The Chicago Bears WR corps might not be as bad as fans think

The Chicago Bears came into the offseason with no need being as big as the wide receiver position. New GM Ryan Poles’ approach for the position was a conservative one, but honestly the right approach. However, the controversial move Poles made was with the first two picks of the second round. We all preferred that Poles by any means necessary put as many weapons around Fields as possible.

So, when he opted to go with two defensive backs back-to-back in the second round it sent the fan base in a frenzy. Time will tell if the Poles made the right decision leaving guys like George Pickens, Alec Pierce, and Jalen Tolbert on the board in favor of strengthening their secondary.

Poles instead opted to go with a lower risk/high reward type of additions at the position for quarterback Justin Fields. This tells me two things, one of those being that this team will be a heavily run-first team which opens the ability to make big plays off play-action passes. Also, he and new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy want a group of wide receivers that are diverse.

You have to remember the offense that Luke Getsy was a part of and seen up close for the past couple of years with the Green Bay Packers. The man has seen the highs and lows of being a part of an offense that was one-man dominant. It was all fun when Aaron Rodgers was beating defenses with just Davante Adams until a defense put a game plan together to shut down the duo. I can only imagine that Getsy does not want to go down that road as a first-time offensive coordinator in the NFL.

Instead, Poles has put together, on paper, a WR depth chart that can attack you in numerous ways.

Just looking at the top three WRs on the depth chart for the Chicago Bears shows their vision of versatility in the passing game.

• Darnell Mooney: Your big-play WR who projects as the team #1
• Bryon Pringle: Your possession WR that makes the tough catches over the middle
• Velus Jones Jr: Another weapon you line up all over the field to create mismatches and get yards after the catch.

Those are just the main names without factoring in guys like Equanimeous St. Brown (Big size, possession receiver), Dante Pettis (deep speed), David Moore (possession WR) Dazz Newsome (YAC ability), and Tajae Sharpe (route runner from the slot) who all add diverse types of skill set to that WR room. There are not a lot of notable names at the position but a lot of receivers that can provide something from the other.

Make no mistake, there is a high possibility the number one wide receiver is currently not on the roster and will not be at the end of this season. However, you must applaud Poles for not biting the bait in the wideout market in both the free agency and the draft. He could have built the supporting cast up for that eventual number one receiver to step into in 2023.