A Good Dream For 2022 Chicago Bears Draft

Be careful what you wish for!

If you are hoping for a draft with the biggest stars, or a draft with no holes or worries, I’m afraid this year’s Chicago Bears Draft won’t suit you at all. But even if you are late to the table and just finding out that the Bears don’t have a first round draft pick, don’t fall for the anti-hype that there will be no reason to watch this season.

Such reasoning may lead one to write off the entire roster, based on a lack of stats on their collective resume, and in the Bears’ current situation, that just doesn’t fit. Not if you factor in some pretty obvious psychology, anyway.

Everybody knows that regime change can be traumatic, but it can be cathartic, instead, especially if the old regime was incompetent. I get mad at speculative attribution of motives, and maybe madder about calling them stupid because they failed, but if you look at the record, the last Bears regime failed.

When there is regime change, there is uncertainty, and that can drag a team down. But, to start with the O Line, for example, try to quickly name every O Lineman who ever liked being called, “soft”. The quick and easy answer is the null set.

So, the OL guys who “made the cut” have that chip on their shoulder to start with. That means the new system gets a Psych 101 boost, since the focus on both sides of the ball will be on executing, rather than on the “pure cleverness” of the coach.

The focus on HITS had to sound like sweet music to Cody Whitehair, and to David Montgomery. Guys like that had to spend much of the last few years wishing, “Please stop dazzling opponents with BS and let’s just PICK an identity and get good at THAT!”

This new regime is starting simple, which is the best way to get a quick start. Even Matt Nagy pulled that off in 2018. These are all three brand new playbooks being drawn up, Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. All three are being designed with simplicity, which allows less thinking, and therefore faster execution.

So, once again, from a Psych 101 perspective, that kind of philosophy, staffed by a bunch of hungry guys with chips on their shoulders, has a pretty easy chance to outperform expectations. If there was ever an environment where an athlete could feel like he was smack in the best position to make his mark in the league, it looked a lot like this.

Don’t go betting your kid’s college fund on a Super Bowl win, but don’t take the under on total wins, unless you want worst case scenario insurance. Even Vegas is having to give a bit of juice to get under bets after setting the mark at 6.5 wins. I’d actually call the -140 for the over a good investment. Your savings account won’t turn $10 into $17.

So, How does this relate to the Chicago Bears Draft? Expectations. The best things to hope for in the draft are extra guys, extra picks for next year, and of course how many of the picks turn out to be the real deal, but don’t try to grade that part too early, as the media most certainly will.

Wait until the season starts and see what it looks like on the field, and Bear in mind, it will most likely look better than projected. Bear Down, and pass the Halas Hall Kool Aid.