Mark Grote

Yes.

Yes, he does.

And so does Ben Johnson.

But I think all coaches are always going to have some say, including Matt Eberflus, who essentially was responsible for T.J.

Edwards and Tremaine Edmonds.

Now, I trust the evaluations of Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson more than I do –

matt eberflus and any number of his defensive coordinators so that that changes the game but the idea that somehow these guys have outsized influence is i think is a tick off because your coach and your coordinator should always have and you don't think vic fangio back in the day had a little bit of influence on who was going to be on his defense so i think it always exists it's just that the evaluators i think are a little better now

It's essential competency.

Why wouldn't you talk to your... What type of player do you like?

Dennis, what would fit in your scheme?

And maybe he did say, bring me Kobe Bryant.

Maybe that was the answer.

Or maybe Pohl said, here's three guys.

Who do you think?

That's just the way it works.

since the defense was, other than the turnovers, all the numbers were bad last year.

They were middle to upper 20s in most categories, including overall defense.

Stopping the run was not good for the Bears last year.

So yeah, I think that some...

you know, some autonomy.