Most Unappreciated Bear

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spudbear
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Lovely Cynthia Frelund had an article up at NFL.com for the NFC's most underappreciated player for each team. Any guess on who she picked for the Beloved?
One way to see how pressure fronts work best together is to look at the Bears last season. NGS shows that in the first three games of 2019, Khalil Mack earned a pressure on 16.4 percent of pass rushes. But then Hicks missed Week 4 with a knee injury and went on injured reserve with an elbow injury suffered in Week 5, and from Week 4 on, Mack was only able to generate pressure on 8.7 percent of pass rushes. It's worth noting that Hicks did play a little in Week 5 and came back in Week 15, so this is an imperfect measurement, but the point still stands: When offenses have to account for the potential of pressure coming from many directions, the number of double (or triple) teams decreases, and strategic play-calling can often benefit the defense. I also wrote about Hicks last season, if you want more evidence.
Looks like Big Mack suffered without Hicks. I don't know if folks around here would call Hicks the most underappreciated as we understand how important he is to the D. Nobody else on D comes to mind for this category.
If you had to pick someone on offense, who would it be? I'd probably nominate Whitehair. The OL seems to get castigated as a whole yet his play remains solid. Tough to tell sometimes as others around him mess up and he has to decide to help them or stay on assignment.
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AZ_Bearfan
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For defense, I'd go with Goldman. I agree with Whitehair on the offensive side.
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Moriarty
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Outside of Bears fans, definitely Hicks

Within, Hicks until maybe midseason.
Now - less clear. Maybe Fuller, Goldman, Whitehair.
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The Cooler King
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The most undwrappreciated are probably average players who get unwarranted vitriol.
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Z Bear
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Danny Trevathan on D. We got lucky with 3rd and 4th team ILBs last year. Danny T is still a better player than Kwit and people seem to forget that.

ON offense Allen Robinson. I don't think anyone else on O played well enough to be considered appreciated in the first place.
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Offensive linemen are the most underappreciated aspect of the game of football, so my mind instantly goes to Whitehair.

Otherwise there's a guy like Sherrick McManis, but I feel like he's well-appreciated and recognized.
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Yogi da Bear
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Moriarty wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 12:14 pm Outside of Bears fans, definitely Hicks

Within, Hicks until maybe midseason.
Now - less clear. Maybe Fuller, Goldman, Whitehair.
I gotta agree with you here.

When you talk about the national media, they don't give Hicks ANY respect whatsoever. That's why they all can say how much crappier we're going to be this year, even though we have Hicks coming back. Bear fans though, know his true value.

When you're talking about Bear fans themselves, however, I think that Kyle Fuller is probably the most underappreciated Bear. Many have found it difficult to overcome Fuller's second and third years. I know a lot of fans were complaining when we matched Green Bay's offer for him. And even now, when he gets beats by a perfect pass from Rodgers, he sucks. Personally, I think that Fuller is a top five CB in the league and doesn't get near the respect from Bear fans as he should.
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On offense, to me the answer is definitely ARob.

It's hard to pick someone on this defense, but I wouldn't disagree with either Goldman or Trevathan.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
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dplank
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I'm going to go with Nagy.

Look, I've shit on the guy plenty so I'm part of the problem here. But this guy really gets raked over the coals for everything he does and if you step back and look at it, he's a very impressive 20-12 in his two years here. He's a very articulate guy when dealing with the fans/press (unlike Lovie and Fox, who had blatant disdain for both). He's a "players coach". He's created a GREAT, and I mean GREAT, locker room/culture - the best I've ever seen as a Bears fan. His team stuck together under tough circumstances last year, that team EASILY could have unraveled given how bad the offense performed (and that he heads up the offense primarily, as does his boy Mitch). And now, after a tough season, he APPEARS to be learning from it and showing some humility. He said that he's going to play his starters in the preseason for example, openly admitting that was a mistake last year. How refreshing!! (wish everyone had the balls to admit when their wrong) He also brought in coaches specifically to challenge him because he wasn't getting enough pushback last year - I absolutely LOVE that. And most importantly, despite being "all in" on Mitch's development, he's open to admitting he was wrong there too and brought in a genuine alternative in Foles.

I like Matt Nagy. He seems like a good dude, smart as hell, and dedicated to winning. I'm rooting hard for him.
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dplank wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 9:15 am I'm going to go with Nagy.

Look, I've shit on the guy plenty so I'm part of the problem here. But this guy really gets raked over the coals for everything he does and if you step back and look at it, he's a very impressive 20-12 in his two years here. He's a very articulate guy when dealing with the fans/press (unlike Lovie and Fox, who had blatant disdain for both). He's a "players coach". He's created a GREAT, and I mean GREAT, locker room/culture - the best I've ever seen as a Bears fan. His team stuck together under tough circumstances last year, that team EASILY could have unraveled given how bad the offense performed (and that he heads up the offense primarily, as does his boy Mitch). And now, after a tough season, he APPEARS to be learning from it and showing some humility. He said that he's going to play his starters in the preseason for example, openly admitting that was a mistake last year. How refreshing!! (wish everyone had the balls to admit when their wrong) He also brought in coaches specifically to challenge him because he wasn't getting enough pushback last year - I absolutely LOVE that. And most importantly, despite being "all in" on Mitch's development, he's open to admitting he was wrong there too and brought in a genuine alternative in Foles.

I like Matt Nagy. He seems like a good dude, smart as hell, and dedicated to winning. I'm rooting hard for him.
I know when I saw this thread I thought about players. I read everyones post and anything I could have said was already said. When you said Nagy and I read what you put, I have to agree. I didnt even think about 20 - 12 in his first two years. Yes he gets too cute sometimes and that bugs the hell out of me. He had established a great culture which is underrated. He seems to be learning. He is open and honest. He deserves time to grow into this this just like most players deserve time to grow into their jobs if they are 1st timers and show flashes.
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I've been saying Hicks is possibly the most important player on the D since 2017. Even mid-18 when Mack was going off.

I would actually argue that he is one of the most underappreciated players in all of football. If not THE most underappreciated. He's a monster.
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Z Bear wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 1:04 pm Danny Trevathan on D. We got lucky with 3rd and 4th team ILBs last year. Danny T is still a better player than Kwit and people seem to forget that.

ON offense Allen Robinson. I don't think anyone else on O played well enough to be considered appreciated in the first place.
It's hard to argue Danny T after the unit doesn't miss a beat following his injury.

In the modern game, ILB is going the way of the RB. You can get away with less than stellar talent there.
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Z Bear
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Richie you are making my point! People assume Danny T is just OK because the other guys produced in his absence. Well the fact is he is the leader of the D and does not get he credit he deserves.
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Yogi da Bear
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Matt Nagy?

See, Kyle Fuller IS unappreciated. lol
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thunderspirit wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 11:26 pm On offense, to me the answer is definitely ARob.

It's hard to pick someone on this defense, but I wouldn't disagree with either Goldman or Trevathan.
yeah, i know the default serious football fan answer should be a lunchpail hand in the dirt do your job lineman (only because we dont have a gritty, deceptively athletic no-nonsense fullback) but for as bad as our offense looked last year, Mitch would have looked so much worse without a number of circus catches from ARob. I dont think he's S-tier #1WR but he's a legit #1 and I feel bad that he's probably never going to play on an offense with a real QB.
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Yogi da Bear
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The only thing I can say about ARob is he damn well better improve his blocking. At least fucking make an attempt at it and not just stand around with his thumb up his butt when somebody else gets the ball:






Fucking pathetic. When I used to coach my kid (through Eighth Grade), if I saw that lack of effort from any one of them, they'd be sitting on the fucking bench. Our coaches simply can't let that kind of crap stand. Robinson's our WR leader. He's not setting a good example at all.
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