Nate Davis only played 18 snaps last Sunday for the Chicago Bears. Veteran Ryan Bates played 28. It was a confusing situation because there were no indications Davis was hurt. Head coach Matt Eberflus said the decision was part of a rotation plan. However, not everybody is buying that. It felt much more like the team choosing to bench Davis. The unknown reason was what for?
Team insider Adam Hoge of CHGO did some digging and believes the decision stemmed from one play in the first half. It came when Caleb Williams was sacked for a 19-yard loss, knocking the Bears out of field goal range. Center Coleman Shelton got blamed for the snafu, but Hoge believes Davis’ lack of willingness to help was the real reason the play blew up.
Watching the video back, it is hard to miss. Titans defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat shoots the gap on Shelton’s right shoulder. Davis was in a perfect position to give a chip block to slow him down. The guard barely touches him. Sweat swarmed Williams, who was left with no choice but to scramble, trying to escape.
Nate Davis didn’t get much playing time after that.
Bates finished the game at right guard. While it didn’t help the offensive line much, the Bears at least knew they could count on him to do the right things. This incident is the latest in a long line of grievances with Davis. He arrived as a high-priced free agent in 2023. Since then, he has missed six games with various injuries and the bulk of two training camps. In 397 snaps, he has allowed 30 pressures, including seven QB hits and a sack. That is almost identical to what Bears right guards gave up in 2022. What exactly is the team paying for at this point?
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It seems increasingly likely that the organization would love to move on from Nate Davis. The problem is that they don’t have a choice right now. Bates is nursing a shoulder injury that has him out for Sunday’s game in Houston. There aren’t any notable free agents worth pursuing. Unless they want to make an aggressive move on the trade market in a few weeks, they are stuck with him for the next couple of months.
Those of us like @ChazzHammer who “[a]ctually watched every single play for Nate Davis” are the ones with the best understanding of how the player played in each game — although we still won’t know what the specific assignments were on each play. That information could be a critical factor in the evaluation. Kudos to “ChazzHammer” for his diligent approach — still the “eye test” is merely the starting point for the complete evaluation (player grade /team contribution) process. It’s been said, “The tape never lies” — True, but, it doesn’t come with viewing instructions. If it did, those instructions… Read more »
Wow, I was gonna write the EXACT same points, Chazzhammer. You got down voted strictly on Hatred for Davis. I get it, the guy oozes lazy but word has it, that he was our top graded lineman this week and on that play It was more an issue with concept and Shelton. I don’t know how it was drawn up but Sweat was on Shelton’s left and Shelton ran right past him without breathing on him; Just cleared a lane for him. Sweat blew right through. The line was spread out to where there was no chance for Davis to… Read more »
It’s Chazz Hammer time. You might be mostly correct for the anti-Davis bias. Reality seldom wins out here among the fanatics. But don’t expect much unbiased opinion with respect to his actual playing in game one. You might be correct, but the coaches took him out for some hopefully legitimate, not capricious or arbitrary, reason(s).
Actually I watched every single play for Nate Davis and he had a good but not great game. I think people falllinto the trap of piling on the dude because everyone else is. The running game actually was better when he was in. In the play above Sweat already blew past Shelton and Davis would’ve gotten called for a block in the back. I challenge people to watch every Nate Davis play and be objective. Tevin Jenkins had a few terrible plays also. Shelton was trash the whole game and was the #1 culprit.
Damned if ya do or don’t. Davis has the ability to play the position better than most of the Guards we’ve seen for a long time. I personally don’t feel his contract was egregious when you see the talent and the history at Tennessee. But he is always making you wonder if he cares about his job at all. He has a way of making you think he just goes through the motions like a union guy trying to collect stats and money. So far Bates and Shelton haven’t impressed anyone. Bates is obviously not as good as an incentivized… Read more »