Bear Digest

Bears' attention for Keenan Allen replacement turns to draft

One of the most emotional moments of any college all-star game occurred at this year's Senior Bowl and the Bears are showing interest in the receiver who delivered it.

Gene Chamberlain

TCU receiver Jack Bech celebrates after catching the game-winning touchdown on the final play of the Senior Bowl.
TCU receiver Jack Bech celebrates after catching the game-winning touchdown on the final play of the Senior Bowl. / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
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There's little doubt the most emotional moment of the NFL's offseason personnel search came on the final play of the Senior Bowl.

It occurred when wide receiver Jack Bech caught the game-winning touchdown pass on the final play of the Senior Bowl, less than a month after his older brother, Tiger, died in the New Year's Eve attack in New Orleans.

Bech made a name for himself as a slot receiver type for Texas Christian before that play and he apparently has the attention of Ben Johnson, Ryan Poles and the Bears, as they were one of the three teams he identified among his first meetings at the NFL Scouting Combine.

"I feel like my brother, I know his wings are going to be on me from now until the end of time," said Bech, whose last name is pronounced 'Besh.' "It's pushed me to new heights. My work ethic, even though I've worked hard my whole like and done a lot of things others are not willing to do, I feel like I've taken a whole new step in doing that.

"I know, like I said, he'll be with me and have the best seat in the house from here on out."

Bech had been given jersey number 7 at the Senior Bowl, the number his brother wore.

"Obviously, Mr. Jim Nagy, the type of person he is for giving me seven to wear and putting seven on everybody's helmet sticker," Bech said. "Yeah, scoring that touchdown with seven seconds left. I called it a Tiger Wing, just coming down from my brother.

"It was awesome, all the love and support that I got from not only my teammates, but also everybody on the National Team. That was definitely a super special moment and a moment I'll never forget."

To produce more big moments in the NFL, Bech will apply what he has learned by watching a couple of Rams receivers.

"You know, I try to take bits and pieces from a lot of people's games," he said. "For example, the way Puca Nacua and Cooper Kupp, the way they know the game, the way they run routes and catch the ball.

"Guys like Ja'Marr Chase, how they YAC and RAC, how they are with the ball after the catch. There are guys just in terms of the way they're able to run routes. And even guys like George Pickens, the way he blocks. He goes out there and just dominates every run block."

Bech also is known as a blocking slot receiver and that explains part of the Bears' interest. Johnson, especially, stressed this in Detroit in his offense.

"I think that's just dawg mentality," Bech said. "You just want to go out there and dominate every aspect of the game, no matter if that's running routes, catching balls, if that's run blocking, putting somebody into the sideline, that's just that dawg mentality that I have."

Bech made himself a route-running expert and is very familiar with the JUGS machine because he's not going to outrun a lot of defensive backs down the field.

His estimate for the number of throws he takes from the machine after practices: "Anywhere from 150 to 200-250 to 300 after every practice," he said.

Bech made 133 catches for 1,869 yards and 13 TDs in two years at TCU and two at LSU.

With the Bears looking for someone to replace Keenan Allen in the slot receiver role, it wouldn't be a shock if they turned to the draft for it. This keeps costs down so they can afford to use their cap space on the lines for each side of the ball.

Bech is the eight-ranked wide receiver on Mel Kiper's positional analysis, actually one ahead of Oregon's highly touted Tez Johnson.

"I think every team has something else they want me to be (compared) to the team next to them, whether that's an X receiver, slot receiver, field receiver," Bech said. "I think every team has a different plan for how they want to use me."

For the Bears, it would be a young, dependable target in the slot for Caleb Williams to develop with, as Poles' sacrifice of a fourth-round pick and $23 million in cap space last year for a 32-year-old Keenan Allen obviously did not work.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.