Carl Should Stick To Baseball And Chief Should Stick To Hockey
Here goes Carl, ripping on me to acquire some of his coveted social media likes and retweets again. It’s a biweekly occurrence at this point and it’s so tiring that I just ignore it for the most part. But this shit? This shit I can NOT let slide.
Look, Roquan Smith hasn’t been all that great this year. I’m not some football savant, but I’m speaking with as much objectivity as possible when I say that. Sure, at a glance his tackling numbers might make it seem like he’s been okay or better, especially when you consider the fact that he’s missed a game and that he’s going through some off the field shit.
And that was basically Chief’s argument to why he’s been “good”. That he “probably” leads the team in tackles.
Actually, he’s 2nd on the team in tackles. That’s good, but that number shouldn’t be looked at in a vacuum at the same time. Gotta take into account how good or bad his DL is, the scheme, opponent, etc. There are a lot of variables that need to be taken into account. For instance Khalil Mack doesn’t rack up a billion tackles, but he sets the edge and filters RBs to the LBs masterfully. His presence is felt even when he doesn’t touch the ball carrier.
So Chief’s argument that “probably” leads the team in tackles is somewhat of a moot point. Not completely, but somewhat.
But use your eyeballs for me fellas. Come on. He was the 8th overall pick in 2018 and we expected him to eventually be the next great Bears LB. Butkus, Singletary, Urlacher, Briggs and then eventually Roquan. But he just hasn’t been. And Carl, Chief and Eddie are talking like he’s been that sideline to sideline freak show when he hasn’t. When we recorded Red Line Radio yesterday and everyone was talking about how great he’s been I felt like I was taking crazy pills.
Again, I’m not some big time football brain. Far from that. So don’t take it from me, take it from the good people at Pro Football Focus. All of these stats are behind a paywall so I can’t post the screen shots, but here’s a link to show you how “meh” he’s been.
34th ranked LB in coverage
18th Ranked LB In Run Stop %
26th Ranked LB In Tackling Efficiency
etc. etc. etc.
All of this grades out to him being the 63rd ranked LB in football that’s played 100+ snaps
While also rating as the 2nd worst player on the Bears defense so far this year, though to his defense it’s a loaded unit.
These stats are simply objective information from PFF. However, it would appear Roquan has been below average on the season in every metric except tackling. So Carl. Chief. Eddie. Roquan’s actually been pretty bad. The stats don’t lie and for once, my idiotic brain was correct.
Look, I love Roquan. He flashes greatness. Fast, tough, good football name. But objectively, he just hasn’t been very good so far this year. At all. Thank god the rest of the defense has been awesome aside from in London. It’s masked how “meh” he’s been.
So go and listen to the Bears postgame show. It’s a post mortem to what was a dog shit trip overseas.