Chicago this years SD

[nfoligno]

If there's one thing I'm legitimately mad at Angelo for, it's trading Jones. Imagine if they had kept him after '06...TJ/Forte (or Forte/TJ) would be an AWESOME backfield.

 

Hold up here. Don't be talking bad about my BFF

 

Seriously though, that was far more about bad circumstances than it was Angelo making a bad move trading TJ. And lets not pretend TJ wasn't a big part of that problem. It was TJ who cried about his deal until Angelo promised to trade him the following season. Angelo simply followed through on his promise.

 

You can criticize Angelo for (a) caving into TJ's whining and making the promise and/or ( getting as little as he did in return, but as for actually making the trade, I think he basically had to follow through on his promise.

 

And while it is nice to think about TJ and Forte on the team, I honestly don't know how well it would work. TJ would not be content w/ a committee role, as he wasn't then. And Forte has shown too much to take off the field, not to mention the two are of too similar style to really use as a dual role.

 

But I think Forte and The Other Jones should do just fine this year. Teams won't be able to stack the line of scrimmage like they have in the past. Hester's got a long way to go as a receiver, but he's already shown that he can beat single-coverage, and you have to believe that Cutler will get him the ball if he's open. I think our running backs are going to see a lot of five- and six-man fronts this year.

 

This is what has me so excited, and partially why I worry less about our WRs after Hester.

 

In the passing game, the D will have to respect Hester (likely w/ double coverage) and Olsen, also maybe having to slide an extra DB to backside protection as LBs will struggle to cover him downfield. At the same time, a D is going to have to respect the run. So at the end of the day, our young WRs are going to likely have more room, and time, than our 2nd and 3rd WRs have faced in some time.

[defiantgiant]

If there's one thing I'm legitimately mad at Angelo for, it's trading Jones. Imagine if they had kept him after '06...TJ/Forte (or Forte/TJ) would be an AWESOME backfield.

 

Hold up here. Don't be talking bad about my BFF

 

Seriously though, that was far more about bad circumstances than it was Angelo making a bad move trading TJ. And lets not pretend TJ wasn't a big part of that problem. It was TJ who cried about his deal until Angelo promised to trade him the following season. Angelo simply followed through on his promise.

 

You can criticize Angelo for (a) caving into TJ's whining and making the promise and/or ( getting as little as he did in return, but as for actually making the trade, I think he basically had to follow through on his promise.

 

And while it is nice to think about TJ and Forte on the team, I honestly don't know how well it would work. TJ would not be content w/ a committee role, as he wasn't then. And Forte has shown too much to take off the field, not to mention the two are of too similar style to really use as a dual role.

 

But I think Forte and The Other Jones should do just fine this year. Teams won't be able to stack the line of scrimmage like they have in the past. Hester's got a long way to go as a receiver, but he's already shown that he can beat single-coverage, and you have to believe that Cutler will get him the ball if he's open. I think our running backs are going to see a lot of five- and six-man fronts this year.

 

This is what has me so excited, and partially why I worry less about our WRs after Hester.

 

In the passing game, the D will have to respect Hester (likely w/ double coverage) and Olsen, also maybe having to slide an extra DB to backside protection as LBs will struggle to cover him downfield. At the same time, a D is going to have to respect the run. So at the end of the day, our young WRs are going to likely have more room, and time, than our 2nd and 3rd WRs have faced in some time.

 

Oh, I'm a big fan of Angelo's, and I'll be the first to say that he's made a bunch of good decisions, but I really think letting Thomas Jones go wasn't one of them. I know he basically promised him a trade in exchange for one more big season, but it should never have come to that. They should have just paid the guy. He's got a track record of being unhappy about his contract, but he's not the kind of guy who gets a big payday and quits working.

 

Anyway, I'm just bitter. I was a huge fan of TJ's. I do think you're right, though, Forte and Kevin Jones should be good this year.