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Earl Bennett to Play the Eddie Royal Role in Bears Bronco Style Offense....
BBAO: Earl Bennett in the Eddie Royal role
June, 14, 2012 Jun 14
7:00
AM ET
By Kevin Seifert | ESPN.com
The Chicago Bears' re-creation of the Denver Broncos' 2008 offense includes the quarterback (Jay Cutler), the primary receiver (Brandon Marshall) and one of the key assistant coaches (Jeremy Bates). But who will play the role of Eddie Royal, the slot receiver who caught 91 passes for the Broncos that season?
Here's an idea, courtesy Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com: Earl Bennett. In fact, Bennett has already reached out to Royal via phone and discussed the possibilities. Here's how Bennett recounted the conversation following a Bears minicamp practice this week:
"I picked his brain about this offense and the role of the slot guy and also playing outside. Both of us play the position pretty much the same way. We both have the same fundamentals, get in and out our routes the same way and have good body control. Eddie is probably a little quicker than I am but there are definitely similarities between the two of us. He's one of the guys I call and ask about the plays and he helps me out with that.' We watch tape and I see what Eddie did right and what Eddie did wrong in the offense when he played. I just want to come out, stay focused, make plays and learn from what he and Brandon Stokley did in this offense."
Bennett predicted the Bears could have "three or four" receivers exceed the 1,000-yard mark this season, an accomplishment that not even that 2008 Broncos offense achieved. But in the middle of June, at least, anything and everything seems possible. Why not?
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Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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I think many of us were in favor or signing Eddie Royal for the slot position too. But that was before we drafted Jeffery. Look like Bennett will be handling that role so he's getting advice straight from the horses mouth. Smart move.
I know we're gonna throw the ball around a lot more than we did but 3 or 4 1000 yard receivers? I'd be checking to see if I was watching the right team. LOL
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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I Doubt we throw it THAT much more. Tice's MO has been just over a 50/50 split pass run less then 50 difference his last year in Minny. And he had McNabb and Moss and a no name RB, not talking AP at that time.
I do think what throws we do make are going to be more productive though.
Not sure how I feel about Bennette playing the same role as Royal. Royal was a speedster more along the lines of Knox/Hester. Bennett is much more a posession guy. Should be interesting.
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Yep you never want to step away from one for the other. Consistent winning requires balance. When Martz got too over enthused about calling pass plays we got wacked. I can see teams shading more to the pass now but not at the expense of deserting the run.
Those team who don't feature a decent running attack to create balance will win games but they'll be vulnerable as hell against really goods teams. We've played some pretty tight games against the Packers by reigning in there passing game knowing they couldn't hurt us much with the run. It hasn't always been that way but recently it has.
Like I was saying in another thread with the talent we have we've got a shot at establishing some new precedents as far as game planning an offensive structure. It's gonna be hard to focus on stopping just one thing knowing that will bottle up the offense. Too good a QB and too many tools to work with.
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Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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100% agreed Soul. This team is starting to resemble NY, Pitt when they had big ben, and the Buss Parker and a few wr to keep teams honest. And even the current Hou team, who has a solid QB, wr threats and rb threats. Not to mention all those teams had/have top notch D's like we do. Main difference is going to be the ST's we have. Not sure all those teams had/have the k/p/kr/pr we have.
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Originally Posted by
Riczaj01
I Doubt we throw it THAT much more. Tice's MO has been just over a 50/50 split pass run less then 50 difference his last year in Minny. And he had McNabb and Moss and a no name RB, not talking AP at that time.
I do think what throws we do make are going to be more productive though.
Not sure how I feel about Bennette playing the same role as Royal. Royal was a speedster more along the lines of Knox/Hester. Bennett is much more a posession guy. Should be interesting.
Royal has more flat out speed than Bennett but Bennett is kind of sneaky fast. He gets out of cuts well and creates separation and if CB's don't respect him he has enough of a third gear to get behind them and make them look bad.
In that Cutler/Marshall/Royal era they didn't have Royal streaking downfield often. Most of his plays were for short yardage where he had a chance to pick up yac. They threw a lot of crossing routes to him too much like Brady does with Welker. He's a zone beater. For all of those catches he still averaged less than 11 ypc. Bennett average is typically higher than that.
I'll take Bennett, his size, and his catching ability over Eddie Royal. I think Earl Bennett is one of the most underrated WR in the NFL.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Well he hasn't has a chance to shine b/c of the O's he's been on. This year he'll get a chance to prove it.
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Originally Posted by
Riczaj01
100% agreed Soul. This team is starting to resemble NY, Pitt when they had big ben, and the Buss Parker and a few wr to keep teams honest. And even the current Hou team, who has a solid QB, wr threats and rb threats. Not to mention all those teams had/have top notch D's like we do. Main difference is going to be the ST's we have. Not sure all those teams had/have the k/p/kr/
pr we have.
This is what excites me about our season. I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a Bears team with this potent of an offense, defense & special teams. I realize we haven't played any games yet. But it sure looks like something very special. Pray we keep healthy. I figure the only thing that can stop us is injuries to key players.
Last edited by JustAnotherBearsFan99; 06-14-2012 at 11:35 PM.
Trestman - Kromer - Tucker - DeCamillis
I'm looking forward to seeing these guys coach. Hope they're good.
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Agreed, JFBF99, it's really only a matter of the OL being able to be average. If they hold up the O will click w/the best of them. If they fail the O is going to struggle mightly. It's the only real questionmark on the team right now, outside of Safties and a 2nd CB.
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You know there's a synergy going on when Jay is all smiles instead of cryptic comments and left hand compliments. He hasn't had a had a bad word to say about anyone except to express his concerns about the line and rightfully so. If I were those guys I'd take that as a personal challenge to lay down my life to protect him this year. SB rings look mighty nice and this is as good a year to get one as any.
The other thing I'm hearing is that most of these guys, even a few of the rookies, have picked up the basics of the offense pretty well. This either means that it's way too simple (which I doubt) or compared to what Martz was trying to operate from these guys finally understand the reasons and purpose for what they do. They see the big picture and know what to do. Hallelujah!
The big tell to me is how much better they say it is to be operating at full speed with the confidence of knowing what they're supposed to be doing. Don't make them have to think too much. Let them understand and react. I think Tice and his guys are much more in tune with their guys than we're used to seeing. Before it seemed like it was only the defense who had that kind of confidence.
Last edited by soulman; 06-15-2012 at 12:14 AM.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.