malagabears Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 http://sportsmockery.com/2019/06/buzz-grows-that-chicago-bears-defense-may-see-an-unexpected-starter/ Duke Shelley may be starter on Chicago Bears defense soon While David Montgomery and Riley Ridley have gotten most of the spotlight on the Bears offense, the three men noted that it’s been difficult to ignore the work done by 6th round cornerback out of Kansas State, Duke Shelley. Fishbaine explainedhow his play on the field and the quiet confidence the Bears brass show in him speaks volumes about his future. “THE THING ABOUT SHELLEY, AND ADAM HOGE WHO DECIDED TO WORK ON SUNDAY WITH ME AT THE BEARS 100 CEREMONY, WE WERE THERE AT THE BEARS (FRONT OFFICE) PANEL AND JOSH LUCAS HE SAID, ‘HE’S SOMEONE WHO’S GOING TO BE HERE FOR A LONG TIME.’ THIS IS SOMEBODY THAT WE COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING ABOUT HIM WHEN THEY DRAFTED HIM…WELL, YOU LOOK AT BUSTER SKRINE. HE’S THE NICKEL RIGHT NOW AND BUSTER IS ONE OF THE OLDER PLAYERS ON THE TEAM. HE’S PLAYED EIGHT SEASONS IN THE NFL. THEN SHERRICK MCMANIS DID A NICE JOB FILLING IN LAST YEAR BUT HE’S ALSO AT THE LATER STAGES OF HIS CAREER. HE HAS BEEN WORKED A LITTLE BIT AT SAFETY AND HE’S OBVIOUSLY SPECIAL TEAMS. IN AN IDEAL WORLD, DUKE SHELLEY IS YOUR STARTING NICKEL IN A COUPLE YEARS.” At that point Hoge chimed in with an interesting comment. “I ALMOST WONDER IF WE’RE A COUPLE WEEKS INTO CAMP AND WONDERING IF HE’S PUSHING BUSTER ALREADY.” One thing about this Bears team is they’ve come to embrace competition. It doesn’t matter how much money they gave you in free agency. Jobs still have to be earned. It’s the old George Halas credo. The best players will play. If Shelley is outperforming Skrine consistently in practice this summer, will the coaching staff start granting more snaps to Shelley? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 The highlight videos I viewed on Shelley tell me this kid is not afraid of any challenge by any receiver and that he comes to play. He sticks to even bigger guys like glue and at his size he has to. He has all of the tools you'd want and a great attitude so his biggest challenge will come from learning all of his assignments in this defense and because Skrine has not played in it before either his experience may give him even less of an edge. To me that fact that McManis has been moved to Safety is telling. We're already two deep at NCB with Skrine and Shelley and Bush and DH-C are more vulnerable as backup Safeties. In truth I believe McManis would do better as Jackson's #2 than either Bush or DH-C who along with Josh Woods should be competing to back up HHC-D. This team has pretty incredible depth compared to where we stood even two years ago. Hats off to Pace for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malagabears Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Shelley is my darling of camp pick. I would be shocked if he was week one starter though. Just the way NFL teams operate. The veteran FA will get every benefit of doubt and every opportunity to start. The low round rookie has to be head and shoulders better in every drill and rep early to start. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 I tend to agree. The Bears have a significant investment in Skrine and overall his experience should keep him a bit ahead in the battle but as it stand no doubt Shelley is the future and in a 16 game season plus playoffs there's nothing wrong with having two starting caliber Slot CBs. Shelley will get plenty of opportunities to shine on STeams to begin with and we need good young talent there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Eddie Jackson interview quote summarized. I listened earlier today. Q: What do you think of the new guys, the rookies and UDFA's? A: They ask questions and are humble. Duke has stood out to me. He has dog inside him. He wants to compete. He's lined up against Turbo, Ridley or anybody, he feels like he is going to win. When you tell him something he puts it into his game. Having a young guy like that? We can trust him. That is high praise. Shelley is making an impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 He won't start the season opener, but if he is outplaying Skrine then I don't see any way Skrine holds him off. There isn't a loyalty factor to Skrine, it is just who is going to play better. If there is a tie, then you give it to the young guy who may be a long term talent with higher potential. Still though, preseason play will be watered down due to vanilla playcalling and little film review, so if he does well there and doesn't see reps it isn't anything to worry about. CB is a damn hard transition to make as a pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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