The Chicago Bears have plenty to look for this preseason as the roster is getting better, and there are more jobs on the line. The wide receiver looks night and day better than last season, but plenty of jobs remain unresolved. Who are the players on the Bears wide receiver depth chart who need to show something in the coming weeks?
4. Can Tyler Scott win the the Chicago Bears punt return job?
Tyler Scott is a lock for the Chicago Bears roster in his rookie season. The team definitely needs to see what they can get from him. The question with Scott is more about his role. He has essentially been drafted to replace Darnell Mooney, and so he has been learning the slot. This is something to watch.
More than that is his punt return duties. The fourth wide receiver is one thing, but if he can land a starting job as a punt returner, it could help him stick for the long term. More than that, it clears up the WR depth chart.
Dante Pettis is right on the roster bubble, almost solely because he beat out Velus Jones for the punt return job last season. If Scott can beat out Pettis, not only does he lock down a role for himself, but he also makes it easy for the Chicago Bears to let Dante Pettis walk in free agency.
3. Will Velus Jones have any role on the Chicago Bears offense?
Velus Jones is another player with plenty on the line as he enters the preseason. First, can he find any sort of role on offense? Jones posted 107 receiving yards and 103 rushing yards as a rookie. The Bears added D.J. Moore and Tyler Scott, and they expect a lot more from Chase Claypool this year. When you consider none of those three were in the plans when the Bears drafted Jones, it is clear their thoughts on him are changing.
So, now he is almost solely relying on special teams. That can work because he is a strong kick-return asset. Still, as we noted, he lost the punt return job to Pettis last season, and now it looks like the Chicago Bears would like to see Tyler Scott win that job.
Still, they are letting Jones compete to win it. It would be much easier to make the case for Jones having value if he did both kick and punt returns. If he loses the punt return job, he had better make magic with kickoffs.
The new kickoff rules will make it harder to return kicks, and they will come less often. So, Jones has to be electric, or the team will start to look around and wonder what he is doing on the roster.
2. Can Dante Pettis make the Chicago Bears roster?
Dante Pettis was second on the Chicago Bears roster in snaps played at wide receiver last season. It shows how improved the room is because Pettis will be struggling to make the roster now. What is killing Pettis is that he has been injured this entire time.
Pettis will hope to return this week, but at this rate, he may not even get out there for the Chicago Bears' first preseason game. If that is the case, he is up against the wall and will struggle to make the roster. As we noted, the additions of Moore, Scott, and a healthy Claypool should push him out of the offensive loop.
Pettis still has a chance to make the roster because of his special teams value. Still, Velus Jones and Tyler Scott will be working to win the punt return job from him. If they do that, there is almost no use for Pettis on the roster.
At the same time, if Pettis can get healthy this week, and those two struggle this weekend, it opens the door for a chance to make the roster. If Pettis is the clear best punt returner, has proven he knows the playbook and can provide in some other way on special teams, he could get right back onto the roster.
1. Is Equanimeous St. Brown stepping up on special teams for the Chicago Bears?
Equaimeous St. Brown is another player who is seeing his role reduced. Nobody played more snaps as an outside wide receiver than St. Brown, and he was only behind Darnell Mooney and Dante Pettis in overall routes run. However, this year, he is much closer to number six in the pecking order.
However, he could get on the field over both Velus Jones and Tyler Scott because of his blocking. He played over Jones last year for that exact reason, and it is hard to think that Jones will catch up with him.
Jones has his own role, but ESB took a jet sweep or two last season as well. More than that, we have to see St. Brown play special teams. He was an ace on ST with the Green Bay Packers, but the Chicago Bears needed him on offense so badly that they had to keep him out of the mix on special teams or he would have been too tired for offense.
Now that he will play less offensive snaps, his job will be tied to special teams. We assume he will excel here, but will he? This will be worth watching in the next few weeks.