You are out of touch with reality. Howard was the featured back by the 3rd game of the season. Getting more touches than Langford before he got injured. Meredith got snaps in every game before he took over for the injured White. Again only 4 games into the season. Trubisky promoted after Glennon sucked. 4 games in. Last week McBride was moved into starting roll ahead of Bellamy and Thompson because of play not injury. 5 weeks in. This week Gentry is called up. Thompson cut because of play not injury. Who do you think is losing snaps this week. My money is in Wheaton. 6 weeks in. Fox has flaws. And they are getting worse by the game. But holding back from playing young players isn’t one of them.
This is disingenuous at best. But more likely just deceiving and being used to support a false narrative. Langford got the start. He was the feature back. But, he was in on a few 3 and outs so didn't get a chance to get a lot of carries. Howard didn't even see the field until the 2nd quarter. He got a few more carries than Langford did "before he got injured" only because he was in on drives that lasted longer. Howards first carry was for 36 yards in that game. He was in for exactly 2 drives. He ran 4 times before Langford rushed his 3rd time. You claiming he was the "feature" back by game 3 is full of shit and you know it Rob. Cam Meredith did not see the field on offense in game 1 or 2 of 2016. Not a single snap. Are you counting his ST' snaps??? LOL You're better than that.
You say this like waiting until week 5 was OK? He was clearly the better QB in pre-season. Experts were saying it was dumb to not play him. I don't know whether it was more Fox or Pace that held him back from playing him, but it doesn't matter. The coach is supposed to decide which team to field that gives the best chance to win.
TEs...especially rookies...very rarely block one on one. They chip block and help tackles and help out in the run game. 22 positions on both sides of the ball...tight end ranks in the bottom half in terms of hardest positions to learn coming out of college. Corner is harder. Safety is harder. Get a clue man.
What’s disingenuous is saying that Howard didn’t touch the field until Langford got injured. Which is just an outright lie. You are right that Meredith didn’t play the first two games. But White went out in game four. Meredith got snaps in game 3 and 4 before White went down. Saying he didn’t see the field till the injury is again the false narrative.
Answer this question. Why do rookie TE’s historically struggle more than any other position to make a big impact as a rookie.
I apologize if semantics was my issue. I was at the end of a long day at the office and on an empty stomach. By "didn't see the field", I was speaking colloquially, intending to express that these guys didn't get real or notable time, not that they didn't actually wear a Bears uniform and play a few snaps. I should've been more clear, and for that I do apologize. I find that being cooped up all day in an oppressive office and then letting loose on an empty stomach is likely not the best recipe, but it's what I've got, at the moment, unfortunately.
Answer this question. Why do rookie TE’s historically struggle more than any other position to make a big impact as a rookie. I'm just gonna go out on this limb here and say it's the same reason most rookies, in general, struggle....because they are rookies. There are no metrics to show a TE generally struggles more than a CB or a WR. How many true impact rookies do we see per season? Versus how many rookies we either never hear the names of or we see go through growing pains across the board? TE is not near being the hardest position to transition to...there so many other critical positions with far steeper learning curves and a lot more responsibility. The reason why a lot of rookie TE's struggle these days? They can't fucking block. Teams are more interested in tight ends that have higher 40 times and catching ability so big freaky athletes are being chosen over prototype blocking tight ends. So when a guy like Austin Hooper gets to the NFL and gets thrown on his ass by guys even bigger and stronger than he is....yeah, he's gonna struggle. But his struggles are no worse....and realistically probably better....than a rookie center that has to learn to not only bond with his QB but learn all the cadences and learn to read a blitz and communicate on the line. Center could possibly be the 2nd hardest position in football for a rookie after QB. And then there's LT.....hey rook....we are gonna put you on an island against the world's most bad ass pass rushers. We might chip your way a little but otherwise...you're on your own. And then there's WR. Here's one route....that has 6 different variations and you need to read the CB's hips to decide which branch of the tree you're taking and don't forget to watch the safety if he's playing inside or out. Oh and be prepared to be thrown on the ground a lot in the run game. CB? Oh you have to learn to read run versus pass and know when you're zone or when you're man and listen to the safety for zone shifts on every play....and you're gonna cover the best athletes on earth, have fun. Hey rookie mike Linebacker.....good news....you get to spend roughly 12-18 hours a week doing nothing but watching opposing QBs on film and listening to their cadences and audibles because you're probably gonna be our play caller and now you're responsible for the entire god damn defense and making sure they line up. Good luck. Oh rookie tight end.....yeah you're gonna play about 40% of our offensive snaps and most of that you will be blocking...probably mainly helping others block or blocking smaller players out in space....and we are gonna give you 5 or 6 routes to run. Rob...quit while you're behind. Just admit you said something stupid. It's okay.
Putting QB to one side, cos its arguably the hardest position in pro sports....... my personal feeling has always been that WR & CB are the two toughest positions to transition to in the pros. Not just because of the physical and talent demands, but also because there is a highly nuanced, highly complex mental aspect that must be learned/adapted too also, which i don't believe applies as much to a lot of the other positions. I don't have a table to point to or anything, its just always been my feeling. I know if my team is picking top10 in the draft the two positions im most wary about drafting personally is WR & CB. It just seems so hard to get value and production out of a guy before its time to start paying them big bucks. There are many many examples but Kyle Fuller is one who springs to mind. Its a great point you make about the Center position man, thats something i've never really considered as much as i should tbh. It makes Whitehair's performance last year all the more impressive.
You make a good argument as to why other positions are harder to play than TE. But nobody is arguing that. Hell many a good TE didn’t even play TE in college. So they need more time than other positions to nail down there multiple responsibilities in the pro game. Many of them have to start from scratch to learn how to run block and pass block. Many TE’s make a big jump going into there second season. Not because of the level of difficulty learning there position but just the amount of new things they need to be able to do. Yes it is harder for a MLB to call a defense get everyone set up and then drop in coverage and get a pick or shoot a gap and make a tackle for a loss. But those MLB’s have been doing it all through college. They get paid more to do it at a high level in the NFL.
Well...this is gonna be fun..... You make a good argument as to why other positions are harder to play than TE. But nobody is arguing that. Harder to play means harder to transition...and that's what this argument is about. Hell many a good TE didn’t even play TE in college. And the bullshit starts now....let's look at the top TE's in the game today...and what position they played in college....shall we? Zack Ertz - Played tight end in college. Gronk - Also played tight end in college. Travis Kelce - Played tight end...also lined up as a QB in wildcat. Jordan Reed - Recruited as a QB....converted to a TE IN COLLEGE. Greg Olsen - TE Tyler Eifert - TE Jimmy Graham - TE for his last season Kyle Rudolph - TE Delanie Walker - Ah, we got one. Walker was a WR and KR mainly at Central Missouri. Martellus Bennett - TE Hunter Henry - TE Eric Ebron - TE How about some of the best ever? Jason Witten - Recruited as a DE, converted to TE Tony Gonzalez - TE Antonio Gates - Never played a down of football in college....so you now have 2. So I ask Rob....who are these "many" good TE's that never played TE in college? Please tell me. So they need more time than other positions to nail down there multiple responsibilities in the pro game. Block, run, catch. A great deal of the blocking...is help blocking. Many of them have to start from scratch to learn how to run block and pass block. Bullshit. Unless they never played high school or college football....and I think we already explored that. This is where the quit while your behind comes in handy. They have to adjust to the speed of blocking in the NFL. Not the basics of blocking. Adam Shaheen knows how to physically block someone.....he has to adjust how to physically block an NFL defender. That's the difference. Yes it is harder for a MLB to call a defense get everyone set up and then drop in coverage and get a pick or shoot a gap and make a tackle for a loss. But those MLB’s have been doing it all through college. They get paid more to do it at a high level in the NFL. A lot of players that call plays on defense didn't do that in college because it's not always required of them. Systems are difference in college. And I'd safely say some of them definitely didn't do it all through college. Even if they did....when they get to the NFL they are looking at much different styles of offense and the whole thing changes. And as noted above there have been guys like Urlacher who excelled at things like this that played other positions in college. Sorry rob but you're outside your mind and out of your depth here pal.
Considering he was mentored by Rocky Long and Bronco Mendenhall....he may have been involved in on field play calling. As a hybrid safety/linebacker....he almost certainly helped call shifts. But the Urlacher that we all recall barking out plays and trading cadences with the NFL's best QBs.....that guy learned that in the NFL.
