Phil Emery Appreciation Thread

[blumeany]

No, he's not fired. Yes, this may be pre-mature 3 games into the season, but I'm just wondering where the Emery love is. I see a lot of Tresty love, but what about the guy who:

- Got Jay Brandon Marshall for a song.
- Drafted Alshon Jeffrey.
- Fired Lovie.
- Completely re-vamped the O Line, including two rookies that he drafted himself.
- Finally got rid of perennial Lovie-hanger-on-losers like Webb and Kellen Davis.
- Signed Bennett.
- Hired Trestman over several guys that would have been considered 'better candidates'.
- Signed capable LB vets to fill the Urlacher void.

Really, his only black eye thus far might be Shea McClellin - unless he's got some secret plan for him at LB.

Here's to you, Phil-E!

[RedBulls23]

So far everything is looking great. It took Emery 2 years to do what Angelo couldn't for his entire tenure with the Bears. Including wasting 3-4 years of Cutlers career.

[BullHeaded]

So far everything is looking great. It took Emery 2 years to do what Angelo couldn't for his entire tenure with the Bears. Including wasting 3-4 years of Cutlers career.

The team is getting an identity, whether one likes it or not. Emery is trying to build "the smart team." A team that has a cutting edge playbook (we'll ultimately see what we get), a coach who is known more for his football intelligence than his rah rah leadership and brawn, and they hired a key employee away from Stats Inc. for a director level (I believe it's director level) position on the Bears to keep them on the forefront of trendlines. I believe Danny Ainge is taking the same approach with the Celtics. We'll see how this all turns out, but it is at least a blue print that he seems to be trying to win with and I'm cautiously optimistic.

The big thing though... you cannot acquire your biggest stars constantly through free agency. They have to be homegrown or the salary cap will limit how good the team is. There may be some significant bloodletting because that was how Angelo operated before good draft picks mature into home grown stars (knock on wood).

[bearadonisdna]

Other key misses;
This years defense (ranked 25th and that was with Melton)
Brandon hardin
Meltons franchise tag.
Last year kellen Davis
Last year jamarcus webb

[blumeany]

Right or wrong, I give Emery a pass last year on draft and personnel. I feel like in the case of Webb and Davis, he was giving them a season under his watch to see if there was anything there (same goes for Lovie and his staff). On the draft, to be fair, he didn't have his team assembled for that draft. He was mostly going off of what the previous scouts had gathered. I think this year - with the emergence of Mills, Long, and (from the small sample we saw of) Bostic, you're seeing guys that are ready to play. Only reason Bostic isn't playing is because Emery had already brought in a more-than-capable vet to fill the position.

[SportsWorld]

So far so good for Emery. Still not a fan of the Shea McClellin pick last year but the Kyle Long and Jordan Mills picks look to be gems not to mention the additions of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery and the hiring of Marc Trestman.

[Cliff Levingston]

Other key misses;
This years defense (ranked 25th and that was with Melton)
Brandon hardin
Meltons franchise tag.
Last year kellen Davis
Last year jamarcus webb

"Key" misses?

This year's defense is still 1st in turnovers and about middle of the road in points allowed. Yards allowed doesn't mean much: not nearly as much as points. If the defense is going to fall off this year, it's going to be because Angelo did a poor job of filling the pipeline with talent. Emery needs time to get that pipeline filled, and he's not going to hit on every single pick he makes.

Melton's franchise tag looks like an even better move right now than a long-term deal. Most likely, he'll sign a 1 year "prove it" deal next offseason with us.

Kellen Davis and JaMarcus Webb were bones thrown to the previous coaching staff. Tice was always high on Webb and was his pet project. Kellen Davis is a guy the coaching staff always was pretty high on. You can only expect a certain amount of moves in a given offseason, not a complete and total overhaul of a roster.

So far, Emery's positives vastly outweigh the negatives. In the draft, you look to have long-term pieces in Long, Mills, Jeffery, Bostic and Frey. You've got some other rookies this year that showed pretty well in preseason in Greene, Wilson and Washington. The jury is still out on McClellin who could possibly have a career at linebacker if not DE. Hardin was a bust and Rodriguez flamed out due to being an idiot.

Free Agency and trades are where people were worried since he was brought in primarily for his draft prowess, but that's where he's excelled. He started off with a bang getting a premier receiver in Marshall for a mere 2 3rd round picks. He grabbed Martellus Bennett who's excelled at TE thus far and Jermon Bushrod who's provided some stability on the left side of the line. Matt Slauson is the highest graded O lineman thus far this season. He even addressed the linebacker position quite well, replacing Urlacher and Roach with Anderson and D.J. Williams, both of whom have played pretty well all things considered (Williams' injury). Another underrated move he made was to bring in Dante Rosario for a conditional 7th round pick.

Then add in Marc Trestman who's got Jay Cutler playing his best football as a bear. He's a guy who's a student of the game and will make sure we can move the ball and score points. He also seems to know and address his limitations, bringing in a good DC who didn't get too cute and decide to fix something that wasn't broken.

All that said, it's going to take awhile for Emery to put his real stamp on this team. This offseason is going to be huge for him as we've got a lot of guys that are up for a new contract and a lot of key players right now who are older. Emery needs to have another strong draft and make some nifty moves in free agency to re-load both sides of the ball.

[heir_jordan22]

Other key misses;
This years defense (ranked 25th and that was with Melton)
Brandon hardin
Meltons franchise tag.
Last year kellen Davis
Last year jamarcus webb

"Key" misses?

This year's defense is still 1st in turnovers and about middle of the road in points allowed. Yards allowed doesn't mean much: not nearly as much as points. If the defense is going to fall off this year, it's going to be because Angelo did a poor job of filling the pipeline with talent. Emery needs time to get that pipeline filled, and he's not going to hit on every single pick he makes.

Melton's franchise tag looks like an even better move right now than a long-term deal. Most likely, he'll sign a 1 year "prove it" deal next offseason with us.

Kellen Davis and JaMarcus Webb were bones thrown to the previous coaching staff. Tice was always high on Webb and was his pet project. Kellen Davis is a guy the coaching staff always was pretty high on. You can only expect a certain amount of moves in a given offseason, not a complete and total overhaul of a roster.

So far, Emery's positives vastly outweigh the negatives. In the draft, you look to have long-term pieces in Long, Mills, Jeffery, Bostic and Frey. You've got some other rookies this year that showed pretty well in preseason in Greene, Wilson and Washington. The jury is still out on McClellin who could possibly have a career at linebacker if not DE. Hardin was a bust and Rodriguez flamed out due to being an idiot.

Free Agency and trades are where people were worried since he was brought in primarily for his draft prowess, but that's where he's excelled. He started off with a bang getting a premier receiver in Marshall for a mere 2 3rd round picks. He grabbed Martellus Bennett who's excelled at TE thus far and Jermon Bushrod who's provided some stability on the left side of the line. Matt Slauson is the highest graded O lineman thus far this season. He even addressed the linebacker position quite well, replacing Urlacher and Roach with Anderson and D.J. Williams, both of whom have played pretty well all things considered (Williams' injury). Another underrated move he made was to bring in Dante Rosario for a conditional 7th round pick.

Then add in Marc Trestman who's got Jay Cutler playing his best football as a bear. He's a guy who's a student of the game and will make sure we can move the ball and score points. He also seems to know and address his limitations, bringing in a good DC who didn't get too cute and decide to fix something that wasn't broken.

All that said, it's going to take awhile for Emery to put his real stamp on this team. This offseason is going to be huge for him as we've got a lot of guys that are up for a new contract and a lot of key players right now who are older. Emery needs to have another strong draft and make some nifty moves in free agency to re-load both sides of the ball.

Great post! Third offseason with all the draft picks we have will let Emery put his stamp on the team. I think we have eight picks this year. How many players expire at the end of this season?