Chicago Bears: Under the radar position battle brewing
The Chicago Bears have a revamped depth chart at wide receiver. However, an under-the-radar battle for the number two wide receiver spot is brewing between Cameron Meredith and Kevin White. Who comes out on top?
With the additions of wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, one can correctly assume the roles they will have in new Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy’s offense. Robinson will obviously be that number one wide receiver for young quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Robinson will give Trubisky that big, tall target on the outside that can occasionally move inside to take advantage of a match up.
Gabriel’s skill-set is best suited for that zebra position. It’s a position Nagy had Kansas City Chiefs speedster Tyreke Hill play. That role has the receiver line up outside, inside, and in the backfield. The plan for Gabriel is to be more than just gadget player, and more of a prominent weapon in the offense.
Most teams are in 11 personnel (one back, one tight end, and three wide receivers) a lot of the time, so with two guys expected be locks in the lineup, one has to wonder who will fill that role at the other receiver. For the Bears, two players come to mind.
Meredith is coming off a torn ACL and partial tear in his MCL. White has had his last three years wiped away with season-ending injuries. Both guys have the potential to be solid starting wide receivers.
Meredith is more of the fan favorite and for good reason. He was on a similar trajectory as Robinson up until the injury. At 6’3″ 201 pounds, Meredith, like Robinson, is a smooth route runner with the ability to go up and high-point the football.
Let’s assume, for the sake of this debate, that Meredith ends up back with the Bears. He’s a restricted free agent and has met with a couple of teams, but still has yet to receive an offer outside of Chicago.
In 2016, Meredith caught 66 passes for 888 yards and four touchdowns. These numbers were put up as the secondary receiver next to former Bear Alshon Jeffery. One has to wonder with a slightly more superior receiver next to him in Robinson that it will open up more opportunities for even bigger production.
Big things were expected for Ryan Pace’s first ever draft pick in White. Right now we have no idea if White can play at this level. We can only go off the physical skill-set he displayed while playing at West Virginia.
While most fans have written off White, Nagy still has some faith in the physically gifted wide out. He gave us some insight at the owners’ meetings recently.
"“I know that this is a kid, just from the outside, this is a kid that had a lot of expectations put on him by being a first-round draft pick. To anybody out there and to himself, has he lived up to what the first-round draft pick is supposed (to be)? No, he hasn’t. But that’s OK though. He’s young.“For me, I really, truly mean this when I say it: I am really excited to dig deep into him and put him in the best situation possible for Kevin White to succeed. Here is a guy we have on our roster that to a lot of people can get lost in the shuffle or pushed to the side. … How cool would that be to be able to get this kid to come back and be a dominant player, right? You think he doesn’t want that? No, of course, he wants that.”"
The Bears have a good problem on their hands. The team feels good in what they have in Meredith, but on the other hand still, have a hungry young player in White that is anxious to prove himself.
Before people pencil in Meredith as a starter alongside Robinson, one has to remember that Meredith won’t be available for most of the offseason workouts as he still recovers from surgery on his knee.
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That should give White a head start with the new scheme being implemented and most importantly getting comfortable with Trubisky. By the time training camp comes around, it should be an even battlefield between the two young talented wideouts. The Bears haven’t been in an ideal situation at the position in quite some time now.