McManis traded to Bears for FB Clutts

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

just watched every bears offensive snap from last nite watching clutts (btw how awesome is gamepass condensed- they have the whole game fitted into 25 mins). color me unimpressed overall tbh. dunno what the bears fans on that forum were on about his strong blocking at the GL? maybe last yr pre-injury possibly?

I'm not aware of any injury history at any of his various league stops let alone last year?

[brakos82]

Originally Posted by GP

I think Keo and Clutts should form an alliance together.

The Keo Clutts Clan.

Happy Bad Joke Day everybody!

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Playoffs

Vickers had ongoing problems picking the correct man to hit in his leads.
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For those who haven't ventured over to the Bears forum,

Fans over there are pissed that Clutts is gone, talking up his blocking (a la Vonta Leach), and what a great football player he was.

Sounds like FB is not a position OC Mike Tice uses. Clutts may be the man for the job, give us some help on those run rights.

.

He evidently has been a real bull on STs.

[Playoffs]

http://www.stateofthetexans.com/?p=7215

Insight from a Bears writer/columnist

Well, basically, the Bears want to run a lot of “Ace Personnel” this season (2 TEs and 2 WRs). They’ll use their tight ends as lead blockers primarily but also to create matchup issues in the passing game given their new weapons on the outside in Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. I’m telling you this because it serves to show why Clutts is no longer in Chicago, because it has nothing to do with his play—he simply didn’t fit what the Bears wanted to do this season.

Prior to the trade, Clutts was, in my opinion, the best in-line blocker the Bears had out of the backfield. He played all 16 games last season, half of which he started. Not bad for a guy snatched off an NFL practice squad. Make no mistake about it—tape doesn’t lie—the addition of Clutts was a big part of what allowed Matt Forte to have such a breakout season in 2011; it’s something I know personally that he took a lot of pride in.

He’s the type of player you just want on your team: hungry, driven, humble, smart. He’s a good guy. He’s a solid special teams contributor, and when you review a lot of the Bears’ big returns last season, it’s no coincidence that Clutts was on the field blocking for a most of them. Well miss him in Chicago, but if the Texans plan on using him to his strengths, they won’t be sorry.

[Rey]

I'm excited about him.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by Rey

I'm excited about him.

I am as well. I wonder who made this move. It couldn't have been that sorry POS Rick Smith. He's the idgit that traded Demeco and cut the Caveman.

Must have been Wade. Or the janitor.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by drs23

I am as well. I wonder who made this move. It couldn't have been that sorry POS Rick Smith. He's the idgit that traded Demeco and cut the Caveman.

Must have been Wade. Or the janitor.

Yep, apparently it was "trade-jobs" day for the Texans on Friday.

Rick Smith: Wade, I'd like to put you in charge of personnel moves for the fullback position.

Wade: Great Rick, and in return, you can decide who the last CB and Safety spots on the roster will go to.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by ChampionTexan

Yep, apparently it was "trade-jobs" day for the Texans on Friday.

Rick Smith: Wade, I'd like to put you in charge of personnel moves for the fullback position.

Wade: Great Rick, and in return, you can decide who the last CB and Safety spots on the roster will go to.

Yep, that's probably pretty close to how it came down. But you know that Janitor has a say in it somewhere.

[GlassHalfFull]

Originally Posted by drs23

Yep, that's probably pretty close to how it came down. But you know that Janitor has a say in it somewhere.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by GlassHalfFull

Yeah, that's him Katie!

MSR!

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by GlassHalfFull

DRS23, Got her for you.

Evidently, the Texans janitor is overqualified and underpaid.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I watched a different game, against the Chargers last year.

Speaking of Chargers, did anyone notice:

Chargers Cuts: DE Jacques Cesaire, FB Jacob Hester

[steelbtexan]

Originally Posted by ChampionTexan

Yep, apparently it was "trade-jobs" day for the Texans on Friday.

Rick Smith: Wade, I'd like to put you in charge of personnel moves for the fullback position.

Wade: Great Rick, and in return, you can decide who the last CB and Safety spots on the roster will go to.

Gary made the call after Rick scowered the WW.

Rick is BoB's guy. Saves him $$$$

Gary/Wade and the scouts make the personel moves.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

just watched every bears offensive snap from last nite watching clutts (btw how awesome is gamepass condensed- they have the whole game fitted into 25 mins). color me unimpressed overall tbh. dunno what the bears fans on that forum were on about his strong blocking at the GL? maybe last yr pre-injury possibly?

last nite, clutts was blocking most of the time he was in (about 50% of total offensive plays id estimate) and while he usually got a hat on a hat and wasnt getting knocked back, he wasnt plowing holes either which, considering alot of the time he was blocking a cb on outside runs, wasnt very impressive. didnt see him pop anyone back once like norris did last nite. also once or twice, his man was able to disengage and make the tackle 5-10 yds downfield.

passing wise he was targetted 4 times iirc on short routes- caught 3 inc one nice grab in traffic on a bullet pass & one drop on a low throw that he tried to one hand grab- not a horrible drop like some of norris' last nite, but one that a good catching fb should make. wasnt in for any straight pass protection only play action.

he's not gonna unseat casey anytime soon barring injury

didnt notice any ST plays but was focusing on offense and skipped a few of em

I take it that you were watching the PS game week 4.
No, he wasn't great in this game, but playing with scrubs doesn't allow his effectiveness to show through.

I had watched some 9-10 games from last year and all 4 PS games this year, and I really like Clutts.

I think he fits the Texans well.
He will need to learn the playbook and the blocking scheme and may not see the field much in the first few games.

It looks like the Bears had decided to do away with the FB slot.
They will still use a TE there once in a while.

This is what they did in several games last year.
There were several games in which they didn't have the FB in but less than a dozen snaps.

Clutts had a few poor moments, but nothing too terrible.

The five games in which he played more than 20 snaps, the Bears won all five of them (Panthers, Vikings, Bucs, Eagles, Lions week 14).
Forte had 4 of his best 5 rushing performances in those games.
His best performance was against the Panthers, a game that saw him dominate the opposition thoroughly (Forte had his career day with some 205 yards on the ground.)

I've seen him pancaked a few LBs.
I've seen him taking on some D-linemen pretty strongly.
I've seen him leap high to reel in a catch (he looks like one of our TEs on this play - but obviously, we don't expect him to replace Casey.)

To me, he looks better than Vickers in blocking, but not quite the level of Vonta Leach (the potential is there though.)

His hands are better than any true FB we've ever had (and I don't consider Casey a true FB).

Clutts should complement Casey well and provide the Texans with the FB depth that has been lacking.
(I was not a fan of neither Norris nor any of the young players.)

I really like this trade.
I think it's a win-win situation for both teams.
McMannis is now with a team that play a lot of cover 2 and Clutts is with the Texans, a team that likes to run the ball with a FB much more than the Bears.

[Playoffs]

I agree & think this was a hugely important get with the questionable right side.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

Speaking of Chargers, did anyone notice:

I'd pick Hester up still even though we just traded for clutts. Hester is a guy that I think would fit well in this offense and provide more flexibility on game day. He can run the ball, block from the fb spot or play out in a wing position as well as play special teams.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Rey

I'd pick Hester up still even though we just traded for clutts. Hester is a guy that I think would fit well in this offense and provide more flexibility on game day. He can run the ball, block from the fb spot or play out in a wing position as well as play special teams.

Some comments from the Chargers forum (from January):

http://forums.chargers.com/showthrea...t=92647&page=8
...
Not a personal attack on him or anything but can someone please explain Hester's role and his importance and why he is the best in the league at what he does.
...
No importance I say cut him. He can't block. He can't run. He can't really catch. What's the point of keeping a FB that can't do non of that??? You can draft one in the 5th round he will turn out just as good or better.
....
Hester doesn't do much. Drops a decent amount of passes, makes occasional bonehead mistakes (2010 fumble, stopped running and special teams catching a kick at the 3), he isn't big enough to block many people, nor is he fast enough to rush well. Is he a bad player? No. But losing him would not be a big deal.
....
In his early years Hester was a very good STs player. His play has declined on STs because he was forced to add weight to play FB. He's significantly slower now than he was his first couple of years.

That loss of speed hurt his receiving and running. His weight gain gave him marginal improvement as a FB. Let him lose those 15 lbs and regain his speed then he will probably be better on STs and as a #3RB.

He was faster than Tolbert when they both joined the Chargers. He at least could get outside back then. He would have been overall a much better backup RB than Tolbert.

His blocks are mostly cut blocks which if the bigger defender sees him coming can avoid. When he can't cut he tries to impede the defender. He can't clear a hole for Mathews, as he simply can't matchup to LBs.

Either allow him to lose weight and return to being a RB or let him go. They need better play at FB and that means a bigger guy.

[Maddict5]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I take it that you were watching the PS game week 4.
No, he wasn't great in this game, but playing with scrubs doesn't allow his effectiveness to show through.

dont really see how playing with scrubs affected his game much if at all. its not like the rb was getting tackled before he could make his block. he was playing against scrubs too...

i just saw much more pop from norris in our 4th game. that being said, norris cant catch while clutts can

[HOU-TEX]

Originally Posted by Rey

I'd pick Hester up still even though we just traded for clutts. Hester is a guy that I think would fit well in this offense and provide more flexibility on game day. He can run the ball, block from the fb spot or play out in a wing position as well as play special teams.

To me, Hester is a lesser Casey. He does the same sort of things as Casey, just not as good. I'm not sure what position he fits best. Is he a FB? An H back? More like a tweener of the two? Who know, but I'd pass on him. I liked Hester coming out of LSU too

[Rey]

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

To me, Hester is a lesser Casey. He does the same sort of things as Casey, just not as good. I'm not sure what position he fits best. Is he a FB? An H back? More like a tweener of the two? Who know, but I'd pass on him. I liked Hester coming out of LSU too

I think both Hester and Casey are hybrids, but I see Hester as fb/rb hybrid and Casey as more of a TE/fb hybrid. I think they could play all the same positions, but I think Hester is a bit more of a rb and Casey is a bit more of a TE.

I'd dump ball and pick up Hester in a heart beat. He provides versatlitu and special teams ability much like Casey.

If Arian or Tate get nicked up then you're down to two rb's. If you have Hester on the roster he could take some carries behind Forsett. If a TE or fb got nicked he could step in and help there too so we wouldn't have to change what we do too drastically.