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Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show

Is Bears rookie Logan Jones actually competing for the starting center job?

08 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What updates were shared about the Bears rookie minicamp?

1.094 - 24.849 Leila Rahimi

This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And believe it or not, there's football today. It's a lovely day when there's football. Bears rookie minicamp underway at Hallis Hall, scheduled for today and tomorrow. OTAs are next on May 27th through the 29th.

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25.269 - 32.582 Leila Rahimi

That, according to the schedule, it is subject to change, and I think that's important for people to know. This is a fluid thing, the offseason program.

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32.602 - 32.822 Mark Grote

It is.

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32.942 - 35.607 Leila Rahimi

And even when you think you know the schedule, sometimes you don't.

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36.211 - 44.95 Mark Grote

That's true. And that's why I am part of a text thread that is always constantly being updated for those of us on the beat.

45.091 - 52.988 Leila Rahimi

Yeah. And for everybody, for all the criticisms that we have levied on the Bears, I'm glad to see how well informed they keep you guys when it comes to this.

52.968 - 75.179 Mark Grote

They really do. No, they do a great job about that. And it's important. It's important to them. It's important to us. And it's going to be an important couple of days out at the hall starting to going on right now and tomorrow. And, you know, one of the things about it is, Layla, last year's draft class was very fruitful. for what the Bears did last year.

75.219 - 92.584 Mark Grote

It was influential in the Cubs winning 11, excuse me, the Bears winning 11 games last year. I don't know if I can get four big contributors at this moment out of this rookie draft class. The only one that I can be exact with is Dylan Thienemann and that's it.

92.884 - 102.398 Leila Rahimi

Well, I feel like there was a speculation that the Bears were essentially going to have to have the defensive draft class that they had out of the offense last year.

Chapter 2: How did last year's draft class impact the Bears' performance?

284.502 - 286.245 Mark Grote

I think that's the way I would clarify it.

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286.465 - 309.064 Leila Rahimi

Yeah. Corny Cronin nailed it, I think, when she said there was an optimism surrounding him, how he was going to be utilized, especially last year when the secondary was so injured. you know, those guys can't run. Like, you're going to see some playing time, especially in how Dennis Allen creates a lot of his formations, you know, what we know about a 4-2-5 setup, essentially.

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309.204 - 311.708 Leila Rahimi

So that's something that was... Yes.

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311.889 - 318.28 Mark Grote

I mean, nobody thought that he would contribute last year. I certainly didn't. And he was one of the most important parts of the secondaries.

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318.26 - 337.804 Leila Rahimi

So I don't blame anybody for wanting to know what you're going to get out of any member of the secondary on the team. But I just feel like the Bears are still not in a place yet where they can make a lot of these really big gambles on players thinking they may have found a diamond in the rough or reinvented a wheel.

337.784 - 348.864 Leila Rahimi

I think you need some more basic wheels and some more essential stones rather than a diamond in the rough. Sometimes you've got to go with what you think is obvious rather than who you may have hope in.

349.044 - 364.27 Mark Grote

Right. Well, let's look at this year's fifth-round rookie, Keyshawn Elliott, the linebacker out of ASU, who I believe it was Dane Brugler who said that this was highway robbery. for the Bears to have gotten Keyshawn Elliott, the linebacker, where they got him.

364.571 - 382.776 Mark Grote

He's an intriguing prospect who, like so many of these rookies, you look at him and say, I don't see a spot for you right now, but certainly as the season goes on and certainly next year when you look at the linebacker's room with TJ Edwards, you don't know exactly what you're going to get out of him.

382.756 - 384.779 Leila Rahimi

You don't know when he's coming back.

Chapter 3: What challenges did Zay Frazier face during his time with the Bears?

640.96 - 644.366 Leila Rahimi

But they're not long for him. It certainly seems that way.

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644.666 - 666.41 Mark Grote

At the very least, they are not convinced that Tyreek Stevenson is the guy that you just pencil in as the cornerback opposite of Jalen Johnson. So now you're going to get... That does open the door for Malik Muhammad. That opens the door again for... for Smitty, for Terrell Smith to show his, to see if he's got a shot at potentially getting back into the mix and getting snaps out there.

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666.47 - 668.976 Mark Grote

But it is interesting, the secondary.

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669.175 - 690.525 Leila Rahimi

Well, and after he was injured, I assume that they'll give him a fair shot. I feel like he's well-liked by front office, by people who watch the Bears, by players, so I feel like he's somebody who gets the respect of coming back. We all thought it was a big loss when he was injured, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he's doing.

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690.906 - 715.348 Leila Rahimi

In the meantime, something that I think we need to evaluate more as a crew is Just how catastrophic the Bears front office thought it was to lose Drew Dallman and how many decisions they had to make and maybe other things they had to forego in the draft because of it. So Logan Jones, they draft with the 57th overall pick. Here's what Ben Johnson had to say about him in the evaluation.

715.328 - 739.328 Ben Johnson

I said it a couple weeks ago, you know, Coach Rochard and Coach Devan, they made some rounds this offseason just making sure we did due diligence on a number of players. And Logan was one that stood out. And, you know, my visit with him when he was here was extremely impressed by football knowledge, makeup, performance.

739.831 - 762.66 Ben Johnson

very mature and to me it's not we're getting a rookie, we're getting a guy that's a little bit more of a seasoned player which really is not uncommon for those Iowa linemen. So I think he's going to fall kind of next in line for a really good program the next guy out. How quickly can he be ready to play at this level? Time will tell.

762.761 - 787.287 Ben Johnson

The ball's in his court as far as I'm concerned and he understands that Just like with everyone else, we're looking to create competition and consistency day after day and building trust, not only with Caleb and the other quarterbacks, but within that offensive line room and then obviously with the coaching staff. So it's just a matter of time to build trust.

787.705 - 814.89 Mark Grote

I love that my guy, Dan Weider, asked that question. We recorded the podcast, Take the North, yesterday, Layla, and it's something we talked about because I suggested to him, to Weider, why couldn't Logan Jones start from game one of the season? And our discussion was... If he could actually get up to speed and have that comfort with Caleb, and if he's really that smart, it's not inconceivable.

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