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Chicago Bears: The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, Shrine Game offer draft intrigue

By William Martin

Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Chicago Bears, Tyler Newsome
Chicago Bears (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

What if I told you the Chicago Bear’s special teams were very bad last year?

Well, you’d wholeheartedly agree with me. Football Outsiders had them ranked 26th in DVOA after Week 17. Part of this is due to the mediocrity of Pat O’Donnell and Cody Parkey having a career-killing season.

O’Donnell is a free agent and Parkey has probably started packing his bags after Monday’s press conference. So the Bears need to start looking around for viable (or at least capable) replacements.

Sadly, the only way I know how to evaluate the specialists is by their field goal percentage and touchback percentage (I’m guessing that’s how you scout them?).

Here’s the list from both games:

  • Rafael Gaglianone, K, University of Wisconsin: 60 of 75 (80%) on field goals, 168 of 170 (98.8%) on extra point tries across 43 games.
  • Sean Smith, P, University of Dayton: Averaged 45.4 yards per punt (one touchback) and 58.5 yards per kickoff (29 touchbacks) during Senior year.
  • Tyler Newsome, P, University of Notre Dame: Averaged 44.7 yards per punt (nine touchbacks) during Senior Year.
  • Justin Yoon, K, Unversity of Notre Dame: 17 of 21 (81%) on field goals and averaged 58 yards per kickoff (eight touchbacks).
  • Matthew Gay, K, University of Utah: 24 of 29 (82.8%) on field goal tries (a long of 55) to go with a perfect 43 of 43 on extra point tries.
  • AJ Cole III, P, North Carolina State University: Averaged 42.2 yards per punt across 52 career appearances for the Wolfpack.
  • John Baron II, K, San Diego State University: Two-time Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Semifinalist (2016 and 2018), career 83.3% field goal kicker with a 98.5% on PATs.

    • Jack Fox, P, Rice University:

    Really did everything: 5 of 12 on field goal tries, averaged 45.5 yards per punt (13 touchbacks), and averaged 63.8 yards per kickoff (34 touchbacks).

    Next: Chicago Bears: Bringing home an old friend

    Although the Bears don’t have many picks, and their first isn’t until the third round, there is still plenty of talented players available late in the draft. It’s now up to Ryan Pace to go find them.

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