Bear Digest

Bears Wide Receiver Group Earning Plenty of Respect

Post-draft roster and position rankings continue to give the Bears high marks, particularly at the wide receiver position.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore resorts to the stiff-arm against Atlanta. Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are regarded the top receiver group in the league by Pro Football Focus.
DJ Moore resorts to the stiff-arm against Atlanta. Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are regarded the top receiver group in the league by Pro Football Focus. / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
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Post-draft assessment continues even after rookie camp, although now the focus shifts to position groups and entire rosters instead of draft classes or free agents.

An assessment of position groups by Pro Football Focus' John Kosko has the Bears in a startling position. He calls them the No. 1 receiver group in the NFL.

It's Chicago, the team former receiver Muhsin Muhammad once said was the place receivers go to die. How do you like them now, with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze as the potential targets for Caleb Williams?

"Moore and Allen ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, in PFF grade in 2023 and should only help each other thrive in 2024," Kosko wrote.

It should be quite an offense considering Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio had called their running back group the second-best in the league.

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The good news from Kosko's assessment for PFF ended at receiver.

The bad news was that even after trading for Montez Sweat last year, the Bears have been ranked as having the worst defensive line in football.
The almighty PFF grade is again cited.

"The Bears' defensive line is led by Montez Sweat's 74.8 overall grade, but after him, it's a unit that sorely lacks depth and impact players," Kosko wrote.

Only nose tackle Andrew Billings had a grade close to Sweat last year and the Bears lost their 3-technique in free agency, Justin Jones. They'll have to hope Gervon Dexter has developed in his second season at defensive tackle.

It's a reason why so many analysts see them signing one of the free agent edge rushers still available.

This hardly ideal for the Bears in the NFC North considering Detroit is ranked as having the best offensive line.

Worst defensive line against the best offensive line didn't quite work that way last year, though, as the Bears dominated one full game and 56 minutes of the other one with their defense.

ESPN has released a post-draft power ranking and the Bears rose into the top half of the league in 16th.

It's a huge jump from 21st after last season ended.

ESPN's Courtney Cronin pointed out Justin Fields finished with 2,562 yards last year, and this could be the single biggest difference in the team with Caleb Williams taking over an offense ranked 27th in passing yards last year.

They are ranked one spot behind Fields' new team, the Steelers.

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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.