Bears Blitz

Published by Ryan Eshleman on March 2, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

I probably couldn’t open with a more obvious statement than this: The Chicago Bears desperately need a brilliant wideout.

When your top man is Johnny Knox and he had two touchdowns this past season, you know you have a big problem. Or at least you should know. And should do something about it. It’s all the more obvious when you see that the Bears were 26th in passing offense this season.

Of course, the Bears have never been known for having a great wide receiver corps. In fact, the last time Chicago had a 1,000-yard receiver was when Marty Booker had 1,189 yards in 2002.

This is less a question about whether or not Chicago can keep up with the rest of the league and more about whether or not they want to. The Bears could be a good team if they would add an elite wide receiver in free agency.

The Bears need to go after one of these two guys: Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers or Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints.

Jackson will be the best wide receiver available because the Chargers are not going to be able to keep him around.

Sure, he will be 30 by the end of next season, but he is still doing great things. At 6’5″ and 230 pounds, Jackson is a huge target, something that Jay Cutler desperately needs.

On top of his size, he’s put up good numbers lately. If you don’t count his holdout season in 2010, Jackson has had three straight 1,000-yard seasons. In those three seasons, he recorded 25 touchdowns and was a very consistent player.

Jackson has only lost one career fumble.

Marques Colston could be a good option for the Bears as well. And he might be cheaper.

Of course, the biggest questions surrounding Colston are his consistency and whether or not he can be as good without Drew Brees.

Colston has put up 1,000 receiving yards in five of his six NFL seasons and has never started for 16 games in a season. He has 48 touchdowns during his six seasons, which averages out to a fantastic eight per year.

He is also a big receiver at 6’4″ and 225 pounds.

Colston will turn 29 soon.

Either of these top-tier wide receivers would be great options for the Chicago Bears to pick up. Their offense has clearly been floundering for a while now, and they need a some help to get things rolling again.

Neither has a ton of upside, but both have proven themselves to be incredible assets to their teams. If Chicago wants to keep up with the rest of the league and make a run at an NFC North division title, they need to make a big move to acquire one of these two players.

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