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Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10-2 on 104.3 The Score.
708 has another one on our text line, and this is a question for the class. The Bears can't stop the run, can't rush the passer. How is one safety going to make a difference? And that goes back to what we discussed. Are you building your team from the inside out or the outside in? Let's listen to what Ryan Poles had to say about defensive line as far as this draft is concerned.
The D-line helps the back end more often than not.
But in this situation where we have good corners, good safeties, we could be in a position where maybe we could have the quarterback hold the ball a little longer.
He's putting so much more faith in those players than I would and I can. And there's no receipts to say, yes, Ryan Poles, I believe these will work out because they've worked out the best. There's no evidence that you are good at picking people who play on the line.
You made the wild allegations, but you have proven nothing.
You could say Jervon Dexter has been fine, but not a dynamic difference maker that you would expect to get in the second round. I guess the good news is that some of these guys who at least we seem to value are around today. Will they be there for the Bears who pick in the second round their 25th? I prefer to do it in the second round and say they have the 25th pick in the second round.
They have the 28th pick in the second round.
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Chapter 2: How does the Bears' defensive line strategy impact their draft choices?
And It's funny that that was the part of the open that I thought about because it was in my head all weekend long as we were watching these picks come off the board for the Bears in the draft. They take seven total players. And the first thing we wanted to see go off the board for the Bears in the first round. I want a defensive line. Thrilled about Dylan Thienemann.
Now I know who's starting at safety. It was every play's competition, whatever. No, it's Dylan Thienemann. In the meantime, I'm still asking the same thing that that texter asked us on Friday, which is, did they get enough in the draft to help their glaring upfront problem on the defense? I can't say yes.
More than that, Layla, we talked about it in this very studio about how much do they actually believe in people already in the building? And do they believe they have enough up front to make the improvements necessary to improve what was one of the worst pass rushes in all of football last year?
The answer, I said, would be determined by what they decided to do later on on Friday and then on Saturday. Guess what? By the evidence laid out in front of me, they believe they have the guys in-house. I don't know that I agree with that, but I understand at least why they did what they did in terms of making the picks that they made.
I'm not as down on this draft as a lot of people are because I do believe that Ben Johnson believes what I believe, which is Caleb over everything and making this offense as good as it can be. And you can see with the picks that were made throughout this draft, they're still fine-tuning what they want that offense to be, not only this season upcoming, but into
the future there was just enough gray area with all of those names in the second round that came off of the board to the point where and where i was not as enraged as a lot of people were and i'm not here to quell anybody's rage. I mean, it's glaring. The Bears defensive line ranked 29th in pressure rate at 31.5% last year. Their rush defense was what? 29th last year. It was mostly bad.
Do the Bears need defense? Yes, but I wasn't mad at that they didn't force the issue, that they didn't just take a guy because everybody says they have to have a guy. I go through the edge rushers. These are the guys that were taken in the second round. T.J. Parker, Mason Thomas, who ends up going to KC. I should say T.J. Parker at 35 goes to San Francisco. Mason Thomas at 40 goes to Kansas City.
Cassius Howell goes to Cincinnati at 41. Derek Moore, the edge, goes to the Lions at 44. Zion Young at 45, the Ed from Missouri. He gets drafted right there. There was enough gray area in my studies of this draft that I made the point about how ambiguous and gray it was that these guys were floating between late first round and second round and some of them going to the third round.
Was it a deep draft? Yeah, but that doesn't mean it was a dynamic draft. So I find myself in a confusing place right now where I'm not as angry, but I concede. I found myself getting more angry about what they didn't do last year or the guys that they brought in last year and Dio Odangbo and Grady Jarrett and maybe the drafting of Shamar Turner as well.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Ryan Poles' draft decisions?
You don't want to refill any of that through the draft. Positional value matters. That's why a lot of teams build from the inside out, because it's the most expensive outside of quarterback. So tell me how this process is sustainable when you know what you're going to have if all things go well and you have to extend QB1. How does that work? How much money are you spending?
It seems like a lot to me. I look at what you're talking about with the way the contracts are going to play out and understanding that they can basically just get rid of Dio Dingbo after this season and it's not a cap hit in the manner that some of these other guys are. And Dio's going to have a year. This is basically like a contract year for him.
in terms of needing to produce something, anything, close to what he was paid to do. This is his second Achilles tear. We don't know when he's going to be back. No, no, that's all fair. And I think they're of the mindset that they're going to build that offense first and foremost and get Caleb because of
What he can do as the X factor in this offense to get him as comfortable as possible and making sure that he has everything they need. Because they've got to evaluate this and make sure he is the franchise. I think they already know, but they want to make sure.
You're not going to pay him the type, you know, $50 million plus a year, the type of money quarterbacks are going to be making by the time he needs a contract extension. without being absolutely positively sure that he is the guy. And I'm not saying they aren't already absolutely sure.
I think with defense, you've got some of these contracts that are going to come off the books or can be moved, and then they can concentrate on that. They're more likely to pay guys on defense as opposed to draft guys on offense. That's the way it's played out through two years, right, Mark? But here's the problem is when you pay guys on defense...
This will eventually cause a problem because you have to pay so much to an expensive part of the team. That's the issue here. How much did we see Trey Hendrickson get? How much are we seeing Max Crosby getting? How much do we see these edge rushers get? Lawrence, who just got extended. Think about that. Oh, no, I got that.
My whole point is that's Ryan Pohl's job, is to be able to manage the cap and figure it out. He's set himself up now where, in certain positions, he's going to have to figure it out from a cap management standpoint, and that's what GMs get paid to do. It's not just finding the talent and drafting them and making trades.
If you've got somebody in mind, you've got to figure out, how do I make this work? And that was going to be the case if it was Max Crosby or Trey Hendrickson or any of these guys that we've been talking about at the edge. They don't Have an edge! Right, well, and this puts a ton of pressure on, and I know they probably wouldn't use that word, on Dennis Allen.
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Chapter 4: How do the Bears plan to address their defensive weaknesses?
Because that is an inside out. I love that. You know how I feel about this. Use your high picks on the inside, then move out. Amen. And that was a guy during our TTN Live. I mocked him to the Bears at 60 overall. Thank you very much. Sam Roush, repetition. No doubt about it. At some point in time, maybe he replaces Cole Komet. But I don't even like saying that.
Why do we have to talk about replacing Cole Komet?
Because the way it looks with the restructuring of his contract, the drafting of this guy, where they draft him, you can see the writing on the wall. You don't have to have 20-20 vision, 20-10 vision to see the writing on the wall. But in the meantime, for right now, with what you're doing, he's replacing Durham Smythe. In the roster spot in the position room, that's your third round pick. Yeah.
Is replacing Durham Smythe. But is that because they want to run more 12 and 13 personnel? They have no choice. Now you're better with this group. Smythe was in 30% of the snaps last year. No, that's what I'm saying.
Maybe they want to do even more.
To his credit, I liked what Durham Smythe brought to the table. Yeah, yeah. So if you look at the... This is according to Math Bomb. That's where relative athletic score lives on Twitter. Here it is. And yes, there were two players, two players out of six total where they were drafted or where their relative athletic score was sub-9. So Dylan Thienman, 9-7-2 Oregon.
Layla Rahimi has no problems with that pick. I thought it was a great idea. Logan Jones, I'm still good. 9-6-3 on the relative athletic score. Sam Rauch, Stanford, 9-9-4. And they marry these two with how they select in the draft. Like, be aware. Xavion Thomas, Louisiana State. 8-7-9, and that's despite the 4-2-8-40 at the comp. That's crazy.
Malik Muhammad from Texas, and I actually think that this could be a real key pick for them as well. 9-51 relative athletic score. Keyshawn Elliott, another one where I feel like people don't hate the pick. He has value. The resume, I think, speaks for itself. Part of that New Mexico draft class with Diego Pavia. Or a recruiting class, rather. He's 8-7-4.
And then Jordan Vanderberg from Georgia Tech, a 9-9-9 relative athletic score. If you need a tiebreaker to figure out how the Bears draft board falls, look no farther than a relative athletic score. And I feel like that will answer a lot of your questions. However, like those last three guys, Malik Muhammad, that's also a need. You absolutely needed a cornerback in this draft.
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Chapter 5: What are the initial thoughts on the Bears' 2026 draft class?
And did you know we're attached to catch up? Five on it is next.
Let's go catch up.
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It's time for five on it. Rahimi Harrison-Roney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104.3 The Score.
I'm sorry. I just rolled right into it. Hey, I love it. I didn't even mean to.
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Chapter 6: What grades are given for the Bears' draft picks?
You're singing over there? It's okay. It's a catchy jingle. You and Anthony Heron, I hear you guys are doing a little duet, a little ditty later on today. No one will show. Well, what we're doing today is we're doing some grading.
What grade do you give the Bears for their 2026 draft class before Layla Marshall and Grody weigh in? We want to hear from you. 312-644-6767. Hit us up. Give us your grade for the Bears draft class. Layla, what is your grade?
Chapter 7: What are the key takeaways from the Bears' defensive line strategy?
Yeah, we'll take your calls in the next segment. I think my grade is a B-minus. I love the Dylan Thienemann pick. I understand the Logan Jones pick because they did what I... I like it when you draft on the lines and you use your high draft capital to do so. I just thought they lost the plot a bit because... With with drafting Sam Roush in the third and then Xavier Thomas in the third.
And really, this just comes down to the fact that the third is a no man's land for Ryan Poles and the Bears. It continues to be so. So last year, they didn't pick in the third round. I did feel better about that draft. I still wanted a running back higher, but it worked out or at least it did last season. And then in the meantime, I feel the same way.
Chapter 8: How do the Bears' draft decisions reflect their long-term strategy?
I think you had to get a quarter. Malik Muhammad made sense. Keyshawn Elliott is very highly touted. And then Jordan Vanderberg in the sixth round. If you want to get somebody on that board that made sense at that spot for the Bears, I'm okay with that. I just wish they had used the third round to get some sort of line capital on the defensive side of the ball. B minus.
You guys probably aren't going to let me get away with this, but I'm going to say I agree. I actually thought you were going to say I. That sounded like the most... I was like, what's the most Marshall Harris answer to this question? Listen, incomplete. I don't know. Like, what are we talking... Listen, do I wish they would have addressed defense in a much more active manner? Yes, absolutely.
They didn't take an edge. They waited until the sixth round to trade up to get a defensive tackle that they used both their seventh round picks on. But yeah, it's an incomplete. But if you're going to force me... To give a grade that's not an incomplete, which I feel like that's what you're going to do. I'll give it an S. As in satisfactory. You know, the whole S versus U. So pass, fail.
You just can't.
They pass.
You just refuse to. What are you going to do? That's my question for the Bears. You're getting closer to your answer. I just need to let you work through it. What are you going to do? That's the question I have for the Bears. Because right now, what I heard you're going to do is depend on the people you already have in-house and say, hey, we're just going to coach them up.
Which sounds like a really big challenge that Ben Johnson has issued to everybody defensively on his staff. Because last I checked, the offense was trending in the right direction. And the addition of all these offensive picks... That feels like they're going to continue to trend in the right direction. Dylan Thienemann at safety.
I do believe that the safety duo is better than they were a year ago. I also believe that they could get some help with some depth from Malik Muhammad. But other than that... Keyshawn Elliott, I get it. They think he might be able to contribute at linebacker. And Jordan Vandenberg feels like a draft and develop guy and not just develop in one offseason upcoming, but draft over a couple of years.
If Dio Dingbo and Shamar Turner and all the other guys that I was told were going to get better drafts, get better then you you come out smelling like roses but sometimes sometimes that fertilizer is a little too fresh and the stink the stench it's there like in front of our building right now yeah that's true it's a healthy stench it's a organic stench okay It should make you feel good.
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