There was reason to believe the Chicago Bears were enjoying an outlier of a performance when Kalif Raymond was the team's leading receiver the first week of the season. However, we are now three weeks in, and there are no signs of the veteran slowing down; even with a quarterback change, the impact within Ben Johnson's offense remained the same. Raymond had a touchdown and 90 receiving yards, putting on a clinic at the position and leaving no doubt that the impact has staying power.
We are three games into the season and already the pass catcher has offered 214 receiving yards and a touchdown. As a reminder, Raymond spent last season with the Detroit Lions and didn't come anywhere close to touching this pace offering only 289 receiving yards and a lone touchdown through 15 games played.
It clearly wasn't due to a lack of talent, but offensive design that greatly limited what impact that Raymond could have in the system. Ben Johnson clearly sold Raymond on joining Chicago with the idea that the receiver would have a far larger role. Still, it is a shock to see the pass catcher as the primary option as the veteran has offered more consistent production in comparison to Luther Burden or Rome Odunze.
Raymond unquestionably having more of an impact in comparison to two players expecting to be fighting for the primary receiver role is shocking. Turning on the tape it isn't a fluke, but a veteran shining finding ways to consistently get open against both man and zone coverage.
Bears veteran receiver Kalif Raymond continues proving that incredible start has staying power
It has been such an impressive impact it is fair to question whether or not it is time to change how Raymond is being utilized. Returning punts or kicks might be taken off the table considering the clear injury risk and importance to the current offense. There was already a scare in Monday's win when Raymond took a shot and was clearly a bit slow getting up and going to the sideline.
Questioning whether or not it is time to put Raymond fully into a receiver role and find other options is fair. The only downside to this is the lack of experience on the rest of the roster and the turnover risk it creates. Still, it is easy to argue that it is worth it to protect Raymond and keep Chicago's trio of starting receivers as healthy as possible.
Raymond has been a shockingly important piece for the Bears and there is no way around the fact that expectations will be incredibly high moving forward. It will be interesting to watch how the veteran receiver continues to perform, with the new expectation that this will be a career year under the genius of Ben Johnson.
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