The Bears Workout Tight End Depth

Jeff Hanisch-TODAY Sports

The third tight end that the Bears brought in for a workout was former Packer Ryan Taylor. I thought former Packer Andrew Quarless would be the TE the Bears brought in for a workout but they decided on Taylor instead. I don’t know a lot about Taylor, but I’ll cover what I do know below.

Taylor was a former 7th round pick by the Packers in 2011 who started only two games with just eight catches, 45 yards, and 1 TD over his four years in GB. Taylor bounced around after his time with the Pack spending time with Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami, and Kansas City since being released by Green Bay.

Taylor, 27 years old, with decent size (6’4, 250) and speed (4.66) has the talent to be a solid NFL tight end, which is why the Bears are the sixth team to take a look at Taylor in the last five years. Taylor has an ideal skill-set for an h-back with great hands and the ability to make tough catches in traffic. Taylor has enough juice and power to make people miss in the open field and occasionally run over defensive backs that try to square him up.

His injury history puts Taylor in the same bucket as Zach Miller and Phil Housler, but so does his potential skill set. Taylor has the speed to beat safeties down the seem, the hands to make to make touch catches, and the athleticism to make things happen after the catch. Moeaki might be the best short-term option and Houk the best long-term prospect, but I think Miller could be a dangerous receiving weapon right away and a viable back-up for Zach Miller.

As of Sunday, the Bears have yet to sign these or any tight end options, but expect them to keep looking and watching the waiver wire closely.