Chicago Bears tight end Adam Shaheen is progressing

Chicago Bears tight end slowly but surely Adam Shaheen is showing up for the Chicago Bears

They are small, almost unnoticeable moments, but Adam Shaheen has seen himself get integrated into the offense for parts of games. This season he has 47 snaps on offense, averaging out to a little over nine per game. In the debut of rookie Mitchell Trubisky, Shaheen saw the second highest snap total of his career with 11.

Trubisky did not target his draft partner, but Shaheen did show up in some blocking situations. Below, Shaheen is fighting with Everson Griffen. Griffen is a top dog among defensive lineman, so this is a test. Shaheen scraps and keeps his momentum going right as Jordan Howard zips by on the left.

Below, we see Shaheen squaring up a fellow rookie in linebacker Ben Gedeon. Shaheen fights and holds his block long enough for a runner to hit the hole. Unfortunately, Jordan Howard did not get that far.

Shaheen has just one catch so far this season, however that does not seem to be too important. When watching his college tape and understanding his background as a basketball player, being able to box out and catch jump balls feels like it will come with time.

However, Shaheen is a player who shot up in weight rapidly and has never been a blocker before in college, let alone against the best of the best in the NFL. To see the Bears trusting to get him exposed to in-game blocking situations matters. For Shaheen to take these opportunities, grow and become a player holding his own with NFL talent is a whole different level of importance.

Next: Markus Wheaton is hurting his team

Through six weeks it seems as though the arrow is pointing up on the progression of Adam Shaheen. We will see if he can progress into an even bigger role by the end of the season.