Chicago Bears: Unrealistic New Year’s resolutions for 2020
By Ryan Heckman
3. Turn tight end into a top-5 group in NFL
When I said unrealistic, I meant it. There is next to zero chance of this happening, but it’s good to have lofty goals, right?
To begin the conversation, take a look at the following statistic:
For the first time since 1970, the Bears didn’t have a single tight end with more than 100 yards receiving in the entire season.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) December 29, 2019
J.P. Holtz led all Bears TEs with 91 yards.
That’s right. J.P. Holtz — the Bears’ fourth string tight end — led the tight ends in receiving yards in 2019 with just 91. When he was given opportunities, Holtz actually looked the part of a solid number two tight end. The problem was, though, the offense was too inconsistent to really see what he was capable of.
Jesper Horsted should indeed be back next year, but neither he nor Holtz can be a number one guy. So, what’s a team to do?
Chicago has to add a tight end in either the 2020 NFL Draft or free agency — or both.
The draft will be where the Bears ultimately find their future starting tight end — yes, I’m completely ruling Trey Burton out of the picture for now. That’s another story, and we have no idea what to expect from him in 2020.
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In this year’s draft, the Bears could land one of a few guys whom could become what they need. Either Purdue’s Brycen Hopkins or Vanderbilt’s Jared Pinkney would be ideal picks in the second round.
A couple of free agents could end up bolstering the group as well: Austin Hooper and Eric Ebron are two of the top names available.
Let’s say the Bears signed Ebron and drafted one of the two names above. That might be enough to catapult this group into the upper half of the league.