A simple suggestion: Round up some of your best pals via video chat at some point this evening. It’s a nice change-of-pace for those of you who desperately want to break out, but also want to respect the stay-at-home measures that are in place at the moment.
Jay Cutler to Devin Hester had the potential to be something special given the right system and enough time to make magic happen:
Cutler had all the arm strength and athleticism you could want out of a quarterback. Hester had speed, agility, and playmaking ability. The video embedded above should have been something we saw more often when they were on the field together. But Hester had his limitations as a route-runner. And Cutler didn’t come into his own from a game-processing standpoint until later in his career. And yet, I am convinced that in the right system, with proper coaching, and well-thought out game-plans, the Cutler and Hester connection could have put up video game numbers.
Once in a while, I think about the Bears’ usage of Hester as an offensive player. The front office gave him a bunch of money based on his kick and punt return skills to transition to a wide receiver. And while he put up respectable numbers, the Bears tried to pigeon-hole him into a role he wasn’t meant to play. Maybe this is hindsight talking, but paying a converted cornerback to be a WR1 as they’re learning the position isn’t logical football thinking. Don’t get me wrong. I can see why the Bears wanted to turn him into an offensive asset, I just think they went about it the wrong way.
Could you imagine Hester in a Tarik Cohen role? A gadget player who is a threat to take handoffs and/or run routes out of the backfield, a potential playmaker as a receiver in the slot or someone who comes across the formation in a jet sweep. Screen passes. Fly patterns. Bubble screens. Fly sweeps. End arounds. There were limitless opportunities had the Bears played their cards right. Sigh.
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
New Bears tight end Jimmy Graham has some thoughts on Mitch Trubisky:
Jimmy Graham on Mitch Trubisky: "Kid's got a lot of talent."
No argument here. Trubisky has talent and athleticism. He can make plays on a whim that dazzle you. But Trubisky is also known to make plays that will frazzle you, too. So, yeah, the kid’s got a lot of talent. Graham isn’t wrong. It’s just that too often, he doesn’t know what to do with it. And that’s a problem.
Remember in 2018 when Bears quarterbacks posted a 131.3 passer rating when targeting Trey Burton in the red zone? That was fun. I’m not sure what kind of damage Graham can do between the 20s as he enters his age 34 season. But I have some confidence he can get stuff done inside the red zone. Of course, the Bears have to get there first.
Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic tweets that Graham credited Bears GM Ryan Pace for having faith in him, which ultimately allowed him to have his opportunity in New Orleans. Pace was the Saints’ Director of Professional Scouting at the time Graham was drafted. And while I don’t know what role Pace would have had specifically in the Saints drafting Graham, I can see – based on Pace’s history in Chicago – where a young, up-and-coming front office type would poke his head onto the college side of the scouting department and bang the table for a prospect with upside. The best scouting and developing teams are inclusive and are willing to hear all sorts of different perspectives. Perhaps the Bears need more of that moving forward.
Adam Jahns (The Athletic), Chris Emma (670 The Score), Zack Pearson (Bear Report), and Jeff Dickerson (ESPN) are among those who covered Graham’s introductory conference call on Thursday. Graham responds to critics in a way you would expect a motivated newcomer would. He’ll be easy to root for once he puts on the blue and orange.
A message from Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-PP38nD_uz/
Extend this man, please:
Bears WR Allen Robinson is providing meals to Chicago Public Schools students with a hunger relief campaign.
Robinson will match up to $12,000 in donations to his Within Reach Foundation as part of this effort.
Every $12 donation provides a 20-lb. box of food to a local family.
Goodell informed teams they “should be doing the necessary planning to conduct Draft operations in a location outside of your facility, with a limited number of people present, and with sufficient technology resources to….communicate with other clubs and Draft headquarters.” https://t.co/iHaf5d8eJn
The show goes on. And while the NFL is doing its best to be business as usual, that Commissioner Roger Goodell has to put out memos like the one above is a sign that we are as far from being business as usual as possible, while still conducting business.
I hope the league is putting all the necessary thought into this because I would be mildly annoyed if the NFL was cutting corners just to put on a show and grab eyes while the sports landscape elsewhere is at a standstill.
A long-time Bears nemesis finds a new home:
Former #Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes is signing a 1-year deal with the #Colts, per @SunnyTheAgent. A chance to prove it in Indy.
Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.
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NEWSLETTER
