Chicago Bears: One Allen Robinson stat makes an elite statement

No one might ever appreciate just how special Chicago Bears wideout Allen Robinson was in 2019.

When the Chicago Bears signed Allen Robinson back in 2018, they had high hopes that he would finally have strong quarterback play for the first time in his collegiate or professional career. Since being a Bear, that hasn’t exactly been the case.

Mitchell Trubisky had his best season as a pro in 2018, but there were (and still are) still plenty of flaws in his game. Robinson is notorious for being a fantastic wideout while having never played with an above-average quarterback since his college days at Penn State.

Going from Christian Hackenberg in college, to Blake Bortles in Jacksonville, and then Trubisky in Chicago is one travesty after another for the former Pro Bowler. Yet, he continues to produce at a high level.

In 2019, one particular area made him stand out above the rest, especially because of what the context means.

Take Pro Football Focus for whatever you will. At times, their takes can be a bit absurd. However, seeing something like this should make you stop and think.

DeVante Parker had a guy in Ryan Fitzpatrick who is a deep-pass-happy quarterback. Parker’s 2019 season was a resurgence by all accounts, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that Fitzpatrick simply gave him the opportunities to show off his talent. He went up and got the ball when it was in the air.

Kenny Golladay and Julio Jones both have solid quarterbacks. Jones is unquestionably an elite receiver and Golladay is known for making his acrobatic type catches, so seeing them atop this list also isn’t a surprise.

But, looking at Robinson, it’s a different story. Trubisky is one of the worst long-ball throwers in football, for starters. He doesn’t throw it deep as much as the average quarterback, and when he does, it’s so inconsistently thrown that Robinson probably does have to go up and make a play more often than not.

"“The best thing that can be said about Mitchell Trubisky’s deep passing is that it’s no worse than his regular passing, and his PFF grade ranks around the same place in either scenario. Trubisky completed just 34.4% of his deep shots for only 10.4 yards per attempt, and that’s with Allen Robinson II winning jump balls at a high rate.” (via PFF)"

Last season, Trubisky ranked 18th in the NFL in completion percentage at 63.2 percent — and that’s one of the higher ranking numbers from his 2019 campaign.

Trubisky fell to dead last in yards per attempt at 6.1 and sixth-worst in terms of passing yardage per game (209.2). The passing game in Chicago is about as dead as it can be following an abysmal 2019 season.

Robinson continues to put up incredible numbers. But, can you imagine how much worse Trubisky would look if it weren’t for his no. 1 receiver winning so many contested catches, considering many of those are likely poorly thrown balls?

If Robinson doesn’t come down with so many inaccurate passes, regardless of how far they’re thrown down field, then Trubisky isn’t even on the team at this point. Trubisky’s play would be so bad that there would have been a complete renovation at the quarterback position in 2020.

In arguably the worst situation of any top wide receiver, Robinson has made the most of it and should be treated as an elite player.