Drafting Zavion Thomas in the 3rd round wasn’t the most popular decision by the Chicago Bears back in April. Many couldn’t understand the reasoning. The team already looked settled at wide receiver with Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Kalif Raymond. They still had a glaring hole at edge rusher. Why take a player at a position that wasn’t really a need and also wasn’t projected to go that high? Head coach Ben Johnson explained that Thomas had certain qualities you just can’t teach. Qualities the Bears don’t have enough of.
Chief among them is speed. Thomas ran a 4.28 at the scouting combine, one of the fastest in the entire draft class. It certainly shows on his college tape, too. It is why he was one of the most dangerous return men in the country. However, Johnson believes there is so much untapped potential in Thomas as a receiving threat that LSU never exploited. The Bears provided an appetizer with a recent minicamp clip on Tuesday. It showed Tyson Bagent throwing a screen to Thomas, who took it all the way for a touchdown.
That one play illustrates the Zavion Thomas threat.
People think it’s all about the speed when throwing a screen like that. Sure, it’s an important part, but this is where his experience as a return man becomes a huge factor. His vision and acceleration allow him to hit the open lane immediately, not giving the defense time to rally and close the breach. No other Bears player on the roster has that combination. Defenses will have no choice but to respect the threat he poses. That added attention will lean directly into what makes Johnson so dangerous as a play caller.
His traps.
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One thing the Bears’ head coach does better than almost anybody else is making different plays look the same. This enables him to lay traps early in the game. The defense sees the play go one way, two, or three times. Then later in the game, he springs the trap by running the same formation in a completely different way. Few players are more effective at this than wide receiver screens. There are six notable fakes that teams can run out of that play. Johnson should know. He used one of them to beat the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs.
That play is called Fake Screen Pop.
The offense lines up in a trips (three receiver) formation and fakes the bubble screen to Luther Burden. The inside slot receiver, D.J. Moore, sets up like he’s sprinting out to deliver a block. At the last second, slips past the defender and runs straight down the hash marks. Caleb Williams pump-fakes to the bubble (Burden) and lofts a pop pass to a wide-open Moore for the game-winning touchdown. Again, that is just one of six notable fakes to one play. With Johnson’s creativity, there are countless possibilities.
Also, keep in mind that this was successful with Burden, who boasts 4.41 speed. Imagine what will happen when the Bears deploy Zavion Thomas, who is considerably faster. Hell, what will defenses do when the two players are lined up together? This is the vision Johnson had when the Bears drafted Thomas. The wrinkles he brings to the offense are numerous. He is not just a gadget player. He is a chess piece, and a deadly one at that. He brings an element the Bears didn’t have last year.
