The Chicago Bears haven’t made a huge splash at the wide receiver position this offseason, despite bringing in an offensive-minded head coach in Ben Johnson. At this point in free agency, the Bears seem comfortable with D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze as their top-two wide receivers.
However, when it comes to the WR3 spot in the Windy City, there are some questions. Last season, the Bears had veteran Keenan Allen in that role, which didn’t net the result Bears fans hoped for.
The 32-year-old wide receiver recorded 70 receptions (121 targets) for 744 yards and seven touchdowns. Surprisingly, Allen is still an unrestricted free agent. Without Allen in the picture, the Bears made two small WR signings, adding Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay on one-year deals.
On paper, the signings of Zaccheaus and Duvernay aren’t needle movers, but it potentially puts former fourth-round pick Tyler Scott on the roster bubble. The Bears drafted Scott in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft in hopes that maybe he could be their WR3.
The 5-foot-11 receiver had a solid three-year collegiate career at the University of Cincinnati, where he exploded onto the scene in his junior season (2022). Scott recorded 54 receptions for 899 yards and nine touchdowns. He also averaged 16.6 yards per reception, which was good for fourth in the American Athletic Conference.
After a dynamic junior season with the Bearcats, Scott declared for the 2023 NFL Draft and ran a 4.44 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. However, neither that production nor big play ability has translated over to the Bears.
In his first two seasons with the Bears, Scott produced 18 receptions (33 targets) for 173 yards across 28 games. Last season, the former fourth-round pick only appeared in 11 games after playing in all 17 games as a rookie in 2023.
This was such a clutch play by Tyler Scott. Double covered yet still comes down with the football to extend the drive on 4th down 👀
— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) November 14, 2023
The #Bears should start giving him more chances the rest of this season pic.twitter.com/8FeUj6auXy
Scott was made inactive for four contests and did not play in two other games. Seeing his snap count on offense drop from 439 to 23 is not good. It also doesn’t help that Scott had a 6.3 drop percentage as a rookie.
Could Scott turn it around under Johnson and new Bears' offensive coordinator Declan Doyle? For sure. But it does not look good when the team adds a veteran WR3 in Zaccheaus and a wideout with speed in Duvernay.
Scott has some special teams experience under his belt, with 13 kick returns over his first two years in the league. However, Duvernay is the much better option. The odds are seemingly stacked against Scott heading into this upcoming season. Let’s see if he can break through in Year 3.