| 25 July 2010
Corey Graham, Al Afalava, and Kevin Payne are three players that have shown signs of being average to good NFL players at one point in their careers or another. For Afalava it was for a around 10 games or more during the 2009 season as a rookie. He then hit the proverbial rookie wall and struggled the rest of the way and now has fallen so far out of favor with the coaching staff he may struggle to keep his spot on the roster in 2010.
Corey Graham showed a lot of promise in a few of the games he’s started over his career and as a nickel back he showed some promise. Graham was thought of as a one time player who could be a full time starter, he emerged arguably before Zack Bowman did but has struggled since.
Kevin Payne was the starter at strong safety last year throughout most of the season. Payne is yet another player who has shown flashes but never has quite shown the ability to stay consistent or live up to the role of being a primary starter.
In turn the Bears have had to make some roster moves via free agency and the draft to make up for the inconstant shortcomings of these three players.
Truth be told if any of these three players lived up to the consistent level of play that is demanded of them the Bears would likely have one of the best and deepest secondary corps in the NFL.
So this begs the question what is wrong with the secondary and why does it continually seem to be an issue for this defense?
The only consistent player throughout Lovie Smith’s tenure has been Charles Tillman, every other position on the field has been a revolving door of inconsistency.
In response to this the Bears made a coaching change in the secondary prior to the start of the 2009 season. Jon Hoke joined the staff as secondary coach after holding the same position in Houston with the Texans.
So the question is will the second year under Hoke’s tutelage finally be a break out year for some of these players in the secondary? The need is desperate because even though the Bears have decent talent at the CB position every other position on the field is a scramble.
Danieal Manning is yet another player who hasn’t lived up to expectations, although Manning is currently holding down the starting strong safety spot opposite the newly returned Chris Harris who came back via trade.
Manning doesn’t necessarily fit the same mold as these other three because Manning has been consistently inconsistent and never has settled into a single role on the team with his play. Manning’s best effort came as the nickel back and as a kick return specialist.
The Bears have made done a lot of shuffling in the secondary in recent years, drafting CB’s Joshual Moore and D.J. Moore in consecutive years. Trading for Harris, signing Craig Bullocks as well as Tim Jennings from the Indianapolis Colts. The shifting around in the secondary is maddening because there hasn’t been a group that’s managed to come together and perform.
The assumption is that three of the four starters will be settled with the return of Chris Harris. However Harris isn’t in his prime and only had one big season in 2007 with the Panthers. Since then Harris hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, he’s been an average starter who is approaching or has hit the downside of his career.
The Bears are in desperate need of quality depth because the revolving door cannot continue, at some point in time one of these players who is in the third or fourth years of their career needs to step up and make plays.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
