The Cameron Meredith Poll
From the desk of:
Jeff Hughes, Editor-in-Chief
DaBearsBlog
Honestly, I was just going to write the headline and leave it there. Because the growing number of Bears fans across social media who, due to trade “rumors”, suddenly believe Howard is not a great running back…is starting to sicken me.
Is Howard great in the passing game? No. Point conceded.
But in two seasons Howard has amassed more than 2400 yards on the ground and 15 touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards a clip. For the “anyone can do that” crowd, show me another back who HAS while:
Just show me another back with similar achievement. I will actually spare the effort of looking. There isn’t anyone close.
(He also has 52 catches in that time. Ezekiel Elliot has 58. )
I like Ryan Pace and am supremely optimistic about Matt Nagy. But if they looked at Howard’s body of work with the Bears and thought, “Yea, we don’t need this guy” then I seriously question both men’s ability to evaluate personnel. Howard may not be a prototypical modern running back but he reminds one of what a Bears tailback used to look like. Back when they were a winning organization.
If I was starting a team tomorrow, I wouldn’t want Jordan Howard. I’d want 53 Jordan Howards. And I’d like my odds in the Sunday street fight.
It’s Masters Sunday. And I really don’t care about the Chicago Bears on Masters Sunday. So here’s some videos of former Bears players playing golf.
Jim McMahon. Barefoot.
Here are a bunch of Around the League thoughts for this random April Thursday.
DBB is on a brief Jersey Shore Easter break until Tuesday, April 3rd. Next week the site will return with Data, Andrew and a column fitting for Masters week.
“AJ After Dark” wrote the best piece of Bears journalism since Wiederer’s piece on the Trubisky dinner in North Carolina. There were a dozen pieces of information in article worth noting but here is my favorite:
As the eight-seat jet descended, Phillips said it became the most frightening flight of his life. Pace said the plane was “thrashed.”
“At one point, I looked back, and Ted’s glasses flew off his head,” Pace said.
Said McCaskey: “What’s that Audie Murphy movie? ‘To Hell and Back’? ”
It was scary as hell.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘OK, if this thing goes down, it’s probably better that it’s on the descent because there is less fuel,’ ” Pace said.
“Ted was thinking, ‘Well, I can see the tree line, so this might be survivable.’
“George was thinking, ‘Oh, man, I should have laid out the full succession plan before we got on the flight.’ ”
They made it and were soon off to Foxborough, where Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was interviewed past midnight.
“As the plane is coming to a halt, Ted yells at me, ‘Ryan, this better be worth it!’ ” Pace said, laughing. “It was just insane.”
What do I find particularly interesting here?
There’s no way of knowing if Mitch Trubisky is going to be the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears for the next decade plus. But he could be.
There’s no way of knowing if Matt Nagy is fifteen years away from opening a fish restaurant in the Drake Hotel’s old Cape Cod Room space. But he could be.
There’s no way of knowing if the men chosen to improve the league’s worst collection of pass catchers in 2017 – Robinson, Gabriel, Burton – will be the right ones. But they could be.
There’s no way of knowing if the Bears will be playing meaningful football games in December 2018. But they could be.
And why would any fan choose to believe anything else?
Optimism in sports is a perfectly-poured pint of Guinness, served with the harp facing OUT. It’s frothy. It’s delicious. Every time you lift the glass to your lips you think, “this is going to be the one that gets everything right.” And most mortals drinking “the dark stuff” – much like those overly optimistic – omit a noxious plume that those within a five-foot radius find…disconcerting.
The Bears have made some major free agency moves. So it’s time to take the fan temperature. This is going to be the second of four polls put up in this space prior to kicking off the 2018 campaign.
The top three results before free agency (and the combine) were: 8-8 (33.8%), 9-7 (33.1%), 6-7 wins (19.48%). The poles did po’. (Yep, I did it.)
On this abbreviated episode of DaBearsPod, Jeff talks free agency and expectations with Miller & Condon on 1700 AM in Des Moines.
We are calmly navigating Ryan Pace’s most important off-season. And while it’s impossible to know if any of these decisions are any good until September, it sure feels like he’s making the right calls.
A few stats from 2017 regarding the Bears defense:
It would be hard to argue Vic Fangio’s unit was not one of the league’s ten best defenses last season. And now they are (a) returning all relevant members of their starting lineup, (b) returning the entire defensive coaching staff, with the exception of John Fox and (c) building an offense to relinquish pressure on this unit.
If the Bears find a way to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, they should be among the league’s best defenses. If the Bears develop a top pass rush, they could be the league’s best unit.
A few nights ago a fan on Twitter decided to ask Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune to be more like Adam Jahns and Adam Hoge. Well, asking one beat writer to be more like another beat writer is never going to be met with a wink and a smile.
Campbell works hard. I saw him slaving over his computer at the Billy Goat during the Tribune Sports Christmas party as Pro Bowl announcements were being made. And nobody with a brain cares about Pro Bowl announcements.
He also seems to be a genuinely good guy. We had a few on-line conversations when he first joined the beat, mostly about soccer, but those quickly evaporated for reasons I’ll never understand. (I assume David “Blue Moon” Haugh played a major role.) But if Campbell’s got any blood in his body, he’s competitive. He doesn’t want to be told he’s not as good as the primary competition at the Sun-Times.
