Chicago Bears End of season evaluation: Josh Bellamy

How did Josh Bellamy’s 2017 play out compared to expectations

With the Chicago Bears season now over, it is a good chance to see who met or exceeded or failed to meet expectations in 2017. For this edition, Josh Bellamy

Preseason Expectations:

Before the season Bellamy was not a lock to make the roster. Tanner Gentry, Rueben Randle, and Victor Cruz among others were pushing. Even if he did make the roster, the idea was that he was a special teams player who made it do to his value on that unit.

2017 Review:

Bellamy exceeded expectations set upon him. He made the team with his special team’s prowess. However, with Cameron Meredith, Kevin White and Markus Wheaton out due to injuries, Bellamy, Gentry, Dontrelle Inman and Tre McBride were thrown into the mix.

By the time the season was over Gentry had outlasted just about every single one of them. The team blatantly benched Wheaton in favor of Bellamy. McBride was cut in favor of Bellamy, and there are rumors that it truly was a Bellamy over McBride situation. Bellamy was the number two receiver from week nine of the season.

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The issue is, he is still Josh Bellamy. It wasn’t as much earning as the only guy the team can trust. His best game was five receptions for 70 yards, which was one of two games in which he had at least four receptions.

Offseason outlook

Bellamy is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. In a perfect world, the team fills the receiver room deep enough that he is not needed. In reality, he should be brought back in on a cheap deal to compete for another role on special teams. The Bears should know how injuries go, and while it is not a pleasure, it is an insurance knowing that Bellamy is around as a depth player.

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