3. Ian Bunting
Ian Bunting first came on the radar when he was listed ahead of Dax Raymond on the depth chart. Matt Nagy admitted the reasoning was as we expected. Raymond is a backup to Burton while Bunting is closer to a backup for Adam Shaheen. They are different tight end positions.
So, with Shaheen banged up, and Ben Braunecker unable to fill that ‘F’ role that Nagy wants, he resorted to Bunting.
Fortunately, Bunting delivered. He fumbled and needs to work on his blocking which is why we did not put him on the 53-man roster yet.
However, as we noted, with the Shaheen similarities his biggest skill set is stressing the seam and being relied on in the red zone. This is where Bunting flashed at times in his first preseason look.
The Bears may have something here. With Shaheen and Burton as valuable as they are and banged up as well, it seems likely that Bunting will get a huge workload again this weekend.
As the competition picks up we will wonder if Bunting can string together strong weeks. If so, he may start to sneak around the 53-man roster.