A few days before heading to Phoenix for the NFL annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore, Bears coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace made a trip together to Columbus, Ohio.
Inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Nagy and Pace put Ohio State running back Mike Weber through a workout. It was all captured on camera by a local Buckeyes reporter who later shared the video of them on Twitter
“That was [receivers coach Mike] Furrey,” Nagy joked, referencing one of the several Bears’ offensive assistants who share his baldness. “That wasn’t me.”
But it definitely was. Nagy looked into Weber’s workout, too. His movements resembled his mannerisms at the Bears’ own practices.
All of it turned into a public example of how serious the Bears are about finding the best back for Nagy’s offense. It’s a search that should intensify after the Bears traded Jordan Howard to the Eagles on Thursday night for a sixth-round selection that can turn into a fifth-rounder based on his own success.
By trading Howard now, the Bears turned running back into a major “need” position for this year’s draft. It’s a break from the past for Pace who typically used free agency to maintain a best-player-available approach in the draft and also to cloak his intentions (i.e. signing Mike Glennon before drafting Mitch Trubisky).
Of course, the Bears don’t view it that way after signing Mike Davis to a two-year, $6 million contract. Before Nagy suggested that the Bears were in a “good spot” with Howard as part of their backfield, he praised the signing of Davis, highlighting his vision and elusiveness.
“We thought that would be a good addition to our side of the ball on offense,” Nagy said during the coaches breakfast at the league meetings. “We’re intrigued to get him in and start learning who he is as a person.”
That’s fine. But the Bears have been — and still are — extensively looking at running backs in the draft for a reason. The Bears like that Davis doesn’t have “a lot tread on his tires,” as Nagy put it, especially compared to Howard’s past workload. But players also sit because they’re not good enough. Davis will have to prove that he is.
“From all the research we did on him,” Nagy said, “we thought [Davis] was a great fit.”
Similar things were said about receiver/returner Cordarelle Patterson, who was signed a two-year, $10 million contract. He’s a unique threat for Nagy to have.
“We saw a role for him,” Nagy said. “You see what he did in New England with the jet sweeps, the [end] arounds [and] the screens, and I think that that’s a good fit for him. But for me, it’s kind of like a kid in a candy store.”
The Patriots also featured Patterson as a traditional running back.
“I liked it!” Nagy said. “You see how big he is. He’s 228 [pounds], you know.”
Neither Davis nor Patterson, though, should change the Bears’ emphasis on the draft. Their two-year contracts only are guaranteed through this season.
It helps that this year’s draft class is widely considered a good one for mid-round running backs. It certainly made trading Howard — a fifth-round selection in 2016 — more acceptable internally for the Bears, who start with the 87th overall pick.
But they still have to find the right one for Nagy’s offense.
“Any coach will tell you there’s a nice group of backs,” Nagy said. “They all kind of have their unique style. So some of them, they might not have the home-run speed, but he can run you over. This guy might have average hands, but he’s really great between the tackles. They’re all a little different.
“It comes down to, teams that are looking at running backs, what flavor do you like? What kind of ice cream do you like? And then when you get in the draft, where are they going to be at?”
The Bears obviously want a back who provides more than Howard, particularly as a pass catcher. When Nagy and Pace were at Ohio State, Weber was filmed running and catching a pass on a wheel route.
Howard is a good player, but his production — from his yards per carry to his yards gained after contact to advanced metrics, such as Football Outsiders’ defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) — declined as the Bears improved.
Howard often said he needed more carries to get going, but he was never going to get them in Nagy’s multi-faceted attack. Howard likely won’t get them with the Eagles, either.
In other words, Howard became replaceable. The rest of the NFL knew that so the Bears took what they could get.
The only surprise is that the Bears didn’t wait to see what they could get for Howard closer to or during the draft. But the early move also suggests that there wasn’t much of a market for Howard.
Now, the Bears have to draft the right replacement for him. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nagy and Pace in another video working out a different running back.
“It’s hard to evaluate a lot of guys on tape and get a good feel for them,” Nagy said. “You try to as much as you can but to be able to go there and see guys is great. We’ve done it with the quarterback position in years past and it helps you out a lot.”
