Bear Digest

Combine tight end can solve Ben Johnson's Bears personnel shortage

The Bears have to be on the lookout this offseason for tight ends to help Cole Kmet and one player they talked to at the combine could be a fit in their new attack.
Gene Chamberlain|
Oregon's Terrance Ferguson tries to break free from Ohio State safety Sonny Styles.
Oregon's Terrance Ferguson tries to break free from Ohio State safety Sonny Styles. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

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Among the teams first to meet at the NFL Scouting Combine with Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson was the Denver Broncos, which only makes sense because his old quarterback for two years was Broncos starter Bo Nix.

The other team the Denver native met with early was the Bears and coach Ben Johnson.

"It was great," Ferguson told media at the combine. "We just went over some stuff, watched some film, and talked to them. They're all great people and it was a great experience."

It would unite Ferguson with a few former opponents from the old Pac-12 days, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze.

"Yeah, it'd be amazing," Ferguson said. "I played against him (Williams). Lost to Rome a couple of times.

"Watching Caleb, those guys, and playing against them and watching them in person, they're elite players. Playing with elite players is the best."

The Bears do have tight end Cole Kmet at $11.6 million a year for a cap hit this year and he's signed through 2027. However, he is the only tight end under contract who has been in an NFL game.

And while Johnson said his offense is not going to be the same as in Detroit there is a large degree of certainty he'll need to continue using 12-personnel and 13-personnel packages.

Johnson used either the two-tight or three-tight end personnel grouping for about 35% of plays last year according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. This was the third-most in the NFL. It's huge to getting the running game going and helps in play-action, too.

Ferguson is the move tight end, not the "Y" or in-line tight end like Kmet. He expects to really move in the 40-yard dash for a 6-foot-4, 245-pound player

"I have some goals, you have to be there to see it," he told combine reporters. "I'm going to turn some heads with some numbers."

Ferguson added: "It's going to be fast, you gotta be there to watch."

No one doubts Ferguson's athleticism or speed. He caught 134 passes for 1,537 yards and 16 touchdowns in college, averaging what is a very substantial number for tight ends at 11.5 yards a catch over 53 games.

He realizes there are gaps in his game to plug, though.

"I'd say probably my point of attack in blocking," Ferguson told the combine crowd. "I definitely think I've gotten a lot better there, and I think I'm still a good blocker at the point of attack, but I think there is still a lot of untapped potential.

"I've been working on that over the years so I think that's something that jumps out to me."

Little about his athleticism is in question. He finished sixth in the country among tight ends at yards after the catch last year, according to Pro Football Focus, at 9.0. Then he had heads turning at the Senior Bowl with his work in practices.

"I'd say the one-on-ones, I think everyone came to watch that and when my number was called, I feel like I won all my one-on-ones," he said. I did what I was supposed to so I think that was probably the biggest thing."

PFF says he needs work on his hands, as well. Although he graded out top 23% for tight ends as a receiver, he dropped enough passes to rate in the bottom 8.5% and had a contested-catch rate in the bottom 25% according to PFF.

Ultimately, the Bears haven't had meaningful contributions from a second tight end since they had Jimmy Graham in 2020 nd Kmet was the second tight end then.

They could use someone else in the middle of the field who can take pressure off of Williams.

"I think that's something I take pride in," he told combine reporters. "Being able to do everything and being a fluid athlete in the middle of the field, that's something I'd love to do. Be able to own the middle of the field and be that athlete. I definitely think I have that ability.

"It'd be amazing."

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.