Chicago Bears: The Rise of Darnell Wright: Top 10 in the NFL

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast

Episode: Chicago Bears: The Rise of Darnell Wright: Top 10 in the NFL
Date: July 13, 2026
Hosts: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abbatacola

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the Chicago Bears’ surging offensive line, with a particular focus on right tackle Darnell Wright’s ascent to top-10 status in the NFL. Hosts Dan and Matt dissect recent national rankings from ESPN and Sports Illustrated, debate the meaning of “vaunted” as it applies to Chicago’s offensive line, and celebrate the inclusion of Bears players among NFL elites. They also touch on quarterback rankings, offer insight into the team’s draft approach, sprinkle in sideline stories, and—true to their style—dive into food talk and Chicago sports parent life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NFL Training Camp Looms

• The hosts acknowledge that post-All-Star break means Bears training camp is less than two weeks away—"12 days of content harvesting" (01:59).
• Quote: "We're starting to think about when they're going to arrive at training camp. ... Once we get a little further into July, we're not that far out."
  —Dan Bernstein (01:36)

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2. Aaron Rodgers' “Last Rodeo” & Team Dynamics

• Side discussion on Aaron Rodgers’ Instagram, the phrase "last rodeo," and jokes about team-building traditions—riffing on campfire bonding and leadership quirks (03:43–11:19).
• Quote: "So when you're a Steeler, when you're a teammate of Aaron Rodgers, you're just an unwitting extra in whatever Aaron Rodgers movie is going on right now."
  —Dan Bernstein (05:47)
• The hosts joke about "candlelight ceremonies" for NFL team bonding, recalling their own camp experiences.

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3. Darnell Wright: Top 10 NFL Tackle

• Segment Begins: 12:00
• ESPN’s top 10 tackle rankings place Darnell Wright at #6—the highest rated right tackle.
• Recognition is based on surveys of executives, coaches, and scouts.
• Quote: "Wright is on an upward trajectory as an anchor of Chicago's vaunted offensive line."
  —Dan Bernstein reading ESPN (14:49)
• ESPN notes his strength, power, and Bears’ satisfaction with his play through injury, though he’s urged to improve motor consistency.
• Bears as a unit ranked third in rushing and top-10 in overall offense (15:07).

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4. Joe Thuney: Best Offensive Lineman in NFL (Sports Illustrated)

• Segment Begins: 21:05
• SI’s top 10 overall offensive linemen: Joe Thuney (Bears) ranked #1, Darnell Wright #10.
• Thuney’s durability and technique praised; pivotal to Bears' offensive surge.
• Darnell Wright highlighted for anchoring the line, aiding a third-best rushing attack, and protecting Caleb Williams (just 24 sacks allowed).
• Quote: "Joe Thuney from Sports Illustrated. Number one offensive lineman in the NFL, Darnell Wright, the 10th best offensive lineman in the NFL."
  —Matt Abbatacola (24:57)

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5. Interior Offensive Linemen Rankings

• Segment Begins: 16:29
• ESPN's top interior linemen: Bears’ Joe Thuney ranked #5.
• Next to Thuney were elite names like Tyler Smith, Quenton Nelson, and Creed Humphrey.
• Bears have legitimate claim to one of the NFL’s best lines.

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6. Quarterback Rankings: Caleb Williams Sneaks into the Top 10

• Segment Begins: 26:06, revealed at 32:51
• ESPN's top QBs: Caleb Williams makes #10, edging out notable names in a tight vote.
• Williams praised for dynamic play, arm talent, and 11 deep TDs (lead NFL), but flagged for high off-target rate—a product of playmaking, not recklessness.
• Quote: "Why did Williams barely win out for the final spot on the list? He's the hardest of the four teams for teams to prepare for and defend."
  —Matt Abbatacola reading ESPN GM input (35:02)
• Honorable mentions: Jordan Love, Jaden Daniels, Sam Darnold, and others who were "very close" to #10.

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7. Offensive Philosophy and Draft Philosophy

• Discussion on Ben Johnson’s offense-first approach—Bears focusing less on defense in draft.
• Hosts speculate that Johnson’s confidence in outscoring opponents drove player selection.
• Quote: "I just don't think [Ben Johnson] cares that much [about defense]. Like, whatever, man, just give me the ball back. How many points do we need?"
  —Dan Bernstein (37:22)

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8. Chicago Sports Parenting: A Ryan Poles Sighting

• Matt shares an anecdote about running into Bears GM Ryan Poles at youth baseball.
• Notes Poles’ quiet, measured demeanor as a sports parent (40:50).

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9. Food & Local Flavor Segment

• Segment Begins: 45:07
• The hosts indulge in discussion of favorite foods: root beer float Waterloo, Chicago's Canfield’s Chocolate Fudge soda, Guy Fieri’s Flavortown sodas, hummus from The Entertaining Company, grilled halloumi.
• Practical tips: Mariano’s “private selection” gyro meat gets a rare host endorsement (49:10).
• Quote: "I just want grilled halloumi... In London you can get grilled halloumi at almost every food stall."
  —Dan Bernstein (50:30)
• Jokes about the show morphing into a food podcast and listeners' reactions.

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Notable Quotes

• "Wright is on an upward trajectory as an anchor of Chicago's vaunted offensive line." (14:49) —Dan Bernstein (reading ESPN)
• "Joe Thuney from Sports Illustrated. Number one offensive lineman in the NFL, Darnell Wright, the 10th best offensive lineman in the NFL." (24:57) —Matt Abbatacola
• "Why did Williams barely win out for the final spot? ... He's the hardest ... to prepare for and defend." (35:02) —Matt Abbatacola (reading ESPN GM)
• "I just don't think Ben Johnson cares that much [about defense]... Whatever, man, just give me the ball back." (37:22) —Dan Bernstein

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 01:36 | NFL Training Camp approaches | | 12:00 | ESPN’s Top 10 NFL Tackles discussion | | 14:49 | Darnell Wright’s ranking and evaluation | | 16:29 | Interior Offensive Linemen Rankings (ESPN) | | 21:05 | SI’s Top 10 Offensive Linemen (All OL) | | 24:57 | Joe Thuney & Darnell Wright SI recognition | | 26:06 | Quarterback rankings: Does Williams make it? | | 32:51 | Caleb Williams named #10 NFL QB (ESPN) | | 35:02 | Why Williams beat out Love/Daniels/Darnold | | 37:22 | Ben Johnson's offense-first philosophy | | 40:50 | Bears GM Ryan Poles at youth baseball | | 45:07 | Food segment: hummus, halloumi, Mariano’s | | 50:30 | Grilled halloumi in London |

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Episode Tone & Style

Conversational, playful, and deeply knowledgeable. The hosts balance in-depth analytical football discussion with humor, local anecdotes, and a healthy dose of real-life flavor. Never too self-serious, they shift effortlessly from the Xs and Os of line play to which Greek cheese is best grilled.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a comprehensive celebration of the Bears' modern offensive philosophy—highlighted by individual Bears linemen earning national respect. The hosts’ easy rapport and deep fandom offer insight into both stats and culture—for dedicated Bears obsessives and casual fans alike.

Key Takeaway:
The Chicago Bears’ offensive line, led by Darnell Wright and Joe Thuney, has gone from overlooked to vaunted, powering expectations for a dynamic 2026 offense—and maybe, just maybe, a real shot at postseason glory.

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, if you're a Bears fan,

[Matt Abaticola]

you're thinking forward Progress.

[Dan Bernstein]

Come on. 219.

[Matt Abaticola]

219. Forward progress. Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

You get forward progress on 312 sports. And some people think about the baseball All Star break. They say, well, I gotta wait for baseball. See, I look at the baseball allstar break and think I'm. We're that much closer to football.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes, we are. I can't wait.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's what it means. That, that there. We're. We're starting to think about when they're going to arrive at training camp. That once the. Once we get a little further into July, we're not that far out. Yes. What is it?

[Matt Abaticola]

July, I think July 25th.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And we're on.

[Matt Abaticola]

So that's 12 days away. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's the 12 days of the.

[Dan Bernstein]

Of something.

[Matt Abaticola]

Of lists.

[Dan Bernstein]

12 days of content harvesting from all places. We will find things. You know what I found today that pissed me off?

[Matt Abaticola]

Is it a list? Because I love making lists.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer 2]

It's not.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know we. No, we do have a ton of lists. I know you do. And we'll get to all the lists and all the bears on all the lists and where they matter and what it means. But did you see this? Apparently Aaron Rodgers. Oh, God. Has posted on Instagram photos of a gathering. Just wait, wait. With six of his Steelers teammates. Michael Pittman Jr. Ben Skoronic, Roman Wilson, Mason Rudolph, DK Metcalf, calf and Pat Friarmuth. Those aren't booze. They're chanting Booth. The caption says last Rodeo along with bonding week. The images include horses, cowboy hats and campfires. The setting, wide open and outdoors with strong to quite strong Teton river vibes. According to Mike Florio, who wrote this little blurb on pft, Rogers has said this will be his final season. The Last rodeo label to further confirm it, setting up the 2026 season to be the rare full season farewell tour for a franchise quarter quarterback.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wait, wait. This isn't.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is this real? If Florio wrote about it, is if he's saying team bonding. And that's. That's what they're doing. But here's my problem, though. Isn't the idiom last roundup and not last rodeo? The idiom is it's not my first rodeo.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's not. Right. It's not your first rodeo.

[Dan Bernstein]

But if it's the last thing you're doing, it's the Last Roundup. The Gene Autry movie from 1947 with Gene Autry and Champion.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. No, you're not. You're not wrong, but people don't say last rodeo.

[Dan Bernstein]

Last roundup.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Well, one of these pictures, though. Dan, does Aaron Rodgers have a heater in his. In his hand?

[Dan Bernstein]

Where are you looking?

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm looking on Aaron rodgers Instagram. Aaron Rodgers, 12. Right. This is. This is actually his. Is this his? Followed by. Oh, followed by a lot of people I know. So this is now.

[Dan Bernstein]

People that are disappointing you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. But one of these pictures he's got. There's a heater. I don't know if I can show you. Can you see this? If I can.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't see anything in his hand.

[Matt Abaticola]

Look at his hand right there.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hold on.

[Matt Abaticola]

Let me look at. Look at my. Look at the screen. Look at the monitor. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. It's a dart.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. He's got a dart in his hand, right?

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, that's not a joint or anything or.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, that's.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's a cigarette. Yes. All right, well, good for him.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, so what?

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I'm just saying good for him. I think we should bring smoking back.

[Dan Bernstein]

Back again. Are we gonna bring that back?

[Matt Abaticola]

Bring that back.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So when you're a Steeler, when you're a teammate of Aaron Rodgers, you're just an unwitting extra in whatever Aaron Rodgers movie is going on right now. And he's doing it again. I hope they're all enjoying themselves. Do you think he, like, hands out? What. What the rules are. Is there a curfew? Do they have to be in their bunks at A certain time. Are they actually throwing a football or are they just on horses? Like, what. What is this? Why do they have to do this? Is it fun for them? Do they want to be there? I guess I don't know the answer to these things. Are you allowed to miss it, or is this when he's teaching? Remember the hand signals? He has to teach you all of the off the menu, special orders. I found out about one, by the way. Remember we were talking about Culver's and the Culver's order?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Got a note from listener Leo who said, at Culver's, always order your fries extra crispy, that they have a separate fryer going because it's ordered that way so often that people who know go off menu and order extra crispy fries.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. What about getting my cheese melted on my burger? Any tips on that?

[Dan Bernstein]

I guess you just gotta. You gotta wait. You gotta hope. You gotta wait. You gotta hope that bun's hot enough they're not gonna melt it for you.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, well, since you're doing food already.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

No, we can.

[Dan Bernstein]

We can table it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, no, I know. I. I got another Waterloo flavor from. From Guy Fieri's Flavortown.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. What is it?

[Matt Abaticola]

Remember last week I gave you. It was the coconut lime. Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, thank you. That's a negatory.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm. I'm gonna guess this is a hard pass for you as well.

[Dan Bernstein]

Let's see it.

[Matt Abaticola]

But he came out with. With this. I don't know if you can.

[Dan Bernstein]

If you can see, that says root beer float. I. I'd give that a try.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. So I had three cans of it last night.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

After like 8pm I love root. Not that that matters, but it just. It was so good. I just kept drinking them. Like the time. The time of when I started doesn't matter, but I just. I couldn't stop drinking.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it's unsweetened.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's unsweetened. And it's still the. You know, the zero calorie.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do you. Are you old enough to remember in. In Chicago. I think it was just a Chicago thing. Do you remember Can Fields?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Chocolate fudge soda?

[Matt Abaticola]

I do. Absolutely. I remember Canfield's.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, yeah, Canfield's chocolate Fudge. I was always like, nah, nah. And then you try to be like, you know, it should be bad, but it's not.

[Matt Abaticola]

So I thought this would be bad, and it's not.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's really good for a flavored water. So Flavortown does it again.

[Dan Bernstein]

And somehow flavored water tastes like root Beer and vanilla ice cream.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's pretty good stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. But noted.

[Matt Abaticola]

Noted.

[Dan Bernstein]

We will. I will not turn it down. The other stuff, the coconut, lime, whatever.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's still very good, too. I like it.

[Dan Bernstein]

It might be, but that. It. That's like suntan lotion. I. I don't. Or like a hair product or something.

[Matt Abaticola]

Again, you're not wrong about that because it, It. It's reminiscent of being on the beach and getting like spray tan stuff in your mouth.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

But it tastes good, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's not exactly the testimonial I think they want. But.

[Matt Abaticola]

But it makes you happy, though. It makes you feel like you're warm and on the beach.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do you think that. That when Aaron Rodgers does this like, little western summer camp thing that makes it mandatory for his teammates? Did they. I know one thing that we always did at Northstar Camp on the first night when everybody's in the cabin for the first time. And we always did this especially with the younger kids who are a little scared. And we did something called the candlelight cere where there, you. Everybody gets the candle and you. It goes to. Each person has a chance to have the candle. And then you introduce yourself and you talk about your, you know, how long you.

[Matt Abaticola]

You.

[Dan Bernstein]

How many years you come to camp or. And where you're from and where you go to school, what your hobbies are, what your interests are, what you're looking to get out of your experience. And it was just sort of. I do think they do that. Do you think they have like a. A welcome thing where everybody go. They go around a circle or maybe they all get a cigarette.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, you get a football. And if you're holding the football, you can speak. Yeah. If you don't have the football, you can't talk. Right before the human sacrifice.

[Dan Bernstein]

Got it. The cool. The coolest memory that I have from one of those candlelight ceremonies in 1980.

[Matt Abaticola]

Cabin burned down cabin.

[Dan Bernstein]

Cabin intermediate one. And during the candlelight ceremony, because mosquitoes are always near a flame in moths and mosquito stuff, no matter what. And this mosquito. And you saw it coming, just a big mosquito and you saw. Right into the flame. And all of us are like, cool. Do that again.

[Matt Abaticola]

So. Yeah. You spent the rest of the night trying to burn mosquitoes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Trying to hold it up near mosquitoes. One over there. See if it. We've.

[Commercial Announcer]

We.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think we found the dumbest possible mosquito that won its own Darwin Award.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, it was in the intermediate cabin.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it was. It's, you know, wasn't there the senior village probably had the smarter mosquitoes, but. Oh, that was so cool. It was like. It was.

[Matt Abaticola]

There was seniors at your. At Northstar.

[Dan Bernstein]

No senior campers. Oh, there's junior village, intermediate village.

[Matt Abaticola]

I don't know if you had old people there that maybe was part of

[Dan Bernstein]

your,

[Matt Abaticola]

you know, thing was, like spending time with old people and doing arts and crafts with old people.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nope.

[Matt Abaticola]

Get your badges and stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nope, nope, nope. It's a young man's game camp.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

It is.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's like football. Hey, we have a lot, a lot of lists to catch up on because of the weekend.

[Dan Bernstein]

I only have one that I saw. You have the other ones. So do you want me to start with mine first?

[Matt Abaticola]

What do you have? You have the tackles, I have the tackles.

[Dan Bernstein]

Have you seen it?

[Matt Abaticola]

No. So do the tackles.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, let's do the tackles.

[Matt Abaticola]

Let's do tackles. And I'm just going to say that Darnell Wright's got to be on the list. He's. He's got to be somewhere on the list.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, do you think actual top 10? Do you think honorable mention?

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I think. I think Darnell wright is top 10. I'm gonna say. I'll say Darnell Wright got to number nine. I'll say nine.

[Dan Bernstein]

Darnell writes number six. Is he really on all tackles? This isn't just right tackles, right?

[Matt Abaticola]

This is all tackles in the NFL. ESPN's top 10 tackles.

[Dan Bernstein]

And. And this is not just their opinion. This is based on serving executives, coaches, and scouts.

[Matt Abaticola]

Correct. So he got number six.

[Dan Bernstein]

He had number six, which is actually the highest rated. Right tackle

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[Dan Bernstein]

So it's Penne Sewell, number one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Trent Williams, even at age 37, is number two. He moved up from number four.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wow.

[Dan Bernstein]

Tristan Wurfs. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Tampa.

[Dan Bernstein]

Number three, Jordan Mylotta of the Eagles.

[Matt Abaticola]

Eagles, yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Number four, Laramie Tunsil of the Commanders. Number five.

[Commercial Announcer]

Five.

[Dan Bernstein]

Darnell Wright. Number six.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. What do they say about him?

[Dan Bernstein]

Wright is on an upward trajectory as an anchor of Chicago's vaunted offensive line.

[Matt Abaticola]

We're. We're vaunted.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wait, we. We've got some vaunting. I didn't know that this was. They were vaunted.

[Matt Abaticola]

I didn't know we reached that category.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wow. Congratulations.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wow.

[Dan Bernstein]

Vaunted. That's great. You always. You want to wake up in the morning and have. By the end of the day, you'd like to be vaunted. I think. The team ranked third in rushing, top 10 in overall offense. An NFL personnel director said. Power and brute strength. He can do whatever he wants on a football field.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, well, you can't because you get penalties and stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

The Bears were highly pleased with Wright last season as he played through a nagging shoulder injury. But despite ranking fourth in pass block win rate rate at 95.2%, some voters believe he needs to improve his refinement on passing downs. A veteran NFL defensive coach said, I don't see a consistently high motor. That's the next step for him is getting that up.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, and then after that, Lane Johnson, Andrew Thomas, Joe Alt and Garrett Bowles. Honorable mentions Rashawn Slater, Charles Cross, Christian Darasaw, Dion Dawkins and Paris Johnson Jr. Also receiving votes, Spencer Brown, Armand Membu, Brian O', Neill, Bernard Raymond, Ronnie Stanley, Colton Miller and Jake Matthews.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, But Darnell Wright, number six and the highest rated right tackle.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. All right, so I'm going to give you now. And you didn't see this one, the interior offensive lineman. And this is the top 10 list again from ESPN. Interior, offensive lineman. Any guesses at all, Dan? If any of the Bears made it,

[Dan Bernstein]

Joe Tooney is top five. Okay. Would be my. The only thing for sure. You know, Dahlman might have been on there. I. I want to say Jonah Jackson's name is either honor. I would say Jonah Jackson is either honorable mention or others receiving votes. And I would have Toonie as top five.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Number one is Tyler Smith from Dallas. Number two is Quentin Nelson from Indianapolis. Excuse me. Number three. Choked up here. No, I know.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's emotional.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know. Alrighty then. Number three is Creed Humphrey, Kansas City, the center. Number four is. Is it Miners, Quinn, Minors. M E I N E, R Z. The guard from Denver. Okay. Okay. And you had Joe tuning in top five. So it's got to be here or you're wrong.

[Dan Bernstein]

It has to.

[Matt Abaticola]

And it's number five, Joe Tooney.

[Dan Bernstein]

There we go.

[Matt Abaticola]

Guard of the Chicago Bears.

[Commercial Announcer]

Ah.

[Matt Abaticola]

This scout says that he's. Or an NFL executive said he's losing a little lateral quickness. But he's so technically sound and tough and sturdy and stronger than you think. It really doesn't matter. He was awesome last year.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, he was.

[Matt Abaticola]

Added a veteran NFL defensive coach. He kicked our ass last year.

[Dan Bernstein]

Guard can kick your ass. I like it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number six is Chris Lindstrom, the guard from Atlanta. Seven, Trey Smith from kc. Number eight.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it was signing Trey Smith that made Toonie available for the Bears.

[Matt Abaticola]

Correct. Because it was one or the other for them. Yep, yep. Number eight, Tyler Linderbaum from the Las Vegas Raiders. Number nine, Peter Skaranski, guard from the Titans. And number 10 is center from Miami Dolphins, Aaron Brewer.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now, Peter Skaronski, he's Northwestern.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

If I remember, he was a tackle and they said his arms were too short to box with God. And they made him a guard. So in. In we mentioned Rashawn Slater looking at tackles. So that's a couple very successful cats.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. On Skaronski, they said he's absolutely jumped to elite status. He's going to get paid a lot more money than people think. Okay, let's see. Honorable mentions go to Greg Zabel, Tyler Booker, Gray Zable.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, Gray's able. Sorry. Yep, Gray's able. Guard from Seattle. Yeah, thank you. Tyler Booker. Elton Jenkins, guard, center from Cleveland Browns. And then from the Panthers, Robert Hunt. Also receiving votes, Landon Dickerson.

[Dan Bernstein]

This is where you're. Jonah. I'm telling you, Jonah Jackson better be on there.

[Matt Abaticola]

Zach Frazier, Connor McGovern, Kevin Dotson, Cam Juergens, Steve Avila, Eric McCoy and Jonah Jackson. Last one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I'm so smart. So smart. S M or T? I mean, S M A R T Eagles.

[Matt Abaticola]

E A, L, G O U. Yes. All right, top 10 quarterbacks, are you ready for this?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. I. I think I may need to get ready. I think I need to go into the Wild west with Aaron Rodgers and pass the peace pipe and smoke a cigarette and have some DMT and ayahuasca and learn all the hands and then I'll be ready.

[Commercial Announcer]

All right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, before we do that, before we do top 10 quarterbacks, because we did. We did top 10 tackles and top 10 interior offensive linemen from ESPN. Apparently Sports Illustrated says, hey, if you can do it, we can do it too. I don't know. SI loves list, but here's what they did. Dan?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

They put together a list of the top 10 offensive linemen right now. So this is not. Does not break them up by guard, center, tackle. These are the top 10, okay. Offensive linemen in the NFL right now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, that's not fair because they're very different jobs.

[Matt Abaticola]

Doesn't matter. SI says we are this good. We can make one category of offensive linemen and give you a top 10. So we know from tackles and from interior offensive linemen that The Bears were 6 and 5. Darnell Wright, Joe Tunney. Did either of those players, or both or none, make Sports Illustrated's top 10 offensive lineman right now?

[Dan Bernstein]

Tuney? Yes. Right.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer 2]

No.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, here's the list. Should I start with one or ten you picked?

[Dan Bernstein]

Completely up to you.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, let's start with number 10. Coming in at number 10 is your Chicago Bears right tackle.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wow.

[Matt Abaticola]

Darnell Wright.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wow. Okay. Well, that's. He. He must be much higher regarded league wide than the in town folks. Understand that that sounds like. Like a little maybe in town stupid going on.

[Matt Abaticola]

So, selected with the number 10 pick in the 2023 draft, Wright has started 49 games across his first three seasons with the Bears, earning PFWA All Rookie Team honors in year one before being named a second team All Pro in 2025. Wright's leap forward last season helped the Bears average 144.5 rushing yards per game, the third most in the NFL behind the Bills and the Ravens, and saw him notch the sixth highest run block grade 85.6among 89 qualifying tackles, according to. Pff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

He also anchored the offensive line that allowed quarterback Caleb Williams to be sacked just 24 times, the third lowest among quarterbacks who started all 17 games.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I guess the fact that he is. That he was second team all pro should be enough to put him on some of those lists.

[Matt Abaticola]

So Darnell Wright jumps in at number 10 on SI's top 10 offensive linemen. Number nine is Chris Lindstrom from Atlanta. Number eight, Tristan Wurfs. Number seven, Quinn Minors from Denver. The guard, six, Garrett Bulls from Denver. Number five, Quentin Nelson from Indy. Number four, Trent Williams from San Francisco. So now you have your top three. So your top three, and I won't tell you the order right now. Penne Sewell, Creed Humphrey, Joe Tooney, those are your top three.

[Dan Bernstein]

You got to put Sewell first because a tackle is just more important. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number three is Kansas City center Creed Humphrey. Number two, Detroit's tackle.

[Commercial Announcer]

Wow.

[Dan Bernstein]

How about it?

[Matt Abaticola]

And number one is Bears guard Joe

[Dan Bernstein]

Tuney, the single best offensive lineman in the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

The most accomplished offensive lineman in the NFL, Joe Tuney earned first team All Pro honors for the third consecutive season in 2020, 2025, while making his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. A third round pick from the Patriots in 2016 in Chicago. Tuney was a pivotal part of the Bears improvement offensively along with the offensive line. He finished second in pass block win rate and third in run block win rate while blocking for an offense that finished third in rushing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wow.

[Matt Abaticola]

Joe Tuney from Sports Illustrated. Number one offensive lineman in the NFL, Darnell Wright, the 10th best offensive lineman in the NFL.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's pretty cool.

[Matt Abaticola]

It is pretty cool.

[Dan Bernstein]

I like it. I know.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's Dan. That would go to explain why it's a vaunted offensive line.

[Dan Bernstein]

See, now I'm feeling vaunted. I. I wasn't before, but I'm getting. It's. It's Vaughn here now. Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's not too vaunty.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I never really. Does one conjugate the verb to vaunt.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, hey, speaking of conjugating verbs, your guy, Andy Cantor is. Is Cantor is. Is to sing in Spanish. Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

Cantar. Cantar.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's Kantar. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because it's. Can't. Cantor is. Is Jewish. The cantor is the. The ceremonial singer of prayers. It's a. It's an ordained position. It's sort of secondary to the rabbi, but that's what that comes from. That's what Cantor comes from.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah, you're right. Kantar.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Cantata is. Is to sing in Spanish.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

But cantor is a fairly common Jewish last name.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Is it really?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. Top 10 quarterbacks.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, God.

[Matt Abaticola]

So here's the question. Does Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent make the list of top 10 quarterback stands in the NFL.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. I think Tyson Bagent is one through six. Okay. One through six are all Tyson Bagent. And I think Caleb Williams will be in others receiving votes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, so seriously, this is ESPN's Executives Scouts, all that stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, can I just. Before you do that, did you know that according to Merriam Webster Vaunt, it's got a negative connotation?

[Matt Abaticola]

It does?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. That Vaunt says to make a vain display of one's own worth or attainments. To vaunt means to brag, to call attention pridefully and boastfully. A vaunt is a vain, glorious display of what one is or has or has done. So to be vaunted is a negative thing. It doesn't sound like you're. You're decorated, although it sounds like it's taken to mean that now.

[Matt Abaticola]

So we've changed the meaning of the.

[Dan Bernstein]

I guess so. At least in sports, vaunted means well respected or famous or publicized. But yeah, the. The actual meaning of vaunt is. Is to. Is a brag. So just want to let the record reflect that. We want to make sure we're using words carefully here on forward progress.

[Matt Abaticola]

We're. So is. Is that something you learned just now?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I did. Yeah. I did not know that. I'm glad I looked it up. This is why my parents always often they always kept dictionaries around and they always told me look it up often

[Matt Abaticola]

implies praise is excessive, overhyped, or undeserved. Huh.

[Dan Bernstein]

I did not know that.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, either die. Interesting. On to the vaunted quarterbacks of the NFL. So again, this is. This is the ESPN's list. Executives, scouts, all that guy personnel. Does Caleb Williams make their top 10 list of quarterbacks in the NFL?

[Dan Bernstein]

We know when we did PFF's rankings. The only reason he didn't was because they used multiple years. And I would think that if this is a survey, if this is sort of unscientific, not using numbers and their. Their ratings, I'm gonna say back end. If he's in the top 10. Yes. I'm gonna. I'm gonna say he's kind of got a little flavor of the month thing going on. I will say, yeah, but barely.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer 2]

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[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, that's interesting. So then if you think he made it, we did that list last week. What, what guys do you think he beat out that maybe made that other list?

[Dan Bernstein]

I, I don't have the recall to remember exactly who was where and, and where everybody's being ranked but some of those guys like Trevor Lawrence.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, how about guys. Okay, how about a couple guys like let's look at Jordan Love.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because Daniels, Caleb Williams. Okay, Caleb's in. One of those guys out. Both those guys. Yeah. All three in.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Maybe Daniels. I'd say Love. Maybe Daniels maybe out because he took a little bit of a down. And the other list included the really good year that he had. This may punish him a little bit more. Maybe they move Williams ahead of Trevor Lawrence.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, let's see.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number one. This is top 10 quarterbacks ESPN. Number one is Josh Allen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Gotta be Allen, right?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. Number two, Patrick Mahomes.

[Dan Bernstein]

And this is where PFF had Burrow.

[Matt Abaticola]

Correct.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because still dealing with the injury, obviously. Number three, Matthew Stafford.

[Dan Bernstein]

Mvp.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number four, Joe Burrow.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, so now we're getting into like Lamar territory.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number five, Lamar Jackson. Number six, Dak Prescott, who I believe was higher.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Their list. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, because it was consistent. He. He produces.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yep. He may not win, but he gets a lot of yards. Number seven, Justin Herbert. Number eight is Drake May. So we have two left.

[Dan Bernstein]

So this. Yeah, this is about where I would have. I would suspect that they would have Caleb Williams now. All right, the. The bottom of the top third.

[Matt Abaticola]

Here's a guy that was really. That was much lower on. On the list we did last week. And what was. What was that again? Was that pro?

[Dan Bernstein]

Pff.

[Matt Abaticola]

Pff. Okay, this is. Number nine is Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Interesting. All right, this is it. So my last shot.

[Matt Abaticola]

Last shot. You gonna go with it? You're gonna say that is 10 is Caleb Williams or is he out?

[Commercial Announcer]

Sure.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why? Yeah, yeah, I'm going to.

[Matt Abaticola]

Number 10 is Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

[Dan Bernstein]

Damn. You know what? Sometimes you have a day. Every once in a while. Every once in a while, you have a day. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, here are the honorable mentions from Seattle. Sam Darnold.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then now you. Now you've probably got Love and. And probably Lawrence.

[Matt Abaticola]

Also getting honorable mention is Jaden Daniels. Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers. Control of the offense, protection of route and route adjustments. He has really grown in those areas. NFL offensive coach.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Some NFC scout said, I don't think he gets enough credit for playing the position consistently well as he has got the athletic traits to match it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Probably true.

[Matt Abaticola]

Also honorable mention, Brock Purdy of the Niners.

[Dan Bernstein]

There's the other name I didn't come up.

[Matt Abaticola]

Baker Mayfield of Tampa Bay. Trevor Lawrence. Jalen. Hurts.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hurts. That's another one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, honorable mentions. So also getting votes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Tyson Bajan.

[Matt Abaticola]

Tyson Bajan.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, he did.

[Matt Abaticola]

He did not. Bo Nix. Daniel Jones, somehow. And C.J. stroud.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, I don't. I don't really have a quibble there. What do they say about Caleb?

[Matt Abaticola]

Here's what they say about Caleb Williams. All right, here's where it gets interesting. Four quarterbacks, Williams, Sam Darnold, Jordan Love and Jaden Daniels were very close in voting for the 10th spot. So they took the tiebreakers, gathering input from several general managers and executives. Why did Williams barely win out for the final spot on the list? He's the hardest of the four teams. Of the four, for teams to prepare for and defend. That's why so of Sam Darnold, Jordan Love, Jaden Daniels. Caleb Williams, the hardest to plan for, prepare for and defend. One GM said he's the most dynamic of the group. He's got the arm, talent, and overall athleticism suited for today's game. His 11 touchdowns thrown at least 20 yards downfield were two more than any other quarterback last season. Okay, that's impressive. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't and I did not realize that about him. 11 of 20 yards or more were two more than any other quarterback. Williams, 13 interceptions on 1130 career passing attempts are an excellent clip. His playmaking ability is sustainable. Plus, Williams six fourth quarter comes backs in 2025 led the league. He's a closer, said one personnel evaluator. End of games. He has shown that his inconsistencies did give some voters some pause. His 20.2% off target rate was 37th out of 38 quarterbacks in 2025. Though his ability to keep plays alive and throw the ball away contributes to this. So. Yeah, so it was the fact. Yeah, so there was. Yeah, so he was in a group of four for that final spot and beat him out because of the fact that he's the hardest to prepare for or defend, they said.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think that's all fair.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I agree. I agree with that for sure.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Some of that.

[Dan Bernstein]

So the unpredictability cuts both ways. Some of the, that's, and that's what it's like, a pitcher being effectively wild in some ways where. Yeah, yeah, some, some of his, his unpredictability is a blessing and a curse. And that's. It's just a goal of the team to make sure that he's in full command of his powers in a way that it's, that is significantly more, More blessing than curse.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Which is interesting because then. PFF. He ranked 14th, I think. Right. I think there was 13 ahead of him, I think, I think I remember

[Dan Bernstein]

either 13th or 4th.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

So, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that was using the larger sample. So that had all of the, the, the growing pains in that evaluation rather than looking at what he is now or what he is for their next game. So. Yeah, that's all good stuff. And it bodes well because I, every time I, I read about the Bears and think about the Bears and think about, you know, how little we've talked about their defense and how little they probably improved their defense, I don't think Ben Johnson cares.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I, I, I agree with you. Yeah. The, the more, the more we discuss it, the more it seems that, that,

[Dan Bernstein]

that route, I just, I keep getting back to that, like the, this is an Occam's Razor. It may just be like, whatever, man, just give me the ball back. How many points do we need? Oh, we need more points. All right. I, I'll, I'll get him it's fine. I don't. And this isn't an insult. I. His. I just don't think he cares that much. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Do you think the conversation between he and Ryan poles, when they, like the early talks about the draft and Ryan was just like, no, no, no, we don't need to do this. We're just gonna. We're gonna. We're gonna be better as coaches. Here's. Maybe he had a talking points and he said, this is where we were deficient. This is what I learned after year one, being a head coach running a defensive unit, you know, being late overseeing that because he gave it all to Dennis Allen. But this is where I think I. I think we can improve. And if we improve in xyz, it's going to help the players improve in abc and we're going to get better at getting after the quarterback because of this. Yep. So use those picks here, here, and here instead of on the defense, because we don't need it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Whether he believes it or not, or he's just like, get this off my desk.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right. I didn't say he believed it. I'm just saying maybe those were the talking points.

[Dan Bernstein]

Honestly, I think he sees a file and it's like defensive. It's. You can always tell this about coaches in any sport based on how they answer questions that ultimately, if you let. If they talk long enough, they'll always come back to their passion. They'll always come back to what speaks to them.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

And it.

[Matt Abaticola]

It.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's like. It was like this. I don't. Whether you're talking to Mike Martz or whether you're talking to Dave Wanstead, that, you know what matters to them? What the. The prism through which they see the.

[Matt Abaticola]

See the game for sure. Yeah. Because it's like, hey, Ben, who are some of the top prospects at Edge rusher? I'll tell you, there's a lot, A lot of great kids coming out of college, but, man, this offense that we're going to put together. Yeah. Like, immediately, I bet you he goes right or right.

[Dan Bernstein]

He says. He says, well, there's. Every year there's a number. That's why our tackles like that. That's why we know that we've got to get the ball out quickly.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's why I need to fix this left tackle position.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

We got a problem there. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's. There's certain people that see the game a certain way.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And that's funny. And that's.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's all right. It's okay. It's like Been a defensive meeting. I said, oh, well, I, I'm busy.

[Matt Abaticola]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

I. I'm drawing up plays in here. You. That's. What's the meeting?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Tackle position fix left tackle. I, I did. Hey, I had a chance to, to visit with Ryan Poles over the weekend, isn't it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wait, what is that our lead?

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, was it the lead that I. What do you mean? It was at a baseball game, that's why.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, so your kids were playing against each other together?

[Matt Abaticola]

They played against each other actually, twice this weekend. Once on Saturday, once on Sunday and bracket play. Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Did your kids strike out Ryan Poles's kid?

[Matt Abaticola]

They, they did not face each other in that regard, no, they're neither. Neither one of our children took the mound this past weekend, but I can say that, yep, we. We beat. We beat their team once. We beat them on Saturday, they beat us then the next day in bracket play. So they got the better, better end of it.

[Dan Bernstein]

So you got to see Ryan Poll's baseball parent?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, yeah. Went over, chatted with him for a few minutes. He's shaking the chain link fence. No screaming at umpires. I think what you would probably guess of Ryan Poles is exactly what he did. And he's, he's in a chair. He's on the phone behind the backstop. No, he was watching. He was watching. I mean, you know, he had his phone with him, but yeah, he was. He was watching you. If you, if you didn't know it was him, you wouldn't know because he didn't say a peep, doesn't say a word, which is exactly what you'd think of a guy who's the general manager of a, of an NFL team, but went over, said, hello, we talked with you, and yeah, it was very nice.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nice, Very good. I was. That. That's when you really know about somebody, when you can see how they behave in those situations and see how, how the other parents are around. If he's like part of the, of the fun and, and part of the group or off to himself, or if he's like, I am. Where you get so nervous that you have to go pace around and then you stop in a lucky spot if things are going well and even though you're very far away from the game and then when you come back, your wife tells you, get away. He was doing better when you were over there gone. Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. So we were, we were at field four and three. So three or three and four this past for yesterday at the same time. So it was good. So, I mean, you've been there a bunch of times. So I just literally had to go across the sidewalk. So from one, I was going from right field in field three to left field in field four just to watch, watch both boys play. Jackie pitched, so I was, I was on there. And yeah, it was, it was, it was very nice to have the guys there at the same field at the

[Dan Bernstein]

same time instead of having to go from Crystal Lake to New Lenox.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes, yes. Be in the same place for. And they saved it for the final tournament of the weekend to do that for me. So thank you.

[Dan Bernstein]

This will last over the year.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, we're done. We're travel. Baseball's done wrapping up.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, fall is here.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. Yeah. Tackle football evals start tonight. So Hank gets a zero day break.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, my God. He doesn't even get it. Okay, that's how it is. I, believe me, I'm. I know it's weird. Now. When I was taking a walk on Saturday, just, just a lovely walk. Zoe and I were walking around Horner park and watching all these adorable little kids and I met the cutest dog ever. I wanted to actually just take it home. I met a 15 month old pit bull and I've got a thing for pit bulls.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes, you do.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, I love them. And this, this, it's a big smile and this giant cinder block head and I wanted to take it home with me. And then I thought about having a 15 month old pit bull in my actual home and have me responsible for it and what that thing could do to a house that. The case of the Zoomies. It's going to go through the drywall.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, didn't, didn't the fact that it had an owner also prevent that from happening?

[Dan Bernstein]

No. See, I'm like the bears when it comes to land in Indiana. I'm not.

[Matt Abaticola]

So when it comes to dogs, you can just take. Owner gets over it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Eminent domain. I can just take. It's somehow, it's just real easy. You can just take stuff. So it doesn't matter that there are other owners there. But anyway, we're on this walk and I'm. And then I'm realizing how much of my life of these weekends, essentially, he started playing T ball when he was four and then played travel through age 18 and then played even the old Liberty Ball 19. And after age 19 and just how many weekends, that's all it was, was sitting in parks and watching games and watching all these parents with their little kids and how nervous they were and sitting on their blankets and like that was an entire like, phase of life. And when it's gone, you have so much time and money. You have all this.

[Matt Abaticola]

The money thing will be interesting when

[Dan Bernstein]

you all of a sudden you have like. Wait, I'm not spending. What? On what? Oh, spring hockeys. How much? Oh, now actual. Wait, leg pads cost. What? Okay. Ah, it was just nice and. But we had beautiful weather. I think it was building us up to this week. But it was just a lovely time to get out. Are we doing food yet?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah, we can do food. I just, I gotta, I got an issue here on my, on my end with.

[Dan Bernstein]

What's that?

[Matt Abaticola]

With stuff. I, I missed, like, our, the closed stuff disappeared.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's all right. Well, it's fine.

[Matt Abaticola]

So closing song and everything's all gone.

[Dan Bernstein]

What do you mean it's gone?

[Matt Abaticola]

It just. I don't know. I don't know what happened to it. It's really strange.

[Dan Bernstein]

Who took our closing song?

[Matt Abaticola]

Do we need a new. It was right there when we opened the show because we played the open.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. Do we need to sing it live?

[Matt Abaticola]

We'll do it live. No, I would, I would ask that we don't do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

But yeah. Do you have any, do you have any food things you want to talk about?

[Dan Bernstein]

Just that my, My wife worked an event and the catering company is like one of my favorite catering companies anywhere, anytime she does an event with these people, it's called the, the entertaining company. They did, they did my mother in law's Shiva.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was unbelievable. It's like, it's. I mean, I, I wouldn't, I wouldn't say it's a good reason to have a death in the family.

[Matt Abaticola]

No. But you've talked about, you've talked about this food at the Shiva multiple times.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was unbelievable. Yes, it was amazing. And so they're hummus. I, I usually you wouldn't say, like, somebody's hummus is special. Okay. But this, theirs is. It's like extra lemon and extra garlic.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

So we brought this huge thing of hummus and all these cold vegetables and also, do you know, you know what halloumi is?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's a cheese. And it's a cheese that grills really well.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer 2]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. It's fantastic.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, my.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, that's.

[Dan Bernstein]

What.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, dude. So last week, it was a week or two ago. I told you I made that salad.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

And, and it, and I, I, I left. The, the highlight of it was the grilled halloumi that I had.

[Dan Bernstein]

You did do grilled Hal. It's so good. It's almost like the cheese they use for saganaki.

[Matt Abaticola]

I love halloumi. It's a squeaky cheese, but. Oh, my God. But yeah, it grills really well. That's the thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is. And it. And these were skewers, like bamboo skewers of grilled halloumi.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, it's so good.

[Dan Bernstein]

With really, really sweet grape tomatoes. And you just eat the whole thing. And it was like. So you get that the hard char and the saltiness of the halloumi with the fresh pop and the sweetness of the tomato.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yes. No, it's so good. I love halloumi. Yes. It's so good. Yeah. The first time I had it was at Cross, the old Greek restaurant in town my buddies owned. And they would grill it and dude, I.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I.

[Matt Abaticola]

You got like, oh, you got to try. You got to try this grilled halloumi. Oh, my God.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So I thought I was just going to have a couple of them. I ate all of them.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, I bet you did.

[Dan Bernstein]

The entire container. And there were just like the, you know, the little skewers were everywhere because I was just eating as fast as I could and they came downstairs like, what, did you. Did you eat all of those? You bet I did. And there was that. And then they made these banana cream parfaits that had a little bit of a. Like a banana cake in there covered with a banana pudding. And then on the top of each one was a about a quarter inch slice of banana torched and caramelized. So the top of it was crackly with the natural banana sugar, crunchy.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, that sounds good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, and there were four of these parfaits, and I ate all of them.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I was gonna do tacos tonight. I think I'm not gonna do tacos now. I think I'm gonna do. I think I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do like. I'll do a Greek pita sandwiches with like ground lamb, but because I want. I want halloumi.

[Dan Bernstein]

Can I recommend something?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

At Mariano's. Have you seen those shrink wrapped packages of marinated meats? One is like. It's like chicken in a certain sauce. One is like a carne asada mix.

[Matt Abaticola]

Wait, a certain. It's not a Mariano's brand. It's.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is. It's private. It's a private selection brand. I think it's a black label in a rectangular package.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I know exactly the store that they're. That they're.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer 2]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. And. And I haven't had real good experience with that product, except their Euro meat, the shaved lamb. Euro meat.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, really? It's good because I've always been skeptical to.

[Dan Bernstein]

I was.

[Matt Abaticola]

Something like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I was too. And what I did was I bought a huge thing of pita. I bought a giant thing at tzatziki, and I bought that, and I just cut up some thinly sliced onion. And if for something like that, that would. That works ideally. And I. I. All of it. It's. If it's just. It saves you time. Like, you're not gonna make euro meat and shake.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, no, no.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what I mean?

[Matt Abaticola]

Not today. No. Okay. Yeah, I'll try it then. Because I've always been hesitant to. To buy something like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I generally am too, but it was discounted. It was. It was like 9.95 instead of 20.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's the real reason. That's how you find star.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. That's why I bought it.

[Commercial Announcer]

I love it.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's why I bought any of that stuff. Because it's. It's because it's in where I'm shopping.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right. Yeah, I'll take a peek at it today. I think I'm gonna do that now because I just want grilled halloumi.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, then you don't need the. You don't need the euro meat.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I might just. I might actually still do tacos because I want that, and I might just buy halloumi.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that's the thing about a snack in London. Any little stand that has sandwiches, grilled halloumi is at almost all of them.

[Matt Abaticola]

Seriously? Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

So in.

[Commercial Announcer]

In.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's huge in London. And all these little kiosks. If you just want to stop and get a wrap. One of the protein options is. Is. Is. It's everywhere. So that's what. Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

Really now?

[Dan Bernstein]

Always in London. London loves their grilled halloumi.

[Matt Abaticola]

I didn't know that. Yeah, we're. We're talking about spring break for 2028 with the boys, and we actually can't. We have, like, two different. We were at. We landed on two spots. One was London. Taking the boys over to the London or doing another beach vacation. So go to London. Well, I'm. Yeah, I think. I think we've. I think we've Land. Actually landed on another beach vacation.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

But I might have to push back to London if we can get halloumi every.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's everywhere. Yeah, it's everywhere.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yep. All right. Okay, now I'm hungry. Everyone else is hungry. Yeah. I hope you're either hungry or angry right now. Not hangry we want you hungry. You're angry that we're doing this because there's at least one comment every time.

[Dan Bernstein]

Talk sports. I didn't turn into a food podcast. If I wanted a food podcast, I'd get a food podcast.

[Matt Abaticola]

You're.

[Dan Bernstein]

Somebody's making me listen. Those people that forced me to listen doing it again. So making me listen to this.

[Matt Abaticola]

We haven't started our food podcast yet. Until we do, this is what you're going to get during the Bears season

[Dan Bernstein]

of nothing and maybe during it, because you know what? We. We have all the time in the world. We can do whatever we want.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, it is going to be. It actually will be a feature on Ford Progress. I just don't know when yet.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

If it'll be like maybe a Friday feature or we're. We are going to do game day food or snacks with recipes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. So I. That sounds like a good Friday. A Friday forward progress thing. What are we eating?

[Dan Bernstein]

What are we doing this weekend? Yeah. Yeah, we should get.

[Matt Abaticola]

For the game.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I think we should.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think different places should pay for say, hey, make something with this or try this place and then talk about it.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or I just think Mariano's if. Because the fact that Mariano isn't a sponsor yet.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, my God. They probably mar. Between Mariano and Jewel. They probably get the. The most free advertising here. We should call Bob Mariano. He doesn't own it anymore.

[Matt Abaticola]

But Jewel, though most of the Jewel comments came from the Jewel and Wayne where the horse was running through the strangles. That's.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. That had a case of strangles in Wayne and then they shot it.

[Matt Abaticola]

All right, we got to wrap up because I need to go to Mariano's.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, good. Let's wrap up. Do we have our clothes?

[Matt Abaticola]

I do. I somehow got our clothes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, clothes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, it's weird. I had to close a bunch of things out. I can see it now, but something's not right. I don't know. Maybe just shutting things down and restarting it'll get it back to normal. But I have it now, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

Good that I. We can say this has been Forward progress, a Chicago Bears podcast on 312Sports. Forward progress is stopped.

[Matt Abaticola]

Forward progress, a Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.