Matt Forte The Better Option For The Bears

by Adam T on Jun 26, 2008 1:53 PM CDT Comment 18 comments

Take a look at this article, its author is outlining reasons whey just removing Cedric Benson from the team is improving the team.

Forte won't be able to sign his contract and retire on the same day
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding Benson that he enjoyed getting paid to play football but never truly wanted to play football. Even as a 12th-round draft pick of the Dodgers back in 2001, he stuck around the game of baseball just long enough to get a few healthy paychecks before returning to the University of Texas to focus on his pigskin career. Once Benson received $17 million in guaranteed money from the Bears as the No. 4-overall pick three years ago, it's possible that the drive and determination he needed to live up to his lofty draft status instantly disappeared.

While Forte will certainly be paid well once he signs his name on the dotted line, he won't be guaranteed millions and millions of dollars as a second-rounder and will undoubtedly make the brunt of his money with his second NFL contract – meaning he'll have to earn it on Sunday.

My issues were never really with Benson's ability, they were always with the way I perceived his attitude. Hopefully this works out for us.

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you would think

that in the media we currently have, benson’s “nothing bothers me” attitude would be the best way to handle that sort of scrutiny. And I think it would be….as long as you actually give a shit.

by mike b on Jun 26, 2008 2:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

its absurd to think that just because a guy isnt running wild, that he doesnt care.

Football wise he did everything the bears asked him too. They draft him 4th and bench him. They ask him to be a compliment to jones late in 06 and he averages near 5ypc. They finally start him behind an o line found in a nursing home and want him to run it 30 times a game…. which he does. Then when everyone bitches about the ypc…. he gets more yards… ie seattle, denver.

I hate the guy for his actions this summer but i cant see the money issue being equivalent to not caring. If you got drafted 4th, would you not want to get paid. Mcfadden got 60 million! The holdout was as much angelos fault as bensons. What did he want benson to sign a one year incentive based deal.
Anyone would look slow behind fred miller.

by rahulsriram on Jun 26, 2008 4:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

BS

How can u support Benson after his hold out and lack of production and piss poor attitude. He did nothing when he complimented Jones besides giving Jones a breather. Good riddons of Benson, I hope he blew out his career.

by stumpo on Jun 26, 2008 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ya he did what they asked

and not too many backs could have excelled behind that line last year.

but in noway shape or form did he outperform Jones for the starting role. i believe that was what the bears expected. TJ out worked and out hustled benson on and off the field(ya i know how his 1st yr in NY went). all benson could do was throw his teammates and coaches under the bus.

that game that he decided to leave the sidelines and watch the game from a tv, showed what kind of character he has. he has no heart and i would put money on the idea of his teammates not caring too much that he is gone.

Forte doesn’t have very big shoes to fill. i want to see him at game speed before i voice an opinion on him though.

by coolgjc on Jun 27, 2008 6:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thank god

you spoke up stumpo. after you provided such deep anaylsis and insight into this topic, I am now convinced that benson sucked.

“How can u support Benson after his hold out and lack of production and piss poor attitude?”

Im pretty sure I answered that. He held out because its a business! Not madden 08

Did he really hold out and have a bad attitude? wow, i guess i didnt realize that was the dock on him

common man, at least mike b brings it.

647yds, 6td, 4.1ypc and no fumbles in limited action(06’) is something not nothing.

by rahulsriram on Jun 26, 2008 6:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I guess you want to hear stats before or after an arguement in order to make sense to you. Well, states don’t always tell the truth. Most of Benson’s run in 06 were after Jones broke the defense down. Come on what impact has he had on our team? It took him how long to break a 30 yard run? He always get run down. He barely breaks through tackles like he did in college (yes I realize these are NFL players now) , but come on, if you are justifying his play, your as dumb as our coach Lovie.

by stumpo on Jun 30, 2008 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I feel optomisitc.

However, I usually do. But I do agree with a lot of what was said, especially the Wolfe thing. He is quite versatile and I think will flourish in his second year.

Lovie Smith-isms:
"We get off the bus running"
"Rex Grossman is our quarterback."
"...and we'll go from there."

by GallopingGhost on Jun 26, 2008 6:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

the only emotion benson ever showed was

on draft day when he cried becasue he did NOT want the bears to draft him… that makes two of us, send him to the chicago rush for all i care

by SamuraiMike50 on Jun 26, 2008 7:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

angelo knew what he was getting into

bensons reps called angelo before the draft. they knew they were drafting the number one back in that class and they knew what kind of money he wanted.

How come everybody bitches about benson being handed the starting job? Because come game one, we arent going to “hand” the job to forte.

So forte earned the job because benson boozes and drives?

so a 1st round 4th pick has to wait 2 years for the job and a second round 46th pick has to wait 3 months… ah that makes sense. I hear making the jump from tulane to indy on a sunday night is an easy transition.

by rahulsriram on Jun 26, 2008 8:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Everything I've read, seen and heard about Forte...

lead me to believe that he’s legit. he’s a complete back which we sorely need. Sure, he’ll need to “earn” the job from Peterson, but I don’t expect that to be much of a challenge. I have no qualms thus far about “handing” Forte the job. I’m down. Let him get his feet wet in the pre-season. He’ll get all the first-team reps in practice and, if he’s as hard a worker as reported, he’ll come along nicely. I expect a 1,000 yard season from him,.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

by topdoggkyle on Jun 26, 2008 9:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

no way

Benson was worth keeping dude. You may have a point that he put up decent numbers at times and very very few backs could do anything useful behind doorstops like miller and unhealthy r brown last year but cmon benson couldn’t hardly do anything else as a NFL back right. Remember when Rex got broke against the Redskins because dipshit Benson missed his blocking assignment? benson fucking up and missing blitzing linebackers happened quite a few times in the course of his shitty Bears career. Also never seen anyone get tackled by yard stripes as much as he did (Broncos game is a shining example). He sucked on the field, I think this off-field crap was just a great excuse to deep six this scrub. Catching passes also was something he evidently did not excel at. Still seems a bit surprising Bears aren’t gonna bring in another veteran just to make it interesting, they must need every dollar to pay their current malcontents.

by reefermadness3 on Jun 27, 2008 9:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Our Adrian Peterson Rightly Praised by scouting article

Our A.P. looked ripped in that game against the Packers D-fence at Soldier Field. He wore that defense down. Its sad to think of what would have happened to Peterson if Benson would have stayed. Benson was clearly the favored and pampered baby. Benson was all talk and Peterson was all walk. Funny thing is that Peterson has a stuttering speech impediment and can’t really trash talk or talk himself up, he has to show his game on the field, not off. I’d like to see Forte get 17-20 hand offs or passes, Peterson 10-13, Wolfe at least 7-10 per game. The days of Benson getting 25 to 30 handoffs and running an underwhelming sluggish game for a multi million dollar salary is over. Like Redman and Cypress Hill says….”Time for Some Action…Ti…Ti….Ti…Time for Some Action!”

by Chicagoso on Jun 27, 2008 10:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

reefermadness 3 you got a fact wrong

“Remember when Rex got broke against the Redskins because dipshit Benson missed his blocking assignment? “

rex got hurt in the redskins game because terrance metcalf missed his assignment and bennett went for rex’s leg. benson was not even in the game. he got hurt two games before against the broncos.

by rahulsriram on Jun 27, 2008 5:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Forte and CB

I want to see Matt perform in training camp with pads on before we go and anoint him as the starter. It will come down to the offensive line performing much better in order for the running game to get back to respectability. I like how he has all the tools to be an everydown back.

CB was obviously a bum since the get go. When he cried on draft day I was worried about his mental state. I supported and defended him up until his last incident with the law. Why can’t these rich athletes hire a limo driver to chauffeur them around? It will never make sense to me. Why risk everything to show your friends you can drive a big SUV around town with 20 inchers? Such arrogance!

by propheteer on Jun 29, 2008 11:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

oops, you're right.

that would be my bad, perhaps too many memories of watching him let LB’s run by him throughout the last 3 years muddle everything up.

metcalf should pick up drinking and boating as a hobby as well btw, six year vet expected to sub for a reserve OT taking his spot. weak. Chicagososo is right, I also would like to see AP get a good amount of carries in the majority of games this year too. He can make some plays

by reefermadness3 on Jun 29, 2008 10:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

This is just childish

the fact of the matter is that if Benson hadn’t gotten injured, had a 1000 yd. season and averaged over 3 YPC, no one would even care about the all of the off-season stuff that happened.

But since he had a shitty season, we are all NOW noticing the fact that he was a hold out, missed reads on blitzes and wasn’t a good teammate.

The point is that we’re all hating on him because he SUCKED. I’m sure there are plenty of me-first stars out there that do the same thing that CB did but don’t get hated on because they produced. So please, everyone, just get over it. It’s done. It’s over with. He’s not on the team anymore. Let’s focus on the team we have now.

I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad

by thecoolest on Jun 30, 2008 10:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

you really

think people are only noticing him now? the majority sentiment has always been negative against him in the bigger bear community; writers, announcer, players and fans outside wcg. this is just the final chunk of blood finishing the frenzy.

by mike b on Jun 30, 2008 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know it was noticed before

but now people are piling on, over and over. What I’m saying is that people wouldn’t be making such a big deal about it if he was actually a good player. People would be overlooking that and focus on his numbers, not on his faults.

I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad

by thecoolest on Jun 30, 2008 10:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs