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00:00I remember you feeling that way.
00:01I mean, what a tough start.
00:03And they did win.
00:04How about that?
00:05Zach Pearson with us.
00:07Speaking of the Bears, Bear Report is where you can find Zach's work.
00:11And maybe it's the obvious reason here, Zach,
00:13but we wanted to look you up because of the DJ Moore trade that the Bills
00:17and Bears made last week and that has been made official today.
00:21So happy new year on that front, and thanks for your time today, Zach.
00:25Yeah, thank you, guys.
00:26That was a pretty bad memory, that week one, 2014,
00:29and that was the beginning of the end, I think,
00:33for the Mark Trestman era in Chicago.
00:35And that's also, you say, a bad play by Chris Conte.
00:39That's not his worst play.
00:40The game before that was when he gave up the long touchdown to Aaron Rodgers
00:44and the Packers to eliminate the Bears from playoff contention.
00:47So, yeah, bad memories, bad, bad memories.
00:50There was a hangover effect that lasted nine months, right, apparently.
00:54From January to September.
00:55Ouch, well, sorry to pick that scab here as we start things off.
00:59Yeah, it's not exactly salad days for us talking about E.J. Manuel.
01:02So, you know, he's out there somewhere going, how did I get dragged into this?
01:06I know, why am I catching strays here?
01:07We won, and I'm still getting strays, yes.
01:10Well, Zach, I've had mixed feelings about this move for the Bills.
01:16It seems like a great win for the Bears in terms of the draft capital.
01:20I want to know what you think the Bills are getting in the player.
01:24As a fantasy player myself, I haven't always been that excited about D.J. Moore,
01:28but he's always had the excuse, if you will, of just not having the great quarterback,
01:33and I think it's probably safe to say that now he will.
01:35So, how good is he, and what else do you have to say about him?
01:39Yeah, I mean, he's going to Buffalo.
01:41He's going to be wide receiver one.
01:42He's going to be a legit wide receiver for Josh Allen.
01:45I think he's going to a good place.
01:47And one thing about Ryan Poles here in Chicago is, you know,
01:51if he's going to make a move to someone who's been loyal to him,
01:55he's going to send him to a good place.
01:56And I think he ended up in a pretty good spot there with Buffalo.
01:59Now, the thing with D.J. Moore is there was a lot of weapons in Chicago,
02:03so that's why the production was down.
02:06But he still had some pretty big plays.
02:07I mean, you guys have probably seen the two plays against Green Bay,
02:10the one in overtime, you know, the one to come back in the NFC wild card.
02:14It was just a product of when they drafted Colson Lovelin
02:17and when they drafted Luther Burden.
02:19The writing was kind of on the wall for D.J. Moore.
02:22And then you give out some bad contracts, and this is what happens.
02:25You have to move on from a really good player.
02:27So, yeah, I like the spot for D.J.
02:30You know, he's still a really good route runner.
02:33He's at the point in his career he can kind of freestyle a little bit,
02:35and the quarterback will kind of pick up on it.
02:38And I think there's probably no one better that, you know,
02:40can lead a receiver or have that connection quicker, I think, than Josh Allen.
02:44So, I think that's a good thing for D.J.
02:46But, yeah, it's not like, you know, you look at the numbers of D.J.,
02:49it's not like he's washed up or anything.
02:51He had some pretty big years with some, you know, pretty bad quarterbacks,
02:55even going back to Carolina.
02:56And then, you know, I think he had 1,400 yards with Justin Fields,
02:59and nothing against Justin Fields.
03:01But, I mean, that's pretty darn good here in Chicago.
03:04Fields and Tyson Bajan.
03:06Does that even make it a better point?
03:07I don't know if it does or not.
03:09But still, like, they've almost split the split time.
03:12Yeah, you've already talked about it.
03:14You know, the other guys, like, you know, competition for targets
03:17and all that sort of stuff.
03:18But some of the negatives that have been reported on Moore
03:22and written about and talked about are, like, attention to detail type things
03:27and him maybe not going full out when he's not the primary target.
03:32Like, how much validity is there, in your view, to those critiques?
03:36I think there is a little.
03:38You know, I don't want to rip him or anything.
03:40He's been great to us.
03:41He's a great human.
03:42But there are some times where, you know,
03:45you look at the Arizona game two years ago,
03:46and he's kind of, you know, walking off the field almost in the middle of a play
03:51when it's on the other side of the field.
03:52And then, you know, the play with him and Caleb Williams at the end of that Rams
03:57playoff game, it looked like they weren't on the same page, you know.
04:01It was good effort, but, I mean, I think people would argue, you know,
04:05he probably could have made a sharper cut to the ball.
04:08It's just kind of things like that, maybe some just small mental lapses.
04:12But other than that, you know, those two examples,
04:14I can't really think of a whole lot more, you know, to me that would be concerning.
04:20You also have to look at this one.
04:21This was his first year winning since high school.
04:24I mean, he's been on losing teams since he was, you know, 17, 18 years old.
04:27So, I think a little bit of that comes into play as well in terms of frustration.
04:31But he's not a locker room cancer or anything like that.
04:34He's never had a dust-up in the locker room or anything where he's not a team player.
04:38Great with the community.
04:39Great with teammates.
04:41So, yeah, I don't think that would be a problem at all in Buffalo.
04:44DJ Moore went to Maryland.
04:46Stephon Diggs was a great bill who went to Maryland.
04:49And Moore is the best receiver, I think, almost undoubtedly the Bills will have had since Diggs.
04:55With Zach Pearson, Bear Report, Mike Shope and the Bulldog here on WGR.
05:00Well, you talked a little bit already, Zach, about target competition in Chicago.
05:04One look at his career numbers does show a pretty steep drop last year.
05:09And there are people who always kind of want to attribute something like that to H.
05:14I mean, he's been in the league a long time now, Moore.
05:16So, would you say that at all?
05:18Or was it more just that, I mean, Burden and Loveland really did come on.
05:23Less so Odunzi, I guess, who had a faster start.
05:25But would you blame, as it were, any of Moore's drop in stats on him physically?
05:33I don't think so.
05:34I think it's more of just Ben Johnson's system and what he, you know, demands in his players.
05:40You know, one thing Ben Johnson wants, you're going to have to be a really good blocker.
05:44And you're going to have to make the effort to block, too.
05:46You know, there wasn't any times where I was like, you know, DJ's not blocking or anything like that.
05:52But it might have been a couple times where maybe, you know, had a loaf here or there in terms
05:57of that.
05:57You know, the connection with Caleb Williams, it never felt as strong on the field as it did, you know,
06:04as teammates or anything like that off the field.
06:06I think that's just maybe a young quarterback working with a veteran trying to get on the same page.
06:11When they did get on the same page more towards the end of last season, it was pretty good, you
06:17know.
06:17So, yeah, I don't think age is much of a factor here.
06:21You know, he takes care of himself, you know, and he's a pro.
06:24He's not going to blame it on age or anything.
06:26So, I think it's more of just Penn Johnson's system wanting to be more of a run-first team, you
06:32know,
06:33outside zone team, those kind of short throws.
06:35I think that's more of a factor in it all.
06:37Zach, how do you feel like the Bears did in the transaction?
06:42Because a lot of us here, I like DJ more.
06:45I can easily agree with what my partner just said.
06:48He's the best receiver the Bills will have had since Diggs was here in his prime.
06:54But the cost seemed like the Bills did the Bears a real favor.
07:00Like, was there a sense you were getting, you know, just in media circles or even within the fan base
07:06that the Bears were –
07:07obviously, they wanted to offload the contract given the hierarchy they've got there with other weapons that are, you know,
07:14sort of, you know,
07:15more prominent than DJ Moore was last year.
07:17So, it made sense.
07:19But I wonder if the Bills had waited, maybe they could have just signed the guy as a free agent.
07:24Like, I feel like the price was pretty steep.
07:27Yeah, I mean, you're right.
07:28I was completely shocked they got a second-round pick.
07:32When these – you know, we entered the offseason and we kind of had a little idea maybe they were
07:36going to let them go
07:37or try to trade them just because of that cap number.
07:39I kept on hearing, you know, day three pick.
07:41You know, you're talking fourth, fifth round, sixth, seventh round pick.
07:45And I'm thinking, man, that's, you know, that's probably what it's going to be for DJ.
07:49And then, you know, at the combine, just kind of talking to people, it felt like Bears are having, you
07:54know,
07:54a hard time finding the right package for them and the right team to give them that package.
07:58And I think, you know, throwing in that fifth-round pick obviously gets you the second back.
08:03But what's, you know, interesting is the money that Buffalo is going to have to take on
08:07and the guarantees and all that.
08:08I do feel like the Bears got the better end of the deal there.
08:12But we'll see.
08:13Whatever that second-round pick turns out to be, you know, could be the difference in this trade.
08:16I mean, it also could be one of those rare trades where it works out for both teams.
08:21But we'll see.
08:22I do think the Bears – getting that second-round pick was huge because now they have so many needs
08:27on the defensive side of the football that they almost had to get that if you're giving up a player
08:31like DJ Moore.
08:33Apologies if you've said this particular thing already, Zach.
08:36But I wonder if sort of you would be on the same page as the Bears in how they kind
08:41of prioritize their skill position guys,
08:44how they prioritize their receivers and Loveland.
08:47Like, is this the right move?
08:49Is this the right player if they're going to, you know, yank someone out of there?
08:53Is this the guy to do it with?
08:56You know, if he didn't have that cap hit, I would say no.
09:00Like, I would say you keep him.
09:01I just think they put themselves in a tough spot now, you know, with that cap hit this year
09:06that they had to make some key decisions.
09:08Because I do think – I'm, you know, of a thought that you can never have way too many, you
09:14know,
09:14too many weapons in the offense.
09:15And I know I said there's only one football earlier.
09:18But I think with Ben Johnson, he can find ways to get guys involved.
09:23The other factor in this now that, you know, on the Bears' side is Roma Duneze was really good the
09:28first five or six weeks.
09:30I think he was leading the NFL in touchdown passes.
09:32He got hurt and he was not the same the rest of the year.
09:34And that was supposed to be a year for a top-ten pick where you take the next step.
09:38Now, I'm not ready to write him off, but I would have felt more comfortable if Rome, you know,
09:43was healthy and took that next step in his career.
09:48But, you know, I guess to answer the question, if not for the contract, you know, I wouldn't have moved
09:53him.
09:53But I do feel better now knowing that, you know, they do have at least something behind him
09:59with Luther Byrne and Roma Duneze and Colston Loveland.
10:03And, you know, they might not be done.
10:04They might be going out and getting a wide receiver in the draft.
10:07So, if there is a team that can handle this type of loss, I think it is Ben Johnson and
10:11the Bears
10:12just because he's so good at scheming things up.
10:14But it might hurt, too.
10:16You know, DJ's a really good player at this age still.
10:18And they have a second-round pick, an additional second-round pick to spend it on
10:22if they wanted to draft a receiver.
10:24I do, yeah.
10:24You know, Zach, I remember talking to you a while back, and it was always just sort of an easy,
10:30you know,
10:32criticism of the Bears, just how in their – I mean, are they not the oldest franchise in the league,
10:38they and the Packers, despite that, just never having the wide receiver one, the quarterback, you know,
10:45the Johnny Morris trivia question, how he's the – is that the guy's name,
10:49the all-time franchise leader in receiving yards?
10:51Just like, who's that?
10:52All of it with the Bears.
10:54Almost literally just, like, never having an explosive passing game.
10:59Now, do they?
11:01I mean, the numbers are really good last year for Chicago.
11:05Is your opinion that, like, sky's the limit with Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson at this point?
11:11What a step forward they made together last year.
11:14And do you also think, from your interactions, that Bears fans are right there with that, you know,
11:21kind of optimism for the future?
11:23Yeah, I think that's the general vibe.
11:25I think, you know, going into this offseason, you know, obviously the biggest question mark is run defense.
11:31You know, you lose your center in Drew Dolman's retirement, that's not easy.
11:34But they didn't really have a lot to replace on offense.
11:37You know, they still have to find a left tackle due to another injury.
11:40But other than that, I think the confidence is there that, okay, we have Caleb Williams, we have Ben Johnson.
11:46This will be the second year, you know, the second offseason for them together.
11:50What they showed last year, even starting 0-2, and not only starting 0-2, blowing, you know, a two
11:56-score game in the fourth quarter
11:58and then just getting run out of the building in Detroit the next week, they very easily could have folded.
12:03They went on a run.
12:04They had a favorable schedule.
12:06You know, can't deny that.
12:07But they took care of games and they won games they should have won.
12:10So what I saw last year is I saw an offense get better as the weeks went on.
12:15I saw a run game get better.
12:16I saw the pass game get better.
12:18I saw Caleb Williams get better.
12:21Yeah, I'm excited for a full offseason of them two together again and what they can do now.
12:26I think that's kind of the general feeling here in Chicago is finally, okay, we have, you know,
12:32a kid that can be consistent and stay in the game and, you know, throw the football and make those
12:37wow throws.
12:38I do think he needs to get better at, you know, Caleb in terms of consistency with the easier throws.
12:44But, I mean, he's got a world-class arm.
12:46And when you talk about, you know, the best arms in football, you know, it's Josh Allen, especially Mahomes.
12:51You know, I think Caleb Williams is getting right there.
12:53I think this is the year he has to be, he has to take that step in the top 10.
12:57And I think, you know, I'd be shocked if he didn't.
12:59He probably should have had 4,000 passing yards last year.
13:02It was a couple bad drops.
13:03But he's well on his way to finally hitting that mark here in Chicago.
13:08You know, I prefaced all that with the past about the Bears.
13:12And I want to follow up with this, too.
13:14Not all fan bases are really comfortable being optimistic.
13:19It's not in every sports fan's nature.
13:22And, I mean, that's applied to us.
13:24I would say Philadelphia is such a place.
13:26I wonder how it feels to be optimistic for the Bears.
13:31It's, the best way I can describe how that season went last year was they became, like, must-watch again
13:39in the city.
13:40You know, I think everyone still watched them.
13:41But, like, those last few weeks, you know, starting with that Saturday game against the Packers, you know, I was
13:48at the game working.
13:49But, like, you know, I had friends that went out and every bar was full of Bears fans.
13:55And then playoffs and all that.
13:56And it's just, it's different.
13:58Like, when there is optimism there, when there is hope, and there's, wow, we got this guy.
14:02Like, we got Ben Johnson.
14:04Listen, it's a totally different sports town.
14:07And, you know, we have two baseball teams.
14:09And I always tell my friends, I said, you know, you're a Cubs fan, you're a White Sox fan, but
14:12you're a Bears fan.
14:13Like, if they ever win the Super Bowl again, it will be, this town will be unreal.
14:17And, you know, I know in Buffalo, you guys struggle with the Bills, you know, not getting over the hump.
14:22And I kind of feel like it's almost the same there, too, in a way, where having that hope, you
14:27know, you get that quarterback.
14:29And you get, you know, you kind of get a taste of the playoffs, but eventually you've got to get
14:32over that hump.
14:33I think that's kind of what the Bears want to get to in terms of, you know, where Buffalo's at
14:37right now.
14:39If that kind of makes sense.
14:41Yeah, it does.
14:42Yeah.
14:42No, gotcha.
14:43Yeah, I mean, I like, I'm enjoying just hearing all of this about how it's grown.
14:48Because I think, you know, even just as recently as last offseason, right, Ben Johnson shows up.
14:55And it was not, to me, a slam dunk in the summer that he and Caleb Williams were going to,
15:01it seemed kind of, there was friction on the practice field.
15:04And I guess, you know, you look back at it now and go, that was just a part of the
15:07method, right?
15:07I'm going to coach the kid hard and hopefully get the result.
15:10But at the time, it's like, Williams' reputation off his rookie year probably wasn't great with everyone in the fan
15:17base, maybe even some teammates, who knows.
15:19But it all sort of came together.
15:21Like, Ben Johnson put it all together.
15:24Like, he had every piece.
15:25He's got the scheming and all that.
15:27But the locker room stuff, like, seeing him with his players, like, to me, there's no question.
15:33Like, they've got a good thing going there now.
15:35But I don't know.
15:37Like, a few months before the season began, that wasn't a sure thing at all.
15:40They also got the Tyler Dunn treatment right before the season started.
15:43Right.
15:43That's what I'm referring to.
15:44That, too.
15:44Yeah.
15:45Yeah.
15:45Yeah.
15:46Well, you know, and Caleb needed, he needed the hard coaching.
15:49He needed Ben to get on him from the start.
15:53You know, and he, it's totally different from the Matty refers to the Ben Johnson era in terms of accountability,
16:01having guys believe in the locker room, things like that.
16:04So, yeah, you're right.
16:06I mean, there was a little, you know, friction.
16:08There was some struggles in minicamp and before the training camp session started with, you know, accuracy and Ben Johnson
16:15getting on the offense.
16:16And I remember, you know, more than five, six, seven times they would have to restart a drill because the
16:22offense wasn't lining up right.
16:24And he would get on Caleb and he'd get on Cole Komet.
16:26He'd get on, you know, anyone.
16:28Ben Johnson was not going to let you slide.
16:30He was going to make you redo it all.
16:32So, yeah, I think Ben Johnson brings the right attitude here.
16:35And, you know, with Caleb, too, I think Caleb has really bought into that.
16:39And, you know, that's good for him.
16:41I hope that didn't sound like a shot at Tyler.
16:43He's a great friend of ours.
16:44He hits hard when he hits.
16:45That's all I meant.
16:46Yes, I know him, too.
16:48He's a good guy.
16:48I know him, too.
16:51So, taking a look as we finish up here with Zach Pearson talking about DJ Moore coming to the Bills,
16:56made official today, and the offseason.
16:59I mean, how the balance of power isn't quite right.
17:03But for a few years here, Zach, it was about the elite quarterbacks and teams in the AFC.
17:08And now we had a season where some of those teams slipped, changing of the guard a little bit, although
17:15Buffalo had another great season.
17:17And in the NFC, wow, look at the NFC North.
17:20You have Seattle from the back of the pack going all the way.
17:24Philadelphia stayed good.
17:25Rams, Niners.
17:26How do you see the future?
17:28I wonder if Detroit might to you look like a team that could start to go the wrong way with
17:33some changes to their roster.
17:35You might not feel that way.
17:37Green Bay, Minnesota, probably Kyler Murray now.
17:40There's a lot to look at in the NFC.
17:43Yeah, it's a tough conference.
17:44I mean, you look at the West getting, you know, those three playoff teams.
17:47The North got two of them and almost had, you know, could have another one if the Lions weren't upset
17:53by the Steelers.
17:54So, yeah, it's a tough division again for the Bears.
17:57That's kind of the issue.
17:59Because, you know, I'm not ready to count Detroit out just yet.
18:01I think if this year they struggle and regress, I'd be all right.
18:05Like, maybe I'm not worried about them in the future.
18:07But they're still a pretty good team.
18:09They beat the Bears twice last season.
18:11And, you know, Green Bay, it's for whatever reason, they had the Bears number up until this year.
18:15They're always tough.
18:16But the NFC in general, you know, Seattle, I don't think they're getting worse.
18:19I think the 49ers and Rams got better.
18:22I think the East is really interesting because I think the Commanders got a lot better.
18:27I think Dallas is going to be a sneaky good team this year.
18:32I think they have a high-powered offense.
18:34I think their defense will be better.
18:35So, you just kind of look around and it kind of feels like what you were saying where the NFC
18:38is kind of now starting to rise up
18:40and the AFC is taking a little bit of a step back.
18:43I mean, obviously, that depends on the Chiefs and the Bengals and the Ravens.
18:47I think Buffalo will still be up there and done for a while, too.
18:50But, yeah, it's a tough conference to be in right now for the Bears.
18:55Yeah, Caleb Williams will have a lot to say about the big picture in the NFC, as will Jordan Love.
19:01I mean, he's a few years in his career now, but Caleb Williams is a big one, 101 pick.
19:06Very good, Zach.
19:07Anything else you want us to know?
19:09Your work at Bear Report, what kinds of – now that the official offseason is here
19:13or the official league year, rather, is here, what can we look for?
19:17Yeah, just daily coverage, updating what I know about the Bears.
19:21We're doing grades on the signings, and now that everything's official, we can call them signings.
19:27Yeah, and maybe, you know, the Bears might be on Max Krause watch again.
19:30We'll have to kind of pay attention to that.
19:32But, no, I appreciate you guys having me on, and I'm looking for –
19:36actually, I'll be out there in Buffalo for the Bears game this season, new stadium.
19:40So I'm looking forward to seeing that, and I have some family out there,
19:43so I'm looking forward to seeing them, too.
19:46Wonder if it could be week one or week two to open the stadium.
19:50Yep, and week one or two sounds ideal, probably a primetime game, too.
19:55Full circle.
19:56We started talking about a week one Bill's Bears game, and here's another.
20:01Possibly.
20:02We don't know that yet.
20:03Thank you, Zach.
20:04We appreciate your time.
20:05Thank you so much, guys.
20:07I appreciate it.
20:08You're welcome.
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