Ryan Poles got some flak from certain people when he made the trade for Chase Claypool this past week. The Chicago Bears GM felt the team needed more of a presence at wide receiver. Paying a 2nd round pick felt too expensive, though. It’s fair to wonder if those same people have similar feelings after what happened on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Justin Fields completed 17 passes. Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet caught 12 of them. Claypool had two in his first action. Every other receiver combined for two. Nobody exemplified this ineptitude better than Equanimeous St. Brown.
The former Green Bay Packers receiver has been a solid run blocker for the team this year. Sadly that hasn’t translated into much success through the air. He could’ve had a huge moment in that game. It was right there. Chicago faced 4th and 10 from their own 42-yard line. Fields ran to his right and fired a perfect pass to a wide open St. Brown. It should’ve been a huge first down to move the chains and get the Bears closer to field goal range.
Instead, St. Brown may have ruined his chances of any future with the team thanks to a brutal drop that ended the game.
Equanimeous St. Brown did Poles a favor in that moment.
In a matter of seconds, he fully justified the GM’s decision to pursue Claypool. The same goes for Dante Pettis and Velus Jones. They’ve taken turns dropping catchable throws that should’ve gone for big plays. The Bears have grown tired of watching so many great plays by Fields go unrewarded. It’s the job of a wide receiver to make a play for his quarterback. St. Brown felt he deserved an opportunity that never really came in Green Bay.
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Now we’re finding out why that probably was. He isn’t likely to get many more opportunities after that. Claypool will start seeing more action as the weeks progress, and he grows more comfortable in the offense. If Equanimeous St. Brown was ever going to carve out a bigger role, that was his chance. It literally and metaphorically slipped through his fingers. One can assume the Bears will make more changes at the position next off-season.
