Nobody is going to benefit from this rare offseason, but some Chicago Bears may be affected worse than others.
The virtual offseason is not suitable for anyone. This is a rare time, and while the Chicago Bears would have been going through their first set of offseason workouts post-draft, these events are now being done via virtual meeting.
This is affecting every team, although some facilities are starting to open up. Still, at the moment, those facilities are only for ten or fewer employees at a time. So, no group workouts are being done by any team until training camp at the earliest.
There are no excuses for something impacting all 32 teams; it is an even playing field. Still, some players would benefit more from being at OTAs and getting hands-on work. Without that, they may be hurting this offseason more than others.
Who are five players who really could have benefited from an ordinary OTA session in 2020?
5. Riley Ridley
The Chicago Bears would like Riley Ridley to take a step forward, but certainly are not counting on it. The team traded up for Darnell Mooney and signed Ted Ginn after Ridley failed to see ten receptions behind Javon Wims on the depth chart.
Still, a rookie season that saw an injury at this time during rookie OTAs last year can be rocky if Ridley is going to take a step forward. It would be the growth from what he learned in 2019, and putting it together in 2020. He may be dealing with a new quarterback for the third straight year and has hardly played with Mitch Trubisky as it is.
All of the receivers could use more time hands-on with the quarterbacks, but more than any of them, Riley Ridley is hurt by not working with them. He needs to beat out Ginn, and show more usefulness than the rookie on his heals. Ridley is no longer their shiny new toy. Without him being in front of their faces, he needs to show up when things open more prepared than others.