Who are your three biggest disappointments on defense?

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Who are your three biggest disappointments on defense?

Bilal Nichols
4
8%
Chuck Pagano
5
10%
Eddie Goldman
1
2%
Eddie Jackson
12
24%
HaHa Clinton-Dix
0
No votes
Khalil Mack
4
8%
Kyle Fuller
1
2%
Leonard Floyd
12
24%
Prince Amukamara
2
4%
Roquan Smith
8
16%
Roy Robertson-Harris
1
2%
Other (please specify in comments)
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 50
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UOK
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It's the Cat's Meow to give Trubisky and Nagy a glass-bottom boat ride right now, but we should give the defense some credit too for why the Bears have been a mediocre-to-poor underperforming defense.

Akiem Hicks goes down and BOOM - suddenly nothing works. Which players (or even the coordinator) are you most disappointed in on the defensive side of the ball? Pick up to 3. Let's talk.
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UOK
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My votes:

EDDIE GOLDMAN: Goldman has been a steady, effective player his whole career, and with Hicks going down, his role has been magnified, and honestly, I've been extremely unimpressed. After he signed that contract, I was worried his play would slip, and while it hasn't been a disaster, it's been far below what he's capable of.

EDDIE JACKSON: Jackson's had a huge couple years, and suddenly was in the Bears Top 100 Players of All Time. And then...poof. He's had a vacant 2019, and is kind of showing the world that he's not the dynamic ballhawk we thought he was unless he's getting that consistently great play from the pass rush.

ROQUAN SMITH: I think we all thought Roquan was dialed up for a Pro Bowl year after a great rookie campaign, and yet he's had a freakout which cost him a game and still is unresolved, and his play's been underwhelming.
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Honestly man, I only could come up with two players.

Leonard Floyd and Eddie Jackson.

Floyd: where the hell are you in the pass rush? We have all eyes on Khalil Mack so Floyd should be making plays in the backfield, instead he is being stone-walled by fucking second string tight ends. Pathetic. I don't care if he's doing well in run support and helping out in coverage, we traded up to the 9th pick to get him. Rush. The. Passer.

Jackson: overrated much? Trying too hard? Last week he didn't do ANYTHING to dispel the notion that he's soft. Had a clear shot to take Jordan Howard down but instead refused to even get in front of him, offering a weak-assed 'ole' as Howard Sunday-strolled into the end zone. Pathetic. In coverage, I've counted two plays now that he should have broken up, but instead missed making a play on the ball and it cost us dearly. Maybe he's gotten too big for his britches. Football is more about INTs, stick your fucking nose up there and make the tough tackle when your team needs it.
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wab
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It's easy to go after Floyd, but he is what he is. I think my votes go to Bilal Nichols, Eddie Jackson, and honestly....Mack.

Nichols was hurt early, so I get it. But he hasn't been nearly as disruptive as I expected him to be. Had he not gotten hurt, this probably would have gone to Hicks.... who went from a wrecking machine to a bloated brick wall who just kind of made it hard for runners to get by. He wasn't making nearly as many plays behind the LOS as he did last season.

Jackson, I think, is being used differently which is impacting his ability to make plays on the ball.

Mack...maybe I expect too much from the guy but 5 sacks in 8 games isn't impressing me. There are times he's being handled 1-1 by tackles and he's not winning.
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wab wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 11:31 am It's easy to go after Floyd, but he is what he is. I think my votes go to Bilal Nichols, Eddie Jackson, and honestly....Mack.

Nichols was hurt early, so I get it. But he hasn't been nearly as disruptive as I expected him to be. Had he not gotten hurt, this probably would have gone to Hicks.... who went from a wrecking machine to a bloated brick wall who just kind of made it hard for runners to get by. He wasn't making nearly as many plays behind the LOS as he did last season.

Jackson, I think, is being used differently which is impacting his ability to make plays on the ball.

Mack...maybe I expect too much from the guy but 5 sacks in 8 games isn't impressing me. There are times he's being handled 1-1 by tackles and he's not winning.
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Voted for Jackson. To me it looks like he's phoning it in & waiting to get paid. I've heard speculation and also wonder if Haha is in his ear telling him not to get hurt. That matador non-tackle of Howard last week was a thing to behold.

Floyd. I thought he flashed last year, and he's played OK this year on & off. But he's below average considering what he SHOULD be able to accomplish with Mack over there. With that and for his draft level I think it is fair to say he's a bust.

Roquan. I hear people say he's playing better. OK fine. But the team is getting gashed by RBs and their asses kicked on 3rd down and long ... and I'm thinking this is the part where the top pick "all the tools" LB should be making a name for himself in his second year. We know there's something wrong with him. He's a super-nice and super-smart kid - you can tell. I think he's too nice to be a linebacker. I keep asking myself while watching RBs gash the Bears up the middle.... "wouldn't we rather see Kwit in there kicking ass against the run and then have to protect him a bit in the passing game? And sometimes my answer to myself is "yes".

Missed the cut: Goldman, who is supposed to be a big-bodied run stopper that eats two blockers. Does he? If Mack is getting 2 and he's getting 2... isn't it 9 on 7 and shouldn't this be the best D in the league? Where are those 2 free guys who should be tackling Howard and bracketing Ertz?
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If we thought Hicks was underrated before, this season has settled for me that he was criminally underrated.

I voted Goldman, Nichols, Jackson and Smith.

Hicks goes down and all of a sudden teams are gashing the Bears up the middle for 6-8 yards routinely. The pass rush disappears and the secondary goes from seemingly immortal to very much human.

I know this thread is about the defense but when the offense suddenly showed some life last game the defense in turn showed a higher compete level, unfortunately they were either too gassed or suffering the cost of switching from feeling hopeless to then renewing their effort and gave up a backbreaking drive. Last year the defense had great swagger and played with confidence, this year as things have dragged on, it's clear to me that they are 1) nowhere near as effective without an interior rusher who is semi-unblockable and 2) having a difficult time justifying putting their bodies on the line when they know they'll be back on the field 3 dismal plays and a punt later.

All of a sudden teams can reliably run on the Bears which completely changes the situation from last year. We saw what happens when the team can bottle up the run when they played the Vikings, it makes the opponent one dimensional and puts their offense in a very tough spot. Shakey play from the defensive line and from the ILBs to this effect has crippled the pass rush and has brought the secondary back down to earth.

The penalties are absolutely maddening, which I attribute to both coaching and the defense feeling like they have to do it all.

This unit needs to figure out how to stop the run to earn the right to stop the pass. Despite how dismal they have been at times, I'm confident that if they can find a way to limit the opponent's rushing attack they will look a LOT better.
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Can I vote for Floyd three times?

Leonard Floyd

This is a busted draft choice of epic proportions whose full effects will be felt for a decade. If Floyd played to his draft position we do not need to make the Mack trade. If we do not need to make the Mack trade we have a potentially high first round draft choice this year to help fix the Mitch situation and an s-load of cap room because we wouldn’t have paid Mack all that money and Floyd would still be on the fifth year(?) option.


Bilal Nichols

He was one of my “picks to click” this year and it just hasn’t worked out due to injury. Hopefully he can turn it around because his potential based on last year was huge.


Eddie Jackson

This isn’t fair, but I just had such a high opinion of Jackson. He always seemed to be “lucky” about getting turnovers. Then he starts in with the whole don’t boo thing and he hasn’t been producing even though Pagano is supposed to be a huge coach for the secondary.
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Floyd, Floyd, Floyd, all day Floyd. Fucker!! Has not stepped up his game whatsoever with Mack here. Tired of his skinny ass, get the fuck out of here .

He is the only one I voted for .
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Floyd
Is the easy choice that should be on every list. Perked up in 2018 after getting the cast off, but not carrying over at all.

Jackson
Picks are a notoriously volatile metric, but 6 -> 0 is a long drop. And not just 0 INTs, but 0 FFs, 0 sacks, and 2 PDs?
See if he wants his extension at the end of 2019...and offer well under half of what it was looking like last offseason.

Kind of a long drop to 3rd most disappointing, but I guess Roquan. Despite the Brian Urlacher Experience, living up to top 10 value while playing ILB is almost impossible, and he hasn't.
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Otis Day wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:37 pm Floyd, Floyd, Floyd, all day Floyd. Fucker!! Has not stepped up his game whatsoever with Mack here. Tired of his skinny ass, get the fuck out of here .

He is the only one I voted for .
If Floyd was drafted in the 4th round, would you be as pissed?
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I went with Roquan, Jackson, and Mack. I admit, I went with Jackson not because of a personal opinion but more because I've heard people smarter than me say that his performance has been underwhelming so I'm willing to defer to them, having not really paid attention to his play, and just needing to select a 3rd guy.

I went with Roquan and Mack simply because we went from hearing their names pop up all the time to almost never hearing except when they don't hand out candy to trick or treaters (j/k @@UOK). I get that Mack is being double and triple teamed but you do expect him to do something when that's not the case, and as @wab said, that hasn't happened. I mean, I doubt the Bears paid him all that money just to tie up a couple of linemen, and not do anything else.
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For me Jackson, Floyd and Pagano.
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floyd, jackson and mack.

floyd does nothing of great impact unless we are playing the packers for a guy playing opposite end to mack.

jackson hasnt had a pick six and i think thats a result of QB's avoiding him but all the same its disappointing

Mack has been disappointing purely because we are used to seeing big impact plays week to week.

Fuller redemmed himself a bit against the chargers with that pick, but its infuriating seeing that kid give a 15 yd cushion to a receiver every play where you KNOW they are throwing it his way.
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Leonard Floyd currently has 3 sacks and 24 tackles on the season.

If he had 5 sacks and 31 tackles instead, how would everyone feel about him?
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weird hypothetical arguments re: floyd. yes if he was drafted in the third or later people wouldnt hate him, because that's the player he is: a mid rounder. But his first round status not only disappoints, but also affords him way too many opportunities.

and yes wab, mack's stats are dissapointing this season too, but anyone with two eyes can see that he is infinitely more disruptive and being gameplanned for every single game. to try and distill any criticism of floyd down to purely his stats is, if nothing else, insanely insulting.
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I voted for Pagano - Haven't seen this awesome blitz from all positions moving people around we thought we would see. Seems more just lining the same guys up in the same spot every down.

Danny Trevathan - I blame for us being weaker up the middle and not getting the other players lined up where they need to be. He has been our coach on the field last few years and maybe because of the new system he seems pedestrian this year.
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RustyTrubisky wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:43 pm weird hypothetical arguments re: floyd. yes if he was drafted in the third or later people wouldnt hate him, because that's the player he is: a mid rounder. But his first round status not only disappoints, but also affords him way too many opportunities.

and yes wab, mack's stats are dissapointing this season too, but anyone with two eyes can see that he is infinitely more disruptive and being gameplanned for every single game. to try and distill any criticism of floyd down to purely his stats is, if nothing else, insanely insulting.
So....

You would not be disappointed in Floyd?
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It's incredibly head-scratching to me that after Hicks got injured the whole entire defense went from a top unit to about average overnight. It's one guy.

It's easy to point fingers at specific players but I feel like you gotta hold Pagano accountable for not responding better then what we've seen from the entire defense over the past 4 games.
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UOK wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:27 pm
Otis Day wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:37 pm Floyd, Floyd, Floyd, all day Floyd. Fucker!! Has not stepped up his game whatsoever with Mack here. Tired of his skinny ass, get the fuck out of here .

He is the only one I voted for .
If Floyd was drafted in the 4th round, would you be as pissed?
Probably not, because 4th rounders don't get hyped like Floyd did, nor would a 4th rounder be getting paid what Floyd is getting paid. Plus the fact the Bears moved up to get him..........has not panned out.
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Rusty Trombagent
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Another weird disappointment this season is that Duke Shelley got some playing time early in the year and then has been inactive since. I was really happy that he was trusted enough to get some snaps early because we have been pretty shitty in the developing cornerbacks department for awhile now.
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RustyTrubisky wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:13 pm Another weird disappointment this season is that Duke Shelley got some playing time early in the year and then has been inactive since. I was really happy that he was trusted enough to get some snaps early because we have been pretty shitty in the developing cornerbacks department for awhile now.
Skrine is playing pretty good. Plus Tolliver is the only other outside corner on the roster so I think it's purely a numbers situation. When Shelly was active, McManis wasn't and ST suffered a bit.
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Leonard floyd x 3
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