McClellin

[Bears4Ever_34]

one of my reactions to this pick is "I wonder if this isn't the first step towards long term switching to a 3-4 system if Lovie departs".

Emery won't admit it but that very well could be in the back of his head. At the very least you get a guy capable of playing different roles if one of our guys go down with injuries.

[adam]

one of my reactions to this pick is "I wonder if this isn't the first step towards long term switching to a 3-4 system if Lovie departs".

I was also thinking about a scheme change as well. If we needed someone to bridge the gap for a year or two, McClellin would be the ideal pick.

 

[Pixote]

Conspiracy Theories, Hogwash!

 

I am sorry, I just do not buy it.

 

So he drafts a player who is capable of playing multiple positions, because Emery wants Lovie to fail, at which time he will hire a new HC that promises him he will only hire a DC who runs a 3-4 system to utilize SM.

 

In the meantime, if Lovie fails, does this failure possibly indicate a failure on Emery's part also?

 

I think Emery wants the Bears to win the SB THIS YEAR, proving he did a good job of providing the Bears with the players needed and that the management was right in not only hiring him but for insisting Lovie remains HC.

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Conspiracy Theories, Hogwash!

 

I am sorry, I just do not buy it.

 

So he drafts a player who is capable of playing multiple positions, because Emery wants Lovie to fail, at which time he will hire a new HC that promises him he will only hire a DC who runs a 3-4 system to utilize SM.

 

In the meantime, if Lovie fails, does this failure possibly indicate a failure on Emery's part also?

 

I think Emery wants the Bears to win the SB THIS YEAR, proving he did a good job of providing the Bears with the players needed and that the management was right in not only hiring him but for insisting Lovie remains HC.

 

I'm with you Pix. I've made no secret in my support of Lovie but to think that Emery would pick a guy so that eventually, maybe he could play a role they (whoever "they" are) see him better fitting is ludicrous. I've seen that thought echoed here a few times and chuckle. You hit the nail on the head that if Lovie fails, by associatiation so does Emery.

 

What I think people need to get a grasp of is that Lovie is an effective "COACH" and that his players appreciate playing for him. Our perception of him does not matter, good bad or indifferent. Recent moves not withstanding it should be noted of the players on the team a few have recently signed extensions with the hope of "being a Bear for life". A few years ago it was Urlacher this year it was Briggs. And this despite him saying how displeased he was the previous two years.

[Pixote]

In addition, if Emery is drafting players with an eye towards the future replacement of Lovie, he is in effect playing a trap game, where players ignore the current challenge and looks towards a future game. If that is what he is doing he should be fired, not Lovie.

[bradjock]

I'll add this: most agreed the #1 target in the draft would be a d-lineman with the ability to get to the QB. What we didn't expect was that we would focus on a smaller outside speed rusher. What gave me clarity on this is when I heard we passed on Mercilus because he was more of an inside pass rusher. We specifcally targeted a guy who could turn the corner and ge the edge.

 

When Rogers, Stafford, or whoever is 3rd and 5, McClellen will line up to try and close before the QB can release. The focus will be on going past or around, not going through.

 

I don't believe for a second we'll see McClellen on run downs his rookie year. But if he can do what we can drafted him to do, Lovie shouldn't have to worry about getting fired.

 

In addition, if Emery is drafting players with an eye towards the future replacement of Lovie, he is in effect playing a trap game, where players ignore the current challenge and looks towards a future game. If that is what he is doing he should be fired, not Lovie.

 

[CrackerDog]

Conspiracy Theories, Hogwash!

 

I am sorry, I just do not buy it.

 

So he drafts a player who is capable of playing multiple positions, because Emery wants Lovie to fail, at which time he will hire a new HC that promises him he will only hire a DC who runs a 3-4 system to utilize SM.

 

In the meantime, if Lovie fails, does this failure possibly indicate a failure on Emery's part also?

 

I think Emery wants the Bears to win the SB THIS YEAR, proving he did a good job of providing the Bears with the players needed and that the management was right in not only hiring him but for insisting Lovie remains HC.

 

Well said Pix.

[BearFan PHX]

I said this a few days ago in an earlier post. Emery doesn't have to be trying to get Lovie to fail with a bad pick, but taking someone versatile IS prudent given the unknown nature of Lovie, especially if Emery expects to go get his own coach next year.

 

In other words he doesn't need to make him fail, just to be thinking about his next move. Im SURE Emery was told "you need to keep Lovie this season, after that do what you want"

 

[Wesson44]

Seriously you guys need to stop talking about what size this player is or what big or small school they came from. Some of the biggest busts in the NFL come from Big schools...like Penn State and LSU. Then the Bears have TWO HOF guys from small schools like Jackson State and Tennessee State. Wehave a 5'9 cornerback in Jennings playing against some of the bigger WR in the NFL and is holding his own. You need to just look around the NFL rosters and see all the players from small schools....hell we have 15 on our roster and two from Bosie State. So size of the player and size of the school really does not matter at all if you can get the job done.

[Stinger226]

Seriously you guys need to stop talking about what size this player is or what big or small school they came from. Some of the biggest busts in the NFL come from Big schools...like Penn State and LSU. Then the Bears have TWO HOF guys from small schools like Jackson State and Tennessee State. Wehave a 5'9 cornerback in Jennings playing against some of the bigger WR in the NFL and is holding his own. You need to just look around the NFL rosters and see all the players from small schools....hell we have 15 on our roster and two from Bosie State. So size of the player and size of the school really does not matter at all if you can get the job done.

Other than Coples, none of the DE prospects were large body types to begin with, Coples was bigger, Jones was taller, Perry, Ingram,Merculis are all about the same size,and Irwin was smaller. I think they might have taken Ingram if he was available, but he wasnt. They had to take McClellin, at that spot or GB or NE would have gotten him. So he doesnt fit what we thought of the position, but that doenst mean he wont be an effective pass rusher and thats what they were intending to get with the first round pick. I dont care who we would have picked, as not everyone on here would have been happy anyways. I dont know how this turns out but like the idea of taking a pure football player with speed. Irwin was the only one that was faster.

[madlithuanian]

Despite my lack of undying support for Smith, I don't think for a second that this pick has anything to do with eventually moving away from Smith's D.

 

I think Emery is all in on Smith. And, right now, so am I. I hope that his staff, and in particular, Tice, step up and make the changes needed to adapt and make the team strong. Smith has been gradually getting a little more flexible through the years. I hope he continues to so. He may end up being a good HC after all. But this season is do or die for him.

 

 

I'm with you Pix. I've made no secret in my support of Lovie but to think that Emery would pick a guy so that eventually, maybe he could play a role they (whoever "they" are) see him better fitting is ludicrous. I've seen that thought echoed here a few times and chuckle. You hit the nail on the head that if Lovie fails, by associatiation so does Emery.

 

What I think people need to get a grasp of is that Lovie is an effective "COACH" and that his players appreciate playing for him. Our perception of him does not matter, good bad or indifferent. Recent moves not withstanding it should be noted of the players on the team a few have recently signed extensions with the hope of "being a Bear for life". A few years ago it was Urlacher this year it was Briggs. And this despite him saying how displeased he was the previous two years.

 

[BearFan PHX]

As far as Emery being "all in on Smith" consider that he was hired at a time of crisis in the Bears organization. Removing Martz, promoting OL line coach from within and therefore requiring a Pass Co-ordinator is not normal. Do I hope it works? Sure I do. But you gotta admit that is not a very normal situation in the NFL. The NFL is unstable enough when it comes to security with coaching staffs, and Lovie is on the last year of his deal.

 

Now consider the job of a REAL GM. It's to hire coaches, and get players. Any real GM will want the power to hire his own coach. Remember when this went down? We were all wondering whether Lovie might be fired too? We couldn't even get real OC candidates to interview? The professional coaches int he league saw the instability here. Most of us came to the idea that to get Emery, a professional who has been around for a while and understands this game, he was being told that Lovie had to stay this year and finish his contract, and after that the team would be his.

 

You KNOW Emery has a plan. Whether it's a good one or a bad one, he has one. That's the whole reason he's here. It's his JOB to have a plan. And I think any GM wants to bring in one of his kind of guys at head coach.

 

Now is it possible that Lovie will succeed and force a contract extension with a Championship game appearance or better? Maybe. There's a bunch of talent on this team. We saw how that worked for Jauron too.

 

But you gotta think that Emery is looking to the future and hiring another coach, and from that standpoint, not picking a 1 gap DT type at #1 allows him the flexibility to deal with whatever next year brings. Had he drafted the next Tommie Harris, then I think you could say he's all in on Lovie. Right now, I don't think so.

[madlithuanian]

I think he's all in on Smith as we all are. Sure, we have our doubts. But, it is what it is is. We as fans had no choice. And he, as GM, had no choice. Next year will be different for him. Or at least we're lead to believe so.

 

How I saw the entirety of the draft, was to help Smith on D. We can argue which potential DL would have been the most perfect fit under the scheme, but the bottom line was that we needed a pass rusher to compliment Peppers. and we got that. We also got a safety. And 2 more DB's. The safety could be an impact player. The DB's are probably fodder or ST guys at best.

 

So, to me, the overall scheme of his draft was to be in on Smith. And the flip side of that, is every GM looks past a single year. He has to. And I'm sure that played a factor in going with certain guys. But, I don't believe for a second that Emery did anything but try to help the team. And that means helping the current regime win, and win now. To me, that's kind of all in. Maybe we can argue the semantics and say it's 80% in... But, I think he, and all of us, WANT Smith to succeed. What we expect may be different...

 

As far as Emery being "all in on Smith" consider that he was hired at a time of crisis in the Bears organization. Removing Martz, promoting OL line coach from within and therefore requiring a Pass Co-ordinator is not normal. Do I hope it works? Sure I do. But you gotta admit that is not a very normal situation in the NFL. The NFL is unstable enough when it comes to security with coaching staffs, and Lovie is on the last year of his deal.

 

Now consider the job of a REAL GM. It's to hire coaches, and get players. Any real GM will want the power to hire his own coach. Remember when this went down? We were all wondering whether Lovie might be fired too? We couldn't even get real OC candidates to interview? The professional coaches int he league saw the instability here. Most of us came to the idea that to get Emery, a professional who has been around for a while and understands this game, he was being told that Lovie had to stay this year and finish his contract, and after that the team would be his.

 

You KNOW Emery has a plan. Whether it's a good one or a bad one, he has one. That's the whole reason he's here. It's his JOB to have a plan. And I think any GM wants to bring in one of his kind of guys at head coach.

 

Now is it possible that Lovie will succeed and force a contract extension with a Championship game appearance or better? Maybe. There's a bunch of talent on this team. We saw how that worked for Jauron too.

 

But you gotta think that Emery is looking to the future and hiring another coach, and from that standpoint, not picking a 1 gap DT type at #1 allows him the flexibility to deal with whatever next year brings. Had he drafted the next Tommie Harris, then I think you could say he's all in on Lovie. Right now, I don't think so.

 

[BearFan PHX]

OK if you put it that way i think we agree.

 

Of course we all want the Bears to do well this year, and if this staff proves to be the magic formula, no one will want to break it up.

 

Also I don't think Emery picked to sabotage Lovie in any way. This pick helps the team today too, again we agree.

 

The only difference we may still have, and I agree it's a slight one, is whether Emery considered in his pick that he wouldn't be painting himself into a corner with this guy. i think that's a valid point and he considered it. That said, a pass rusher works for any scheme, which is sort of saying we're both right. Both that he helps us now, and that it doesn't hurt us if we change schemes next year.

 

We probably agree.

[Mongo3451]

Seriously you guys need to stop talking about what size this player is or what big or small school they came from. Some of the biggest busts in the NFL come from Big schools...like Penn State and LSU. Then the Bears have TWO HOF guys from small schools like Jackson State and Tennessee State. Wehave a 5'9 cornerback in Jennings playing against some of the bigger WR in the NFL and is holding his own. You need to just look around the NFL rosters and see all the players from small schools....hell we have 15 on our roster and two from Bosie State. So size of the player and size of the school really does not matter at all if you can get the job done.

I agree with you 100%.

 

But, I alsmost shit myself laughing at the irony of your post. Dude, you are the king of size matters. The over/under of you posting a size stat is at about 40%. I can remember you wanting big WR's and DB's to matchup against these smurfs. I'm glad Dr. Mongo has worked miracles with your psychy.

[madlithuanian]

I think we're in agreement too....

 

 

OK if you put it that way i think we agree.

 

Of course we all want the Bears to do well this year, and if this staff proves to be the magic formula, no one will want to break it up.

 

Also I don't think Emery picked to sabotage Lovie in any way. This pick helps the team today too, again we agree.

 

The only difference we may still have, and I agree it's a slight one, is whether Emery considered in his pick that he wouldn't be painting himself into a corner with this guy. i think that's a valid point and he considered it. That said, a pass rusher works for any scheme, which is sort of saying we're both right. Both that he helps us now, and that it doesn't hurt us if we change schemes next year.

 

We probably agree.

 

[jason]

Seriously you guys need to stop talking about what size this player is or what big or small school they came from. Some of the biggest busts in the NFL come from Big schools...like Penn State and LSU. Then the Bears have TWO HOF guys from small schools like Jackson State and Tennessee State. Wehave a 5'9 cornerback in Jennings playing against some of the bigger WR in the NFL and is holding his own. You need to just look around the NFL rosters and see all the players from small schools....hell we have 15 on our roster and two from Bosie State. So size of the player and size of the school really does not matter at all if you can get the job done.

 

I seriously laughed that you, of all people, are sticking up for a short player. Do you know realize your logic in this post is directly contradictory to the "tall WR" tangent you were on for the past month?