The Bears' receiving corps is struggling. So why not give Riley Ridley a shot?
The Bears' pass-catching corps has dropped the ball somewhere between 17-19 times in the first 10 combined games, leading the NFC, if not the entire NFL, depending on which data source one prefers (we're looking at Pro Football Reference and the Washington Post). It also ranks at or near the bottom of the league in yards per catch, post-catch production and touchdowns.
Simply put, Mitch Trubisky has immensely disappointed, but he's hardly the only one culpable in one of the worst and dullest offenses in football.
The Bears won't sit Trubisky for the final six games, as they'd be wasting their time and ours. And because it's already crystal clear that his potential long-term heir isn't on the roster, why not try and maximize his still-valuable development time knowing he's almost assuredly returning in 2020?
But the same doesn't necessarily hold true at the RB, WR and TE positions. And after the Bears recently began making moves aimed toward the future and finding out what potential may be hiding in plain sight in the RB and TE rooms, now is also the time to widen the evaluation lens on the receivers.
Bear in mind, the defeat Sunday night in Los Angeles arguably marked a new low point in 2019 for the WR corps. Anthony Miller's poor attention to detail yet again led to Trubisky's lone interception. Another ill-timed Taylor Gabriel drop stalled the offense's best scoring chance of the first half. That pair's combined failure on the final play of the first half may have contributed to Trubisky's injury. Even the offense's most consistent performer this season - Allen Robinson - committed a bad third-down drop and has now failed to clear 15 receiving yards twice in the past three games.
The Bears are lucky to have Robinson, whose re-signing before his 2020 contract season should be a top in-house priority. Still, it's unclear whether he's even open to negotiating early. After going from Blake Bortles to Trubisky, it'd be hard to fault A-Rob if he'd prefer to explore potentially greener grass elsewhere while he's in his prime.
The Bears have invested too much in Miller to stunt his development, however arrested it's been in Year 2, right now. Fans can only hope he's at least being held accountable behind the scenes for his recurring mental errors. Though we wouldn't sit him long, sending a message via a snap reduction or brief benching may or may not be constructive.
Regardless, it's a different story with Gabriel, probably a longshot to return for a third season with the Bears, who can save $4 million against an increasingly tight cap by moving on this spring. Any argument about Gabriel needing to stay on the field this season to maintain the Bears' vertical element in their offense, well, it comes from someone who hasn't watched a passing attack ranked dead last in the NFL at 4.9 yards per attempt.
So after spending the 126th overall pick in April's draft on supposedly pro-polished Riley Ridley, and watching his former Georgia teammate Javon Wims, albeit in a too-small sample size, avoid the mistakes of their professional peers, the time has arrived to inject the Bulldogs in the lineup.
Bears Insider chatted briefly this week with Ridley, who's clearly frustrated over being a healthy scratch in 10 consecutive games to begin his NFL career.
"I'm just here doing my job. I give these guys a really good look. I'm perfecting my craft and my route running. I'm just trying to help the team," Ridley said.
"I did [envision contributing more early], but it didn't happen that way. These are the cards I'm dealt with."
Bears WR coach Mike Furrey likens Ridley's rookie development behind the scenes to that of Wims, who'd earned a game-day jersey three times by this point of his rookie campaign after leading the NFL in 2018 preseason receiving yardage.
"I think Wims was in the same situation last year. ... It's just hard to say, 'OK, you're out, you're in, but their time will come," Furrey said prior to the Rams loss.
"I guess the biggest question is, who do you take off? You can't take Taylor Gabriel off, Allen Robinson off, Anthony Miller. And it's a tough role [Ridley] is in, but he's done a really good job of handling that. He's growing every day in practice. He's doing everything we've asked him to do. He's learning this business, and he's definitely ready for when he gets called upon."
The biggest question has become easier to answer following the Bears' sixth loss, one fueled by mistakes from the receivers.
"I'm in my prime right now. I'm better than I've ever been. When my time comes, I'll show that," Ridley said. But for right now, just got to make these guys better."
Ridley has done his part making the defense better behind the scenes. Our biggest question now: Why not bring him to the fore and see if he's better than the Bears' other receivers who simply aren't cutting it?