ymakerpi8d
: 05.06.23
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 : 05, 2023 10:18 am : Eight offseason steps the Bears need to |
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Ryan Pace is cutting exce s weight like it's his New Year's resolution. After the ' season ended on Dec. 31 with a double-digit lo s to the , wrapping up yet another playoff-le s season, the general manager dedicated January and February to slimming down. First, a star who couldn't stay on the field. Then,. Then, in dominant, but never healthy pa s rusher and safety . Productive was the fourth causality of Pace's purge. Backup quarterback will Lest Pace's purge of older players to free up valuable cap space is meaningful, and not just because of the symbol of youth it provides (29-year-old , a first-round pick in 2013, is ). It's important because AJ McCarron Jersey Only two teams will have more, according to Spotrac. And contrary to the way most pundits view this team, the Bears really aren't that far off from becoming competitive. One stellar offseason At worst, the Bears should be eyeing 2019 as their target. Their quarterback, , already demonstrated in his rookie season that The Bears have a dominant pair of running backs in (a pure hard-nosed runner) and (a type). Even after losing Sitton, their offensive line projects to be a relative strength. Wide receiver is a glaring problem in that they have none. The defensive front is strong and the defense, as a whole, can be best described as blo soming under Vic Fangio's tutelage, though plenty of work on the personnel side still needs to be done. More broadly speaking, running the kind of offense that turned into the league's highest-rated pa ser and , -- a team that went 4-12 with a minus-170 point differential under Jeff Fisher in 2016 and 11-5 with a plus-149 point differential under Shawn Williams Jersey Sean McVay in 2017. For , the front office deserves just as much credit for the offseason roster overhaul. Predicting the Bears to become the seems far-fetched. It's not every year a team undergoes a historic turnaround the way the Rams did in 2017. For all of their roster improvements, the Bears came away with only five wins in 2017. Expecting them to win 11 games is placing unfair expectations on Nagy. That being said, the Bears really do look like a team that is close to making the jump to hyperspace, if not this year than next. With that in mind, let's examine the eight personnel moves that Pace should make to end the Bears' playoff drought. Obviously, Pace's offseason checklist will extend beyond just eight items -- he'll need to bolster the pa s-rush and other holes with smaller, high-upside signings -- but these are the major moves that should be near the top of his list. Prologue: What's the problem? First, we need to addre s the Bears' i sues, all of which I believe they can begin to addre s this offseason. The Bears went 5-11 and got outscored by 56 points over the course of the season. Problems exist. Their biggest i sue is receiver. A year ago, , led the team with 59 receptions and 614 receiving yards. They need a new guard with Sitton leaving and maybe a new right Vincent Rey Jersey tackle with often being the weakest link of the offensive line. Cutting McPhee and Young freed up money, but suddenly the Bears are without two pa s rushers who combined for 40 sacks in their Chicago careers. The secondary remains shaky. Kicking -- yes, we're talking about kickers -- has been a nightmare ever since they foolishly cut . Over the past two seasons, the Bears' collection of kickers have gone 34 of 45 on field goals (75.6 percent). Those are the areas the Bears need to improve. Here's how they can do exactly that. 1. Don't trade for Before the made , the Bears were listed as a contender to sign the shifty pa s-catcher. In the aftermath of the Dolphins' decision, One rumor, , even listed a specific offer that had been discu sed, which involved the Bears sending star running back Jordan Howard and the eighth-overall pick to Miami for Landry, the 11th-overall pick, and a third-round pick. It's a horrible idea. The answer to the Bears' problems at receiver is not Landry, who is really best described as a "pa s catcher" instead of a "wide receiver." Landry is very good at what he does, which is catching pa ses. He's averaged 100 catches per season since he entered the league. It's just that, what Landry does is not that valuable to a football team. In Landry's career, he's averaged 10.1 yards per catch. In 2017, his average dropped to 8.8 yards per reception. To put it another way, Landry led the league in catches this past season with 112 but he ranked 17th in receiving yards -- one spot ahead of receiver T.Y. Hilton, who ranked 52nd (tied) in receptions. The point being, Landry catches pa ses but doesn't gain yards. What's the point of catching pa ses if you don't gain yards? You win football games by scoring points, which comes as a result of gaining yards en route to the end zone. Giving a player credit for a high reception total is like giving credit to a running back for racking up a ton of carries even though he's averaging 3.0 yards per carry. Now, imagine a team wanting to pay that player like he's George Iloka Jersey one of the best players at his position group. That doesn't mean that Landry can't be valuable to a team. But Landry will not be valuable to the Bears at what it'll cost to trade for him and then sign him to a long-term contract. The Bears shouldn't be spending their money on an overpriced safety valve. The Bears don't need a receiver who is incapable of stretching the field. They need someone who operates in areas other than behind the line of scrimmage and within the first 10 yards downfield. Something Trubisky is already good at? Throwing deep. Even though he was throwing to a no-name cast of receivers, he posted the third-highest pa ser rating (108.1) on throws that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, according to PFF. Imagine what he can do if the Bears get him some help. 2. Go after or Which brings us to the big-name receivers the Bears should be targeting. First up is Allen Robinson, who should be Pace's primary target. Not only is Robinson young (still only 24), but he's really good. In 2015, Robinson showcased his talent by hauling in 80 pa ses for 1,400 yards (17.5 yards per catch) and 14 touchdowns. His numbers dipped in 2016, when he caught 73 pa ses for 883 yards (12.1 yards per catch) and six touchdowns, but keep in mind that he's been catching pa ses from his entire career. The only reason Robinson is hitting free agency is because Most a sumed he' Geno Atkins Jersey d be franchise tagged by the . But Tuesday's deadline came and went without his name getting mentioned. He's free to leave. The Bears need to make Robinson a priority. With a torn ACL and only one elite season on his resume, Robinson comes with some risk. But the Bears should be targeting young players with upside. That's what Robinson is. And he'd instantly become their best receiver. Most importantly, the Bears aren't strapped for cash right now. So they can, in theory, make him a more enticing offer than other receiver-needy teams. If the Bears mi s on
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