Chicago Bears: Draft Wide Receivers They’ve Met With

The Chicago Bears draft plans appeared relatively set as the main phase of free agency wound down and the month of April began.

Those plans were thrown into chaos when they made the somewhat controversial decision to not match the offer sheet presented by the New Orleans Saints to wide receiver Cameron Meredith. Suddenly the depth at receiver, which looked secure with Meredith hopefully returning healthy, is not so favorable-looking anymore. After new additions Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, the stability drops with guys like Kevin White and Josh Bellamy next in line.

Not ideal. This virtually guarantees the Bears plan to make an addition to their receiving corps in the draft. Where and when that is? One can only speculate. Perhaps the best thing to do is get an idea of the names they might be looking at. Information is still sporadic but enough reports have surfaced to offer a list of names they’ve met with over the course of the past couple months. With it comes a good feeling of what they might be after.

• Calvin Ridley
• Courtland Sutton
• James Washington
• Deon Cain
• Simmie Cobbs
• Equanimeous St. Brown
• Elijah Marks
• DeMornay Pierson-El
• Brandon Shed
• Jonah Trinnaman
• Andre Levrone
• Anthony Miller*

Bears receiver hunt has the clear aim of being aggressive down the field

What stands out about this group is both who’s in it and who isn’t. Looking over the names like Ridley, Washington, Cain, St. Brown, Miller, Levrone and Trinnaman it’s clear as day what the Bears are trying to do. Head coach Matt Nagy said his primary aim for this new offense was to be aggressive. He wants to attack defenses at all levels, especially down the field. That requires targets with a certain degree of speed. All of those names check that box, not to mention most of them being favorable route runners as well.

Yet one must remember. This is Ryan Pace running the show. It’s often not so much who the Bears have reportedly met, it’s who they didn’t meet. Or perhaps who they carefully made sure nobody knows they met. Under that context, there are two notable names who weren’t mentioned above. They were Christian Kirk of Texas A&M and D.J. Moore of Maryland. Both displayed the explosiveness that Nagy covets and fit the type he thrived with in Kansas City.

Next: Chicago Bears: Where Is Ryan Pace At His Best In the Draft?

So how could the Bears not have a meeting with either? Well, there’s the rub. It’s quite possible they did but made extra careful to ensure nobody found out about it. Certainly something to think about as the draft draws ever closer.