MEET THE WHO CREW
Bears’ WRs aren’t exactly lighting a fire with their collective résumé
Whether or not the Bears’ 2017 receiving corps is the worst in the NFL, it’s very likely the most nondescript.
With Alshon Jeffery gone and Cam Meredith on injured reserve, Kendall Wright is the leader of this pack. He had 29 receptions for 416 yards and three touchdowns for the Titans last season. In fact, the six wide receivers on the Bears’ roster— Wright, Kevin White, Josh Bellamy, Deonte Thompson, Markus Wheaton and Tre McBride— combined for 93 receptions, 1,185 yards and seven touchdowns in 2016. The Packers’ Jordy Nelson had better numbers than that by himself— 97 receptions, 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Of course, Nelson had the great Aaron Rodgers throwing to him. These Bears will have Mike Glennon and perhaps rookie Mitch Trubisky throwing to them.
But while this receiving corps might be an easier target for critics than for Glennon or Trubisky, the situation also might not be as ominous as it appears. The Bears have other targets in their offense with intriguing potential: tight ends Zach Miller and Adam Shaheen and running back Tarik Cohen. It’s up to offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains to come up with inventive game plans to use everybody in the offense to make it passable.
Therein lies the rub, of course. Outside of Pro Bowl guards Josh Sitton and Kyle Long, the Bears have virtually zero “skins on the wall,” as coach John Fox likes to say, on offense— from Loggains to the receivers to the starting quarterback. Then again, that’s what this Bears season is all about. From top to bottom, they’ll have to be better than we think. 2 For what it’s worth, the Patriots had the third- best scoring offense in the NFL last season and won the Super Bowl with a wide receiver corps of Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, Malcolm Mitchell and Michael Floyd contributing 55.5 percent of the yardage and 50 percent ( 16 of 32) of the touchdown catches. Of course, they had the great Tom