Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse — a survey of fans across the NFL Stephen Denmark Chicago Bears Jerseys , powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100+ plugged in fans from each team. Bears fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.So far through the first quarter of the NFL season, we have several candidates for league MVP stepping up already. If these players can keep up their stellar play, the race for the year end award could be a toss up. The most surprising name to be in the discussion is the Chicago Bears’ Khalil Mack. It’s not because he’s undeserving, but because this has historically been a quarterback or running back award since it started in 1957.The NFL hasn’t had a defensive player win this award since 1986 when the New York Giants’ Lawrence Taylor won. Before him, the last defensive player to win was defensive tackle Alan Page of the Minnesota Vikings. And that’s it. Those two, along with Washington Redskins’ kicker Mark Moseley in the strike shortened season of 1982, are the only non-QB/RB to win the league’s MVP award.Mack is currently second in the all-important FanPulse voting behind the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, and in front of the Rams’ Jared Goff, and the Saints’ Alvin Kamara, but I think Mack has staying power. Remember this is a guy that was just signed before the season started. His offseaosn workout was basically at the gym. He’s done all his damage, and won NFC Defensive Player of the Month, while working himself into football shape. Unless Mahomes continues his ridiculous pace, I think Mack may have what it takes to become the third defensive player to take the prize.What do you guys think?If you aren’t a part of WCG’s FanPulse, join now! Finally, we can unscientifically answer a timeless question: Who is the fastest player in the NFL?" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteWindy City GridironWindy City Gridiron - Being who you thought we were since 2005!Log In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsBearsOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Latest NewsThe Bears DenNotesXs and OsSuperfansFiled under:NewsNotesFrom The Desk Of...Bears’ Tarik Cohen and John Franklin III to find out if you’re not first, you’re lastNew,12commentsFinally, we can unscientifically answer a timeless question: Who is the fastest player in the NFL?CDTShareTweetShareShareBears’ Tarik Cohen and John Franklin III to find out if you’re not first, you’re lastThis looks like a man that only needs 18 inches of daylight. Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty ImagesTalladega Nights’ eponymous character Ricky Bobby was many things: A simpleton Chicago Bears Jerseys 2019 , a boorish oaf, a son seeking long-lost paternal affection, and a human treasure trove of one-liners. But what defined him the most was a passion to go fast. “America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed,” quips Will Ferrell’s Bobby, without a hint of irony, at one point in the 2006 comedy. The main tagline of the film “If you ain’t first, you’re last,” rings true.Bobby’s main life mission similarly defines some of pro football’s best active speed demons, as they can finally prove, once and for all, who the fastest player in the NFL is. Never mind the obvious parallels of unnecessary machismo bragging rights—this question deserves an answer everyone has been kind of (?) waiting for. A question where a pair of Bears get the chance to provide their own valuable input as their legs and natural gifts should allow them.On Saturday June 29, the Bears’ Tarik Cohen and John Franklin III will be present among a gaggle of other football blazers in the inaugural 40 Yards of Gold all-star speed competition. There, Cohen, Franklin III, and counterparts such as the Saints’ Alvin Kamara, Titans’ Kevin Byard, and Cardinals’ Budda Baker will race head-to-head to ultimatelydetermine football’s “King of Speed”. To conclude the night, the eventual Champion of the Offensive Division will face off against the Champion of the Defensive Vision and offer an anticlimactic ending to the proceedings. Franklin III, he of a 4.32 40-yard dash run in 2018 Youth Stephen Denmark Jersey , is the betting favorite to win at +550 (11/2 odds) according to BookMaker. Cohen, the Bears’ main offensive game-breaker, settles in at +1200 (12/1 odds). The full list of participants is as follows:OFFENSE: Ted Ginn Jr., Jeff Badet, Corey Coleman, Tarik Cohen, Robby Anderson, Richie James, Damiere Byrd, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, Kevin Snead, Christian Blake, Jacoby Ford, Mystery ParticipantDEFENSE: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Trae Waynes, John Franklin III, Kevin Byard, Quinton Dunbar, Rashard Robinson, Terrell Sinkfield Stephen Denmark Jersey Color Rush , Jerome Baker, Jalen Myrick, Budda Baker, Donte Jackson, Charles James II, Mystery ParticipantThe aim of this contest is to provide a somewhat objective authority for the fastest player in the NFL and set a bar of (supposed) friendly competition for football’s continually growing freakish athletes. There have been previous humorous occasions testing speed merits of NFL players such as former Bengals receiver Chad Johnson racing a horse in 2007, and Bears returner great Devin Hester besting a cheetah in 2013 in a National Geographic documentary. But never ever has there been a trial between two football human racers: A compelling and tense one-track sprint everyone clearly needed. Knowing a player like Cohen, in the event he should win the competition, there won’t be much of any love lost on social media platforms. None of the other racers will hear the end of the boisterous Cohen letting them have it. He’ll be first, and everyone that isn’t first will assuredly be last. Should the more quiet Franklin III win it, it’ll offer the former Last Chance U star a needed profile boost to a hopeful budding career. Beyond the wholesome fun involved, if this competition blows up into anything remotely profitable, audiences should look forward to the NFL barging in and somehow stretching it out into a two-week primetime event with a quarter of an individual race taking place each night. There is no such thing as over-saturation, no sir. Amazing Race, Survivor, American Ninja Warrior—watch out. Robert is the Editor-in-chief of The Blitz Network, the managing editor of Windy City Gridiron, and the Bears beat writer for The Rock River Times. Follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.
