Chicago Bears Position Review: Tight Ends

The Chicago Bears had an up-and-down 2015 season with their tight ends. One had a career season, while the other one may find himself out of the city very soon.

Quarterback Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears had a tough time finding receivers. It seemed that every wide receiver was down at one time or another.

The tight ends position also had it bouts with the injury bug. Martellus Bennett, a member of the Pro Bowl a season ago, got injured and ended the season on injured reserve.

The Chicago Bears did find a hidden gem, and I shudder to think how their record would look like without some of his catches.

Zach Miller had himself a great season. He had career highs in games started, targets, receptions, yards, yards per reception and touchdowns.

Miller had some critical catches that helped the Chicago Bears win some games. He had the game-winning catch against the San Diego Chargers, and he had two touchdown catches the next week in a victory over the St. Louis Rams. As the season progressed, he became one of Cutler’s favorite and most dependable receivers.

Miller finished the season with 34 catches for 439 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games (14 starts).

Profootballfocus.com ranked Miller as the sixth-ranked tight end in the NFL this season. He received very high marks for his receiving and good marks for his pass blocking. He was rated negatively for his run blocking, however.

Martellus Bennett had a rough season.

It started during the offseason, when Bennett missed all the offseason voluntary workouts, trying to re-work his contract. He even thought of missing some of the required workouts, but since the fines for that are heavy, he thought better of it and showed up.

Bennett played the season as if his heart was not into being in Chicago. After playing every game for the past three seasons, he missed five games this season. Even in the games he played, he did not play as strong as he had in his previous seasons with the Chicago Bears.

Bennett had 53 catches for 439 yards receiving and three touchdowns. It is interesting to note that Bennett had more catches and the same amount of yards as Miller, yet his season was a bad one, while Miller had a good one.

I say it is interesting because the Chicago Bears have a decision to make this offseason. Miller will be a free agent, and Bennett will be on his final year, and his contract will count $6.31 million against the cap.

With the way Bennett’s behavior has been during his time with the Chicago Bears (he was suspended last season for slamming Kyle Fuller to the ground, and has had several run-ins with other teammates), his time there may be over. A lot of teams can use a tight end like him, and could handle the headache he can be.

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Bennett can bring in some good draft picks, and considering the holes they have, that will come in handy. They will probably bring Miller back, but there is a reason he has not had big numbers over his six-year career. The Bears need to keep in mind that he is a career backup. He can be a good complementary player, but that should be the extent of his contribution.

The Chicago Bears will have to go out and search for a number one tight end should they part ways with Bennett. There should be some good tight ends either in free agency or through the draft, but that is a topic for another day.

The Chicago Bears had mixed results with their tight ends this season. There will probably be some changes there in 2016. It is important to shore that position up to give Cutler a big, dependable target, especially in the red zone (where they had their troubles this season).

Next: Chicago Bears Position Review: Running Backs

Let’s hope the front office make the right choices and get the Chicago Bears back to their winning ways.

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