Film Review: How Chicago Bears can get Chase Claypool involved Sunday vs Dolphins

The Chicago Bears traded for Chase Claypool during a week he thought he was going to be on bye. Claypool canceled his plans, and now says he is ready to play on Sunday. While Claypool will be suited up, there is a real question as to how much he will play during his first week with a new team.

While Claypool will not know the full playbook, and will probably be in and out of the game, there are some specific ways that the team can get him involved.

Chicago Bears should get Chase Claypool the ball Sunday

The biggest draw for Claypool is that he is big and fast. This is a pretty nice combination, especially with the ball in your hands. The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to get him involved in their running game, but it never developed.

Below, you can see a play from week one this season.

This is poorly blocked on the edge, and not the fault of Claypool, but it goes nowhere. This was a theme for the Steelers this season. Below, you can see that they tried to get him an easy touchdown in the red zone. The issue here is asking the tight end to hold up Trey Hendrickson on the edge.

Claypool was stuffed with ease, here.

In this play, you can at least see some of the reasons why the team likes to get Claypool the football in these spots. The Bengals read this play and attack Claypool in the backfield. He does a good job to outrun the defender, and then hops in the air to pick up another yard or two.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been disappointed in their efforts here, but when they can get it going, it looks great. Below is a 25-yard run against the Buffalo Bills. When Claypool actually gets the blocks, and the play is not blown up from the snap, the athleticism in open space is big-time.

Chicago Bears have been better at wide receiver runs

Luke Getsy is not a hot offensive coaching name yet, but he appears to be better than the Pittsburgh Steelers OC Matt Canada. One way to tell this is the ability to get wide receivers involved in the running game.

It is clear both teams want to get the ball in their skill players’ hands-on misdirection handoffs. However, Claypool has eight rushes for 55 yards this season. On the flip side, the combination of Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis, Velus Jones, and Imhir Smith-Marsette have eight rushes for 113 yards.

Are these players just more dynamic than Claypool, or is Getsy setting these runs up better than Canada? If you give Claypool the eight carries that those four took, would it be worse results, or better?

Below is Equanimeous St. Brown against the Houston Texans. He rips off a 41-yard run.

The Chicago Bears get a block, but a lot of this run can be tied to design. It also can be tied to the Houston Texans. Still, Dante Pettis went for 29 yards against the New England Patriots.

First, note the block by Equanimeous St. Brown on this play to free Pettis. The Steelers want that.

Second, this is another play where the design seems to have the Patriots playing the inside handoff. This is not like the plays above when the Bengals seemed to have four players in a small area shortly after Claypool took the football.

Chicago Bears can introduce Chase Claypool similarly to Velus Jones

The Chicago Bears third-round rookie Velus Jones missed a lot of the preseason and has not been able to get into the full depths of the playbook yet. However, the Bears have been able to keep him involved via the end-around.

Below, you can see two plays that look quite similar against Dallas. First, the end-around to the left side. They have two tight ends blocking left, and most of the line blocks to the right.

Now, Luke Getsy runs the same play, he just flips it. Two tight ends to the right, the line blocks left, and Velus Jones is able to have space to run with the ball in his hands. It is not like Jones has to have an intense knowledge of the playbook, scramble rules, or where to sit in a zone when this is the play call.

Luke Getsy has done more with Velus Jones.  In his first NFL game, the Chicago Bears were able to get him a touchdown. Again, this is a play that you can call for somebody who was just traded for a few days ago. It is not very complex for the ball carrier.

However, the following week, you saw the real value of what that play can do. After Jones scores a touchdown, the Patriots defense calls him out when he is on the field. Surely, if they have Jones on the field it is a play designed to feed him. Not so fast. They fake to Jones, and Fields keeps himself for a touchdown.

So, the reality is that Chase Claypool standing on the field, and running in motion as the snap is made is already enough to give the Chicago Bears some value on Sunday. He will draw more attention than Jones, and if Claypool runs left, and Fields runs right, somebody will fool the defense.

The team is already familiar with easing wide receivers into things because Velus Jones, and N’Keal Harry both were integrated after injuries. In the debut of Jones, they were able to keep things simple but still get the ball in his hands.

Expect the Chicago Bears to use him in this area. Whether it be a fake, a jet sweep type of pass, or an end around, you have to expect that the easiest way to get Claypool on the field will be in this area.