Chicago Bears: Time to promote this player from the practice squad

The Chicago Bears are heading into Week 11 with many questions that need to be answered. One major question is what to do about their tight end position. I have the answer and his name is Jesper Horsted.

Nope, I am not talking about Bradley Sowell. Although Sowell has probably been promoted, demoted and promoted again to the Chicago Bears 53-man roster over the last ten minutes, he is not the tight end I am referring to here.

Adam Shaheen was inactive in Week 10 versus the Detroit Lions and no one even noticed. Trey Burton played on 20 snaps (36%) and saw one target. We all remember the catch where he jumped like a fool when he did not need to right? That was his only target. The week before he also only saw one target. Through the last two games, he does not have a catch.

I already talked about how I think the Bears need to cut ties with Adam Shaheen. Do they need to place Trey Burton on injured reserve too? Between Shaheen and Burton, the two tight ends have combined for 23 catches, 158 yards and zero touchdowns. Yes, I said zero touchdowns. Ben Braunecker saw a bigger role last Sunday and scored by hauling in his only target.

Braunecker has only seen more than 20 percent of the offensive snaps twice this season. The first time was in Week 2 against the Broncos. He caught two of his three targets for 24 yards. Combined for the year, he has three catches on four targets for 42 yards and a touchdown. With his three catches, he has more than half the yards of Shaheen and exactly half the yards of Burton.

Alright, so who is this person I am referring to that the Bears need to promote off their practice squad? The answer is Jesper Horsted. You might not remember Horsted as the preseason seems so long ago. However, Horsted was an undrafted free agent out of Princeton. He was actually a wide receiver who was converted to tight end.

Horsted stands 6’4″ and 215lbs. He is not the type of tight end who can play inline and block a defensive end on his own, but he does add another receiving threat to the mix. In two games this preseason, Horsted had some great catches. He finished the preseason with eight catches, 121 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bears should keep Shaheen off the 53-man roster. They should put Trey Burton on injured reserve as suggested by Patrick Sheldon of DaWindyCity.com and they should promote Jesper Horsted. Then, they can also stop promoting and demoting Bradley Sowell multiple times a week. Their three tight ends should be Braunecker, Sowell and Horsted to finish out the season.

Why? Well, the better question is, why not? What production have we seen from the tight end position before last week when Braunecker stepped up? The answer is very little. The Bears should give Horsted a shot to see if he can translate what he did in the preseason into the regular season. Adam Shaheen has had his shot. Trey Burton might be right behind him. Now it is time for the Jesper Horsted show.