Disagree w/ article on Knox

[nfoligno]

Article on Knox in the Trib,

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0...,6624745.column

 

First half of article uses humor while making the point Knox is great, and then goes on to talk about the need to basically make him the fixture of the offense. W/o using the word starter, that is essentially what it says he should be, saying he should not just play 3 WR sets and should only leave the field when he needs to catch his breath. That means he would be a starter.

 

I completely understand the logic and reasoning, but simply disagree. Before the season began, Knox was small school talent considered to have great speed and talent, but raw. He had faced talent that was never going to make it to pro football. As he faced weaker talent, he never had to refine his game. He could beat teams w/ his speed alone. Thus the staff made a big point of going the opposite route we went w/ Bennett, and developing him this offseason at the slot receiver position, and that was all. He didn't have to learn either outside WR routes/roles. All he had to learn was the smaller level of plays of the slot receiver. Better to learn 5 plays well than to learn 15 plays a little.

 

In doing so, Knox has shown a tremendous amount of talent and developed quicker than any would have expected. I said before my fear was, due to early success, we would start to ask too much of him. I feared our trying to make him a starter and essentially throwing the playbook at him to memorize.

 

I do not mind trying to teach him some more of the playbook, thus allowing us to get him on the field "some" more on 2 WR sets At the same time, I disagree w/ the idea of making him a starter and trying to have him on the field nearly every snap. I think Knox can continue to develop and be a very good WR for us today, and if we develop him well, could be special down the road. If we try to make him special right away, and throw too much at him, I fear we will only stunt that development and hurt him long term.

 

Continue to develop him. Continue to add plays for him and provide him more opportunities. But resist the urge to make him your #1 WR today.

[selection7]

I agree. He's already getting more receptions and yards than many starters in the league. I'm not sure such a change is even necessary. This allows Bennet to learn too, so we don't put all our eggs in one basket.

[ChileBear]

Continue to develop him. Continue to add plays for him and provide him more opportunities. But resist the urge to make him your #1 WR today.

Agree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Bears4Ever_34]

I wouldn't change anything. Knox is a good slot receiver for now.. Unless Bennett and Hester suck real bad, the depth chart should remain the same.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

I love Knox as much as I love Bennett and Hester. I think we found our WR's of the future and it helps with such a great QB. Like someone said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Leave it all the same. Plus, we don't want to rush Knox. Let him see the field as much as he does as a WR + kickoffs. He's a huge weapon.

[AZ54]

I totally agree, leave the rotation as it is. Knox doesn't need any added pressure. If anything I'd like to see Aromashodu get some reps. It would be nice to see an article discuss finding a way to get Rashied Davis inactive for a few games. Kidding aside, Tim Shaw is playing very well on coverage teams and that's been a nice surprise, at least for me. I hope as others get better in coverage we can bench Davis for a few games so we can get a look at DA.

[Connorbear]

I wouldn't change anything. Knox is a good slot receiver for now.. Unless Bennett and Hester suck real bad, the depth chart should remain the same.

Agreed 100%.

 

Peace

[nfoligno]

The problem, as I see it, is not simply that our staff feels our special teams has to have Davis out there, but more a matter of the belief that our 4th WR active on game days has to be able to play special teams. So to me, I don't think it matters of Shaw or some other play can do a good job on special teams. For DA to be active, one of the following has to take place:

 

(a) DA looks very solid to good as a special teams player. He doesn't have to be as good as Davis, but simply good enough to play solid on special teams.

 

( Injury to one of the top 3 WRs.

 

© Change in offensive philosophy where we start dressing a 5th WR on game days.

 

Right now, I think his best shot at getting active on game days is B, injury to one of the top 3. He just doens't seem to play well on special teams, which is a requirement of this staff for depth chart WRs, and as much as I would like to allow an extra WR to be active on game day, I just don't think the staff agrees.

 

I totally agree, leave the rotation as it is. Knox doesn't need any added pressure. If anything I'd like to see Aromashodu get some reps. It would be nice to see an article discuss finding a way to get Rashied Davis inactive for a few games. Kidding aside, Tim Shaw is playing very well on coverage teams and that's been a nice surprise, at least for me. I hope as others get better in coverage we can bench Davis for a few games so we can get a look at DA.

 

[AZ54]

I understand your logic in requiring DA to fill in for Davis on special teams but I don't view that as entirely correct. For this discussion I think we can leave the FG unit out. Then we are talking about 4 phases: returns both KR, and PR, and coverage P, and K.

 

KR: Knox has already proven to be capable of KR, and in terms of having a couple extra hands guys out there we also have DManning, Hester, and Wolfe who are consistently active. I don't think Davis is a key blocker in our scheme so I don't see the need for him here.

 

PR: It's Hester's job but again Knox has done this in preseason but I can't recall him doing it in the regular season. We've also been successful with Bennett and I think someone else successfully returned a punt when Hester went out. Blocking the gunners is one of the roles I think Davis fills and I'll be honest I have no clue who else does this for us. This would definitely be one role for DA to fill but he has the size and speed to do this.

 

Coverage teams:

 

KO: We have many players who are doing well on kick coverage units from Shaw, Wolfe, Graham. Coverage hasn't been perfect for sure but it's getting better. I don't recall Davis making too many big tackles but I'll assume he's done well there.

 

Punt coverage: This is one place where Davis has excelled. We've had others excel here too including Wolfe and Graham. Is there someone else that can handle this decently among our DBs or can DA fill in directly? I'd open that to discussion but I feel this is only significant hole that needs to be filled on special teams when you make Davis inactive.

 

While I think we can and should do this I'll add that now is not the best time for it. We have multiple injuries at LB that have hurt our special teams depth, and Izzy is out for a few weeks too. On top of that coverage units are still coming together. I'd wait a couple more weeks but as it looks now I'd go for it in our 8th or 9th game of the season.