Besides Devin Hester, Name a Bears Receiver
by Brandon on Jul 9, 2009 1:00 AM CDT
in Green Bay Packers Analysis
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PrintThere were two posts over at Windy City Gridiron about a potential sleeper WR and an interview with Bears' receiver coach Darryl Drake. Both relate to one of the big stories in the NFC North for 2009; who is QB Jay Cutler going to throw the ball to?
From the sleeper WR post is a listing of the top three receivers on the Bears' roster:
Devin Hester: 5'11", 190 lbs. All-World speed, and a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Unpolished, but has been reported as developing in great strides this offseason.
Earl Bennett: 6'0", 203 lbs. The Great Unknown. 4.48 40 yard dash speed, and former WR of Cutler at Vanderbilt. Did not learn the offense enough in 2008 to make the starting roster. 0 catches in the NFL.
Rashied Davis: 5'9", 180 lbs. Moving back to the slot, where coaches think he will be more effective. Has been known to drop a pass here and there. See "pinata".
All the receivers listed after Davis is a rookie or a former player on the practice squad. The Bears would be lucky if any of those players are even above average next season. It typically takes a rookie wide receiver at least one season to get used to the NFL because they have probably the steepest learning curve for any position, except quarterback.
The No. 1 receiver is Hester who had 665 yards and 3 TDs last season. Not exactly No. 1 receiver stats, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He started off as a cornerback and has been dealing with his own learning curve. If he's ever going to break out as a receiver, 2009 should be the year.
No matter how skeptical you are of Hester, he looks like a stone, cold lock for greatness compared to the No. 2 and No. 3 receivers.
Bennett, as mentioned before the jump, still has never caught an NFL pass. That doesn't preclude him from success. For example, New Orleans made WR Robert Meachem their 1st round pick in 2007 and he didn't catch a pass that season. In 2008, Meachem was very good when given the chance and caught 12 catches for 289 yards. But he was also only being asked to play the role of the 4th receiver. Bennett will be asked to do a lot more.
Davis might be the most hated player on their team. When asked whether Davis should be the 3rd receiver vs. undrafted free agent WR Eric Peterman, nearly 80% of WCG fans preferred the undrafted rookie.
Now this discussion excludes arguably the Bears' best receivers, TE Greg Olsen and RB Matt Forte. But Olsen is just above average and he's gotta prove himself too. Forte is their best receiver; I've been comparing him to a next generation RB Edger Bennett, not a great rusher but a very good receiver. Despite Forte's effectiveness, he's typically battling a linebacker in coverage and not drawing the secondary's attention away from the wide receivers.
They still have to hope that one of several receivers who have done nothing in the NFL can produce next season. It's gotta be frustrating for Bears' fans; they manage to trade for a great QB but he has few weapons at his disposal.
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cutler.
if you take a really good look at cutler last year he didn’t do anything hardly with an all star offense. I imagine that cutlers number are going to be very similar to orton’s last year and vise versa
Nope
Not frustrating at all being a bears fan. We have a Pro-Bowl QB and thats great but we didnt need him. The truth is we were about 5 minutes away from a playoff berth last season with nothing on offense at all and now we have a quarterback who can make plays. you have alot more to be worried about than OUR recievers considering your coming off a 6-10 season. i think your team showed last season that you can have a good quarterback and good recievers and still be a horrible team if you have no defense. but Aaron Kampman stands up now so we’re supposed to be scared? sorry no dice.
by Staleystan595455 on Jul 9, 2009 3:37 PM CDT reply actions
FOOL!!!
WOW… Nothing like a bares fool coming to our site and posting drivel!!! LOL Your team was better off w/ Orton… Cutler had a tremendous WR corp and a coach that knew how to handle him and make him accountable and effective in Shanahan last year. This year he has NONE of those!!! A QB needs at least NFL caliber WR to make plays. NOT CB who couldn’t cover being moved to WR.
On any other team Hester would be at best a #4 WR and kick returner, but your ingenious HC and personnel staff decide after a year to make him a WR… Brilliant… LMAO Hester would be better off staying a return specialist!
Face it you have NO viable WR on your roster!!! How is Cutler going to do throwing to a bunch of WR that don’t know how to play WR?! How is Cutler going to make plays when his coach is a Defensive Specialist and knows NOTHING about making a QB play w/in the scheme?!
Cutler is more likely to be the Favre of 05 when he threw 29 INT’s, than the 07 Favre who led a talented team to the NFC Championship game!!! Mark it down… Cutler will have more INT’s than TD’s this year!!!
And your D last year was no better than ours…. Showing that Orton knew how to manage a game and a team… All Cutler did was blow a 4 game lead w/ 4 games to play!!!! LMAO
very well put...
but he is a bear fan just like viking fans they only see one sided! they all believe they are the best because they were a blink away from this or that when in reality thats the game you have to play 60 minutes to win a game!
FUNNY!!!
How is Cutler going to make plays when his coach is a Defensive Specialist and knows NOTHING about making a QB play w/in the scheme?!
That is why there is a QB coach and an Offensive Coordinator dummy. You think Lovie calls offensive plays?
Cutler
Cutler had Mike Shanahan as a HC, he also had a OC and a QB coach. BUt make no mistake, Shanahan was the guy who dealt w/ Cutler, made him accountable, made him play w/in the scheme. Favre had all those coaches in GB in 05 when he threw 29 INT’s!!! The problem was that NONE of them knew how or had the balls to keep him in line. You think Lovie is going to reign in Cutler when he starts chucking ball into coverage? You think some pion OC is going to do that… or the QB coach??? It starts and ends w/ the HC, he is the only person that the QB will respond to! A QB coach coaches him technique and acts as a sounding board. An OC is busy calling plays, but a HC is the only one who can keep him disciplined, playing to the scheme, letting the scheme work for him, not forcing things.
Cutler had everything in Denver to make him successful! He has NONE of that in Chitown!!! You go bury your head in the sand and keep believing that Cutler has someone to make him accountable! Its what Favre was missing in 05, until McCArthy got to GB, Favre hadn’t had that since Holmgren.
Mark my words… MORE INT’s than TD’s!!! We have seen first hand why you need a strong HC to keep a QB in line… Orton was the best thing you had at QB. He may not have been a playmaker, but he didn’t make the game killing mistakes! Cutler is prone to that type of mistake, even w/ Shanahan… It will only get worse now that he has NOONE!!!
pion?
First off, I think you mean “peon”. Secondly, an Offensive Coordinator is a peon? That is funny because much of Tony Romo’s success is attributed to Jason Garrett, and he is not the head coach.
I am not sure you actually watch football, but if you did you would realize that the Packers were 6-10 (laugh) last year with a good QB. The Bears were 9-7 with a horrible QB. You guys had a top 10 draft pick last year, you know what that means? You were in the bottom 10 teams in the league. I take nothing you say seriously.
wow
do you watch football?? Did you not see one of the top 5 QBs of all time retire then unretire and go to a different team? Last year was a rebuilding year for the Pack and still were a very talented team for a 6-10 record.. Rodgers was pretty much a rookie last season he has nothing but a positive future in front of him.
To laugh at our 6-10 record would say you the bears have never had a rebuilding season haha! take a look at your own recent history 2008 9-7 2007 7-9 2006 13-3 2005 11-5 2004 5-11 2003 7-9 2002 4-12 2001 13-3… It seems you guys go through a rebuilding season every two years or so and i dont believe you ever had to replace a HOF QB while rebuilding..
I take nothing you say seriously! You have proven you dont watch football outside your beloved bears and even with them you are blind…
To reiterate
having to replace a HOF QB… I know you have never had to since, thanks to gridiron, I found the recent bears QB draft history. You have drafted 2 1st rounders, 1 3rd, 2 4th, and 1 5th and 1 in the 7th QBs all the while the Pack had Brett. You also had countless of other QBs you put out there to play too. So I can understand how you dont know what it is to have to replace your QB after the departure of a HOF QB
O ouch taking a shot at our drafts
u really do know how to make it hurt up there is Wisconsin dont ya.
by Staleystan595455 on Jul 11, 2009 7:39 PM CDT up reply actions
Not only that, but...
Jay Cutker, as I have noted previously, will be the Bares’ third starting quarterback since the beginning of the Aaron Rodgers era. HA!
The glass is more than half-full.
Favre and the 29 ints
Now why was it that Favre threw those 29 ints? Could it possibly be because he had to throw the ball sooner than he wanted because he had an o-line that was made up of rookies or first year starters that couldn’t stop anybody from getting through? I’m sure that you just overlooked that.
We are who we think we are.
29 INT's
Favre threw those 29 INT’s because he had no accountability!! He walked around GB and Lambeau like he owned the place! Sherman was a putz and a stooge and didn’t have the stones to tell Favre that he needed to show for minicamps and some offseason OTA’s! Favre did what he wanted, told Sherman what he wanted and got it!
Sherman played lip service to Favre playing the system, but never did a dammm thing if Favre didn’t throw the ball where the play called! He forced throws to where ever he wanted!
When McCarthy arrived that all started to change! Favre had to do minicamps, McCarthy got him to OTA’s most of the time. He was held accountable for knowing the game plans and playing to the game plan and letting the system work!! Look at 07!!! Favre suddenly looked like a completely different player again!
Orton did those things because he didn’t have tremendous talent! He worked the system, relied on his running game and D! He managed the team, led the team and managed the games! Thats how he was able to win for you last year!!!
Cutler, unless he has STRONG Leadership and coaching, from his HC is NOT going to work the system, he’s going to try to make plays on his own… He’ll force the action!!! He will also get VERY FRUSTRATED that he has no offensive weapons and the fact thay the bares are a run first team!!! He will get frustrated, force throws, take chances and throw ALOT of INT’s!!! JUst like Favre in 05!! Mark it down!! More INT’s than TD’s for Cutler!!!
No
YOUR team is better off if we had kept orton. and if our defense wasnt better than yours why arent we pulling out all the stops to make it better like switching to a 3-4?? are you serious. This also doesnt explain how you were 6-10. Quarterbacks dont blow leads. Defenses blow leads, wow you call me a fool. Just keep hoping all the crap your talking is true cuz thats all you can do. you have about two more months make the best of it.
by Staleystan595455 on Jul 10, 2009 1:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Cutler
You say that Cutler was to blame for Denver not amking the playoffs but what was the reason that GB went 6-10? I bet you’ll say that the defense was a fault. But what you won’t admit is that Denver had an even worse defense than GB did. With even an average defense Denver makes the playoffs last season instead of SD. Maybe they don’t go very far but they make it.
P.S. You sound just like somebody that posts on the GB message board by the name of rodgersfan2003. He says the same things and yet refuses to admit that GB wasn’t the only team with a bad defense last season.
We are who we think we are.
Fiction
It typically takes a rookie wide receiver at least one season to get used to the NFL because they have probably the steepest learning curve for any position, except quarterback.
There are always exceptions, Eddie Royal last year, Desean Jackson last year, Marques Colston a few years ago. What was the theme behind all 3? Good QB play
The No. 1 receiver is Hester who had 665 yards and 3 TDs last season. Not exactly No. 1 receiver stats, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He started off as a cornerback and has been dealing with his own learning curve. If he’s ever going to break out as a receiver, 2009 should be the year.
He could have easily had 200 more yards and at least 2 more TDs on deep pass plays where he was under thrown (or drew pass interference). Good QB could be the difference.
I was going to post as the "Chicago Perspective" since I'm from the burbs
but then I realized we’d have visitors to take on this. Watching both teams because I wanted to watch the Packers and had to watch the Bears I have to comment on a couple things:
-Jay Cutler is not a Messiah. Not. Despite the love fest on The Score and ESPN 1000, we all don’t know much about Cutler. New offense, new receivers, and new town to adjust to. I’m sure he’s smart enough to learn the offense, so there’s the first point. Second, he had Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in Denver. Do you see a player in the same breath as that. Even you guys would be hard pressed to disagree that Hester is indeed the man and should concentrate on kick return. I know you guys aren’t crazy with him dancing and running sideways for 15 yard gains. Finally, it sounds like he’s enjoying Chicago a lot. A lot. We’ll see how he reacts when he has to live here.
-To compare quarterbacks to our quarterbacks of past and present, I would see Kyle Orton as our Aaron Rodgers and Cutler to a Favre and GASP Grossman. Why? Orton and Rodgers have no problem playing within the system. If they were in trouble, they trusted that they’d have a designed checkdown waiting for them. Favre, Grossman, and Cutler all have a gunslinger mentality. High risk, but also high reward.
-You’re putting a lot of trust in Ron Turner to develop and mature Jay Cutler. I won’t deny Jay Cutler is good and worthy of a Pro Bowl and stuff, but Jerry Angelo didn’t take him because he wants to be 17-20 in the same time period he was in Denver for. Ron Turner, with exception to maybe Kyle Orton, hasn’t played the role well for either the Bears or U of I. Who was OC for the Bears when Jim Miller and Erik Kramer was doing well. It could have been Ron Turner, but it also could have been John Shoop. I know you hate hearing that name.
-Oh and to the guy that was mocking one of the Acme readers for throwing the draft argument: are you serious? McCaskey nor Angelo ever signed a big name quarterback that got nearly this buzz. Dave Krieg? Oh I got it…Kordell Stewart? Rick Mirer? The point is that you’re in the same boat as we are now: You’re not going to make a big splash in the FA Market all the time, so you HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE DRAFT. I know why you’d be sore though between the three headed monster of Enis, Salaam, and the A-Train.
"You just don't know understand how frustrating this is"- Kevin Borseth
Ron Turner
was the OC in 95 the only year a chicago quarterback excelled. And YES i am serious does a team all of a sudden get tremendous bragging rights for being able to draft a quarterback? Correct me if im wrong and im not, but didnt you trade for the best quarterback in your franchises history as well. Yes you did and his name was Brett Favre. Did i even say anything about free agency? my comment was one sentence did you really have that much trouble reading it? News flash about 10 out of every 224 players barring compensatory picks go on to become impact players maybe less. Jay Cutler lives in Chicago now by the way in case you didnt put two and two together. hes not flying in a jet everyday from denver to participate in OTA’s. Its easy to tell that your from the burbs..
by Staleystan595455 on Jul 13, 2009 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions
NOPE!!!
Starr is the best QB in our Franchise history!!! Favre rated #10 overall. Starr rated #1…
www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_2103_The_definitive_list:_Top_10_NFL_quarterbacks.html
Read it… The case for Starr as the #1 QB of ALL TIME is staggering!!!
It seems easy to tell that you wouldn’t know a Great QB if he hit you in the face w/ the ball!!!
As for Cutler being an impact player… That remains to be seen… How can he be an impact player, but LOSE a 4 game lead w/ 4 games left?! Ohhh, unless you mean he NEGATIVELY impacts his team!!! LMAO
If you truly believe Bart Starr
is the greatest quarterback of all time you are smoking crack. the funny thing about the internet is i could go look up 12 lists of Greatest all time quarterbacks and the #1 would probably be different everytime and all the evidence would be staggering. Sucks that the greatest quarterback in you team history played when there were about 9 teams in the league.
by Staleystan595455 on Jul 15, 2009 8:39 PM CDT up reply actions
Not so!
Bart Starr, playing in a league that ranged in size from 14 to 16 teams (including a season with 15 teams), won five league championships in seven years. His post-season record was 9-1.
Bratt Favre, playing in a conference that ranged in size from 14 to 16 teams (including at least one season with 15 teams), won two league championships in 16 years. years. His post-season record was 12-10 (9-5 with Mike Holmgren, 3-5 since)!
The glass is more than half-full.
Oops. Not LEAGUE championships
Playing in a conference that ranged in size from 14 to 16 teams, Favre won two conference championships, not league championships.
The glass is more than half-full.
Impact
Did I say Rodgers was an impact player?! He was a system QB last year… But I do know this… He will get better this year! He has a HC who controls him, coaches him and a year as a starter under his belt. Cutler had better players to play w/ last year, had a better HC to deal w/ him, and still failed. Is he going to get better w/ Less talent, an inferior HC, and less accountability? Doubt it!!!
Pro Bowl?! Is that what your crowing about?! Cutler was a Pro Bowl last year is a JOKE! He was the 16th rated QB in the NFL. Another QB in his division was the #1 rated QB in the NFL, but didn’t make the Pro Bowl, he did however make the playoffs… Something, Cutler didn’t… But he did have a 4 game lead w/ 4 left! LMAO Of course he didn’t make the playoffs though!!!
None of these WRs are impressive on paper but...
None of these WRs are impressive on paper but I don’t think most Bears fans are expecting these guys to be Wes Walker, Moss, or TO either.
I guess throwing these guys into the fire has to do with the youth movement going on in today’s NFL. Instead of throwing guys into development hell/obscurity…we’re seeing more players like DeSean Jackson, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Chris Johnson, and Matt Forte thrown out there in the field. And that kid from USC is supposed to be the starting QB for the Jets!
But hey, can you imagine what the Packers WR core would’ve looked like if Greg Jennings sat on the bench for a year? No one held his hand and he still came out of the gates running.
The Bears WRs probably aren’t going to shock the world, but there’s no reason they can’t be solid role players either.
by MetalGearPeaceWalker on Jul 15, 2009 7:24 PM CDT reply actions
Role players?
So you think Cutler is going to succeed w/ guys that are role players? When he was in Denver he had guys that were playmakers, and couldn’t succeed!!! Those role players will be great when its 3rd and 8 and get you that all important 5 yrd gain!!! LMAO
WR almost by definition have to be playmakers!!! They play in the open field far more than any other position! If they can’t make plays in the open field, they don’t do much good!
Please, correct me if I’m wrong!!!
This sinking in yet???
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