Bears' Offensive Coordinator Loves Forte (1 Viewer)

[gheemony]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...,1,148437.story

Unhappy with Benson's production and concerned about his ability to recover from a broken ankle that cost him the final four games of 2007, the Bears selected Matt Forte of Tulane in the second round of this year's draft. Coach Lovie Smith proclaimed Benson the starter this off-season, but Forte has already created a bit of a buzz.

"I love Matt Forte," Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said Sunday during a break at the Bears Expo. "He will definitely be an every-down back. He's got the size, he's got the hands. He's smooth as an athlete, very smooth."



Turner said Forte is picking up the Bears' offense quickly.

"After nine practices, I'm not afraid to call anything in the offense with him. He's made a couple of mental mistakes, but not very many. He's handling it very well."

Turner commended Benson's off-season efforts as well, but he gushed over Forte. "How many touches do I see him getting? A lot," he said. "I can't answer that as far as a number, but a lot. I'm excited about him. I love Matt Forte."

Forte is taking a wait-and-see approach to the possibility of becoming the Bears' No. 1 running back.

"There's really no way to tell anything right now—we're not even in pads or anything," he said.

The coaches said Forte and Benson have worked well together this off-season, and Forte agreed.

"I wasn't going to come in and not talk to the guy just because we're competing for the same position," he said. "We're a team. It's not me against Cedric, it's the Bears against the rest of the NFL. We're going to be friends, be together, and help each other out."

Assuming Benson is around for the 2008 season.

 

[Banger]

LOL, he better love him.

 

[ThePittbully]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

 

[Chachi]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

If he was a "sure thing" he would have been picked in the 1st round and not gotten the "Wow, the Bears really reached here, I'm surprised" when he was picked. I'm going to sleep on him and sleep very well, Chicago O-line is a mess and honestly if Stewart/Mendenhall or McFadden would have been picked there I would have said "Ughhhhhhh".

 

[TheFanatic]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

If he was a "sure thing" he would have been picked in the 1st round and not gotten the "Wow, the Bears really reached here, I'm surprised" when he was picked. I'm going to sleep on him and sleep very well, Chicago O-line is a mess and honestly if Stewart/Mendenhall or McFadden would have been picked there I would have said "Ughhhhhhh".

So you trust Mel Kyper more than the front office of a pro football team?

 

[Chachi]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

If he was a "sure thing" he would have been picked in the 1st round and not gotten the "Wow, the Bears really reached here, I'm surprised" when he was picked. I'm going to sleep on him and sleep very well, Chicago O-line is a mess and honestly if Stewart/Mendenhall or McFadden would have been picked there I would have said "Ughhhhhhh".

So you trust Mel Kyper more than the front office of a pro football team?

Not at all. I personally don't like Forte, I think he's going to be a huge bust. Besides that I think the Bears run blocking is the worst in the entire league. A not very talented/special RB on a piss poor run blocking team, I'll pass.So you're saying you trust the Chicago Bears can draft RBS. Go ahead and look up their recent failures in this, it's quite alarming. As a matter of fact, the Bears also can't draft a QB, recently it's been quite alarming too. WRs, I'm not so sure on their recent picks but nobody is jumping out at me? The point here is the Bears haven't had much success in their drafting of skill players in the past decade.

 

[sholditch]

Hey, I'm a Chicago fan and actually thought a lot of Forte before he was drafted by the Bears, and I agree Chachi here. Forte was not viewed as a gamebreaker type when he was drafted. He's a solid, hopefully dependable back. The Bears obviously can't draft first-round running backs, so they went for a guy in the second they thought could be slightly better than advertised (and I think he will be, eventually) that would have a good attitude and work hard. They got that, and we just need to hope that the Bears horrid QB play doesn't mar his development. I think he's a decent dynasty pick, but expecting anything fantasy worthy out of the bears this year is pretty foolish. I think they'll be good enough to win more games than people think, maybe even flirt with a wild-card berth, but I don't think anyone on their team would make a decent starter for any fantasy team.

 

[TheFanatic]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

If he was a "sure thing" he would have been picked in the 1st round and not gotten the "Wow, the Bears really reached here, I'm surprised" when he was picked. I'm going to sleep on him and sleep very well, Chicago O-line is a mess and honestly if Stewart/Mendenhall or McFadden would have been picked there I would have said "Ughhhhhhh".

So you trust Mel Kyper more than the front office of a pro football team?

Not at all. I personally don't like Forte, I think he's going to be a huge bust. Besides that I think the Bears run blocking is the worst in the entire league. A not very talented/special RB on a piss poor run blocking team, I'll pass.So you're saying you trust the Chicago Bears can draft RBS. Go ahead and look up their recent failures in this, it's quite alarming. As a matter of fact, the Bears also can't draft a QB, recently it's been quite alarming too. WRs, I'm not so sure on their recent picks but nobody is jumping out at me? The point here is the Bears haven't had much success in their drafting of skill players in the past decade.

Uh, no actually, the Bears WON'T draft a QB. It's been like 3 or 4 years since they drafted one. As for the notion that they can't draft a RB, sure there have been some mistakes over the years but also successes. Still not sure why A-Train fell off the face of the planet. The Bears had not O whatsoever besides that guy and he put up great numbers....

Just because they struggled the last few years at drafting RB's doesn't mean they will continue to do so. SD doesn't seem to be able to draft WR's. Does that mean they will never have a solid WR in SD? KC hadn't drafted a solid WR in years but Bowe seems to look pretty solid.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

I know the Lions were high on Forte and would have pulled the trigger on him but the Bears did first, then the Lions went with Kevin Smith.

It'll be interested to follow how that turn of fate ends up.

 

[TheFanatic]

I know the Lions were high on Forte and would have pulled the trigger on him but the Bears did first, then the Lions went with Kevin Smith.It'll be interested to follow how that turn of fate ends up.

The Lions being fans is not a ringing endorsement....

 

[sholditch]

I know the Lions were high on Forte and would have pulled the trigger on him but the Bears did first, then the Lions went with Kevin Smith.It'll be interested to follow how that turn of fate ends up.

The Lions being fans is not a ringing endorsement....

neither is the bears being fans. please see exhibitis A-ZZZZZZZZwe actually paid Craig Krenzel a salary to play football.

 

[DoubleG]

I know the Lions were high on Forte and would have pulled the trigger on him but the Bears did first, then the Lions went with Kevin Smith.

It'll be interested to follow how that turn of fate ends up.

The Lions being fans is not a ringing endorsement....

neither is the bears being fans. please see exhibitis A-ZZZZZZZZwe actually paid Craig Krenzel a salary to play football.

 

[ThePittbully]

This is no hype, the people who sleep on Forte will regret it. The guy isn't all that flashy, but he has all the tools to succeed at the next level.

There arent many Forte highlights that I could find but this one has some nice runs in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvlcqe_5MqY...feature=related

If he was a "sure thing" he would have been picked in the 1st round and not gotten the "Wow, the Bears really reached here, I'm surprised" when he was picked. I'm going to sleep on him and sleep very well, Chicago O-line is a mess and honestly if Stewart/Mendenhall or McFadden would have been picked there I would have said "Ughhhhhhh".

Yea because every runningback who's every been successful in the NFL has been picked in the 1st round, everyone knows that....

 

[sholditch]

I know the Lions were high on Forte and would have pulled the trigger on him but the Bears did first, then the Lions went with Kevin Smith.

It'll be interested to follow how that turn of fate ends up.

The Lions being fans is not a ringing endorsement....

neither is the bears being fans. please see exhibitis A-ZZZZZZZZwe actually paid Craig Krenzel a salary to play football.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Krenzel

 

[TheFanatic]

LOL, he better love him.

That's what I was thinking. He BETTER love Forte. And Forte better start sleeping with the playbook and working on his blocking....

 

[Hairy Snowman]

Update this thread too - I think Forte is the real deal. He may be the best back the Bears have drafted since Neil Anderson. I really like what he looks like on film.

But I agree he needs to be able to block in the Bears pass first offense.

 

[TheFanatic]

The more I watch this and the more I hear about not wanting to bring anyone in the more I think we are going to see KJ or SA in there at some point...

 

[Hairy Snowman]

Personally would love the Bears to pickup SA. But this kid looks very good.

I maintain there is NO WAY the Bears bring in KJ. His one good half season was against a bunch of injury depleted teams. I maintain he was always better at running into tacklers than aways from them. We don't need another Cedric