Indictment or Enhancement ?

[lemonej]

With the Bears bringing in Martz's former reciever Issac Bruce to teach the WRs the nuances of the new offense being installed, what the Hell is Darryl Drake doing? I for one have always maintained that he was not really helping these guys develop and feel he should have been dismissed along with the other offensive coaches this past offseason. I just watched a video on the 5pm news that had Martz on the practice field with Bruce standing right behind him.

[Mongo3451]

With the Bears bringing in Martz's former reciever Issac Bruce to teach the WRs the nuances of the new offense being installed, what the Hell is Darryl Drake doing? I for one have always maintained that he was not really helping these guys develop and feel he should have been dismissed along with the other offensive coaches this past offseason. I just watched a video on the 5pm news that had Martz on the practice field with Bruce standing right behind him.

Both

[jason]

I've been saying it for years. I think the Bears have got very little out of WRs who could have been much better.

[Pixote]

Unfortunately, for years, that required a QB that could get them the ball on target.

 

The jury is still out on Cutler, IMO, but hopefully Cutler with a new OC will be the answer.

 

 

[nfoligno]

I don't know. I have never been Drake's biggest fan, but as much as I used to attack him, now I wonder.

 

One. While none of our WRs developed into big time stars, I would argue we have seen a pretty fair amount of development out of our young WRs. Gage and Wade both developed pretty well. Gage did better elsewhere, but injury was his key reason for departing. Berrian developed into a solid WR for us. Bradley didn't, but injury held him back and he failed to develop with two other teams after us (KC/TB). Hester didn't become Steve Smith, but went from being drafted as a DB and lacking much college WR experience to being a pretty good WR. Bennett was solid last year, and Knox was very good. We have not been spending top picks on WRs, yet we have actually seen some development of young WRs.

 

Two. Remember what Angelo said. "Its all about the QB." It is one thing to see young WRs develop when you have Payton Manning or Brett Favre as your starter, but when you are running through 2 or 3 QBs per year, none of which are that good, it is a lot harder to see a high level of development.

 

Three. The system may have also played a big part in holding WRs back. Turner may have been a bigger QB killer than Drake

 

To further the 2nd point, look at how much the young WRs developed last year. Hester was on pace for around 1,000 yards if not for injury last year, and Bennett, in his firs year on the field, produced pretty solidly. Then there was the rookie that gave solid production. Simply adding a legit franchise QB seemed to payoff pretty well in terms of the young QB.

 

Now put the 2nd and 3rd points together, and look at the reports thus far out of camp. Hester has been looking great. Knox seemed to have taken another step up and is playing great. DA, who has been in the league but is inexperienced, has looked very good for us. Iglesias, prior to the injury, was standing out in practices. And that doesn't count Bennett.

 

That is why I hold back on ripping Drake. The addition of a legit QB and legit OC seem to have made a big difference, which just makes me thing the problem was more about the QB and OC/system than about the position coach.

 

With the Bears bringing in Martz's former reciever Issac Bruce to teach the WRs the nuances of the new offense being installed, what the Hell is Darryl Drake doing? I for one have always maintained that he was not really helping these guys develop and feel he should have been dismissed along with the other offensive coaches this past offseason. I just watched a video on the 5pm news that had Martz on the practice field with Bruce standing right behind him.

 

[balta1701-A]

Don't forget about how important the O-line performance is for WR's, especially ones with speed that you want to get down the field. If your QB can't find time to look down the field and check his progressions, then even if your WR's are doing an excellent job of getting open, the QB won't have time to find them, and the ball will either wind up in the hands of a RB or TE on a checkdown because that's the only guy the QB has time to find.