One interesting question before the Chicago Bears’ loss on Sunday was how the wide receivers would break down. The team just activated Byron Pringle which meant that they had seven active wide receivers.
They usually only keep five active for gameday, so two would be inactive. Then, how would the five shake out with Chase Claypool, N’Keal Harry, and Byron Pringle all in the mix after not being here most of the year?
Should Chicago Bears play Chase Claypool more?
Velus Jones being inactive was obvious at this point, but the second wide receiver surprised some being N’Keal Harry. Harry had been ascending up the depth chart since his return from injury, but he apparently has not surpassed Equanimeous St. Brown.
Snap counts from Sunday’s Bears loss pic.twitter.com/Nynn9n6HV2
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) November 14, 2022
St. Brown had been trending down in recent weeks, but he kept his work as the number two wideout. While some thought Harry was close to passing him, it appears Harry is now number six, while ESB is number two, so the gap remains.
While that was surprising in some light, the bigger surprise is that Dante Pettis still had a snap share hold over Chase Claypool. Last week Pettis outsnapped Claypool 27 to 26. This week, the gap grew, and Pettis had 27 again while Claypool was down at 19.
So, Pettis has 54 snaps and Claypool has 45 since the trade. Many thought these would be flipped. Even more surprising is that Pringle played one more snap than Claypool as well.
That is fine that Pringle is playing more, but you would have thought he would take the snaps from Pettis, and Pettis would now be behind Claypool.
The Chicago Bears did this with Lucas Patrick a bit as well. They trusted the person they knew rather than the unknown, even though the unknown was better. Sometimes, the team is slow to bring players into the mix or trust them with the playbook. It is clear ESB and Pettis have the coaches’ trust from being in there every day since training camp, but Harry, Claypool, and Pringle are all probably better options.
The team should move Claypool into the ESB role, and Pringle into the Pettis role. They probably need to get N’Keal Harry active before Velus Jones, but they may be turning a starter into an inactive, and the team does not operate in that way.
How long will ESB and Pettis continue to work over Chase Claypool?