Tag: Riley Ridley

Being Demetris Robertson

Can wideout Demetris Robertson finally breakout for Georgia football?

Or the life and times of D-Rob. The relative successes and limitations of Demetris Robertson last football season could be viewed as allegory for the Georgia passing offense as a whole. While he had some bright spots, he didn’t put up big enough numbers to be considered a national championship caliber starting wideout.

Back in March of 2019, head coach Kirby Smart was quoted as saying, “I think D-Rob’s stepped up.” But as the Georgia passing offense struggled, Robertson caught just 30 balls for 333 yards, with three touchdowns. He led the team with 3 catches in the Georgia-Auburn slugfest win on the plains.

The Savannah native signed with Cal out of high school and earned 2016 FWAA Freshman All-American status by catching 50 passes for 767 yards, with seven touchdowns. In 2017, Robertson caught seven passes for 70 yards before being injured and accepting a medical redshirt. He decided to transfer to his home state and UGA, where he could play immediately.

Log jammed in the deep lineup behind Jeremiah Holloman, Mecole Hardman, Riley Ridley and when-healthy Terry Godwin, Robertson was only thrown to twice with no competitions in 2018. He ran for 109 yards on four rushes, including a 72-yard score.

Sep 1, 2018; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Demetris Robertson (16) breaks tackles to run for a touchdown against the Austin Peay Governors during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The would-be biggest play of the UGA football season was robbed from him in 2019. Desperate for a late score, Jake Fromm found Roberston in the end zone in the Georgia-Carolina game, as the Sanford Stadium crowd erupted. In Athens myself at the time, I had chills as I recalled the famous Larry Munson line aloud, “The stadium is worse than bonkers.”

With some questionable at best game management head coaching decisions afterward and a rare miss by kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, the Bulldogs somehow found a way to lose to the downtrodden Gamecocks in double overtime. At that point, it was the biggest upset across the national college football landscape and may have ultimately cost UGA an at-large entry into the College Football Playoff, if all other things were equal. Georgia finished the final CFP rankings in slot #5 for a second consecutive season.

D-Rob has struggled with drops at times but is a smart wideout, generally aligning correctly and running the right routes, which his wide receiving core teammates did not do enough last season. Georgia left way too many points on the field in 2019, relying so heavily on D’Andre Swift’s running and the height and strong positioning play of grad transfer wideout Lawrence Cager. When those players were not healthy, outgoing offensive coordinator James Coley and quarterback Jake Fromm had no consistent answers.

Sep 17, 2016; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears wide receiver Demetris Robertson (8) runs the ball against the Texas Longhorns in the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. Cal won 50-43. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Could 2020 be a breakout year for the (6-0, 190) speedy fifth-year senior, who once showed so much promise as a true frosh in the Golden State? Can new UGA coordinator Todd Monken get more guys open in space?

 

Bears’ 2019 rookie class ranked 8th in NFL

It was hard to expect much from the Bears’ 2019 rookie class considering that they had 5 selections. But where did they rank in the NFL?

It was hard to expect much from the Bears’ 2019 rookie draft class considering that they had just five draft selections, including no picks before Round 3 and three selections in Round 6 and 7.

The Bears’ rookie class was less than impactful. David Montgomery was the only rookie that saw substantial playing time in 2019, as he took over as the team’s starting running back.

Surprisingly, ESPN and Pro Football Focus ranked the Bears’ rookie class the eighth best in 2019.

The Bears have a strange class. They had only five picks, none before Round 3, with three of those five selections coming after Round 6. As a result, their expected return was low. Running back David Montgomery was really the only Bears’ rookie to play significant snaps, and he managed to provide enough return from his third-round selection to land them at No. 8.

While Montgomery showed flashes of potential in Matt Nagy’s limited rushing offense, you could argue that it wasn’t enough to garner the Bears’ underperforming rookie class in the top-10. Montgomery had 889 rushing yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.

Highly-touted fourth-round receiver Riley Ridley was shelved for most of the season, and it took injuries to the Bears receiving corp. for Ridley to get some playing time in the final three games. He finished his rookie season with six receptions for 69 yards.

Sixth-round cornerback Duke Shelley was confined to special teams in his rookie season. While seventh-round running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. was signed off the Bears practice squad by the Steelers, where he had 24 carries for 122 yards in six games. Then there’s seventh-round cornerback Stephen Denmark, who spent his rookie season on the Bears’ practice squad.

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Grading the 2019 Bears by position: Wide receivers

Heading into the 2019 season, the Bears WRs looked to be one of the deepest position groups on the team. How’d they grade for the season?

Going into the 2019 season, the receiving corps of the Chicago Bears looked to be one of the deepest position groups on the team.

Boasting a fully healthy Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, who appeared ready to become a deadly duo in the NFC North, as well as speedster Taylor Gabriel, rookie Riley Ridley, second-year receiver Javon Wims and free agent pickup Cordarrelle Patterson, the sky appeared to be the limit for this young group.

Instead, Robinson was the only one to take off, becoming the true number one option the team needed, with everyone else fell to the wayside. Here are the grades for each wide receiver on the Bears.

Allen Robinson: A

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Undoubtedly the MVP of the offense, Allen Robinson was the bright spot on an otherwise disastrous unit. The Bears receiver has his best season since breaking out in 2015, catching 98 passes for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. He accounted for nearly one third of the Bears’ passing yards for the season and ascended to the go-to receiver the team believed they were getting when he was signed as a free agent in 2018.

Robinson made incredible catches throughout the entire season and became the key third-down target to continue drives. Whether it was a back-shoulder throw or an inside hitch route, Robinson did it all this season and produced at a high level. If there was one thing to knock, it would be a few drops, some of which came at inopportune times. But a few rough moments can’t overshadow the best season by a Bears wide receiver since 2014.

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Allen Robinson planning offseason training workouts with Bears WRs

Bears WR Allen Robinson is orchestrating offseason workouts where Bears receivers would go to live with him and train for next season.

While the Chicago Bears still have one game left in what’s been a miserable 2019 season, talks have already turned toward the offseason. There will be plenty of issues that need to be addressed, but ranking towards the bottom of that list is wide receiver.

Still, receiver Allen Robinson, who has been the lone bright spot on Chicago’s offense this season, is planning ahead to an offseason where he’s focused on getting Bears receivers primed for 2020.

Speaking with the media on Thursday, Bear offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said that he overheard Robinson orchestrating offseason workouts where Bears receivers would go to live with him and train for next season.

This wouldn’t be the first time Robinson has taken to offseason preparation. He did the same last March when he flew to Huntington Beach, California, to work with Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, as well as fellow receivers Taylor Gabriel, Javon Wims and Marvin Hall to fine-tune and perfect passing routes.

Bears receivers that figure to be in attendance include Anthony Miller, Javon Wims, Riley Ridley, Cordarrelle Patterson and Taylor Gabriel, who could be a potential cap casualty this offseason.

You’d assume that Trubisky will also be in attendance. While Trubisky’s future in Chicago is in question, he will still be the Bears starting quarterback heading into this offseason.

Following an embarrassing output on offense, there’s much work to be done for this unit to make significant strides in 2020.

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Bears’ season finale should present opportunities for younger players

While the Bears are eliminated from playoff contention, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for in regards to the future.

The Chicago Bears won’t have anything to play for in their regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. They were eliminated from playoff contention two weeks ago, and they’re left playing for pride heading into an important offseason.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for in regards to the future. While Matt Nagy didn’t opt to give more of his young players an opportunity to get some valuable reps last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s exactly what could happen this week against the Vikings.

“Being able to go win the game is important to us,” Nagy said. “It does also, at the same time, present some opportunities … knowing kind of where they’re at and where we’re at. We’ll see where that takes us. I want to be smart about it. But at the same time if there is somebody we can get a chance to see, we want to be able to do that as well.”

Players like rookie offensive lineman Alex Bars, rookie receiver Riley Ridley, cornerback Kevin Toliver, linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and running back Ryan Nall are just some of the names that the Bears should play against the Vikings.

While Nagy insists that the goal is to go out and win on Sunday, he wouldn’t rule out resting some starters and giving opportunities to some younger players. But Week 17 is different from the preseason where starters are rested to avoid injuries.

“The end of the year versus the start of the year, is probably the biggest thing,” Nagy said. “Again, there’s some things that we’ll take into account as we go through this. But the main objective for our players and for our coaches is to go there and try to win the football game — even regardless of their situation.”

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What is Matt Nagy’s message now that Bears are out of playoff contention?

Bears coach Matt Nagy has him team focused on using the frustration from this season heading into an important offseason.

Matt Nagy will face a new challenge in his second season as head coach of the Chicago Bears: How to lead a team when there’s nothing left to play for.

Shortly after Sunday’s brutal loss to the Packers, the Bears were eliminated from playoff contention and any dreams of a magical, Super Bowl season were officially dashed.

Through all of the struggles this season, Nagy has done a great job keeping morale high. They’ve continued to fight through adversity — and remain together in the process. And things were pretty bad there at 3-5, then 4-6.

So as the Bears prepare for their final two games of an otherwise forgettable season, Nagy has him team focused on using the frustration from this season heading into an important offseason. He’ll also have his team ready to play in these final games — as if they did mean something more.

“I really am looking forward to our team finishing and playing really hard these last two games,” Nagy said. “We can do that. So my message to the guys is, we’re rolling. There’s nothing that changes. It stinks that we can’t get to the playoffs, but that’s on us. We made this. Hopefully we learn from it and remember this feeling. But these next two games to us are very important and we’re going to play them hard.”

While there’s nothing to play for in regards to the playoffs, Nagy said that he will indeed play his starters in those last two games.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Yeah. Yep.”

There will be plenty of guys playing for jobs — both veterans and the young guns. Cornerback Kevin Toliver is one to watch, as he looks to fight for a starting job next season over Prince Amukamara, who could very well be on his way out of Chicago. Receivers Javon Wims and Riley Ridley will be looking to prove they can be reliable options to go along with Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, which could mean the end of Taylor Gabriel’s time in Chicago.

So while the Bears won’t be playing for playoff contention in these final two games, these final two weeks are important in determining the direction of this team heading into 2020.

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Georgia football: Bulldogs must have better bowl game, off-season

The Georgia Bulldogs fell to the LSU Tigers 37-10 in the SEC Championship Game. LSU dominated and UGA’s offense never got rolling. Jake Fromm and Georgia receivers couldn’t get in sync all game (more on the receivers later). All of this felt like a …

The Georgia Bulldogs fell to the LSU Tigers 37-10 in the SEC Championship Game. LSU dominated and UGA’s offense never got rolling. Jake Fromm and Georgia receivers couldn’t get in sync all game (more on the receivers later).

All of this felt like a accumulation of Georgia’s weaknesses and errors adding up over the course of the season. But make no mistake about it. Georgia had a despicable off-season in 2018-2019 following the 2018 SEC Championship Game defeat to Alabama. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs must bounce back better following the crushing loss against LSU.

Last year, following the 2018 SEC title game UGA’s Deandre Baker started the off-season slide when he won the Jim Thorpe Award. Baker set a tone for the off-season that was not ideal. Following winning the award Baker was quoted saying this:

“I’m playing in the Sugar Bowl,” Baker said, per Jake Rowe of 247Sports. “…I just wanted to finish it right with my teammates, that’s all.”

Baker went on to sit out Georgia’s bowl game against Texas: a multi-score defeat to Texas. Players who are going to sit out the bowl game need to decide soon and be honest about it. Coaches need to prepare with the guys they’ve got and start building momentum for 2020. Regardless of who shows up, Georgia needs a win to be making progress as a program.

Baker’s decision was one of the least notable things of the 2018-2019 off-season.

Receivers Mecole Hardman Jr., Riley Ridley, RB Elijah Holyfield, and tight end Isaac Nauta all declared for the NFL early following the Sugar Bowl loss. Georgia lost Justin Fields in a transfer to Ohio State. Fields would’ve looked mighty good in Georgia red and black this season.

Every player has the right to declare for the NFL early, but for many it is not the best choice. There’s no going back. Some players family situations prevent them from being in school. That being said, Holyfield and Nauta would’ve been served better staying in Athens. Each would’ve had large roles in the offense. Neither is set up for NFL success now. Players should do what’s best for them and their families at the end of the day.

Kirby Smart secured yet another talented recruiting class, but that was the least of UGA’s 2018-2019 off-season worries. Seven Georgia players were arrested in 2019 before the Dawgs suited up to play Vanderbilt. WR Jeremiah Holloman proved to be the most costly of UGA’s arrest-related off-season losses. Georgia never made up for his loss and struggled to stretch teams down the field, especially in loses to South Carolina and LSU. Fromm missed Holloman’s back shoulder fade ability as well.

How does UGA have a better off-season this time? Jake Fromm staying would help, but don’t count on that. If he leaves, it may be Georgia’s turn to land a talented QB transfer like D’Eriq King of Houston. Kirby Smart needs borderline players to return and/or not transfer.

Players leave programs and that’s a reality of college football in 2019. Smart must land more recruits. UGA’s class of 2020 is extremely talented, but the Dawgs only have fifteen commitments. They will look add about ten more. Smart needs to land a talented tight end in this class. Darnell Washington or Theo Johnson would be huge for UGA. It’s the most talented tight end class in years.

Lastly, Georgia must stay out of trouble. 2-3 arrests would be excellent in comparison to seven. Yes, last off-season all seven weren’t all serious offenses, but they hurt the team.

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Don’t expect to see Bears WR Taylor Gabriel or TE Ben Braunecker on Thanksgiving

Matt Nagy says it will “probably be a stretch” to see Bears WR Taylor Gabriel or TE Ben Braunecker play Thanksgiving vs. Lions.

As the Chicago Bears prepare to face the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, they’ll likely do it down two offensive weapons.

Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel and tight end Ben Braunecker remain in concussion protocol, and both aren’t expected to play Thursday against the Lions.

Bears coach Matt Nagy said that it “would be probably a stretch” for Gabriel or Braunecker to play on Thanksgiving.

The Bears are already thin at tight end before Braunecker’s concussion, as Trey Burton is on injured reserve and Adam Shaheen is sidelined with a foot injury. Now, it’ll be the Jesper Horsted and J.P. Holtz show.

Gabriel’s absence could open the door for rookie receiver Riley Ridley, who’s been inactive this season on the 53-man roster. With Gabriel inactive, look for Anthony Miller, Javon Wims and Ridley along with Allen Robinson on offense.

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Bears rookie draft class has played fewest snaps in the NFL

Despite receiving high praise coming out of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Bears’ 2019 draft class has been nowhere to be seen.

It’s been nearly seven months since the 2019 NFL Draft concluded in Nashville, and 254 players saw their NFL dreams come true. Five of those eventually becoming Chicago Bears.

Running back David Montgomery, wide receiver Riley Ridley, cornerback Duke Shelley, running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. and cornerback Stephen Denmark rounded out the 2019 Bears rookie class, a group that received high marks following the draft.

But despite the high praise, you may have noticed that outside of Montgomery, the Bears rookie class has been nowhere to be seen. It’s not your eyes playing tricks on you, it’s reality.

After calculating each team’s snap counts via Pro Football Reference through Week 10 of the NFL season, the Bears rookie draft class has played a total of just 366 snaps, the fewest in the NFL. For context, NFL rookie draft classes have averaged 1,441 snaps. The New York Giants, led by quarterback Daniel Jones, have the most snaps at 3,226.

Out of the Bears’ 366 snaps, Montgomery, their top draft pick selected in the third round, accounts for 329 and Shelley, their sixth-round pick, has played the remaining 37 plays. Ridley, Whyte Jr., and Denmark have yet to see the field.

Without a first or second round pick due to trades involving outside linebacker Khalil Mack and wide receiver Anthony Miller, respectively, the Bears relied on their mid-round picks to find talent.

General manager Ryan Pace has had success in rounds 3-7 throughout his tenure, finding gems such as safety Adrian Amos, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, safety Eddie Jackson, running back Tarik Cohen, and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, who contributed immediately in the regular season and/or developed into solid players in the NFL.

But after a slew of success in those rounds, the Bears appear to have stalled this season, only utilizing one rookie regularly in games. While they did tie with the New Orleans Saints for the fewest amount of picks in the draft, the Saints’ rookie class has played 1,095 snaps so far in 2019, ranked 23rd in the league.

With such few picks, the need to hit on draft picks is more crucial than ever. Montgomery has shown flashes of his hard-nosed running that made him a popular back while at Iowa State.

Ridley was touted as a precise route-running receiver who would translate well to the next level, and Shelley was a ball hawk at Kansas State before injuring his ankle, hurting his draft stock. Both players are on the active roster, but have been healthy scratches for most, if not all the games. Ridley has not been active for any game this year and Shelley last played in Week 4 against Minnesota on special teams. Whyte Jr. and Denmark have spent the season on the practice squad.

With six games remaining and a spot in the playoffs still achievable, it’s unlikely fans will see the other members of the rookie draft class barring injury. But at some point, Matt Nagy and the rest of the coaching staff need to know what they have in their rookies and how they can contribute in 2020 and beyond.

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