The Bears Bargain Receiver Bin

Players like David Moore and Equanimeous St. Brown hope to find roster spots along with Darnell Mooney, Velus Jones Jr. and Byron Pringle in this group of players from numbers 19-11 in the Bears countdown to camp.

The obvious Bears plan in free agency this year was to provide Justin Fields with whatever receivers GM Ryan Poles could find at a low cost.

The lack of cap space and a fouled-up salary cap overall, with spending leaning heavily toward an old defense, forced the Bears GM into short-term contracts with an eye on next year's free agency period.  

The countdown to Bears camp continues through the roster with two receivers new to the team who should play key roles for Fields this year and a few more less expensive free agents who also could as they seek to bounce back from failures with other teams.

No. 19 WR Equanimeous St. Brown

6-foot-5, 214 pounds

The Dossier: His height lets him stand out but rarely in games did he play to that advantage in Green Bay from 2018-21. He made just 37 catches for 543 yards but he does know much of the offense new coordinator Luke Getsy has installed.

2022 Prospectus: Fields and St. Brown, who is the brother of Lions receiver Amon-Ra, seemed to work well, especially over the middle in OTAs. The competition will be fierce and St. Brown is big enough with 4.48-second speed in the 40 to contribute on coverage teams so this and his system knowledge should let him stick as a backup receiver.

No. 18 Jayson Stanley

6-2, 207

The Dossier: A former Georgia backup and Seattle Seahawks cornerback who was undrafted and played in eight NFL games during the 2020 season. He didn't get much chace to show what he could do in coverage at either place. He did play special teams but made only five total tackles in college and none with Seattle.

2022 Prospectus: Seattle saw something in his athleticism and it's possible he could get a spot on the Bears practice squad as he does have good height and speed. He just hasn't played the game much since leaving high school.

No. 18 WR David Moore

6-foot, 219

The Dossier: It's not a good sign when you're a veteran and share a jersey number at camp. He also had an offseason arrest as he tries to come back from a season when he was with Green Bay and Denver but couldn't stick in either place or make a catch. Prior to that, he was deadly in the red zone with 78 career catches as a Seattle seventh-round pick and 13 of them went for touchdowns. All were in his second, third and fourth seasons. He has played in 50 games with 14 starts.

2022 Prospectus: He had a real opportunity with the Bears because they need red zone help and Justin Fields has a style not totally unlike Russell Wilson, his former QB. But the offseason arrest may shed light on how serious he takes this chance. He'll be defying the odds and trend if he makes the team.

No. 17 WR Chris Finke

5-9, 186

The Dossier: Former Notre Dame receiver known as the "Slippery Fox," because of his knack for eluding bigger, faster defenders and getting open over the middle out of the slot. He's also a punt returner. Kansas City had him on the practice squad last year after he came into the league with the 49ers but hasn't played in a game yet and has been in the league since 2020. He made 106 catches for 1,251 yards with eight TDs at Notre Dame.

2022 Prospectus: The Bears could benefit if a slot receiver stands up to become willing target for Fields but Finke seems the longest of shots to do it. He's fighting with Dazz Newsome and any number of veterans for a roster spot, players like Dante Pettis and Tajae Sharpe, who are desperate to stick in the league. It's possible he'd be a practice squad type because he is a bit of a pesky type who could drive veterans nuts during practice but the athletic ability overall is not there.

No. 16 P Trenton Gill

6-4, 219

The Dossier: A seventh-round pick made to replace Pat O'Donnell, who left in free agency to play in Green Bay. Gill averaged 46.3 yards a punt at North Carolina State and displayed great hang time on his punts at Halas Hall in the offseason. He's a big player who also will hold for placement kicks.

2022 Prospectus: It looks like clear sailing for a rookie with no roster challenger. Looks can be deceiving. Expect the Bears to be watching to bring in another punter as competition at some point if a few are cut. Seeing how he responds to a sudden challenge for the roster spot is a good way to test a rookie. There have to be questions about Gill despite his solid college average. He grew up playing high school ball in North Carolina and played at N.C. State, so he has never experienced anything like that switch from mild mid-autumn weather to the November and December winds and cold at Soldier Field.

No. 16 S Jonathan Alexander

6-2, 217

The Dossier: A junior college player who played a year at Kansas State and then a year at Charlotte. He had 82 tackles and two interceptions for his NCAA career. He had a knack for finding the ball, forcing a few interceptions and recovering two.

2022 Prospectus: He has the size to add a few pounds to become a cover-2 linebacker. He's about the same size as Nicholas Morrow and the 6-2 height helps him. Look for the Bears to put him on the practice squad if he shows any ability and try to convert him or use him as a box safety type.

No. 15 QB Trevor Siemian

6-3, 220

The Dossier: A former Northwestern starter who started two seasons with Denver and led the Broncos to a 13-11 record then. Since then his teams have been less successful in his starts, 0-5 with the Jets and Saints. He has completed 58.9% and averages 6.7 yards an attempt with a passer rating of 81.2.

2022 Prospectus: Siemian was probably at his best in Denver operating an offense similar to the wide zone approach the Bears will use this year but his stats with the Broncos really don't indicate this. He had a 79.9 passer rating there. The Bears could have had a better player talent-wise but the system fit is why they think they could at least function with him playing in place of Justin Fields, but overall the Bears have taken a huge step backward at backup quarterback after having Andy Dalton and Nick Foles last year and Chase Daniel prior to Foles.

No. 14 QB Nathan Peterman

6-2, 225

The Dossier: He played in 10 NFL games since coming into the league as a Buffalo fifth-round pick out of Pitt and Tennessee in 2017. His production has been atrocious, with three TD passes and 12 interceptions. His career passer rating is a miserable 34.0. He threw only five passes the last two years for the Raiders, who also had Marcus Mariota as a backup then, so almost all of his play came in Buffalo. He led the Bills to a 1-3 record in four starts in 2017 and 2018, and one of the 2018 starts was a 41-9 blowout loss at home to the Bears.

2022 Prospectus: Third-team QBs are rarely a player who gives a team hope for victories if pressed into action and Peterman wouldn't. The Bears are likely to put him on the practice squad and if needed they would just be trying to get by with him playing until they can get Fields or Siemian back.

No. 13 WR Byron Pringle

6-1, 203

The Dossier: He stepped up in his third year of playing when Kansas City needed it and was rewarded with a $4 million deal for one year with the Bears. He had 42 catches for 568 yards and five TDs last year in five starts and 17 games, after making three starts in 2020. The Chiefs started him in all three playoff games and he made three TD catches among his 12 overall postseason receptions for 82 yards. He also has been a very effective kick returner with a 26.6-yard average for 37 attempts with one TD.

2022 Prospectus: Pringle brings some size, versatility and speed to the receiver corps behind Darnell Mooney and isn't quite the useless troublemaker type that he has been painted as in some media outlets. However, he is a player who can lose focus and they'll need to watch him carefully as his role as second or third receiver is vital this year.

No. 12 WR Velus Jones Jr.

6-foot, 203

The Dossier: He played in six college seasons, but the first was just one game. Initially, he struggled at USC and finally caught more than 24 passes for the first time last year for Tennessee with 62 receptions, 807 yards and seven TDs. He had three TDs the previous year with 22 catches for Tennessee. He runs a 4.31-second 40-yard dash and it showed in his 24.4-yard average for 122 kick returns with two TDs He also dabbled at punt returns as a senior and made 18 of them for an impressive 15.1-yard average.

2022 Prospectus: Expecting much more than some short catches and attempts to run afterward would be a bit much for this rookie, even though he is 25 years old. He needed six years of college ball to break through. It's not reasonable to expect him to start out in the NFL at a high level and could need time to adapt. A role on special teams and as a fourth receiver who gets used a lot on screen passes seems more likely.

No. 11 WR Darnell Mooney

5-11, 182 pounds

The Dossier: He made more catches over the last two years than Allen Robinson and his 141 receptions in his first two seasons are the most ever by a wide receiver over their first two years in Chicago. Mooney's average per catch climbed from 10.3 as a rookie to 13.0 last year while he had 20 more catches than he did as a rookie. He has added about 10 pounds of muscle and goals for this year have to be more touchdowns than the four he had in each of his first two years and also eliminating the drops he had last year. He had only one drop in 2020 but tied for fifth in the league last year with nine.

2022 Prospectus: One of the most dedicated players the Bears have ever drafted, he meshes well with a quarterback who is the same way. Usually receivers establish themselves by Year 3 and Mooney may have done that last year but the coaches are hoping there's still a bit more he can show and part of that would be the deeper pass with Fields' arm triggering it. Expect more plays of consequence and fewer mistakes from an ascending player in 2022.

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