Month: October 2015

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:

“With Jimmy Clausen‘s performance vs. Seattle, is the release of David Fales more of a reflection of Fales being worse than him or is it salary/cap related? — @brentodento

“Well, they have a depth chart for a reason. Clausen opened the offseason ahead of Fales and remained there the entire time. That’s for one simple reason — the team believes he’s a better option and provides the team with a better chance to win than Fales, who has been placed on waivers twice now in five weeks. Fales was let go this week to make room for linebacker Jonathan Anderson, who was promoted from the practice squad because of an injury to Shea McClellin.”

Fales has been put back onto the practice squad so the Bears haven’t given up on him.

Having said that, what reflects badly on Fales isn’t the fact that he was released to make room for another player. It’s that he’s passed through waivers (twice) and remained on the practice squad without a peep of interest from other teams. I’d say that, more than anything else, is an indication that Fales, in his second year, is not considered to be a developmental prospect. At least not one with any potential to start.

Former Bears GM Phil Emery said when Fales was drafted that he was picked as a player with the “potential to be a backup”. That never made any sense to me. It seems to me like you pick players who have the potential to start and then let them fall to backup if that’s their lot in life. You never say never because the light may come on at any time. But it looks to me like the Fales pick is unlikely to pay dividends.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions. Here he addresses the strengths and weakness in the play of rookie safety Adrian Amos:

“The next progression in his game will be to begin making impact plays and get his hands on balls and show the range in the middle of the field, the trait you are really looking for from a free safety against the passing offenses in the NFL right now. But as I see it, Amos is doing everything they are asking him to.

“As far as the grades he receives from PFF, those are evaluations done watching television copies of the game. You can watch 10 plays without seeing Amos really be around any play because of the tight camera angles to the ball, especially in a game like the Bears had against the Chiefs, who had a lateral passing game or one that is short to very intermediate.”

This is essentially my complaint about PFF. They do their best but there are limitations and I wouldn’t take these grades too seriously.

One thing I’ll emphasize that is related to Biggs’ comment. Though the camera often won’t show where a free safety goes over the course of an entire play, you should be seeing him under some circumstances. This is particularly true of passes along the side line where safeties with good range come in near the end of the play over the top to assist a cornerback in breaking up the connection. I never see Amos doing this and I consider it to be a bad sign. In fairness, as Biggs implies, it’s possible that they aren’t asking him to help out under these circumstances – I won’t claim to know his assignments. But I am worried that he may lack the range to make plays on the ball.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune on the play of quarterback Jay Cutler:

“I think the best thing about Jay Cutler’s game in this early part of the season has been his pocket presence. He hasn’t been rattled and plays haven’t fallen apart when he’s been pressured. In fact, he’s created extra time for receivers to come free from their man or find a soft spot in the zone on many occasions in pretty much every game. You saw it on multiple occasions here where he moved around in the pocket or stepped up in the pocket to make a connection.”

He’s right. Cutler is doing an excellent job of moving in the pocket, the sign of a mature quarterback who is in a groove. I’ve also noticed that Cutler is starting to throw the ball with just a bit of anticipation to receivers coming out of their breaks, something that’s absolutely necessary with the receiving corp that he’s dealing with.

As Biggs notes, Cutler’s statistics aren’t dazzling and there’s a reason for that, He’s been very inconsistent, pulling some wonderful throws out of his hat, then following them with head scratchingly inaccurate passes. Last Sunday provided a good example as Cutler dropped a wonderful 33 yard bomb to Marquess Wilson for a touchdown, then followed it with a pass at Matt Forte‘s feet on the two point conversion attempt.

Nevertheless, even Cutler’s harshest critics – and I consider myself to be one – would have to acknowledge it. Cutler is on a roll.

As Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune reviews the film from Sunday’s game, he notes the perfomance of “linebacker” Willie Young. Young “had a sack and another strong rush”. Young had 20 snaps on Sunday, playing mostly opposite Pernell McPhee and to my eye, after McPhee, he looked like the strongest pass rusher out there.

Young reportedly asked for a trade after Jared Allen was traded to Carolina. Allen was struggling in the system and Young obviously see himself in the same boat. The difference is that Young has been and is more effective as a pass rusher than the 33 year old Allen. Young is also fighting for playing time with Lamarr Houston (who also had a sack Sunday) and Sam Acho, who probably is the best all around linebacker of the three but who has the worst pass rush skills of the three.

I strongly suspect that the Bears are hesitant to give Young more playing time because of his weakness in pass coverage as a linebacker. But they need to find a way to do it, both to keep him happy and to keep pressure on the quarterback. Perhaps the solution is to play him strictly in nickel situations where the defense plays more of a 4-3 front. If they do that, they need to give him every snap they can.

Hub Arkush‘s thoughts at chicagofootball.com on safety Adrian Amos mirror my own:

“To start every game your rookie year as a fifth-round draft choice is exceptional in and of itself. That Amos has blended right in and rarely been visible – meaning he is at least doing his job well – is remarkable.”

“Understand that the Bears’ problems at safety over the last seven or eight years have been that the safeties have been the most obvious players on the field, too often getting burned on big plays.

“It’s too early to know if Amos is going to be more than an average guy who won’t kill you or a good football player, but if you think about it, how often have you seen him burned at all?”

I can’t think of a single time. And that’s good.

There’s only one thing that bothers me about Amos. Presumably he’s supposed to be helping the cornerbacks in coverage. Yes, you neer want to notice the safety because usually when you do, it’s because he’s blown a tackle or was out of position on a play. But this is a part of the game where you should notice the safety – coming over the top at the last minute as a cornerback covers a good receiver near the side line. Yet, I’ve rarely noticed Amos on these plays and it often looks like its just the cornerback on an island on these plays.  I’m wondering how much help Amos has been in coverage under those circumstances.

Amos is a developing situation that I think all of us will continue to keep an eye on. But, with that one caveat, so far so good.