Bears Blitz

Published by Gene Chamberlain on August 30, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Remember Kenny Christian?

In 2002, the Bears had this former Raiders receiver in training camp and preseason making a lot of plays—so many that it was reported Christian had “all but made the team” with his performance.

Then came roster cuts and the only thing Christian had made was the waiver wire.
Keep that little bit of history in mind when assessing the Bears’ wide receiver battle, which will rage on even after the dress rehearsal in Denver.

The first roster cuts aren’t due until Tuesday, but even then, teams only need to reduce their 80-man roster to 75. Saturday, Sept. 5 is the main cutdown date. That promises to be when the Bears’ wide receiver issue is finally resolved.

Coaches do not always assess a player the way a fan does. For instance, a coach will assess a wide receiver by how well he runs a route even when the ball doesn’t come his way, or by how willing he is to block on running plays.

The Bears aren’t certain of a third receiver yet, although Brandon Rideau has been listed as such throughout camp. They haven’t even settled who gets the other receiver roster spots, and won’t until final cuts.

Devin Aromashodu is on Rideau’s heels. Veteran Rashied Davis hasn’t done anything to reduce his status in the eyes of coaches as a versatile, experienced threat and special teams player.

It would be difficult to see the Bears cutting third-round draft pick Juaquin Iglesias. If they cut fifth-round pick Johnny Knox with the idea of putting him on the practice squad, they can expect him to be claimed by someone because of his 4.3-second, 40-yard dash time.

Six receivers?

No way. The Bears will not keep six receivers on the active roster. In fact, this past week offensive coordinator Ron Turner made it clear he’s not even considering something like this.

“It’s pretty competitive right now, it really is,” Turner said. “Both starters (Devin Hester and Earl Bennett) are doing a really good job, and we’re going to be a team that’s going to play four and five receivers—not just have them on the team, they’re going to play.

“We’re going to roll a lot of guys in there and right now it’s very competitive.”

So if the Bears won’t keep a fourth and fifth receiver for the sake of having them on a roster, why would they keep a sixth receiver to do that?

They won’t. In fact, they could probably get by with four because Greg Olsen can line up in the slot or even at wide receiver.

Tough cuts are coming. Even the fourth preseason game, which is completely meaningless to most players, will be a job interview for three or four players at wide receiver.

QB Jay Cutler loves Aromashodu and Rideau because they are tall and vertical.  Davis knows the offense, and the rookies have shown flashes. It once looked like versatility would be huge and the player who could learn the slot positions fastest would have great in-roads. This would have made Davis all the more likely to stay.

However, wide receivers coach Darryl Drake started laying his cards out this week, so to speak, and it seems the ability to play slot isn’t as pressing a need. “Those two guys (Davis and Bennett) have been playing it. Rideau has been playing it some,” Drake said. “We kind of have worked him in there a little ebit. Aromashodu hasn’t been doing it. It’s not that he couldn’t. We just haven’t put him in that position.”

“Right now we’re trying to let them soak in the position where they’re at.”
The Bears try to teach all their receivers each position.

“In this offense, the beauty of the offense is that everybody has to do it eventually,” Drake said. “All of those guys will be in the slot. They all have to know every position. So there is a lot more learning to it because formationally they may be put in that situation.”

“Some guys are not natural guys there. You put them there from time to time and allow them to do certain things. Some guys naturally are in there, but that’s our offense. Our offense is very interchangeable and it doesn’t matter who is where.”

It’s as clear as mud, and special teams performance from them should decide the actual fourth and fifth receiver roster spots. Even there, nothing is certain because special teams coordinator Dave Toub has been working both Aromashodu and Rideau in, when once it seemed both were nothing more than tall guys who could catch passes.

Turner came into the Denver game planning to give several different players chances to prove they can make big plays with Cutler and the first team.

“I think there are individuals maybe that you look at and say, ‘all right, we’ve got to make sure we get a good look at this guy early in the game under fire,’ and I would say probably the receivers more than anything,” Turner said. “We want to take a look at some of these guys that have done a good job for us.”

However, Kenny Christian has taught us not to read too much into those big plays until the final preseason battle is done and the cuts have been made.

And when those cuts come, things should be very interesting at the wide receiver position.

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