The Chicago Bears got their first look at their seventh-round rookie starting in the NFL
It was not quite how the Chicago Bears envisioned things going, but they had to be excited to get their seventh-round rookie Arlington Hambright on the field for some NFL experience. While players such as Rashaad Coward and Alex Bars had to play out of position in their NFL debuts, Hambright does have the luxury of starting at left guard, where he was expected to see his NFL time.
Still, when they drafted Hambright, he was looked at as a developmental player with hope to build upon. While Hambright was extremely raw, there was at least some upside to take away from the game.
Picking Up Stunts
The three plays below show some of the progress that Hambright made. In the first play, we see a huge issue. The Titans run a stunt at the Bears left side. Hambright is supposed to pass off 98, as he stunts outside, and pick up 58, as he stunts inside.
However, the rookie got a little too excited and clung to his initial man. As his man stunted to Leno, Hambright followed. This left a free rusher right in the face of Nick Foles. You can see at the last second that Hambright realizes he just made a huge rookie mistake.
This is a rookie mistake, but the pickup is textbook. The Bears needed more from him. To be fair, what you need to see from a rookie is the ability to learn from mistakes. At the very least the Bears can say that about Hambright.
After taking advantage of him with a stunt, the Titans went right back to it on the next drive. This was a different looking stunt because Hambright was not lined up across from a player. Still, he saw a twist of bodies in front of him, and was able to pick up the man fast.
He was dancing on his feet a bit early but held his ground as he read the stunt and made the block.
The play below is a better test, though. Tennessee wanted to see what he could do in this area and went back it. This time they lined up a man over him. Hambright held on early and may have been sucked in a bit.
However, he recovered, and once again was able to plant his feet and pick up the block.
Blitzing
Showing progress against the stunt was good. However, he struggled with the blitz consistently. The Titans lined Rashaan Evans upright over the left guard. Evans blitzed, and juke Hambright to get into the backfield with ease. It does not help that Charles Leno was beaten inside as well on what may have been a stunt.
Still, the Titans went back at Hambright with a similar look. Jayon Brown is able to beat Hamrbight this time in the same manner as Evans. Unlike stunts, Hambright did not get another rep to redeem himself. If Hambright plays again moving forward this is going to be something teams will want to test.
Power
The speed of the linebackers, and coming from a standing position was too much for the rookie with happy feet. However, in the play below you can see that Daquan Jones beats Hambright with straight power. He pushes Hambright back and sheds the block. By the time Montgomery gets the hand off, the play is over.
Again, Teair Tart was able to beat Hambright with a rip move and drive him into the backfield. Hambright did show some push and was able to buy his quarterback sometime. Still, Hambright had issues in most areas.
Still, as noted, there was promise in his performance. In the play below you can see Hambright win with power. You do not see Bears offensive lineman finish like that much these days. That is a great sight to see on one of the few decent runs in this game.
It was a ragtag group, but PFF graded Hambright as the top run blocker on the line Sunday.
Overall
We have done write-ups for the first career start for Alex Bars and Rashaad Coward at both guard spots. Maybe it is a low bar, and the mistakes were plentiful, but Hambright showed more upside in his first start than either of the other two young starters.
Hambright had plenty of mistakes and had a lot to work on. It is fair to say that he is not ready to start in the NFL. However, there were some signs of life, and at the least a starting mark to grow from.