Chicago Bears fans need to stop sleeping on Byron Pringle
The Chicago Bears got a late-bloomer in Byron Pringle
Not every NFL talent follows the same path. Byron Pringle is not a household name and yet he played in one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL over the last few years. Some are concerned that his numbers are inflated due to having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. That is obviously a plus that the Chicago Bears do not have, although I am not going to rule out Justin Fields becoming an elite quarterback in this league — Byron Pringle himself agrees with me.
To get a better understanding of what Chicago Bears fans can expect from Pringle in Chicago, I reached out to FanSided’s Matt Conner for an inside look. Conner is one of the lead writers and the Site-Expert (editor) at Arrowhead Addict. According to Conner, Byron Pringle is a bit of a late-bloomer in every way during his NFL career. He had this to say:
"Pringle got into some legal trouble early in life and took the JuCo route before starring at Kansas Satate. He entered the NFL late as a 25-year-old. When Bears fans see Pringle coming out of his rookie contract at the age of 28 and likely think little of it, they would be mistaken. The truth is that he’s been a late-bloomer in the league as well. The Chiefs draft class of that year — 2018 — was the worst in team history perhaps, but signing Byron Pringle to a rookie free agent deal salvaged something from that first-year class."
A quick look at the 2018 draft class for the Chiefs and we might need to be more concerned about Ryan Poles as general manager (totally joking) than we do Byron Pringle as a wide receiver. The Chiefs did not have a first-round pick in that draft, but the draft consisted of the following:
- 2nd Round – Breeland Speaks, DE – Mississippi
- 3rd Round – Derrick Nnadi, DT – Florida St.
- 3rd Round – Dorian O’Daniel, OLB – Clemson
- 4th Round – Armani Watts, S – Texas A&M
- 6th Round – Tremon Smith, WR – Central Arkansas
- 6th Round – Kahlil McKenzie, DT – Tennessee
Signing Pringle as an undrafted free agent proved to be a better move than signing fellow wide receiver Tremon Smith out in the sixth round. As Matt Conner of Arrowhead Addict points out, Pringle probably is the best player to come from that 2018 NFL Draft class for the Chiefs. Only Derrick Nnadi has been re-signed by the Chiefs. Speaks is essentially out of the league and guys like O’Daniel and Watts are pending free agents who played their full rookie contracts with the Chiefs.
What does Byron Pringle bring to the Chicago Bears wide receiver room though?