← Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
Forward Progress - A Chicago Bears Podcast
'Talk Football' with Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren
00:32:27
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- [00:00]
Chicago Stars Announcer
On July 5, the Chicago Stars return to Evanston vs Utah Royals FC. The Chicago Stars celebrating a summer of soccer on the north side and you don't want to miss it. With an easy to get to stadium and tickets starting at $19, pro women's soccer has never been more accessible. Come to a match for family friendly pre match entertainment, then cheer on US Olympians like Mallory Swanson and Alyssa Nayer playing right on the lakefront in Evanston. Summer soccer doesn't get much better than this. Get your tickets now@chicagostars.com tickets.
- [00:31]
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- [01:47]
Dan Bernstein
I mean, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking Forward progress.
- [01:50]
Chicago Stars Announcer
Come on.
- [01:52]
Dan Bernstein
102192 19Forward progress A Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports. We give you forward progress here on 312 Sports. I'm Dan Bernstein. Cody Delmendo is in for Matabaticola today. He is off and I am here and we have a whole bunch of things to talk and you may wonder why. I am currently looking at a schematic diagram of a theater in Lake Forest and I am. I'm looking to see what seats are available at the John and Nancy Hughes Theater in Lake Forest. I don't know, maybe for a couple weeks from now. A little more than a couple weeks from now. Thursday, July 16, 7pm There are a lot of available seats right here. A lot. And I suggest maybe you take a look. Where are the seats taken up? Well, there's some stuff in the front row. There's a couple here. I, I barely see any tickets sold for this and I am actually shocked because let me tell you a little bit about the the event that I'm looking at here because I think you're going to find it really interesting. It is called Talking Football. Talking Football and it is to benefit something called the Gorton Center. And the the Gorton center is in Lake Forest, Illinois. It is was started as a school in 1901. It's a community center and now it's a nonprofit center for the arts. They present events, they present films. They are a home to eight different nonprofits. So it is an area in Lake Forest. It's called the Gorton Center. So to raise money for the Gorton center, they are doing something called Talking Football. Talking Football with Kevin Warren.
- [04:08]
Progressive Insurance Advertiser
So wow.
- [04:09]
Dan Bernstein
This is I'm just going to read you what it says here. This is for July 16th. It's from 7 to 8:30pm Thursday, July 16th. It's $49 for an adult ticket. It's $25 for a student ticket. It's at 400 East Illinois Road in Lake Forest. And it looks like all the seats are available at the moment, at least judging from their website. If you click on it, you can see what's taken and what's not. So here's what they say. Join Gorton center for an unforgettable night with Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren. In a live conversation with acclaimed interviewer and author David Sweet, Warren will share an inside look at Bears football, NFL leadership and the future of the Chicago Bears organization. Discover how the Bears are evolving on and off the field. Hear Warren discuss the changing landscape of the NFL, the business of professional football and the role sports play in shaping culture, community and leadership in Chicago and beyond. In addition, fans will get a behind the scenes look at the traditions, passion and legacy that make Bears fans some of the most loyal in the NFL. From franchise vision to league wide challenges and opportunities, this special event offers rare access to one of the most influential leaders in professional sports.
- [05:49]
Matt Abeticola
That's a good one.
- [05:50]
Dan Bernstein
Is that right? One of the most influential leaders in professional sports?
- [05:57]
Matt Abeticola
Who wrote this up?
- [05:58]
Dan Bernstein
He just became a named leader in professional sports 3 1/2 years ago and all he's done is bumble his way through it. Whether you're a lifelong Chicago Bears Fan, a football enthusiast, or interested in sports leadership and NFL culture. Talking Football with Kevin Warren promises an engaging evening filled with compelling stories, expert conversation and exclusive insider perspective. What it doesn't say here is whether or not there's a Q and A
- [06:28]
Matt Abeticola
portion,
- [06:31]
Dan Bernstein
because that's the key here. I am of half a mind to give the Gorton Center a call, say, hey, we can have a Q and A. You set up microphones on a couple of stands. In this theater, it's very common. Somebody gives a big speech and then say, oh, here I am. Ask me anything. Because there's questions. And this is not an official media event. Obviously, nobody needs to be credentialed. All you have to do, if you're a student, you have 25 bucks. Might be worth it. Might be worth it to buy that ticket if there's a Q and A. Because I got questions about the future of the Chicago Bears. I have questions about the traditions and passion and legacy in the business of professional football. I have questions. Hey, Kevin, why are you still dicking around with all the stadium stuff? Why haven't you moved to Hammond yet? What are you waiting for? Why? Why doesn't anybody except the dumbest people on earth believe that you're even considering actually moving to Hammond? Oh, hey, Kevin, I got another one. Why weren't you in Springfield? That's really the big question I have. After all, everything that you were brought in here to do and everything built up to this 11th hour moment in the state legislature, one of the most important moments at the time in the history of the Chicago Bears franchise. Where were you? Where was George? What's going on? Why are we hearing people, people in various aspects of state government saying they don't know who's speaking for the Bears with authority right now? Why is everybody so confused? Why is it that you announce that you're looking at going to Hammond? Because the board voted to go to Hammond. And literally at the same time, people are calling all the Illinois politicians telling them they're looking forward to continuing to work with them. Why does somebody do something like that and undermine all of their own leverage immediately while they're trying to create leverage? What's going on with the land that you bought five years ago? What's happening there? Oh, wait, Kevin. Kevin, me again. I got another question. Call on me. Oh, oh, me. Okay, thank you. Yes. If you really are planning to move to Hammond, why haven't you done even started in on the hours and hours and hours of legal environmental work and, I don't know, permitting and Everything that you're going to need once you own the land. Oh, and that's the other thing. Other people own that land. Oh, another question. Now that the land is clearly not big enough in the areas on which you're allowed to build, how are you going to actually make money or be able to fulfill the bond arrangements that are being promised to you when you don't have the opportunity to generate revenue? Revenue that you said you were. I got, I could be here all day, Kevin. I, I know nobody else bought a ticket. I'm the only person here. So just us. We're just hanging. So I got a. I got a lot of questions. So if there's a Q A, my suggestion to you as a Bears fan is give that a shot. Just see. Or maybe there's, maybe, maybe they're going to hustle them out before and after. It's still worth the 49 bucks or it's worth the, you know, or get all together with your fantasy football league. Everybody goes in Every puts in $4 and you send one of you guys your fantasy football league. So everybody has a sort of a Bears representative. Bears fan representative there by the ticket. They're right here. There's tickets absolutely everywhere here. All you do is you click. There's pricing, there's time, and you click on purchase. Okay. Talking football. Oh, there's Kevin Warren sitting at his desk, staring intently into the camera. The bear's helmet behind him and bunch of leather bound books. He's kind of a big deal. And we click on tickets. I'm there. It's a reserved seat. I see all of the special needs seating. There you go.
- [11:02]
Progressive Insurance Advertiser
Oh, there.
- [11:02]
Dan Bernstein
That ticket's bought. As far as I can tell, the tickets that have actually been purchased. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and row Q. Looks like it's blocked out at least 12 tickets. Oh, wait, I missed one. 13, 13 tickets appear to have been purchased so far. So you can join an exclusive club. I'm doing everybody a favor right now. I'm giving you more free advertising than I can even compute. I'm giving to the Gorton Center. It's for a good cause, so you'd be helping out. It's a, It's a fundraiser to help all the things that the Gorton center does at the John and Nancy Hughes Theater. And maybe if it's an intimate gathering there, you, you wouldn't even need to walk to a microphone. If you're just sitting right there, you can just say, hey, Kevin, can I stop you for A second. What the hell are you doing? Yeah, I know all this, all this stuff you have got. But just a question. What the hell are you doing? What is all this? When does it end? Where are you going with it? Why do you seem to confuse so many people with the way you do Bears business? Why are so many people who do business with you exasperated by it? Why. Why have you hired all these lobbyists and then you don't listen to them. Just question. Just keep, keep raising your hand. See if he'll call on you. You're.
- [12:34]
Matt Abeticola
You're giving the people a really good content idea that even. Maybe I should just go get. Go up there and maybe dress up. Or maybe you could go Dan. Dress up a little bit. Get a, you know, wear, wear like a. Like some form of facial hair and, and a hat and just pretend to not be you and someone else.
- [12:53]
Dan Bernstein
I would wear the funny nose and glasses and a fedora that says press on it. There you go.
- [13:01]
Matt Abeticola
Hey.
- [13:02]
Dan Bernstein
Hey, Kevin. Hey. I got a bunch of. I came here with a long list of questions. I'll put it on a big scroll.
- [13:10]
Matt Abeticola
Oh, there you go.
- [13:11]
Dan Bernstein
It just rolls to his feet when I undo it. These are all my questions and I'm going to begin presenting them right now. But this is. I love this here, here is your bio here. Because after all this, it says about Kevin Warren. Kevin Warren, Chicago Bears president and CEO, oversees both the football and business operations and is also focused on the stadium development project for the franchise. Not really. He is the fifth president in the 107 year history of the Chicago Bears and in his. He is in his 25th season of the NFL. He joined the Bears in 2023 after four years as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. He was the first black commissioner of any Power 5 conference at the Big Ten. Warren led the conference expansion to 16 schools with the integration of UCLA and USC while negotiating an unprecedented media rights deal that will generate over $7 billion during the seven year term of the deal. Don't ask about the details on that one and the stuff that was sold without him being able to see sell it. Warren also created the Big Ten Equality Coalition, a nonpartisan group committed to combating racism in addition to developing a mental health and wellness cabinet. That's all good. He spent 15 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, including the last five years as COO, bringing U.S. bank Stadium to life in 2016. That phrase is doing a lot of work. Still rated as one of the best sports venues in the world. He earned a Super bowl ring during the 1999 season with the then St. Louis Rams. It's all very good. Go see him. Just a thought. Just putting that out there. Put it out there for you this opportunity on Thursday, July 16th. It's just 90 minutes of your time. Like I say, there's only 13 tickets that appear to have been sold at this point, so there is plenty of room. There are plenty of places where you can show up early, you can set everything up, you can get your questions all in order and all set and then you can just start firing away.
- [15:20]
Chicago Stars Announcer
On July 5, the Chicago Stars return to Evanston vs Utah Royals FC the Chicago Stars celebrating a summer of soccer on the north side and you don't want to miss it. With an easy to get to stadium and tickets starting at $19, pro women's soccer has never been more accessible. Come to a match for families, friendly pre match entertainment, then cheer on us Olympians like Mallory Swanson and Alyssa Nayer playing right on the lakefront in Evanston. Summer soccer doesn't get much better than this. Get your Tickets now@chicagostars.com Tickets insurance isn't
- [15:52]
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- [16:22]
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- [16:52]
Dan Bernstein
I've got more NFL notes here because that's what we do on forward progress. CJ Gardner Johnson is at it again. The former Bear. Every time he goes to another team, he tends to explain what went wrong. That wasn't his fault in the previous organization and he's not doing it to the Bears right now, so I think that's kind of cool. He doesn't seem to have a bad word about The Bears. But he is explained now that he's on the Bills. He was explaining why he was cut by the Texans. They were 03 and they cut him. And he said things started to go sideways at training camp in West Virginia after a confrontation with someone he calls the GM's friend. He said, if y' all gonna cut me, cut me. But I'll give nobody reasons to cut me. I haven't. I don't. I'm not a cancer. There's nobody in this locker room that says Chauncey is a problem. The media loves me. The only thing that I'll do is something that triggers somebody that has a say in the building that can alter somebody else's mind. That happens every time. Wait, what? Okay, I think that counts as a reason to cut you. If you say. He said the only reason that thing that'll do it is something that triggers somebody has a say in the building that. Okay. He said, that's how I got cut in Houston. One person that's technically not a part of the organization called me a B word at Greenbrier. He said, I get out my body. He says something to the gm, and the next thing I'm cut. What does it mean to get out of out one's body?
- [18:36]
Matt Abeticola
Yeah, I don't. I'm not registering anything on that one.
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Dan Bernstein
I don't know that. That phrase, to get out, I get out of my body. That means go a little crazy or get physical. I don't know what that means.
- [18:52]
Matt Abeticola
Your guess is as good as mine.
- [18:54]
Dan Bernstein
Okay. Well, the Texans declined to comment. And according to Pro Football Talk, the objective timeline doesn't exactly support the effort to connect the training camp incident to his release. It had been reported that he struggled to learn the defense, that he finger pointed in lieu of accepting responsibility, and the team had become exhausted by his complaints. So they tracked it. Picked by New Orleans in the fourth round, the Saints traded into the Eagles after three seasons. One year in Philly. Signed with the Lions. One year with the Lions, went to the Eagles, another year with the Eagles. He was traded by the Texans. Cut after three games in Houston. He was over the practice squad in Baltimore. Released by the Ravens. Signed by the Bears in late October, Finished last year in Chicago. Then he signed with the Bills. Seven seasons, six departures. On several occasions, Gardner Johnson has aired grievances after his departures, and he called his year with the Lions hell. Claimed he was lied to. Said the Eagles traded him after they won the super bowl because they were scared of a competitor, and he said his week In Maryland, he said, they sign you in the middle of the night with a plan to play you that week. Fourteen hours later, they trade for a safety and tell you, we're going to start him and we'll keep you on the practice squad. But I'm a Super bowl champion. He knew the Bears wouldn't resign him. He said, I'm a firecracker, but let's take the body of work. Never been in legally. Never legally been in trouble, never physically harmed a person, but I haven't been a captain ever in my life. They say you got to lead the right way. My definition of leading is winning. There's a lot of captains in this league, and I want this to come out. That's just for jersey sales. I can show you three, four captains right now that I wouldn't get behind. Why would I get behind anybody that doesn't believe in himself? I played for plenty of false captains, but I got to fake it like that's my leader. He. He knows that people already think the Bulls will cut him. Okay. All right.
- [20:48]
Matt Abeticola
He's.
- [20:49]
Dan Bernstein
Let's just be thankful the Bears got a relatively decent contribution from a guy who was on the street, who fit in fine enough while he was here, one fast enough. And that's why they got rid of him. Probably. But I. I do think the lack of accountability might be. Might be a note here. Might be something He. He wants to take to heart, that maybe he has a little involvement in why he's been on all these different teams.
- [21:18]
Matt Abeticola
Yeah. Sounds like he doesn't want to own up to his own faults, in which. In which he probably doesn't think he has faults based off these quotes.
- [21:27]
Dan Bernstein
He's so. And what do you mean when you say you're a firecracker, but, like, explain what you mean by that? Maybe. Maybe you should look into the being a firecracker part of it. However you define it
- [21:41]
Matt Abeticola
from, you know, on the field, I. I think that's a good example. But off the field or behind the scenes, I don't know what he means, because when I think of him, I think about that tussle he had with Javon Wims, like, six years ago or whatever it was. Right.
- [21:56]
Dan Bernstein
That was just like they. They told everybody, don't fall for this. Don't let him bait you. Don't let him rage bait you. And the. Anthony Miller fell for it. Javon wins. Fell for it. And it's like the one thing you can't do, and there it happened again. So probably keep playing if you can find the Right. Fit and I don't know, maybe eventually. But the thing is, the NFL careers are so short, they don't give you a lot of time to figure some of these things out. And, and you talk to a lot of guys who say, boy, I wish I had mellowed out earlier in my career or I wish I had known what it was going to take to lengthen my career because that was my best chance to make all the money I could make. So I don't, I don't know if he's going to, going to learn it. I don't know if there, there's a way for him to all of a sudden have teams unafraid to bring him in. I don't know. But good luck to him and we appreciate his contributions. So Declan Doyle is now the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. He was hired away and we know he didn't do all that much here, but it is clear he is doing a lot now that he has been given the reins to an offense. He's only 30 years old, so I think it's going to be fascinating to watch in Baltimore. What he has taken from Ben Johnson, what they can do with the talent they have that in the same ways can set up opportunities in a game. We'll find out if he can call a game, which is a different skill than game planning because sometimes you game plan and you say this, we'll do this and we'll do this, we'll do this. Then the game goes sideways on you and it's all gone and you throw out that card and now it's football and either you have it or you don't. That happens all the time. But Lamar Jackson likes what he sees. Lamar Jackson, via Sleeper NFL says it's a different system than what I'm accustomed to being in. I feel like there's going to be a lot of explosiveness this year. Declan Doyle's creativity, how detailed he is, is mind blowing. I'm excited. Okay, well, we'll see. This is, this is the game planning and installation and teaching time. That's one skill. The skill, once the game starts of, in that sort of foggy, sped up communication, can you get the play in? Can you have a sense of the game itself? Can you remain somewhat serene taking everything in and, and essentially reducing it in a lot of ways to, to a video game. That's, that's the goal. Even though you have sort of moving parts out there and you are dealing with human beings but not getting too caugh in what's going on that you lose sight of the bigger picture of the game. Can a 30 year old with no experience do that? They've bet on it and it sounds like Lamar Jackson is fairly high on him right now, so I don't know. Give him a shot.
- [25:00]
Matt Abeticola
Who did they hire as the head coach? I'm blanking.
- [25:04]
Dan Bernstein
Who did they hire? The. Jesse Minter.
- [25:06]
Matt Abeticola
Ah, okay.
- [25:07]
Dan Bernstein
A defensive guy. So Jesse Minter came from the Chargers.
- [25:14]
Matt Abeticola
That sounds right.
- [25:15]
Dan Bernstein
Is that right? I think that's right.
- [25:17]
Chicago Stars Announcer
So they.
- [25:18]
Dan Bernstein
So this isn't just a nominal offensive coordinator job. He goes from kind of carrying or caddying for Ben Johnson to being the offensive head coach of a Hall of Fame quarterback. That's a big leap. Happens a lot in this league. Some guys are ready for it, some guys aren't. And we'll see if Declan Doyle, and as precocious as he has been described to be, if this is something he can handle, obviously wishing the best and it's going to be good for everybody. It's good for the Bears. It's good for Ben Johnson. If in fact he. And then maybe press Taylor after him. If they end up getting jobs out of this and doing well, that's good for the Bears because that makes people want to work for you. It may say, okay, I can just be an offensive coordinator in name and be able to osmos all of these things. I could be the next Declan Doyle. All right, well, you hope for that.
- [26:18]
Shopify Advertiser
Yeah.
- [26:18]
Matt Abeticola
That's similar to like the McVeigh tree, right?
- [26:22]
Dan Bernstein
You hope so? Yeah.
- [26:23]
Chicago Stars Announcer
You hope so.
- [26:23]
Matt Abeticola
We're hoping Ben Johnson has his own
- [26:26]
Dan Bernstein
of, you know, and there's different degrees of success for who ends up where. But it's. It's a big jump for Declan Doyle and he's at least early on. The point being he got an endorsement for his knowledge and methods from a future hall of Famer.
- [26:42]
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- [27:07]
Dan Bernstein
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- [27:11]
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- [27:41]
Dan Bernstein
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- [27:45]
Dan Bernstein
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- [27:53]
Dan Bernstein
Did you have to find a dragon?
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- [27:57]
Dan Bernstein
Was it scary?
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- [28:01]
Dan Bernstein
Did the car have a sunroof?
- [28:02]
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- [28:03]
Dan Bernstein
Okay, good story.
- [28:05]
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- [28:11]
Shopify Advertiser
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- [28:11]
Dan Bernstein
Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has released his annual top 100 NFL players. And it's not like the other one that Matty's doing where he's only releasing two a day. And I don't know where he finds it. Some magic place. I'm not even going to touch. I'm going to let him do that because we're going to have others throughout the weekend. We're going to have space to make up. I think we're only at number 97 in that, but not the Pete Priscoe one. But I'm going to ask you, can you name in order and within plus or minus five spots, the three Chicago Bears in the top 100?
- [28:54]
Matt Abeticola
So this is all players.
- [28:56]
Dan Bernstein
This is correct. All players in the NFL. All positions.
- [29:00]
Matt Abeticola
Okay, there are all positions.
- [29:03]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, there are. There are three players in the top 100.
- [29:08]
Matt Abeticola
Caleb Williams.
- [29:10]
Dan Bernstein
Caleb at what number?
- [29:15]
Matt Abeticola
Let's go with. Let's go with 25.
- [29:22]
Dan Bernstein
You. You think Caleb Williams is the 25th best player in the NFL according to Pete Priscoe.
- [29:27]
Matt Abeticola
Okay. I don't know if that's too high or too low. I'm just figuring in all the other.
- [29:32]
Dan Bernstein
I'm just curious. I'm just curious because you're, you know, primarily a baseball guy, but you're, you're clued in enough through. Through to have an idea here. So there are three. Caleb Williams.
- [29:44]
Matt Abeticola
Okay, man, let's see. I, I feel like you got to stick on the offense.
- [29:52]
Dan Bernstein
They're all offensive players.
- [29:54]
Matt Abeticola
Okay.
- [29:55]
Lowe's Advertiser
So
- [29:58]
Matt Abeticola
I, I don't know if Roma Dunze has got on that. What is maybe a running back. DeAndre Swift, is he in there?
- [30:09]
Dan Bernstein
Is that your guess? I just need three names.
- [30:12]
Matt Abeticola
Oh, man. I'm. Yeah, let's go with DeAndre Swift.
- [30:16]
Dan Bernstein
Okay. What number?
- [30:18]
Matt Abeticola
We'll go 80.
- [30:21]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [30:23]
Matt Abeticola
This is gonna be so bad.
- [30:25]
Dan Bernstein
I'm not saying anything. I'm not. I'm not saying. Okay.
- [30:30]
Matt Abeticola
I feel like a receiver has to be on there. I want to say Luther Burden, but I don't know if he's proven enough to get in the top 100. So we'll just go with Roma Dunes Egg.
- [30:37]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [30:38]
Matt Abeticola
And I'll. I'll go. I'll go 70.
- [30:42]
Dan Bernstein
All right, here are your answers. The best player on the Chicago Bears, and I've been pretty clear about this since they signed him, was that trade. That was trade, trade, sign, a signing. Joe Tooney is the highest ranked Chicago bear at number 55.
- [31:06]
Matt Abeticola
Oh, wow.
- [31:07]
Dan Bernstein
Their left guard, who was a tackle who gave way to Jordan McFadden because he had to move out to tackle in the final game of their season. Number 55 for his professionalism, reliability and strength and consistency. The second player on this list is Caleb Williams at number 70.
- [31:30]
Shopify Advertiser
Okay.
- [31:32]
Dan Bernstein
And he's one behind Jaden Daniels at number 69. Jaden Daniels is number 69 as the. As the 12th quarterback. Caleb Williams is the 13th quarterback. He's QB 13 and he's ranked number 70. What it says about Williams, it says Williams took a major step forward in his first season working with new coach Ben Johnson. Every aspect of his game improved as he led the Bears to the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how he continues to grow this season. If you're curious, here's what was said about Tooney at 55. Where is it? Oh, this is just. They just have the quarterbacks here. Unfortunately, I don't have the full list. I will find that because on. On my phone it came up with the full list. But here he just listed his quarterback number 13. But tuning it basically just said he's strong and toug and does everything you need somebody at that position to do. Number three on Pete Prisco's list of the top 100. And you were kind of getting there when you were talking about Luther Burden. When people talk about Bears receivers who have. Who do have I consistently said is their number one receiver.
- [32:57]
Matt Abeticola
I would, I would say that Luther Burden is the guy that you have
- [33:00]
Dan Bernstein
feel the highest on their number one receiver of passes. The most important receiver of passes, the guy they cannot afford to lose is ranked number 100 in the top 100. And that's Colston Loveland.
- [33:17]
Matt Abeticola
Ah, yeah. Tight end Colson Love them. Yeah, I wasn't thinking offensive line and I wasn't thinking tight end. Yep. I was definitely going skill position and quarterbacks.
- [33:28]
Dan Bernstein
There's. There's actually a lot of offensive linemen on this list. Pete Prisco loves himself some offensive line, as it should.
- [33:33]
Matt Abeticola
You know, as we all say, you know, it. It all starts with what's happening in the trenches.
- [33:38]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, I just. I think it's personal preference there. I, I think having a left guard is the. He also, you know, Quentin Nelson is in like the top 30, I think is. You know, he likes. Maybe he just likes guards, but there it is. Tuni at 55, Caleb Williams at 70, Colston Loveland at 100.
- [33:54]
Matt Abeticola
I'm. If I were to. I mean, I don't know who the rest is on his list, but I, I can.
- [33:59]
Dan Bernstein
We.
- [34:00]
Chicago Stars Announcer
Can.
- [34:00]
Matt Abeticola
I. I think Caleb Williams should at least be ahead of Jaden Daniels.
- [34:05]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, that seems like a little bit of a troll.
- [34:08]
Matt Abeticola
Yeah, like he's trolling Bears fans.
- [34:10]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, it sounds like, like, especially to put him there. All right, here, let's click on. Here we go. Here's the. Here's the total top 100. Miles Garrett is number one.
- [34:20]
Matt Abeticola
Okay.
- [34:20]
Dan Bernstein
Matthew Stafford is number two. Then it's the top 10. Is. It's Garrett Stafford, Josh Allen, Jamar Chase, Joe Burrow, five Panay Sewell, six Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson, Puka Nakua and Lamar Jackson round out the top 10. The next 10, Patrick Surtan, Micah Parsons, Jackson Smith and Jigba. Aiden Hutchinson, Will Anderson, Fred Warner, Bijan Robinson, Trey McBride and Christian McCaffrey. And Jeffrey Simmons. There you go. Whatever that's worth to you. If you got a problem with this, take it up with Pete Priscoe. Here are the comments, as promised, about Joe Tunney. In his first season with the Bears, he helped solidify the offensive line. He's really good in the run game and has been steady in pass protection. He is a fighter. You know where Joe Tuni was ranked last season on this list? Number 55. So relative to his peers, he has not gone anywhere. But Jaden Daniels at 69, drops down from number 33. Caleb Williams, 70, moves up from not ranked. And obviously the same goes for number 100, Colston Loveland. What it says about him, he had 58 catches and six touchdowns after starting slowly as a rookie in 2025, he added 12 catches in. In two playoff games, which shows where he's headed this season. Last season, not ranked. That's. That's the guy there. So don't. Don't Say, who's the number one receiver? He is. He happens to be a tight end, but he is the number one receiver. That's how it was for your Bears.
- [36:02]
Matt Abeticola
That's on me. I should have, I should have thought of. I, I, I, in hindsight, I wish I would have said Loveland more than any of the other ones.
- [36:11]
Dan Bernstein
No, I'm not.
- [36:11]
Matt Abeticola
He was that good. He was that good.
- [36:13]
Dan Bernstein
I'm only using you as a foil here. I'm not trying to, to actually evaluate your or, or use this in any
- [36:21]
Matt Abeticola
way for the listeners though, because everyone's used to hearing Matt and yeah, I know. They're like, who's this, who's this guy? He doesn't know anything.
- [36:29]
Dan Bernstein
Okay, well, so what you know, you're here. Welcome. Glad you're glad you're here and in fact that now that you're here, thanks for being here because that is going to do it. That is today's Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast. That's Cody Delmendo. I'm Dan Bernstein. This is 312 Sports. Forward progress is stopped. Forward Progress Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312 Sports.
- [37:13]
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- [37:56]
Chicago Stars Announcer
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