There’s not a lot of confidence in the Chicago Bears’ offense, and rightfully so. They’re coming off an abysmal 2019 season where they were one of the worst units in the NFL, for several reasons.
One of the biggest concerns was quarterback, and incumbent starter Mitchell Trubisky will find himself battling Nick Foles for the starting job come training camp.
But a quarterback is nothing without his skill position players. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell examined every NFL team’s collective group of offensive weapons, and he ranked Chicago among the worst at No. 28 in the league.
While Barnwell is quick to praise receiver Allen Robinson for what he’s accomplished, as well as give some credit to third-year wideout Anthony Miller, who’s poised for a breakout year in 2020. But it’s the remainder of Chicago’s skill position players that have Barnwell concerned.
The other weapons on this roster all failed to live up to expectations, although much of that was due to injuries. (Tarik Cohen’s seven drops on 103 targets are the exception.) Players like Cohen, Ted Ginn Jr. and Cordarrelle Patterson could be intriguing supplemental pieces in the right scheme, but it’s difficult to count on coach Matt Nagy making the most of their ability.
Free-agent signee Jimmy Graham’s contract was universally panned, but even leaving the money aside, he was anonymous last season in a Packers offense desperate for a second receiving option and turns 34 in November. David Montgomery is the big hope for the Bears to climb up these rankings, but as a rookie, he was below-average by every running measure I could find.
As far as receivers go, Robinson remains far and away Chicago’s best offensive weapon. Third-year receiver Anthony Miller flashed his potential last season, and he’s expected to be a big part of this offense following the departure of Taylor Gabriel. But there’s a lot of unproven talent at receiver with Riley Ridley and Javon Wims. Although Chicago added some much-needed speed to their receivers room with the addition of Ted Ginn Jr. and rookie Darnell Mooney.
The Bears had an ineffective run game last season, but the blame doesn’t fall solely on David Montgomery. He wasn’t done any favors by a struggling offensive line or an offensive playcaller that doesn’t like to run the football. Then there’s Tarik Cohen, who had a disappointing season, and it seemed like Matt Nagy didn’t know how to utilize him in this offense last season.
It’s no secret that the Bears had arguably the worst tight end performance last season, where they combined for 36 receptions, 416 receiving yards and just two touchdowns. General manager Ryan Pace overhauled the tight ends room with the acquisitions of rookie Cole Kmet and veterans Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris, while parting ways with Trey Burton. So there’s nowhere to go but up for this group in 2020.
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