[CBFF] "Rush to Misjudgment" or "Rex on the Run"?

[Steve Behrens]

Personally, I think the Bears would like Rex to run a little more when the
opportunity presents itself for a safe play and some safe yardage (and he
should run a bit more), but I think alot of the Run Rex talk coming out of
camp is to try and get the opposing defenses to maybe not pin their ears
back rushing Rex quite as much... give them a little more to think
about.....

-Behr



On 8/7/07, Tom Shannon <tshanno at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/2007/08/rush-to-misjudg.html
>
> "Rush to Misjudgment" or "Rex on the Run"?
>
> By Tom Shannon
>
> I love talk shows where media people, particularly newspaper reporters,
> get
> together to debate the relevant football-related issues of the day.  This
> is
> particularly true on the local level where I've always believed the people
> involved are necessarily more in tune with the everyday operations of a
> particular team and its personnel.  A similar type of thing is playing
> out,
> not on TV, but in the print medium this week.
>
> Two pieces in different newspapers by respected local columnists have
> taken
> opposite sides on the "should Rex Grossman run more" debate.  Mike
> Mulligan
> believes this is a bad idea.  David Haugh thinks it might add an
> additional
> dimension to Grossman's game.  My own gut feeling is that the truth lies
> somewhere in between but that Mulligan is more right than wrong.
>
> If Grossman is encouraged to run, there is a real danger that he'll be apt
> to do it too often and to give up on a play too soon.  This would not be
> good primarily because it just doesn't fit his skill set.  He's not
> particularly fast and up until last year he hadn't been particularly
> durable.  Mulligan points out that getting hurt is not what you want to do
> in a contract year.   Much more important than that, it isn't good for a
> team that promises to be a Super Bowl contender if it stays healthy.  Yes,
> a
> mobile quarterback can slow the rush and force discipline upon defensive
> linemen.  But that's true of Michael Vick.  It is not, and never will be,
> true of Grossman.  He simply can't do enough damage often enough.
>
> I do like the idea of Grossman showing more mobility.  It just has to be
> the
> right kind of mobility.  Much more important to Grossman is that he better
> learn to move within the pocket.  With all due respect to Peyton Manning,
> the best pocket passer in the game today is Tom Brady.  Brady has what
> defensive linemen call "phone booth quicks".  This is the ability to avoid
> the rush by slipping away in the pocket.  He does it time and again, much
> to
> the frustration of defensive personnel who think they have him only to see
> him elude them at the last minute with a short, quick sidestep while
> keeping
> his concentration downfield.  Brady is also a master of shuffling to the
> right or left in the pocket to move into better lines of sight and
> throwing
> lanes.  Not being particularly tall, Grossman could use this ability to
> great advantage.  He is also one of the few young quarterbacks in the game
> with the instincts to be able to do it with the proper coaching.
>
> There's no doubt that Haugh      has a point in that Grossman could run
> more.  But I'd much rather see him slip out of the pocket with the idea of
> first allowing his receivers extra time to get open, running only when
> there's no other choice and only when there is open field in front of him.
> In other words, Grossman has to be smart about it and he has to realize
> that
> staying healthy and avoiding being hit is the best way for him to help the
> team long term.  A scrambling quarterback is OK as long as he doesn't
> leave
> his team scrambling for a replacement.
>
>
>
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