The Chicago Bears roster, on paper, appears to be the most stacked its been maybe in the past several decades. This is not a joke. They have the usual loaded defense with talent at every level. Something that has long become customary. Where a lot of people are shocked is how much the team has been able to compile on offense. For the first time in what feels like forever, the Bears are strong at almost every position on that side of the ball.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune says it is most noticeable with the wide receivers. Keep in mind this is a man that has covered the Bears for almost 20 years. So when he says this might be the deepest group of pass targets he’s seen in Chicago, that is saying something. He is so taken in by the depth GM Ryan Pace has put together that he isn’t the least bit by the idea that the team may decide on the unorthodox method of carrying seven wide receivers into the regular season.
“For once, the Bears have unusual depth at the position, even though hamstring injuries have sidelined Ridley and Jordan Williams-Lambert early in training camp. The Bears are expected to keep six receivers on the 53-man roster, and it’s not out of question they will carry seven, at least to start the season.
Five players appear to be locks: Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, Patterson and Ridley. Javon Wims, a seventh-round pick in 2018; Emanuel Hall, an undrafted rookie from Missouri; speedy veteran Marvin Hall; and Williams-Lambert are squarely in the mix along with Tanner Gentry, who spent most of the last two years on the practice squad.
Pace isn’t going to keep a seventh receiver without a compelling reason, but he can find a spot if he’s looking.”
Chicago Bears roster has never looked like this before
The Bears have had really good wide receivers in the past. Maybe even two of them on rare occasions. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. Curtis Conway and Jeff Graham. Willie Gault and Dennis McKinnon. Never have they had a handful of names that can be quality contributors. It’s already well-known that Allen Robinson is a baller. Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel were both good in spurts last year.
Now Wims is coming up the pipeline with the versatile Cordarrelle Patterson and promising rookie Riley Ridley as well and suddenly there are more targets than one knows what to do with. Given the attrition the team suffered last year with Robinson and Miller both dealing with injuries, it’s not hard to see why the team would be interested in having plenty of options.
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Head coach Matt Nagy has said outright to the media that he plans to spread the ball around on offense. There will be no favoritism. That may annoy fantasy owners but he believes it’s vital in order to make the pass game effective. The less the defense knows about where the ball’s going, the better. Having seven targets who can catch instead of the traditional six would certainly play into that.
