This personnel decision by Chicago Bears remains confusing

Last week, we wondered why the Chicago Bears were hesitant to run their two-tight end sets on offense. For years the argument has been that Matt Nagy does not have the pieces, and now that they kept Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet in year two, there is no excuse not to be one of the higher used two-tight end teams in the NFL.

That is why Week 1 was so confusing to see them not only below league average but well below their 2020 average. They used two-tight end sets 26% of the time on Sunday, which is a bit more than the 24% they ran from the 2020 bye week when Cole Kmet was added to the offense.

Still, there is an argument to be made that they could be doing this more. Damiere Byrd played 26 snaps on Sunday. That is not much, but considering he is the fourth WR on the roster, it is worth noting that he played four more snaps than Jimmy Graham, their tight end two.

Why is Damiere Byrd blocking over Jimmy Graham?

What makes it so interesting is that Byrd blocked on 11 snaps. You would think that if they want to block that, Graham would be better. If they’re going to pass, you could still argue for Graham, but still, Byrd has been put into positions many times where he is tasked with a block that you would rather have a tight end make than a wide receiver.

Byrd is not lining up outside; he spent 20 of his 27 snaps on Sunday lined up in the slot.  Graham is essentially a big slot, and Byrd is their little slot. They have chosen to play Byrd more.

For the season, Byrd has blocked on 24 snaps to just 18 for Jimmy Graham. In total, Byrd has played 27 more snaps. No one is saying to take Byrd away completely, but if ten of those blocking snaps went away from Byrd and Graham, it would make a lot more sense.

Otherwise, the Bears are saying they prefer Byrd to Graham in these situations, which is troubling considering they signed Byrd for a low dollar amount after the draft and yet have guaranteed money tied into Graham.