Offense Is What Bears Need to See Most

Several players on offense rate high among those who the Bears coaching staff should most want to see perform before season's end.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus has been asked at least two or three times so far since the current six-game losing streak began about getting a look at more inexperienced players.

The question almost seems comical because of the large number of inexperienced players they've already had to use due to injuries on defense, or on offense due to injuries or inadequate play.

Still, it's always a legitimate concern when a team gets to the end of the regular season. With four games remaining the Bears should be squarely focused on next season and finding the true value of players.

This doesn't mean empty the bench for some undrafted free agent pickups. Cole Kmet explained why they can't do this last week. Playing guys who don't know what they're doing can lead to injuries for those who do. 

Playing Justin Fields behind an offensive line filled with undrafted free agents or late-round draft picks would make no sense. Rather they have players who have seen time, but need more of it.

There is an extremely heavy offensive slant to this group chiefly, because there are virtually no players they need to see more of on defense. 

They need to turn the defensive group over as quickly as possible after the season ends at a minimum of five positions and be done with it. Without a pass rush to speak of, and with a mediocre linebacker group, the Bears have to be seeking out players in their front seven every single day during the offseason.

They have only one young offensive lineman they haven't seen much from in a year when the offensive line has changed personnel almost every week. That doesn't mean they need to see guard Ja'Tyre Carter playing, though.  Offensive linemen drafted in the late rounds are better off learning in the background for at least a year, even two. Charles Leno Jr. was a perfect example with the Bears. He didn't start until the last game of his rookie year and became a solid left tackle, but definitely not a standout player at a position where it's best to have a player who excels.

Here are the players who they do need to see more of before the final four games end.

6. WR Velus Jones Jr. His rookie year has been a total disappointment. Only his kick return ability keeps it from a total disaster.

Blasting GM Ryan Poles for not selecting a different wide receiver in Round 3 probably isn't appropriate, although he definitely could have taken a different one in Round 2 if he chose to select a different defensive back than the two he picked then. The only wide receivers with double digit catches selected after Jones are David Bell (20 catches) and Romeo Doubs (31 catches). Doubs didn't go until 61 picks later, almost two full rounds, so blaming Poles for missing that is nit-picking.

The Bears need to get Jones more and more involved in as many different ways as possible. He has three catches and six rushing attempts. They seemed to sour on trying him as a downfield receiver when he dropped a bomb against Dallas, and haven't gone back to him on the deep route.

It might be time to try some more go routes with their extremely fast rookie.

5. RB Khalil Herbert. He'll be back after the bye following a hip injury and it might be good to give him even more carries than the 50-50 share he was getting then just to see how he holds up. The Bears might not have David Montgomery back next year because he doesn't have a contract and running backs seem to be discarded routinely—even those entirely adept at running through tackles like Montgomery. So it would be good for the Bears to know if they have a great need in the draft for a back or if they need to be more serious about signing their current starter. Knowing what they have behind him is a good start. Herbert had only five games when he made more than nine runs, yet he was averaging an outstanding 6.0 yards per carry. They could use a bigger dose of Herbert's big-play potential.

4. WR Chase Claypool. Since he has been available to play in games for the Bears, Claypool has been used only on 46% of the offensive plays. It's very difficult to know a position thoroughly in any offense over the course of five or six weeks, especially when a player suddenly comes over from another team and it's midseason. The only way he starts fitting in better is by letting him play more snaps. Without Darnell Mooney available, this is an ideal time to play Claypool. He needs to be tested more. His 12 catches in five games for 111 yards is only the beginning of what they can do with him. They need to let him run more routes downfield and forget the excessive receiver screens that are heavily defensed. Running wide receiver screens only benefits a team at winning the game at hand. They need to be looking at developing the receiver within the offense and that's done by letting him run downfield routes.

3. T Alex Leatherwood. Larry Borom is hurt and Riley Reiff gutted out an injury last year to start, but is this even necessary? Playing Leatherwood for them at right tackle is only logical. He was a first-round pick and Reiff has no contract for next year. It seems the Bears might actually realize this. They mixed him in for 10 plays Sunday.

"It was great, it was great," Eberflus said of Leatherwood's play. Alex played well. First action in there, I think it was 10 plays. Overall, really nice performance by him.

"It doesn't surprise us. We were anxious to get him in there and see how he would do. But it doesn’t surprise us because he's had great maturation in the system, working inside (guard) and outside (tackle). He did really well in practice. So we saw it in practice. We were expecting to see it in the game but we were excited to see it."

As for the future, more plays, maybe a start?

"For sure, certainly on a rotational basis, I can say that for sure," Eberflus said. "We'll see where it goes from there and put our best guys out there."

Better yet, put the guys out there who need the playing time to prove something for next year.

2. WR N'Keal Harry. They only paid a seventh-round pick for him but first ankle surgery and now an inability to take time from other receivers has left Harry with only six targets on the year. He has five catches for a very respectable 93 yards and Justin Fields found an ideal use for him Sunday with a jump ball throw that should have meant points—possibly winning points. However, Cairo Santos had a low 40-yard field goal blocked.

Harry's 106 plays constitutes only 38% of the plays on offense when he has been available to play. What are they learning about him with this kind of playing time? 

They point to practice and say this is where both he and Velus Jones Jr. have not shown up enough.

Well, other receivers have definitely not shown up enough on Sundays in games and that's where it really counts. So it's time to see what Harry can do then to a greater extent.

Considering Harry is a free agent after the season and that he has this knack for jump balls and acrobatic catches, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving him on the bench inactive in any other game.

Fields described what he thought of Harry when he explained his 49-yard jump ball completion to Harry after scrambling out of the pocket.

"And at that point, I already knew it was a catch because he's probably the one of the best

jump ball guys that we have on our team," Fields said. "So at that point, I threw it up, and of course he made a hell of a catch and it was a great play."

Both Harry and Claypool need to be active.

The Bears haven't had enough production from the other receivers besides injured Darnell Mooney to warrant anyone else getting more playing time than Harry and Claypool among receivers the rest of the year.

If this isn't the case, then someone on the coaching staff needs to be advised that the team's priority is next year and not some pitiful win they might achieve at the end of this season against Detroit or a Vikings team using subs while resting starters for the playoffs.

1. QB Justin Fields. Of course they need to see Fields playing, and that's why his return so quickly was so important even after a shoulder injury. However, they don't need to see him as a runner. They need him operating a game plan exactly like they had against Green Bay, although it's still not clear they intended this or it was the result of losing both their fullback and his replacement, third tight end Trevon Wesco, early in the game.

Fields can run when he scrambles. They need to see as much of Fields passing as possible, and he needs to be passing it as much as he can to build a rapport with some of these current receivers.

The verdict of these games mean nothing now. It's exhibition season.

The experience Fields gets from throwing it more will mean everything down the road.

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