James wolfsmith

@thedude4442 Temper your expectation until he hits the field. That surgery he had was serious and he might not be the same type of athlete he was before the injury. It is a great flyer to take for cheap deal and chance to further develop young T. But right now he is just a developmental guy

The fa signing im most excited about is Wills. If ben and roushar can get the most out of him we have our LT of the future.

@jacobinfante24 You should wait on calling it a wash until you see what the final vet FA adds, the draft and UDFA bring. At this point it could be a similar team(though getting two stud CB back healthy affects that), but there is still time for this to end up a better, deeper, faster squad

Comparing what they’ve added and what they lost, I’d consider this offseason to be a wash for the #Bears. I don’t think they’re considerably better. That said, they have the draft and a ton of young players who should continue to grow. I trust this team and the coaching staff.

@ChiRuxinBGO Yep!! I keep expecting some interesting choices with 2nd or 3rd rd....fully expect them to go S and Edge with first two...but then could we see a WR or CB or LB in those next slots?

@jameswolfsmith That's where I have been for the last couple weeks. If a guy falls perfectly to them, I don't think they necessarily pass on him. Dexter and Grady likely gone in 2027, so they need replacements. I just don't think this draft class fits well enough with what DA wants.

2026 NFL Draft DTs #DaBears could target per round: (Based on guys who fit or almost fit DA’s wants list and my grading + consensus) If your favorite DT prospects aren’t on this list then it’s highly unlikely Dennis Allen and the Bears are interested. They’d be outliers based on DA’s draft history and scheme fit. 1st Round: Peter Woods - Clemson - 2024 Film better than 2025 - Quick first step, but not elite - 3T who plays run fairly well - Arm length shorter than DA likes 2nd Round: Gracen Halton - Oklahoma - 3rd Rd Grade but won’t be at 89 - Arm length shorter than DA likes - Quick first step, gap penetrator - Average run defender Christen Miller - Georgia - Only listing if he can cut down to 310 range as once listed. Weighed in at 320 so highly unlikely he’s on DA radar 3rd Round: None 4th Round: Rayshaun Benny - Michigan - Powerful with strong anchor - Excellent run defender - Lacks first step-quickness - Perfect body type for DA - Maybe a guy taken at 89 🤷‍♂️ Day 3 Guys: Kaleb Proctor - SE Louisiana Tyler Onyedim - Texas A&M Zane Durant - Penn State - Shorter arms Skyler Gill-Howard - Texas Tech - Very short arms Landon Robinson - Navy - Shorter arms

@clayharbs82 An overachieving team trades away a talented vet WR, loses a pro bowl C and young LT. Is replacing most of its opportunistic, but otherwise rancid defense. Bears are where they should be...having to prove it all over again. I'm fine with that.

PFFs post free agency power rankings: 5. Packers 6. Lions 11. Patriots 14. Jaguars 15. Bears 18. Vikings 26. Panthers Bears picked 3rd in the north. Thoughts Chicago? #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears

@davidyounf @JamesFox917 Agree, point was we do not know what Matas will be, hopefully he takes that big jump. If he did, with Giddey at his present place, they would have two young players to build on. No belief however, that the present FO could take advantage of that growth to build a winner.

@jameswolfsmith @JamesFox917 Sure. In a world where we think Matas could become an SGA level player how are the bulls supposed to find the rest of the guys that OKC did? OKC perfectly blended tanking and trading. Bulls can’t do either.

Totally disagree. Neither guy can be the best player on a title team. How do they feasibly find the player who is? #Bulls

@SwiftyNetwork @dabareminimum Would be perfectly fine pick for Allen's system. But fans want the next Crosby who can stack run and terrorize the qb. I'm fine with our present edge situation but we need a game wrecker type inside at DT. Disrupt run, collapse pocket, force qb into edges rush.

@dabareminimum He's only 20 years old. If he can develop some counters and add to his pass rush moves, I think he has a REALLY high ceiling.

I don't understand the hate for Keldric Faulk hate. One of the youngest Edge Prospects in the Draft DA will LOVE his ability to Stack & Shed vs Run Length can affect throwing lane and tip passes even when he can't get to the QB Dominates the point of attack Relentless motor

@PrazMaster Have not watched him, but biggest concern would be if Velo has been down. Brown has added a power sinker that has looked good, but Taillon will get the expected veteran shot at holding down a spot

The guy who had a combined ERA of 1.84 in September and October last year? Yeah, I’m not worried about what he does in Spring Training.

@IrishBearsShow Unless he was referring to cap space, and I do not think he was, then this question must be posed of Poles, Warren and McCaskey. Bears owners do not have deep pockets, like some other owners do.

This is the biggest indictment of ownership you can ask for. If you can’t spend in 2026. Get out of the hot seat and bring some investment and get out of the way.

@ggabefootball @3PointStansPod @tjwooowhit Not sure, in today's game, that the fans will be willing to give Poles and staff the time to build an Allen defense.

Not a lot. But that first year we got rid of 3DL starters and draft Harris and Tank. We had Alex for one edge but were weak on the other side. We also lost that first year. Then we added more pieces in 2005 and got to the Playoffs. But it took 3 off-seasons to be where we wanted to be

Some #BEARS fans have already gone FULL doomsday & feel the ‘26 defense we will be worse than the ‘25 season defense based on the current departures of: -Tremaine Edmunds -Kevin Byard -Jaquan Brisker -Nashon Wright -CJ Gardner Johnson -Andrew Biilings -DT Chris Williams -Dominique vs the additions the #Bears made over the 1st 4 days of free agency (March 12th 2026) -Coby Bryant -Devin Bush -Neville Gallimore -Kentavious Street -Cam Lewis These select fans are adamant Ryan Poles & Dennis Allen will not improve this roster and be any better than last yrs defense based on how free agency has began. Next season the #BEARS defense just has to be better than half or more the following categories to be as good as or better than the 2025 defense. We’ll start with the category fans love⭐️: -1st in INTs (23) -4th in recovered fumbles (10) -1st in TOs (33) Likely tough to duplicate. 👎🏾The bad: -29th in total yards per game: (361.8 ypg) -27th vs the run (134.5 ppg) -25th vs the pass (232.3) -23rd in points (24.3 ppg) -10th most total points allowed for season (415) -4th most total yards allowed: 6150 (only Cowboys, Bengals, Commanders worse) -4th most yards per play allowed: 6.0 ypp -9th most 1st downs allowed (347) -11th most passing yards allowed (3863) -5th most passing TDs allowed (32) -6th most rush yards allowed (2287) -5th most rush yards allowed per attempt (5.0.) -18th most rushing TDs allowed I’m going to bookmark this tweet & revisit it at the end of the season to see if they progressed or regressed. I’ll retweet it next season & add the same defensive stats but for the 2026 end of season defensive stats & rankings. Feel free to do the same. (I found the stats not in the screenshot by using the link below & researching the categories above.) pro-football-reference.com/years/2025/opp… 🐻⬇️😤

@ggabefootball @3PointStansPod @tjwooowhit What I'd like to know then as well as now...did Lovie alter his scheme for those players who were not a fit? Because it sure felt that Allen was changing his style with the players that were not great fits.

@3PointStansPod @tjwooowhit As usual, the fans don’t know what a scheme fit is. We had to strip down much of the D when we hired Lovie and it took 3 off-seasons to get it done. There was a lot of bitching and we got letters but there was no social media for fans to use to bitch, so you didn’t hear much.

@79illwill No question if the FA philosophy is to sign players who project as quality depth, they had better hit in draft. Did that last year, though not sure any DL picks will crack the starting lineup. S likely though.

The Bears need to draft the defensive versions of Loveland, Burden, Trapilo & Monangai on defense. That’s the reality.

@thedude4442 Dayo was likely as Allen and Poles and his staff. Rising young DL who had pressures, but not sacks. Would be willing to bet Allen saw a DT there with some versatility. The issue is who else was going to pay him 3/48 based on his growth with Colts?

Poles doesn't run the show anymore right? Hes a glorified personal assistant now right? So dayo is bens fault.

@IrishBearsShow Bears fans need to understand that this is a new team, with its own expectations, Johnson has said as much. Drafted players were a huge part of that success last year, why can't that be true again? Let the offseason play out before handwringing.

@startkyIeorton Need to think more of responsibilities in my opinion. Johnson even talked about Moore knowing all 3 spots. I understand the need to move off Moore's contract but I will not assume the two younger WR will automatically flourish mentally with increased roles. Hoping they do though.

Need to think less in terms of depth chart and more in terms of usage and snaps. If you take DJs snaps and distribute them among a hopefully healthy Rome and a sophomore Burden and Loveland you have a much better receiving group than last year.

@black_42 @lilpepp23 I'd argue throwing money at the wrong vet players is more damaging to any window than trusting rookies. Clearly Loveland, Burden, Monangai and even Trapilo were huge assets in last season magic. Even Seattle trusted rookie S much of year.

Relying on rookies to make an impact during a championship window is unrealistic and shows confusion in the plan

@IrishBearsShow Always will be. Top picks need to become starters by year 2, if not earlier. Middle picks that can contribute early are worth their weight in gold. Late picks or UDFA that make contributions allow for roster freedom. Hopefully Poles and staff hit this year like last.

Top Tier players rarely ever make it to FA. The people saying the Draft isn’t the most important part of this offseason just seems wild to me.

@MJMcElwee @Kirsten_Tanis1 I did expect them to go offense though I was unsure which way that would take them.

@jameswolfsmith @Kirsten_Tanis1 I didn't expect them to go TE and WR in their top 2 picks last year. They very much don't want teams knowing what they will do.

These are only two plays out of a ton, but Dan Roushar has his work cut out for him to get something out of Jedrick Wills Tentative/unsure & contact avoidant not a good combo here Still I trust Roushar & Ben. They must have seen something to take a development flyer on him

@79illwill Perhaps the spot that gets filled by the BPA is a safety or CB in round 1?

My push back to this is you already have 2 starting EDGES because Booker proved that he is. Also, Dayo is better as a rotational guy. They could go EDGE or DT at 25. DT might be a bigger need IMO.