Signs Point to Nagy Returning to Kansas City Roots

[soulman]

ATM: Signs Point to Nagy Returning to Kansas City Roots

Andrew Dannehy | July 21st, 2020

In a recent interview on ESPN 1000’s Waddle and Silvy, Louis Riddick, pal of Matt Nagy, indicated the team will be returning to the approach Nagy (and Andy Reid) had taken in Kansas City. That doesn’t mean what most fans think. While Nagy was hired in Chicago under the guise of being a quarterback whisperer who would finally modernize the team’s offense, the truth is somewhere in between. Yes, Nagy runs a modern offense with a modern passing game, but he got this gig by running the ball. That is exactly what he is going to try to return to.

Riddick worked with Nagy in Philadelphia and the ESPN analyst has maintained a close relationship with the Bears head coach. Riddick rarely indicates that what he’s saying comes from conversations with Nagy, but when he speaks confidently about the Bears approach, it’s a good bet that it comes with inside knowledge. He shared a number of nuggets in that radio spot last week, none more noteworthy then when he spoke about the Bears newfound commitment to running the ball.

“There’s going to be a marked difference in how that team is going to come off the ball running the football,” he said. Later in the interview, Riddick was more specific saying the Bears are going to be a “more physical running football team.”

That fits with what Nagy did with the Chiefs. In the five years Nagy was with Kansas City, they never ranked in the top half of the league in passing attempts. When Nagy took over play calling duties from Andy Reid in 2017, one of the big changes was feeding the ball to Kareem Hunt — the league’s leading rusher that year. After Nagy gave Hunt just nine carries in his first start – it should be noted they still scored 31 points as Alex Smith threw for four touchdowns — Hunt had 78 carries in the next three games before sitting out most of their Week 17 game.

What Riddick said shouldn’t be news to any reader of DBB. The different approach was noted in April after the draft and again in May, but it’s interesting to hear Riddick say it if only because of his confidence.

Kansas City was a top-10 rushing team four times in Nagy’s five years there and they were in the top five in yards per attempt all four of those years. Since he was primarily the quarterback coach in that time, Nagy shouldn’t be given much credit for the team’s success on the ground, but he at least had a front row seat to see how a team develops a successful ground attack. In his final season there, when he was the offensive coordinator, Kansas City was ninth in rushing yardage and first in yards per carry.

Perhaps Nagy’s biggest mistake in 2019 was thinking he had a franchise quarterback who can carry the offense. Entering 2020 he knows that isn’t the case. He knows it’s going to be the running game that has to carry the offense. Whether or not he can create a dynamic running game is yet to be seen, but there is no longer any questioning his intent. That’s where the focus of the Bears offense will be in 2020.

[dll2000]

You need a good O line and TE to run the football.  Bears don't seem to believe in drafting OTs and keep missing at TE.

They could have had Hunt at RB for peanuts and passed.   Montgomery is a fine back, but Hunt is better and was proven.    Those picks could have been used on other players.

They passed on Tunsil.   They passed on Josh Jones this year.   They could have had any number of good FA OTs over years.

If they wonder why they can't run the ball they should look in the mirror.  It doesn't happen by magic.  

Even with that they seem to enjoy success with a FB and Nagy can't stand it.   So again they are doing same thing again and again and failing at it, expecting a different result.

This year we have a new RG, new TEs and a new O line coach.  Possibly a new QB.   It's not nothing, but not drastic improvement when you consider who TEs are.  They aren't going to be great blockers either.   

We will see if anything changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[soulman]

I can't totally defend how Pace has ignored OT in the draft but I will say that there was no way Kareem Hunt was coming here or we were drafting Tunsil.  Pace may be GM but the McCaskey's still own the Bears.  We only sign and draft "choir boys" and let others have the talented juvenile delinquents.  THAT won't change as long as Ginny is still alive and GMcC representing her.

We've got some OT prospects in house so let's see if Castillo can make something out of one or two of them and also get better play out of Leno and Massie.

IMHO next offseason will be Pace's shot at continuing to rebuild the OL.  By then we should know where talent is lacking because two very good OL coaches could not make them better.  But in the end we're still gonna have to draft and build our own.  With the cap we have invested in the defense I don't see us chasing after pricey UFA OTs any time soon.

 

[dll2000]

11 hours ago, soulman said:

I can't totally defend how Pace has ignored OT in the draft but I will say that there was no way Kareem Hunt was coming here or we were drafting Tunsil.  Pace may be GM but the McCaskey's still own the Bears.  We only sign and draft "choir boys" and let others have the talented juvenile delinquents.  THAT won't change as long as Ginny is still alive and GMcC representing her.

We've got some OT prospects in house so let's see if Castillo can make something out of one or two of them and also get better play out of Leno and Massie.

IMHO next offseason will be Pace's shot at continuing to rebuild the OL.  By then we should know where talent is lacking because two very good OL coaches could not make them better.  But in the end we're still gonna have to draft and build our own.  With the cap we have invested in the defense I don't see us chasing after pricey UFA OTs any time soon.

 

I get some decisions may be out of Pace’s hands.  But it is still decisions org made and it has made team weaker.  

Holtz was always battling Notre Dame on recruits. 

[soulman]

25 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

I get some decisions may be out of Pace’s hands.  But it is still decisions org made and it has made team weaker.  

Holtz was always battling Notre Dame on recruits. 

I believe it's just the limitation some of which may have been forced upon everyone after that Ray McDonald fiasco and previous to that Sam Hurt and his drug bust.

Remember Ginny is who ordered an end to the Honey Bears back in the last century and I'm sure she hasn't become any more liberal with age.....LOL.

That said it's time to find and draft Leno's successor and maybe with a little luck we can find one for Massie among this bunch we have now.  If Castillo is as good as advertised he should be able to build one out of the 6 or 7 we have competing for a roster spot.  I'm less certain we'll come up with a LT outta that bunch which is why I really hope we don't have to go QB shopping again in 2021.  A really good 1st round LT prospect would help a lot.

[dll2000]

4 hours ago, soulman said:

I believe it's just the limitation some of which may have been forced upon everyone after that Ray McDonald fiasco and previous to that Sam Hurt and his drug bust.

Remember Ginny is who ordered an end to the Honey Bears back in the last century and I'm sure she hasn't become any more liberal with age.....LOL.

That said it's time to find and draft Leno's successor and maybe with a little luck we can find one for Massie among this bunch we have now.  If Castillo is as good as advertised he should be able to build one out of the 6 or 7 we have competing for a roster spot.  I'm less certain we'll come up with a LT outta that bunch which is why I really hope we don't have to go QB shopping again in 2021.  A really good 1st round LT prospect would help a lot.

Honey Bears are a moral issue and they don't effect the roster.   Professional cheerleaders are sexualizing women for an audience.  You can call them dancers, but let's be real of their purpose and function.   Some are okay with that, but others are not depending on their morality and beliefs.   Tom Landry always hated the Cowboys cheerleaders because of his Christian beliefs.     

Passing on players with back grounds however ... well lets face reality.   Most of NFL is black and most of black America since late 60s is single mother households in poor neighborhoods. (This kind of sadly ironic seeing how this is just after legislation was passed ostensibly to help them - laws of unintended consequences strike again - I think Fredrick Douglass had the right of it.  "Do nothing with us!"  Also sadly ironic that his statute was recently torn down).   

Regardless of ethnicity that is THE recipe for bad news.  Avoiding trouble and bad behavior over a young lifetime for many, if not most, is nearly impossible in those circumstances.   Particularly for boys.     

I know I would have been no different had I grown up that way.   I had a good dad and was middle class and was still bad at times.  Had I not had a fathers restraint I would have done some really stupid things.

If you knew everything about many of these players and held them to same standards you are excluding a guy like Hunt or Tunsil you would draft almost none of them.

Not to say you take anyone.  Character still counts.  Too many bad actors and you will have a rotten bunch.  But you should take each situation individually.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[WindyCity]

He called plays for 6 games in KC.

He had elite talent.

I like Nagy as a coach, but as a play caller he leaves a ton to be desired.

[Epyon]

10 hours ago, WindyCity said:

I like Nagy as a coach, but as a play caller he leaves a ton to be desired.

No matter how poorly the team was running the ball last year overall, and how bad the OL blocking consistently was (and it wasn't even the same guy messing up, it was just always 1 blown block per play)....

The biggest indictment of Nagy in my mind is that he had a young QB with confidence issues, significant field reading issues, and a moderate shoulder issue.... combined with no tight ends and only 1 WR performing up to par, and his master plan was airing the ball out and putting it entirely on Trubisky's back for the majority of the games. It just wasn't a situation you would reasonably expect most seasoned veterans to do well in, let alone a guy at Mitch's level.

[beardown3231]

1 hour ago, Epyon said:

No matter how poorly the team was running the ball last year overall, and how bad the OL blocking consistently was (and it wasn't even the same guy messing up, it was just always 1 blown block per play)....

The biggest indictment of Nagy in my mind is that he had a young QB with confidence issues, significant field reading issues, and a moderate shoulder issue.... combined with no tight ends and only 1 WR performing up to par, and his master plan was airing the ball out and putting it entirely on Trubisky's back for the majority of the games. It just wasn't a situation you would reasonably expect most seasoned veterans to do well in, let alone a guy at Mitch's level.

Perhaps he thought the OL's run blocking was worse than the pass blocking & therefore figured passing more often than not was the best option

[Damikeeeee]

Our running game is based on hopes and wishes. We don't have the OL. We don't have a passing game to get 8 out of the box. We also have next to no depth at RB, a position where you're gonna see guys get banged up even if they're not injured. 

This is the 2937374th straight RB who is for sure gonna break out in year 2. I like Montgomery but he just looked like a solid 1b or 10+ touches #2. Also if he gets hurt defenses get to put safeties at LB for Cohen. 

Our O is gonna look the same as last year. We all want to run first but when it's not successful it's hard to be a good offense and sticking with the run doesn't always work. 

[JAF-N72EX]

On 7/21/2020 at 10:52 AM, soulman said:

Signs Point to Nagy Returning to Kansas City Roots

We're not in Kansas anymore, Nagy.  We're gonna need an every down back in next years draft.

Nagy has yet to run a similar offense as Reid, so I'll believe it when I see it.  

If he wants to run the ball more then his play-calling needs to improve and his skill position players need to be better. Particularly in short yardage situations because last year was a total disaster. 

In short yardage situations on 2nd and 3rd down with 4 yards or less to go, (NOT including plays from inside the 10 yard line) we averaged a measly 4.9 YPA when throwing the ball on 66 attempts. This was by far the worst in the league. The league average was 7.3 YPA.

We didn't run the ball much better in those situations either averaging a low 3.7 YPC on 64 attempts. Only 4 other teams in the league averaged less. The league average was 4.6 YPC.

Gotta be better than that. Failing in those situations is what leads to alot of 3rd down situations, or 3 and outs, or punting the ball, or settling for FG's and that's exactly what we saw happen  alot last year and the offensive numbers support this too.

The offense went 3 and out on 29% of the drives last year, which was the 3rd highest in the league. To put that into perspective, the offense went 3 and out nearly once every 3 drives. To put into even better perspective, Loggains offense in 2017 went 3 and out on 30% of their drives.   

The offense also punted the ball 80 times out of 171 drives (47%) which was the 3rd most in the league. That's almost averaging a punt on every other possession. They were only 5 punts shy of punting the ball exactly 50% of the time. Which explains why they were 29th in yards per drive,  28th points per drive,  26th in TD's per drive, and 20th in FG's per drive. 

That's embarrassing.

 

 

[WindyCity]

The offense just does not have enough talent to run the system that Nagy wants.

Last year he could not adapt quickly enough.

It is easy to blame it all on Mitch, but the entire offense from the scheme to the calls was a mess.

[HuskieBear]

On 7/22/2020 at 11:33 AM, dll2000 said:

Most of NFL is black and most of black America since late 60s is single mother households in poor neighborhoods.

I stopped being active on this site because of the undying pessimism and negativity, the overall quality has degraded, and general sense that for some reason dudes posting on a football forum think they are better equipped to handle scouting and development than the professionals in the league (seriously, some of you guy's josh jones takes bring me back to Jake Kirkpatrick - anyone remember him)

However, I felt the need to log back in for this - this is one of the most racist, stereotypical, uninformed pieces of garbage I have ever read on this site. It's this kind of preconceived notions and stereotypes that make things extraordinarily difficult for black people in this country.

Take a good, long look in the mirror, and be better

[dll2000]

11 hours ago, HuskieBear said:

I stopped being active on this site because of the undying pessimism and negativity, the overall quality has degraded, and general sense that for some reason dudes posting on a football forum think they are better equipped to handle scouting and development than the professionals in the league (seriously, some of you guy's josh jones takes bring me back to Jake Kirkpatrick - anyone remember him)

However, I felt the need to log back in for this - this is one of the most racist, stereotypical, uninformed pieces of garbage I have ever read on this site. It's this kind of preconceived notions and stereotypes that make things extraordinarily difficult for black people in this country.

Take a good, long look in the mirror, and be better

 

Most American black children are from single mothers and most of NFL is black is most stereotypical thing you have ever heard?

These are called commonly known facts.  You want me to say grass is blue because to say it is green hurts your delicate ears? 

For last 30 years plus, people shut down others speech with a a cry of racism.  The topic barely even matters.  It works so well for them.

  Here I stand.    Site owners can kick me off if they want, and you can report me, you probably already have, and be everyone can be stuck with whiny  yes men like yourself.   

 

[soulman]

On 7/22/2020 at 11:33 AM, dll2000 said:

Honey Bears are a moral issue and they don't effect the roster.   Professional cheerleaders are sexualizing women for an audience.  You can call them dancers, but let's be real of their purpose and function.   Some are okay with that, but others are not depending on their morality and beliefs.   Tom Landry always hated the Cowboys cheerleaders because of his Christian beliefs.     

Passing on players with back grounds however ... well lets face reality.   Most of NFL is black and most of black America since late 60s is single mother households in poor neighborhoods. (This kind of sadly ironic seeing how this is just after legislation was passed ostensibly to help them - laws of unintended consequences strike again - I think Fredrick Douglass had the right of it.  "Do nothing with us!"  Also sadly ironic that his statute was recently torn down).   

Regardless of ethnicity that is THE recipe for bad news.  Avoiding trouble and bad behavior over a young lifetime for many, if not most, is nearly impossible in those circumstances.   Particularly for boys.     

I know I would have been no different had I grown up that way.   I had a good dad and was middle class and was still bad at times.  Had I not had a fathers restraint I would have done some really stupid things.

If you knew everything about many of these players and held them to same standards you are excluding a guy like Hunt or Tunsil you would draft almost none of them.

Not to say you take anyone.  Character still counts.  Too many bad actors and you will have a rotten bunch.  But you should take each situation individually.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

But to some who may as conservative as the McCaskey's seem to be who plays for them is also a moral issue and when we refer to Hunt and Tunsil their issues were current not historic and not caused by how or where they were raised.  They were caused by having made bad decisions and it's only these two I am referring to as far as player we might have signed and/or drafted.  I'm being very specific here keeping it to those two only not anyone else.

Edited July 24, 2020 by soulman