Top 4 Receivers

[adam]

With one week left, this is quite surprising. I know injuries and playing time impacted the numbers, but it has been since Kendall Wright led the team in receiving that the Bears top Receiver had fewer than 750 yards receiving.

Moore 49-671-6
Loveland 48-622-5
Odunze 44-661-6
Burden 44-617-2

There is an outside shot that the Bears end up with 4 Receivers with over 50 Receptions and 700 Receiving Yards. The fact that they are so close is really impressive. 

[BearFan PHX]

BJ does a great job of getting everyone touches. Even 2nd stringers get playing time, even if he has to bring them in as a 6th OL or whatever. And this keeps players happy AND makes sure your depth players have some experience, which we have seen this year is a really good thing to do.

[Stinger226]

7 hours ago, adam said:

With one week left, this is quite surprising. I know injuries and playing time impacted the numbers, but it has been since Kendall Wright led the team in receiving that the Bears top Receiver had fewer than 750 yards receiving.

Moore 49-671-6
Loveland 48-622-5
Odunze 44-661-6
Burden 44-617-2

There is an outside shot that the Bears end up with 4 Receivers with over 50 Receptions and 700 Receiving Yards. The fact that they are so close is really impressive. 

Wait until Caleb hits his stride, 200 yards more for each player.

[jason]

13 hours ago, adam said:

With one week left, this is quite surprising. I know injuries and playing time impacted the numbers, but it has been since Kendall Wright led the team in receiving that the Bears top Receiver had fewer than 750 yards receiving.

Moore 49-671-6
Loveland 48-622-5
Odunze 44-661-6
Burden 44-617-2

There is an outside shot that the Bears end up with 4 Receivers with over 50 Receptions and 700 Receiving Yards. The fact that they are so close is really impressive. 

I noticed this too. It carries positives and negatives. 

Positive: hard to defend

Negative: superstar WRs are not likely to come here due to the lack of targets 

[BearFan PHX]

11 minutes ago, jason said:

I noticed this too. It carries positives and negatives. 

Positive: hard to defend

Negative: superstar WRs are not likely to come here due to the lack of targets 

I guess the competitive answer to that is to go with hard to defend, and draft and develop your own receivers so you don't need free agents.

Easier said than done of course. But that's probably what Ben Johnson would think about it.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

1 minute ago, BearFan PHX said:

I guess the competitive answer to that is to go with hard to defend, and draft and develop your own receivers so you don't need free agents.

Easier said than done of course. But that's probably what Ben Johnson would think about it.

That is what they have done. Reality is DJ is under contract and Rome, Burden, and Loveland are here a while…even Kmet too. Now they can obviously trade any of them or make a cap play, but do this right and don’t hold onto guys too long and play smart with draft assets and find guys and keep on rolling. You won’t always hit but be smart, let drafts come to you, find the value when you are picking later, trade down and get some future capital again, and when you need to sell on a guy a year early trusting you can reload. 

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

That is what they have done. Reality is DJ is under contract and Rome, Burden, and Loveland are here a while…even Kmet too. Now they can obviously trade any of them or make a cap play, but do this right and don’t hold onto guys too long and play smart with draft assets and find guys and keep on rolling. You won’t always hit but be smart, let drafts come to you, find the value when you are picking later, trade down and get some future capital again, and when you need to sell on a guy a year early trusting you can reload. 

Well said - doing it a year early is the key. If you can draft well consistently, even trading down for more assets, you keep that pipeline full. Trade good players a year before the last year of a deal, and get draft capital out of those moves as well as clear cap space, if they arent special core players like a QB or a dominant edge. hell the Patriots traded Akeim Hicks to us that way. We got and paid our guy, but they sure didnt suffer. They kept winning super bowls while we thought we got the prize.

Free Agency is for priming the pump until you get this circle going, and for filling holes, but long term, when its rolling you can pretty much go BPA + trade downs, and smart trades of the guys you have peaking and amass lots of talent and then coach em up - that's the way to be sustainable.

And every GM knows this in theory, Poles spoke about it at length when he first got the job. But saying it, and doing it are two different things. I think Ben Johnson is bringing accountability to all corners of the building.

[AZ54]

12 hours ago, jason said:

I noticed this too. It carries positives and negatives. 

Positive: hard to defend

Negative: superstar WRs are not likely to come here due to the lack of targets 

In another thread you said our WRs are playing well because our Oline is finally good.  I agree that is part of it.  Talent is still needed at WR but if you give them more time to run deeper routes you naturally pull the defense apart.  Add in a play caller who knows how to put defenders in a bind and aQB who can throw to all levels of the field. 
 

if this keeps up we’re more likely to help low level WRs get good contracts when they leave in FA versus needing elite FA WR talent. 

[AZ54]

11 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Well said - doing it a year early is the key. If you can draft well consistently, even trading down for more assets, you keep that pipeline full. Trade good players a year before the last year of a deal, and get draft capital out of those moves as well as clear cap space, if they arent special core players like a QB or a dominant edge. hell the Patriots traded Akeim Hicks to us that way. We got and paid our guy, but they sure didnt suffer. They kept winning super bowls while we thought we got the prize.

Free Agency is for priming the pump until you get this circle going, and for filling holes, but long term, when its rolling you can pretty much go BPA + trade downs, and smart trades of the guys you have peaking and amass lots of talent and then coach em up - that's the way to be sustainable.

And every GM knows this in theory, Poles spoke about it at length when he first got the job. But saying it, and doing it are two different things. I think Ben Johnson is bringing accountability to all corners of the building.

Hicks was a FA signing and we sure could use another like him.  

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Hicks was a FA signing and we sure could use another like him.  

Right, it's not my perfect example, but they had a great player and elected not to resign him to preserve cap space. Good teams do move on from good players for the purpose of cap management - I know you agree.

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Hicks was a FA signing and we sure could use another like him.  

Hicks is a great example that all players don't develop immediately. He bounced around two teams until he landed here and finally found his game. A lot people get down on a player if he don't look good his first couple of years. Some just take longer and we have several on this team. Dexter hasn't been bad but isn't a star of which some people expected. He works hard and it may be next year before he stands out. Edwards was a UDFA and worked his way to a starring job in Philly. Has been a very consistent player since coming here.

[Mongo3451]

3 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

He works hard and it may be next year before he stands out. Edwards was a UDFA and worked his way to a starring job in Philly. Has been a very consistent player since coming here.

I like Dexter, just not at 3 tech.  He's not explosive or slippery.  That was never a knock on Hicks.  Put another 20 pounds on him and he may become a pro bowl 1 tech.

[AZ54]

3 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Right, it's not my perfect example, but they had a great player and elected not to resign him to preserve cap space. Good teams do move on from good players for the purpose of cap management - I know you agree.

Yes I agree but I’d say that good teams are the ones that already a good replacement on the roster when they make that decision. 

[jason]

7 hours ago, AZ54 said:

In another thread you said our WRs are playing well because our Oline is finally good.  I agree that is part of it.  Talent is still needed at WR but if you give them more time to run deeper routes you naturally pull the defense apart.  Add in a play caller who knows how to put defenders in a bind and aQB who can throw to all levels of the field. 
 

if this keeps up we’re more likely to help low level WRs get good contracts when they leave in FA versus needing elite FA WR talent. 

Ageee. Studs won’t want to come here because they’ll get 60 catches as the #1. But subpar guys can come here and rejuvenate their career.

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

Yes I agree but I’d say that good teams are the ones that already a good replacement on the roster when they make that decision. 

for sure, just as Burden makes Moore expendable, for example.

I just meant you're always trying to push assets into the future a year early to get the most return, and keep the pump primed.

[Stinger226]

9 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

I like Dexter, just not at 3 tech.  He's not explosive or slippery.  That was never a knock on Hicks.  Put another 20 pounds on him and he may become a pro bowl 1 tech.

We do agree on stuff sometimes.

[Pixote]

Just saw this posted in an article on SI.com. Further proof (although none was needed at this point in the season) that Burden was indeed a brilliant selection by the Bears.

Quote

Rookie wide receivers since 2011 with 50+ targets and a yards per route run rate over 2.50, per PFF routes run data:

1. Luther Burden: 2.82
2. Odell Beckham: 2.75
3. AJ Brown: 2.67
4. Justin Jefferson: 2.66
5. Puka Nacua: 2.59
6. Ja'Marr Chase: 2.51

 

[Bears4Ever_34]

Odunze probably ends up close to 1,000 yards if he never got injured, but otherwise, this equality of numbers for these receivers is really impressive. 

Very curious to see if Burden eventually becomes the Amon Ra of this offense next year. It kind of feels like he's in the middle of a potential breakout that is coming at the perfect time.

His last three games against the Packers, Browns, and 49'ers: 

Packers: 4 catches, 67 yards
Browns: 6 catches, 84 yards
49'ers: 8 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD

He's improved in each game, becoming more of a focal point of the offense. If he can close out the year strong against DET, you go into the playoffs feeling really good about this offense, especially with Odunze coming back. 

[adam]

29 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

Odunze probably ends up close to 1,000 yards if he never got injured, but otherwise, this equality of numbers for these receivers is really impressive. 

Very curious to see if Burden eventually becomes the Amon Ra of this offense next year. It kind of feels like he's in the middle of a potential breakout that is coming at the perfect time.

His last three games against the Packers, Browns, and 49'ers: 

Packers: 4 catches, 67 yards
Browns: 6 catches, 84 yards
49'ers: 8 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD

He's improved in each game, becoming more of a focal point of the offense. If he can close out the year strong against DET, you go into the playoffs feeling really good about this offense, especially with Odunze coming back. 

Burden just needs more targets. 

[BearFan PHX]

i think this is another example of how stats don't always capture the full picture, and aren't (or shouldn't be) a goal in and of themselves.

Good stats come with winning, and sometimes how you win makes the stats look lesser.

Winning is the only stat that really matters.