Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Handing out our 2025 Bears season awards (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote opened their show by handing out their 2025 Bears season awards. Who was the team MVP? Who was the best offensive addition? And who was the biggest surprise? They shared their thoughts.

This hour is brought to you by Menards, everybody. Save big money at Menards. In FM. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grotty should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey.

The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Okay, thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2 on 1043, The score. Cole, welcome. to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me.

I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today to the office. I'd love to. Let me just check my schedule. What did you have going on, Nicole? Now I've got to know. I had absolutely nothing going on, which is why I'm honest. I just remember, my parents really want to have you guys over for dinner before you leave town.

What about tonight? Tonight? Yeah, they make a paella. Oh, I don't think we can make it tonight. We have plans. What plans? We have plans. Where did you get plans?

We have plans. Well, see, now, Cole, because you've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score. And now that we have an FM signal, Cole, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the Bears hot takes you want. When does Ben let the boy watch? Because you know he sees Bay just know this office. And I'm not a loon. I know that the talent gap is insane.

Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I blast that in the locker room. I'm sure guys will love that. Give me phone collection. Why are you trying to get us killed out here, Cole? Because, you know, we wouldn't get killed right now, but in years past, there may have been some moments where maybe the locker room doesn't like everything

coming through our airwaves. Well, as a matter of fact, wait a minute. Cole, you had said that you're not even in charge of the music. Who was in charge of the music in the tight end room or in the offensive side of the locker room? In the tight end room specifically, it's Stephen Carlson, who runs the tunes. And he does a pretty good job.

Except for Escherati, I told you last time, except for when he likes to play the weekend. I'm just not a huge fan of that. But everything else I'm good with. Stoked about the weekend? No. Lela Rahini, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043.

The score. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, 104. That's going to take some getting used to. Thank you for joining us. You know, I thought the weekend only called people when it's half past five. The only time he'd be by your side. I still can't believe Cole Combat hates the weekend that much. We all have our thing.

He just doesn't prefer him. Here's what I think. And he and I talked about it a little bit, like, because I'm with him, not just to go along with him. Oh, you hate the weekend too. No, I don't. I do not, because their songs are undeniably catchy, some of their songs. So I could admit that, and I can also admit that they are full of talent. I could also admit that I understand why people like them.

That doesn't mean I like them. I just don't think they're very inspiring from like a workout perspective or a sports perspective. It doesn't feel like they don't inspire me. They're not, they're not inspiring. Here's part of the issue with the weekend, too. And feel me out on this, Marshall, because I feel like the weekend went from that kind of stuff. Like I only call you when it's half past five type of deal to I can't live without your touch. And I was like, well, wait, what is it the weekend?

Right. Which one is it? I think it's different songs for different people. By the way, the way Mark just described the weekend, basically all I heard was I'm not watching the halftime show because I don't like Bad Bunny. Who said anything about Bad Bunny? Bad Bunny plays banners. Does he? Yeah.

Oh, so you're saying that Bad Bunny's soft. No, I thought that's what you were saying. No. I love Bad Bunny. You just projected on me, man. I love anything that makes people mad. So it's bad. Gross, what's your thought on Bad Bunny for the halftime show?

I love Bad Bunny for the halftime show. I liked the whole, I watched the Grammys the other night and all the bad. I finally got to watch the rest of it, too, on my DVR. DBR and felt so powerful, fast-forwarding through their 10-minute blocks of commercials. And then the little tease for 15 seconds of, we're not in commercial, but we're about to go back to commercial? I did with Bad Bunny. You know what I like about Bad Bunny? Bad Bunny's got some personality.

So I love that. Charisma. Hosting Saturday Night Live was great. So, yeah, I am all for Bad Bunny. All right. Well, so we've got that going for us in the FM talk that we did replace 104. We're required to do it. But I will say this.

If you are missing 104, 3 James, you can head over to our sister station, B96. You might be pleasantly surprised at the variety of music you hear on B. And in the meantime, we are happy to join you here on 104.3, The score. This is Rahimi, Harris, and Grotie. And yes, you can still get our signal on 670, especially for everybody who lives outside of Chicago and say not behind a building that's tall and, you know, behind another building that's tall and maybe around a corner from another building. Between two firms.

We're very happy to have you join us today. 708 says I honestly didn't recognize Layla's voice at first. Well, that's an interesting one. So I'm sure that will happen as well. 847 does Mark Rodie know the weekend is a one person and another day? I don't know. I mean, we'll just, we're getting there. Mark also once asked Cole Commet in a previous interview on the Take the North podcast,

are the counting crows good? And I don't know that he gave you an answer that was sufficient. His answer was just sort of like, yeah, why not? In other words, he doesn't really care one way or the other about the counting crows. Fair question, though, in terms of did I know that the weekend? Yes, yes, I did. He doesn't hate Counting Crow as much as he hates the weekend. I got it.

I don't hate the weekend. No, I'm talking about Cole. Oh, Cole, Comet. I heard Mark Grody hates the weekend. That's what I heard about this. I put it in the same category as I put Bruce Springsteen. If you need me to go older, that I respect Bruce Springsteen. The guy is great.

He does wonderful things. His songs are undeniably catchy. I'm not a big fan, though, but I respect them. All right. So we have that going for us, which is nice. We wanted to do something since we were all together now that everybody is back in action. I'm sorry, people take time off when the football season comes to a close. You usually take a few days here and there. So that was me. And we'd been working on this for a while and we wanted you to join us. We want to give out the Bears Award. Yes. Our Bears Awards. Ding, ding, ding, ding. So I, oh, there's music. So you don't have to listen to me do sound effects for the next hour. Congratulations. My favorite is when Grotie does the Law & Order ding-ding. Ding-ding.

Ding. I don't know if it's much of a dink. It sounds like more cute when you do, like your Law & Order is cute. It's like who stole somebody's a racer at school or something. Ding-dink, ding. Law and order sound effect is more like who murdered a guy. But both are valid. Kill the guy.

So, okay, we've got this lovely music. And here are our categories for the Bears Awards. I suggested Bears MVP, MVP honorable mention. because you probably know who the MVP is going to be. Best Offensive Edition, best defensive edition. I'll add that to the list. I know Ray,

I didn't text these all at once. Player due to breakout in 26 on both the offense and the defense. Player who needs to improve or step it up in 26. I think I said step it up. Like, you got to step it up out there. We're going to be motivational with our statements. The best surprise of 2025.

The most Ben Johnson like player, best value player is a good one. And then I also had the submission of Glad they called That Guy Award. So one where the Bears called that guy and you like what they brought to the team. And if you have your own awards, then you can also submit those to our text line. And you can call us 312, 64, 67, 67. If you're wondering where we are on Twitch, we are at Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. so you can join us on the Twitch mob chat over there as well. So we will start with in our Bears Awards.

Do we want to call these something? Like the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards of the Award FM? That sounds very loud. Right there. She just said it. She just did it right there. I think that's it. We need the drop.

Like, I don't know how you fit it on a trophy, but we'll figure it out. Please read it back to us. I can't. Guys. I'll write it down. Nice job. Yeah. Good work, everybody.

Please. I hope somebody got my first annual joke. in there. At least that was a thing. So all right, number one, Bears MVP. It's Caleb Williams for me. Shocker. I'm not shocked by this at all. He ended up with his postseason yardage and his running yards, the total yards from scrimmage for Caleb Williams ended up being over 5,000. He was just shot of 4,000 passing yards for the regular season. I didn't even need it that much because I was so happy with what I saw out of the offense as a whole, which was also based largely on the run game.

His completion rate was 58%. I don't care. I'm that. When it becomes an issue where it's losing you ball games, then I'll care. But for now, with this first year in the Ben Johnson offense, and when you see how many knee-jerk reactions and decisions have been made in the NFL

for the teams who feel like they didn't get the quarterback question, right? That means that that is the most important position on the team. It was the most crucial. the season was not going to work if Caleb Williams didn't improve, which he did. So overall MVP for me, it goes to the quarterback. What's interesting about this question is every week on this show, Brahimi Harrison Grotty on a Friday before game day, or excuse me, I guess on a Monday after a game day, we talk about who was the most valuable player in that game outside of Caleb Williams

because it's almost assumed that Caleb Williams would be the MVP, right? And so I did a deep dive. and my initial reaction was, of course, it's Caleb Williams, but it's not. It's not Caleb Williams for MVP. I'm going with the guy who is set to win the inaugural Protector of the Year Award. The MVP of this team is Joe Tooney. Let me explain why. Caleb Williams did a good job.

Caleb Williams improved over the course of the season. But you know who the Rock was on this team from day one to the end of the season? It was Joe Tooney. Joe Tooney, the left guard, sometimes left tackle. of the Chicago Bears is the MVP of this team. Here's why. The offensive line had a major overhaul, and he was at the center of it,

not literally because that would be Drew Dalman because he plays center on the football team. And go Drew Dalman. You go, Glenn Coco. Let me give you this from Jack Andrade from NFL.com. In the regular season, the Bears led the NFL in success rate on run plays at 48.1%. And average the second most yards before contact per carry, 1.8. that's according to next-gen stats.

Tuny, whether you go by PFF or next-gen stats, zero sacks allowed all season on his 643 regular season pass-blocking snaps, counting as the most logged by any player without a sack by next-gen stats. That shutout is more impressive when you take this into account. Caleb Williams,

one of the best playmakers when he has extra time to throw, had the longest average time to throw among qualified passers at 3.2 seconds per play during the regular season and through more passes on extended drawbacks, 94, and scramble plays, 79 than any other player. Joe Tooney wasn't perfect, but he was close to perfect. And I think without him, the Bears don't have the success they had in the running game, having the third best rushing attack in all of football. Caleb Williams has more than the 24 sacks down from 68 in his rookie season. he is the rock and where he goes, teams win.

Check the resume. He's a future Hall of Famer and Joe Tuny was the most valuable player on the Bears. It's a really well-thought-out answer, a good answer. So I guess I'm going to have to use all of my bullet points to tell you why I agree with Laila Rahimi that Caleb Williams is the MVP of the Chicago Bears. I love the Tooney thing though. But Caleb Williams, seven, this never goes out of style. saying seven fourth quarter comebacks, broke Eric Kramer's single season pass record. Elite passes

of consequences, for example, 25 yards to DJ Moore with 148 left in a playoff game against the Packers. 14-yard pass to Colquamette against the Rams where the ball actually traveled 51.2 yards in the air. A 46-yard pass to DJ Moore in overtime against the Packers in week 16. Week 15 against the Browns, a 22-yard pass to DJ Moore for a touchdown. And all of that that I just mentioned right there, that was all in a month period at the end of the season. I didn't even go through some of the elite stuff in the middle and earlier in the season. So I am going to go with Caleb Williams as your most valuable player for the Chicago Bears in 2526. Guys, I hear you.

I just want to say consistency is king. And before Caleb was doing all of that, Joe Tunis play a loud, them to even be in that position. So we have like eight questions here and I was like, I don't know guys, I don't know if we're going to get through all these in a certain amount of time. So we're going to try. Yeah, you say that and yet

here we are after one question. Yeah, Marshall. We have more coming up here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670. The scores are Bears Awards continue 1043 the score. Guys, you were supposed to yell at me. You didn't yell at me. No, you were too busy yelling at Marshall. I'm just

listening. Because you're like, we'll be fine. I'm like, It took us 20 minutes to get through one question. It wasn't 20 minutes. It was seven minutes. Hey, I'm counting. If we have to do this the whole show, I'm in for Bears Awards. How often have we done this? Has this ever been done on the score?

I don't think so. This is a great idea, Leila. I'm all for. We've never talked about the Bears on the score. No, I'm talking about awards doing something this, like multiple sections of a show being devoted to how good the bears are. Oh my goodness. These are based.

And even the question where we say the step it up. Like, you need to step it up. We're not even saying that you were that bad. We're just saying you need to step it up. Yeah, there's a little push. Looked off. And I'm raising my eyebrow out to you disapprovingly. And FM, yes, Ray?

As Layla said, this is, I went back and I got the whole title of this award show. It is the quote, the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards. FM. All right. So we'll figure that out. Very digestible. Did I hear another bears in this? Were there two bears?

FM. Two fms. All right, we'll figure it out. Okay, I like it. I think it's catchy. We can put it on a trophy and a t-shirt and people will 100% read the whole thing. What would a Bears Dundee be called? I think we just figured it out.

A Bearsy. A Bears Dundee, that's a good question. We've got to be at a Chili's in order to have a Bears Dundee. I feel George in this chilies tonight. I need a Dundee. A cassidy explosion salad. How about the one where Pam got wasted? That was funny.

Yeah. Well, it's one of it because there's more. multiple Dundies. Fair enough. That's the one. That's the one I think of. The one of the Chili's. Yes.

So, okay, next time it's into Chili's. And we will continue this next. We are Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score. You can follow us at the score Chicago. If you're wondering, hey, where's our 670 the score moniker? We are now just the score Chicago because we're still on 670. We know that 104-3 only goes so far distance-wise, but it is much easier to hear in the city. So that's a team.

You get two signals together and then you're more powerful. So it's at The Score, Chicago. Not only on Twitch, twitch.tv slash The Score, Chicago, but we are that on Twitter. We are that on Facebook as well. And you can call us and text us. 312, 644, 67. We broadcast live from the Scores Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. Our producers, Ray Diaz, Tyler, Buterbob, Brandon Friar helps us out as well.

we also have Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis. So coming up next, we'll continue our words with the name that I cannot say and will not say again. Next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. The great Kevin Harlan. I just pulled through the Taco Bell drive-through, and I've got a couple of big, nasty Supreme Burritos right here waiting to beat. You know, the first thing they ask you now, I'm using the app. The app, no, I just want my burrito.

I don't want to use an app. Bring a lot of mild sauce because I'm going to score to a bit. all over the place. Put some hot sauce on my burrito, baby. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. All right. We are back with Ray. What was the title? That's right, Leila. We are back here at the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards. FM. Bears. Okay. So we're continuing in our awards. We said MVP. And then

we want to do MVP honorable mention. And I was essentially inspired by how the NBA gives out awards, because similar to me giving the MVP to the most important position on the Bears, the one who also helped the team win in advance in the playoffs, then you're going to leave out very talented people. So that's why the NBA decided to have more categories.

So MVP, honorable mention is how I put it. And for me, it is Joe Tuny. As you mentioned Marshall, we went on talking about all of his accolades. So I'll just give you the winning resume of Joe Tune. And while you wouldn't think necessarily that an offensive lineman would have that winning resume, I would call this a statistically significant amount of data. Won the AFC East and Super Bowl in 2016. This is when he was with the Patriots.

When the AFC Easton made the Super Bowl in 2017. When the AFC East in the Super Bowl in 2018. When the AFC East in 2019. 2020, he missed the playoffs, but you know I don't consider the Bears making the playoffs that you're real, so I don't care. Kansas City won the AFC West in 2021. F. F. Wester's Super Bowl in 2022. AMC West and Super Bowl in 2020.

AMC West who made the Super Bowl in 2024, won the NFC North in 2025. But that really just indicates how when you have somebody who's that consistent and that reliable, how much of a difference they can make on the offensive line, when you have somebody who can make you feel that much better,

and then you stack him up next to Drew Dalman, who would be my third in this category, and then also Jonah Jackson, who credit to him, had a very good season, especially for a lot of people's concerns the year before. It's Joe Tuny for me. And when you consider how he's protecting everybody, then that also adds to it.

His pass protection rate was also very high, you know, 87.7 on the pass blocking. So yeah, that's why I consider Joe Tuny to be at least the MVP honorable mention when it comes to how he has helped this team. Nine times that man has made the playoffs in 10 seasons. That's enough said for him. That's why he was my MVP honorable mention. Give it to Caleb Williams. And if you want to know why Caleb Williams is the MVP

because you didn't watch any bears, well, first of all, shame on you for not watching the bears in their best season and I don't even know how long. But also, if you want the reasons, use the Odyssey app, go to the rewind feature and go back to the first segment where Mark Grody, he lays it out perfectly. Caleb? Caleb.

Yeah. My MVP, honorable mention, is different. It is Kevin Byard. I am going, Kevin. Byard. Seven interceptions in 17 games on a defense, which statistically, numbers-wise, wasn't very good, so you had to have that.

He also had eight pass deflections, a pro-bowler and all-pro, 93 tackles on the season, and he was a rare combination of leader, as in the one that led by example, which you hear seemingly most of the time, but also led with. his voice. Voice and action, that is, and that doesn't always team up for leaders in locker rooms, and it did this year for Kevin Byard, my honorable mention. So the next one we had on this list is Best Offensive Edition. So since I mentioned Joe Tuny already, I didn't want to be redundant. And no, if you're really judging award processes, I don't know what to tell you because you could also argue that Joe Tudy was the best offensive edition, but they're different awards, so I'm

doing this differently. And in that case, for me, it is the next dude on the line. It's Drew Dalman. Because when you consider how crucial the center position is to the rhythm of the offense, how many, quote, hidden yards, end quote, were given up by the bears when it came to problems with the quarterback and center snap exchanges, or the false starts, for example, or just understanding the fulcrum that the center is on this line. Drew Dalman was consistent. Yes, there were a couple of issues here and there when it came to miscommunication on a snapper two.

That's going to happen in the league. That's not exclusive to him. And when you consider the rate of what was occurring before, this is night and day. And I feel like there's a reason why the cadence improved. It wasn't just incumbent on quarterback. You have teammates who can help you improve that. We saw how that got used as a weapon. later on, all of that relies on timing with your center.

For that reason, and how we saw the shape of the run blocking occur, when you saw it look like a V, that means center was getting out in front. When you saw the shape of the pocket and you noticed how in the center, it looks like an actual you, that means your center is blocking well. So Drew Dalman is my best offensive edition. Well, you know my best offensive edition is based on who my MVP was. It is, in fact, Joe Tuny. But since we're going to spread it out a little bit, spread the love.

You don't have to. How about, well, I'll do it because I do want to recognize someone. Otherwise, we're going to have them on stage holding up a whole bunch of Grammys or whatever our awards are called, like for shorthand. Do we have a shorthand name for our awards? Well, somebody else suggested the Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin, Scranton, Meredith Palmer, Memorial Celebrities, Rebys, Awareness, Pro Am, Fun Run, Race for the Cure. So there's always that one as well. That's more of a longhand. I was looking for like a one-worder.

They made a check out to science. What about the Bearsies? The Bearses? Okay, Bearses. I can go with Bearses. So this Bearses is going to go actually to the first Chicago Bear to lead the team in receiving as a rookie since Willie Galt did it back in what? 1983, I believe. That's Colson Loveland. There was so much to talk about Colson Loveland because it was either Lovelin or Warren in a lot of people's minds in terms of getting a playmaker in the first round. And of course, Tyler Warren was drafted 14th overall. Meanwhile, Colston Loveland went 10th over. overall. And for the first half of the season, it's like that meme. I'm not going to lie in the first half you had us, because you thought Tyler Warren was going to be maybe a better player, but let me

tell you something. The way that Colston Loveland came on, he had more touchdowns, six, than Tyler Warren over the course of the season, 12.3 yards per reception, which is more than the 10.8 for Tyler Warren. And I know Tyler Warren was having some issues with his quarterback once Daniel Jones went down, but Colson Loveland cannot be denied in terms of how good he was down. the stretch, and I think big things are popping. But again, he was the bear's leading receiver with 713 yards. I'm with you. The answer for the best offensive edition is Colston Loveland. I'll even fill it in for you on the Tyler Warren part. So as you mentioned, Loveland 193 yards, excuse me, he had 906 yards total with six TDs. And you look at Tyler Warren, 817 yards with

four touchdowns on the season. So Loveland did pass him up statistically, if you guys need that. also had a hundred and I'll start from the end and go towards the beginning with Colston Loveland. That man had 193 combined pass receiving yards in two playoff games. That is huge, man. And I know that's what you ultimately expect over the number 10 overall pick in the draft, but it didn't feel like early on he was going to get there this year. But he is their best receiver and so their best offensive edition. So you include the playoff games in your total yards, right? That's what the difference.

Okay. Just making sure I was... That's what I'm saying. Yeah, those two games. Agreed. I like it. Yeah. So next up on the Bearses is player due to breakout in 2026.

And we have, we have offense and or defense. But the person who came to mind immediately for me was Kyler Gordon. So I go defense first because he was on injured reserve for a second time this year. We saw the difference that he made him both playoff games. games. And we have to go back, I think, to his amazing 2024, too, when you consider just what he was able to do for this team. And what I think about his performance in 2024, just coming off the blitz, how talented he was, how Dennis Allen named him and him only when he talked about getting ready to coach this Bears team and what he wanted to see. I just think he had a breakout season

then. So it stands to reason that if he's healthy, even though he still missed two, games in 2024, that he would be able to have another breakout in this next season. I don't expect him to be on the injured reserve twice next year. And in 2024, he had 75 tackles, started 13 to 15 games, five passes, defense, 76 pro football focused grade. That was 20th among all corners. So I have every reason to believe defensively for me. It's Kyla Gordon breaking out in 26.

I'm going to go to offense, and I'm going to go to the guy that I can just see all of the potential. and you saw flashes and the flashes were good. Give me Luther Burden the third. This man led the team in yards per target, if you don't count Caleb Williams, who led the team in yards per target because he wasn't targeted very often, Caleb Williams.

10.9 yards per target for Luther Burden, the third. Understand this. His catch percentage, 78.3, was also the highest catch percentage on the team if you don't count Caleb Williams, whose catch percentage was 100%. Again, limited sample size. There.

He was simply electric with the football in his hands, and he had a habit of, no matter where he caught the ball, he could be at a standstill when he catches it. He's going to get more yardage. And that is a DJ Moore-like trait, which I think will continue as he gets more experience and gets more comfortable in this offense. But I love the electricity Luther Bird and the third brings, and I expect more electricity in the 2026 season. See, I kind of thought, and we're just kind of haggling over the rules, that he did have a

breakout year. I thought Luther Burden, I guess depending on how you define it, that he became maybe the second most important receiver on the team this year behind Colston Loveland. So... I expect him to be a thousand yard receiver. That's more of the breakout definition, like where you have

the pro bowl type year. You give a fair. A thousand yards will lead the team. Yeah. It would. Yep. Nobody got to that. Yeah. A thousand yards would be far and away the team leader and received. Did you say this is and or because I have one for offense and defense? I just decided to go with the quickest one in the interest of time.

But you can do Andrew because Luther was my offensive guy. Okay, I'll fly through both of them. One is outside of the box that will probably surprise people. Player due to break out in the 2026 defense, ready for this? This is kind of a prediction, too. Shamar Turner of the torn ACL in week eight against Baltimore. It was a rough year for the rookie. There's no doubt about it.

But he was a second round pick for a reason. Guy has a big-time motor. can play multiple positions on the defense. I was high on him when they drafted him. I remain high on Shamar Turner. Player due to breakout on offense quickly is, almost by definition, is Roma Dunzee, the ninth pick of the 20-24 draft. 6161 yards this year, six TDs in 12 games. He did miss the final five games with the foot injury, but too many drops has not yet lived up to expectations. He almost has to have a breakout year next year. All right, we have more here on the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards.

FM Bears Awards. So coming up next here on 104 The Score with Rahimi Harrison Grody, we will continue. Player who needs to step it up in 2026. And if we can get to the other categories that I think are pretty special and fun, we'll do that next. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Dundee. Best Dundies ever. Hey, speaking of the Dundies, NFL Network is on in here,

and Kevin from the office, Brian Baumgartner, is apparently a big Packers fan. I don't know if I could like him as much anymore. You're not at a Chili's. You're on 104-3 FM, the score, FM Bears. And this is the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards FM Bears, aka the Bearses. So we continue with the player who needs to step it up in 2026.

Marshall, why do I have the feeling you and I are going to have the same person? It's highly likely. Does his name rhyme with Dio O'Dango? Actually, we have different people. Whoa, we have different people. Yes. Now, it's not Dio's fault, he got hurt. So let's be a little considerate when it comes to just the obvious issues.

But the reason you're clamoring for, I don't know, Trey Hendrickson, Max Crosby, Miles Gary, I'll just add Miles Garrett to the mix. No, the Bears are not. not trading for Miles Garrett. I don't know, maybe, but I sincerely don't think that's happening. But the point is, the reason why all those names are floating around in your head is because the Bears pass rush, despite being pricey, didn't do enough. And the Bears paid Dio Dengbo based on his pressure number, and they are hoping that his sacks are going to live up to that pressure number that he had. His 25, 25 numbers, unfortunately, because he ended up on injured

reserve with the Achilles, nine solo tackles and one sack. So I think it's kind of cheating in a way because I have a feeling that if he's healthy, he will be stepping it up. But when you consider that by average annual value of the salary, he is fifth highest paid on the team. Dio Dengbo's got to be the one to step it up in 26. I don't disagree with Dio, but I think I'd maybe give him a pass because he was injured. Fair enough. I will say, even though he missed time at the end of the season, Romadunese led the Bears and Targets. Led the Bears and Targets with 90. He caught 44 of those balls.

Even if you're not good at math, you can probably figure out that's less than half of the targets. 48.9% catch rate. You know who was underneath him in that category? Devin Duverne, that's it. And Devin Duverne was a big leader in field position with special teams. Yes, he contributed in other ways. Here's the rub. He led the team in yards per touch with 15 yards per touch.

But if you can't catch the football, does it even matter? Catch the football room in traffic. That's what you get paid to do, is make the difficult catches, the first down catches, the touchdown catches. And I know everybody's thinking about a specific end zone opportunity wasted at the beginning of the Bears' last game of the season on that first drive. So Roma Dunes A's my guy, you just got to step up. I mean, Ben Johnson said it at the end of the season. catch the football. It's a good one.

Layla, you thought you had a match with Marshall, but no, you and I are the match. We're the match. We're the match. Dio Adangbo, three years, $48 million. They sold him to us saying that this guy does a lot. He's disruptive.

He can get to the quarterback, but you could pop him inside. He's a disruptor. He's tall. He's athletic, and he is all of those things. Did they like him or was he just tall? Maybe that's all it really was. Like Tyler Bray.

Tyler Bray was a backup quarterback to Mitch Trubisky, and all I could tell you about Tyler Bray is that he was tall. He was six. Ask Emma. We would both sit there and be like, what does he do? Oh, he's tall. That's a popular meme among a lot of women dating memes. Do I like him or is he just tall?

Dio O'Dangbo is the guy, as you said, Laila, the one sack, and I think they even took away a half a sack at one point in time. That's insulting. It is. They took away 50% of that man's. And look, of course, the torn Achilles tendon, you've got to have some sympathy for that. You have to add that in. But he did play eight games.

He did play eight games this year. No, I'm saying that, like, I'm looking at what, it's not like he got injured in the first five games in the year. He played more than, or about a half a season of football this year and was not productive. He was very early. And then I was like, where's die-o- dangbo? We might need a little bit more from him. So he is my answer.

Diodamil. All right. So best surprise of 2025. And for me, it is Luther Burden for surprise. Surprise. Surprise. Because, you know, the woman singing. Yes.

And then the chorus, surprise, surprise. I'm not going to do it because it's going to sound as terrible as the name of the award that I created. It is FM, Leila. You need to sing and perform. No. One thing at a time. We're easing into the FM thing. I can't stop saying six, seven to the score anyway.

So there it is. It's Luther Burton. And simply because there was the mystique around Luther Burton. Like, oh, what happened at Missouri? Oh, you know, like, he's injured. He's going to miss a lot of the offseason program. No block, no rock. Luther Burden's like, watch this block. Then he's like, watch me catch this rock. Then he's like, watch me catch these rocks for first downs and such. And then he's like, oh, am I at one-on-one against some dude on third down and I catch this ball and still need five yards of rack to make this happen and yak? And guess what? He's going to do that too. So as much as I knew the bears were happy about him, and they were thrilled to get him at the position. They did get him in the draft.

He still had a little bit of a circuitous path to get to the dude who I think they thought he was going to be. So pleasant surprise for me, it's Luther Burden. Big surprise, pleasant surprise, just surprising. How about the 233 pick in the NFL draft? Cow Manungai out here. What? You guys don't like me because I was drafted in the seventh round, and you're talking about all these other guys the bears could have had.

watch this. That man played in every game this season. He ends up with 169 rushes for 783 angry yards. That's 4.6 a pop, by the way. He gets five touchdowns in the rushing game. And he also does some work as a receiver, catching what, 39, or excuse me, 18 balls for 164 yards. Just an impressive performance. What they did against the Eagles on Black Friday doesn't happen without his 22 carriers for 130 yards and a touchdown.

And then he one-ups that earlier when he has 26 carriers for 176 yards in that thriller against the Bengals. It's Kyle Mononguey. All right, this can be a little different here, guys, and I will have to explain myself and I'll do it quickly. My biggest surprise of 2025 turns out to be Cairo Santos because I didn't know if he was going to make it this year. Rough from the start for Cairo. He had to overcome a lot. missed the 50-yarder against Minnesota. Failed touchback that he got called out for on that.

When kickers struggle, we have, I have, and I'm part of it, zero patience, cut him, give me Jake Moody. We were all entertaining those possibilities, but he recovered in a big way, the big 51-yarder in Vegas to keep the bears close at the time. He also had four field goals in that game against the Vikings in week 11, four of five that day. and finally, and there's more, but in the name of time,

remember, this was really impressive, one of the most impressive kicking performances I've seen. He pantsed his counterpart, McManus, of the Packers in the playoffs, three for three on field goals, featuring a 51-yarder while McManus was missing extra points in field goals. All right, so for the final category,

I want to do the Glad they called That Guy Award. And it really is inspired by the Billy Madison when Billy Madison calls Steve Bouchemmy, and then he says, glad I called that guy. So you don't know that you need that person as much as you do, but then you realize that they might save the entire movie for you. So glad you called that guy.

My glad the Bears called that guy award goes to Citi, Gardner Johnson. I'm a little surprised you want that direction. And I'm calling him Citi, because he has to be called Citi, and we don't name ourselves, so you might as well get one when we ask you what you want to go by. And the reason I say him and not Nashan Wright necessarily is because Nishon Wright even came in with a little more of an understanding than Citi did. Citi was really glad they called him off the street type of dude.

And frankly, kind of fits into the Billy Madison theme here a little bit. He ended up being way more useful on this team than I think anybody realized dependable to the point where when he wasn't playing, we missed him and talked about how he was missed on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary. he totally redeemed himself. It's like dumb and dumber when he got the scooter. He went from being the guy the Bears punched in the face twice in a season to being the guy who people say,

well, if he were on the field, would that have gone differently for the team? So way to redeem yourself, Cedney Gardner Johnson. I'm glad the Bears called that guy. Man, I'm glad I called that guy. My guy is a guy who had a very brief stint with the Bears. It's Jake Moody. I'm glad they called that guy because Cairo Santos was hurt

and was hurting and we didn't know what his situation was and he only kicked in two games for the Bears but you're telling me you sure they would have won that game against the commanders in Washington without him? You're sure about that? You sure about that? This man came up with four field goals on five attempts he also hit three of those field goals

were 40 yards plus and he had an extra point made and they needed every single one of those points because they won the game by one point. It's Jake Moody, who, of course, took that time with Chicago and parlayed it with a full-time job with the commanders. I mean, somebody has to give a little support to Nishon.

Right. This guy was in practice squad hell when the bear scooped him up and ended up, unfortunately, needing him. And then he goes out there and was around the ball constantly with interceptions, fumble recoveries, forced fumbles sometimes was not great in coverage, but also had many moments where he was good in coverage this year. So I'm glad they called that guy, Nishon Wright.

Man, I'm glad I called that guy. He stopped the tush push. Stop the tush push. Like, are they even going to talk about it as much of the meetings now that you saw a guy stopped the tush push by himself? See, Nashan changed football, and he's going to get 50 million from somebody. There's another question there. Is he coming back to the Bears?

No. No, not for $50 million. We'll do the, how much are you paying that guy award later on? So that concludes our, the FM inaugural first annual Bears Awards, FM Bears. Nice job. AKA the Bearses. On what? Where?

On 1043, the score. Ray, thank you for transcribing that. I'm sorry, and I owe you money. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie, I feel like we can observe, we can sip our tea, we can kind of put our fingers together, wiggle them together and meet them like Mr. Burns does, because what the hell's going on in Minnesota? It deserves an examination and stop us when you've heard some of these scenarios before. Spiegel and Holmes had a really compelling interview. We're going to examine it and break it down next.