Post by Deleted on May 24, 2018 14:34:58 GMT -6
Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace’s evolution: Wide Receiver
by Parker Hurley4 hours agoFollow @parkerhurley
How has the wide receiver depth chart changed from the start of the Ryan Pace tenure until now?
With Chicago Bears entering year four with Ryan Pace as GM, there should be a clear vision established by now. He now has had four NFL drafts to revamp his roster. With that in mind, it would be interesting to see how the roster has evolved from 2015 to 2018.
We looked at the quarterback room and the running back room
2015:
Kevin White, Alshon Jeffrey, Eddie Royal, Marquese Wilson, Cameron Meredith, Josh Bellamy, Marc Mariani, Deonte Thompson
Arguably a controversial move that shook waves when Ryan Pace stepped in was the trade of Brandon Marshall. Of course, his plan to replace Marshall with Kevin White who inconveniently was never healthy is what added fuel to that fire.
2016:
Alshon Jeffrey, Cameron Meredith, Kevin White, Marquese Wilson, Eddie Royal, Deonte Thompson, Josh Bellamy, Daniel Braverman
2017:
Kendall Wright, Cameron Meredith, Dontrelle Inman, Kevin White, Tanner Gentry, Markus Wheaton, Deonte Thompson, Josh Bellamy, Tre McBride
After injury and suspension strained a relationship, Alshon Jeffrey was on the move. This meant a completely new identity for Pace and this receiver room. However, he essentially just handed the keys over to his UDFA Meredith.
He signed Kendall Wright, who would be argued as a hit signing. He led the team in receiving after all. Still, it was a one and done career in Chicago for Wright despite the success.
Markus Wheaton will go down as a worse signing than any other wide receiver to date for Pace. The struggles of paying Wheaton to be anything at wide receiver combined with injuries to Meredith and White led to this team digging into the bottom of the barrel.
They pulled out Tre McBride and Dontrelle Inman. Given that one of these additions was made after final cuts and the other was made during the season it is tough to kill Pace for the moves. Especially considering Inman was actually a factor. Still, like Wright, none of these names hung around.
2018:
Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Kevin White, Javon Wims, Josh Bellamy, Tanner Gentry
It is funny to think about the two names who stuck through this whole thing. Kevin White makes sense, he was a top ten pick and the first pick of the Pace era. It would be tough to get rid of him. The other name is Josh Bellamy, who bizarrely enough has pre-dated Ryan Pace in the Bears locker room.
Nonetheless, the Bears do not plan for either to be a factor and by year five, neither could be around.
This is the big year for Pace. He has missed and missed. However, he did not go all-in like he did with these receivers. Even Taylor Gabriel is making more than any of the threats from last season, let alone Robinson.
These are much bigger swings. It could be bigger hits. However, if it becomes bigger misses, the stench of poor wide receiver evaluations will follow Pace forever.
by Parker Hurley4 hours agoFollow @parkerhurley
How has the wide receiver depth chart changed from the start of the Ryan Pace tenure until now?
With Chicago Bears entering year four with Ryan Pace as GM, there should be a clear vision established by now. He now has had four NFL drafts to revamp his roster. With that in mind, it would be interesting to see how the roster has evolved from 2015 to 2018.
We looked at the quarterback room and the running back room
2015:
Kevin White, Alshon Jeffrey, Eddie Royal, Marquese Wilson, Cameron Meredith, Josh Bellamy, Marc Mariani, Deonte Thompson
Arguably a controversial move that shook waves when Ryan Pace stepped in was the trade of Brandon Marshall. Of course, his plan to replace Marshall with Kevin White who inconveniently was never healthy is what added fuel to that fire.
Still, it was the first move to signal change to what is now a completely different receiving corps. Eddie Royal was one of many wide receiver signings gone wrong, but we will get to those later. Deonte Thompson could actually be argued to be one of his best free agent acquisition at this spot. His last addition made to the receiver room in his first season was Cameron Meredith as a UDFA. Even given the circumstances of Meredith, this was a nice find by Pace.
Alshon Jeffrey, Cameron Meredith, Kevin White, Marquese Wilson, Eddie Royal, Deonte Thompson, Josh Bellamy, Daniel Braverman
Pace ran into the season from hell for Alshon Jeffrey at the same time his top ten pick ended up on the IR for the second straight year. Not a great time to be Ryan Pace. Eddie Royal continued to slump, but he did add Daniel Braverman. That quieted a few Bears fans for some reason. Of course, not much ever came from Braverman.
Kendall Wright, Cameron Meredith, Dontrelle Inman, Kevin White, Tanner Gentry, Markus Wheaton, Deonte Thompson, Josh Bellamy, Tre McBride
After injury and suspension strained a relationship, Alshon Jeffrey was on the move. This meant a completely new identity for Pace and this receiver room. However, he essentially just handed the keys over to his UDFA Meredith.
He signed Kendall Wright, who would be argued as a hit signing. He led the team in receiving after all. Still, it was a one and done career in Chicago for Wright despite the success.
Markus Wheaton will go down as a worse signing than any other wide receiver to date for Pace. The struggles of paying Wheaton to be anything at wide receiver combined with injuries to Meredith and White led to this team digging into the bottom of the barrel.
They pulled out Tre McBride and Dontrelle Inman. Given that one of these additions was made after final cuts and the other was made during the season it is tough to kill Pace for the moves. Especially considering Inman was actually a factor. Still, like Wright, none of these names hung around.
Then, of course, there was Tanner Gentry, who took over for Braverman and gave Bears fans hope.
Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Kevin White, Javon Wims, Josh Bellamy, Tanner Gentry
It is funny to think about the two names who stuck through this whole thing. Kevin White makes sense, he was a top ten pick and the first pick of the Pace era. It would be tough to get rid of him. The other name is Josh Bellamy, who bizarrely enough has pre-dated Ryan Pace in the Bears locker room.
Nonetheless, the Bears do not plan for either to be a factor and by year five, neither could be around.
This is the big year for Pace. He has missed and missed. However, he did not go all-in like he did with these receivers. Even Taylor Gabriel is making more than any of the threats from last season, let alone Robinson.
These are much bigger swings. It could be bigger hits. However, if it becomes bigger misses, the stench of poor wide receiver evaluations will follow Pace forever.
