Chicago Bears: Players Who Will Benefit Most From New Coaches

The Chicago Bears clearly had a plan when they entered the 2018 off-season. Find a way to keep the defense strong but improve the offense.

It sounds overly simplified but that’s the basic idea. They could’ve gone with any background on their new head coach but it was obvious by the hire of Matt Nagy that they wanted somebody who wouldn’t ignore the offense just for the sake of keeping the defense strong like John Fox and Lovie Smith did. The tricky part was fulfilling that mission without losing credibility on that side of the ball. This was accomplished thanks to the retention of Vic Fangio.

This will allow Nagy to place his entire focus on offense. One big question remains at this point. Given the cast of players he has to work with, who stands to benefit the most from his presence? Here is a short list of the names to watch and why.

#3:  Adam Shaheen

It was painful watching Dowell Loggains trying to find ways to use Adam Shaheen most of the season. When he finally did make the rookie tight end a big part of the game plan, the Bears offense took off. Rest assured no such problem will befall Nagy and his crew. He has a keen understanding of what an athletic tight end can do in an offense. After all he saw it first hand with All-Pro Travis Kelce in Kansas City. Those same concepts that utilized Kelce to such deadly effect can be applied to Shaheen who is every bit the same athlete.

#2:  Tarik Cohen

One of the things that made the Chiefs offense such a headache to stop was the presence of wide receiver Tyreek Hill. In fact that may not even be a proper title. He was a true offensive weapon Kansas City employed all over the field thanks to his mix of speed, quickness and ability to break tackles in space. Tarik Cohen may not quite be the speed demon Hill is but he’s just as electric in the open field. The Bears showed the league what happens when they get him the ball. So try to imagine how it will be with a staff that understands how to use him.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Trade Rush Leads To Bold Moves

#1:  Mitch Trubisky

It’s hard seeing anybody else at the #1 spot. The entire reason this new staff was constructed was for the benefit of Trubisky. If there is one quarterback that he seems to embody in terms of style, it would be Alex Smith. The only difference is Trubisky is a more talented passer. Considering Nagy got three Pro Bowls out of Smith, that has to sound like a welcome sign. Besides that Trubisky did his greatest damage at North Carolina from a spread system. He understands it well and seemed to dial up some impressive performances whenever the Bears bothered to employ parts of it this year.