Thread: Phil Emery Reflection/Assessment

Up to this point, and especially with the signings of Bush and Campbell I think Phil Emery has upgraded the offense significantly and made certain there would be no drop off in talent on return or coverage teams too. Those guys are an easy 1/3 of the Bears strength as a team. We win games by virtue or having a better PK, Punter, Return Specialists and Coverage Teams than almost any other team in the league. Sometimes we joke about it but those guys have won us a lot of games since Toub has coached them and no one can deny that.

I'm over the MWill thing since I think we got hosed by Condon on that one anyway. That would have been the creme de la creme but it also would have inhibited us from adding upgrades elsewhere. As for Forte I think his expectations are too grand based on his mileage and his performance in comparison to others. He's not an AP and he's not even and Arian Foster. I think eventually it all comes down to just what it did last fall. Does he want to secure his future with the Bears or not.

Signing the two former Raiders showed his ability to use his experience to prospect players in the AFCW which is a pool of talent JA usually ignored. I don't think he could have found two better fits as backups for our stars at QB and RB. Campbell has the arm and the mobility to run the same offense as Cutler and Bush is a good all round back and a great short yardage an goaline option.

Trading for Marshall and only giving up what he did was a good score no matter what lies Ross wants to tell regarding their decision to release him if they couldn't trade him. He has a sweetheart contract compared to what VJax got and if we'd have been negotiating with him as a FA with other teams in the hunt he would certainly have been more costly than he is. When you can bring our passing game up to par with GB and Detroit for two 3rds that's a good move.

The only one of our own I would like to see back in the fold is Okoye so I hope he has enough set aside to get that done this week. The other moves, especially Davis, were playing it smart. Steltz, Jennings and Izzy were comparatively inexpensive low risk deals. Overall I think he avoided overspending on anyone player or position. So if we can just get Okoye back I don't think he could have done much more with the opportunities he was given.

I'll give him a B+ if he signs Okoye.

Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

I think the Kellen Davis re-signing is far too unheralded. The guy was drawing legit interest around the league and we lured him back. He was an absolute stud at run-blocking, and his size and athleticism are both plus tools to his game. I'm not going to go overboard with expectations, but just looking at what he did last year for us in the ground game and his contribution to our red zone offense despite his complete under/non-use as a receiver, I think the hope behind his upside is very legitimate. He's also MUCH tougher and MUCH harder to bring down with the ball in his hands than Olsen.

While we're talking TE, I'm very happy with the position. Adams surprised me a lot with his agility in routes from the H-back role and hopefully Andre Smith makes the squad and replaces Spaeth's contribution at a hugely lesser cost in the near future.

I'm also warming to the ST signings. Weems is a second return game threat that gives us a 1-2 punch that can't be matched and Costanzo is a huge-hitting, fumble-forcing machine.

The holes that remain (namely DE, OL, compliment WR, CB) proved to be unquestionably HUGELY overpayed positions on the FA market outside of LB and S. I would have liked to see a guy like Woodyard come in to our LB corps, and S was my go-to position for veteran stability this offseason. However, I can live with this rookie OLB class and the S market dissolved after the top two were franchised and DeCoud re-signed before hitting UFA.

Funny thing is that while the FA CB's were pricey averaging around $4 mil per year the LB's have just about been
totally ignored. Woodyard re-upped with Denver and there were a few mid grade guys but there are still a lot of unsigned guys and the going rate is around $2 mil per year. There must be a lot of LB talent in the draft this year that teams are looking at as a much cheaper way to go. Mid round picks will only be getting around $500k per and even the top picks won't be getting any more than $2 mil or so.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

I'll give him a B+ if he signs Okoye.

In my book, re-signing Okoye gives him the A, but that's just splitting hairs. We need to re-sign Okoye, now.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

In my book, re-signing Okoye gives him the A, but that's just splitting hairs. We need to re-sign Okoye, now.

Yeah, I'm not sure why the holdup so it must be the $$$ he's looking for. Okoye was the one former 1st round pick who really paid off last year and keeping him long term is like getting one of those 1sts we traded for Cutler back again. The kid is young and just now maturing into his game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get a deal done with him.