Though the Chicago Bears let their week 5 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts slip away, they may have uncovered a gem in second-year WR Cameron Meredith.
Like RB Jordan Howard, we may be witnessing the emergence of another homegrown, long-term offensive weapon for the Chicago Bears.
Meredith is in his second year and was an undrafted rookie free agent in 2015. Though he had limited playing time his rookie year, the Bears asked him to step up after the Bears placed 2015 first-round pick WR Kevin White on injured reserve (IR).
Against the Colts this week, Meredith essentially took over White’s role on offense. Meredith played 93% of the offensive snaps and QB Brian Hoyer targeted him 12 times, more than any other player. Of those 12 targets, he made 9 receptions for 130 yards and 1 touchdown. Meredith stepped in as the Bears number one WR target and had the production to show for it.
Beyond his production, though, Meredith showed characteristics that may enable him to have a very successful NFL career.
Size
Meredith is a big target at 6’3” and 207 lbs., and he’s able to leverage his size to his advantage. For example, in the 2nd quarter on a 2nd and goal on the Colts’ 14-yard line, QB Brian Hoyer scrambled out of the pocket and threw a jump ball to Meredith. Meredith leveraged his height to leap over defending CB Patrick Robinson to catch the ball at the high point, leading to the Bears first touchdown of the game.
Also due to his size, he makes an ideal redzone target. He was targeted four times in the redzone and made all four catches (first one was on the Bears opening drive but was called back due to Howard’s facemask penalty).
He’s also demonstrated the ability to break tackles and create explosive plays. In the second quarter on a 1st and 10 on Chicago’s 42-yard line, Hoyer made a screen pass to Meredith. Meredith broke two tackles while managing to stay in bounds, making a gain of 30 yards.
Route Running
Perhaps most impressive is his route-running skills. Meredith takes very long strides and can change direction quickly and in a manner that defenders have trouble anticipating.
As an example, in the 2nd quarter on the abovementioned touchdown pass, Meredith faked a curl route toward Hoyer, and Robinson bit on the fake and moved out of position toward Hoyer. With Robinson out of position, Meredith used his long stride to turn toward the end zone and gain separation to get open in the end zone, allowing Hoyer to target him for the touchdown.
As another example, on a 2nd and 8 in the 3rd quarter, on a play-action pass Meredith faked left and the defending cornerback was so lost he completely spun around out of position. Meredith cut right and Hoyer found him on a deep right pass for an 18-yard gain.
Poise
Meredith also demonstrated poise. After a costly fumble in the 4th quarter that lead to a Colts’ field goal, Hoyer targeted Meredith on the very next Bears’ offensive possession. He made a 13-yard catch on an out route in double coverage.
Speaking about the play, Meredith said “my teammates were behind me. They said they were going to come back to me. They had confidence I was going to make the play and I had confidence myself.”
Takeaways
Now that’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement. Regarding ball security, Meredith fumbled twice. He recovered his first fumble, but the second one was costly. If he can’t hold on to the ball, his NFL career will be short-lived.
We’ll also need to see how he performs in the next few games. We have one data point in week 5, but how will he perform against better defenders and after defenses start to game plan for him.
Despite the setbacks and limited data points, Meredith had a breakout game against the Colts. As a 2015 undrafted rookie, he still has room for improvement. If the Bears’ coaching staff can continue to develop his talent, they may have uncovered a long-term weapon for the Bears’ offense.