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Tag: PFF

  • PFF Grades the Bears Oline as #4. No, you’re not high, you read that right

    PFF Grades the Bears Oline as #4. No, you’re not high, you read that right

    Pro Football Focus [PFF] seems to be omnipresent when discussing the NFL nowadays. For some reason, humans crave an ‘objective’ framework from which to interpret life. Something ‘outside ourselves’ to course-correct what our senses are inputting. What do you think the 10 commandments are?

    The general public assumes that René Descartes concluded, “Cogito, ergo sum” [I think, therefore I am], but actually, he proclaimed, “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum” [I DOUBT, therefore I think, therefore I am]. Something to ponder.

    I envision Descartes staring intently into the flame of his candle, emersed in total darkness, desperately fumbling for some objective proof, a Mathematical God, some Unmoved Mover, to save him from his Evil Genius, to slip him the red pill to awaken from the Matrix…us football fans must settle for PFF.

    So here’s PFF grading the entire league. If you want to skip to the Bears’ portion, fast forward ≈1hr1min

    Shout out to Bodhran:

    https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-offensive-line-rankings

    Some thoughts…

    A scout relayed that he graded an olinemen low coming out of college. Then that Olinemen ends up on the Peyton Colts; he mutters, “Fuck. now I’m going to look stupid when he makes the PB.”

    The Bears oline talent is now sufficient. It takes years of a smart GM [which Bears don’t currently employ] to properly get return on investment in the trenches. Ryan Poles had to apply some Gorilla Glue to patch up the gigantic holes he created through ineptitude.

    That being said, like the scout expressed anecdotally.

    1. A smart QB can make the oline look a lot better than it otherwise might be

    2. A creative HC/OC can scheme around weaknesses [basically do the opposite of what Mike Martz tried with Webbnation]

    3. A talented HB can hit the optimum holes and/or break tackles

    Unfortunately, we don’t quite know if we have a smart QB, HC/OC, and Bears definitely don’t roster an elite HB [NTM it’s a brand new scheme], so for this Oline to dramatically improve, mucho must synergize [including staying healthy].

    But hey, tis the off-season of hopium.

    EDIT. I’m burying the lead as the Bears unwisely extended Ryan Poles‘ contract. That will get its own post soon, but for now, I can characterize how I feel about the move through a flick I’m watching for the 100th time. Halas plays the German Soldier while Bear fans are Mellish…

    “Gib’ auf, du hast keine chance. Lass’ es uns beenden. Es ist einfacher für dich, viel einfacher. Du wirst sehen, es ist gleich vorbei.”

    Translates to:

    “Give up, you don’t stand a chance. Let’s end this here. It will be easier for you, much easier. You’ll see, it will be over quickly.”

  • Critiquing Caleb, Part 2

    Critiquing Caleb, Part 2

    J.T. O’Sullivan [former NFL QB and Founder of “The QB School”] watches about as much film as any Chicago superfan ever has especially last year
    His specialty is evaluating QBs, but in the process analyzes everything else

    His breakdowns last season showed a lot of details, some of which was unpleasant, like the baffling route concepts, D.J. Moore loafing, and Keenan Allen looking old and hurt
    All of which carried over into the regular season
    Cole Kmet looking like a stud in PS sadly did NOT carry over

    The Score catches him a year later and asks “What went wrong?” J.T. seems like he pulls some of his punches but still offers some insight

    Some notes.

    1.‘How can this guy not have the resources to go out there and be successful? but also, if you’re unhappy, and you’re the guy, walk in there, put your fist on the table and demand help’

    2. ‘I was in systems where the starter is responsible for watching film on corners- the backup would be in charge of watching film on safeties – the 3rd guy responsible for the nickel’
    [Seems obvious this wasn’t the type of system Waldo ran though Warner puts film watching squarely on the QB]

    3. ‘PS loafing was a big red flag for Eberflus’ culture.’ [as was skipping on Jalen Carter, but that’s for a future post]

    Once the PS games kick-off, J.T. is someone you may want to follow

    I found this curious. I actually don’t know exactly what to make of it since many believed Brock Purdy was Captain Checkdown and according to PFF, he is not

    OTOH, Caleb Williams and Purdy went a combined 11-23 in ’24 season, so that isn’t ideal

    Particularly when one considers that Caleb was terrible going deep, sacked a whopping 67 times and likely scrambled instead of checking down….meanwhile the 9ers just guaranteed Purdy a cool $185M! Go figure

    So on top of pocket awareness, presnap reads, deep ball and consistency, Caleb also needs to work on the checkdowns [or throwaways to avoid sacks]

    Fret not though. In 2022 Jalen Hurts [yes, the same who went bombs away in two SBs] checkdowned 3.3%, and if you read the comments, they’ll sound awfully familiar

    https://x.com/JackPConnell/status/1530307608091017218

    Needless to say, Caleb Williams, Ben or no Ben, has his work cut out for him in 2025