Bears mailbag ... Ben Johnson vs. Matt Eberlus? Hmmm ...

Sorting through the pre-draft mail …

From @jstephens58 … 

Q: Your confidence level with BJ as a HC compared to Flus?

A: We’ll have to see how Ben Johnson handles adversity before knowing for sure. We saw the whole Matt Eberflus experience. We’ve only seen the Ben Johnson honeymoon so far — so kind of an unfair comparison. 

That said, if you compare Johnson’s first three months to Flus’ first three months, you already can see a huge difference — and based on that and other factors, the confidence level in Johnson is much, much greater. Eberflus never appeared comfortable in the head-coaching role. Johnson might not quite be a natural, but he’s embraced it. 

But Johnson also has several advantages. He’s coming in during the fourth year of a teardown/rebuild. Eberflus came in on the first year. Many of the mistakes have already been made and some have already been addressed. (Exhibit A: the offensive line)

And Johnson has an inherent advantage as an offensive coach, especially one with quarterback-development credentials. Eberflus was a linebackers coach. The best player he inherited — Roquan Smith — played eight games and was traded as a bad fit for his defense. The player at his position who has overachieved — T.J. Edwards — has had limited overall impact on the team. 

The best player Johnson has a chance to develop — quarterback Caleb Williams — can make an exponentially bigger difference. He literally can make every player on his side of the ball better. So Johnson is coming in has a huge advantage over Matt Eberflus. And frankly, that’s just for starters. 

Ben Johnson is the head coach of the Bears.

From @mikealper … 

Q: Would a Bears/Bengals super team win the Super Bowl? 

A: Good question. I was just thinking last year watching the Bears-Bengals crossover practices — “Both of these teams are significantly flawed — if only you could put Joe Burrow and his receivers with the Bears’ defense and Tory Taylor, you’d have a Super Bowl contender.”

A Bears-Bengals combined team would certainly be a Super Bowl contender, but let’s get one thing straight right off the bat — Joe Burrow is the starting quarterback. Caleb Williams, as talented as he is, could spend his entire NFL career trying to get what Burrow has — the “it” factor that tilts the field in your favor every time the quarterback steps on the field. 

You might have an issue divvying up the wide receiver reps with Ja’Marr Chase, DJ Moore, Tee Higgins and Rome Odunze, but Moore and Odunze being particularly anti-diva receivers would help. But the biggest actual issue is that with a combined team, you still have an offensive line issue. Burrow and Williams were sacked a combined 116 times last season. The Bears have upgraded their offensive line in the offseason, but you still have to see it.  The Bengals are in the same spot. They cut starting right guard Alex Cappa and signed Bears castoff Lucas Patrick in free agency. 

From @hollywood1114 … 

Q: This draft doesn’t feature a franchise elite left tackle. Which one of the available prospects does our o line coach like the best?

I did not get the chance to ask Dan Roushar that when he was available to the media last week. But I do know that Roushar had great success in New Orleans with Ryan Ramczyk, a first-round pick (No. 32 overall) from Wisconsin, who had size at 6-6 but is more of an athlete/technician who had early success despite average to below-average arm length (33 3/4 inches). 

Offensive line coaches have preferences but by and large take what the GM gives them and goes to work. The Bears figure to get a tackle early in the draft, but it’s more likely Ryan Poles’ call than Dan Roushar’s.