Anthony Miller Better Suited to Slot than Others
Throughout OTAs and minicamp, Bears coach Matt Nagy repeatedly referred back to one word when talking about his receiver corps.
Competition.
It was an all-inclusive word, meaning it applied from the lowest-level undrafted free agent and fourth-year receiver Anthony Miller wouldn't be spared from it.
"Everybody that comes in for wide receiver, it's going to be awesome to see the competition," Nagy said. "So it's Anthony included."
As the line formed to usher Miller out of town after being ejected in the playoffs, the Bears brought in receivers Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd to join what was already a crowded competition for roster spots that also includes Javon Wims and Riley Ridley after starters Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney.
Receivers coach Mike Furrey even got himself into trouble with a poorly worded response to a question about Miller by saying they didn't need any one player and among them all should be coming to compete. His phrase about Miller, "we don't need you," was only intended to send a message about any one individual who thought they had a job already locked up and wasn't aimed particularly at Miller.
Of course, it applied to Miller because coaches have said he hasn't always been playbook-based in his time with the Bears.
Miller is in the final year of his contract, had been rumored to be on the trade market, and it would really be surprising if he returns for Year 5 in Chicago. However, Year 4 still looks like he has an important role. He is the favorite for slot receiver.
Slot Receiver at a Glance
Favorite: Anthony Miller
Chances to win spot: 3 on a scale of 1-5.
Challengers: Dazz Newsome, Damiere Byrd, Marquise Goodwin, Javon Wims.
There are problems with this battle for roster spots. Chiefly, it might not be the competition the Bears make it out to be.
It's not as much a competition for slot receiver as it is for one of the top five or six receiver spots, with the third through sixth then being told who plays in the slot. The more versatility they bring to the role of receiver, then, the better.
Neither Byrd nor Goodwin are ideal slot receivers and this is where Miller has played most. The newcomers are 5-foot-9, and built more like slot receivers than an outside "X-receiver," who needs to go up for 50-50 balls on the sidelines because they're smaller. They've most often been on the outside in past seasons because they didn't adapt as well to slot play and the team they played for lacked an ideal X-receiver type who could take flight along the sidelines. They substituted speed for the lack of desired 50-50 ability.
Byrd probably lined up a greater percentage of time at slot receiver in Carolina, where he had to because the outside receiver spots were already manned by proven players. He barely played there, anyway.
With Arizona, he played over 90% of the time on the outside. With New England, Byrd lined up mostly on the outside but could go to the inside and did so more often after Julian Edelman went out for the season. This was only for one season.
When the Bears came out for spring work on the field, the first deep completion Justin Fields made was a long throw down the sidelines to Byrd on the outside. Goodwin's biggest play was also a deep ball after lining up wide.
Being able to go to all positions will benefit either of these two because the Bears emphasize moving receivers to different spots and want them to know all the positions to aid the depth and versatility of the game-day roster. But more than anything else, they have to be able to play the slot.
Goodwin could line up anywhere in San Francisco. He just couldn't do it with consistency anywhere. He is not a prototypical slot receiver because his greatest weakness is route running. He's at his best simply running deep.
In the Bears offense, the ideal role for both of these faster, smaller players should then be the Z-receiver spot on the outside where the Bears have Darnell Mooney and once had Taylor Gabriel. But they're not going to replace last year's draft day success. Nor are they replacing the X-receiver, Robinson—this year anyway.
This leaves only the slot, if those two are going to get playing time and this is not where they've been at their best.
It is where Miller has been at his best, although he has shown some ability to play other spots. This is a receiver who had seven touchdowns in one season and 52 catches in another.
So Miller has both the edge of knowing the offense and being better at his position working for him better than either of the new receivers.
The other two receivers, Wims and Ridley, have been in Chicago a while—Wims three years and Ridley two. Neither has made a ripple.
Figuring in Special Teams
The other key to this competition will be special teams. Receivers 3-5 need to do it so they can be active on Sundays and Wims shows promise of being able to go down on coverage teams, much like Cordarrelle Patterson did.
None of the other receivers competing can really say they're capable of holding down an active reserve spot on game day because of this ability except Miller.
While Miller hasn't done it much, he has been effective when he has and the main reason he hasn't done it is because the Bears didn't want to risk their second or third receiver returning punts or kicks because he'd been injured doing it in the past. If he's leaving next year anyway, caution can be tossed. Last year Miller returned five punts for an 11-yard average. Throughout his Bears career as a backup return man, he has returned eight kicks for a 22.9-yard average.
Goodwin did dabble at returning kicks but hasn't done it since 2015. The Bears saw with Ted Ginn Jr. last year what happens when you let a veteran receiver suddenly try returns after they hadn't done it for a while. Byrd had some ability as a return man earlier in his career, and had a 103-yard TD return in Carolina. He hasn't done it with any success since 2018.
A Surprise Rookie Element
The wild card in all of this is rookie slot receiver Dazz Newsome. He is an excellent punt returner, one of college's best last year.
He's not making the 53-man roster only as a punt returner and he already is behind after breaking his collarbone during offseason work.
Rookies can surprise, but expecting a sixth-round pick to take away Miller's job is a stretch. In all honesty, Newsome is more set up after his injury to being stashed on injured reserve until next year than he is for competing to take Miller's slot receiver position.
If they decided Newsome was healthy and he fit well into the offense, he'd be the biggest threat to taking away Miller's job.
Those are big "ifs" for any rookie.
So, barring an unexpected great trade offer or Miller reverting to stints when he has ignored the playbook, it's likely he'll be right back where he has been for three seasons.
The Bears then would wait to completely revamp the receiver position in 2022.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
