Bear Digest

The Bears fit Olamide Zaccheaus sees after being Jayden Daniels' target

The new Bears slot receiver went from the Falcons to Philadelphia, Washington and now Chicago over a four-year period and thinks he can quickly get established in Ben Johnson's offense.

Gene Chamberlain

New Bears receiver Olamide Zaccheaus gets free from Dee Alford after a catch for Washington last year, or almost free.
New Bears receiver Olamide Zaccheaus gets free from Dee Alford after a catch for Washington last year, or almost free. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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It's easy to see why wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus fits into the Ben Johnson offense with the Bears when he talks about blocking.

No, really. After all, he might be a wide receiver but it was Johnson who tells Bears receivers "no block, no rock."

"It takes everybody," Zaccheaus said. "It takes all 11 to run the ball. And even in the pass game as well, when somebody catches the ball, just getting down the field and getting the block.

"It's going to be a staple of just what you see here and just what Ben Johnson is trying to build in this offense."

Zaccheus is probably known more for his receiving, although he is regarded as a willing blocker.

The 5-foot-8, 193-pound seven-year player has 149 catches and 1,998 yard with a very high touchdowns-to-receptions rate of 8.7%.

He does something else well the Bears can use, especially after deciding to let Keenan Allen leave in free agency.

"I think primarily I'll be more in the slot, but just having the ability to move outside and move around in the offense is something I pride myself in," Zaccheaus said.

A former member of the Falcons, Zaccheaus might be able to adjust quicker to his new environment and get off to a faster start because of the fact he has played already with new center Drew Dalman, safety Kevin Byard, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, and also running back D'Andre Swift for a season in Philadelphia before he was with Washington last year.

"It's just having people that you're familiar with in a new environment and kind of going through the same situation that you're going through always helps," Zaccheaus said. "Everybody here has been so helpful and so good to me so far in the building, so there is going to be a lot of people that are going to help and make this transition easy for not only me but everybody else as well."

There's one other shared experience with the entire Bears team it would probably be best for Zaccheaus not to mention. That, of course, is last year's Hail Mary Pass in Washington.

Zaccheaus didn't have a catch in the game, but did make a 21-yard punt return to set up the Commmanders' field position for their first points. He could play a big role in that regard with the Bears as they're looking for return help in addition to a slot receiver.

Zaccheaus' experience last year playing with an inexperienced Jayden Daniels could also be of benefit as he chases after throws from second-year QB Caleb Williams.

"I think with Jayden it was a throw in OTAs that he made that really displayed his arm talent and obviously in OTAs and training camp you don't really run around as much, so I didn't really see that aspect of it until we started playing games," Zaccheaus said. "So, just how he processes things and how he developed. He's just so eager to learn and get better and how consistent he was at being better. That's how I knew like he's going to be special and he's going to continue to do great things.

"The biggest thing I think is the mental aspect of it for any young quarterback, especially Caleb. He has all the talent that you need to be a top-tier quarterback in the league, so a lot of it is just going to be the mental aspect of it. You know, kind of just slowing the game down."

Zaccheaus fits the Bears in another way. They're basically starting over with a new offense, new head coach and he just went through this successfully while making it to the NFC Championship Game with Washington. It's the type of first-year success the Bears will try to mimmick nder Johnson.

"The biggest thing is just the connection," Zaccheaus said. "That was one thing that we prided ourselves on doing is being able to connect as quick as possible (at Washington). That’s how you really take off. The connection throughout the building, not just from player to play, but player to coach, coach to player, but media (P.R.) team to player, player to chef, training room.

"Everybody in the building has to connect as fast as possible. We’ll see where that takes us. That puts you in the best position to be able to have success."

His Commanders beat the Bears and then also Johnson's Lions in last year's playoffs. He got a good look at Johnson's Lions offense then and called it exactly the kind of thing that could allow him to make a big early impression.

"Just the creativity in the play calls and just how great the offenses have been and how productive they’ve been, that really excites me," Zaccheaus said. "And you also just watch film and tape of how hard they play for each other.

"That’s something that’s right up my alley. I’m just excited to get to work and build on that."

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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.