Not Bullish on Cedric

[CTBULLBEARFAN]

FOr all the excitement about our new fangled offense, what about the running game?

I have low confidence in Benson - flaky, aloof, not real popular among teammates is his character. injury prone, and surprisingly babies himself it seems to me. That super bowl, he got ROCKED by Bob Sanders and coughed it up, the next run didnt look much like he got dinged. Hate to question a guy but....... and Lovie sticks up for him loyally, just like Rex, in GW Bush-ian never say die style.

I dunno - maybe he'll deliver some decent stats but i dont trust the guy in a big spot. Not much behind him on the roster - with the spots opening up int he Harris, Wesley deals i hope we can sign a proven mail-carrier (Corey Dillon, anybody?)

[tclg]

I rather have benson then Dillon we need to see if he is the real deal if not we need to move on

[Cliff Levingston]

The times Benson has been given a chance, he's rushed well. Obviously you could do without the prima donna attitude but he can be a very good back in our offense.

If he sucks it up this season then maybe you've got a complaint. Otherwise, we haven't seen enough of him yet to fairly judge him. In Texas he was always known to get better with more carries.

[Ayt]

Benson is easily an upgrade over Thomas Jones.

[emperorjones]

flaky, aloof, not real popular among teammates is his character. injury prone, and surprisingly babies himself it seems to me.

I think almost all of this was generated by the press which had very little negative to report on so they grabbed on to what little was there and blew it out of proportion. The only thing I heard out of Benson last year was that he wanted more playing time. Some guys don't like him & he doesn't like some guys on the team. This is not unusual. Where you get flaky & aloof I'm not sure?

[Howling Mad]

I'm with emperor on this one.

Lovie runs a tight ship. How he could've kept the stories coming out now away from the media last year is astonishing to me. Remember how fast the Fred Miller, Olin fight went away. It was like one week here, then next week it was forgotten. Not even the radio mentions it anymore. Lovie must have some major spin control going on, or he must run a tight tight ship. I believe its the latter.

Benson is a good back. If you want to argue that he has lots of miles on his body, then fine. But to say he isn't going to be productive is crazy.

With the speed we have in the WR and TE, how can Benson not be productive. The oppo defense will be so worried about out routes to the sidelines and longballs the inside will be left open for Benson. Jones loved the outside and wasn't an ideal fit for this years Bears. Benson is the guy.

Ok before you bomb my comparison, I'm talking logic and concept here not skill comparison.

Think Edge for the Indy Colts. The guy would pick up 4-7 yards just because the oppo's linebackers and dbacks were peddling back in fear of the pass.

Ok Rex isn't Peyton I get it, but our recievers and TEs have speed like no other. I haven't even mentioned Wolfe coming out of the backfield catching passes, geeeeeez this offense has a lot of new toys for Rex to play with.

My only concern is the O-line. If they can't produce then neither can Benson.

[transplant]

Completely reasonable to have doubts about Benson...until a guy has done it well for a full season, he's unproven.

I expect him to be very good. He could also be a disaster. The one thing I don't expect is average.

Let the games begin!

[Chi]

I think benson will have a good year regardless, (as long as he stays healthy). Just for the fact that the recievers and tight ends will open up the field for him, and he's running behind a good line...

[fleet]

I'm a big Benson fan. He appears to put a charge into DBs and linbackers when he gets into the second level, and you realy love that in a back. Hes the kind of back that can demoralize teams by breaking tackles, which is the best pure ball carrying quality in a running back that I can think of besides speed.

I'm going to say, just like Rex, hes got an unfair injury-prone label on him. He was barely ever hurt all those years at Texas, and he had only one strange injury (the shoulder separation). All the other times he got hurt you could see his knees taking big shots with strange bend angles. Anybody would be hurt taking those.

[fleet]

and actually, its probably his style of not going down easy that exposes his knees to that kind of twisting and bending. No evidence his body itself is injury prone. Maybe he could fall quicker, but do we want him to stop fighting after contact?

I just want to say its unfair

[Rodanlee]

benson is a punishing runner, and that will help the bears and rex open up the passing game by wearing down the line and linebackers.... anyone remember Larry Johnson?

[CTBULLBEARFAN]

To clarify, I dont say "Dillon instead of Benson" I just suggest a proven vet as insurance if Benson either goes down w/injury or has a meltdown in a big spot.

I dont think he's an upgrade over TJones, who was all we couldve asked for, Neal Anderson type. May get more Yds on the ground, maybe more effective on the goal line, but prob not as good a receiver or blocker particularly in the passing game.

He hurt, that hit agains tthe niners in 05 was painful to watch, dont get me wrong anbyody whose ever hurt their knee knows how painful and scary that is. But even when cleared to come back that year he balked. Then, I'm suspicious about that SB scenario, I feel guilty saying it but my knee-jerk conclusion at the time was he was hiding after the humiliation of the Sander hit and fumble.

A Bear fan I am, and hope Cedric proves me wrong with 1600 and 16. would be wise to get some insurance, ideally a guy whose done it but on the downside so as to create no controversy

[fleet]

its only preseason, but a 5-23 and a few Texan concussions dished out gets your blood up eh?
Cedric blows up safeties, I'm in my living room going WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Howling Mad]

Ok so now you've all seen the Cedric Benson from Texas.... ya like?

[Howling Mad]

Cedric in college stats...

Now that you've seen him play consecutive downs, unlike last year. Experienced his bruiser style run game, look at these stats and tell me they're not impressive.

This guy is perfect for this down field pass offense.

Up the middle all day long. Benson needs one or two broken tackles for a long run next thing you know BB, Bradley, Moose, Clark, or Olsen are over 100 yards receiving.


+------------------------+----+--------------------+-------------+-------------+
| YR Team | G | CMP ATT PYD TD IN | RSH YD TD | REC YD TD |
+------------------------+----+--------------------+-------------+-------------+
| 2001 Texas | 11 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 223 1053 12 | 17 203 1 |
| 2002 Texas | 13 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 305 1293 12 | 21 119 0 |
| 2003 Texas | 12 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 258 1360 21 | 9 120 1 |
| 2004 Texas | 12 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 326 1834 19 | 22 179 1 |
+------------------------+----+--------------------+-------------+-------------+

[fleet]

Earl friggin Campbell type, my favorite back of all time besides Bo Jackson (Bo who was... in case anybody wants to know, the best pure running back ever).

Earl was thick though. And even he got worn down, but don't they all

Its going to be fun

[fleet]

wrecking ball

[TylerB]

I dont think he's an upgrade over TJones, who was all we couldve asked for, Neal Anderson type.

When you make absurd and outlandish comments like this are you being serious or just trying to make yourself seem clueless? Jones was all we could have asked for and a Neal Anderson type?

He was NOTHING like Neal Anderson in style or production and he was much less than I would ever ask for from a tailback in the NFL. He was soft and slow, he broke no tackles and didn't finish runs.

May get more Yds on the ground, maybe more effective on the goal line, but prob not as good a receiver or blocker particularly in the passing game.

Thomas Jones is an absolutely terrible receiver, he always gets taken down by the first guy in the open field. His yards per catch last year I think was the lowest ever for a back getting that many catches. He was so bad it was comical.

Cedric Benson was getting more carries than Jones by the final third of the season. Its not like it was close, it was Benson, a strong runner making the most out of runs versus Thomas Jones, a soft runner who would only gain yards when the line opened a nice hole and prevented any penetration.

The Thomas Jones love affair many Bears fans have has always been odd to me. I think they just look at the stats at the end of the game or the season and then don't care if it was painfully obvious that any back in the NFL could have been statistically productive getting 300 carries on this team with this line and offensive system.

But even when cleared to come back that year he balked.

He was worried about his knee but played anyway, whats the problem?

Then, I'm suspicious about that SB scenario, I feel guilty saying it but my knee-jerk conclusion at the time was he was hiding after the humiliation of the Sander hit and fumble.

Well then you can be wrong. This is not an opinion you can have, you can either believe this and be wrong or accept what happened. He was rehabbing this injury for a few months after the season and some people thought he might not be ready to go for OTAs.

[treyZz]

He was soft and slow, he broke no tackles and didn't finish runs.

Thomas Jones is an absolutely terrible receiver, he always gets taken down by the first guy in the open field. His yards per catch last year I think was the lowest ever for a back getting that many catches. He was so bad it was comical.

Pretty dead on.. TJ was absolutely dreadful to watch the past 2 seasons. He avoided contact at all times & would often go to the ground just to avoid taking any punishment at all.

Also, the belief that TJ is a "Great pass blocker" is absolutely absurd as well.. He would often get ABUSED when trying to pass protect. He CONSTANTLY whiffed in pass protection. It was ridiculous.

I am so happy he's gone and we actually have a real running back now.

[Posey H8er]

Thomas Jones was a workhorse, and gave it his all, but he wasn't ever a superstar. Benson has talent to be one.