soulman Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Contrary to 2020 this year the running back room is well stocked with talent and other warm bodies. I'll list them in the order the depth chart might once camp opens in July. Given the changes in the OL and the added depth I think we can safely assume the Bears plan to run far more in 2021 than in the past or at least they will if pass happy Nagy gets good advice from his staff, listens to it, and sticks with it for a change. No guarantees though. #1 David Mongomery: #32 5'10"/222lbs He's gonna be the "bell-cow" again and although he may not see anymore touches I'd like to see another nice jump in his stats like happened from 2019 to 2020 when his rushing yardage increased from 889 yds to 1070 yds and ypc from 3.7 to 4.3. He's also averaging 7 rushing TDs per year and over 50 1st down carries. His receiving took a massive leap in 2020 from 185 yds/7.4 ypc to 438 yds/8.1 ypc with 2 TDs and 25 1st down receptions. #2 Damien Williams: #8 5'11/221lbs It seems we've finally acquired a proper backup for Montgomery to share come carries with. IMHO Williams was one of Pace's smarter offseason moves. He's similar in size to Montgomery but faster and also a good receiver out of the backfield. As a RB his career turned around playing in KC where in 2018-2019 he rushed for 754 yards/4.7 ypc and scored 9 rushing TDs and 4 more receiving. I really like this pickup. #3 Tarik Cohen: #29 5'6"/191lbs Returning from an ACL suffered in week 3 is just one of the question marks surrounding him. The other is how he'll be used now that we have a legit #2 RB. Prior to his injury has was off to one of his best starts rushing averaging 5.3 ypc. But his value is less as a rusher than his threat as a pass receiver who has to accounted for. We missed out on that and his talents as a punt returner. So will Nagy finally get Cohen optimized this year? #4 Khalil Herbert: #24 5'9"/204lbs I've ranked him ahead of Pierce and Nall due to both his draft status and his skills as a KR. He's a little bigger than Cohen in size but could have similar value as utility back and return man. What impressed me most in his videos is his running style. He has very good vision and he kind of flows up field behind his blocking using them to give him room to break out where his speed allows him to pull away. He should be the #4 RB as rookie. #5 Artavis Pierce: #46 5'11"/208lbs We didn't see much of him last year and his only real contribution was a 13 yard TD run against JAX. The #4 spot probably comes down to the competition between him and Hebert where I believe Herbert speed, elusiveness, and his value as a returned will win out. He may be worth stowing on the PS though as a first man up in the event of an injury. #6 Ryan Nall : #35 6'2"/239lbs Have we finally seen the last of Ryan Nall? He doesn't seem quite valuable enough on ST to warrant a roster spot again and offensively Nagy never seems to have ever had much use for him as either a big RB, a FB, or an H-Back. The fact that he's stuck around as long as he has is more of a testament to how shallow the roster has been at RB than anything Nall has produced offensively save in the preseason. #7 C.J. Marable: #37 5'10"/200lbs While he was a productive RB at a small school his lack of size probably limits him to being a 3rd down type gadget back in the NFL. If he shows some unique or outstanding ST ability he may make a roster eventually but for now he's a PS level guy and even that may be a long shot. But Pace loves to draft or sign these water bug size backs out of smaller colleges so who knows what they know about the kid that we don't. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 10 minutes ago, soulman said: Returning from an ACL suffered in week 3 is just one of the question marks surrounding him. The other is how he'll be used now that we have a legit #2 RB. Prior to his injury has was off to one of his best starts rushing averaging 5.3 ypc. I assume this is correct. I'm astounded by this stat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 8 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: I assume this is correct. I'm astounded by this stat. He had 14 carries for 74 yards before the injury and had broken a couple of bigger plays against Atlanta before his injury on that punt return. https://www.chicagobears.com/team/players-roster/tarik-cohen/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, soulman said: He had 14 carries for 74 yards before the injury and had broken a couple of bigger plays against Atlanta before his injury on that punt return. https://www.chicagobears.com/team/players-roster/tarik-cohen/ Yeah, he had that one big run, I forgot about that. That skews things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaReylo Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 By happenstance this video dropped today. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 3 hours ago, Heinz D. said: Yeah, he had that one big run, I forgot about that. That skews things. That's pretty much always gonna be the way it works with Cohen and I expect that. He'll get stacked up on a handful of carries then bust one for 20 yards or more which brings his average up. Same with passing. Now that we have Damien Williams as a #2 back what Nagy needs to do is scheme Cohen so he has more shots at big plays both as runner and as a receiver although my guess is we'll see him far less as a ball carrier and far more as a receiver. Handing him the ball behind a DL stacked to keep him from breaking free makes far less sense than quick tosses and/or screen passes in space where he has room to do his thing making tacklers miss and racking up bigger gains or back breaking TDs. One play I'd love to see them do with Cohen in the backfield is a quick shovel pass or flicker that works much like a draw play. Do you recall how the '80s Bears used to run that with Dennis Gentry who was kind of a Tarik Cohen sized RB/WR? I think Nagy has used it with a TE but not with Cohen as best I can remember. That's the kind of play that if it catches the other guys in an all out rush can go for huge yardage with a guy who has the speed and elusiveness Cohen has. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 17 minutes ago, FosterTheSkins said: By happenstance this video dropped today. Excellent find and with the singular exception of feeling Damien Williams should see more than just 10% of the touches everything else he presents is IMHO spot on including the concern over whether Nagy will be able to optimize the running game effectively using all three backs. Mike Davis was also a very good signing and a good RB who languished under Nagy and IMHO Nagy has never gotten it right and gotten the very best out of Tarik Cohen. We need a better rushing attack. We have the talent to make it happen but do we have the proper coaching to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 My favorite thing about this is there is no more room to hide. Nagy has to put up or be exposed. If he can put up then he deserves a level of validation that the talent he was given may have been the biggest obstacle to his success. RBs - no more one guy and a few JAGs, no more one dimensional players tipping off the defense. WRs - You have ARob and Mooney, then nice depth behind them with a high level of speed to go with it. Now there's no more ARob alone, Miller being the only talent backing him up, no speed to keep safeties honest, etc. There is plenty of talent. TE - Kmet isn't a stud but was an average blocker and had some big plays squandered because of poor throws. Graham needs to play less snaps but get heavily involved in the 20 because he still has the best technique in the league for backshoulder fades IMO. Being 6'7" and knowing how to use his size as a barrier is something Kmet should be working on with him as often as possible. You have two TEs adding to a solid WR corps and both have something they can offer. OL - Leno flopping like a fish on OZ? Gone. Massie being meh at everything but good at nothing? Gone. Coward being a turnstile out there? Gone. Now we have Jenkins and Ifedi out wide. Unproven in the pass game but both are bulldozers in the run game. IOL has Daniels and Whitehair as entrenched starters, and Mustipher gets to have a chance to improve on a pretty good year (which was stellar for him given the draft position and circumstances). Borom brings size and power and Bars is a decent IOL depth option. QB - Tru is gone, Foles is still here but now Dalton is above him. It is a step up from Foles, but Fields is the real gamechanger here. Nagy got to pick his guy and got the guy who should have never dropped out of the top 5. Took a hell of a lot of luck and Pace had to make the deal that may have saved his and Nagy's jobs, but the potential is there. Great arm, reportedly highly intelligent, accuracy is a plus to his game, and he runs like a RB. You physically have a bigger, faster Deshaun Watson to groom. ST - we have options as KRs, PRs, and now no more Double Doink concerns. Kicker is actually set for the first time since Gould left for better weather. No more needing to get inside the 30 to feel confident about the kick. The defense likely isn't going to be great, definitely not elite. But that doesn't matter. You have a new DC and you have Pettine there to support him, Nagy gets to focus directly on the offense and putting points on the board. If Nagy can't elevate the offense with this roster then get rid of him and bring in someone else. If he gets them rolling - especially when Fields comes in- then it is time to look at what they can do long-term together. No excuses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 24 minutes ago, Sugashane said: The defense likely isn't going to be great, definitely not elite. But that doesn't matter. You have a new DC and you have Pettine there to support him, Nagy gets to focus directly on the offense and putting points on the board. If Nagy can't elevate the offense with this roster then get rid of him and bring in someone else. If he gets them rolling - especially when Fields comes in- then it is time to look at what they can do long-term together. No excuses. Amen brother Shane. It really is put up or shut up time for Matt Nagy and he should be aware of that as well. Re Fields: When I listen to his interviews I hear an immediate difference between him and Trubisky as rookies. Mitch was all I'm glad to be here and am blessed to have been picked #2 overall. (Yup, you sure were). With Fields the impression I'm left with is more like I deserve to be here and am honored to lead this team. Now let's get to work and win some football games. He's not the least bit intimidated by the NFL. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfan Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 just to take an excursion into the crazy here but what do you think the chances are that Nagy will try lining them up in a wishbone or T with Williams, Cohen and Monty all on the field at once. Maybe they actual run, maybe two of them suddenly split out as WR or they all go out in the pattern with Kmet and Graham. The variations could be interesting and once Fields is behind center life could rally get fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 23 minutes ago, Bfan said: just to take an excursion into the crazy here but what do you think the chances are that Nagy will try lining them up in a wishbone or T with Williams, Cohen and Monty all on the field at once. Maybe they actual run, maybe two of them suddenly split out as WR or they all go out in the pattern with Kmet and Graham. The variations could be interesting and once Fields is behind center life could rally get fun! My input - If he wasn't brought here to run the I-formation, he sure as hell wasn't brought here to run the Wishbone or T. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 42 minutes ago, Bfan said: just to take an excursion into the crazy here but what do you think the chances are that Nagy will try lining them up in a wishbone or T with Williams, Cohen and Monty all on the field at once. Maybe they actual run, maybe two of them suddenly split out as WR or they all go out in the pattern with Kmet and Graham. The variations could be interesting and once Fields is behind center life could rally get fun! You can probably count on at least a half dozen crazy gadget plays a season out of him but they'd be tough to predict as far as when and where. What I can see is more two back sets incorporating Cohen with either Williams or Montgomery. In the past who was in the backfield was a tip off to what was being run. Williams and Cohen in a two back set causes far more deception since both are very good pass receivers and both have the kind of speed as backs to be able to break longer runs. Monty has improved as a pass receiver but I don't think he offers the same kind of explosiveness Cohen and Williams do. Nagy should be able to do far more with these three in the backfield than he's been able to do at any time during the past three years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskieBear Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 i would like marable and pierce to try to get stashed on the PS. I know it's maybe not the best idea, but i think those two could be an heir apparent to both williams and cohen. williams is on a 1 year deal, and if he leaves next year, pierce could be a capable back up. cohen has his new contract, but marable could be stashed for a couple years and possibly replace him if needed really think nall needs to become a FB and just replace holtz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfan Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 5 hours ago, Sugashane said: My input - If he wasn't brought here to run the I-formation, he sure as hell wasn't brought here to run the Wishbone or T. lol I don't disagree. I was talking a gadget or "what are they doing" type plays. Also I really don't want to see it until we start to see the basic of fence starting to roll' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaReylo Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Can't wait to see what Tarik will do with better QB play, taking pressure of the running attack! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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