Alaskan Grizzly

Said it once, I’ll say it again; love me some Wims!!! I dare say he so far has looked better than Miller. Of course our “#2 QB” was the one throwing some nice drops to him. Which makes me want to bring up a bigger concern. Why hasn’t Trubisky played more snaps? He hasn’t proven at all that he’s ready for the regular season. The one game he played into had him with one TD and one turnover where Daniel turned in a 2 TD effort. I dare also say we may be looking at a QB controversy early into this season? I was hard on Daniel early on but so far he’s looks better at running the offense in game time situations.

If JPP can play with 1-2 missing fingers I’d think Floyd should be able to man up and use a club cast too. The pragmatist in me says before I buy off on this offense and how effective it is, I’d like to see more production against 1st string defenses. Trubiksys performance was ok and the TD throw to Burton although impressive in scheme was countered by the INT due to the aforementioned confusion of Cohen. Chase Daniel looked better in his play; althoughbeit against a lesser quality D. And Mizzel (whoever the hell he is) looked as impressive (if not more) as Miller.

Realistically speaking what's to say Wims couldn't supplant a 2nd or 3rd seeded WR on the team? Speaking as of 'right now' we don't know how well Robinson or White are going to do based on injury history alone. Yes there is no doubt Robinson has shown he can perform in the NFL at an elite level (he did it for one season after all) but he's coming off a pretty significant injury on a body part that is a necessity in his position. White has not only been injured in each of his first three years but each year its a new injury; 2015 - left tibia, 2016 - left fibula and 2017 - left shoulder blade. That being said, he has yet to prove his 1st round grading. And because I'm not as high on Miller as others, what's to say Wims couldn't be better? How do the two compare in college? The only advantage that I see Miller having was he played 1-2 years more in D1 than did Wims? But an argument could be made that not only did Wims play only one year at the D1 level, he played in the SEC. Many would agree that in that division you are more likely to see NFL ready defensive players (let alone teams) than any other. As far as measurables; both were invited to the Combine but only Wims produced (I didn't look to see why Miller didn't measure at the combine). Miller did have his own pro-day in April so here are the 'comps' based on that. Wims: 6'3"/215, 40 yard dash - 4.53, vertical jump - 33.5". Miller: 5'11"/201, 40 yard dash - 4.50, vertical jump - 39". So Miller has more collegiate D1 experience. Wims is taller and heavier (explains the lack of speed?), yet both ran a near identical 4.5 ish 40. Miller does have a little more height in his vertical with nearly being able to leap a full half foot more than Wims. At the end though NFL.com graded them pretty close at 5.79 for Miller and 5.28 for Wims (on a scale of 1-10). For the sake of contrast, another fave of mine Calvin Ridley received a grade of 6.4.

I only saw a very small piece of the game and what I did see was...well not so good, especially on offense. That was due in large part to the Chase Daniels performance. Wasn’t he brought to Chicago to join Nagy due to his familiarity with this type offense? Yes he threw two interceptions and perhaps they were due in large part of the performance of others but many of his other throws (that I did see) were relative garbage. Makes some sense why Helfrich said earlier this week: “We’re nowhere-nowhere-near where we need to be.” Im stoked to see Wyms’ stat line and see what Ashkum had to say about him. He’s a personal favorite of mine and would almost venture a guess that he’s going to surprise a lot of people; maybe even pass up a few others on the team. And Cunnigham continues to impress. He’s an older version of what Cohen hopes to be someday. ? Fitts and Irving looked good in the bit that I saw them. Of those two, maybe the alter pass rusher to Floyd can be found?

Curious why you don’t think Amos could or will be a ‘core player’? Seems rather early to say that. Granted his 2016 was not so great but he showed vast improvement despite not starting last year. And in Fangios defensive scheme it is said he prefers ‘in the box’ capable SS which I think Amos has shown he is willing to do. Also agree that we shouldn’t be leading the way in salary cap space but not sure you can buy a core player from somewhere else.

Yep, have to drop out tho year. Thanks for the opportunity to play along these last few years. And Sulster...all my best to a continued recovery.

Classy move Mr. Cohen. Taking a nod from Warrick Dunn, JJ Watt and other notable NFL stars giving back to the community. Great way to turn the tide from some of the other silliness (and plain idiocy) that seems to dominate the NFL headlines some days. Glad he's doing it and is a Bear.

And you claim to be a student of Freud. Perhaps I’ve given you too much credit. You continue to twist what I’m saying to fit your narrative. Please take some time and look up ‘critical thinking’ when you get a moment. I know you are capable of finding definitions as you so cleverly demonstrated . Frankly I suppose I could care less that you think I’m negative. If it soothes you to think so; great for you. As far as the team goes I’m enthusiastic about a lot of the changes made and hopeful they will work out as planned. I like Nagy. Think he’s got what it takes to coach. Like a lot of the players on the team, despite some of the uncertainties I see. We will all see how successful he is in orchestrating wins with the group he currently has. At this point we’ve wasted too much time on the personal banter and one-upmanship so I’m moving on.

Funny how you 'preach' about my reading comprehension (or lack thereof) then took the liberty to assume that by my saying both Robinson and Watkins getting big money meant they were "good" players (as if that was a negative). Yet I didn't say that at all. It is noteworthy however that Adam thought that Robinson potentially could be a good player because he was paid big money and a "top free agent" prospect. You constantly contort my critical thinking style into 'negative attitude' because my opinion differs than yours. As I've said over the years I can't help that you're super sensitive to your opinion being the one that is right...all the time. I'm simply questioning how we can measure this year's players on the roster to players on the Rams from last year. Forgive me for using prior (and established) statistics from which to measure. Some of our players haven't played a full season in a few years (White and the aforementioned Robinson). Others have done 'acceptable' (but not mind-blowing) with proven and explosive offenses (Burton and Gabriel). Where others haven't even played an NFL down yet (Miller). I personally find it tricky (if not risky) to say that these players will do better than what LA had on its roster last year; or even this year for that matter. As I've repeated time and again, I don't WISH at all for our team to fail. I just have a different take on it than you. That's all there is to it. And although we do have some crows in Alaska; Ravens are the predominant bird of that family. Both in numbers and size.

I figured. But still in the case of Robinson, Miller, Gabriel and Cohen (and maybe even Trub); questions still remain. What are you basing your measurements on?

At the risk of being dubbed a 'Debbie downer' I'll go the devil's advocate route and challenge some of these options. For one they added Brandin Cooks to their arsenal this year. And whether he ends up being their #1 WR all he's managed to do is get 1173yds / 8 TDs two seasons ago and 1082 / 7TDs last year. Our guy; Robinson, hasn't had a complete season since 2015 where he got over 1000 yards. To be frank, I'm concerned with how he'll pan out. I've got to believe with all the money paid, he's going to do well. Cooper Kupp (in his first year) got 869 yards and 5 TDs with the Rams last year. Similar to how Stinger thinks Cohen is immeasurable for us, who do we put against Kupp? The best we have is maybe Gabriel who only got 378 yds and 1 TD last year with ATL after going 579 yds the year before. (By the way, this was the same offense (ATL - Ryan) that made Hester look like a respectable receiver). Comparing our #1 TE's? I'm guessing theirs will be Everett (who was a 2nd round pick last year) who got 244 yds with 2 TDs. While with PHI last year, Burton put up 248 yds and 5TDs. Shaheen (himself a 2nd round pick last year) got 127 yds and 2 TDs. Isn't Miller pretty much done or is he still planning on making a comeback? Watkins went to KC on a mega-deal and Woods ended up with 781 yds and 5 TDS after his first year in LA. Our comp maybe is White....who is still TBD. Mostly because I'm still not a believer in Pace, I'm skeptical in how most of 'our' players will pan out. But because I like Nagy...I trust he'll get the best he can out of them.

Actually not. Trubisky did fill in for previous starter Marquise Williams on occasion before getting his own actual designation as starter in 2016. So those other 18 games were in relief efforts for Williams. And, oddly enough, Trubisky didn’t fare all that horribly in relief. Found this article (below) that helps answer some of the questions skeptics like me have/had about Trubiskys potential. https://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2017/04/why_did_mitchell_trubisky_only.html Its kinda the reverse issue that Alabama currently has with Tagavailoa and Hurts.

"Last year MT had 2193 yards- 7 tds-7 int. Ran for 248 yards and 2 tds. (in 2016 Jared Goff 1093 yards-5 tds-7 ints ran for 16 yards and 1 td)" The one glaring difference between the two (besides the 12 vs 7 starts) are the yardage. Otherwise the TD/Int ratio is pretty similar as is the completion rate (Goff 54.6% Trub 59.4%). The stats can be viewed in two ways. One being the way you're reading them which by the raw numbers show Trubisky played more games than did Goff his first year. However, between the two they were pretty 'apples to apples' in most other statistics. Interestingly enough, in their college careers Goff played 37 games and produced 12,195 yards (7.8 yd avg) through the air with 96 TDs and 30 INTs where Trubisky played in 31 games where he threw for 4,762 yards (8.3 yds avg) with 41 TDs and 10 INTs. The efficiency rating weighed a bit more in Trubisky's favor during that time although Trubisky only had 13 actual 'starts' where Goff pretty much started all the games he played in.

I’m curious how you can say: “MT is ahead of Goff in his second year.” Is it based solely on Trubisky vs Goff or who they have around them?

After they made a try at getting Vic over as their new DC (upon the departure of Capers) they instead grabbed Mike Pettine. He’s heralded as a decent DC who like Fangio, gets his defenses playing in the top 10. I’m guessing he saw a need for more pass protection with having to see Stafford and Cousins twice a year. Hopefully Trubisky will give him fits too.

According to Belichik they didn’t know about it in NE either. Two avenues of thought here. Court of law and court of public opinion. Due process has been played out with the court of law. I am personally troubled that a Grand Jury originally decided on a true bill of assault back when this started. But apparently due to the victim’s unwillingness to testify the prosecuting attorneys office at the time chose not to go through a trial. From what it sounds the statute of limitations has run its course and any new charges are essentially moot. It should be noted that ‘due process’ would have also allowed Patricia to defend himself against any allegations at the time. But due to their not being any trial, he couldn’t and didn’t have to. Probably why both the Patriots and Lions were not aware; no public record of it for background investigators to ‘discover’. Now that this has resurfaced he will have to answer to it in the court of public opinion. And because of that the Lions will have to make a descion on what they do next.

You’re right. I meant to compare Cohen more to Tyreek Hill not Hunt. Although listed as a WR he gets a fair amount of touches from the backfield. I had my ‘H’ - backs mixed up. Although your case for Hunt is more in line with how similar he is with Howard. Thus dismissing, or at least diminishing the nay-sayers on whether Howard would work in Nagys offense.

Agreed. (Wish there was a way to ‘like’ comments on this new format.) I would hope that Trubisky does exactly as you suggest. The WCO with some zone runs thrown in for Howard will make things a bit less likely for Trubisky to fail. Should be fun to watch.

You’re suggesting I watch highlight film on each player? Thought you weren’t a supporter of that. And for the record I didn’t necessarily relate to stats but instead measured results in comparable skill tests. Will Cohen have special moments? Probably. Will he be the most special player on the team? Doubtful.

Interesting take. Perhaps you’re confusing the difference between having one and being one? That being said, the point is that Cohen does not have a unique skill set. How he uses them, and his newer found strength, in a different offense against other players that were mostly not on the team last year; remains to be seen.

From what I saw his 3 cone drill was from a pro day. Ill agree that Cohen could be a decent back. He was fun to watch last year and similar to Hunt, other teams will figure him out.

So what you’re saying about him is not only is he shortest of the players I listed, but he’s got better ‘short area quickness’? Better than other players who were faster in the cone drill and 40 yard dash? Before you answer that, do you see him more like a feature back similar to Kareem Hunt in KC or a gadget back like Darren Sproles?

Ok for the sake of argument, explain to me the differences. Especially in relation to how this offense will spotlight them or that. Stinger even said that Cohen ‘put on 10 lbs this winter’ and thus cannot be compared to a player like Gabriel because he’s not ‘close in strength’. Is strength a skill set or physical ability? And are not the measurables I provided an example of measured skills and abilities?

Meh...In just looking at some of the more 'newer' players to the team that could be used in similar situations (slot and/or catching out of backfield) he's middle of the road when comparing 'measurables'. Of the players to include Cohen, Miller, Cunningham, Gabriel and Fowler; Cohen only has the edge in height (or lack thereof). He being 5'6" at the shortest. Weight wise he's the second lightest at 179# where Gabriel measures at 165#. In the 40, Cohen was clocked at 4.42 where both Gabriel and Fowler beat him 4.40 and 4.35 respectively. On the cone drill (used to measure elusiveness and lateral movement) Cohen ran a 7.22 where three other players bested him; Miller, Gabriel and Fowler at 6.65, 6.84 and 7.06 respectively. Lastly, there has been talk about his 'huge hands' and although I wasn't able to find the measurements of all the players I was able to find his and Miller's. Cohen's hand size is 10 1/8" where Miller's are 10 5/8". HIs 'skill set' is not unique.

He has proven over the last few years that not only has he got the quickness but patience to wait for the block that he needs. Which is a key need in a zone blocking scheme. Agreed. He's proven the ability over the course of two years to constantly get at least 1,000 yards. And that was with a pretty vanilla offense. I have a suspicion that for all the razzle-dazzle, Cohen's value will start to wear thin. Especially with more players similar to his skill set on the roster and defenses getting familiar with his style of play. Howard is pretty unique in his abilities and keeps on chugging away despite the familarity.