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

Mikefive · Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:28 am

wab wrote:
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.

The thing about Burton was that he was always coming off the bench in the past.

Mikefive · Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:37 am

Umbali wrote:
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

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.

Here's what I think will play out on draft day... Pace will have his eyes on some RB(s) he covets. As they fall off the board and only one is left, he'll start looking to move up higher with that R3 pick. That's the time Howard will get dealt. Either...

a) We trade our 3 and 4 to move up, then trade Howard for another pick, or
b) We trade our 3 and Howard to move up, or
c) We trade Howard for another pick, then immediately package a pick with our R3 to move up

That's my prediction.

Knuckles · Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:26 pm

Was just watching some vids on Devine Ozigbo (saw him in a Bears Wire article). What do you guys think of him? He looks really good and can be had in the 4th maybe. Right now after Sanders I like this guy. He has some quick moves and a huge lower body to just run over people. Very interesting RB... Never really heard of him but he sort of has that Barkley arm wind thing going. Pretty fast too.

LINK

G08 · Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:34 pm

Knuckles wrote:Was just watching some vids on Devine Ozigbo (saw him in a Bears Wire article). What do you guys think of him? He looks really good and can be had in the 4th maybe. Right now after Sanders I like this guy. He has some quick moves and a huge lower body to just run over people. Very interesting RB... Never really heard of him but he sort of has that Barkley arm wind thing going. Pretty fast too.

LINK

I like him... but since I don't think we have a shot at drafting Miles Sanders (as our draft picks currently stand) I've been fixating my gaze on Bryce Love. That kid is lightning in a bottle and you can ease him into the offense since he had ACL surgery in December (reported that his target-date to be cleared is the middle of Training Camp, which I believe is aggressive). He should be ready to rock and roll around late October early November assuming there are no setbacks.

Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:10 pm

Being married into a family of Husker fanatics, I've watched Ozigbo quite a bit. He's basically a faster Jordan Howard. He doesn't always play as fast as his timed speeds (or those highlights) would suggest. He doesn't catch the ball a lot either.

I don't dislike him at all, but he is a much much better fit in a zone run offense. It's no coincidence that he finally went over 1000 yards when Nebraska switched from a power scheme under Mike Riley to a zone scheme under Scott Frost.

DaSuperfan · Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:22 pm

What is our run blocking scheme as it stands right now? Does anyone know? I feel like last year we went back and forth between a power scheme and then zone scheme and right now it's unclear to me what Nagy really wants in terms of a blocking fit within his overall offense.

G08 · Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:25 pm

DaSuperfan wrote:What is our run blocking scheme as it stands right now? Does anyone know? I feel like last year we went back and forth between a power scheme and then zone scheme and right now it's unclear to me what Nagy really wants in terms of a blocking fit within his overall offense.

I think they want to go power.

Boris13c · Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:28 pm

G08 wrote:
DaSuperfan wrote:What is our run blocking scheme as it stands right now? Does anyone know? I feel like last year we went back and forth between a power scheme and then zone scheme and right now it's unclear to me what Nagy really wants in terms of a blocking fit within his overall offense.
I think they want to go power.

or, maybe with his first year under his belt, Nagy may come up with his own hybrid idea

not actually knowing the answer to the question is not a cause for angst though as it may have been in the past because even if we don't know what they might be up to, we can have confidence that they do

Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:39 pm

The whole "power run" thing is my only (and small) gripe with Nagy. Leno, Daniels, and Whitehair are all zone blocking linemen. Long can do either really. Massey was a power blocker in AZ and got benched several times for it, but he came around when they went to the zone stuff under Fox. Hiestand is rooted in zone concepts. He ran zone stuff previously with the Bears and the entire time he was at ND.

The Bears backs and offensive line were drafted and built to run zone concepts. Why on earth does Nagy want to continue to pound round pegs into this square power running thing.

Tarik Cohen, all 5'6 and 189lbs of him isn't a power runner.

Mike Davis was just given borderline starter money, and he got it by performing well in a zone offense out in Seattle.

thunderspirit · Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:43 pm

It's still zone running, but it's primarily between the tackles (inside zone) instead of outside with sweeps and such.

The key is that the RB should be able to pick lanes (Howard does this well) and get yards after contact (in 2018, Howard did this less well). Some of the latter had to do with Kyle Long being injured and running behind the likes of Eric Kush and Bryan Witzmann instead. Also, running a power scheme with this line would be counterproductive, in my view, as it's not really their calling card.

The biggest issues with Howard in this offense are that he doesn't have that extra gear in the open field and that he doesn't really threaten the defense when he goes out to receive. But trading Howard is as much about his rookie contract expiring in 2020 as it is his meh receiving skills.

Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:50 pm

thunderspirit wrote:It's still zone running, but it's primarily between the tackles (inside zone) instead of outside with sweeps and such.

The key is that the RB should be able to pick lanes (Howard does this well) and get yards after contact (in 2018, Howard did this less well). Some of the latter had to do with Kyle Long being injured and running behind the likes of Eric Kush and Bryan Witzmann instead. Also, running a power scheme with this line would be counterproductive, in my view, as it's not really their calling card.

The biggest issues with Howard in this offense are that he doesn't have that extra gear in the open field and that he doesn't really threaten the defense when he goes out to receive. But trading Howard is as much about his rookie contract expiring in 2020 as it is his meh receiving skills.

Howard's biggest struggles are with the RPO. He's not great with not knowing if he's getting the handoff or if Mitch is going to pull it back it. You can see it...he freezes...and then when he does get the ball he's stood up in the backfield because of his hesitation.

They scaled back the RPO stuff towards the end of the year when Howard was in the game, and he had better results.

Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:52 pm

Long but great read on Hiestand's scheme.

http://insidethepylon.com/pylon-u/teams ... -hiestand/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thunderspirit · Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:52 pm

Excellent read, wab, thanks.

The Marshall Plan · Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:08 am

thunderspirit wrote:Excellent read, wab, thanks.

Agreed.

Blocking schemes are something I need to understand better. To me it looks like in order for this to be successful you really need a faster RB. Like I've said before, I would never be negative on Jordan Howard because he is a great player, but for that scheme I don't see him being a fit.