Bear Digest

How Bears Are Better Set Up to Play to DJ Moore's Strength

According to Pro Football Focus, DJ Moore rates among the best in the league at beating particular defenses and with Odunze and Keenan Allen that strength could be more apparent.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore rated high in a PFF study done on the best receivers against zone and man-to-man coverage.
DJ Moore rated high in a PFF study done on the best receivers against zone and man-to-man coverage. / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
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One secret to what the Bears might be looking to accomplish this year on offense can be found in an analytics piece by Pro Football Focus about wide receivers.

Drafting Rome Odunze when defensive line seemed a more pressing need showed not only the quality the Bears see in the Washington wide receiver but also the potential for creating mismatches they could enjoy with so many top receivers complementing DJ Moore.

PFF's Lauren Gray wrote an analysis of the top wide receivers against man-to-man coverage and against zone coverage and Moore graded out No. 3 in the league against man-to-man coverage.

Moore trailed only CeeDee Lamb (94.1 grade) and Nico Collins (92.1) when it came to facing man-to-man.

A good case can be made he was second only to Lamb in facing man-to-man coverage because Collins caught only 25 passes against man-to-man coverage.

Moore, on the other hand, was 10th in total targets (45) against man-to-man defense yet Gray reported he recorded the highest average target depth (15.3 yards) of any receiver against it while finishing top five in yardage (598), first downs (24) and yards per route (3.86).

The other top receivers against man-to-man defense were Brandon Aiyuk (fourth) and A.J. Brown (fifth), according to PFF.

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With an X-receiver so adept against man-to-man defense, the Bears should want to force defenses into matching up in man coverage as often as possible. It wasn't as easy last year when the other wide receivers were Darnell Mooney (31 catches) and Tyler Scott (19 catches). They could gang up on Moore if need be.

The more top receivers the Bears get onto the field, the more defenses will be forced to man-up in their coverage and give Moore the chance to work downfield.

Bringing in Odunze lets defenses choose a poison pill, so to speak. They can play back in zone and take their chances against a pair of dynamic runners with the ball in Odunze and Moore, or they can play zone and have Keenan Allen and Moore apply their years of experience against all types of zones and disguises to get open repeatedly.

"It really balances out the defense and makes them true and honest rather than tilting the field one way or the other to a star player," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said.

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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.