Bears sign Mike Davis

[WindyCity]

This is a really good signing and a great contract value for an ascending player that fits the scheme well.

-Big enough to pound the ball between the tackles
-Can catch, had 34 receptions and only 2 drops
-Has more lateral movement ability than Howard
-9/14 games where he carried the ball he had a run of 10 yards or more

[WindyCity]

The contract is good. We paid Benny Cunningham 1.25 million to literally do nothing.

[AZBearsFan]

Are people expecting that Davis is looking at 250 carries? Cuz I’m thinking more like 50-60% of that, tops, unless he totally blows up. Looking at him like an 8-12 touch a week type guy with a mid-round rookie getting a similar split until one of them separates themselves from the other. Don’t forget Cohen is still gonna get a healthy share too. 

[Epyon]

Just now, AZBearsFan said:

Are people expecting that Davis is looking at 250 carries? Cuz I’m thinking more like 50-60% of that, tops, unless he totally blows up. Looking at him like an 8-12 touch a week type guy with a mid-round rookie getting a similar split until one of them separates themselves from the other. Don’t forget Cohen is still gonna get a healthy share too. 

Yeah I'm thinking he's more or less taking Cunningham/Mizzell's jobs in the offense, rather than Howard's.

[beardown3231]

9 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

I watched him play.  All his best games last year.  Doesnt take long when you watch just offense in condensed. Carson is much better, Penny is more talented but Davis is a much better back.  Last year anyway.  Penny kind of sucks most of time, but has flashes.

Davis is a good fotball player.  Bears fans will like him.  Much, much better than Mizzel. He is just a guy though. 

Your post comes off as telling me about Carson and Penney when I know why they were used more than Davis, but I think you misunderstood me because we agree. I think @Damikeeeee deserves to see your post. 

[AZBearsFan]

1 minute ago, WindyCity said:

The contract is good. We paid Benny Cunningham 1.25 million to literally do nothing.

I’m gonna miss that 20 carries for 49 yards we got from Cunningham the past 2 years. But he caught that fake punt TD in 2017. We’ll always have that I guess. 

[dll2000]

2 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

Your post comes off as telling me about Carson and Penney when I know why they were used more than Davis, but I think you misunderstood me because we agree. I think @Damikeeeee deserves to see your post. 

I wasnt disagreeing with you.  I just quoted you for context in overall conversation.  

And to point out I actually watched him and wasnt googling stats.  

[WindyCity]

This is a really good scheme fit for backup money and he may end up starting for the Bears.

My guess is Davis out produces his contract number pretty easily if healthy.

[AZBearsFan]

1 minute ago, Epyon said:

Yeah I'm thinking he's more or less taking Cunningham/Mizzell's jobs in the offense, rather than Howard's.

I think he’s at least capable of taking up all of Cunningham/Mizzell reps and some of the Howard reps. Even if nobody else is added and he and Howard just essentially split all of the non-Cohen RB reps we’re still adding a significant amount of versatility to the lineup IMO. 

[WindyCity]

4 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

I think he’s at least capable of taking up all of Cunningham/Mizzell reps and some of the Howard reps. Even if nobody else is added and he and Howard just essentially split all of the non-Cohen RB reps we’re still adding a significant amount of versatility to the lineup IMO. 

Or they draft someone they feel good about and they move Howard.

This provides them with options. Is he good enough to start? Probably. Do they need him to right now? NO.

Good position to be in.

[AZBearsFan]

3 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

Or they draft someone they feel good about and they move Howard.

This provides them with options. Is he good enough to start? Probably. Do they need him to right now? NO.

Good position to be in.

That’s what I think is going to happen. We are agreeing a lot today Windy. 

TF is going on here??

[dll2000]

2 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

Or they draft someone they feel good about and they move Howard.

This provides them with options. Is he good enough to start? Probably. Do they need him to right now? NO.

Good position to be in.

With a Howard trade if you had to split reps 60/40 Cohen/Davis you would be okay. 

Assuming Pace has one or two guys he likes in draft, maybe they fall maybe someone else gets them.  He is not screwed now if someone else gets his guy or his guy doesn't work out.  Davis is a known and consistent commodity.  

[WindyCity]

2 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

That’s what I think is going to happen. We are agreeing a lot today Windy. 

TF is going on here??

This is just a logical move. It gives you a ton of options at RB moving forward.

-They could deal Howard and still sign Ware for cheap. 

-They can trade Howard during the draft.

-Wait till the deadline and then start the rookie or Davis.

[dll2000]

9 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

This is just a logical move. It gives you a ton of options at RB moving forward.

-They could deal Howard and still sign Ware for cheap. 

-They can trade Howard during the draft.

-Wait till the deadline and then start the rookie or Davis.

Start Cohen. 

[soulman]

3 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

His elusiveness at his size is impressive and I like the way he finishes his runs. As a receiving option he’s more check down and short routes but that’s fine. He doesn’t have to stretch the seam in the passing game to be an effective part of it. He’s very natural looking catching the ball. 

If people were gonna be comfortable with Spencer Ware as a bridge guy to a presumed future feature back (and most seemed to be) then they should be fine with this too. I personally like Davis better than Ware because there’s more upside. 

About as good overall as any back we're like to get in the middle rounds of this draft.  North/South guy with some power and quickness and I like how he finishes his runs always moving forward.  Not a guy who'll have many runs for negative yardage.  Soft hands, looks natural catching the ball.

I'd say this is what you want in a supplemental back.  He may be borderline as a # 1 back as far as carry the ball 20-25 times a game but used with Cohen and another back we may want to develop as a #1 back he looks OK to be.  Kind of a shorter quicker version of Howard in some ways but with more elusiveness and a better receiver.  In this offense I'd call him an upgrade.  How much we won't know 'til this fall.

I also think it's incorrect to say we're overpaying and should have gotten a back for a vet minimum.  RBs in his tier are getting what he got (Carlos Hyde $2.8 mil, Frank Gore $2 mil at age 35). Top backs are gonna get 2 to 3 x that much.  Davis gives us option on how we choose to deal with Howard.

If Pace can get a fair deal for him he can move ahead now or wait until the right deal can be had.  I believe he'll be traded but in another scenario Howard, Davis, and Cohen are an upgrade over 2018 and we all agree Pace will also draft a RB so we're moving ahead IMHO.