Goodwin, Receiver Shakeup, Numbers Games, Rodgers or Buck to Jeopardy? And Other Bears Notes

Between the Cubs’ decline, MLB’s disconnect with fans, ownership groups around the league not being as committed to winning as one would like, and groveling surrounding the future of the game and the ever-looming expiring CBA, I’ve found myself too often disenchanted with baseball. However, Friday night’s Dodgers-Padres game was a reminder of how much fun the game could be.

A sampling of what you missed if you were sleeping:

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1383309484525641740

More of that, please. My baseball-loving soul needs it.

•   The Bears added to their wide receivers room on Friday afternoon, signing Marquise Goodwin to a one-year contract. Injuries have kept Goodwin off the field in recent years. And because of that, I have my doubts about the signing’s upside. But looking at it from a surface level, I’m really digging it. Goodwin has speed and versatility, but doesn’t need to be fed a volume of targets. It doesn’t take much to imagine Head Coach Matt Nagy using Goodwin on jet sweeps, quick strike plays to get him the ball in space, and opportunities to take the top off the defense deep. Think of how the Bears used Taylor Gabriel when he was healthy.

•   In an ideal world, Goodwin is the Bears’ WR4. But for that to happen, Chicago will need to address receiver early in the 2021 NFL Draft with someone who can immediately contribute. It’s a good class to need a wide receiver. And there is no pressure to unearth one in Round 1, because the group of Day 1 starters feels limitless. I know it isn’t limitless, but it sure feels that way. The Bears could take an offensive lineman in Round 1, double back with a receiver on Day 2, and come away feeling better about the offense than they did before the Draft’s opening. I’ll pretty much sign up for *ANYTHING* that constitutes a marked improvement for the offense moving forward. And if it’s not a quarterback, getting a QB’s two best friends — a mauler of a blocker and a sticky-handed receiver — is a suitable consolation.

•   Hey, the Bears weren’t alone in wanting Goodwin. Jeremy Fowler (ESPN) tweets the Seahawks had interest in signing Goodwin. Tough break, Seahawks. Wanna make a deal for him? It’s not as if you don’t know how to link with Ryan Pace.

•   This is fun:

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1062150206932901889

•   If Allen Robinson II and Darnell Mooney are at the top of the depth chart, and a receiver to be named on Draft weekend is WR3, leaving Goodwin at WR4, someone’s gotta go. I didn’t think an Anthony Miller trade was imminent after the Goodwin signing. But I did see the move as another example of the writing being on the wall.  Shipping Miller is a logical next step for this team as it re-shapes its receivers room.

•   I still maintain there’s plenty of untapped upside in MIller’s game. However, it is growing clearer with each day that he won’t get an opportunity to unlock it in Chicago. And, hey, that’s fine. Development isn’t always linear. If Miller plays his best ball after leaving the Bears, so be it. That should give the Bears an increased desire to draft a receiver whose arrival won’t make us miss anything Miller does elsewhere.

•   You could probably swap out WFT for CHI in this script, and it would still read the same:

•   It’s a numbers game:

•   A favorable comp for one of the best draft-eligible running backs:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1383072691544940550

 

 

•   There are so many questions I want to ask, but so many answers I’m afraid to hear:

•   Because the NFL likes to make an event out of the smallest things, the 2021 schedules will be released  after the Draft (per Adam Schefter). In previous years, the NFL has shared the schedule *before* the Draft. But after releasing it in May 2020, the league must have gotten enough positive returns to do it again. Or maybe scheduling an extra game takes that much more work. In any case, have some patience and hope for a reward.

•   In case you are curious: Here are the Bears’ 2021 opponents, with the addition of the Raiders as a Game 17.

•   It grows:

•   I still think Aaron Rodgers should get the gig (especially if it means getting him out of our hair), but I think Joe Buck has a decent shot at landing a pristine job:

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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