Danieal Manning Out, McGowan and Payne In

by Adam T on Aug 27, 2008 2:32 PM CDT

A hat tip to Ando who first pointed this out (comment section), but the Bears seem to again not know what to do with their players. It turns out that Ricky Manning Jr is not the only Manning being bumped. Danieal Mannig is now out as the primary nickel corner back.

Danieal Manning is no longer the primary nickel back. and the only player with experience in the role is Brandon McGowan, so logic dictates he'll take over there, allowing Kevin Payne to step in at strong safety. That might not be the end of the moves. McGowan and Payne split time at strong safety last week against San Francisco, and coach Lovie Smith beamed when talking about the second-year player from Louisiana-Monroe. Smith was adamant the Bears draft Payne in 2007. It could be he's taking over at strong safety in the nickel as well as the base defense, and Thursday's preseason finale at Cleveland will be telling.

Maybe the reason Manning hasn't been able to fit in anywhere is becuase the Bears won't leave him anywhere! Give him more than 2 games to get comfortable playing before you say he can't do it. He has gone back and forth between safety and corner so much in the last few years, his helmet has to be spinning.

I haven't seen enough of Kevin Payne to pass judgement, but from what I have seen he is a big hitter and I think we all like that in the safety spot. As I have always said I am for putting out on the field whoever the best guys are and if Payne and McGowan are those guys and Manning is not then so be it, but just make up your minds.

I don't know what the Bears plans are for Manning on defense, though he still has value as depth at both positions or when the offense dictates extra guys. I'd also like to think the Bears plan to give him quite a bit of playing time on special teams where he looks like the guy to spell Devin Hester, be the recipeint of the ball during Hester decoy plays or just to have an extra return guy out there.

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Angelo strikes again...

Great points. D. Manning has only had 2 full seasons with the team, and IIRC he has played every defensive backfield position. It’s difficult to tell if this is because he doesn’t really have a position he fits naturally, if he doesn’t instinctively pick up the positions as well as others (McGowan & Payne), if the coaching staff is impatient with him, or if the coaching staff doesn’t know how to use him.

Regardless of the reason, and it’s probably a combination, we’re talking about a high 2nd-round pick (42nd overall) – the Bears first pick in the 2006 draft. Some one drafted at this spot should be on the field regularly by now; not yo-yoing between positions and only playing because of injury.

Angelo, or some one on the Bears’ staff, fell in love with this guy and reached for a DB from a Division II school with their first pick in 2006. That’s where the mistake was truly made. This is less important if we’re talking about a 3rd or 4th round pick, but this is the guy they wanted that year.

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany." - Ron Burgundy

by mdmnd9294 on Aug 27, 2008 2:59 PM CDT reply actions

manning was a good FS

his rookie year – made some mistakes (esp. in the superbowl), but he was a rookie. the problem is the team didn’t leave him there to develop. now, he’s had no time to get comfortable anywhere. absolutely horrible job of player development. it’d be better to let him stay at FS and put brown at his more natural SS position, and let mcgowan replace him when he gets his almost annual unlucky injury.

by guy incognito on Aug 27, 2008 3:21 PM CDT reply actions

I imagine the plan is for him to back up Brown

Not a bad decision. We all know there is a good chance Brown is going to miss time.

by BoxingHideout on Aug 27, 2008 7:24 PM CDT up reply actions

So... they cut a pretty darn good nickel back: R Manning Jr.

Then demoted their current nickel back: D Manning.

Sounds a55 backwards to me.

I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008

by SackMan on Aug 27, 2008 4:29 PM CDT reply actions

i think b mcgowan isnt

has logical as the article indicates. following training camp and some plays in the preseason, Corey Graham sounds like the better fit. he made a huge play against the seahawks and i think hes primed for a big year. they need to get him on the field and i think this is the only way to do it with peanut and vasher being locks at cb.

by rahulsriram on Aug 27, 2008 5:20 PM CDT reply actions

I hope that

Corey Graham will be the guy. McGowan is a good tackler but lacks coverage skills. Not really sure what we have in Manning now. This coaching staff is bipolar, I am officially boycotting the Bears official site now with all of the misinformation they are propagating.

by twaddle on Aug 27, 2008 5:40 PM CDT reply actions

Is that "official" misinformation?

:-)

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany." - Ron Burgundy

by mdmnd9294 on Aug 27, 2008 5:58 PM CDT up reply actions

This nearly seals it in my book that this coaching staff doesn't know what its doing.

As mdmnd9294 so kindly pointed out this guy is more or less a draft bust and yes maybe the blame can be spread around but the fact of the matter is that he could have been a 3rd or 4th rounder, or I remember the ESPN guys saying at the time, not word for word but basically “This guy would have been there in the sixth seventh round!!” Angelo took his two second round picks (Which I am fine with that trade look at those guys from the late first round and at how many are stand out stellar players) and took two guys without positions but a helluva lot of athletic ability; now ones worked out great (Hester) and one still has no position (Manning) and that gamble was worth taking? If it was 50/50 that a guy taken on ability alone would find a place on the team in the first place, why then take two?! There wasn’t another decent prospect worth taking (Maurice Jones-Drew, Anthony Fasano, Cedric Griffin and Greg Jennings were still on the board) Any of those would have been safer picks (I realize at the time RB and WR were not huge needs).

by Sam Householder on Aug 27, 2008 9:54 PM CDT reply actions

last name bias?

Maybe Angelo is emotionally scarred from see the last name Manning on the back of a jersey. I dunno about this move. Manning seemed to be someone with a heck of a lot of natural talent. He was just never fixated in one spot in order to learn it to the best of his ability while up in the league. I understand our defense needs a wake up call, but doesn’t that start with the defensive coordinator and head coach being able to motivate players without cutting and demoting them?