Brian Baldinger: Von Miller, Jadeveon Clowney still have a lot to offer (Hour 2)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Brian Baldinger, NFL analyst for the NFL Network and Fox Sports, host of Baldi's Breakdown.
Dylan Thienemann is going to be a Chicago rat, all right? Just chasing everything. You put him in the middle of the field, you let him go find the football with his speed, his aggressiveness, and his tackling ability. Odyssey NFL Insider. They got some big holes in the back end of their defense because let's face it, if you make mistakes in the back end of your defense, I don't care who you're playing, Kyler Murray this year, you know, you're playing Jordan Love, you make mistakes in the back end of your defense, you're giving up touchdowns and you're losing games.
Brian Baldinger. A doll is what he is. With Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score.
We're very happy to have Brian Baldinger on. He is at Baldy NFL on Twitter. He is our Odyssey NFL insider and host of the Odyssey original podcast, The Best Football Show with Brian Baldinger. He also joins us on Twitch, twitch.tv slash thescorechicago. Baldy, thanks for coming on.
It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me today.
We're happy to have you. I want to know, first blush, what are your thoughts on the Bears draft?
Honestly, you know, like I thought Ryan Poles did a good job. Most general managers will tell you that they draft the best players available. I don't think that was anywhere near the case. I think they drafted because of the needs of a lot of, you know, departures from free agency and whatnot. And so you go through the list of all their picks. They all look like they replaced certain players. I don't know. Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker. I mean, Dylan Thienemann, that's a pretty easy pick. I mean, I didn't think he would get past Dallas at 20. I didn't think he'd get past the Eagles, even when they traded up. Honestly, when the Eagles traded with the Cowboys, I thought they were trading to get Thienemann.
It's not that I had inside information or anything like that. I didn't. But I just thought it made sense. Eagles have a very big need for safeties just the way the Bears did. So when they got Thieneman, I thought that was great. But, you know, they lost Drew Dahlman. They signed Garrett Bradbury. I mean, there's Logan Jones all the way down. You know, they drafted, I thought, good players, but almost as important, you know, players in positions of need after the departures they had.
Okay, Baldy, I think it's interesting that you feel like they didn't necessarily take the best players available. Was Thienemann the best player available to you at that point when they picked?
Well, there was a run on tackles that was occurring right at that stretch. It started at nine when Fano went to Cleveland. And then, you know, so I thought tackle was a possibility. But a lot of good tackles had already been taken. Caden Proctor had already left. I think maybe he went to Miami right after that. But regardless, was he the best player? He was as good as anybody else that was available at 25, I thought.
And based on that, here's what I want to know. With that gap between their first pick and then picking again at 57 later in the second round, did you feel like, because you talked about their needs, edge rusher is a need, right? And even defensive lineman is a need, whether you want to say edge rusher or tackle. Did you feel like they should have tried to make a move to catch some of that edge rush run?
I thought they'd be interested in Gabe Atkins, who went to New England in the second round. You know, he went to Illinois. They signed Josh Krutz from Illinois. I know he's right in their backyard. They've had a lot of good players over the last few years. I thought they might be interested in Gabe just because I thought he could step in and give them quality snaps whether he started or not. I thought he could step in there and give them some snaps. So I thought that was a possibility.
I will say this, Baldy, I think when it came to best player available, the third round is probably where they may have felt like that was the case, especially.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–4:14
2
What are Brian Baldinger's thoughts on the Bears' draft class?
4:14–7:37
3
Did the Bears draft based on need or best player available?
7:37–20:41
4
How did the Bears address their defensive needs in the draft?
20:41–26:57
5
How does Brian Baldinger evaluate the Eagles' draft performance?
26:57–33:08
6
What free agents could the Bears consider to enhance their pass rush?
33:08–34:27
7
What impact do unsigned veterans like Von Miller have on the Bears?
34:27–43:32
Speakers
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