For the Chicago Bears’ offense to live up to the lofty expectations set in front of them this season, they’ll need to be proficient in scoring in the red zone.
Perhaps the team had that in mind when they signed Trey Burton, who Austin Gayle of Pro Football Focus notes earned the highest red-zone grade among returning NFL tight ends. Falling in line behind Burton in the top-5 are four names with which we should probably become acquainted, because these two Vikings (David Morgan, Kyle Rudolph) and Packers (Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis) will likely be a nuisance when they match up against the Bears’ secondary. But we can cross that bridge another time. For now, let’s focus on Burton, who we already figured was going to be a major key in the Bears’ offense.
Burton owned a 90.7 red-zone offense grade last year, which was the best among tight ends. While PFF points out that Burton received a grand total of 33 targets in 2017, he certainly made the most of them as seven came in the red zone. Further, Burton caught six of those attempts for 69 yards and scored four touchdowns. It all added up to an 88.2 red-zone receiving grade that was the best among the NFL’s qualifying tight ends.
In short, we’re looking at a player who was both efficient and productive in the red zone. That’s quite the combination … and something the Bears probably had in mind when targeting him in the offseason.
We probably didn’t talk about the Bears’ red zone production as much as we should have last season (because they didn’t have enough plays in the area to move the needle), but it turns out the Bears were pretty good when they got to that part of the field.
Chicago scored touchdowns on 60.6 percent of its red zone possessions in 2017 and only five teams (Jacksonville, Philadelphia, New England, Green Bay, and New Orleans) put up touchdowns at a higher rate. The issue is that the Bears were tied with Oakland and the New York Jets with the fewest red-zone scoring attempts per game.
So it’s totally fitting that the only offensive touchdown scored by the Bears’ first-team offense during the preseason came on a throw to Burton in the red zone. Here’s hoping we see more of that once the regular season kicks off.