The first day of Bears rookie minicamp is done. Things went pretty smoothly. We got our initial glimpse of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. Their chemistry was clear right from the start and showed up often.
Williams had an impressive start to his first official practice with the Chicago Bears, going over an hour without a single bad throw. Odunze’s performance also set him apart from other wide receivers. However, not everything went smoothly during the Bears rookie mini-camp. On the CHGO Bears podcast, co-host Adam Hoge offered honest feedback on Tory Taylor, the team’s fourth-round pick and star punter. While praising Caleb Williams as the standout of the day, Hoge shared disappointment in Taylor’s performance, noting that it fell short of expectations considering his talent and the team’s excitement about drafting him.
“I don’t know what was going on with Tory Taylor at the start of practice today. But there was a couple shanks in there. I mean it looked like my seven iron just spraying left and right on a par 3 not hitting the green.”
Mark Carman, a co-host of the show alongside Adam Hoge, disagreed with Adam’s statement, pointing out that Tory Taylor didn’t just hit a couple of shanks.
“It wasn’t a couple, it was a handful. It wasn’t just two.”
Tory Taylor may have been nervous.
Iowa and Chicago are obviously completely different. Chicago is one of the biggest sports cities in the world. Taylor was excited to join the Bears, but he might have felt nervous on his first day. Nonetheless, during practice, there were moments where you could understand why the Bears selected him in the fourth round of the draft. Adam Hoge commented on Taylor’s punts, highlighting some good ones amidst the occasional shanks.
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“The ones in between the shanks were unbelievable. They looked like Caleb Williams deep ball. They were just a perfect spiral, bombed down the field. I am not worried about it.”
Ultimately, mini-camp is the place to experiment, make mistakes, and test new techniques. While these issues may carry over into the season, it’s not a cause for concern right now. However, given the criticism the team has faced with using a fourth round pick on Taylor, there will be high expectations for Taylor. Handling and maneuvering through these expectations will be a challenge he’ll face here in Chicago. Day two of rookie mini-camp begins on Saturday so it will be interesting to see how Taylor bounces back.
I doubt nerves had anything to do with it. I would guess it was more about trying to impress and just doing too much. I am excited that we have made upgrades to special teams. I am also intrigued by the possibility of using Taylor on kick offs and maybe take advantage of the new kickoff rules.
The Chicago Bears drafted very well in their first two rounds of the 2024 NFL draft (Caleb and Rome); and also very well in their final selection (Austin Booker) according to the consensus opinion of “experts” and the reported input of both AGM, Ian Cunningham and DC, Eric Washington. Although some of you disagree, I simply attribute everything that occurs under his watch to GM, Ryan Poles. I have stated my opinion (and some disagree) that Poles is an inept judge of NFL talent, proficiency and value. Ultimately, his coaches, his players and the Bears won-lost record will reveal the… Read more »
HO-HUM. BTW, 15 mile per hour winds in Chicago on Friday. I seem to remember an out of towner completely wiffing on a punt in the winds of December,1985.
Most NFL teams make numerous videos of every team session.
Each player knows, every time he steps on the field (practice or otherwise) he will be scrutinized.
The question of whether P, Tory Taylor’s “shanks” on Day One of rookie camp will be significant are yet to be determined. But, believe it: each one has been recorded.
And if a case of “nerves” manifest themselves in practice. . .
Tory Taylor will be just fine. Nerves, you bet and it was further complicated for him by Poles and the Bears releasing T Gill prior to the rookie mini camp. He knows he is the starter period, and so yeah, nerves likely playing a huge part early.