The Chicago Bears offense had plenty of needs following a disastrous 2019 season, ranging from quarterback play to lack of a run game to poor offensive line play.
Something else the Bears offense lacked last season was speed, which general manager Ryan Pace has addressed this offseason with the free-agent acquisition of veteran receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and rookie wideout Darnell Mooney.
Mooney, a fifth-round pick, made a name for himself as a speedy receiver at Tulane, where he averaged 17.7 yards per reception in his final three years. Although Mooney will be the first to say that he wants to be a more complete wideout, there’s no denying that he’s the kind of playmaker the Bears offense could use.
Bears wide receivers coach Mike Furrey believes that Mooney possesses the kind of speed and agility that you can’t coach, which makes him one of the most explosive guys in that room.
“He’s going to probably be one of the most explosive guys that we have in our room in regard to matching his speed with his agility,” Furrey told reporters via video conference. “He can put his foot in the ground and he can go. He can also go side to side. Obviously the first thing that we look at is being able to match his speed and agility with being able to catch the football as well. And there were some times where he put his foot in the ground and would get vertical and go up and attack a football. That’s not really a knack of a lot of guys that play receiver, especially in college.
“It’s hard to coach speed, it’s hard to coach agility. Those things, you either have them or you don’t.”
While Mooney likely won’t see a ton of snaps as a rookie in a crowded receivers room, he has the kind of speed that can stretch the field for an offense that was low on big-time plays a season ago.
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