Why The Love For Kindle Vildor?

[soulman]

Bears Balancing Act with Kindle Vildor

Originally posted on FanNation Bear Digest
By Gene Chamberlain  |  Last updated 12/2/21

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/bears_balancing_act_with_kindle_vildor/s1_16634_36612590?utm_source=mb&utm_medium=email&mb_edition=20211203&mb_loc=right_h

 

Bears fans have not seen the last of cornerback Kindle Vildor, although it almost seemed like it during their 16-14 win over Detroit.

Defensive coordinator Sean Desai revealed during his Thursday press conference that even though Artie Burns played left cornerback against Detroit, there are plans to continue to get Vildor involved on defense.

"Quite frankly, I probably should have played him more in the Detroit game and the plan was to play him more from my end and (defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend) and it kind of got away, the way the game kind of flowed and everything. That sometimes happens.," Desai said. "I talked to Kindle right after the game, too, and he understood it. He knows that he's still an important part of our defense that we're gonna need. He's been great, his approach."

Vildor had no defensive plays and eight special teams plays against the Lions. Prior to his benching, he had been on the field between 95% and 100% of the defensive snaps for each game.

Burns says he wants to help Vildor, as well. If anyone could know what Vildor is going through it's Burns, who lost his starting job first at Pittsburgh, then lost his job all together, came to the Bears and tore an ACL in training camp and then was cut but brought back on the roster.

"I don’t see it like that because when I was in a position, when I got sat, I learned from that because I got sat for a vet,"  Burns said. "You know, we can help each other. It’s work. We always can help each other get better."

The Bears pass defense didn't exactly shine against the Lions even with Burns playing. They allowed Jared Goff a passer rating of 121.8, and he had only four incompletions in 25 throws.

What they did do was limit his passes to shorter gains on underneath routes. They also wrapped up well and tackled, which has been a problem at times this season. 

After the 39-yard touchdown Burns got beaten by Josh Reynolds on in the first quarter, the Lions didn't have another completion longer than 17 yards. Detroit averaged only 6.3 yards per pass play.

For Desai, keeping Vildor sidelined is going to be a balancing act. They have a second-year player who lost his confidence after less than a full season of starts, so they had a talk before they benched him. They don't want to come across too harshly considering they believe they see the talent level in Vildor to be a starter in the long run.

"That's always a tough call," Desai said. "And we've gotta find that balance and that's part of our jobs, is to find that balance of taking lumps and we've been pretty balanced in terms of that.

"He's played at a good point at some points throughout the season and flashed in a positive way. It's nothing against him. It's kind of what we felt was a necessary change as a unit and it's not a permanent change. This thing is every week. It's really series by series for us in terms of we're talking on the headsets as a staff of, OK, who are the guys we want to put out and how do we want to go execute this next series and try to win this next series."

 

This article first appeared on Bear Digest and was syndicated with permission.

[soulman]

I get where he physical traits and his success in college have NFL coached wondering when he's gonna break out but from all I've been able to see this kid in not gonna be a starting NFL edge CB. 

Maybe his best spot is as a slot CB because IMHO he's a career back up if they leave him on the edge.  He doesn't have the "long speed" for it and when playing zone he's gets confused in coverage.

The pass that set up the Ravens win came off coverage that he blew so obviously he communication with his partner in coverage failed and we lost a game because of it.  That just can't happen.

[JAF-N72EX]

On 12/3/2021 at 12:35 PM, soulman said:

Maybe his best spot is as a slot CB

It was foolish to ever move him to boundary in the first place but once again Nagy/staff doesn't know how to leave well enough alone. But they will leave bad enough alone (see DHC/Bush).

On 12/3/2021 at 12:26 PM, soulman said:

Burns says he wants to help Vildor, as well. If anyone could know what Vildor is going through it's Burns, who lost his starting job first at Pittsburgh, then lost his job all together, came to the Bears and tore an ACL in training camp and then was cut but brought back on the roster.

"I don’t see it like that because when I was in a position, when I got sat, I learned from that because I got sat for a vet,"  Burns said. "You know, we can help each other. It’s work. We always can help each other get better."

Burns isn't any better than Vildor is.

Edited December 4, 2021 by JAF-N72EX

[soulman]

26 minutes ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Burns isn't any better than Vildor is.

The blind leading the more blind.  Neither is a starting caliber NFL CB.  They've now proven that.  Burns twice.

[JAF-N72EX]

This is how bad Vildor has been this season.

• *Right side (highlight in red) is more indicative of Vildor's play while the left side (Green) is Jaylon.*
• *Chart is sorted by deep right (meaning 16 or more air yards) from worst to best.*
• *This is defense, so a negative % means good while a positive % means bad. The higher the %....the better or worse that it is.*

A DVOA of +145.7% is not only extreme levels of terrible, but it's in a league of it's own. The next closest to the Bears is TEN with +86.7% and the league average is +20.4%.

This means the Bears are literally 125.3% worse than average and 59% worse than the 31st worst team in the league.

This is so bad that if the season ended today it would be the worst DVOA in history on deep right throws since pass direction has been tracked (2005). The two worst DVOA are the 2017 Browns with +111.4% and the 2014 Jets with +134.9%.

Bears are 5th in deep left and 9th on all throws to the left. A stark difference.

[soulman]

Why have they reversed the positions though?  Vildor is playing LCB while Johnson is playing RCB based on how the defense is aligned.  Here they seem to view it from how the offense is aligned based on throws to the left or the right.

Anyway, the stats bear out what I posted.  Vildor is not a fully competent edge CB.  For one thing he lacks the speed to cover deep which is probably why despite his success in college he dropped to the 5th round in the draft.  His quickness and ability to attack shorter routes should make him ideal for the slot where IMHO Duke Shelley has done nothing to own that spot.

The bottom line here is that we've ended up having to start a LCB who at the very best is still a developmental player and we've gotten burned defensively as a result.  Burns isn't a whole lot better but at least he's an edge CB with previous starting experience and he should have been playing over Vildor who IMHO is not a kid the Bears will ever make an edge CB out of.

[JAF-N72EX]

11 hours ago, soulman said:

Why have they reversed the positions though?  Vildor is playing LCB while Johnson is playing RCB

It's charted from the QB perspective.

[Heinz D.]

18 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Burns isn't any better than Vildor is.

That shove thing that Burns did in the Lions game was unbelievable. How terrible was that? 

Burns hasn't played much in a long time, though. He could improve...but I wouldn't bet on it. 

I suppose Vildor could improve, too. However when your very best game can adequately be described as "okay", you shouldn't see much playing time. 

[JAF-N72EX]

17 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

That shove thing that Burns did in the Lions game was unbelievable. How terrible was that? 

Burns hasn't played much in a long time, though. He could improve...but I wouldn't bet on it. 

I suppose Vildor could improve, too. However when your very best game can adequately be described as "okay", you shouldn't see much playing time. 

Oh you mean the play where he decided to play two hand touch instead of actually trying to tackle the runner? Yeah that was terrible and describes his entire career.

Burns has never been the smartest player. He's soft, he can't digest a playbook, routinely gets lost in coverage, takes bad angles, and plays like he is 5'6.

I watched him alot with the Steelers and the mistakes we see now are the same mistakes he was making with Pittsburgh. Thats why I hated the signing and never understood it while some Bears fans were actually pushing for this guy to start lol.

[abstract_thought]

Interesting that Vildor played almost exclusively as an outside CB in college. He certainly doesn’t have much experience as a slot CB, and his poor man coverage and tackling skills could easily get exposed there.

[Heinz D.]

18 minutes ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Oh you mean the play where he decided to play two hand touch instead of actually trying to tackle the runner? Yeah that was terrible and describes his entire career.

Yup, that's the one! 😄

I'd search for it on You Tube, but it was painful enough just watching it the first time. 

[soulman]

2 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

It's charted from the QB perspective.

Yup, I picked up on that once I looked it over.

[soulman]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Oh you mean the play where he decided to play two hand touch instead of actually trying to tackle the runner? Yeah that was terrible and describes his entire career.

Burns has never been the smartest player. He's soft, he can't digest a playbook, routinely gets lost in coverage, takes bad angles, and plays like he is 5'6.

I watched him alot with the Steelers and the mistakes we see now are the same mistakes he was making with Pittsburgh. Thats why I hated the signing and never understood it while some Bears fans were actually pushing for this guy to start lol.

One question yet to be answered is was Desmond Trufant who was initially signed to replace Kyle Fuller worth releasing?

We already had Burns and Vildor when we signed him so there had to be a point where they felt he was better than who we had.

[JAF-N72EX]

2 minutes ago, soulman said:

One question yet to be answered is was Desmond Trufant who was initially signed to replace Kyle Fuller worth releasing?

We already had Burns and Vildor when we signed him so there had to be a point where they felt he was better than who we had.

Yea, it's crazy. Initially I thought he would get the green light but I hadn't heard anything about him for months leading up to his release so I don't know what went wrong there.

[soulman]

4 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

Yea, it's crazy. Initially I thought he would get the green light but I hadn't heard anything about him for months leading up to his release so I don't know what went wrong there.

Well we know he missed some time in camp for personal reason but when we released him he signed with NOLA.  They released him as well and LV signed him.  The guy is no prize but damn.  Can anyone play LCB?  Who was that who blew another tackle again today and cost us a TD?