Chicago Bears: 2018 Wide Receiver Rebuild Shouldn’t Be Difficult
By Erik Lambert
The Mitch Trubisky era has begun for the Chicago Bears, but it’s hard for people to envision him excelling in 2017. Much of that due to his weapons.
Put simply the Bears wide receiver situation is atrocious. Since March they have suffered three giant losses to their corps. Alshon Jeffery left in free agency to sign with Philadelphia. Cameron Meredith tore up his knee against the Tennessee Titans in preseason. Kevin White, their former 1st round pick continued his streak of horrible luck by breaking the scapula in his back, landing him on IR for the third-straight year.
This has left the rookie with options like Kendall Wright, Deonte Thompson and Josh Bellamy. Not ideal. If nothing else this makes it crystal clear that GM Ryan Pace, presuming he returns in 2018, will be focused on getting his young quarterback some better weapons. Most believe the Bears have to attack the position early in the draft. Is that necessarily the case though?
Recent history says Bears can find tons of quality in later rounds
One great thing about college football these days is teams have embraced the spread offense. These means lots of passing all the times. As a result this has increased the demand for talent at wide receiver, which then trickles up to the NFL, offering loads of talent to choose from and deeper draft classes. Evidence of this can be found on the top 10 leader board of receivers so far this season.
- Stefon Diggs – 5th round
- Antonio Brown – 6th round
- Brandin Cooks – 1st round
- Adam Thielen – Undrafted
- Keenan Allen – 3rd round
- A.J. Green – 1st round
- DeAndre Hopkins – 1st round
- Michael Thomas – 2nd round
- Julio Jones – 1st round
- TY Hilton – 3rd round
Half the names on that list were taken in the third round or later. This doesn’t even account for Meredith. He led the Bears in receiving last year and was an undrafted free agent himself. Pace has demonstrated an ability to find talent later in drafts. Ask Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen and Eddie Jackson. This is not to say the Bears won’t target receivers early next year.
Signs continue to hint there will be some quality talent available. This is saying that they don’t have to feel obligated or pressured to. Odds are there will be quality names still available later on if the Bears wish to shore up other positions first.