Bears sign RB Mike Davis to 2yr, $6M deal

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Davis is the Cunningham/Mizzell guy that doesn't make fans groan in confusion when he comes into the game. Yet.
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mmmc_35 wrote:
wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:Talk about a boner killer, one minute we’re talking about Bell and the next the bears sign Mike Davis.
He’s depth... what’s killing your boner?
Boners shouldn't be killed, all boners lives matter.
LOL
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Those of you who think Davis is a younger replacement for Cunningham are right I think. Those who think he also replaces Mizzell may be missing it. Mizzell is Cohen's backup. Davis isn't that. And I'm not a Mizzell fan in any way. But that's how I see it.
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G08 wrote:
VA_Mountain_Bear wrote:Have to agree with Wab on this one. He looks to be a replacement for Cunningham, not Howard. If Howard is going to be traded, then I imagine there are a couple RBs in the draft we are targeting. I doubt that Mike Davis is here to replace him.
I dunno man... he's awwwwfully similar to Kareem Hunt from a pure metrics standpoint:

Hunt:

5’10” 216 lb
4.62 40
18 bench reps
4.53 short shuttle
36.5 vertical
9’11” broad
7.22 3-cone

Davis:

5’9” 217 lb
4.61 40 (4.52 at Pro Day)
17 bench reps
4.18 short shuttle
34.0 vertical
9’8” broad
7.00 3-cone


No, I'm not saying this kid is going to be or is expected to be Kareem Hunt... but he's got some talent to him.
But you can’t base field play on metrics. Davis plays nothing like Hunt and has a problem staying healthy. After a sleep, I’m still scratching my head.
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PFF CHI Bears


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Mike Davis averaged 2.94 yards after contact per carry in 2018.

That's more than Joe Mixon (2.76), Alvin Kamara (2.75) and Jordan Howard (2.74) last year
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this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
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ramentaschen wrote:this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
3M APY for a 3rd RB? Bears would have been better off singing Frank Gore if that were the case.
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Funkster wrote:
ramentaschen wrote:this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
3M APY for a 3rd RB? Bears would have been better off singing Frank Gore if that were the case.
Frank Gore is like 46yrs old tho
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Funkster wrote:
G08 wrote:
VA_Mountain_Bear wrote:Have to agree with Wab on this one. He looks to be a replacement for Cunningham, not Howard. If Howard is going to be traded, then I imagine there are a couple RBs in the draft we are targeting. I doubt that Mike Davis is here to replace him.
I dunno man... he's awwwwfully similar to Kareem Hunt from a pure metrics standpoint:

Hunt:

5’10” 216 lb
4.62 40
18 bench reps
4.53 short shuttle
36.5 vertical
9’11” broad
7.22 3-cone

Davis:

5’9” 217 lb
4.61 40 (4.52 at Pro Day)
17 bench reps
4.18 short shuttle
34.0 vertical
9’8” broad
7.00 3-cone


No, I'm not saying this kid is going to be or is expected to be Kareem Hunt... but he's got some talent to him.
But you can’t base field play on metrics. Davis plays nothing like Hunt and has a problem staying healthy. After a sleep, I’m still scratching my head.
See the bold above in my post you quoted. I watched everything I could find on him... he's got some burst through the hole and some wiggle to his jump cuts. Kid runs hard too and has decent hands. I'm not opposed to opening up the RB competition and giving him the reigns if he wins it.
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Not sure what Pace and Nagy are thinking on this signing but I honestly dont know anything about the guy. I am sure they have a plan. I am more curious as to what they are planning regarding Howard. If something doesnt happen in next day or two are they going to deal him to move up or get picks on draft day, or keep him and use him more the way they did during the latter part of the season last year versus the early part?

The loyal part of me would like to see him back, however with him hitting the year where he could be getting paid bigger next year, we would really be better off finding a cheaper RB in the draft and getting something for Howard now rather than letting him walk next year for nothing.

As a long time Bears fan I have always over valued RBs based on my love of Payton and how the Bears tend to value the running game, however you can look at the plug and play nature of how the Pats use RBs and realize its ok not to have that bellcow back
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wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:
ramentaschen wrote:this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
3M APY for a 3rd RB? Bears would have been better off singing Frank Gore if that were the case.
Frank Gore is like 46yrs old tho
True but that “46” year old is always available, is a true everydown back, out performed Davis and was about 1 million cheaper. What does that say about Davis? Ohh well, I guess that’s who they’re riding with. I just hope everyone is right about him being the 3rd back. I just don’t see it like that.
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Funkster wrote:
wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:
ramentaschen wrote:this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
3M APY for a 3rd RB? Bears would have been better off singing Frank Gore if that were the case.
Frank Gore is like 46yrs old tho
True but that “46” year old is always available, is a true everydown back, out performed Davis and was about 1 million cheaper. What does that say about Davis? Ohh well, I guess that’s who they’re riding with. I just hope everyone is right about him being the 3rd back. I just don’t see it like that.
I don't think he's being looked at as the 3rd back... but I'm a minority, er in the minority
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G08 wrote:
Funkster wrote:
wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:
ramentaschen wrote:this is fine if he is our third RB and occasional receiver
3M APY for a 3rd RB? Bears would have been better off singing Frank Gore if that were the case.
Frank Gore is like 46yrs old tho
True but that “46” year old is always available, is a true everydown back, out performed Davis and was about 1 million cheaper. What does that say about Davis? Ohh well, I guess that’s who they’re riding with. I just hope everyone is right about him being the 3rd back. I just don’t see it like that.
I don't think he's being looked at as the 3rd back... but I'm a minority, er in the minority
I’m right here with you. Most are thinking he’s replacing Mizzel, who was the 3rd back. I’m feeling he will be spitting reps with Cohen come game 1. Your assignment of Davis his fair, I’ve seen him up close at practice and have watched him the last couple of years since he became a hawk. I’m just not that impressed with him, especially as a starter.
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I’ve been watching vids of this kid the last couple hours. I like the way he runs. His burst out of the jump cut is incredible.
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wab wrote:I’ve been watching vids of this kid the last couple hours. I like the way he runs. His burst out of the jump cut is incredible.
Right? And he's got some juice to him when he gets a head of steam... not afraid to lower his shoulders and thud you either!
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They didn’t sign him to replace Mizzell. I could crap out a turd more productive than Mizzell.

He is a borderline starter, low cost, with potential to be more that won’t complain sharing the load with a draft pick and Cohen.
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southdakbearfan wrote:They didn’t sign him to replace Mizzell. I could crap out a turd more productive than Mizzell.

He is a borderline starter, low cost, with potential to be more that won’t complain sharing the load with a draft pick and Cohen.
He produced pretty good numbers in the SEC (South Carolina).

I'm not expecting much, but he's got talent and could be a surprise. It's a roll of the dice for what's basically slightly more than draft pick money, and you're committed for roughly a year. No downside from my point of view.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
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Davis was pretty successful in Seattle's read option offense. I think he's coming in to get about half the rushing attempts with a decent share of check down passing options. Cohen will get a 30-40% share of the rushing attempts again, with a larger share of check down options from the backfield. And Nagy just can't help himself to throw in a guy like Patterson to take up ~10-15% of the rest from both rushing and passing.

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Atkins&Rebel wrote:Davis was pretty successful in Seattle's read option offense. I think he's coming in to get about half the rushing attempts with a decent share of check down passing options. Cohen will get a 30-40% share of the rushing attempts again, with a larger share of check down options from the backfield. And Nagy just can't help himself to throw in a guy like Patterson to take up ~10-15% of the rest from both rushing and passing.

Part of a true committee
This is the route I see Pace & Nagy going.

Unless the Bears land a huge surprise upgrade.. I believe they're planning on having Davis, Cohen & Patterson as the RB rotation.. IF they get the trade they want for H. Jordan.

Nagy would loving nothing more than having 3 RB/WR hybrid type players to chess piece around during presnap shifts.
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I like the player and I think he fits the part of the scheme I saw last year but I'm not sure this exactly fills our need for a 1st and 2nd down back that is also a bit of a receiving threat. If our committee is Davis/Cohen/Patterson then I can't see us running a terribly "traditional" offense. That feels more like a throw-first spread type system. I don't mind it but I thought Nagy was going to try for some amount of "balanced traditional offense" with play action, etc.? I'm contrasting this to New Orleans replacing Ingram with Murray and trying to read the tea leaves. Either they still hope to find that 1st and 2nd down guy in the draft or we're going full on Saturday offense on the lakefront and the sausage-ditka-bearrsss crowd is in for a ride
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I kind of wonder... maybe the plan is to let Howard and Davis battle it out for RB1 responsibilities, Patterson comes in as a joker, Cohen stays in the Cohen role, and then we draft someone like Bryce Love (ACL surgery December 18th) in the 5th round (assuming his medicals are clean). Let him rehab and unleash him in 2020.
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The more I watch the more I like this kid. I know no one wants to here this but he runs like a better version of Mizzel. They clearly liked mizzel. He is a better version in every facet
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mmmc_35 wrote:The more I watch the more I like this kid. I know no one wants to here this but he runs like a better version of Mizzel. They clearly liked mizzel. He is a better version in every facet
Welcome aboard as well! :)

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mmmc_35 wrote:
wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:Talk about a boner killer, one minute we’re talking about Bell and the next the bears sign Mike Davis.
He’s depth... what’s killing your boner?
Boners shouldn't be killed, all boners lives matter.
Just saw this and I wondered aloud: Do all boners deserve to be beaten?
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I feel the bears are stuck in limbo in two positions, RB and TE. I’m not sure what the plan of attack is for the running back position but I’ve come to the conclusion just when you think you know what Nagy is looking for in a back, he flips the script. There were a few backs on the market that were prototypical of what the talking heads say what Nagy is looking for. They’re young and one such as Coleman went for cheap. Yeldon is still on the market and I’m sure will now sign for something around what Davis got. I’m not sure what happens to Howard but I do know he’s always available come game day, that can’t be said for Davis.

What Pace has done has been incredibly. I’m hoping he drafts the back that will set this offense a blaze and we won’t have to worry about the running back position for a few years. Now if he can only hit some magic on a TE the bears offense would be unstoppable.
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Funkster wrote:I feel the bears are stuck in limbo in two positions, RB and TE. I’m not sure what the plan of attack is for the running back position but I’ve come to the conclusion just when you think you know what Nagy is looking for in a back, he flips the script. There were a few backs on the market that were prototypical of what the talking heads say what Nagy is looking for. They’re young and one such as Coleman went for cheap. Yeldon is still on the market and I’m sure will now sign for something around what Davis got. I’m not sure what happens to Howard but I do know he’s always available come game day, that can’t be said for Davis.

What Pace has done has been incredibly. I’m hoping he drafts the back that will set this offense a blaze and we won’t have to worry about the running back position for a few years. Now if he can only hit some magic on a TE the bears offense would be unstoppable.
RE: TE - I was surprised to learn that Burton had a career year with the Bears in 2018. Shocked. I thought he was a total let down, but his numbers were career bests. I don't know if I was expecting a Travis Kelce type impact and that's why I felt disappointed, but his numbers say he progressed considerably and may not have been as bad as I thought.

And I know you aren't a Davis fan for whatever reason, but he was active for 15 games last season. So he was available.
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Regarding Burton, IMO, he came out hot and kinda fizzled down the stretch. When the bears needed him most, he tightened up against his old team and didn’t play. I don’t know if I’m looking to deep into it but he lost a lot of respect from me. Especially when other guys were playing through injuries. I mean Millers shoulder was popping out and he suited up.

As far as Davis, like I said, I live in Seattle, I’ve seen him up close and weekly heard locally about his injuries.The hawks don’t have a solidified back either and he couldn’t win the starting job, I’m guessing mostly because of availability. I agree with you, he does have talent but I just feel with the bears backfield in limbo, I would choose Howard over Davis 9 times out of 10. If they offload Howard, which good chances they will, I don’t feel at all confident with Davis as RB1. If he’s the 3rd back, fine, but doesn’t that say they overpaid for a 3rd back? I’m just hoping Pace hits on a back and we can put this to bed. If I’m wrong on Davis, I have no problems admitting it, is was way wrong on E.Jack, thank goodness!
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The whole interview Burton gave about his mysterious injury seemed totally concocted to me. His description of what happened and how he described that it just comes out of the blue (paraphrasing) just didn't explain it to me. It was the way he spoke about it it just seemed like it was all made up. It was his old team and maybe he made a few enemies there and just freaked out or the pressure was way too much (shouldn't be a starter then). There's no other explanation other than he really was injured but like I said it just smelled fishy.

I thought he played pretty good here and there. He has the potential to be a good TE for us. But, even reporters were talking about how weird the injury was.

It will be interesting to see if they draft a TE...
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Honestly the whole move TE thing interests me. I think you can get players with those attributes at other positions like WR, RB, FB. Like personally Wims to me should be tried there. Last we saw him he looked thick, had body type and ability to excel there.
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G08 wrote:
mmmc_35 wrote:
wab wrote:
Funkster wrote:Talk about a boner killer, one minute we’re talking about Bell and the next the bears sign Mike Davis.
He’s depth... what’s killing your boner?
Boners shouldn't be killed, all boners lives matter.
Just saw this and I wondered aloud: Do all boners deserve to be beaten?

beats me :banana:


I have warmed up to him after watching multiple high light videos. If Howard is going to be gone, I am guessing he will be a draft day trade. I just hope a desperate team gives us some value. At this point a 3rd would be the most likely highest upside we can hope for unless there is a player that Pace covets instead. lol almost pointless to speculate with how secretive and unpredictable Pace is.
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