UMFan83

Huh? Stats are not valuable when evaluating QBs, but here are some stats about these QBs.

I wouldn't say its been a failure. I don't think anyone expected Hester to be an elite WR when they decided to convert him. I think they were just hoping for some production to go along with his kick returns. He's done that so far, so I'd say the 'experiment' is a solid C.

Apparently, Ron Artest is going to join the Cheshire Jets of the British Basketball League if the lockout knocks off some or all of the season. The British Basketball League is ranked 29/29 in European basketball leagues according to FIBA. This is how excited these people are for World Peace to join their [expletive] league. Edit: I started looking at the Jets roster to see if I actually recognized anyone, and the first name I came across was former DePaul great Quemont Greer. That's awesome. Also on the team was the great Calvin Davis who averaged 13 PPG for Texas A&M back in 1998.

That's 3 home runs in the last 6 games for Castro....If he can get to a solid 10 this year, that would be awesome.

Chien-Ming Wang is still around? I thought he killed himself a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I don't think he was the best. That's the point. He was targeted a lot and put up decent numbers, but in a very inefficient manner. Inefficient? He had the most yards per target on the entire team...by a decent margin. How is that not a measure of efficiency? I realize he caught a lesser % of balls thrown his way but he made up for it in YAC and YPC. I know its not the only thing, but Tell me which Bears receiver was better last year. Bennett, who didnt even see the field much the first 60% of the season? Hester, who is probably as raw or more as a receiver as Knox? Aromashadou? Not that this adds anything to my argument because you are obviously smart enough to evaluate the numbers I posted before, but this is what their stats would look like if they all had 99 targets CAT YRD TD Knox 51 960 5 Bennett 65 792 5 Olsen 59 580 7 Hester 54 644 5 I just don't see it. Knox stands out as king of the idiots. All of these stats are pretty misleading, imo. When compared to other WRs on the Bears, Knox may have run a lot more "feast-or-famine" go routes that went for a lot of yards when a completion was made. That doesn't necessarily make him a better receiver. I'm not sold. I just don't see who is better and no one has presented an argument for anyone else. Earl Bennett might be a better route runner, but lacks the breakaway speed and overall athleticism that Knox has. I don't know how you could really make an argument for Hester, considering he has the speed and athleticism that Knox has but doesn't get the numbers Knox does. I mean other than that, unless you want to include TE and/or RB theres no real other candidates on the 10 Bears to argue for. Bennett is the only one that I'm willing to accept an argument for, and considering it took him an entire season to learn the playbook well enough to actually play in the games, I find it hard to accept that he's the best receiver on the team (last year). Actually fine, I'll play devil's advocate and make the argument for him. He's certainly a better possession receiver than Knox, and more reliable on a big down. Bennett led the Bears on 3rd down catches for a 1st down, with 12. Bennett also finished 3rd in the NFC in catches on 3rd and more than 7 yards with 7. And that's despite playing sparingly the first part of the season. Knox was 14th in the NFL with 6 dropped passes. And while Knox was 2nd in the NFC in % of targets ending in a 1st down at 43%, Bennett wasn't too far behind at 18th with 38.6%. So there, the stats are out there and if it hurts my argument, so be it.

Yeah, I don't think he was the best. That's the point. He was targeted a lot and put up decent numbers, but in a very inefficient manner. Inefficient? He had the most yards per target on the entire team...by a decent margin. How is that not a measure of efficiency? I realize he caught a lesser % of balls thrown his way but he made up for it in YAC and YPC. I know its not the only thing, but Tell me which Bears receiver was better last year. Bennett, who didnt even see the field much the first 60% of the season? Hester, who is probably as raw or more as a receiver as Knox? Aromashadou? Not that this adds anything to my argument because you are obviously smart enough to evaluate the numbers I posted before, but this is what their stats would look like if they all had 99 targets CAT YRD TD Knox 51 960 5 Bennett 65 792 5 Olsen 59 580 7 Hester 54 644 5 I just don't see it. Knox stands out as king of the idiots.

I think that supports the idea that he's an innefficient receiver who can beat you with his legs by going deep but far from ideal in an offense which requires route running, timing and being in the right place. The guy looked clueless out there many times. But with no few weapons available and his natural talent, they had to use him. That's fine. Despite all the limitations, when you threw that ball to Johnny Knox, you knew only 3 other receivers could get you more yards on average in the NFL. I responded originally when you said you werent sure that Knox was the Bears best receiver last year. Is Knox a number one or two on a lot of other teams? No. But on the 2010 Bears he was the best.

Like it said, Gus's primary responsibilities will be doing college games. Right. That still doesn't make it any less unfortunate. Plus if Wayne Larrivee can do double duty, Gus sure as hell can too. Seriously. Wayne Larrivee would do a Bulls game on Friday night, a Michigan State game on Saturday and a Packers game on Sunday more than a few times each year.

Geez I dunno. Lots of stats (but not all) back up that Knox was the best receiver on the Bears last year. I understand what you are saying about leaving stuff on the table, but the stats are pretty telling. CAT YRD TD YD/R TGT YD/TGT Knox 51 960 5 18.8 99 9.7 Forte 51 547 3 10.2 -- -- Bennett 46 561 3 12.2 70 8.0 Olsen 41 404 5 9.9 69 5.9 Hester 40 475 4 11.9 73 6.5 Knox had the most receptions, most yards per reception, tied for the most TDs. The problem comes when you evaluate the number of times he was targeted. He was targeted roughly 30 more times last year than the other guys (I couldnt find targets for Forte). Despite this he caught nearly the came number of passes. So that's one part of it. But when you look at his yards per catch and yards per target, you'd come to the conclusion that not only is Knox one of the best deep threats on the team, he's one of the best in the league. Among receivers with more than 50 catches this year, Knox was 2nd in yards per reception, trailing only Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace (22.5). Even factoring in targets, among receivers with 50 catches Knox was 4th in yards per target. So is Knox an elite WR.......not really. I do acknowledge that he's not a great route runner and ends up in the wrong spot a lot of the time. How many Cutler INTs the last 2 years can be attributed to him? More than a few. But you throw to him and you will get production out of him, more than any other pass catcher on the Bears. I mean who has more ability to exceed Knox's ability? Earl "It takes me a year to learn the playbook enough to play" Bennett? or Devin "I have to sometimes be told on the field where to line up" Hester. Bennett is probably the best route runner but doesn't have the athletic ability that Knox has to break a 10 yard pass into a 30 yard reception. Hester just doesn't seem to have that natural feel for being a WR, as evidenced by him darting for the sidelines with an open field in front of him in Atlanta 2 years ago.

Hester is probably the Bears 4th best receiver, imo. Hopefully this is just preseason bluster. The Bears are masters at limiting expectations. Most teams coming off an NFC title game appearance are looking to take the next step and win a championship. Bears fans are now just hoping their team doesn't embarrass them this season.

Haha how many times do I have to tell myself to stop believing Peter [expletive] King before I finally do stop?

Reed Johnson for a PTBNL from a team that cant afford real pickups and have thin benches is probably the only way Reed gets traded. Which I wouldn't be against.

Story that depresses me: The Eagles are still almost $8 million under the cap.

Mark Schlereth might. Trent Dilfer too.

Speaking of the schedule....I'm in a football mode this morning so I went over it again. The schedule to start the season is going to be really tough. But then again, that's what we said last year (DET, @ DAL, GB, @ NYG) and we started 3-1. This year its ATL, @ NO, GB, CAR. If we can go 2-2, I'd be satisfied. After those 4 games, we have probably 3 more really tough games (@ PHI, SD, @ GB), 5 winnable but challenging games (@ DET, @ TAM (LONDON), KC, DET, @ MIN), and 3 pretty easy games although 2 are on the road. (@ OAK, @ DEN, SEA) So take 2 wins in category A (first 4 games), 2 in category B (really tough games), 3 in category C (5 challenging but winnable), and the 3 category D (easy games), and you got 10-6. But that means you will have had to win 3 games from the following pool of games: ATL, @ NO, GB, @ GB, SD, @PHI). Are we good enough to do that?

Yeah against the Falcons and Packers. Packers first 1 sack away from leading the NFL in sacks. Falcons finished 22nd but are a formidible defensive team.

I think those things are worth a decent amount if in their original packaging, however, much like with Star Wars, I believe that the more obscure guys who nobody ever bought like B.J. Surhoff and Lobot are the ones that are worth more. I went to the National sports collectors convention this weekend in Rosemont (yeah I'm a nerd), and trust me Starting lineups did not seem to be all that valuable. I mean maybe $20-30 and a couple of rare ones around $50 but nothing more that I saw.

That's fine. I honestly think they made a token effort to resign him and would have lived with it had he accpeted but would have rather severed ties with Kreutz and so they did. It was the Bears that told Kreutz's agent they wouldnt match and went out and signed Spencer instead of waiting to see what they did next.

The only positive I can bring to Spencer being on the bench is and Garza starting is that I guess it would help to have someone familiar with the Bears O-line teammates, coaches and system playing at C in a shortened offseason. The offensive line is going to be interesting this year. It's probably going to be horrible, but has an ever so slight chance of actually being decent.

I agree with all of your logic, but want to point out that from my experience it seems like fans of other teams that I encounter, want me to complain about the Cubs lack of championships and expect it from not just me but any Cubs fan they encounter. That pisses me off more than the lack of championships does.

Didn't he just miss 2-3 practices because of a minor injury? I always assumed that Williams and Knox were going to line up on opposite ends, not compete for snaps.

I dunno if he has a heart to break, he may already be dead...haven't seen him around in a long time come to think of it. He hasn't logged on since July 27th.

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Can stop did stop