Early money has Bears betting on receiver

It's not a sure bet that the Bears will use their first draft pick (No. 49 overall) on a wide receiver, but that's where the smart money is.

Devin Hester has become the Bears' de facto No. 1 wide receiver, even though his numbers from last season - 51 catches for 665 yards - are hardly representative of a go-to guy. And Rashied Davis (35 catches for 445 yards) is ideally a No. 3 or 4.

Beyond those two, the Bears don't have a single wide receiver on their roster who caught a pass in an NFL game last season.

"The receiver position is certainly something that we're looking at strongly for the obvious reasons," said Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo. "But I don't want to rule out other players at other positions that we feel will help our team. We're never going to rule out defensive linemen."

This time of year NFL teams go to great pains to bluff and outright lie about their intentions to misguide the competition. Chances are Angelo hopes the run on wide receivers comes early in the second round rather than late in the first. That way, one of the top ones might fall to the Bears.

This year's crop of pass catchers is rated well above average, but it isn't deep enough for the Bears to pounce on the 11th best wide receiver with their first pick. If that scenario plays out, they'd look to another position where they might be able to get better value.

Wide receivers Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin and Darrius Heyward-Bey are first-round locks. Percy Harvin and Kenny Britt should go late in the first or early in the second, and Brian Robiskie and Hakeem Nicks could also sneak into that group. That could leave the Bears with a shot at Georgia wide receiver Mohamed Massasquoi.

Angelo speaks highly of the 6-foot-11/2-inch, 210-pound senior, who caught 58 passes for 920 yards and 8 touchdowns last season but has mediocre speed.

"I like him very much," Angelo said. "(He's) very explosive, very tough, physical, and he's got good size. He can do everything. He'll go inside, he'll do the dirty work. He's a very good blocker. He's got his drops; probably that's the biggest knock on him. (Last) year was probably his best; the arrow is going up. He's a quality person in terms of his learning and work habits. There's nothing not to like about him intangibly."

Angelo has even better things to say about the 6-foot-3, 209-pound Robiskie, also a senior, who has some similarities to Massaquoi and whose stock has spiked in recent weeks. It's conceivable he could be off board long before the Bears pick.

"(Robiskie) is a great person, and he's the son of a coach (Falcons wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie)," Angelo said. "He has good intelligence, great work habits, size, (and he) has better speed and is probably a little bit better catcher in terms of consistency (than Massaquoi). He does more outside the numbers than Massaquoi. But both are going to be good pros."

The Bears don't have too much left to barter with if they want to move up to get a wide receiver with a better grade, but it's not out of the question.

"We would do that, but I don't feel like we have enough ammunition," Angelo said. "The compensatory third-round pick (No. 99 overall) can't be traded, so I'm not anticipating that happening. Would we rule it out? No, but I doubt it."

After the Bears pick at 99, their remaining selections are at Nos. 119, 140, 154, 190, 246 and 251.