Senior Bowl’s Best, BoJack’s Inside Look at the Pro Bowl, Vikings New OC, and Other Bears Bullets

I understand that jury duty is a 200-year-old tradition. And that the concept of trial by a jury of your peers is unique and sacred. But has anyone thought about the downside of people who may or may not know the laws or how to apply them (let alone agree with them) deciding a case? Seems awfully risky. (Michael: You still have to go, Luis.)

A neat twist in figuring out the best of the best at the Senior Bowl has the Players of the Week voted on by the position group against which they competed in practice. And for the South Team, you’ll see some names who’ve been previously connected to the Bears. Check it out:

2020 @seniorbowl South Squad Offensive Practice Players of the Week (voted on by the position group they competed against in practice)

QB: Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
RB: La’Mical Perine, Florida
WR: Van Jefferson, Florida
TE: Jared Pinkney, Vanderbilt
OL: Lloyd Cushenberry, LSU pic.twitter.com/OZlouhUrZg

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 24, 2020

2020 @seniorbowl South Squad Defensive Practice Players of the Week (voted on by position group they competed against in practice)

DL: Javon Kinlaw, South Carolina
LB: Akeem Davis-Gaither, App. State
DB: Dane Jackson, Pittsburgh
ST: Blake Ferguson, LSU#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/0ZSiBiO9dM

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 24, 2020

2020 @seniorbowl North Squad Offensive Practice Players of the Week (voted on by the position group they competed against in practice)

QB: Jordan Love, Utah St.
RB: Joshua Kelley, UCLA
WR: K.J. Hill, Ohio St.
TE: Brycen Hopkins, Purdue
OL: Josh Jones, Houston pic.twitter.com/PxcdxwsL03

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 24, 2020

2020 @seniorbowl North Squad Defensive Practice Players of the Week (voted on by the position group they competed against in practice)

DL: Davon Hamilton, Ohio State
LB: Francis Bernard, Utah
DB: Jalen Elliott, Notre Dane
ST: Tyler Bass, Georgia State

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 24, 2020

It’s worth noting that the Bears have reportedly already met with tight ends Jared Pinkney and Brycen Hopkins, as well as inside linebacker prospect Akeem Davis-Gaither (more on him later today). It’s also worth mentioning that two quarterbacks with prior, loose-ish connections to Chicago (Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts) have also been standout performers during practice this week at the Senior Bowl. Just because underclassmen tend to be the stars of the draft doesn’t mean anyone should be overlooking Seniors who take their talents to Mobile, Ala., for the biggest college football draft prospect showcase in the land. Here’s hoping the Bears are making the best of their meetings.

With the Senior Bowl on tap tomorrow, I figured this felt like a good time to share Matt Miller’s pre-Senior Bowl top-30 prospects list:

16. Love, QB
17. Queen, LB
18. Chaisson, EDGE
19. Dobbins, RB
20. Henderson, CB
21. Delpit, S
22. McKinney, S
23. Murray, LB
24. Herbert, QB
25. Fulton, CB
26. Swift, RB
27. Becton, OT
28. Blacklock, DL
29. Lewis, EDGE
30. Shenault, WR

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 21, 2020

Four first-round caliber quarterbacks is eye-catching. If a quarterback the Bears like drops to a spot where they want to take him, then that’s good news. If a bunch of quarterbacks go early and it happens to unexpectedly push a prospect down to a place where the Bears are drafting, so be it. No matter how the draft breaks down, the Bears should be in a good position to pounce with their selections in Round 2.

Seeing two running backs in the top-30 is encouraging for the Bears’ draft prospects, too. The more players who get drafted at positions the Bears aren’t desperate to fill should mean more available prospects at positions the Bears might want to draft should be available. That’s good news.

This is a noteworthy change in the process of interviewing draft prospects:

One reason interviewing draft prospects at the @SeniorBowl is important this year: NFL teams were informed recently they’ll have 45 18-minute formal interviews at the combine, rather than 60 15-minute interviews. It’s related to schedule changes that move drills to primetime.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 23, 2020

The other “bowl” game happening this weekend is the Pro Bowl, where Eddie Jackson is doing it big with a unique perspective on what’s going on:

View this post on Instagram

See the #ProBowl from Eddie Jackson’s point of view.

A post shared by Chicago Bears (@chicagobears) on Jan 24, 2020 at 8:01am PST

Meanwhile, an old friend is living his best life at the Pro Bowl:

Former #Bears punter Tress Way booting from the sideline pic.twitter.com/4SpX9lRXTo

— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) January 23, 2020

Remember when the Bears had a Pro Bowl quarterback last year? I remember.

“The future is bright for young Mitch Trubisky,” said Booger McFarland at last year’s Pro Bowl. Sigh. How things can change so quickly.

This isn’t going to make anyone happy:

Bears season tickets for 2020 will have an overall average increase of 3.9%.

All sections of Soldier Field will see price adjustments, per the team. Price increases range from 1.6-5.3%.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 24, 2020

I’m sure season-ticket-holder Bears fans are tired of seeing different variations of this letter:

Bears president Ted Phillips in a letter to season ticket holders: “No one was satisfied, and it is now imperative for us to thoroughly analyze what went wrong and make the necessary corrections for 2020. Our goal is to bring a World Championship back to Chicago.”

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 24, 2020

Is Lake Forest ready for the waves of bears fans who could be strolling through for training camp? I’m to convinced, but the folks up there are ready to embrace what’s coming their way:

Lake Forest officials and business owners are hoping for an economic boon this summer as Bears training camp relocates to their suburb.

The public historically has had little access to Halas Hall, but that likely will change with the Bears' move.https://t.co/W9K0VcWNV2

— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) January 23, 2020

Gary Kubiak, who won a Super Bowl as the Broncos’ head coach before health issues pushed him to resign, is back in football as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator:

Mike Zimmer’s goal of maintaining continuity on offense manifests itself with Gary Kubiak taking over offensive coordinator duties. https://t.co/C9cXptYYja

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) January 23, 2020

This is a thread:

Attorneys for about two dozen men bringing sexual abuse cases against the church say hundreds of emails they obtained through discovery show the @Saints aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its “pattern and practice of concealing its crimes.” (2/4)

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 24, 2020

Attorneys for about two dozen men suing the church say the @Saints’ top spokesman and other personnel advised the archdiocese on “messaging” and how to contain the damage from a burgeoning sexual abuse crisis. (4/4)

Read more from @JimMustianhttps://t.co/kv2wxmUFsy

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 24, 2020