Chicago Bears: Comparing the 2019 tight end situation to 2020
By Joseph Herff
2019 Tight End Review
Coming into the season, the tight end group looked similar to 2018, almost identical with the three main guys being Burton, Shaheen, and Braunecker. Unfortunately, injuries plagued the group.
Depth Chart:
‘Y’
- Ben Braunecker
- Adam Shaheen
- J.P. Holtz
- Eric Saubert
‘U’
- Trey Burton
- Jesper Horsted
As stated in the first slide, no tight end tallied over 100 receiving yards over the course of the season. J.P. Holtz was the leading receiver with 91 receiving yards. Also, yes, six different tight ends registered games for the Bears and none of them got it.
Coming into the season, the tight end group looked similar to 2018, almost identical with the three main guys being Burton, Shaheen, and Braunecker. Unfortunately, injuries plagued the group.
As stated how important 12 personnel was for the Chicago Bears’ offense. According to Sharp Football, the Bears ran 12 personnel 11 percent of the time, which was good for third-lowest in the NFL. For reference, the Chiefs and Eagles (similar schemes and offenses) ran it 28 percent and 52 percent of the time respectively.
Even the target rate in Chicago was low. The Bears targeted tight ends 11 percent of the time also good for third-lowest. Philadelphia was the second-highest targeting tight ends 39 percent of the time and the Chiefs were the sixth-highest with a target rate of 27 percent.
In other categories, the Chicago Bears were 31st in average yards by a tight end and 23rd in pass success rate when targeting the tight end. Their tight end room was downright inefficient.
This also hindered quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Trubisky is proven to be lethal out of 12 personnel as he posted a 67.4 percent completion percentage and a 99.7 passer rating even with ineffective tight ends.