The Chicago Bears are not playing Adam Shaheen and if there is any logic behind the move, it is terrible logic
In a move that should not surprise anybody, lame duck head coach John Fox is reluctant to let a rookie get on the field. Adam Shaheen started two games for the Chicago Bears and put up 80 yards combined when Dion Sims and Zach Miller went down in the same week.
When both were out, Shaheen took on the Sims role, and Daniel Brown took on the Miller role. Miller is still down, but Sims is back. So it should be no surprise that Brown is still seeing the field, but after playing 31 and 46 snaps in his two starts, Shaheen has played 17 and nine snaps respectively in the past two weeks.
While it is not surprising to see the veteran step back into his role, and the rookie holding the role for the time being lose that spot, it is not how the Bears should be functioning.
Adam Shaheen is raw. He has hardly played football at all, let alone at a level close to the NFL. There is no way that he is going to make mistakes and learn from them on the bench. This needs to happen on the field. He showed that in his two starts. However, he also showed the upside of a player worthy of waiting through those mistakes.
Unfortunately, John Fox, who likely knows his future with Chicago is non-existent, would rather stand by his veteran logic than set up a team for the future. He is not worried about letting a player play through mistakes.
What makes this all so ironic is that it is not like Dion Sims has been playing well either. He is contributing to the losing just as much as Shaheen would. He hardly had done anything before his injury, and the two games without him there was hardly a drop off, if not an improvement.
Shaheen is going to miss blocks. Shaheen is going to be a slow route runner with little nuance. Guess, what? The same applies to Dion Sims.
While it was an easier assignment, the play above shows Shaheen making his block and Sims getting blown up by rookie Ruben Foster for a quick stuff. If Shaheen is in Sims shoes, there is risk that he gets blown up by Foster in the same way. Still, there is more to be gained in that rep by Shaheen than Sims.
Below, Sims again shows why there is little invested in him. A pass by Mitchell Trubisky is not on the numbers by any stretch. However, it is in reach and Sims has his hands on the pass. Unfortunately, he drops it, resulting in an incompletion. Whatever ailments Shaheen has in the pass game can be forgiven if this can be forgiven, right?
It does not even have to be Sims losing time for Shaheen. Shaheen can cut into the time of Brown if he has to. However, to play this charade that Shaheen is not mentally or physically ready to play meaningless snaps in a losing season, while Dion Sims is the almighty deserving starter has to stop. It is absolutely ridiculous, it is making Fox look bad, and it is setting the franchise beyond Fox back. Let Adam Shaheen play out the rest of the season so that you can see what you have to work on in the offseason. This is not rocket science.