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zelezo vlk

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Howard did very well last year and the only thing preventing him from having an even better season was the lack of consistent carries earlier in the year. Honestly if John Fox and the Hobbit OC had given Howard the carries to begin the year, he could have led the league in rushing.
 

IrishSteelhead

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Chicago Bears address

Howard did very well last year and the only thing preventing him from having an even better season was the lack of consistent carries earlier in the year. Honestly if John Fox and the Hobbit OC had given Howard the carries to begin the year, he could have led the league in rushing.



He topped 20 carries in 25% of his games, and still finished 2nd. I'd definitely agree he could have led the league with a starters share all season.

For reference, here's the % of the rest of the top 5 eclipsing 20 carries in a game:

1. Elliott = 75% (12/16)
2. Howard = 25% (4/16)
3. Murray= 44% (7/16)
4. Ajayi= 31% (5/16 outlier: had 3 EXPLOSIONS, but not much else)
5. Bell = 62% (8/13: could have easily led league also if played full season)
 

Crazy Balki

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Jordan Howard is really the only thing the Bears have going for them right now. I definitely wouldn't put Howard in the "do not draft list"; I say this because Mike Glennon and the passing game has the potential to be hot garbage and he won't be splitting reps with anyone. Getting a running back in fantasy football that splits reps is the worst (this is why I never draft Patriots running backs).

Depending on the amount of guys you have in your league and how your scoring system works, Howard should go off the board around rounds 2-3.

ESPN has Howard ranked the #7 RB and #15 overall. If you're in a league like I am where there is a HUGE run on running backs in the first round, he might sneak into the first round.

I disagree. I'm not touting Glennon and the receiving corp as anything special, but I'd be surprised if they weren't at the very least a modest upgrade over last year's unit. Glennon is nothing special, but he's still a pretty substantial upgrade over Hoyer and Barkley. As good as Jeffery's career has been, he was absolutely terrible last year and provided nothing to concern defenses. Whoever replaces him will be at the very least a push over what he provided last season.

Given the abysmal passing game last year, and the OL that was riddled with injuries, his production line was nothing short of outstanding, and if I had to choose between him and Zeke, I take him 10 times out of 10.
 

Crazy Balki

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Looks like the offense will be mediocre at best, minus Howard and possibly Cohen. But Trubisky looked like the Truth.
 

zelezo vlk

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Looks like the offense will be mediocre at best, minus Howard and possibly Cohen. But Trubisky looked like the Truth.

How did Shaheen look? Rookie tight ends hardly ever produce much, but he supposedly looked good in camp. I was hoping that he'd flash
 

Rogue219

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So this whole thing went from "they're idiots for drafting him so high" to "He should start immediately."

After one preseason game.

I don't follow much NFL football anymore, but I do miss the overreaction to all things preseason NFL.
 

woolybug25

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So this whole thing went from "they're idiots for drafting him so high" to "He should start immediately."

After one preseason game.

I don't follow much NFL football anymore, but I do miss the overreaction to all things preseason NFL.

Both things can be true at the same time.

Giving up a bunch to draft the guy at #2. - Stupid

That guy is also the best option on this terrible team - Possibly true


He could end up being good, or he could end up sucking, but that is aside from the drafting philosophy criticisms.
 

zelezo vlk

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I'm waiting for another preseason game before I get my Trubisky tattoo. It just seems silly to do it after week 1
 

BobbyMac

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Both things can be true at the same time.

Giving up a bunch to draft the guy at #2. - Stupid

That guy is also the best option on this terrible team - Possibly true


He could end up being good, or he could end up sucking, but that is aside from the drafting philosophy criticisms.

... right after they paid $45m over 3 for a back up quality QB.

I'm done caring about the Bears' individual parts. I'll watch the game with my friends, I'm going tomorrow to throw some bags, sip some cold ones and root for the uniform against the Cardinals but I'll have no expectations of anything positive happening in the regular season in the near future.
 

Pops Freshenmeyer

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... right after they paid $45m over 3 for a back up quality QB.

I'm done caring about the Bears' individual parts. I'll watch the game with my friends, I'm going tomorrow to throw some bags, sip some cold ones and root for the uniform against the Cardinals but I'll have no expectations of anything positive happening in the regular season in the near future.

The good news is there is no guaranteed money on it after this year. It's in effect a one year deal with two team option years so it works a bridge quarterback deal.

I was very happy with Trubisky's debut. My concern, and I think Wooly shares it, is that when a bad team bets that heavy on a pick they won't have the ability to fill in talent around him even if he works out. The move can still be a mistake if they get a useful quarterback out of it. And it's an absolute disaster if they don't.
 

Crazy Balki

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Welp. Bad news is the passing game is awful. I mean, Jesus, no Meredith, no White, no Jeffrey. This unit has been peeled clean of all it's talent. This unit sucks.

Mike Glennon was passable. As expected, just keeping Trubisky's seat warm, for however long that is.

Line was good in run blocking, terrible at keeping Glennon upright (though some of that was on him for holding the ball too long).

Good news! The Bears are in proud possession of the new most dynamic RB tandem in the NFL. Move over Free-Cole, make way for Tarik the Freak and Little Howard. I mean, what's left to say? Cohen went medieval on Atlanta's defense. He was all over the f*cking place. Howard had an okay game, nothing special, but we know what we got with him already.

That defense...knock the coaching staff all you want, this defense is legit. Still not a big fan of the corners, but that'll change. The front 7 was a stone wall. Even got to Ryan a couple times. Proud of how far along they've come since being the worst defense in franchise history just 3 years ago.

Mental mistakes were far too common. Dumb penalties, drops, fumbles. Can't happen. Just one of those likely changes the outcome of this game.
 
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Crazy Balki

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I thought D was salty, and Glennon sucked.

RBs, yeah they're good.

I thought Glennon did okay, other than holding onto the ball too fucking long.

But to be fair, who does he have to throw to at this point? I think we need to ride it out with him. Trubisky will suffer from a few coverage sacks because of how depleted we are at receiver.
 

pumpdog20

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I thought Glennon did okay, other than holding onto the ball too fucking long.

But to be fair, who does he have to throw to at this point? I think we need to ride it out with him. Trubisky will suffer from a few coverage sacks because of how depleted we are at receiver.

I thought Glennon was horribly inaccurate going down field. He was 26/40 with 11 receptions going to running backs. You might be right about the receivers abilities, but I don't feel he gave them a chance either.
 

BobbyMac

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Wanted so badly for Glennon to punch it in and send the Dawgs back with a 50/50 split and a bad one at that considering who the Falcons and Bears are at this time but it was not to be. But I put a homer Bennie on em to cover (which I didn't think they would) and surprise surprise. Sucks to win on both your teams losing but it beats losing on your losing teams.
 

Rogue219

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This group of receivers couldn't catch a cold. Horrible.

Plus with injuries on the OL now, I don't understand why everyone is clamoring for the rookie after two games.
 

BobbyMac

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Bears should just embrace the Cubs/Sox/ 100% overhaul model. Openly sell it and don't pretend it's not what they are doing. The town will understand.

Until then it's early mass, tailgate with your friends at 8am w/ lots of stories about Butkus or 1985.
 

Crazy Balki

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Bears should just embrace the Cubs/Sox/ 100% overhaul model. Openly sell it and don't pretend it's not what they are doing. The town will understand.

Until then it's early mass, tailgate with your friends at 8am w/ lots of stories about Butkus or 1985.

I think they have embraced the overhaul. The problem is that you can't really get young players to develop when they keep getting hurt every quarter.

I mean, my God, Virginia McCaskey is 94 years old and I think she's more durable than half of these guys. I mean, this is a constant issue, losing several players to injury year after year.
 

pumpdog20

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You can't trust this team with a massive cubs/sox overhaul. Look at our 1st round picks going back to 2011:

2011 - Carimi: last played in 2014
2012 - McClellin: has averaged 40 tackles a year, top rated OLBs should be at 100 and over
2013 - Long: i guess this was alright, multi time pro bowl, not hurt
2014 - Fuller: decent, but not 1st round impact
2015 - White: yeah, bust
2016 - Floyd: situational pass rusher, not enough tackles for a first round OLB
2017 - Trubisky: drafted after the most bone headed draft day trade in a long time. Who knows his trajectory, but right now the team is comfortable with him over Glennon, ouch.
 

IrishSteelhead

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You can't trust this team with a massive cubs/sox overhaul. Look at our 1st round picks going back to 2011:

2011 - Carimi: last played in 2014
2012 - McClellin: has averaged 40 tackles a year, top rated OLBs should be at 100 and over
2013 - Long: i guess this was alright, multi time pro bowl, not hurt
2014 - Fuller: decent, but not 1st round impact
2015 - White: yeah, bust
2016 - Floyd: situational pass rusher, not enough tackles for a first round OLB
2017 - Trubisky: drafted after the most bone headed draft day trade in a long time. Who knows his trajectory, but right now the team is comfortable with him over Glennon, ouch.



IMO:

2011- Carimi seemed like a good, safe pick, no fault there

2012- Huge reach, wanted Whitney Mercilus

2013- Thought Long was a stupid pick at the time, but that turned out good

2014- This one KILLS me. Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix was such an obvious choice after their target (Aaron Donald) got taken one spot earlier. Seemed like they had no backup plan and threw a dart at the board

2015- Was hoping Cooper fell to them, but White seemed ok with him off the board

2016- 2017 Too early to tell. Was ok with Floyd pick, livid with Trubisky pick

In summary: other than McClellin and Fuller, I can understand the thought process of their last few picks.
 

Pops Freshenmeyer

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IMO:

2011- Carimi seemed like a good, safe pick, no fault there

2012- Huge reach, wanted Whitney Mercilus

2013- Thought Long was a stupid pick at the time, but that turned out good

2014- This one KILLS me. Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix was such an obvious choice after their target (Aaron Donald) got taken one spot earlier. Seemed like they had no backup plan and threw a dart at the board

2015- Was hoping Cooper fell to them, but White seemed ok with him off the board

2016- 2017 Too early to tell. Was ok with Floyd pick, livid with Trubisky pick

In summary: other than McClellin and Fuller, I can understand the thought process of their last few picks.

IIRC, Carimi blew out his knee almost immediately after joining the Bears.

The McClellan pick drove me nuts. The Bears passed on Chandler Jones and David DeCastro. Both players were mocked to Chicago by various analysts so it's not all hindsight. Both became very good players at positions of need for Chicago. Instead they drafted a third down only player who wasn't even sufficient at that role. I hated Emery for that.

I had no opinion on Kevin White other than I hated drafting a WR that high on a team with so many other holes.

I will spare the rest of the world my spittle flecked rant on Trubisky other than to reiterate that teams with so many talent deficiencies shouldn't be packaging their picks together to move up for one player.

Just seeing this list makes my blood pressure rise.
 

Southside Sully

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IMO:

2011- Carimi seemed like a good, safe pick, no fault there

2012- Huge reach, wanted Whitney Mercilus

2013- Thought Long was a stupid pick at the time, but that turned out good

2014- This one KILLS me. Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix was such an obvious choice after their target (Aaron Donald) got taken one spot earlier. Seemed like they had no backup plan and threw a dart at the board

2015- Was hoping Cooper fell to them, but White seemed ok with him off the board

2016- 2017 Too early to tell. Was ok with Floyd pick, livid with Trubisky pick

In summary: other than McClellin and Fuller, I can understand the thought process of their last few picks.

Floyd looked like a pro bowler last night and in 2016 he was 2nd of all rookies with 7 sacks, #36 in the league.. Bosa had more than him with 10.5. I think he looks the part, and as last night shows, he is dynamic but still learning.
 

BobbyMac

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I'm fine with Trubisky as a player but...

I'd rather have all my picks back and Watson or all my picks back and Trubisky which prolly would have happened.

Unless Deion Sanders Jr is available, I wouldn't draft anything but O line and D line in the first two rounds.
 

Crazy Balki

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The only one I had any exception for was the McClellin pick. I wanted Chandler Jones, and felt the pick was obvious. I was confused about the Long pick, but warmed up to it soon after.

I felt Fuller was a quality pick. He was athletic and a cerebral player at corner. He's struggled his first few seasons but he appears to be coming around. He's been good this year.

Carimi and White were good picks IMO. Can't account for injuries. Nothing you can do there.

Floyd has looked like a beast in his first year and a half, so this was a good pick. I just hope he can stay healthy (running theme with this franchise).

Also have to remember that only 3 of these guys were picked by our current GM. So far, Trubisky looks promising, Floyd has been really good and White is done due to injuries. So, not great, but not too bad so far.
 
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