NEWSLETTER
Even though the heavy lifting of the transaction period won’t officially open until Wednesday when free agency begins at the outset of the new league year, first-year Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles is wasting little time re-making his roster.
We’ve seen some big names sent packing in the last day or so. Khalil Mack is off to the Chargers via a blockbuster trade. Meanwhile, Eddie Goldman and Tarik Cohen are getting cut. But, finally, we have a new player coming into the fold to discuss:
#Bears roster move:
We were assigned the following player off waivers:
RB Darrynton Evans— Bears Communications (@BearsPR) March 11, 2022
Hours after the reported Cohen cut, the Bears are bringing in a new running back. The team announced their successful waiver claim of running back Darrynton Evans. A 2020 third-round pick, Evans spent his first two years with the Titans before hitting waivers earlier in the week as part of some cap management moves in Tennessee. Injuries have cut into Evans’ playing time. And that is likely a primary reason why he was let go in the first place. He has been in on a grand total of 39 offensive snaps in six games over his first two seasons in the pros. But as he enters his age 24 season with a clean slate, Evans arrives in Chicago with some level of intrigue.
Walter Football had Evans has its RB11 going into the 2020 NFL Draft. Retired back (now analyst) Maurice Jones-Drew had him as his 12th-ranked back. Over at CBS Sports, Evans was seen as a sleeper power back of the draft class. Running the 40-yard dash at 4.41 seconds was likely boosting his draft profile. NFL dot com draft analyst Lance Zierlein gave Evans a Ronald Jones II comp, but the strengths catch my eye. Ball security with no fumbles in 482 carries has my attention. Proficiency as a pass-catcher, patience as a runner, and aggressiveness as a blocker makes for a neat combo. And beingproven as a kick returner is a nice touch. All that to say that once you consider the Bears’ needs, getting a player who could plug in different holes off the waiver wire is a nice find.
Let’s enjoy some highlights:
Ah, yeah. That’ll make me want to take a deeper dive as this roster turnover takes over.
The injury bug has kept Evans from reaching his potential. And, yeah, there are no guarantees that he’ll have a clean bill of health in Chicago. But this is still is a worthwhile dice roll for depth.
