Bears in Good Hands with Forte

by Adam T on Jul 9, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Many saw the Bears decission to hand the starting running back spot to Matt Forte as follie, considering veteran options such as Shaun Alexander and Kevin Jones were available. This story sees it quite the contrary saying that running back is possibly the easiest position for a rookie to succeed right away and history backs that up.

Schemes and philosophies can vary, but a running back's primary job is the same at every level: Find the hole, accelerate and make the first defender miss. More than anywhere else, raw skills and instincts can triumph over inexperience.

Recent NFL history offers ample evidence. Since the 1993 start of the salary-cap era, 44 rookies have rushed for at least 700 yards in a season. Of those, 27 have achieved the 1,000-yard plateau -- and not all were high-profile draft picks. For every Adrian Peterson (1,341 yards in 2007) and LaDainian Tomlinson (1,236 in 2001), there has been a Domanick Williams (1,031 in 2003) and Terrell Davis (1,117 in 1995).

Unless Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton come down with a case of the Drew Brees, I think Forte is going to need to bring more than the 1,000 yards he thinks he will get. Furthermore, those 1,000+ yards need to be accompanied by double digit TDS if this offense is to be any help to the defense.

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Comments

I agree that

a rookie running back can come in and make a huge impact, but the Bears are coming into a season with a major face lift for the entire offense. Every defense they play is going to come in trying to stop the run giving no respect to whoever is playing QB. To expect Forte to gain 1000 yards is asking a lot for a rookie. For every Terrell Davis and Domanick Williams, there is a Curtis Enis and Cedric Benson.

by chacks on Jul 9, 2008 11:04 AM CDT reply actions

Issue

Enis and Benson were high draft picks, much higher than Forte. So that doesn’t work for you. That said, there are plenty of non-1st round running backs that fail, more than succeed obviously.

by bs1220 on Jul 9, 2008 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions

i think that was the point

To expect Forte to gain 1000 yards is asking a lot for a rookie. For every Terrell Davis and Domanick Williams, there is a Curtis Enis and Cedric Benson

i think gaining a 1000 yards in the current situation would be just as hard for established guys.

by mike b on Jul 9, 2008 11:35 AM CDT reply actions

Forte

He will give you 1200 and 7 TDs. Forte is a complete stud.

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by Brad Wells on Jul 9, 2008 1:23 PM CDT reply actions

Sadly

we will need 1500 and 12 TDs.

Being Who You Thought We Were Since 2005!

by Adam T on Jul 9, 2008 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions

Forte

First of all chaks, to ask forte too get a thousand yards is not asking alot of him, its asking our O- line to do their job.

Secondly, it dosent matter where you were drafted, its who you play behind, 80% of backs in this league can gain 1500 yards and 12 TDs running on the left side of minnesota’s O-line, which brings me to my point.

The single most determiner of our success in 2008 will be if we can dominate the line of scrimmage on offense gentlemen. Let the stats fall where they may

by WavyGravy on Jul 10, 2008 2:27 PM CDT reply actions

this man speaks the truth.

by HesterSteals1st on Jul 11, 2008 2:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Is Angelo pissing this window away, or is he a genius?...

Being a huge CFB fan (along with a life-long Bear fan), I’m iffy on Forte. Like you said, he will either hit a homerun or do nothing this year. I still wish we would grab Alexander for a cheap 2yr deal, and maybe shoot for Culpepper. Da Bears have a window of Super Bowlin’, but we need a consistent QB and some sort of running game.

http://www.Mizzourah.net

by Big Head on Jul 11, 2008 8:54 PM CDT reply actions

you just named two

horrible options. you want a unshifty guy who can’t catch or block? we just cut him.

either hit a home run or do nothing? with a sketchy line i would expect neither of those, probably a very mediocre year.

by mike b on Jul 11, 2008 10:25 PM CDT up reply actions

yeah but

an offense especially at home can get jump started by defensive takeaways and good field position by special teams.

Vasher is talkin about 10 ints this year, so i believe the boys think this d can be dominant. If thats that case which i think all of us are expecting, then this offense has a lot of weapons that are dangerous who can take pressure off forte.

I cant even think of 6 teams in the nfc that dont have any uncertainty or unproven talent. I mean im not ready to crown the cowboys, gaints, or the vikes as locks. theyve got a lot to prove.

by rahulsriram on Jul 12, 2008 8:57 AM CDT reply actions