Shane Waldron

[richig07]

If you're going to crucify him during the bad times, you have to give him some credit when things begin to roll.

I never jumped on Waldron and was reserving my judgement. I am a fan of what Waldron did in Seattle and always had hope for him.

Waldron was in a tough spot in year #1 here. Not only does he have a new team and new personnel. He has a rookie QB starting day 1. To make matters even more complicated, he had a rookie QB who seems to have ZERO cap on his ceiling, but you also can't be quite sure about where (exactly) he's at. Training camp reps aren't what they used to be and these guys barely play pre-season. He's talented as all hell, sure. Is he going to come out of the gates looking like CJ Stroud circa 2023, though? Or will he struggle? How about somewhere in between? There were signs pointing all over the board, in that regard. You didn't have a ton of game reps to go off of from Williams and the ones you did in pre-season? How many were TRULY against the opponent's #1's?

In general, I think being a first year coordinator, anywhere is hard in 2024. Without much of a pre-season played by your #1's - your first 2-3 weeks are essentially trying to figure out your personnel and how to best deploy them.

Caleb took his lumps, the run game was non-existent, and the line could not find footing in those first 2-3 games. Ever since then, however, each week we've seen improvement. Each week we've seen the playbook open up a bit more. Each week we've seen the creativity come out more. A few of those play calls vs Jacksonville were complete magic. The line has begun to see the light (yes, the competition has not been great, but still) and Swift looks exactly like what we signed on for.

Give him credit vs Jacksonville after the Caleb INT as well. You got that feeling following that throw like "Oh boy... here we go". I thought we'd clam up and play all kinds of conservative. Wind up in a 17-10 type of football game. However, next possession, even backed up at our own 5? Waldron said "fuck that" and kept right on rolling with the game plan. Let the kid sling it. I tip my cap to him for that.

I truly believe that we've only tipped the ice berg of this 2024 team's potential. I think it will continue to progress and get better. I think Caleb will continue to progress and get better. For what it's worth, defensively - we've done better stopping the run as well. Bigsby averaged 6 YPC going into that game and we held him just north of 2 YPC.

I actually think the staff is doing just fine.

I wanted to make this post because as fans, sometimes we only bash the coaches when things are going badly, and then when it turns around? We throw our collective arms over the players and sing their praises to high heaven.

Things are steady right now. We have a Bears team actually on track with what their supposed to be doing in their progression. Embrace it.

 

[wood20ks]

I never bashed Waldron,cause as of reasons you said.....

And I knew it would take awhile for the recieving group to know their places.....
4 great recievers to throw and not enough passes to go around for tjose 4 plus adding Swift to the equasion.....


Its does kinda seem a little weird tho,but Rome seems to be the odd man out right now.....but then again, top gaining recievers will probably be different every week........
Thats gonna keep defenses from focusing on just one or two of them......

We have a nice aresenal of 4.......

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Its does kinda seem a little weird tho,but Rome seems to be the odd man out right now.....but then again, top gaining recievers will probably be different every week........

We have a nice aresenal of 4.......

In a way, that was to be expected, and many of us discussed this pretty much from the day we drafted him. Having two veteran All Pros who combined for more than 2600 yards in receiving last year is a recipe for entering the year as the #3 receiver. And let's remember that we also have a talented TE and RB who make for solid receivers as well, which of course expands the options in the passing game for Caleb.

Still, under these circumstances, to date Rome has managed to rank 4th in receptions, 3rd in yardage, and leads the team in YPC. The chances of Allen sticking around beyond this season are probably slim at best, so I'm expecting that no later than '25, if not sooner, Rome will emerge as our #2 WR, and a damn good one at that. So a little patience is in order here.

 

[richig07]

I never bashed Waldron,cause as of reasons you said.....

And I knew it would take awhile for the recieving group to know their places.....
4 great recievers to throw and not enough passes to go around for tjose 4 plus adding Swift to the equasion.....


Its does kinda seem a little weird tho,but Rome seems to be the odd man out right now.....but then again, top gaining recievers will probably be different every week........
Thats gonna keep defenses from focusing on just one or two of them......

We have a nice aresenal of 4.......

My prediction before the season was the Rome would come on and look great. However, he would not assume a starring role in year #1. There's too much veteran firepower around him. He's being allowed to have a slow progression, so that's what it will be. We don't NEED Rome to light the world on fire in year #1.

I believe, exactly what I said was that "Rome would make some key plays early on, but would come along slowly/gradually. Then, in the second half of the season, you may start to see him pop for a couple/few big games."

I'm just happy to see Keenan get involved and catch momentum. He's important. Keenan Allen is VERY useful to a young QB. He's reliable and he moves the chains. He's a great 3rd down/red zone receiver (he gets open). Seeing Caleb utilize him as such vs Jacksonville brought me a lot of joy.

That was such a fun game to watch in London. Makes me wish we didn't have a bye, but I do realize it's going to help a lot with our health going into a big matchup vs Washington next week.

Boy, I can't wait for that one. It's been a LONG time since I was excited to watch the Bears in the middle of a season like this. The last few years, I'm excited for week 1 and then *poof*! I'm angry and this sucks. lol

 

[Jiddy]

I'm at this stage of the Waldron progression:

 

[richig07]

I'm at this stage of the Waldron progression:

What do you think he's done wrong? What should currently be done differently?

All of this, how this is happening, it's... perfect. It's exactly how you would script it. Exactly according to plan.

 

[Jiddy]

What do you think he's done wrong? What should currently be done differently?

All of this, how this is happening, it's... perfect. It's exactly how you would script it. Exactly according to plan.

I'm not going to tunnel vision our team's recent success and ignore everything happening outside of it. Pro sports is a competitive scene. Shane Waldron has to outperform the guy calling plays opposite him to be any kind of advantage or he's a JAG OC.

The goal is, assuming Caleb is the real deal, to win the whole damn thing.

We're going to be going up against guys like Spagnuolo, Quinn, Flores, Fangio...Hell probably Belicheck next year...if we take the next step. Shane Waldron is likely to get pantsed by these guys. I feel the same about Eberflus to an even greater degree.

Let's step outside the bubble:

The Seahawks-with a new defensive HC and an OC out of college-are putting up 50 more yards and 3 more points per game through the first 6 than what Waldron did. That's what they are WITHOUT him.

That implies to me that we could bring any JAG OC that has some experience and succeed with the talent potential we're throwing out there.

That said, I'm all but ready to be proven wrong.

 

[BearsWillWin]

Sometimes lack of talent makes coaches look worse than they are.

Sometimes an abundance of talent makes coaches look better than they are.

I completely believe the Bears are currently in the second group. On both sides of the ball.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I'm sticking with the take that it took Waldron several weeks into the season to figure out what makes this offense tick and how he can best take advantage of the various talents and weaknesses. And he's proceeded to do this. If there is a legit complaint to hold on him it's that he should have had all this nailed down by the start of the campaign. But I'm glad the Bears were patient with him, as they should have been. After all, they gave Getsy two full years for him to succeed. The very least Waldron should receive is a year to prove himself.