Greg Gabriel is going position by position to see where the Bears stand this offseason, and next up is his look at the wide receivers.
For the last few years, the wide receiver position has been a weak point for the Chicago Bears. In 2023, the front office felt the position was in good hands with DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, Equanimeous St. Brown, Velus Jones, and Tyler Scott, but that turned out to be a false assumption as only Moore had a strong season. This off-season, the wide receiver group has been totally revamped, and the starters are as good as any in the League.
Back at the Z position is Moore, one of the better wide receivers in the League. Last year, he had his best statistical season with 96 receptions for 1364 yards and eight touchdowns. After Moore, no other receiver had much of an impact.
That lack of production from the group was taken care of in March with a trade and in the 2024 NFL Draft. In March, the Bears acquired Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers in a trade. Allen has been one of the better possession receivers in all of football for years. He isn’t a speedster, but at 6020 – 211, he is one of the best route runners in the game. Not only does he run great routes, but he has soft hands with a huge catch radius. In four of the last five seasons, Allen has had more than 100 receptions, with 2022 being the lone year without 100 because he missed six games with an injury.
In last month’s NFL Draft, the Bears added to that duo by selecting Washington wideout Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick of the first round. Odunze is a big, long, fast and explosive receiver who can make difficult catches look easy. He has a large catch radius and excellent run after the catch skills. Odunze will complement Moore and Allen very well.
What is nice about this group is that each of the top three can play more than one of the three wide receiver positions. Allen has gotten much of his production playing in the slot but can also play X. Moore is also good at the Y or slot receiver position. Odunze has had success in college at all three of the positions, so the Bears will now have the luxury of mixing up the groupings in order to create mismatches. There is no question that these top three are the best the Bears have had since 2013, when the top three were Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Devin Hester,
What will be interesting to see is which wide receiver will sit when the Bears go to 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs). My guess is that at least early in the year, Odunze will be the one to come out because he’s a rookie and inexperienced, but he’ll still get reps. With the versatility the Bears have with these three, they can mix up who will be the two wideouts when they use 12 personnel.
After the top three wide receivers, there is a drop-off in talent. Camp will be interesting to see who jumps up to earn the number four, five and six wide receiver positions.
In each of the last two Drafts, the Bears used a mid-round pick on a receiver, and to date, neither has jumped out. In 2022, the Bears’ third-round pick was Velus Jones.
Jones has good size and rare speed, but he has had problems consistently catching the ball and also had some problems as a returner (more so as a punt returner than a kickoff returner). Jones must have a strong camp and pre-season in order to make the roster.
In the 2023 Draft, the Bears used a fourth-round pick on Tyler Scott. Scott isn’t very big at 5097 – 185, but he is a burner with 4.39 speed. Like with Jones, Scott had some problems catching the ball in key situations last year.
When we look at college tape of both players, catching the ball was not a weak point for either, so we know they can be reliable.
One of the problems with both receivers and the group as a whole could very well have been coaching. I say this because, outside of Moore, none of the Bears receivers developed over the last few years. That group not only included Jones and Scott but also Chase Claypool and Eq St. Brown, as none played up to their natural physical talent. Right after the 2023 season ended, not only was Offensive Coordinator Luke Getzy let go, but so was Wide Receiver Coach Tyke Tolbert. Could Tolbert have been a problem with the lack of development with the group? To replace Tolbert, the Bears hired former Chargers wide receiver coach Chris Beaty, who was Keenan Allen’s coach for the last few years. Beaty has a reputation for developing young talent.
Dante Pettis, Freddie Swain, and Collin Johnson are other receivers who could be on the 2024 Bears roster.
Pettis is an interesting name in that he played well as a backup for the Bears in 2022 but got injured last year in camp and was released. Pettis has size (6010 – 195) and speed (4.39), and he is also a good special teams player, both as a returner and cover guy.
Pettis is a former second-round pick who didn’t live up to his draft status but played his best football in 2022 with the Bears. The fact that the Bears brought him back this year means that the hierarchy thinks highly of him. The number four, five, and six wide receivers have to be able to contribute on special teams, and Jones, Scott, and Pettis can do that.
During free agency, the Bears signed former Seahawk and Bronco receiver Freddie Swain. Swain played at Seattle under the Bears’ Offensive Coordinator, Shane Waldron, in 2020 and 2021, and he had 39 receptions in those two seasons. He has size, speed, and, of course, familiarity with the offense, so a strong camp could earn him a spot on the 53.
Collin Johnson was mainly a practice squad player last year for the Bears but got an opportunity to play in the last few games because of injuries to the other receivers. Johnson is a big X receiver who can play on teams, so that will give him a chance to make the roster.
It’s my opinion that after Moore, Allen, and Odunze, the next grouping is questionable. All have talent, but none has played to their talent level yet. If the Bears don’t like what they see from the reserve group, it would not surprise me if they signed another vet following OTAs. The next three weeks of OTAs and early training camp will be very important for these players.
If the top three of Moore, Allen, and Odunze stay healthy, there is no problem, and this group should give opposing defenses fits. It will be fun watching how it develops.
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