Chicago Bears: Three players Nagy, new coaching staff could target

With the Chicago Bears coaching staff starting to take shape under Matt Nagy, who might the Bears add to the roster to help implement their new schemes?

In just a matter of three days, Ryan Pace, Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears have laid the foundations for an identity that we may have never seen before in this city.

We all knew Nagy’s hiring was specifically geared toward moving the offense into the modern age and developing Mitch Trubisky into a top quarterback. And his play-calling will likely reflect much of what he’s learned in Andy Reid’s West Coast-spread offense hybrid as far as utilizing playmakers in space and exploiting matchups.

On top of that, the offensive staff he has accrued only accelerates this team’s move into the modern offensive age.

Harry Hiestand, one of the best offensive line coaches in the country at any level, has extensive experience teaching college schemes and developing young linemen. As the Bears’ new offensive line coach, he’ll be instrumental in teaching Nagy’s new schemes to this offensive front.

And Mark Helfrich, the man expected to replace Dowell Loggains as offensive coordinator, is a proponent of up-tempo, high-octane spread offenses going back to his days as Oregon’s OC under Chip Kelly and as its head coach until 2016. Who better to help Nagy lead this offensive revolution and maximize Trubisky, who ran these schemes in college, than him?

More than that, though, several of these coaches have ties to players, both in the NFL and in college, that could help the Chicago Bears.

Here are three such guys that this new staff could target in free agency and the draft.

Albert Wilson

Everyone wants to fix the wide receiver position and hopes that the Chicago Bears will throw big money at a top free agent this offseason.

At the same time, I still maintain that Jarvis Landry, the biggest name still available, wouldn’t be worth overspending for. 100+ catches a year looks sexy, but when they only go for eight yards a pop, it adds up to being a glorified possession receiver. I don’t want to spend $14 million a year on that.

A guy that could make sense for the Chicago Bears at an infinitely better price would be Kansas City’s Wilson.

Nagy has spent the last four years coaching him and certainly knows how to utilize him in his offense. He hasn’t ever put up staggering numbers, but he’s reliable and is coming off a 42-catch, 554-yard season. That’s not bad at all.

Furthermore, he should definitely cost less than $10 million a year, which serves the Bears financially if they want to hunt for bigger FA options at other positions.

I know everyone wants a big-name free agent here, but to be honest, none of the big ones (Landry and Terrelle Pryor) are really worth the money to me. Better to stick with guys that fit Nagy’s scheme and always have shown solid production, like Wilson.

Speaking of guys that Nagy is familiar with…

De’Anthony Thomas

Like Wilson, Thomas has spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Also like Wilson, Thomas is now an unrestricted free agent looking for a job.

On one hand, Thomas didn’t really get a ton of run with the Chiefs this year as Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt’s roles expanded. He only posted 143 receiving yards on 14 catches and just 325 total return yards (305 on kickoffs, 20 on punts).

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However, on a new team still trying to add playmakers, Thomas could potentially carve out more of a role with the Chicago Bears if brought here.

Furthermore, the Bears have another coach in the room that knows him well: Helfrich, his old head coach and offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Few people combined know better what Thomas can do than Nagy and Helfrich. And assuming that the leg injury that Thomas suffered heals adequately by the time training camp rolls around, Thomas might get to run with the Bears for a little while and show what he can do.

As explosive and electrifying as Cohen is in the open field, even he can’t run with Thomas. Few guys on the Chicago Bears could if he ended up on the roster.

Plus, assuming the Bears want to expand Tarik Cohen‘s role on offense, Thomas could potentially take over return specialist duties.

In the hands of two guys well known for implementing short, fast guys, Thomas could be an underrated weapon.

Mike McGlinchey or Quenton Nelson

I’ve wondered if the Chicago Bears would take one of these guys in the NFL Draft for a while.

And with Hiestand, the man who helped turn them into what they are, currently on the Bears’ staff, look out. The chance of one of them going to the Bears just skyrocketed.

The Bears have a number of big needs on both sides of the ball, but offensive line stands out as one of the bigger ones.

In 2016, we would’ve viewed the Bears’ offensive line, especially their interior of Josh Sitton, Cody Whitehair and Kyle Long as arguably their greatest strength. But with both Sitton and Long battling injuries and Whitehair’s play suffering from constantly plugging the holes they left in 2017, that stability evaporated.

Now, Sitton’s contract makes him extremely cut-able (the Bears would save more than $7 million), and we don’t know where Long’s health will stand long-term.

Also, Bobby Massie probably doesn’t have a place in this new scheme, though he wasn’t great in the last scheme either. Plus, the Bears will save about $5.5 million by cutting him.

As such, the Bears really need some new blood on this offensive line. And Hiestand just happens to know of arguably the two best linemen in the entire draft class. In fact, Nelson probably is the best, period, though offensive guard isn’t a premium position.

Next: Solving the Bears' wide receiver problems in 2018

If the quarterbacks push McGlinchey and Nelson down to the Chicago Bears at #8 overall, expect those two names to be high on Ryan Pace’s draft board. If they got one of them, it could help catapult the Bears’ offensive potential into the stratosphere.