The Chicago Bears appear to have pushed all the right buttons on their roster this off-season. Everything from the quarterbacks to the wide receivers, tight ends, offensive line, and secondary looks better than it did last season. Even the defensive line got a late jolt courtesy of two trades for edge rusher Darrell Taylor and defensive tackle Chris Williams. However, even this regime isn’t immune to bad decisions from time to time. Based on recent comments from Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus, they’ve made one.
Among the more frustrating names of the past two years on the Bears roster, Dominique Robinson ranks near the top. He started out so strong as a rookie, collecting 1.5 sacks in the 2022 season opener. Since then, he has had a half-sack in 27 games. The team insisted up and down that Robinson arrived at training camp bulked up and in great shape. He was also practicing really well. Yet, he has two pressures and no sacks in 34 pass rush opportunities during this preseason.
By comparison, Jamree Kromah, an undrafted rookie who won’t make the roster, had three pressures in 36 snaps.
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The Chicago Bears’ stubbornness with Robinson needs to end.
He does nothing for them. Not only has he been useless as a passer rusher for almost two years, but he’s not even a good run defender. His 33.2 grade from Pro Football Focus last season was even worse than his rookie year. Special teams? No help there, either. It feels like Poles is clinging to hope that Robinson will somehow turn the corner. This is a trap many general managers fall into with their draft picks. Nobody disputes his natural athletic gifts. The problem is many good practice players never figure out how to translate it to games. Robinson is one such example.
At some point, the Chicago Bears need to end this charade. They’ve given the young man three full off-seasons to learn his position. Despite what they may say, there hasn’t been any noticeable progress. Daniel Hardy has done way more to earn a job on this roster. Poles and Eberflus always talk about giving spots to guys who have earned them. Robinson hasn’t earned anything. There comes a time when draft status shouldn’t protect a player anymore. His expired a long time ago.
Kind of heard the same thing about Vellus Jones. I can count the number of comments by folks who commented on this particular thread. The scheme it’s always the scheme. A player can excel if the scheme matches their skill set. Look at how much Tyson Bagent has looked under Waldron. As a matter of fact, everything looks better. I’m sure they have input from the defensive coaching staff concerning Robinson, so we’ll just wait and see. They might have something cooking. After all, he started out as a wide receiver in college.
Until they prove whop they are, by winning or losing, we cannot tell if these were the right moves or not. We cannot know yet if these are the right moves, or the wrong moves.
Our opinions, Poles’ opinion – they mean nothing until the Bears show one way or the other who they are.
No confirmation here, just people jumping to conclusions. And any move can be absolutely justified with winning.
Time discovers truth~Seneca
Ha, I just had to.
As long as Dom isn’t over Hardy at this point I don’t care.
Given his raw athleticism and history prior to getting drafted, it would have made a lot more sense to try converting him to another position after his first or second year. From my perspective, with his size, speed and build, it would’ve been potentially a good move to convert him to tight end, have him shadow Marcedes Lewis and Cole.