DrunkBomber Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I know theres been numerous times hes been brought up in the past but I seriously have to question how this guy has kept his job since 2004. The state of our WR corps under his tenure has been easily the worst in the NFL. We havent been able to develop a single WR that weve drafted and the few weve signed have done absolutely nothing here. How can a WR coach watch the product weve had on the field the past few years and not be able to do anything to improve it and still have a job? The closest thing weve had to a legit WR is Earl Bennett and thats 100% due to his familiarity with Jay because as we saw when Cutler doesnt play Bennett basically becomes a ghost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 You are 100% correct. Drake needs to go... I know theres been numerous times hes been brought up in the past but I seriously have to question how this guy has kept his job since 2004. The state of our WR corps under his tenure has been easily the worst in the NFL. We havent been able to develop a single WR that weve drafted and the few weve signed have done absolutely nothing here. How can a WR coach watch the product weve had on the field the past few years and not be able to do anything to improve it and still have a job? The closest thing weve had to a legit WR is Earl Bennett and thats 100% due to his familiarity with Jay because as we saw when Cutler doesnt play Bennett basically becomes a ghost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I guess the obvious question is...how much WR talent has he been given that has failed? The only one that really comes to my mind is Bradley...are there others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I know theres been numerous times hes been brought up in the past but I seriously have to question how this guy has kept his job since 2004. The state of our WR corps under his tenure has been easily the worst in the NFL. We havent been able to develop a single WR that weve drafted and the few weve signed have done absolutely nothing here. How can a WR coach watch the product weve had on the field the past few years and not be able to do anything to improve it and still have a job? The closest thing weve had to a legit WR is Earl Bennett and thats 100% due to his familiarity with Jay because as we saw when Cutler doesnt play Bennett basically becomes a ghost. I agree Drake needs to go but I believe Bennett is a legit receiver. Hanie simply never looked for him. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I guess the obvious question is...how much WR talent has he been given that has failed? The only one that really comes to my mind is Bradley...are there others? Thats a tough question to answer. Theres always the chance that we had some talent here at some point that was never developed correctly but we will never really know. But from what weve seen from what weve had has been really bad. Terrible route running, not finishing routes and zero ability to go for any type of jump balls. Id like to be able to point to Brandon Lloyds recent success since he left the Bears but I think his issues here were due to injury. Either way, at some point somebody has to be held responsible for a trainwreck like this and Drake is the easiest target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thats a tough question to answer. Theres always the chance that we had some talent here at some point that was never developed correctly but we will never really know. But from what weve seen from what weve had has been really bad. Terrible route running, not finishing routes and zero ability to go for any type of jump balls. Id like to be able to point to Brandon Lloyds recent success since he left the Bears but I think his issues here were due to injury. Either way, at some point somebody has to be held responsible for a trainwreck like this and Drake is the easiest target. If the talent hasn't been there at the position (and i don't think it has been)...then the guy who failed to bring in that talent was the guy who was fired a week or two ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted January 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 If the talent hasn't been there at the position (and i don't think it has been)...then the guy who failed to bring in that talent was the guy who was fired a week or two ago. So do you think Drake has done an acceptable job as the WR coach since 2004? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASHKUM BEAR Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 So do you think Drake has done an acceptable job as the WR coach since 2004? Drake is the reason WR's die when they come to Chicago....he is the axe man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 So do you think Drake has done an acceptable job as the WR coach since 2004? I have no idea. All I do know is that he's had virtually nothing to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I have no idea. All I do know is that he's had virtually nothing to work with. I agree we havent done much of anything to bring in WR talent but at the same time the players who we have had have made little to no progress with Drake as the coach. Even bad or average players can improve if theyre coached up to some degree. Im not saying he should have turned Hester into a pro bowl wr or we should have expected 100 catches from Knox but it would have been nice to see them make at least the slightest improvement in some aspects of playing WR in the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selection7 Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I don't necessarily disagree with the OP, but Hester did turn out to be a better WR than I figured. He was pretty inexperienced in college and had played CB only for a year or two here. I was really skeptical. It's also true that most teams devote higher picks to WR than we have (JA was probably scared of another David Terrell). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 The other way to ask it... Assume for a moment that Darryl Drake is actually the best WR coach in NFL history. If this were the case, how would things be different? Aside from maybe Bradley again, I don't see who the Bears could have possibly gotten better performances out of. Hester maybe, but as the previous poster noted, he's not a WR anyway, yet he's been moderately effective at the position at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 2004 - Terrell, first round talent that was never developed beyond raw ability. Squeezed way more out of Bobby Wade than anyone thought possible. [OC - Terry Shea] 2005 - MuhMuh regressed from previous years, and I'm sure Drake had some input into his acquisition, meanwhile Mark Bradley wastes his rookie year [OC - Turner] 2006 - Berrian showed noticable improvement, Bradley continued to waste, MuhMuh continued to disappoint [OC - Turner] 2007 - Berrian still looking good, Hester emerges with some raw ability, Bradley continues to waste away with no improvement, and MuhMuh appears to be mailing it in [OC - Turner] 2008 - Devin Hester shows considerable improvement, Earl Bennett barely sniffs the field, Brandon Lloyd and Marty Booker are available for 26 games total but only beat Rashweed Davis by 5 receptions [OC - Turner] 2009 - Hester continues to improve, Knox emerges, Bennett emerges (probably held back in 08 by Lloyd and Booker), Aromoashodu criminally underutilized [OC - Turner] 2010 - Hester regresses, Bennett improves, Knox has better stats but has horrible tendencies that lead to multiple Cutler INTs, Aromashodu still underutilized [OC - Martz] 2011 - Odd year, just about all players appear to regress, but that could be directly related to having an NFL QB in only 10 games. Knox, Hester, Williams are not better than their previous years. Bennett is steady but severely underutilized [OC - Martz] The verdict: Only really Berrian and Hester have improved, and an elevator on the ground floor can only go up. So that leaves Berrian as the only real improved WR. Fire Drake. If not for the lack of improvement for the continual what-ifs. What if Aromashodu were used more? What if Knox were taught how to come back to the ball and actually help the QB out? What if Lloyd was actually used while in Chicago? What if Bradley had actually been given a chance and his confidence wasn't destroyed in the first two years? Fire him. MuhMuh was right; Chicago is where WRs come to die. It's partly because of the offenses, QBs, and the OCs, but it's mostly because of a pervasive, ground-oriented offensive philosophy that hangs over Chicago like a dark cloud. As long as Lovie Smith is in Chicago and that cloud remains, we won't see fireworks in the air. Which is odd since so many want to focus the majority of attention on WR in FA and the draft...will it be another WR who comes to Chicago to die? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Repeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Interesting analysis. While some of the elements are arguable, most of what you say rings true. Proving Drake isn't bad is like proving a negative. You almost can't do it. But, is he really good? There's no evidence to suggest so. So why not jetison him and find someone that has proven results? Given our history, especially as you say, under Smith, is seems highly improbable that Drake is an amazing WR coach that has simply has little to work with. It's probably more like Drake is a so-so WR coach that has had little to work with. 2004 - Terrell, first round talent that was never developed beyond raw ability. Squeezed way more out of Bobby Wade than anyone thought possible. [OC - Terry Shea] 2005 - MuhMuh regressed from previous years, and I'm sure Drake had some input into his acquisition, meanwhile Mark Bradley wastes his rookie year [OC - Turner] 2006 - Berrian showed noticable improvement, Bradley continued to waste, MuhMuh continued to disappoint [OC - Turner] 2007 - Berrian still looking good, Hester emerges with some raw ability, Bradley continues to waste away with no improvement, and MuhMuh appears to be mailing it in [OC - Turner] 2008 - Devin Hester shows considerable improvement, Earl Bennett barely sniffs the field, Brandon Lloyd and Marty Booker are available for 26 games total but only beat Rashweed Davis by 5 receptions [OC - Turner] 2009 - Hester continues to improve, Knox emerges, Bennett emerges (probably held back in 08 by Lloyd and Booker), Aromoashodu criminally underutilized [OC - Turner] 2010 - Hester regresses, Bennett improves, Knox has better stats but has horrible tendencies that lead to multiple Cutler INTs, Aromashodu still underutilized [OC - Martz] 2011 - Odd year, just about all players appear to regress, but that could be directly related to having an NFL QB in only 10 games. Knox, Hester, Williams are not better than their previous years. Bennett is steady but severely underutilized [OC - Martz] The verdict: Only really Berrian and Hester have improved, and an elevator on the ground floor can only go up. So that leaves Berrian as the only real improved WR. Fire Drake. If not for the lack of improvement for the continual what-ifs. What if Aromashodu were used more? What if Knox were taught how to come back to the ball and actually help the QB out? What if Lloyd was actually used while in Chicago? What if Bradley had actually been given a chance and his confidence wasn't destroyed in the first two years? Fire him. MuhMuh was right; Chicago is where WRs come to die. It's partly because of the offenses, QBs, and the OCs, but it's mostly because of a pervasive, ground-oriented offensive philosophy that hangs over Chicago like a dark cloud. As long as Lovie Smith is in Chicago and that cloud remains, we won't see fireworks in the air. Which is odd since so many want to focus the majority of attention on WR in FA and the draft...will it be another WR who comes to Chicago to die? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Ive seen enough in 7 years of Drake. If he wasnt happy with the personnel he should have lobbied for upgrades. If your WR coach cant coach up your WRs then why does he have that position. I disagree with the point that its because weve never had any WR talent here in the sense that WRs dont need to be pro bowlers to improve. A bad WR can become an average WR and so on. If he was a good coach some of these guys would have least showed signs of improvement, instead they seem to be regressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemonej Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I have no idea. All I do know is that he's had virtually nothing to work with. Do you think he had a hand in recruiting Roy Williams here? The way he acted during TC about the demotion of Knox was a little unprofessional also. Drake was not here at the begining of Lovie's tenure but he came between his top pupil and his last draft prospect. Roy Williams and Limas Sweed. I do belieeve he was here long enough to have had time with all the recievers the Bears have drafted under Lovie and JA except one Jamin Elliott. So Justin Gage ,Bobby Wade,Bernard Berrian, Airese Curry,Mark Bradley, Devin Hester(drafted as a DB), Marcus Monk, Earl Bennett, Derek Kinder and Jauquin Iglesias. All I know is that when the Saints pick a Marques Colston in the 7th round and develop him why can't we have one of these 11 guys drafted become a number one like him. Lets also take into consideration no matter what rookie WR it was he never saw the field his first year. Berrian,Bradley,Bennett and Iglesias all basically were redshirted. When you see undrafted Sazenbacher see the field from day one in what is supposedly a diificult offense to learn but Bennett couldn't see the field in Ron Turner's WCO. Who do you point the finger at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears4Ever_34 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 I ask myself the same question everytime I hear the name Darryl Drake. He'll be gone whenever the new GM fires Lovie after this year anyways so I guess that's the good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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