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Making Monsters: Bears Draft Recap with Ryan Roberts · 2nd City Gridiron

• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, welcome back to another episode of Making Monsters.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Taylor Dahl.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have Ryan Roberts joining us.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know him.
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: You'll find him on X, Twitter, whatever, at Ryzen Draft covering the college football in the NFL draft for A to Z sports.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ryan, I've had you on many times whether it's talking about Notre Dame prospects or the draft in general.
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: So thanks for hopping on again, and kind of overall analysis of the bear's draft this year.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now I appreciate you as always for inviting me.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was a very interesting draft.
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm even talking about Chicago was one of the more bizarre drafts I've ever been a part of, especially we got it for like that third round.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just saying I just said a little bit and thank you proud of me.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, of course.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was, I feel like coming into this draft, the conversation was there were like,
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: 15 guys with first round grades and then there was a chunk of guys that were like second third round grades and things got a little chaotic.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: So we'll talk about some of most of the bears picks and then maybe some of those undrafted guys.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I want to talk with obviously their first pick they used on Dylan Thineman Ryan.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I personally love him.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was my the top of my wish list.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that that was the one position in the bears.
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of positions.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: They could upgrade.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: but I don't think they had another starting safety after losing Briskard and Byrd in this off season they had Kobe Bryant and I just thought this instant playmaker, I didn't think he'd make it to the Bears at 25 though and so that was part of that conversation but share your thoughts on Thetaman, his fit in Chicago and just kind of falling to that 25th pick in the first round.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was a little bit surprised that he was there.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that the range, most people I've been projecting was between like 12 and 20.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously that was between the two Dallas Cowboys picks, the 12 and 20.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you thought that he would like go to Dallas, either one of those spots.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: You thought maybe it would be Minnesota at 18.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like there were a few different spots in that bucket that you thought he was most likely going to go.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Thineman getting there was a little bit of a,
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was an interesting just kind of, I don't even know what's called a massive fall because it's only like five spots or so, but I think the bears obviously are not going to complain about it because as you mentioned, with the turnover that you had and I know Kobe Bryant's a good player obviously coming over, you know, this off season, but I do think that there was a need for a guy that can be a little bit diverse.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: single-high-free safety where it's playing from depth and then at Oregon he was asked to be a little bit more of like a short zone robber playing the box a whole lot more so he's done a lot of different things and then obviously he tested to kind of verify the range that we saw especially his first couple years in college to Oregon just for whatever reason didn't ask him to do it as much shovesy playing from depth so
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's an interesting fit because I think that he's a very universally liked player because he doesn't have to fit into one role, right?
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I think that that is an interesting and important aspect of his game.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether you are a too high system, a single high system, whatever your your your preferences there, he can fit there.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that Chicago last year,
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Defensively it was like a really interesting kind of conversation because they forced a million turnovers, but they weren't actually like actually a great defense last year You know like they gave up a lot, but then they took a lot away so that they were very boomer bust defense last year I think Theonamin even though he has had some ball production particularly when he was a freshman
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the thing that he brings is that he's just a lot more consistent than maybe what you've had on the back end, like he can be in the right spot, play for multiple alignments.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that consistency aspect on top of the playmaking upside that he has, I think that that is a very needed thing for for the Chicago Bears defense.
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just needs to be a little bit more consistent from a down-to-down game to game perspective in 2026.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and to your point, I think that what we've seen out of Dennis Allen defenses in the past a secondary kind of or what which is funny because he's more of a defensive line linebacker type of guy, but his secondary has been what kind of made the defenses.
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: flourish in the past when he was there and the importance of the nickel corner and safety and how they work together and especially a versatile safety.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of you just mentioned that when being able to play free, strong in the box.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's played nickel corner at times in college too.
• 4:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: So he does so many different things.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that Dennis Allen is looking at this as just like a complete tool that he could put anywhere in a lot of the ways that
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: He wants to in last year because of the person now, he couldn't do a lot of the things that you normally see out of his defense with some of the blitzes that you would normally see out of a DA defense he just couldn't do it because you didn't have the personnel and then the ones you maybe did like a Kyler Gordon were hurt and so you really didn't get to see Kyler Gordon until the postseason and that's when you were like oh this defense isn't terrible you beat Green Bay and the first round and then have a close game against the Rams and hold Matthew Stafford who they're often said been electric to 24 I believe it was and so I do think that
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: There you had some ups and downs last year until your point it was very boomer bus.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: So getting guys that I think can fit in that Denis Allen defense and help disguise a lot of things are probably where his mind was going when when things have been felt at 25.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I would say too is I think the the interesting part of of being like being an evaluator and just evaluation in general that we don't talk about enough is you kind of have to be a little bit like yet a little bit of foresight to like what the next stage of evolution is in the game and I think that.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because for a while, it was like everybody wanted to be the Seattle Seahawks with the Legion of Boom, right?
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like they all wanted to play cover three and they all wanted those super long, like he corners outside and they wanted a strong safety type, like cam chance so they can come down into the box and they wanted old Thomas that can play from the roof.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like that's what you wanted.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: They mimic that for a long time.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then there's been iterations of different types of man coverage alignments that we've seen over the years.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then more recently, it's like now every team wants to be a match quarters team.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like, right?
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that when you talk about what the next evolution is defensively, Dylan Thineman is like a busproof player because he can do a little bit of everything, right?
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like it's not like you have to draft him to just play one specific position, one particular alignment.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: No matter where the league goes from here, offensively or defensively, I think he is a universal player in terms of like that he can fit any system that you want to play, which I think is very valuable in today's game.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and that's what the conversation this year about was okay, it's a safety, you're using your first pick on a safety and that was kind of the battle there, but I think that's one part of it when you talk about someone you can use a lot of different ways and I like that term terminology, you just use the bus proof because you can use him.
• 6:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: on different areas of the field and he has experience in all of those areas of the field.
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's not like sometimes we see, okay, they're a corner in college and now they're going to transfer to that safety in the NFL level.
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: But they never played safety.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: So how is that going to look?
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: You've seen him do all of these different things.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's what it will be really fun.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: And like I said, at part two of that is they got Cam Lewis, but to me, Cam Lewis is more of that backup depth piece in the safety room.
• 6:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so can he come in?
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You did it for Buffalo when you had to come in and play a role, but I just don't know how confident I was that that was the answer to what the bears needed at the safety position this year.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I think that overall most people were happy about theta men, the people that complained were more so like it's a safety.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: What are we doing?
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: We need an adressure because the flashy sacks are what kids, pupils attach it.
• 7:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you, you were on the back end of the run there for edges as well, right?
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because it's like the key measure or when a couple picks earlier, Malachi Lawrence want a couple picks earlier.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: And at 25, like the positional value conversation kind of goes out the window in my opinion, because it just was not a great draft class in general.
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think just taking best defender available there is,
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: a good ideology because you know we talked all off-season as a collective about you know what's too early to draft kill of downs and we did the same thing with Kyle Hamilton as we're talking about him in like the top 10 at 25 safety is just a fine value at that point especially when you have turn over so yeah I think it was a very good pick very sound pick it.
• 7:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let's move on to that next one.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: This one, some people are saying it is a reach unfortunately for the bear's Drew Dalman suddenly retires this off season and that center position that was locked in and you felt like you had your center of the future in Dalman and one of the better centers in the NFL last year, retired suddenly this off season.
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so it went from feeling very comfortable about your offensive line to all of a sudden saying, oh no, what are you going to do right there because also left tackle, Ozzie, you pillow about hurt in the playoff.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: So you lose your left tackle in your center
• 8:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: and so what felt like a very comfortable room in the offensive line turned to one where you had needs and you're in a system of Ben Johnson who the offensive line is one of the most important pieces of his entire team and he's very vocal about that and you could see that last year when they went and got Jotunie and Jonah Jackson and Drew Dalman all in one off season and then drafted Aussie to Pillow.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: So you know how important that is.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think the moment that those two guys were no longer on the team Ben Johnson was like all right I know we wanted to focus on defense this year, but we might need to switch that a little bit and they go and get Logan Jones out of Iowa another fan I did have him As a possibility for the bears maybe a little bit later So a little high for what some people wanted, but I do think when you talk about one of the best offensive linemen in college football last year at least he sticks out in that element
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think when it comes to Logan in this draft, like I think most people had an projected probably somewhere between the third and fourth round.
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he was drafted a little bit high compared to what most people believe.
• 9:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think, and I've always been this way, I only really killed draft picks when I just don't understand the process.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: In terms of like, what a team was trying to do.
• 9:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: You clearly understood what they were trying to do here.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like the Drew Dalman thing probably blindsided them a good bit this off season.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: You thought that you had him for another year or two at least.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: very quality player this past year more than quality like he was a good player for the barrisis past year so you're hoping that You could just count on that obviously in the middle of your offense the fact that that retirement happens so abruptly I mean you People can call it a reach, but like it's an understandable reach.
• 9:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean?
• 9:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you you understood why they went there
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I like Logan for obviously the zone-based system that team that utilizes movement to create movements for lack of a better terminology there, right?
• 10:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you're going to take advantage of his athleticism.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is a bit of a historical outlier in terms of size, not just his height weight, but obviously he's got incredibly short arms, and I think it's maybe the shortest since 1999 from the interior of it's alignment if I remember correctly, so like he is an outlier.
• 10:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And those types can be a little bit boomer-bust of like these undersized centers, because like I talked about evolution early.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody for a while, they're one of the small athletic centers so to be seen, a couple of those guys hit recently, but then you've also seen like Garrett Bradbury, who's been an okay center in the NFL, but like for a first round pick has kind of been an underwhelming asset, or you know, obviously drafted by Minnesota a few years ago.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that that, and also they're now, by the way.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, funny enough, but he fits, right?
• 10:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he really does fit exactly what you want to do.
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if I remember correctly, and obviously you covered the team, a lot closer than I do, the game, like kind of like a smaller contract, right?
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like it's not like they're gone.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: It felt like a band-aid.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's a good ideology in terms of,
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: They probably don't love Garrett Bradbury as an option, but he is a starting center in the National Football League that has a lot of experience.
• 11:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: You bring him in.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: You pair him in with a guy at Logan Jones who is a very similar skill set to him that one can tutor him, can help him get up to speed, but also at the end of the day, those guys are gonna compete, right?
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're gonna see if this is a situation where Logan Jones can beat him from the onset, or if it's a spot where it's like middle to season, and that's when it takes over, or if he's a complete kind of red shirt, you're guy.
• 11:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a little bit again of a, of a, I don't recall a boomer bus, but like that skill set has flourished at times, and it's also not been great in others, right?
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like there is a little bit of a wide range of outcomes here, but I think, and I, maybe this is, maybe it's a short side of me because he's only been head coach for one year.
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I just kind of trust Ben Johnson to kind of get the offensive side of the football right.
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know what to be?
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I kind of trust that.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because Drew Dalman came over last year and it's like Drew Dalman was pretty good with it.
• 12:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: But like he was better last year than he ever was at Atlanta, right?
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like you took advantage of that Caleb Williams had a magnificent second year jump under Ben Johnson.
• 12:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone seemed to improve under Ben Johnson offensively.
• 12:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's one of those picks where is it a touch high for my evaluation?
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, but do I trust it more because Ben Johnson's making the pick and he's an offensive genius also.
• 12:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and it's funny because of a few things on that number one another example of that is Jonah Jackson.
• 12:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: So Jonah Jackson obviously was with Ben and Detroit had a good season then got shipped off to the West Coast.
• 12:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Everyone was like, what are we doing?
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: He sucks.
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then when the bears got him last year, there was a lot of people really critical and he played well.
• 12:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's what how much is it schematically what Ben Johnson can do.
• 12:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I think the bottom line is the bears went from
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Caleb getting sex 68 times to 24.
• 12:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a that's a massive leap, but then also like I said you're losing two pieces of that so Ben Johnson's mind Immediately went to know I need a line who is in this range because we can see Caleb and the escape ability and the looseness and the way that he can extend the plays But we also saw the year before how sometimes I would get him in trouble so having a line that can help in certain situations I think
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: is important.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I know Brad Barry and Joe Tuney played with each other in college.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: So to me, I was like, maybe that's another reason they do have familiarity next to each other in a sense.
• 13:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: So maybe just having something also Brad Barry, obviously being in front of a more mobile quarterback last year and having somebody come in and do that.
• 13:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how much they take those things into account.
• 13:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you think that's a conversation when they're saying, hey, lineman coming in here that I played in front of guys that move around a lot.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think to a degree, I mean, it's like comfort with a style of player, I think matters.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I also just think, you know, we talked about experience, experience, it's center matters so much, right?
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you've been able to help set protections because although Caleb's going into your three, he's still a very young, I mean, still a young quarterback, right?
• 13:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: So,
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure he has a big handle in like setting protections and setting fronts or identifying fronts doing all that type of stuff, but having a veteran center is a good thing to have in your back pocket.
• 14:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure it was big for him last year with Dalman, so having that just voice and that experience, I think matters a lot again.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I just think that that position battle though is just going to be so fascinating because Logan Jones is
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: If he's a backup in 2026 he's a just pure center backup right because he doesn't have the arm length and size to be a guy that can potentially be a swing player at all three interior spots like he's a center like he has to be a center based upon his measurements so again I'm really interested to see if he makes.
• 14:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Garrett Bradbury somewhat expendable earlier than maybe some people anticipate.
• 14:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, obviously you spent a top 64 pick in him, you would assume that there was going to be a high likelihood that he's going to play somewhat early in the system.
• 14:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So really interested to see just how those two mesh together and how quickly
• 14:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: a guy like Logan Jones can kind of take those reins over, but yeah, I think that the get Brett Garrett Bradbury thing is for 100% you know, a veteran voice that understands ideologically how the NFL works, but then I think that that comfort with the type of player that you're playing with, I think also does matter absolutely.
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so if we thought the center and that surprised people with Logan Jones the next pick getting a tight end Sam rush out of Sanford with the next pick really shocked some people I think more so because you have coal command and close to leveling on your roster and then you know we've had.
• 15:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: all the people including myself that are like look he likes three Titans it was about 38% last year that he was and they didn't like my very much he dropped multiple touchdowns so do you want to get another guy in here that can be that that past catcher not just a blocking Titan to help so it's not so obvious and what the plays are going to look like I don't know
• 15:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is definitely a trust Ben Johnson situation for me, but just tell us play or just fit aside what the Bears did aside just for a second and talk about the player because I think that's what people want to know first and then we can kind of put that into what the Bears do.
• 15:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's funny that he's being paired in a room that has Cole Comet because there's like some easy parallels from Rouch to Cole Comet, like they're similarly size players in terms of height and weights, although Comet's longer obviously Rouch has actually has very short arms for his body type, which is a little bit interesting.
• 16:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: he's a kind of an interesting athlete he's a little bit linear but like he's got kind of that upside in terms of he was playing on a really bad Stanford team this past year so he was used but like is there still meet on the bone of development as a past catcher it's going to be interesting to see just how much they can unlock in that room because we've seen
• 16:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, obviously, you know, what coach Johnson was able to do in Detroit with like Sam Leport and even getting some stuff out of Brock Wright is like that big blocking tight ends, and then obviously Colson Lovelin having the big rookie year that he's that he had last year.
• 16:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that I trust him to get the most out of tight ends.
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just more because
• 16:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I think that these great offensive minds, they do kind of take things from one another, right?
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, they kind of, I would imagine that he is, he is, and you mentioned he likes heavier personnel just in general, but I'm sure that he watched what, you know, Sean McVay did last season where it's like, you know, they're trying out three to four tight ends onto the field a lot of times and
• 17:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of the new rage in the NFL is like these multiple Titans systems that are going to be able to really conflict the defense in terms of what personnel they want to put on the field so I think that that's kind of a push towards that that new era that we're kind of working in offensively so I think that was probably the reason for it.
• 17:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm also interested because again, I do think that his game and Cole Comet is very similar.
• 17:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't quite think that he has the ceiling that Comet did coming out of Notre Dame, but I think he's got a good blocker, especially for a guy that has a little bit of lower length and he's physical and he's aggressive.
• 17:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like there's a lot to like about Roush, I'm more interested because I don't know like how many years Comet has left on his deal and all that time stuff.
• 17:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm interested to see if there's also a thing in the back of their mind of like
• 17:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is your coal-comment replacement in a couple of years.
• 17:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very interested if that's also a hidden layer to this conversation as well.
• 18:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's where my mind went initially, not so much in the sense because some people went to, oh, they're going to trade commit and it's going to be this trade.
• 18:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's that type of situation, at least right away.
• 18:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, who knows if the trade deadline comes around and people start calling about coal commit.
• 18:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: If that's a, if that's a conversation, I don't know.
• 18:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: But if the contract is, I want to say next year, the year after.
• 18:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: So it's coming up in the next year or two when you would have to have that decision on coal commit next.
• 18:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: So you have a young guy coming in with similar traits, the whole reason.
• 18:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: that you dropped to Colson Lovelin last year and the conversation around that was he's the perfect compliment to Colcomit on that offense.
• 18:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so now you have a player that's the same virtually the same type of player.
• 18:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I kind of had a similar sentiment in the sense of as this us them telling us that Colcomit number one probably deserves to be a tie to number one somewhere in my opinion and he's not going to be that in Chicago now with Colston.
• 18:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so it will be interesting to see the next year to what that looks like or like I said what if trade deadline comes up someone loses their tie-in and they're calling the bears like look you've got three of them.
• 19:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have one and I don't know.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see what that looks like.
• 19:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do think that we are saying the heavier personnel and that's a conversation, but some people's argument is okay.
• 19:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, 35% worth spending a third round pick on another tie-in and so that's where that conversation comes in.
• 19:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's fair.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we always have those conversations of different positions in terms of like that type of usage.
• 19:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, you know, how early can you just take a just designated pass Russia, right, a guy that's just going to play on third downs all the time.
• 19:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have any upside in the run game.
• 19:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: It used to be a similar conversation around the nickel corner, but obviously that in the the age of sub package that we're in right now, that conversation doesn't matter as much anymore obviously.
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that.
• 19:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that it's all about just kind of what you see the short-term and long-term outlook to be for a player like Rauch, like again, if he's a guy that's going to be heavily involved in your offense at a, maybe even a higher-clip thing, maybe you have seen in the past in terms of two to three tight-end sets, and then also
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Good teams, I think, do have some foresight to what's next after, right?
• 20:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that that commit conversation is an interesting one that he is obviously a good football player and a very good role player, especially to go along with a guy like Lovelin who is obviously a much more diverse player.
• 20:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: He can play a bunch of different alignments.
• 20:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I do think that there's probably a little bit of foresight of this helps our short term and there's some long-term implications here that can help us as well.
• 20:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let me ask you that real quick, hypothetically, if Comet wasn't on this team and Roush was the pick, would it make more sense to a point where it's like, okay, you're bringing guy that compliments Colson, and now you can run the 12th person out very well.
• 20:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think so.
• 20:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that he is he is definitely the type of player that I think mixes in well with the lovelins because And lovelins an interesting one because I mean he has effort as a blocker, but like obviously like his passing game is where you want to take advantage of him.
• 20:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I mean we're going to see him and as we kind of did last year You're going to see him in line.
• 21:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to see him detached.
• 21:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to see him in the slot.
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to see him all over the place.
• 21:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: So having more of a tight end that is a little bit more stationary in the sense of like he can just put his hand in the dirt all the time and be that type of player
• 21:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that it's a stable kind of person that can really mix in match with the Gallic Lovelin.
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah, I think his style, again, it's similar to Cole Comet.
• 21:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that his style is very, very kind of emulates it a little bit, so I think that it definitely can be a great fit with a player like Lovelin long term.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, moving on to the next past catcher they took and this is avian Thomas out of LSU wider seaver really fast.
• 21:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's about what I know about him on the extent of that.
• 21:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've seen some of the also a lot of speed on this on this draft is kind of what I've seen athleticism and speed.
• 21:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I saw it was like the most athletic draft of this of the 2026 and a lot of speed on there.
• 21:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think
• 21:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: ran faster than Justin Jefferson is one of the overlays that I saw, which is crazy, but talk about Xavier and Thomas, I don't know exactly the fit Robert when it comes to how quickly what exactly they're expecting.
• 22:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, DJ Morgan is a way so you have Luther Burton and Roman Dunes a two young guys on this roster.
• 22:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then it's actually a lot of very young past catching room because behind that a Jalde Walker who they got undrafted last year, and then they went and they got Klee Freiband, that obviously Ben Johnson had worked with it with the lions.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's more special teams will see what that looks like.
• 22:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: So it looks like a competition for the wide receiver three is what Xavier is coming in here to be.
• 22:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's funny that you magically frame and I didn't even know that he signed with Chicago, but that was about to be where I went with it in terms of like we've seen Ben Johnson with this type of player before, like we've seen it very recently.
• 22:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Actually, the audience died with Detroit.
• 22:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Xavier was like really interesting because he was just kind of buried on the depth chart in terms of like they had a bunch of guys this past year, like Barry and Brown and Nick Anderson who got hurt and Aaron Anderson when he was healthy.
• 22:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he didn't come into the year as like one of the focal points of the LSU offense.
• 22:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: but he was one of the few guys on that offense and on that team in general this past year that actually played good football.
• 23:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like down the stretch of the season especially after Brian Kelly was fired you saw Xavier on get like more and more and more opportunities any flashed a good bit and I think someone
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't remember who said it, but like someone said like if you just watched like the last three games of Xavier on Thomas from the past year, you'd be like, that kid looks like a top 100 player, but it's just it's such a limited sample size of just a proof of concept, right?
• 23:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like you're just trying to parse between knowing what you saw in a small game sample size compared to you saw from a full resume conversation, right?
• 23:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like it gets a little blurry in that sense.
• 23:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that kid is dynamic.
• 23:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he can help obviously on special teams as well.
• 23:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's kind of just kind of that gadget slot type that's still has some developmental upside, but I just, it was high for me.
• 23:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I thought that he was a really cool day three dart throw as like a gadget type that can play special teams.
• 23:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Top 100 was a little bit rich.
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think it was rich just kind of in general because I do think
• 23:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: that he only fits like really one role early on.
• 24:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I don't think if you throw Xavier on Thomas into the slot year one, he's going to be able to play a run and expansive route tree and run the full offensive.
• 24:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that's just going to be his game.
• 24:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: His game is his game of some end around, maybe reverse here and there, let's throw some screens, our PO game.
• 24:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you just want to kind of get the ball into him quick.
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So,
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can utilize that in your offense, obviously, but again, I just don't think that he's going to necessarily be like an all around receiver that's going to help you a ton, especially for a team that, you know, from 2024 to 2025, you take a massive jump, you would assume now, as long as they don't return to the to the average year or, you know, back to the mean.
• 24:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would assume that the next step for the bearers is they're thinking like all right, let's go make a run here, man.
• 24:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's stay, deploy all from potential super bowl.
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's get there and see what happens.
• 24:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't know if Xavier on top is the type of player that helps you do that in 2026, but I am excited about the 2027 and 2028 version of them.
• 24:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It just feels like maybe that was a 32 pie for a player.
• 24:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's probably not going to give you the immediate payback outside of being a really good special team or maybe a little bit of gadget work at times.
• 25:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Were you a surprise at all about how quickly Luther burdened kind of caught on into the NFL and what a big part of that offense he was?
• 25:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, I love Luther burn as a player.
• 25:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was kind of pounding the table for him last year at like the late first, like really early second round conversation.
• 25:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought that he was like a very overthought player to a degree because his quarterback situation and that whole offense Missouri, his last year was just kind of bad, right?
• 25:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like he was kind of the, and he was banged up a little bit.
• 25:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he had a lot going against him in terms of reproducing what he did in 2023 to the 2024 season.
• 25:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I really liked Luther burn a lot.
• 25:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought he was a very good, like just,
• 25:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: he ran good routes and he was dynamic after the catch like I really did like Luther burn.
• 25:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was happy to see that he really kind of caught steam there this past season because I really think that some people just kind of overthought that evaluation a little bit.
• 25:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I was interested in trajectory with him because part of it he held out and Ben Johnson was like okay well you're going to hold out and I'm not going to play you for a while so we really didn't even get to see him until like week five or six and then all of a sudden it was like whoa this kid is once the balls in his hands some of the things he can do after the catch are just incredible and it's so fun.
• 26:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: And also, I think it's an underrated, which we don't talk about enough of this with wider seabers' blocking ability.
• 26:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: There were certain plays last year that were successful because of what Lufra Burden did without the ball in his hands.
• 26:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And those are the things that I know Ben Johnson looks at.
• 26:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: He wants those guys that, when they don't have the rock, they're still making this place.
• 26:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's like a sneaky guy because if you ever see him in person like you look at him on TV You don't think he's like this like pretty thick kid, but like in person like he's pretty well built Like he's not a small guy.
• 26:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean he's short, obviously, but like he's not this like just really, you know Jitterbug type of dude like he's got a little bit of mass to him Which is why he's also good after the catch like he can break some tacos out in space.
• 26:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So
• 26:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, again, like Luther Burton, I thought was just a very underrated football player in that 2025 NFL draft, I guess, but I'm really excited to see him now, especially with DJ more out the room in terms of like, Hey, you can play the Z, you can play the slot, you can kind of utilize him all over the place.
• 27:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm really interested to see the year to break out for a guy like Burton.
• 27:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we are too.
• 27:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to go to because I had similar sentiments in the sense of like underwhelming with Sam Rausch personally, Zayman Thomas underwhelms, but I did like the next pick and that was Malik Mahamed, the corner back out of Texas.
• 27:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Personally, I just felt like the corner is more of a he doesn't have
• 27:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: have to start right away.
• 27:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have obviously Jalen Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyreek Stevenson, Tyreek Stevenson, those contract ends after this season.
• 27:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: So to me, I do think this is kind of that next plan, but if he ends up beating out Tyreek, great.
• 27:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have a guy that can come in and play possibly right away, but thoughts on him a little bit at that corner position, what type of corner he is, what can you expect?
• 27:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's a kid that I'm really excited to see in that system because I think the one thing that Thenomen gives to you is that Thenomen is kind of that guy that can, he can kind of erase mistakes a little bit from depth, right?
• 27:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like he can make corners right a lot of the times and you know that like Jalen Johnson wants to be an aggressive style corner, like he wants to be that type of player, kind of the Gordon obviously could be
• 28:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: a little bit of a versatile piece that can move all kind of all over the place.
• 28:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think in the backends you want to be aggressive with your corners and that's what Malik Muhammad is.
• 28:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm Malik Muhammad's best.
• 28:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: He wants to punch you in the mouth with the line of scrimmers.
• 28:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he's a pressman kid who tested better than I thought.
• 28:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I thought the long speed was just kind of average on film but then he runs like four, four, two or whatever and you're just like, oh maybe there's a little bit more athletic upside there.
• 28:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think he he fits with Thineman really well because Thineman again if he's going to be a guy that you're going to play a little bit more in like single-high
• 28:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that that really gives you options ultimately, right?
• 28:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like options are an important thing for defense that wants to be versatile, that wants to be aggressive.
• 28:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he's another aggressive style corner that he's not going to be for everyone because like I think his zone eyes are pretty inconsistent and there's definitely some deficiencies to his game, which is why he ends up going in the fourth round.
• 28:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you just ask him to punch dudes in the mouth at the line of scrimmage and be super physical, I think that there is a spot where Milik Muhammad could eventually be a developmental starter.
• 29:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I feel like that's kind of how I felt about it in terms it will be I I'll hear it's being here not sure how much longer there's a lot of we thought it was going to lose them last year as a defensive coordinator get them one more year So we'll see it and developing some of these other guys
• 29:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: uh... at the last couple obviously they dropped a kishan elie at the arson alignbacker so he had seven sacks last year i believe it was so being a having linebacker that can get to the quarterback and do some of those type of things definitely the dennis allen type of guy the one i really don't know much about but a lot of bears fans suddenly seem to be excited about it right and pulls reaction and the presser seemed excited about that's defense attack a lot of door to attack
• 29:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jordan Bandendberg.
• 29:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: So just a few notes on both of those guys and then what you think obviously later around guys you're taking some swings at this point.
• 29:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I didn't know Andy my bandendberg and then he did what he did it his pro day.
• 29:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: They kind of like caught everybody off guard.
• 29:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he saw his like relative athletic score and just kind of his raw numbers.
• 29:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're like okay.
• 29:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I took a peek at him like a couple days before the draft.
• 30:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even get to rank him in like my top two 50.
• 30:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I just didn't have time.
• 30:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he's got some juice, man.
• 30:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he's exposed to both the snaps.
• 30:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very interested to see just kind of how he's utilized because he, he's body type says nose, but then like he's exposed to this says maybe he can do a couple of different things up front.
• 30:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm interested to see just alignment perspective how to utilize him.
• 30:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he is very, very interesting.
• 30:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Eliot, I like, like I actually watched him a little bit when he was at New Mexico State recently and I liked him as like a trans-reportal kid a couple of years ago.
• 30:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I thought year one at Arizona State in 2024,
• 30:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: pretty good player, not great.
• 30:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Other 2025, he showed huge improvement.
• 30:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he's got some good speed, but also I think that the best thing he does, he's a very reactive player, like a proactive player, I should say.
• 30:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he sees the game very fast.
• 30:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't think he's ever gonna bring anything crazy as like a past coverage player, like I think he's a little bit limited more to like early downs, being aggressive, getting downhill, but he's got good eyes, and he's just typically always in the right spots.
• 31:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I can see him being a good special teamer and potentially a good rotational player
• 31:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe down the road, he developed some sort of starter, but either way, I think he adds really solid depth to an inside line-backer room.
• 31:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, which they were hurt last year.
• 31:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: There was a point in time with the bears.
• 31:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're out all three of their linebackers TJ and we're just trimming Edmunds and Noah Saul.
• 31:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're all injured and so you were really deep into that depth chart.
• 31:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Final before I let you go, just all of the name, the undrafted guys, you tell me if any of these guys stick out to you at all that possibly make the team quarterback Miller Moss aloevol, both two interior offensive linemen, Kaden Barnett.
• 31:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: We talked about him a little bit off air, the vanilla gorilla out of Wyoming, Jared Compton.
• 31:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: at a Utah, Jaden Loving from Wake Forest, Safety Skyler Thomas out of Oregon, or Long Samper this when I guess doesn't matter as much, but Bogarger out of Georgia.
• 31:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm going to go to Cainin Barnett just because I've watched him the most out of that list.
• 31:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is a guy that obviously played a lot of tackle in college, but he's going to play inside.
• 31:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's just a much better fit.
• 32:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I actually thought he was going to sneak into the draft, like probably six to seventh round, so when that ballpark, but he had to go on draft it and I don't think Chicago was going to complain about it, because he's a kid that...
• 32:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: is a little more athletic than you think, but like he wants to beat you up, like someone who wants to send me like Mohammed being up at the same time.
• 32:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I mean, he wears that eye black for a reason, and he has that nickname for a reason, like he is a relentless dude in the run game, especially when he wants to get hands on you.
• 32:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that is a player that I could see backing up all three interior spots, and then maybe he's your
• 32:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: emergency right tackle in case all hell goes loose and you'll lose a couple guys potentially like I think he has that Position flexibility especially inside though because I think that that physicality and tight corners is really really interesting So a guy that I thought was probably gonna get drafted.
• 32:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I had talked to a guy that's a southwest scouts in the NFL that I'm close with like
• 32:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: two days beforehand and because I got the Barnett kind of later in the process and I was like did you think you'd draft it and he's like yeah I hope you'd draft it like he sounded like very positive they were going to get drafted so him sliding out in the bear spawning and I think his potential value and I would not be shocked at all if he makes the football team.
• 33:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, if people don't know, he's like known for that face paint.
• 33:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: He does, it's just like a whole black under his eyes.
• 33:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he just looks fierce and mean what you want.
• 33:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're offensive London to be, most of what it is.
• 33:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, Robert, I didn't want to ask you one final one before I let you go.
• 33:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: This goes back to last year.
• 33:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Did you have Kyle Manongai on your guys that you liked and the draft list last year?
• 33:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, so every year, every year we have a segment, because this is what everyone talks about.
• 33:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Who's the day three running back that's going to out-produce where he gets drafted?
• 33:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And last year was Calvin and Nungai for me.
• 33:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I knew he was going to be underrated by the NFL, because he's not...
• 33:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: the biggest guy like me's you know he's I think he's under five nine if I remember correctly and he is you know two hundred five pounds like he's not a big back and he didn't test overly well either so like he's not a she's he's not the height-laced speed freak that usually gets kind of pushed upwards he's kind of the underrated just physical grinder type of back who plays with low center gravity so I was not shocked at all that he ended up doing well as a seventh round rookie last year like he was he was the most obvious
• 34:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: the last two years that he was there, it's like everybody knew that Manungai was getting the football and they had no semblance of a passing game and yet he was still just grinding out tough yarded.
• 34:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, Manungai is a good one and especially he's a great number two in his system.
• 34:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's a very underrated football player and he always was.
• 34:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how much you watched of the bears last year, but he was just, I mean, there was games he saved, like single-handedly a couple runs by him, but he also would run so hard that the C.D.
• 34:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Cal on his helmet was falling off throughout game.
• 34:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: So he kept having to go to the sideline and get his D. Cal put it back on it.
• 34:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: First, I joked about it of like, we need better equipment people because his D. Cal's falling off, but then he talked about it after the season.
• 34:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was like, I guess I was getting hit so hard.
• 34:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was just popping my D. Cal off
• 35:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's like a note a note or game land where you want the physical dudes want to kind of chip the gold off their helmet You know to mean and like that's like a similar vibe of like it's a little bit of an old school mentality But that's also a reason while my nungai is been such a good player even back to his record days because he plays that brand of football That a lot of people don't want to play, but it can be a very important asset for a team absolutely
• 35:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: definitely, especially in this Ben Johnson offense, he wants that swifty, pun intended runner, and then he wants to come and I'm guy and it worked last year, at least going from, I think we have the 31st run game to the third run game and just won season, so it worked, but Ryan, I really appreciate your time as always, a lot of good stuff coming out here, and I know a lot of bear's fans will like to hear some of these notes when it comes to the fit and what this may look like, at least for the future too.
• 35:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I appreciate your time as always.
• 35:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely, tell her.
• 35:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having me as always.
• 35:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate you as well.
• 35:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.