):
Along the offensive line makes me feel as though a
big jump is in place. And then on defense, the
defense actually was okay for much of last year, maybe
even better than okay for much of last year. It's
just harder to see that effort defensively when your offense
is still figuring things out for significant portions of the season.
So the pieces in place, the coaching staff in place,
(02:39):
an opportunity to compete in this NFC North so Field.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I was drafted four years before you were born, nineteen
eighty three draft, and the nineteen eighty three draft that
there was a lot of guys that were sentenced on't
you know Elway was going to go number one, you know,
Bruce Matthews and Jimbo Kover and all these guys and
so on and so forth. So now we have a
template of success, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, play caller,
(03:04):
when you look at a position out there that the
Bears still need to run that type of offense that
Ben's familiar with. In Detroit, we saw Jamiir Gibbs, we
saw Laporta. We saw the growth and the development of
those types of star players. What do you project for
Ben Johnson as much as the Bears.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know, Ryan Poults talked about this after they had
made the trade for Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney and
then signed Drew Dolman. Is that what they had accomplished
was they had really opened the board up at number ten. Right,
if you don't make all of those moves, or don't
make two out of those three moves, we might be
sitting here staying to them to ourselves, all right, Bears
are taking a tackle or taking a guard at ten,
(03:44):
it's a lock. You might as well put it in sharpie.
But because of the fact that if they played a
game tomorrow and Braxton Jones is fully recovered from that
ankle surgery, this is a team that has it starting
five penciled in. So if the board falls in a
way that Ashton Genty or Tyler Warren, or even when
Campbell is available, the Bears can have a thoughtful conversation
(04:05):
about what direction they want to turn. You know, Ashton Genty,
I think is going to end up drawing comparisons to
one of the Lions running backs because of the fact
that people think of it as a one two punch
and that has sort of been associated with Ben Johnson.
I think they had significant success last year, not just
because those two players and David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs
are talented, but also because rarely was it ever we
(04:28):
need just one of you to tote the rock entirely
up until Monty got hurt last year, this was a
nice even split between these two backs. I think Genty
more resembles David Montgomery than he does Jamior Gibbs, which
isn't to say that he's not an awesome, awesome player
as well. I just think if you're kind of assign
him as one of those two types of backs more
(04:48):
than the other, he probably reminds me more of Monty
with the power and the contact balance. Probably the most
intriguing guy at number ten for me is Tyler Warren,
only because it's a position where there aren't a ton
of difference makers in the NFL. There are some very
good tight ends right now, but the number of guys
that can legitimately be the number one passing game option
(05:09):
on an offense that defense feels threatened by is pretty narrow. Me.
Brock Bauers in Las Vegas hasn't even reached the peak
of his powers, and he's certainly one of them. You know,
to a degree, steal Travis Kelcey, but it's George Kittle,
it's Trade McBride. The list is not long. Tyler Warren's
part of that list. That isn't to say that he
immediately leap frogs Romadunze or DJ Moore, but he's the
(05:31):
kind of guy that if Ben Jhonson wants to innovate
anything under the sun that involves a tight end, Tyler
Warren has the skill set to allow him to do
exactly that.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
This year. Ben Johnson is going to call twelve outdoor games.
Last year, being in Detroit and being in Minnesota and
all the other indoor facilities, I think you can have
a different approach because you know you're going to have
perfect conditions when you think about an outdoor tight end
like Tyler Warren, an outdoor back like Jenty. Do you
take any of those into account when you're thinking about
(06:01):
the players that could be there at ten.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think it's part of the equation. It's definitely more
prominent when we're evaluating the quarterbacks right, Not that handsize
is the end all be all, but I'm just using
that as an example where if you're playing in bad
weather and you find a quarterback with smaller hands, how
can that impact the quarterbacks ability to be secure with
the football. It's part of the equation to a degree
as far as the prospects are concerned. But really it
(06:26):
just makes me think about what kind of football do
the Bears want to play now? With Ben Jonson. I
remember that game in Chicago last year when Ben was
still coaching up the Lions, the game in which they
ran the fake trip play where Jared Goff ends up
throwing the touchdown pass. And that was a cold day, right,
I remember golf being long sleeved and gloves on and
all that. So Ben, I think, has shown himself that
(06:47):
even when the weather is not ideal, there's still going
to be a lot enough innovation here that they're going
to put Memphis on playmakers, and Tyler Warren has a
lot of great things. One thing that you can't question
Tyler Warren is that the ball and him are a
match made in heaven. Very natural playmaker. This past season
we saw him run as a wildcat quarterback from Penn State.
(07:11):
If anybody watched the USC game last year, in which
he had seventeen catches, Tyler Warren had one of these
unbelievable touchdown grabs where he's basically sprawling over a USC
defensive player. He began the play as the center. On
that play, he actually handled a shotgun snap. So just
a natural, innovative mover that I think would have a
(07:33):
lot of appeal to. Ben Johnson ended a position where
there just aren't that many guys that have the same
level of upside.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Well, he hangs out with mel Kiper Junior, the NFL
draft guru, and they just did a three round mock
draft yesterday. If I'm not mistaken for ESPN and you
guys alternated picks, Kuyper was the Bears pick at ten.
He did chose Tyler Warren. Then you chose at number
thirty nine, Trayvon Henderson, the running back of Ohio State.
Then you chose Nick Gorton at forty one from Texas
(08:02):
A and m wal Kuiper picked Arianta Ursery from Minnesota
at tackle at number seventy two. Before we go further
in your reaction to those the middle of light Chicago
Bears Draft Party is back at Soldier Field on April
twenty fourth. Celebrate our number ten pick and enjoy live
draft coverage and analysis. On field activity is a locker
room tour, a closeout sale, and more. Buy tickets now
(08:24):
at Chicago Bears dot com slash draft. So in analyzing
those and if you happen to have the tenth pick instead,
would you also have chosen Tyler Warren?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Based off the way that the board fell, I would
have gone with Tyler Warren as well. Gent not being
on the board, I think you know those two. I mean,
I don't have a definitive answer right now if both
Ashton Genzy and Tyler Warren are available. Part of the
reason why I don't have a definitive answer is I
don't think that's going to be the case. I think
if it's possible one of the two makes it there,
I don't think it's likely that both of them make
(08:55):
it to number ten overall. But moving forward to thirty
nine and forty one, Trevan Henderson is juice. This guy
is electric. He is very very capable in the passing game,
an explosive runner as well. I don't know if this
sounds like not great praise, but I am intending it
as such a few years ago when Tony Pollard broke
(09:17):
out for the Dallas Cowboys and they did a remarkable
job of maximizing him as a playmaker on the perimeter,
and some of these tosses and sweeps and even design
passes to Tony Pollard really allowed him to become this
excellent play in space player. Henderson has some between the
tackles ability, but one of the great benefits he had
this past year was playing with Quinjohn Judkins, who transferred
(09:41):
from Ole Miss to Ohio State for one season. They
were thunder and lightning, with Judkins being more the thunder
Henderson being more the lightning. I thought he was great
this path. Both of them were great this past year.
But Henderson would give the Bears kind of like microwaveable
instant offense because he's a threat every time the football
is in his hands. Shorton probably a familiar player to
(10:02):
some in Big Ten country up there in Chicago. He
was at Purdue for a pair of seasons two years ago,
so twenty twenty three he actually led the Big Ten
in sacks. He had a lesser year this year in
the sack department, just four and a half of Texas
A and M. But this guy has an incredibly advanced
arsenal of rush moves. He's just a big, powerful three
down player because he sets an edge now he is
(10:24):
unafraid to meet force with force at the point of attack.
We've talked a lot about Will Campbell, and I'm sure
if he's on the board at number ten, he'd be
a consideration for the Bears. And one of the big
question marks around new Will has been armlength. Does he
have the requis at length to handle NFL pass rushers.
I thought it rarely showed up for Will at the
college level. I thought Nick Gorton, though, is one of
(10:45):
the guys they gave him all he could handle it
because Nick's got this advanced arsenal that I mentioned earlier.
He can beat you with speed or explosion coming around
the corner. He can beat you with power kind of
running through you, and then he's got a nasty spin
move to work inside as well. So a pretty complete
player who if he had maybe a couple more inches
on him we'd be talking about, is maybe a top
(11:06):
twenty to twenty five lock.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Let's not ignore Dennis Allen because when you talk about
the Bears defensive line, even though they did bring in
a couple of guys, Grady Jarrett being one of them,
you can't ignore the role in the importance of the
three technique inside this defense. Who is that guy for you?
And I know Mason Graham has talked about it a
lot of the top of the boards, But who is
that guy for you that could possibly fall to the
(11:28):
Bears in that second round even a tenth of you?
Is that attractive?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, I think Mason Graham's probably the only one that
I would say if he's there at number ten, I'm
making the selection there as we look at thirty nine though,
and he ended up going higher than this by quite
a bit. But he's a wide range player. Walter Nolan
from Old Miss is just a fascinating player, fascinating prospect.
He can be really as good as he wants to be.
He came out of high school, as you know, one
of the number one recruits in the country. He ended
(11:56):
up at Texas A and M for a couple of
years and then transferred to Old Miss.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Switch.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We need to get used to that, by the way, now,
like guys playing multiple at multiple schools is just sort
of the norm. Uh, maybe half the guys that I've
graded in this year's class or forty percent were multi
school players. Nolan had six and a half sacks this
past year. He absolutely can destroy people with his power.
He's a very, very disruptive pass rusher. If the Bears
(12:24):
or any team is allowed is going to allow him
to just be a single gap penetrator and rush up
the field, He'll thrive in the NFL. I had him
going seventeenth in the mock to Cincinnati. But one of
the themes of this year's draft class is some player
or some team may view a player as a top
twenty guy and another team may say he's closer to
(12:44):
forty for us. A lot of variants as opposed to
last year, where I really felt like the top of
the board was pretty saturated with guys that you know,
I felt like the high end outcome for Romadunze was
like fifth or sixth overall, the low end outcome was
no worse number nine overall. I ended up playing out
that way. There's not nearly as many players with narrow
(13:05):
rangers this ranges this year as there were last year.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I got a question about something that Tom and I
discussed the other day off the air, but personally, and
maybe I'm I'm wrong. I just don't remember. But I
don't recall such a wide range of opinions from quoted scouts,
unnamed scouts, unnamed personnel guys, NFL analysts that are out
there like yourself on positional certainty of the offensive line.
(13:32):
We got guards that should be tackles. We've got tackles
should be guards, guards that could be centers, tackles to
be centers. Do you agree in all your analysis you
started at DESPN in twenty twelve, I don't recall.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I think that's a correct assessment of it. I
think that what it comes down to, this has been
my process at least this year, is you just got
to pick a spot for guys and you got to decide. So,
if it's a tackle, who you projected guard? Why are
you doing that? It's because of the arm length? Is
it because of the body mass. There's a guy, Marcus
Bow from PERNW, another big ten guy who I think
is a guarter center because he's three hundred and six pounds.
(14:04):
I just don't see that many right tackles or left
tackles at three hundred and six pounds because this year
mass whereas Will Campbell again highly discussed players. The guard
is the tackle. I think he's a tackle. I don't
care about the thirty two and five eighth inch arms
because the tape's too good. So to me, it is
really just planting your flag on a player at a
specific position because you have conviction for why that spot
(14:28):
makes sense. But make no mistake about it, there is
a ton of variants based off or based off of
whoever you talk to on a given day about a
specific player.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Maybe this is off the radar completely, but you have
a guy like Trey Hendrickson who is still out there.
Could his name factor in the draft if there's a trade,
if there's someone that you cover it up there that
maybe he's part of a deal or are we talking
about him in a month or two.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I think it's possible the draft to create some mac
for this reason. If Cincinnati is going to trade Trey Henderson,
and that's still an if. The big thing about Cincinnati
and doing so is they're gonna want capital this year, right,
They're not gonna want to trade Trey Hendrickson, which makes
them decidedly worse for a twenty twenty six pick because
they don't get to rape the benefits for a full season.
(15:18):
So I'll lie Aj Brown a few years ago on
the drafts and every year there are a couple guys
whose names float right around the draft itself. Trey Hendrickson
is probably amongst the most natural candidates to consider as
a possible trade name in the next seven to ten days.
I don't know that I would bet on it per se,
but you can imagine Cincinnati will be at least getting
(15:39):
calls from teams to say, I know there's no deal
done yet with Trey. Does that mean that if we
offer up insert trade package here, we could at least
have a conversation about it.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
We'll let you go, but I want to remind everybody
your excellence. But it also started, if I'm not mistaken,
you were pulled out of a crowd and a New
England Patriots Rocky mintiicamp to be a ball boy in
high school and this is where it all started.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, the first ever exposure to the NFL life was
being a ball boy, a real Patriots rookie Mini Camp
and I got tackled pretty good, all good. I survived.
I showed a little bit of toughness, not too much.
And that was how it all started. And some fun
pit stops along the way, and now here we are
at ESPN talking.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And working with Ryan Poles in Kansas sty at a time,
and that's kind.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I knew him when I knew at the time he
was bound for a GM career, So I always loved
watching his you know, success personally and hoping that the
Bears have a ton of wins this year as well.
And I do have a lot of confidence and not
just the person he is, the GM he is, and
I do believe this is a big breakthrough year for
the Bears.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Appreciate you very much. Thank you so much in this
busy time.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Thank you guys, Thank you Field.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
He actually was a football player too. Let's not forget
that he played at Wesleyan University and lacrosse safety, but
really wanted to be in football and got involved with
the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
In high school.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
He worked there for several years, then college, then the Chiefs,
worked with Todd Hayley when he was the head coach
of the Chiefs. He was assistant to head coach, which
is now a popular position in the NFL. Maybe that
was one of the rare, rare ones at that time.
He was charting defensive plays. So just how he presents himself,
he's always optimistically powerful. He's just got a presence about him.
(17:30):
I really appreciate his work.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, you know the thing about it that we were
talking the other day, I was watching the Life of
Mike Dick on TV and you look in the background
when he was playing for coach George Hallis and all
the coaches on the sideline. There is only a few
of them, but they are all football guys. Now the
responsibility of the coaching staff has expanded to so many
roles that you have guys that create different niches or
(17:55):
kind of carve out what their interest is in football.
And it's not all the x's and o's of tackling
and blocking. A lot of it has to do with
the analytics, studies and all the other different elements and
segments that put together a football team nowadays. So it
doesn't surprise me. And if you're passion that passionate about
the sport, then there is a spot for you.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
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It's a now official. The Bear's announcing Kydler Gordon, the
first pick of the Ryan Poles era. He was the
(18:38):
second round pick they did not have first picked that year,
but now the highest paid nickel corner in the NFL.
Tommy three years, forty mil thirty one point twenty five
guaranteed he'll get another bite of the apple of all
goes well. Spider Man wearing that number six probably one
of my favorite Bears players because of the style by
which he plays and the attitude he carries. Love it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You know, we talk about the different emergences of people
on coaching staffs, then you talk about the emergence of
the nickel cornerback and the importance and their role they
have on a football team. Today. It is no defensive line, linebacker,
defensive back. They have an equally important role as a starter.
Is any position on the football team, and I think
Kyler Gordon has proved to this organization, how much the
(19:22):
sport means to him, how much he means to the team.
You always use the word deployable, and from the line
of scrimmage to the defensive backfield. He can be put
in place anywhere. So I'm super excited for that kid. Man.
I love his energy, I love his excitement. He does
things in full pads that I never thought could be done,
talking about front flips on his way to being introduced
(19:44):
as a starter. So I'm super happy for him and
his accomplishment so far.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We're also starting to see the locker room get rewarded
for those players that have a future with the Bears.
So you got the extensions, you got Jalen Johnson last offseason.
You had Cole com a couple of years ago, you
had Andrew Billings a couple of years ago. Players like
that player Andrew Billings carries a very big impact in
that locker room. DJ Moore was extended as well last summer.
(20:11):
So these are significant signs that things are moving in
a certain direction. Tom in Chicago, So these are very
important signings.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
It's a positive reflection inside the locker room because if
you're a guy that's been brought to the Bears or
you're a homegrown guy from the day that you were drafted,
then you have an opportunity to earn quite a living
if you do everything that's required of you, asked of you,
and you make those incremental improvements throughout the course of
your career. So I just think that when you see
(20:42):
a guy like Kyler Gordon walking into the locker room
and Cole and all the other guys, it's just a
positive reflection to what the capabilities are for you if
you do what's required of you.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
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(21:15):
as you've been listening and you've been following all these
mock drafts from everywhere, and I don't know where you're
gonna place your weight, Like, which analysts do you listen
to the most? For example, I'm not asking you to.
But you know, there's certain guys that I just lean towards.
But when you weigh that tenth pick, should they keep
that pick? Because there's not been a first round trade yet.
(21:35):
There may not be until draft night, if any, but
I have a suspicion there will be. But when you're
in the top ten, I think the belief is you
kind of especially top five, but top ten, you kind
of weigh the premium spots. Right, you're talking about left tackle,
you're talking about edge rusher, you're talking about an impact
three technique, you're talking about cornerback, you're talking about quarterback.
(21:57):
But are you open to the con Hey, certain players
at certain positions, like tight end, like running back, like
wide receiver, sometimes you invest in those spots because they
just happen to be the best player rated on your board,
regardless of position.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You know, in the fantasy world of draft, if you
have a player that's designated your guy and he's there,
then you run to the podium. However, this year, unlike
any other year, I think the most important device in
the draft room is going to be the telephone. Because Jeff,
my phone is on. I'm working the phone. I think
we saw a behind the scenes shot of the draft
(22:36):
room last year when they're talking about Jeff King making
a deal passing it to Ryan Poles, and maybe it
was for Austin Booker. I'm not sure who it was for. However,
this year, it's the most complicated draft I've ever looked at,
and I just think that my phone is going to
be on until the last second, and if someone comes
(22:57):
up there and tries it makes me a deal that
I get a number of picks, and I still think
my guy is going to be down. You know, wherever
that pick is extended to me.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
I'm going to talk.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I'm negotiating my deal. My deals are open. So that's
the way I'm looking at this draft.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And then at number ten, are you okay, like I
alluded to, if it's a non if whatever the league
calls a premium position, the ones that get paid the most,
If it's not one of those positions, that you still
okay with it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
So am I? If If Ryan Poles feels strong about
the player that he has designated that fits into a
role at that tenth pick, and they come in here
and they start creating competitiveness or improvement or whatever it
is at whatever position he's thinking about, be positive and
move forward.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
The wayfield Yates described some of those players, and I
started to think about and digest what he's saying with
what has already in place, especially offensively. It got me
really excited.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I gotta be honest to me, I think more about
Ben Johnson because you know, there is a template of
success in culture change, in offensive profitability, playing at home
and playing on the road equally as well.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Those questions, they were great, Those are great, But.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
You know the thing about it is the ty warn pick. Listen.
You see what he did with Laporta immediately in Detroit.
You think of Jamiir Gibbs and what he did with
the one two punch in the backfield. You look at
what their offensive line did for really the alpha male
status of that locker room. What Hutchinson did? You know?
(24:39):
So I look at Ben, you know, I look at
his example, and I take, you know, a lot of
his advice and suggestions going into this draft as much
as anybody.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Thank you to our partner CDW and Lenovo who make
amazing happen. Learn more at CDW dot com slash Lenovo.
You know, recently Ryan was on ESPN Sports center, and
they asked him to describe the kind of player he's
looking for in the first round. He used one word toughness,
and that then was added on. We're looking to establish
(25:11):
an identity to kick this thing off and really get
this team going in the right direction. I don't care
what position you play if you bring that that attitude
of toughness and the physicality that this team is. Coaching
staff has been talking about this hair on fire approach
to what the Bears want to be. You know again,
I don't think anyone should really wring their hands or
(25:32):
gnash their teeth about what position that player plays. I
really listen, if they hadn't done anything on the offensive
line in free agency or anything in the off sea,
i'd be concerned. Yeah, you got to just be narrow cast.
But no, I am open to anything right now. I
really am. All right.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I'm going to guarantee you something. For the first time
in my football life, I can guarantee you they're not
going to draft a quarterback in the first round. But
Halo Williams put a displayoff toughness on the record that
is at admirable by everybody who watches the sport of football.
But when you're talking about toughness and the other positions,
(26:12):
anybody can be that character and toughness is an essential
and to play the sport at the level and the
culture changing that Ryan wants here. So whatever position you
deem that that the first guy you're gonna pick, you
know toughness is a prerequisite for that role.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
A lot of chatter going on that's touch on it
quick around the league because it's going to impact the draft.
Shador Sanders I didn't think would be a top ten pick.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
He might be.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Giants are going to work him out on Thursday. Could
it be just for show? Who knows? But then you
got the New Orleans Saints situation with Derek Carr and
basically without him if he is truly injured, there's no
quarterback there. So Shod Sanders could wind up at number
nine or there and well, who in the Pittsburgh Steelers
is going to have a quarterback? Is Aaron Rodgers still
in play? I mean it's pretty fascinating. In a year
(27:03):
without the big heavy quarterback talk and who's going to
stack the quarterbacks, it's still a big topic.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
No matter what you know, there are secondary conversations about
every one of those teams you brought up, Brian da
Ball says he doesn't like going to pro days because
he'd rather see him in person. And then you got
the New Orleans Saints who just became aware that car
maybe has a shoulder issue that keeps him out of
the season. They have Spencer Rattler in the background. He's
(27:31):
five to eleven, one ninety five. Shador Sanders is six
foot one ninety five, so it's basically the same template
of quarterback. And then the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know, man,
I just I'm so confused by that situation. Unless they
have an underground conversation already going.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, Rabbits, they're gonna pull out of the hat.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Right yeah, and that could involve Aaron Rodgers. So I mean,
you know, but you know, I don't want to say it.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Pub Just leave it there, Tommy, leave it there, all right.
One final question to wrap us up, A fun question,
all right. The reason I bring it up because I
know you watched The Masters and it was phenomenal. The
finish was phenomenal, the drama was phenomenal. Uh. The fun
question of the day for you, Big tom Now you
got to play with me here Okay, did you know
(28:22):
there was photos taken that were put on X which
you don't see. But Ken Griffy Junior was given a
credential to be a photographer in the photographer pool at
the Masters. He's taking it up as his retirement hobby,
and he captured a beautiful couple of beautiful shots of
Rory on his knees and you know, winning his first Masters.
The emotion was coming through. So my question to you,
(28:45):
Tom Thayer, because you've retired once from football as a player,
your retirement still to come from maybe another two decades
as an announcer. What is your retirement hobby? What will
be Tanteayer's retirement hobby.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
I'll tell you what. If I had a fenced in yard,
I would be a dog rescuer. I would go to
to these different type of rescue housing for dogs. And
if there was a dog that was in a cage
for a year or that's just needs a passionate, loving existence.
(29:25):
If I had a fenced in yard, I would have
ten dogs, because you know, in my life that's what
I've grown to know and love, and I would have
some type of passion plan for dogs that need it.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I like it. I like it big time. That is
part of your passion. There's not a day that does
go by you don't talk about your dogs or other dogs.
All right, Tommy, good job. The middle of Light Chicago
Bears Draft Party a celebration for everyone, and we want
you to be a part of it. Enjoying electric atmosphere,
delicious food and drinks, and exclusive close out sale, plenty
of photo ops in more. Buy tickets now at Chicago
(30:01):
bears dot com Slash Draft Special. Thanks to our special
guest Field Yates from ESPN for Tom There, I'm Jeff Jonahak.
Thanks for listening everybody. As always, please subscribe and join
us on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Big week Ahead, Bear Down, Everybody,
Gout open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown pairs. I
am Jeff Jonia Blitz is not done go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche Good. I don't want
to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Pressure coming is a big trouble dot gos Motest Sweat.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera, brought to you by Miller Lighte with
the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It's mock draft Mania right now. So many opinions, so
many ideas, so much uncertainty, and we tackle it all
with you here on episode number one forty of the
Bears et cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. We are brought to you
by Miller Lite and we kick off this week's program
with our special guest ESPN insider and analyst Field Yates.
(00:54):
Catch him at at Field Yates on x YouTube dot
com slash at e NFL. He is all things classy,
all things NFL, and in our business, that's how praise
feel because everybody I talked to classy, nicest guy in
the business. So thank you so much, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Thank you for that great introduction and thanks for having
me on. Guys. I'm looking forward and talking all things well,
it doesn't have to be just Bears, but I imagine lots
of things Bears and pick number ten overall is they've
got one of the more exciting outlooks right now, free
picks in the top forty one, and a roster that
I think is ready to take off.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
All right, Why do you feel it's ready to take off?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, I think that the quarterback is in place, and
it's a transition, no doubt, as Kaylee Williams learned last
year first year going from the college life to the
NFL life. But I do feel as though there is
much more harmony right now between the talent in place
and the coaching staff to lead that talent in place.
You know, Ben Johnson inarguably one of the best play
callers that we have seen over the past at least
(01:56):
half decade and maybe even further back than that, and
it feels like koheshould he has with Caleb Williams is
going to go a long way to allowing this roster
toke a big step forward. And then on top of that,
nothing that Bears can't address the offensive line further, but
feeling a lot more confident about the starting five at
minimum right now than we did at this time last year.
(02:17):
Along the offensive line makes me feel as though a
big jump is in place. And then on defense, the
defense actually was okay for much of last year, maybe
even better than okay for much of last year. It's
just harder to see that effort defensively when your offense
is still figuring things out for significant portions of the season.
So the pieces in place, the coaching staff in place,
(02:39):
an opportunity to compete in this NFC North so Field.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I was drafted four years before you were born, nineteen
eighty three draft, and the nineteen eighty three draft that
there was a lot of guys that were sentenced on't
you know Elway was going to go number one, you know,
Bruce Matthews and Jimbo Kover and all these guys and
so on and so forth. So now we have a
template of success, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, play caller,
(03:04):
when you look at a position out there that the
Bears still need to run that type of offense that
Ben's familiar with. In Detroit, we saw Jamiir Gibbs, we
saw Laporta. We saw the growth and the development of
those types of star players. What do you project for
Ben Johnson as much as the Bears.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know, Ryan Poults talked about this after they had
made the trade for Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney and
then signed Drew Dolman. Is that what they had accomplished
was they had really opened the board up at number ten. Right,
if you don't make all of those moves, or don't
make two out of those three moves, we might be
sitting here staying to them to ourselves, all right, Bears
are taking a tackle or taking a guard at ten,
(03:44):
it's a lock. You might as well put it in sharpie.
But because of the fact that if they played a
game tomorrow and Braxton Jones is fully recovered from that
ankle surgery, this is a team that has it starting
five penciled in. So if the board falls in a
way that Ashton Genty or Tyler Warren, or even when
Campbell is available, the Bears can have a thoughtful conversation
(04:05):
about what direction they want to turn. You know, Ashton Genty,
I think is going to end up drawing comparisons to
one of the Lions running backs because of the fact
that people think of it as a one two punch
and that has sort of been associated with Ben Johnson.
I think they had significant success last year, not just
because those two players and David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs
are talented, but also because rarely was it ever we
(04:28):
need just one of you to tote the rock entirely
up until Monty got hurt last year, this was a
nice even split between these two backs. I think Genty
more resembles David Montgomery than he does Jamior Gibbs, which
isn't to say that he's not an awesome, awesome player
as well. I just think if you're kind of assign
him as one of those two types of backs more
(04:48):
than the other, he probably reminds me more of Monty
with the power and the contact balance. Probably the most
intriguing guy at number ten for me is Tyler Warren,
only because it's a position where there aren't a ton
of difference makers in the NFL. There are some very
good tight ends right now, but the number of guys
that can legitimately be the number one passing game option
(05:09):
on an offense that defense feels threatened by is pretty narrow. Me.
Brock Bauers in Las Vegas hasn't even reached the peak
of his powers, and he's certainly one of them. You know,
to a degree, steal Travis Kelcey, but it's George Kittle,
it's Trade McBride. The list is not long. Tyler Warren's
part of that list. That isn't to say that he
immediately leap frogs Romadunze or DJ Moore, but he's the
(05:31):
kind of guy that if Ben Jhonson wants to innovate
anything under the sun that involves a tight end, Tyler
Warren has the skill set to allow him to do
exactly that.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
This year. Ben Johnson is going to call twelve outdoor games.
Last year, being in Detroit and being in Minnesota and
all the other indoor facilities, I think you can have
a different approach because you know you're going to have
perfect conditions when you think about an outdoor tight end
like Tyler Warren, an outdoor back like Jenty. Do you
take any of those into account when you're thinking about
(06:01):
the players that could be there at ten.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think it's part of the equation. It's definitely more
prominent when we're evaluating the quarterbacks right, Not that handsize
is the end all be all, but I'm just using
that as an example where if you're playing in bad
weather and you find a quarterback with smaller hands, how
can that impact the quarterbacks ability to be secure with
the football. It's part of the equation to a degree
as far as the prospects are concerned. But really it
(06:26):
just makes me think about what kind of football do
the Bears want to play now? With Ben Jonson. I
remember that game in Chicago last year when Ben was
still coaching up the Lions, the game in which they
ran the fake trip play where Jared Goff ends up
throwing the touchdown pass. And that was a cold day, right,
I remember golf being long sleeved and gloves on and
all that. So Ben, I think, has shown himself that
(06:47):
even when the weather is not ideal, there's still going
to be a lot enough innovation here that they're going
to put Memphis on playmakers, and Tyler Warren has a
lot of great things. One thing that you can't question
Tyler Warren is that the ball and him are a
match made in heaven. Very natural playmaker. This past season
we saw him run as a wildcat quarterback from Penn State.
(07:11):
If anybody watched the USC game last year, in which
he had seventeen catches, Tyler Warren had one of these
unbelievable touchdown grabs where he's basically sprawling over a USC
defensive player. He began the play as the center. On
that play, he actually handled a shotgun snap. So just
a natural, innovative mover that I think would have a
(07:33):
lot of appeal to. Ben Johnson ended a position where
there just aren't that many guys that have the same
level of upside.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Well, he hangs out with mel Kiper Junior, the NFL
draft guru, and they just did a three round mock
draft yesterday. If I'm not mistaken for ESPN and you
guys alternated picks, Kuyper was the Bears pick at ten.
He did chose Tyler Warren. Then you chose at number
thirty nine, Trayvon Henderson, the running back of Ohio State.
Then you chose Nick Gorton at forty one from Texas
(08:02):
A and m wal Kuiper picked Arianta Ursery from Minnesota
at tackle at number seventy two. Before we go further
in your reaction to those the middle of light Chicago
Bears Draft Party is back at Soldier Field on April
twenty fourth. Celebrate our number ten pick and enjoy live
draft coverage and analysis. On field activity is a locker
room tour, a closeout sale, and more. Buy tickets now
(08:24):
at Chicago Bears dot com slash draft. So in analyzing
those and if you happen to have the tenth pick instead,
would you also have chosen Tyler Warren?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Based off the way that the board fell, I would
have gone with Tyler Warren as well. Gent not being
on the board, I think you know those two. I mean,
I don't have a definitive answer right now if both
Ashton Genzy and Tyler Warren are available. Part of the
reason why I don't have a definitive answer is I
don't think that's going to be the case. I think
if it's possible one of the two makes it there,
I don't think it's likely that both of them make
(08:55):
it to number ten overall. But moving forward to thirty
nine and forty one, Trevan Henderson is juice. This guy
is electric. He is very very capable in the passing game,
an explosive runner as well. I don't know if this
sounds like not great praise, but I am intending it
as such a few years ago when Tony Pollard broke
(09:17):
out for the Dallas Cowboys and they did a remarkable
job of maximizing him as a playmaker on the perimeter,
and some of these tosses and sweeps and even design
passes to Tony Pollard really allowed him to become this
excellent play in space player. Henderson has some between the
tackles ability, but one of the great benefits he had
this past year was playing with Quinjohn Judkins, who transferred
(09:41):
from Ole Miss to Ohio State for one season. They
were thunder and lightning, with Judkins being more the thunder
Henderson being more the lightning. I thought he was great
this path. Both of them were great this past year.
But Henderson would give the Bears kind of like microwaveable
instant offense because he's a threat every time the football
is in his hands. Shorton probably a familiar player to
(10:02):
some in Big Ten country up there in Chicago. He
was at Purdue for a pair of seasons two years ago,
so twenty twenty three he actually led the Big Ten
in sacks. He had a lesser year this year in
the sack department, just four and a half of Texas
A and M. But this guy has an incredibly advanced
arsenal of rush moves. He's just a big, powerful three
down player because he sets an edge now he is
(10:24):
unafraid to meet force with force at the point of attack.
We've talked a lot about Will Campbell, and I'm sure
if he's on the board at number ten, he'd be
a consideration for the Bears. And one of the big
question marks around new Will has been armlength. Does he
have the requis at length to handle NFL pass rushers.
I thought it rarely showed up for Will at the
college level. I thought Nick Gorton, though, is one of
(10:45):
the guys they gave him all he could handle it
because Nick's got this advanced arsenal that I mentioned earlier.
He can beat you with speed or explosion coming around
the corner. He can beat you with power kind of
running through you, and then he's got a nasty spin
move to work inside as well. So a pretty complete
player who if he had maybe a couple more inches
on him we'd be talking about, is maybe a top
(11:06):
twenty to twenty five lock.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Let's not ignore Dennis Allen because when you talk about
the Bears defensive line, even though they did bring in
a couple of guys, Grady Jarrett being one of them,
you can't ignore the role in the importance of the
three technique inside this defense. Who is that guy for you?
And I know Mason Graham has talked about it a
lot of the top of the boards, But who is
that guy for you that could possibly fall to the
(11:28):
Bears in that second round even a tenth of you?
Is that attractive?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, I think Mason Graham's probably the only one that
I would say if he's there at number ten, I'm
making the selection there as we look at thirty nine though,
and he ended up going higher than this by quite
a bit. But he's a wide range player. Walter Nolan
from Old Miss is just a fascinating player, fascinating prospect.
He can be really as good as he wants to be.
He came out of high school, as you know, one
of the number one recruits in the country. He ended
(11:56):
up at Texas A and M for a couple of
years and then transferred to Old Miss.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Switch.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We need to get used to that, by the way, now,
like guys playing multiple at multiple schools is just sort
of the norm. Uh, maybe half the guys that I've
graded in this year's class or forty percent were multi
school players. Nolan had six and a half sacks this
past year. He absolutely can destroy people with his power.
He's a very, very disruptive pass rusher. If the Bears
(12:24):
or any team is allowed is going to allow him
to just be a single gap penetrator and rush up
the field, He'll thrive in the NFL. I had him
going seventeenth in the mock to Cincinnati. But one of
the themes of this year's draft class is some player
or some team may view a player as a top
twenty guy and another team may say he's closer to
(12:44):
forty for us. A lot of variants as opposed to
last year, where I really felt like the top of
the board was pretty saturated with guys that you know,
I felt like the high end outcome for Romadunze was
like fifth or sixth overall, the low end outcome was
no worse number nine overall. I ended up playing out
that way. There's not nearly as many players with narrow
(13:05):
rangers this ranges this year as there were last year.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I got a question about something that Tom and I
discussed the other day off the air, but personally, and
maybe I'm I'm wrong. I just don't remember. But I
don't recall such a wide range of opinions from quoted scouts,
unnamed scouts, unnamed personnel guys, NFL analysts that are out
there like yourself on positional certainty of the offensive line.
(13:32):
We got guards that should be tackles. We've got tackles
should be guards, guards that could be centers, tackles to
be centers. Do you agree in all your analysis you
started at DESPN in twenty twelve, I don't recall.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I think that's a correct assessment of it. I
think that what it comes down to, this has been
my process at least this year, is you just got
to pick a spot for guys and you got to decide. So,
if it's a tackle, who you projected guard? Why are
you doing that? It's because of the arm length? Is
it because of the body mass. There's a guy, Marcus
Bow from PERNW, another big ten guy who I think
is a guarter center because he's three hundred and six pounds.
(14:04):
I just don't see that many right tackles or left
tackles at three hundred and six pounds because this year
mass whereas Will Campbell again highly discussed players. The guard
is the tackle. I think he's a tackle. I don't
care about the thirty two and five eighth inch arms
because the tape's too good. So to me, it is
really just planting your flag on a player at a
specific position because you have conviction for why that spot
(14:28):
makes sense. But make no mistake about it, there is
a ton of variants based off or based off of
whoever you talk to on a given day about a
specific player.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Maybe this is off the radar completely, but you have
a guy like Trey Hendrickson who is still out there.
Could his name factor in the draft if there's a trade,
if there's someone that you cover it up there that
maybe he's part of a deal or are we talking
about him in a month or two.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I think it's possible the draft to create some mac
for this reason. If Cincinnati is going to trade Trey Henderson,
and that's still an if. The big thing about Cincinnati
and doing so is they're gonna want capital this year, right,
They're not gonna want to trade Trey Hendrickson, which makes
them decidedly worse for a twenty twenty six pick because
they don't get to rape the benefits for a full season.
(15:18):
So I'll lie Aj Brown a few years ago on
the drafts and every year there are a couple guys
whose names float right around the draft itself. Trey Hendrickson
is probably amongst the most natural candidates to consider as
a possible trade name in the next seven to ten days.
I don't know that I would bet on it per se,
but you can imagine Cincinnati will be at least getting
(15:39):
calls from teams to say, I know there's no deal
done yet with Trey. Does that mean that if we
offer up insert trade package here, we could at least
have a conversation about it.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
We'll let you go, but I want to remind everybody
your excellence. But it also started, if I'm not mistaken,
you were pulled out of a crowd and a New
England Patriots Rocky mintiicamp to be a ball boy in
high school and this is where it all started.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, the first ever exposure to the NFL life was
being a ball boy, a real Patriots rookie Mini Camp
and I got tackled pretty good, all good. I survived.
I showed a little bit of toughness, not too much.
And that was how it all started. And some fun
pit stops along the way, and now here we are
at ESPN talking.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And working with Ryan Poles in Kansas sty at a time,
and that's kind.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I knew him when I knew at the time he
was bound for a GM career, So I always loved
watching his you know, success personally and hoping that the
Bears have a ton of wins this year as well.
And I do have a lot of confidence and not
just the person he is, the GM he is, and
I do believe this is a big breakthrough year for
the Bears.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Appreciate you very much. Thank you so much in this
busy time.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Thank you guys, Thank you Field.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
He actually was a football player too. Let's not forget
that he played at Wesleyan University and lacrosse safety, but
really wanted to be in football and got involved with
the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
In high school.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
He worked there for several years, then college, then the Chiefs,
worked with Todd Hayley when he was the head coach
of the Chiefs. He was assistant to head coach, which
is now a popular position in the NFL. Maybe that
was one of the rare, rare ones at that time.
He was charting defensive plays. So just how he presents himself,
he's always optimistically powerful. He's just got a presence about him.
(17:30):
I really appreciate his work.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Yeah, you know the thing about it that we were
talking the other day, I was watching the Life of
Mike Dick on TV and you look in the background
when he was playing for coach George Hallis and all
the coaches on the sideline. There is only a few
of them, but they are all football guys. Now the
responsibility of the coaching staff has expanded to so many
roles that you have guys that create different niches or
(17:55):
kind of carve out what their interest is in football.
And it's not all the x's and o's of tackling
and blocking. A lot of it has to do with
the analytics, studies and all the other different elements and
segments that put together a football team nowadays. So it
doesn't surprise me. And if you're passion that passionate about
the sport, then there is a spot for you.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
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It's a now official. The Bear's announcing Kydler Gordon, the
first pick of the Ryan Poles era. He was the
(18:38):
second round pick they did not have first picked that year,
but now the highest paid nickel corner in the NFL.
Tommy three years, forty mil thirty one point twenty five
guaranteed he'll get another bite of the apple of all
goes well. Spider Man wearing that number six probably one
of my favorite Bears players because of the style by
which he plays and the attitude he carries. Love it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You know, we talk about the different emergences of people
on coaching staffs, then you talk about the emergence of
the nickel cornerback and the importance and their role they
have on a football team. Today. It is no defensive line, linebacker,
defensive back. They have an equally important role as a starter.
Is any position on the football team, and I think
Kyler Gordon has proved to this organization, how much the
(19:22):
sport means to him, how much he means to the team.
You always use the word deployable, and from the line
of scrimmage to the defensive backfield. He can be put
in place anywhere. So I'm super excited for that kid. Man.
I love his energy, I love his excitement. He does
things in full pads that I never thought could be done,
talking about front flips on his way to being introduced
(19:44):
as a starter. So I'm super happy for him and
his accomplishment so far.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
We're also starting to see the locker room get rewarded
for those players that have a future with the Bears.
So you got the extensions, you got Jalen Johnson last offseason.
You had Cole com a couple of years ago, you
had Andrew Billings a couple of years ago. Players like
that player Andrew Billings carries a very big impact in
that locker room. DJ Moore was extended as well last summer.
(20:11):
So these are significant signs that things are moving in
a certain direction. Tom in Chicago, So these are very
important signings.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
It's a positive reflection inside the locker room because if
you're a guy that's been brought to the Bears or
you're a homegrown guy from the day that you were drafted,
then you have an opportunity to earn quite a living
if you do everything that's required of you, asked of you,
and you make those incremental improvements throughout the course of
your career. So I just think that when you see
(20:42):
a guy like Kyler Gordon walking into the locker room
and Cole and all the other guys, it's just a
positive reflection to what the capabilities are for you if
you do what's required of you.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
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(21:15):
as you've been listening and you've been following all these
mock drafts from everywhere, and I don't know where you're
gonna place your weight, Like, which analysts do you listen
to the most? For example, I'm not asking you to.
But you know, there's certain guys that I just lean towards.
But when you weigh that tenth pick, should they keep
that pick? Because there's not been a first round trade yet.
(21:35):
There may not be until draft night, if any, but
I have a suspicion there will be. But when you're
in the top ten, I think the belief is you
kind of especially top five, but top ten, you kind
of weigh the premium spots. Right, you're talking about left tackle,
you're talking about edge rusher, you're talking about an impact
three technique, you're talking about cornerback, you're talking about quarterback.
(21:57):
But are you open to the con Hey, certain players
at certain positions, like tight end, like running back, like
wide receiver, sometimes you invest in those spots because they
just happen to be the best player rated on your board,
regardless of position.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You know, in the fantasy world of draft, if you
have a player that's designated your guy and he's there,
then you run to the podium. However, this year, unlike
any other year, I think the most important device in
the draft room is going to be the telephone. Because Jeff,
my phone is on. I'm working the phone. I think
we saw a behind the scenes shot of the draft
(22:36):
room last year when they're talking about Jeff King making
a deal passing it to Ryan Poles, and maybe it
was for Austin Booker. I'm not sure who it was for. However,
this year, it's the most complicated draft I've ever looked at,
and I just think that my phone is going to
be on until the last second, and if someone comes
(22:57):
up there and tries it makes me a deal that
I get a number of picks, and I still think
my guy is going to be down. You know, wherever
that pick is extended to me.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
I'm going to talk.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I'm negotiating my deal. My deals are open. So that's
the way I'm looking at this draft.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
And then at number ten, are you okay, like I
alluded to, if it's a non if whatever the league
calls a premium position, the ones that get paid the most,
If it's not one of those positions, that you still
okay with it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
So am I? If If Ryan Poles feels strong about
the player that he has designated that fits into a
role at that tenth pick, and they come in here
and they start creating competitiveness or improvement or whatever it
is at whatever position he's thinking about, be positive and
move forward.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
The wayfield Yates described some of those players, and I
started to think about and digest what he's saying with
what has already in place, especially offensively. It got me
really excited.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I gotta be honest to me, I think more about
Ben Johnson because you know, there is a template of
success in culture change, in offensive profitability, playing at home
and playing on the road equally as well.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Those questions, they were great, Those are great, But.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
You know the thing about it is the ty warn pick. Listen.
You see what he did with Laporta immediately in Detroit.
You think of Jamiir Gibbs and what he did with
the one two punch in the backfield. You look at
what their offensive line did for really the alpha male
status of that locker room. What Hutchinson did? You know?
(24:39):
So I look at Ben, you know, I look at
his example, and I take, you know, a lot of
his advice and suggestions going into this draft as much
as anybody.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Thank you to our partner CDW and Lenovo who make
amazing happen. Learn more at CDW dot com slash Lenovo.
You know, recently Ryan was on ESPN Sports center, and
they asked him to describe the kind of player he's
looking for in the first round. He used one word toughness,
and that then was added on. We're looking to establish
(25:11):
an identity to kick this thing off and really get
this team going in the right direction. I don't care
what position you play if you bring that that attitude
of toughness and the physicality that this team is. Coaching
staff has been talking about this hair on fire approach
to what the Bears want to be. You know again,
I don't think anyone should really wring their hands or
(25:32):
gnash their teeth about what position that player plays. I
really listen, if they hadn't done anything on the offensive
line in free agency or anything in the off sea,
i'd be concerned. Yeah, you got to just be narrow cast.
But no, I am open to anything right now. I
really am. All right.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I'm going to guarantee you something. For the first time
in my football life, I can guarantee you they're not
going to draft a quarterback in the first round. But
Halo Williams put a displayoff toughness on the record that
is at admirable by everybody who watches the sport of football.
But when you're talking about toughness and the other positions,
(26:12):
anybody can be that character and toughness is an essential
and to play the sport at the level and the
culture changing that Ryan wants here. So whatever position you
deem that that the first guy you're gonna pick, you
know toughness is a prerequisite for that role.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
A lot of chatter going on that's touch on it
quick around the league because it's going to impact the draft.
Shador Sanders I didn't think would be a top ten pick.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
He might be.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Giants are going to work him out on Thursday. Could
it be just for show? Who knows? But then you
got the New Orleans Saints situation with Derek Carr and
basically without him if he is truly injured, there's no
quarterback there. So Shod Sanders could wind up at number
nine or there and well, who in the Pittsburgh Steelers
is going to have a quarterback? Is Aaron Rodgers still
in play? I mean it's pretty fascinating. In a year
(27:03):
without the big heavy quarterback talk and who's going to
stack the quarterbacks, it's still a big topic.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
No matter what you know, there are secondary conversations about
every one of those teams you brought up, Brian da
Ball says he doesn't like going to pro days because
he'd rather see him in person. And then you got
the New Orleans Saints who just became aware that car
maybe has a shoulder issue that keeps him out of
the season. They have Spencer Rattler in the background. He's
(27:31):
five to eleven, one ninety five. Shador Sanders is six
foot one ninety five, so it's basically the same template
of quarterback. And then the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know, man,
I just I'm so confused by that situation. Unless they
have an underground conversation already going.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, Rabbits, they're gonna pull out of the hat.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Right yeah, and that could involve Aaron Rodgers. So I mean,
you know, but you know, I don't want to say it.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Pub Just leave it there, Tommy, leave it there, all right.
One final question to wrap us up, A fun question,
all right. The reason I bring it up because I
know you watched The Masters and it was phenomenal. The
finish was phenomenal, the drama was phenomenal. Uh. The fun
question of the day for you, Big tom Now you
got to play with me here Okay, did you know
(28:22):
there was photos taken that were put on X which
you don't see. But Ken Griffy Junior was given a
credential to be a photographer in the photographer pool at
the Masters. He's taking it up as his retirement hobby,
and he captured a beautiful couple of beautiful shots of
Rory on his knees and you know, winning his first Masters.
The emotion was coming through. So my question to you,
(28:45):
Tom Thayer, because you've retired once from football as a player,
your retirement still to come from maybe another two decades
as an announcer. What is your retirement hobby? What will
be Tanteayer's retirement hobby.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
I'll tell you what. If I had a fenced in yard,
I would be a dog rescuer. I would go to
to these different type of rescue housing for dogs. And
if there was a dog that was in a cage
for a year or that's just needs a passionate, loving existence.
(29:25):
If I had a fenced in yard, I would have
ten dogs, because you know, in my life that's what
I've grown to know and love, and I would have
some type of passion plan for dogs that need it.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I like it. I like it big time. That is
part of your passion. There's not a day that does
go by you don't talk about your dogs or other dogs.
All right, Tommy, good job. The middle of Light Chicago
Bears Draft Party a celebration for everyone, and we want
you to be a part of it. Enjoying electric atmosphere,
delicious food and drinks, and exclusive close out sale, plenty
of photo ops in more. Buy tickets now at Chicago
(30:01):
bears dot com Slash Draft Special. Thanks to our special
guest Field Yates from ESPN for Tom There, I'm Jeff Jonahak.
Thanks for listening everybody. As always, please subscribe and join
us on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Big week Ahead, Bear Down, Everybody,
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