Predicting the Chicago Bears stars of the preseason
5. Adam Shaheen, TE
Early in his tenure as general manager of the Chicago Bears, we have learned that Ryan Pace loves shooting for upside in the draft. We have seen it with all of his first round picks. Kevin White, Leonard Floyd and Mitch Trubisky have all entered the NFL with obvious questions about their game, but a ton of natural upside at their respective positions. We also saw it in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft when Pace took tight end Adam Shaheen from Ashland University.
Shaheen has certainly taken an interesting path to the NFL. He started his college career as a basketball player at the Division II level, averaging 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for Pittsburgh-Johnstown. However, after only one season of playing college hoops, Shaheen transferred to Ashland to walk on to the football team.
As a two-years starting tight end at Ashland, Shaheen piled up an impressive 127 receptions for 1,670 yards and 26 touchdowns. He looked like a man amongst boys, physically dominating the lower level of competition on a regular basis.
Shaheen is an extremely interesting player at the tight end position. Listed at 6-foot-6, 278 pounds, he is a massive target in the middle of the field. Despite his elite size, Shaheen moves around really well on the field. I wouldn’t say he has elite speed but he moves well and shows great overall athleticism.
Shaheen can go up and catch the ball in traffic and also shows impressive run after catch ability. He also shows the ability to stretch the middle of the field. Simply put, Shaheen has a well-rounded skill set as a receiver and a ton of natural upside.
He has been impressive in training camp as a receiver and could play a major for the Bears in 2017. However, Shaheen is an extremely raw player who particularly needs work as a blocker. Plus, the jump from the Division II level to the NFL is absolutely massive. He will need time to adapt to the speed of the NFL game.
Knowing that he needs a lot of work, I expect to see Shaheen on the field a lot during the preseason. He will undoubtedly struggle at times, but we will see flashes of his brilliance. With an incredible natural ability as a receiver, I think we will see Shaheen beat up on second and third string defenses in the preseason.