Holt, Jaworski Say; "Bears WR Are Limited Talent"

Ex-Rams receiver Holt, ESPN analyst Jaworski imply Bears’ receivers limited
SEAN JENSEN on the NFL

Updated: October 8, 2011 1:46AM


Look around the league, and quarterbacks and receivers are threatening to break a number of records. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and receiver Wes Welker are on pace to shatter records owned by Dan Marino and Jerry Rice.

Then there are the Bears. Six receivers have combined for 39 catches, 578 yards and two touchdowns. By comparison, Welker has 40 catches, 616 yards and five touchdowns.

This wouldn’t be so jarring if a certain someone wasn’t the offensive coordinator. After all, Mike Martz orchestrated ‘‘The Greatest Show on Turf’’ with the St. Louis Rams, one of the greatest offenses in NFL history.

On Thursday, I chatted with former Rams receiver Torry Holt, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who had 920 catches for 13,382 yards and 84 touchdowns in his career. He was diplomatic in talking about the Bears’ receivers.

When I asked him if the Bears have enough talent at the position, Holt said: ‘‘Of course. Johnny Knox can play now. But in that system, you have to give those guys a lot of time [to get open]. ‘‘I think these guys can do well enough in this system. It’s a matter of sustaining it game after game after game. That’s what we did.’’

After a solid rookie season (52 catches for 788 yards and six touchdowns), Holt exploded for 82 catches for 1,635 yards in his second season. He said the Rams’ offense, which also featured quarterback Kurt Warner, receiver Isaac Bruce and running back Marshall Faulk, played ‘‘a certain way.’’

‘‘There was a certain standard and speed we played at, and that’s hard to do,’’ Holt said. ‘‘[The Bears] have some guys there, but it’s not the group that we had. I don’t want to compare that Bears receiver group to our group. They don’t have what we had, but they can still do well.’’

Asked if the Bears added enough to the position during the offseason, Holt said: ‘‘You can never have too many guys at the receiver position. I guess they felt they wanted to go with Roy [Williams]. Unfortunately, he’s not giving them anything.’’

Holt said Devin Hester is a proven weapon as a returner. ‘‘We know that, but how much can he give you as a receiver?’’ he said. ‘‘That’s still to be seen.’’ Holt also described Earl Bennett as a ‘‘possession guy.’’
Overall, Holt said this of the Bears’ receiving corps: ‘‘They don’t scare a team.’’

I had a separate conversation with ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski. Like Holt, he didn’t openly rip the Bears’ receivers, but he didn’t praise them, either. ‘‘I think there’s enough talent for this to be a good group,’’ Jaworski said. ‘‘But I don’t think it’s the Green Bay Packers. This can be a good group but not a great one.’’

Jensen reports what we already know. We have a very mediocre group of WR and Martz is trying to run a pass oriented offense with them that they lack the top talent to run well. It's pretty sad when one small but nifty WR can outgain and outscore our entire contingent of wideouts.

What sticks out in my from this reports are two things;

1) Holt repeats what we all know all too well. The pass routes in Martz's offense take time to develop and without an Oline that can protect the QB it's destined for failure. If you hire Mike Martz you'd better either have and have an ability to get the lineman and receivers the system requires. JA didn't even come close.

2) For the second year in a row JA gives Martz an offensive tool that he asks for in Roy Williams and once again it's turning into a complete failure to improve the offense. To me this is just further proof that Martz doesn't really know what he's doing with his players and that is unlikely to improve this year. The only positive I can see is that his contract is up after this season thank God.

If the Bears are ever gonna regain the glory of years past and become a consistent winner again these half hearted methods of building an offense have to stop. Either spend the $$$ to get the top vet talent needed or spend less on players but get a coaching team in here who can develop talent. This group has never proven they can.

It doesn't take a HoF WR and an NFL expert to figure that out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

It doesn't take a HoF WR and an NFL expert to figure that out.

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Yet even with these guys saying it denial will still be the word of the day.

Things might be very different if Roy Williams had lived up to all the hype Martz spewed out when he signed him. As it stands right now he's the weakest WR in the bunch and as far from a #1 Chicago is from Dallas. Maybe this article in the Trib will explain why RWill has never been a consistent performer througout his career. Check out what Kevin Jones has to say about him, LOL.


Can Williams' talent be unlocked?


Bears receiver has had only intermittent success



By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune reporter 5:55 p.m. CDT, October 8, 2011


The kid from Odessa, Texas, felt as if he were secluded in a foreign country rather than relocated within the United States.

Bears receiver Roy Williams, then a first-round draft pick of the Lions, envisioned radiant lights and dazzling skyscrapers before landing in Detroit during the spring of 2004. His only exposure to the Midwest had been whenever his Texas Longhorns traveled to agricultural-rich Ames to play Iowa State.

Based on first impressions, Williams wasn't driven to call the Motor City home.

"When I looked out the window,'' Williams said, "I was like, 'What is this?' I'm thinking Detroit was going to be something totally different. I would say I was disappointed. But I didn't know the whole situation. Once I figured out everything and the economy. … I just didn't know, being a guy who lived down south all of his life.''

Parts of Detroit were desolate. Plenty of depressed faces screamed for help.

Williams offered a helping hand.

Reluctantly, he recalled a day he walked into the Farmer Jack supermarket in suburban Detroit. Williams said he volunteered to buy groceries for an elderly woman standing behind him. He repeated the deed occasionally.

"I didn't know if they were poor or not because you can't judge folks like that, but, heck, I had enough money,'' Williams said.

Total strangers weren't the only thing Williams bought into.

After arriving with skepticism, he embraced his new city, the place to which he will return Monday night as the opposition. Detroit was where he connected with young fans by tossing balls and gloves to the crowd after touchdowns.

Detroit was where Williams played at the top of his game.

"He's one of the best receivers in the game, when featured,'' said running back Kevin Jones, a Lions teammate of Williams. "He's a beast. Teams just need to cater to his skills, and not the other way around.'' (Yeah every team should change it's way of doing things just to accomodate the phenomenal Roy Williams, LMFAO!)

That philosophy worked in Detroit, for the most part.

Coming out roaring

It all came so easily for Williams as a rookie.

The West Coast offense was a breeze. Then-Lions head coach Steve Mariucci was laid back. And Williams was the go-to guy.

"I was able to make plays my first year,'' Williams recalled. "I believe I got hurt with a high ankle sprain, missed a few games, and I still had (817) yards receiving and eight touchdowns. If I don't miss those games, I'm a 1,000-yard receiver.''

Mariucci was a believer. He marveled at how Williams left fans awestruck, at times, including a highlight catch near the sideline versus the Bears. And Williams used his 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame to his advantage.

"He was strong as hell,'' Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said. "I remember one time, I think it was his rookie year, I tried to press him and he pushed me to the ground. It was like someone threw a grape at him, and I gave him everything I had.''

Williams seemed to reach an apex in 2006, when current Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli took over the Lions and brought offensive coordinator Mike Martz with him. Williams flourished in Martz's system, catching a career-high 82 passes for 1,310 yards and seven touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl despite Detroit's 3-13 record.

"He was just confident,'' Martz said of Williams "There was no sense covering him because he was going to make the play. He made catches that year that made you say, 'My goodness sakes. Did he do what I thought I just saw him do?'"

But something was missing. Williams was a concern for opposing defensive coordinators, but they didn't fear him. His athletic ability was unquestioned. His effort, at times, was a question.

"Sure, he needed to pick it up a notch, and I'm sure he'd be the first to admit it,'' said Mariucci, now an analyst for the NFL Network. "And in talking with his college coaches, they felt the same way. Sometimes it takes a while for that to kick in. But there wasn't anybody on our team … he didn't have a mentor.

 "You go to San Francisco and you see Jerry Rice work before and after practice and train all offseason. Or even Terrell Owens … he wouldn't lift weights with the team but, my God, he'd come in after supper and he lifted like a crazy man. If Roy had had somebody like that to show him and mentor him along, maybe it would have kicked in.''

It was just a matter of getting Williams out of his comfort zone.

Un-Pleasantville

Williams beamed when talking about his history with Mariucci. He was much more subdued while recalling his Detroit years alongside Marinelli.

From the moment Marinelli got to Detroit, his aim was to change the culture surrounding the Lions. Marinelli would tell you he failed after three losing seasons, including the 0-16 campaign in 2008.

Williams, who spent more than two seasons with Marinelli, would disagree.

"We were 6-2 under Rod and ended up 7-9 in 2007, but it was fun,'' Williams said. "He should be a head coach right now.

"Rod always talked about a place called Pleasantville,'' Williams said. "Pleasantville was what you're accustomed to, like practicing indoors and driving a nice car. He wanted us out of Pleasantville.''

So Marinelli took Williams and his teammates out of their comfort zone. Instead of holding practices indoors, the coach would move them outside, even when it snowed.

"And then sometimes, he would open the vent inside the facility and the cold wind would still come in there,'' Williams said. "We understood the point.''

Martz did his best to keep Williams out of "Pleasantville'' too. After the first game of the '06 season, when Williams had a lackluster three-catch, 36-yard performance against the Seahawks, Martz let loose with a profanity-laced assault.

"It was a long meeting, longer than an hour,'' Martz said. "I was hard on him, but he got the picture. He saw it very clear. We showed him the picture, actually. We showed him what it looked like. And he was embarrassed. I was like, 'Why would you let yourself do stuff like this? This team is counting on you.' And he understood.

Over the next three games, Williams caught 22 passes for 348 yards with a touchdown.

"He has character and all that stuff. He just needed somebody to challenge him, and we did,'' Martz said. "The work ethic is there. Maybe it wasn't in the past, but with my experience, it has been there".
(How many years ago has that been Mike? Dallas couldn't find it but you thought you could, LOL)

The Lions had other plans for Williams, especially after the lanky receiver Williams nicknamed "Megatron'' — Calvin Johnson — was drafted second overall in '07.

"Calvin was the high pick and, of course, I want more money than this guy because he hasn't done anything yet,'' Williams said.

Although acting general manager Martin Mayhew told Williams he had no intention of trading him, according to Williams, the receiver was shipped to the Cowboys along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a first-round pick (tight end Brandon Pettigrew), a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder.

"I don't want people to think that I wanted out of Detroit because I've always told the fans and told the team that I wanted to be a part of this thing and get this thing going because I love a challenge,'' Williams said.

"It didn't bother me to be traded because I was going home. (Mayhew) told me it was either Dallas or Buffalo. And I gave him a hug and told him I appreciate it. The thing that got me out was my (lucrative) contract.'' (And that's what all that effort to excel was all about)

His homecoming in Dallas never panned out for reasons Williams declined to discuss, although the Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $45 million contract with $20 million guaranteed. There was an obvious disconnect between Williams and quarterback Tony Romo. (sound familiar?)

"You come in midseason and you have to play, you have to learn the playbook and the timing with the QB just wasn't there,'' Williams said. "And two years after that, it still wasn't there.''
(And I'd be willing to bet it won't be here either even if we did keep him around)

Maybe Williams, now recovered from a groin injury, will find a comfort zone with Jay Cutler here in Chicago. Eventually.

"Roy's still a guy who can live up to his potential,'' Mariucci said.

"But he has to stay healthy. He has to train hard and be that guy who's a fanatic and answers the bell every day and every Sunday. (But he won't be because except for one season a very long time ago he never has been and he never will be that guy again)

"If he had some injuries that were debilitating, I would agree that he doesn't have the chance to be that guy anymore. But that's not the case. He can be that guy.'' (Sure Mooch)

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter@vxmcclure23

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Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by soulman

Then there are the Bears. Six receivers have combined for 39 catches, 578 yards and two touchdowns. By comparison, Welker has 40 catches, 616 yards and five touchdowns.

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Yeah, thats where i stopped reading. Youre really going to make a comparison against one of the best WRs in the league, on a team with one of the best QBs in the game, and one of the best OLs? A guy who has such ridiculous numbers that he is actually on pace for 160 Receptions, 2464 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Yeah...by all means, please, compare our WR to THAT guy. What a crock. Why not compare it to something more valid....like i dunno, AVERAGE reception yards/TDs. Seems like a more valid comparison then to simply point out that our WRs have less production then someone who has gaudy production numbers.

i dont think compaison is what he had in mind, like so many teams JA needs to get us a top reciver, Jay dosnt have that goto guy, take calvin johnson away from detroit they might be 0-4. Now that sidney rice is back up the seahawks dont look quite as bad, for the last two years i said no no these dudes will develop, knoxwill be a number one WR, but now we tried to replace him with williams? we can cut roy at anytime, and one thing i never tought i would hear myself say....T.O. is healthy again, do we sell our soul to the devil?

I think it's a very valid comparisson 3 guys vs 1? This is supposed to be an O that can pass on anyone; and we cannot get 6 to outplay 1 WR(not even the best in the league btw). That is about an average of 6 catches per person for about 96 yards per player, that is 2 catches for 32 yards per game per player. That is laughable at best.

But then, anyone fooled by the idea any of these guys were legit needs there head examined. This was the weak point in the O last year along w/the OL. Even if the OL does hold up, Cutler holds onto the ball too long b/c he only trusts 1 of these guys, and that is not a big play guy. He had trust in 1 other, but we had to trade him away b/c he wasn't Ditka....for a guy on our team that is even farther away from said HoF TE.

What's awful is we might lose Forte after the season. He is our offense.

Overall, Holt said this of the Bears’ receiving corps: ‘‘They don’t scare a team.’’

Adi said: "but Hester makes them shit there pants"