Bryant is a terrific player, Adam. After the Seahawks won the Superbowl, I spoke to my son who grew up in Chicago, is a lifelong Bears fan, and lives in Portland where his “home team” is the Seahawks because he gets all the Seahawks coverage. I asked whether or not Bryant might be available in free agency. He said Bryant was the one player he wouldn’t want to lose from Seattle. When the Bears signed him, my son was thrilled for the Bears, of course. Coby is the real deal. I just watched the Super Bowl again, concentrating only on him. He was impressive.

In the same vein, I rewatched Oregon-Penn State recently to focus on Thieneman. Oddly enough, Thieneman missed an important tackle just before his game-ending interception in that game. I noticed what Bryant may have referenced in that game, namely that Dillon sometimes commits a touch early and runs himself out of a play. If, indeed, that observation has a grain of validity, he has to avoid too-early commitment to a course of action. D.A. will have to find a way to tone this down a touch. He’s still fast enough to get where he needs to be without overcommitting too early. (It’s a good problem for a defense to have, though.)

I think a piece on Dillon would be welcome a few days into Training Camp if you need to plan ahead and do a little groundwork. I wrote sports a million years ago, and like Ben, I did my groundwork for fall features on the Nebraska Huskers for the Daily Nebraskan during the summer. To write the piece in several weeks, all you have to do is check your notes, add pertinent new stuff, and a story pretty much writes itself. If Ben can prepare during the summer, we should all do at least a little of the same. I just started rewatching every Bears game from last season in order. Ben shames me into it.