Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - 5 On It & what's the biggest hole on the Bears' roster? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

In the third hour, Leila Rahimi, Mark Grote and Chicago Sports Network analyst Clay Harbor discussed a variety of sports topics in the 5 On It segment. After that, the trio discussed the biggest holes on the Bears' roster right now.

The score. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3, the score. I got five on it. Number one. This is Five on it with Lailorhini, Mark Grody,

and special guest in studio with us, Clay Harbor, nine-year NFL veteran, co-host of the big pro football show on CHSN, alongside our guy, David Hall and Ruthie Polinski. Here's question number one. Have the Bears improved? That's what we were trying to figure out earlier today, Clay, because number one, you know that interceptions are not always sustainable, but then number two, you have to figure out that every

single player on the Bears last season who had multiple interceptions is no longer with the team. Kevin Byrd had seven, he gone. Nashan Wright, five, gone. Tremaine Edmonds, four, gone. C.J. Gardner Johnson, two, he's gone. But you also know that you're probably getting, most likely. I'm looking at some God right now, the fates or something, knocking on wood, Lord, baby Jesus, Oprah. Hopefully a healthy Kyler Gordon, hopefully a healthy Jalen Johnson enough to fill in those gaps.

I assume the bears were thinking that as well. They improve with speed with Devin Bush, but I don't know yet if they've replaced to a sufficient level of the playmakers that they lost. That's where I sit with this. And the answer is I don't know. I don't know if they've improved or not. Yeah, let's look at these positions. Wide receiver, better or worse, Grotie? Right now, worse.

Yes, offensive line, better or worse. Worse? Let's go to defensive line. Better or worse or the same? Yeah, I guess same. Lineback and crew. Better, worse or the same? Same.

I'm going to say same. I like Devin Bush. Defensive backfield, better, worse or the same. Right now, worse? Right now worse. So, yes, they have changed some names around, and there are some new players here. I'm high on Devin Bush, but can you say right now he's going to be better on Tremaine Edmins?

Tremaine Edmins is a guy that's probably performed at a higher level for a longer time than he has. I have faith that he'll get better. I hope he'll get better. They both had good years last year. Exactly. Both Tremant Edmonds and Devin Bush had it depends on which one you trust going forward. I didn't think like Tremaine Edmonds's his previous years with the Bears were that impactful. Last year was, though.

Yeah, absolutely. And Kobe Bryant, high on him. I think he's a guy that can fit the system. Is he better than Kevin Byard having seven interceptions? Are you swapping a guy out? I think he has more speed. He has more versatility. He might play better in the run game.

He's younger for sure. Long-term better play. For this season, I'm not certain that that's a raise of the bar, so to speak. So I might say that's a wash and you lost Nashon Wright, who also had five interceptions second in the NFL last year and eight total takeaways. So yes, right now I said they even got worse there. So right now, as it stands, early and free. agency. There's still some players out there.

I wouldn't mind seem to go get A.J. Epinessa, Joey Bosa, something. Even an old Christian Kirk for number three receiver. But right now today, I do not think they have gotten better. Is that a chant? Better worse, the same? No matter how you train. Better. Worse the same. No matter how you train.

I've got to come up with other words. Well, I think you help me out in going through the exercise just now to give my answer. And I think two things can be true. You can like some of the moves that the Bears made, but you can look at the roster as a whole, relative to last year and say, no, at this moment, at this moment, they have not improved. Now, there are still moves that can be made in this offseason. The draft has not occurred yet.

So there's still plenty of time for the bears to be better, to be better in those spots. But you challenging me with all those questions you just asked, I think I answered it. The answer for now is no, for now. For now. Better worse the same, no matter how you train until your worst gets. the same, but then it breaks your brain. You know what? Addendum to the question, too, now that you're going through that, Layla? Yeah, I just have making up stuff.

No, I appreciate that because Weeter and I talked about this several weeks ago. Do they bring back good, better, best next year or not? Because if Ben Johnson's going to do this whole, like, every year is different and the Bears are a completely different team, to me that would connote that you don't do it again this year. No, no, you can't do that because the coach remains the same. The coach, yeah. Yeah, that's true.

And if that's like in him, like if that's what he takes with him wherever he goes, then I suppose that that would be the case. Plus, I think the bears would probably step in and be like, can you just do it? Because everybody loves it. Everybody wears the t-shirts. It's like a thing that every, like, I think he would, people would be very angry if they didn't do it. Yeah, it's become a thing now. Yeah. You have to keep going.

I think you're probably right, but. You guys don't like my new riff that I built off of Clay's phrasing. What the hell? Say it again. Do you have it straight? So you can't do it. I don't know if I can. remember it again. Better worth the same, no matter how you train until your better gets worse,

but then it breaks your brain? I don't know. I'll work on it. Did you write that down? You want to be my write that down guy. You better to write that down. Don't write that down. You're never going to be my write that down guy. Eminem, I am not. I'm putting in my notes. No. Strike it from the record. It'd be a long t-shirt. Yeah. It's just my life. Better, worse the same. We are having a robust Bears conversation on five on it. Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel will continue the Bears discussion on their show coming up at 2 p.m. NFL draft analyst Todd McShay will join the show at 5. Spiegel and Holmes can be heard from 2 to 6 right here on 104.3, the score and the Odyssey app. Watch live on YouTube and Twitch. What up, Twitchers?

Number 2. If you could summarize the Bears week in free agency, in one word, what would it be? Productive. I would say it's productive. They made a lot of moves. We knew they had a lot of holes to fill. and I feel like the Bears did a really good job of trying to act quickly with guys like Kobe Bryant and also Devin Bush. And then they also re-signed people who I think we wanted to see Remain with the team. Daniel Hardy, I'm looking at you. That needs to happen. Thankfully it did to Marco Jackson.

And then getting Khalif Raymond on special teams, I think is going to be helpful for him on the offense and on special teams. So I would say it's productive. They made a lot of transactions over the past few years. days. Okay, I'll go with practical. You know, they address some needs, not headlines. Not sexy, but respectable.

You know, they brought in some pieces that they needed some of the depth pieces on the defensive line there that you signed. Obviously, you went linebacker. You needed to get a safety. Obviously, there's reports that Kevin Byard was offered back to Chicago. He wanted to go back with Vrabel. I don't blame him for that. That's the guy he played

with when he was in Tennessee. So, you know, it was It was solid. You know, not sexy but respectable. So that's what I'm going with. I am going to go with, I know you guys over at CHSN, you guys write stuff down sometimes and share it. I went with reasonable. So you and I are kind of in the same category.

I think what the Bears have done so far, if not splashy, reasonable. And I would say the most splashy thing that they have done is the safety Kobe Bryant. I loved that signing. Would I love to have seen Kevin Byrd back and even Jaquan Brisker? yes, but this was a good signing three years and $40 million. I love the versatility, so I think that's a good and reasonable thing to do. It was reasonable to bring back to Marco Jackson, to add him to obviously, to hopefully, Devin Bush and a healthy T.J. Edwards, that seemed pretty reasonable to me.

The Neville Gallimore, like to have depth on your defensive line, as Pat Hughes would say, that never goes out of style, things like that. So I like that. You know what the most reasonable thing that they did probably? And reasonable is not necessarily a good word here. Braxton Jones. It's reasonable to bring back Braxton Jones. Whether or not he starts at left tackle for 17 games or not, I don't know.

It's a reasonable move to have made. So I can go through all these players, but reasonable is the word that comes to my head. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. The other, I just have the issue is like, for example, I think the Lions had a really decent free agent period. Yeah, you were saying that. Larry Borum is now lying, by the way.

Cade Mays, the Free Agent Center, like, Isaiah Pacheco. Sue out to left tackle, though, that's interesting. Is that what they're doing? They might have to remix it a bit, but I feel like Isaiah Pacheco was a savvy little pickup. Cade Mays at Center will be good for them. He's a mauler.

He's not great in past pro, but I think Cade Mays is a guy that gives Dan Campbell what he wants. He wants gritty guys. We're going to bite the kneecaps, man. I used to be my tight-in coach when I was in New Orleans. is, all right, guys, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go out there and we're going to play hard. I know you guys are veterans.

You know that. Is he a goofball? I feel like he's a bit of a goofball. Our whole challenge during meetings was to get Dan on some rant that we would not have to cover anything in meetings. And then he'd be like, all right, man, you guys know. You guys are veterans. You know what you got going.

Let me know if you have any questions on the script. And then we just don't meet about anything and get him in a tangent, talking about his days of playing. We go out on the field. So that said, when you heard, forget the press conference. So you had no idea with the police. He's word. He's like, you know what you're doing.

We were all veterans, so we knew it. A lot of those meetings, yeah, it probably wasn't the most productive thing we could have done. But it was just funny to us. We all look at each other, like give each other a nod when Dan's going off on something the old days. And he's just sitting there going crazy. So we got the head coaching gig. What was your, like, initial reaction? Not the press conference.

Forget all that. Were you like, oh, wow. I thought the players were going to absolutely love him because he is a player's coach. You'd love playing for this guy. He's so genuine. He brings. juice. You heard his coffee order before. That's real. He's drinking like four large venty extra shot coffees. Oh, Mitch Rosen-style. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we keep talking about espresso

today because of Team Italy. And Mitch also has an espresso order. Eight, eight shots now. Eight shots over ice. In the morning. Is that what it is? Yeah. Yeah. That's our guy. His heart is made of steel. And he does have energy, man. Mitch does that. So it's working. He gets on to us for not having enough in promos. And then you'll hear a promo where we've had suitable amounts of energy. That is an Easter egg to you to listen. Well, now I would like to bring that up really quick while we're improvising here. There is a promo that is playing right now that we just played for the Spiegel and Holmes show. And I was told, you were in that room with me. We were told, guys, lots of energy. And if you listen to the promo, I sound ridiculous because I'm shouting,

basically. I overcompensated. We kept making fun of how much energy they told us to have. Yes, too much, grody. it around and like swinging hats and stuff. Yeah. Sping it homes! That's just not how I normally sound. So I was like, what? I think we've unlocked the key, though.

When we record these station promos, we have to, before recording, do some shots of espresso. Uh, yeah, that apparently I did, or wasn't cocaine the way I sounded. My God. You just, you sounded like you're,

like if you listen, you can tell Grotie. He's making fun of it while he's talking. I'm not really, though, because they told us to, and I didn't want to not have the proper energy. Now, before we did it, I did do one very exaggerated one, which is probably might still. Did we have the outtake of this? I was going to say, Grotty, I may or may not have just saved these just for fun. Oh, you have? I still have them.

Is this our 145? Oh, no, our 145 is different. Our 145 is Pat Hughes. Just going to have to bleep out. Maybe it's our 1225. Yeah. We have, well, Clay had a question for you. I know.

We have to do that. All right. All right. Okay. 1445. Number three. We're running behind. Number three.

It's five on and out 104.3, the score with Lailorahamy, Mark Grody, and CHSN's Clay Harbor in the House. Here's question number three. Former Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is currently a free agent, and that might not last very long. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM in Phoenix reported that Murray will visit the Vikings today. Could you see Murray making a positive impact in Minnesota? Yes, and I think this also is done, you know, from being in a locker room. This is not a veteran. This is not Kirk Cousins.

It's not Case Canaan. This isn't exactly your job is safe. This is your job is not safe guy. And I feel like that's where we can see inherently competition builds competition in these ways. It's very much a life you know, Clay being in the NFL. That's what I got when I thought about that effect of what Kyler Murray would bring. Yeah, I'm worried about it. I think Kyler Murray is a better quarterback than people give him credit for.

You look at it over his career, 67% of his pass is 122. touchdown, 16 interceptions. That's a 2-1 touchdown interception ratio. 92 rating. Okay, when he was with the Cardinals, they were 38 and 48 with them, okay? That's not great, you say. But without them, guess what? Five and 25. That's much better. So then you look at what Minnesota's quarterbacks did last year. They had 3,208 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 21 interceptions, a 75 team passer rating, 188 passing yards per game. They rank 30th or lower in every statistical category in the NFL. So yes, bringing Kyler Gordon in is going to help.

Kyler Murray in is going to help the Minnesota Vikings. They don't need a superhero. They need an adult. And Kyler Murray is a veteran. He's an adult and he will help that team that went 9 and 8 last year with the worst quarterback play in the NFL, arguably. I'm a little worried. Like if this does work with Kyler Murray,

I don't want to see, as you were giving some of the statistics on Murray, not as bad as people think. I don't want his career revival, because we've seen this happen with many quarterback, Sam Darnold, Gino Smith for a little while. Poor Gino Smith. He's going back to the Jets. Interesting. But I don't want to see his quarterback revival occur in Minnesota with the Vikings. It also strikes me how far away things feel from J.J. McCarthy all of a sudden. And I'm not saying that he's not going to end up being their quarterback in the future, but it is wild to think about the guy that, so many GMs fell in love with at the Combine a couple of years ago,

and I talked to some of them, that how far away they are from J.J. McCarthy right now. Number four. During his press conference, Wednesday, Ravens General Manager, Eric DeCosta, told reporters that after losing their starting center, Tyler Linderbaum, to the Raiders, they were interested in pairing together past rushers, Trey Hendrickson and Max Crosby.

But Crosby's medical exam put an end to that discussion on a scale of 1 to 10 on the BS meter, trademark, where would you rate your level of belief that the Ravens were actually interested in pairing Crosby and Hendrickson together? 9.9 just because it stands out. 9.9. To all BS. Max Crosby's cap hit this year for the Raiders is 35.79 million.

So if that's the case, and Trey Hendrickson wanted 30, and his has incentives, at the 4-1-12. Come on. What are you going to do? Restructure Lamar's contract into 21-90? Like, there's no way that makes sense. If you want any talent left on your team and you're playing with an MVP in Lamar as we know, monetarily, sure, sure, just follow the money and that'll tell you that wasn't the case. Yeah, I'm sure the Bears wanted Trent Brown. They wanted Max Crosby and they wanted Trey Hendrickson. Okay, guess what? That's not going to happen. There's a whole salary cap thing you have to deal with and money.

Whole thing seems fishy to me. When it comes to the medical records, you have those records. You know exactly what he got done to his knee. You can't tell me they didn't know the exact procedure. They had the images. They had everything before he came to the building. And then you go into the building. I've been a free agent.

I've taken visits before. You go in the building, your stuff gets sent over beforehand. So to me, this is Baltimore. They knew the car had mileage before they got there. When they asked for the keys, they said, I don't want to know more. It's like they agree. agreed to the price, and then they get to the checkout counter, and they flinched. So it's something that is fishy. I think they saw what Max Crosby was what they had to give up for him, the two

first round picks. Trey Hendrickson, plus those first round picks, how much better does Max Crosby have to be than Trey Hendrickson to validate him getting paid more and giving up two first round picks? I think that's what it comes down to. This was smarter play to go with tray. But they already agreed to it. They got cold feet at the altar and didn't want to say I do. See, I don't know if I believe, or maybe I believe in Baltimore a little bit more. As I was talking about at the beginning of the show, this was a reputable franchise for years. Like, people would talk about Baltimore being one of the top 10 best run franchises. Now all of a sudden, nobody's going to believe that Baltimore actually got the guy in the medical tent and did a closer

examination and made a determination that this is not worth the two first-round picks considering what they are seeing with him. I can't go that direction with him. And I don't, and I know why he would say that they were going to have both Trey Hendrickson and Max Crosby. I get it because people would want to hear that. And that's like, I just don't think, like, that's a whopper. Like if he's not, if he's like lying about that is a whopper of a lie.

I just don't believe that that GM, and maybe I'm too supportive of. of him because I always enjoy his press conferences at the combine and people seem to in NFL circles respect him a ton. I don't think he was lying. My BS meter is only at a two. I am sorry BS people. I don't think he was lying about it, but I don't think it was that high in his radar. If he could get, if he could get Trey Hendrickson for this deal, okay, maybe we end up with Trey, maybe it's a 15% chance. Oh, let's back out here on Max Crosby because of the knee and because we do that, we're going to give Trey this deal. I feel like it's like parents having an eldest daughter,

but then also a youngest son. Oh, I love both my kids equally. No, you don't. Eldest daughters stand up. We know. We know. Is that you? Yeah.

So you're the favorite. No, no, quite the opposite. The meme is, the meme is, are you happy or were you the eldest and a girl? Number five. Made it. Final question here on five on it. So I asked the question, what are the top three songs that get you guys pumped up?

Mine rotate, but here's what I'm working with right now, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Number one does, because it's till I collapsed by Eminem. Oh, great one. Number two right now has been what you know about me by Glorilla because it is a riff off of Boosie, and the sky came out to it last year, and I liked it. And number three has been a flashback for me.

Go back to, like, I forget what year it came out, but born too slow by the crystal. method has been up there for me recently. That's a 90s dance, that's a techno techno. So that's been my mix lately to pump up my cardio intervals. I don't really

listen to music during workouts to put me up. You and Marshall, man. But what I do listen to is like David Goggins YouTube videos or Jocko Wilnick. It's like these hardcore like former Navy SEALs or like some Kobe Bryant Black Mamba. And I will listen to like some old rocky like going

the distance or no easy way out to to get me going there on the wait room grody nice i like it um i have on my list i have many too but i try to narrow it down to three keshah blow the song blow the buildup to that oh it's so see i like that you're going to see that theme in my songs because my next one is rage against the machine gorilla radio where it like slowly builds up and it just explodes um so i need that And then my last song is this song. You and Anthony Rizzo. Yeah, that's right.

I don't think this is the Rizzo song, though. He had a variety. Don't you remember? He'd have like bad blood at times. Oh, yeah, no, it is the Rizzo. I'm sorry. Yeah. It's one of them.

No, it's not the main one for him, but it was one of the array. Actually, it is the main one. And he did do Taylor Swift, bad blood occasionally. Yeah, like if they were trailing and, game. I think he would use it to like, I'm not kidding. She's right. She's right. Honorable mention the Allison chains of them bones because it just explodes off the plate.

Boom. This is a binger. I'll agree. Good stuff, Grotie. Thank you, man. You know what? You want to stay for a couple more segments? You got a question for me. You have to work something out. I guess. Yeah. If you're, seriously, if you're in the mood for something old school, Vegas by the Crystal Method hits right now for some particular reason. All right, coming up next, Clay asked to ask Mark Rodi a question. So we'll do it next. I'm scared. Clay Harbor, former NFL play.

Clay Harbor, slot to the left. Here's a big pass. And it's caught touchdown by Harbor. That's a touchdown. Clay Harbor makes that catch. And they've got Harbor for the touchdown. Football analyst for Chicago Sports Network. If you saw how far you took the Rams in the NFC division round,

if you have a chance to add a couple more players there, this guy didn't play. and your quarterback doesn't miss games. If you have a quarterback that's missing games and you say, hey, we probably need this guy. Caleb's still young. Caleb takes care of his body and he never misses a game. You can get players that are playing that are going to help you win and you never know if Tyson might not even see the field once.

Play Harbor with Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 the score. See, I for sure thought that with Play Harbor in studio, the former Philadelphia Eagle, as he mentioned, played for Dan Campbell in New Orleans, which I think is hilarious, and the nine-year NFL veteran, big pro football show host, I for sure thought dreams and nightmares

would be part of your pump-up song. I just want to say thanks to the production team, I mean, to find my highlights, they had to do some digging. Okay, we're not just talking about, you know, six-foot. I mean, they were digging deep, Grotie, to find those highlights. The four touchdowns that actually had,

so good job, T. That's why we call them. That's why we call him the Butte. Tyler Butterbaugh. He is a but. Coming through, huge. Clay Harbor in studio. Yeah, I for sure thought that dreams and nightmares would have been part of the mix.

Well, I was after, I was before Dreams and Nightmares. That became a thing during the Eagles Super Bowl run, which I do get, I do get confused with Trey Burton from time to time when I go in Philly. Yeah. They're like a mixed tight end. Okay. Yeah. He was the U tight end that the Bears wanted badly.

If that's the case, you're probably getting free drinks at least, so that's good. They're like, Philly, Philly. I'm like, yeah, Philly Special over here. But, Meek Mill being from Philly, yes, that was created as a 2018 vibe, but the song came out before then. Oh, man, now you got me thinking about Trey Burton. Had such high expectations for Trey Burton. Just didn't quite work out with the Bears. Nagy guy couldn't stay healthy, but a really good dude. Yeah, I liked him a lot, too.

I had a lot of great conversations with him, but people don't care about that. I just want to know if the guy produces. So Grody, are you ready? I'm ready. I have a question for you. Yes. And this is something that to me I've just been thinking about. What is the biggest hole on the roster right now even after free agency?

And do you think the bears will be able to fill it? Because a lot of the top free agents are gone. They pick 25th in the draft. I know they obviously got the 60th pick for DJ, 57, 60 and then 89. So can they fill it? What's the biggest hole? All right. They filled the hole at center.

They filled the hole at left tackle. They filled one hole at safety. So safety, a little bit of a hole there still. The linebackers are, I think, that they're set. So my inclination is that I'm thinking safety. But I'm also thinking about something we talked about earlier on the show, and that is the fact that the Bears' rush defense was 20. 27th last year in the league.

They were 22nd in sacks last year with 35 overall. Is the defensive line set? Is the defensive line? And maybe there's not a hole there, literally, because they have everybody in place and Dio Dangbo is coming back

and Shamar Turner is going to be back and he did get 10 sacks out of Montes' sweat. I guess I'll go with the safety spot as the biggest hole on the bears right now. That's what I would have said. Safety, just because they don't have a complete Rudy. Elijah Hicks was a good

safety safety. Yeah, yeah. They needed to sign him. He's a special team or he can play. Yeah, plug and play occasionally. And I'm confident with safety that if they take one in one of the top four picks, they will be some good safety still on the draft board there. Mine would be an edge rusher.

You're 29th and past rush win rate. I thought pressure obviously stopping the run as well, defensive line as a whole. You haven't touched it yet. And to me, when we watched last year, that was the biggest position of need, in my opinion. And I know there were some high contracts flying up the board, maybe overvalued. So now you put a lot of pressure on the draft. And there's a couple guys out there. I was talking about Joey Bosa, AJ Epinessa.

You can go with a Cam Jordan one-year deal. Don't, listen, ready for this name? Yeah, Bosa. Cedavian Clowny. We talked about him yesterday. He's a guy that actually had, turned on some film. He actually had a solid year last year. year and he's a guy that could come in for a year. He's a mercenary. Whatever. There are some

names you could bring in for an edge rusher. But to me, the biggest position in need, you haven't touched. That puts a lot of pressure on your draft, and that tells you, hey, you want to say we're going to draft best available, best available, best available. I think it is a deep edge class, but I think that kinds of pigeonholes you into drafting on the defensive line, whether that's a defensive tackle or edge rusher up for grabs. But it kind of makes you think that's the direction they need to go in the draft. Well, they signed Contavius Street, and then they also signed Neville Gallimore, which I understand is probably depth.

But the thing is, I don't think it was cheap debt. You know, Neville Gallimore, what? It's $6 million per? That's two years 12, so that's not cheap. Seven career sex. Right, and then Street, I don't have terms yet on that one, because even like NFL.com doesn't have Contavius Street on the Bears list. Because they thought he was going to be on the streets.

in Neville Gallimore. I turned on some film of him. And I mean, this guy was a plug-in guy. He wasn't really a starter. He started a few games. His run game is not good. I mean, Pro Football Focus has him ranked 97th out of 100 graded defensive tackles against the run.

He's decent against some pass-wrust situations. You get him in there. But to me, Andrew Billings was better at stopping the run than Gallimore. I don't disagree with that. So that's something that was interesting to me that you would pay him so much. And this is, you know, high upside guy. He's an Indianapolis colt reminds me a lot of somebody that we already have on the roster. I mean, did they just scout a lot of these former cults?

Like, I assume there are still guys that Ryan Poles really liked as a scout. And I wonder about like a Gallimore or say, like, does he know a scout he trusts? Where DiO Dangbo and Gallimore are two former cults and he believes in them as well. I think that this shows me that Poles is putting a lot of faith in Dioa Dangbo coming back and being a weapon. He thinks the Achilles, he can come back, he can work his way into his shape, and hey, he's seeing the guy trained. That's a guy that they obviously thought was going to be a difference maker with how they paid him. Grady Jarrett's going to be more healthy. I think they're putting a lot of stock into him upping the way that he played to be more active to get some interior pressure there.

And then, like you said, Layla, Shamar Turner. He's a guy. He's coming off on ACL. He didn't really pan out on the inside. At edge, he showed he can stop the run a little bit. And then Austin Booker, I think he's a guy that I'm most convinced will take a step. To me, I would not be shocked if he led the Bears in Sacks next year. He's a guy in training camp when he was healthy. I know he missed those games. I'm going, man, I'm a tight-in. I don't want to block that guy. This guy's got a ton of pass rush moves. He's got a long arm. He's got a motor.

He's got a spin move. He's doing a lot of different things. He's good at games loop. So I think that Austin Booker is a guy that can have a big year, but I still think they haven't really done much to improve from the outside, at least, that position group. Do you think there are too many projects on the defensive line? Like too many, we're moving Shemar Turner to end. Jervon Dexter was a bit of a, we're going to change his role when they drafted him. We're hoping Dio is this guy.

Are there not enough tried and true products on the defensive line? I think like Dio was like a projection guy. I guess, which is similar to project. Can't spell projection without project. So, like, and like, hopefully there is something there. But Shamar Turner, I mean, like, that was a good product right there. I think he was worthy of a second round pick. So I don't know if he's necessarily a project.

But they're moving him to end, though. So how do you categorize that? And he's coming. He was a guy that didn't look great. And obviously he's a rookie. People make the biggest jump. Players make the biggest jump from year one to year two. And that's not just coach speak.

That is real. I've been in there. And the first year you're in there. You're kind of swimming. You don't know what to expect. You're kind of just focused on your job. Year two, it slows down for you a little bit. Even from year two to year three, I think you make a jump here.

So for Shamar Turner, I would be excited to see what he could bring in year two. But the fact that he's going to spend most of this year rehabbing his ACL trying to get back to where he was instead of getting stronger. It's like Braxton Jones last year. He wasn't getting stronger. I do need to do some squats. I mean, may I offer a couple of names here? You're right about that on Braxton, by the way. The triangle is not wide enough.

His legs don't. He doesn't, for his hide, he doesn't stand wide enough. He needs a better base. The Vikings released Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. What do you think about those two guys? Especially Jonathan Allen. Like we're talking about needing an adult in the room on the defensive line, which is what it sounds like.

If maybe Grady Jarrett is that guy this. year. What about Jonathan Allen? I like both those guys. If you could get them for a short-term deal. You already got, obviously, you already got some interior guys there. We talked about Grady. You got Jervon Dexter. But if you could get one of those guys, and he didn't have a great year in Minnesota, but you go back to the past, these were productive players. In Minnesota, it's not the best place for interior defensive linemen to play. They run so many blitzes, so many schemes. They're trying to mess with you so much with the double mug looks. They're there. They're dropping these guys into coverage.

Any defensive tackle will talk to you. Guys I know from the league, guys I've talked to in the past, they really don't like playing in Minnesota. Because Brian Flores is doing so many things. They don't have many opportunities to really just run straight pass rush. Wow, I never thought about that. They're trying to trick you. They're trying to fake.

It's a good defense, but you're not getting great numbers. It doesn't seem like you're getting production out of these guys. So I think maybe those are some players you can get a discount on because when you look at their numbers, they're not jumping off the page at you, but that's because they're in a scheme to where they're not allowed to get up field. They're not allowed to do a lot of different things.

There's a lot of double A gap. There's a lot of tricky things. They're dropping into coverage. These zone blitzes at Brian Flores is, I don't know, he's dreaming them up. Some of them are, I'm like, I'm like, watching the tape. I'm like, what is this guy doing. I don't even know what coverage that is.

But I think you're right, Grody. Those are two guys. You could sign and probably get a little bit of value from. Obviously, end of their career, that the last part of the runway, so to speak, but not great numbers last year, but I think in a good system, they can still play. That is Clay Harbor, Mark Grody, Leila Rahimi, with you today.

And I also want to let you know you can join me next Thursday, March 19th, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Old Crow Smokehouse in Wrigleyville for the finals of Bud Light's official Midi Hoops Mania. Hang out with Bud Light and the score. As when Chicago winner heads to Vegas for a chance of $10,000, that is Thursday. March 19th, starting at 7 at Old Crow in Wrigleyville. There's a name that keeps popping up, not just among our text line listeners,

but among people who ask us the question. So I'll pose it to you as a possibility for somebody that could be available at a discount defensively. That's next with Clay Harbor on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Rahimi Harrison Grody. I'm not a fan of any team. I'm just a fan of being right. Middays 10 to 2 on 1043, the score.

Oh, there it is. Thank you, Tyler. This is born too slow by the Crystal Methink because I'm a million years old. And you love Crystal Meth. If I did, wouldn't I be more productive? It's a joke. It's a joke. It is me talking about myself.

And you wouldn't have such nice teeth either. Or skin. Or skinned. Or a job. Or future. All the stuff. But you might be a millionaire. I don't think so.

I don't think so. No, then I'd be in jail. That's how that usually works. Do you know what they call Crystal Meth? Mark where I'm from. Bathtub crank. Bathtub crank. Where are you from?

Texas. Tehas. That's amazing. Bathtub crank. I was a great word. I was a news reporter in East Texas because it was at a time where they weren't exactly keen on hiring women to do sports. The concept, not like them in particular.

And I can't tell you how many stories I would do on somebody's house getting, like meth fires and stuff. It's terrible. And Walter White is a hero. the world. I am the one you fear. Heisenberg. Just stop throwing pizzas on the roof of that house in New Mexico. Say my name.

Jesse! But the moral of the story is the Crystal Method, which is a very popular techno band around the 1997s or so. Do I know them? Would I know them? Yeah. Okay. I am not in danger. I am the danger.

Buclumps. I am the danger. Yes. Very good, Marshall. Marshall. We were just talking. about Marshall. We're where Marshall is not in today. He's doing the state championship

games for the kids. He missed you. So he misses you, Clay, but we're happy to have you in studio. Another personal color in the center seat here. You know, might as well just call me Marshall. I do. So my problem is I file the names by your letters. Oh, I always call Lawrence always

last because he's like, my mom calls me Braxton and you call me Marshall. And I was like, terrible. Marshall, Clay, whatever. It's the L's for me that throws me off. LL. Okay, so speaking of names, everybody and their dog on our text line has always mentioned Cam Jordan. And I know that that makes a lot of sense because Cam Jordan, Dennis Allen, reunion, happiness, fireworks. Do you think it's reasonable, Clay Harbor, to think that that might be somebody you guys, you and Mark Rody are talking about when it comes to defense a player who may still have an impact, who you might be able to get at a discount because of his age?

First off, I love Cam Jordan, and I know this was many, many moons ago. You know, I sound like a grandpa telling war stories back in my day when I used to practice against Cam Jordan. No, I did. He's playing against Cam Jordan. I'm telling you, this guy brought the juice. He's probably one of the hardest defensive ends I've ever tried to block in my life. I remember just staying up at night thinking, how am I going to block this man? He was just so tough against the run, and I think that still shows up.

And you look at Pro Football Focus, fourth overall run grade, a month. among 115 edge rushers, you need to stop the run to be able to rush the past. He still had 10 sacks last year, 24th overall graded player per pro football focus. I think he is a guy that still has some juice in the tank. Obviously, Dennis Allen knows him. Dennis Allen loves him. Dennis Allen was a defensive coordinator when I was with the Saints. Tring Hendrickson was an edge rusher there.

We had a number, Dan Campbell tight end coach. So obviously a lot of players there, Sean Payton was our head coach. but I think Cam Jordan could be a smart one-year deal. He gets to reunite with Dennis Allen, a coach that he knows. He's still got some juice. You watch him on film. He's got 10 sacks. He's got a bunch of hits, hurries, two-bedded passes.

And like I said, one of the best run stoppers at that edge position in the league. And guess what? He's got that versatility. Dennis Allen guy has become this term that we all use when you're trying to describe somebody. Somebody that's versatile, it can move inside, that can slide down if you need him in a pastoral situation. Say all that to say, yes, I wouldn't mind it. I know people are going to say he's old, he's washed, why is New Orleans letting go after 75 years playing there? The guy can still play.

I turn it on the film. One of the best run stuff is still and still got 10 sacks last year. I'll take your word for it. I mean, you know, 36 is the part that scares people, but on a one-year reasonable deal, yeah, I could see that. By the way, I should clear this up. Yes, Javon Hargrave did sign with the Packers on a two-year deal. I brought his name up because he had been released. That one I missed.

He is with at least an agreement in place with the Green Bay Packers. Yeah. Well, that just shows we were thinking like NFL GMs, Grotie, you know, because he did get signed to the Green Bay Packers after having a down year for a reasonable contract. You know, glass half full. Yeah. That was good thought. He earned it.

Two year 23 million. Yeah. Also, did you know that Mark keeps saying Mildo for a million now? Yeah. That's not pretty cool. Have you heard that before? I've never heard it before, but I can adopt it. I can run with it.

Had you guys ever heard of? Two years 23 mildo. Mildo. I mean, people know what it means. Yeah. Like, mildew, maybe, but like Mildo. By the way, you know who's going to be getting the Mildos soon? Here's a guy we haven't talked about today, name that we haven't mentioned on the Chicago Bears.

Darn El Right. Darnel Right is going to get paid at some point in time. Are you ready to say Clay Harbor? that that man deserves his $100 million contract to be the bear's right tackle for the next five to seven years? If I was the Enneville executive, I would take, most of the time, I would take all the time I had to gather as much information as possible.

What's wrong with gathering information? So wait until year five, obviously you sign his offer sheet for a fifth year option. So in this case, darn all right, I think the sooner you do it, the better. Because this guy is just trending up. He seems to be getting better and better. I don't have any questions when I watch this man on film. He had an elbow injury.

He's still moving, ejecting defensive players from the box last year. He's gotten better in pass pro. He's everything you want in the right tackle. The sooner you get this done, the cheaper will be for you long term. So I am under the impression that as soon as he's up, as soon as you can, I would like to extend. Darnell Wright, he fits the scheme perfectly, athletic, you can pull him, you can do everything you want for a tackle, he's good out in space, so yes, Darnell Wright, lock him up, we want this

guy here for a very long time. I do agree with that. I think he's, especially to the right side, I think the Bears got away from this a couple of times in the playoff games and they shouldn't have, like they would start with it and then they would go away from it. Maybe it was something the defense was giving them, but if there was one truth, it was knowing their success on running the ball to the right side behind Jonah Jackson and Darnel Wright and how well that worked. And especially right now, I don't care that teams know it's coming. Try to stop it. Yeah. Try to stop it. And if Darno Wright has a season where he can prove that again, which I think he can't, because both of his arms will theoretically be working this year. He played with essentially one arm

last year. So because of that, I feel like that that's where if I'm calling plays, I start with that and then kind of go out from there because you know what you're getting. on that side of the field. Then the other part, let's go to the other side because there's the common theory for most people, including me, I've said it, that, okay, you have Braxton Jones as your stopgap guy this year, maybe it's Theo Benedict, and then the assumption is that Ozzie Tripillo is just going to step in and be the left tackle. Is that realistic?

Like, did he do enough last year in the games that he played to say, yeah, there's no doubt about it. That's a perfect one year with somebody, and then Tripillo will be here to save the day and be your left tackle for the next, again, five to seven years. I liked Ozzy. Early on in camp, I said, I thought he was looking good. Next thing you know, he hit a rookie wall in training camp. I've never heard of a wall being that close to the driveway.

When you just pull out the car and start to drive, it was training camp. But he hit the rookie wall. He comes in, and I thought he played well. I'm not ready to say he was going to be your long-term left tackle. I thought it was trending that way. If he could continue to improve another offseason with Dan Rochard and Ben Johnson's system, this guy could be the guy, but now a Patelor tendon injury

as an NFL football player. ACL, yeah, you cringe a little bit, you go, he'll be back. You know, Achilles, oh, man, that's tough, but we think he's going to be back. It's going to take a little bit longer than you'd hoped. Patelor tendon's one of those in an NFL player, you're like, oh, man, we hope he's back.

So you don't know. As much as we've advanced in medical science, when you're a big guy like that, 300 pounds, you're putting a lot of pressure on that leg, that knee, that's tough. In my opinion, you have to proceed like he is not going to be on your roster. He is not going to be your guy.

I know you want to give him an opportunity if he can come back, but at this point, with that injury, you've got to say, hey, okay, we got Braxton this year, we got Theo Benedict here in this competition, and maybe you take someone in the draft that you could possibly develop over the next year

so you have someone else there waiting instead of just hoping that Ozzie Tripillo is back. Yeah, and I know that they've got some back. and the reason I don't count any of them out is because when Theo Benedict got a fair shot at this, I can't count any of the backups out. Even reciting guards, if they want to try them a left tackle, whatever they want to do, if there's a swing tackle.

Jedrick Willis Jr. Yeah, that's who I'm thinking of, especially because they like that pedigree. Have you noticed that? It's not just a relative athletic score for them. It's a traits. It's were you a five-star recruit in high school? That's a big one for the Bears, whether or not you want to admit it. And then, for example, the first round pick, the first rounder pedigree, they really like that a lot too.

Now, granted, I also asked why wasn't Alex Leatherwood considered more times when I shouldn't. Thought about Alex Leatherwood, too. I just wanted to give him a chance. So I feel like that falls into this category a bit. It feels like. It feels like Leatherwood. Former first round pick. I believe in him.

Jedrick Willis Jr. was the number 10 pick in the year 2020 with Cleveland, right? Yeah. If you look at some of his numbers of the Combine, I mean, this guy. guy checks every box. He had a 611 wingspan, 34 and a half inch arms. Big hands? I mean, big, big every thing. But the arm length does matter. The arm length does matter to polls.

Andy ran a 540, jumped 34 inches, 9, 6, broad jump. Like, this guy is a freak athlete, but then you watch his tape. You look at all the grades, the analytics on this guy. He's never been successful at tackle. So I think, I mean, this is a little bit of token competition. Karana Magaji. I'm going to say something

crazy. You ready for something crazy? Yes. Okay. Okay. Goody. You were probably there too. I was at every day of training camp practice with the Bears last year. I thought he improved a ton before he got hurt. I was impressed with Karana Magaji. When he first got drafted here and I saw before he got injured, I go, I don't think this guy can play.

And obviously he was put in a couple bad situations. Braxton Jones had the one concussion that he goes through the week and then he starts getting symptoms the day before the game. And now Karana Maggi started against Minnesota Vikings on one day of knowing without going through any practice with the first team. Of course, he's going to give up a couple, two, three sacks. But in training camp last year, he took a big jump. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibilities of him to be in this competition.

I love hearing this, man. He's athletic, the freak arms. Now you can move well. He got better in camp. I remember watching this guy. I played with Jason Beaters. I played with Lane Johnson. I've played with Ryan Ramcheck.

I've played with Toronto Armset. I've played with a ton of tackles in my day. and I know when a guy has some tackle ability. He has some ability. I'm not saying he's going to for sure put it together, but he has some traits that you want to see from a big time tackle. Listen, I know he's gotten a lot of hell on this station, and he was putting a bad position that night in Minnesota.

I would love, I would love to see Karan Obagaji get a real shot and earn a real possibility. Amen. That's why I loved hearing what you just said. You're the first person I've heard to say anything good about this man. He deserves that. I was hyping him up all last training camp, and then obviously got hurt and fell off.

And, you know, the people on Twitter, O'Clay, what happened to Karana Amagaji? Even I was saying Ozzie Tripillo was looking good. Oh, so much for the Ozzie Tripullo. He can't even get on the field. The end of the year he starts playing. But these tackles do look like they have the traits. I've seen a lot of these guys.

We have to block next to them, these big monsters. And these guys do have traits. If they can put together, I feel like they've all improved, then this will be a fun competition to watch. I'm just going to present this, and I know we're up against rape. I just want to throw this. out there. I feel like Ryan Poles definitely is on the all-trates team when it comes to his

drafts and who he wants to pick. When the traits actually match the tape, it's Darnell Wright. Like, Darnall Wright actually, so please consider tape. Just please, I don't know who's listening right now, and Ryan Poles is at the Oklahoma Pro Day before he goes to Halas Hall. But whoever is, one

of you, please consider some tape to match the traits. Like, please actually watch the games and not just look at the relative athletic scores. And it's in your diet. Even as a guy that came out of the combine with a four-five, a 40-inch vertical, 30 reps of bench press, and all that 10-5 broad jump, watch the tape. Watch the tape.

Watch the tape. It's the hardest thing to do. As a combine kid, watch the tape. It takes the longest amount of time. But your combine, but your traits is what got you to the combine. Your tape is what kept you in the NFL. That's the difference. I'm a big believer in if a guy's a football player, he's a football player.

I don't care what he ran. I don't care what he jumped. If he can play football, put that guy next to me, put him on the line, put him out there, wide receiver. Obviously there are some outliers that they're to a point, right? I think it all matters if you can play football. I don't really care what you're running or jumping. Go watch some player. I want you get

out of here and go watch some tape. I'll do that. That's sound good. That is Clay Harbor. Coming up next. Oh, yeah, Big Pro Football shows on tonight at 530. Yeah, 530 tonight. 530. Clay Harbor, Ruthie Polinsky, David Haw on CHSN. They will be at Hallis Hall. And Lawrence is

telling us we have to go to break. I mean, I was getting there, Lawrence. Do you know why? Lawrence is making room for Russell Dorsey. That's Russ's music. Oh, yeah. We keep the cool kids coming in, man. Just hang out with us. It's Rahimi Harrison Grotie.