A Competitive Situation for Bears Receivers
One of the most competitive roster battles looks to become exactly what the Bears thought prior to the start of offseason work.
The idea Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy had was to increase the speed in the Bears receiver corps and from the practices held without contact through minicamp, the addition of Damiere Byrd and Marquise Goodwin will do this. Whether it increases speed to the degree for both to be on the final roster remains to be seen.
Byrd impressed from the outset with a deep catch from Justin Fields and Goodwin snared a deep ball, as well. Both stretched the defense, something the Bears passing game badly needs.
"With Damiere, I think it's pretty evident off the season that he had the last few years and last year being in New England, what he brings is a nice element of speed and playmaking ability with the ball in his hands," Nagy said.
There's more involved than speed when it comes to playing receiver and Nagy had pointed this out at the outset of OTAs when he said players already in the offense could play faster than those who come in regardless of 40-yard times. Knowing the offense lets them play faster.
However, in Byrd he found someone who quickly adapted to the offense.
"Then, the other part too, that I really like is that he's really a student of the game," Nagy said of Byrd. "He's able to come in here and digest different positions and not make mistakes or make the same mistake twice. That's a credit to him.
"He's new to this offense. He's very eager and he's attentive in meetings and you can see it on the field. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to do now."
Nagy was joking with Goodwin about speed during offseason work. The 2012 Olympic long jumper ran a 4.27-second 40 at the combine and had been a member of a world junior 4 by 100-meter relay gold medal team.
All of that was long ago, and Nagy's joking with Goodwin was pointing out how time can make such accomplishments irrelevant.
"We were joking the other day that you see on the software services that we have on all these players, the data, you see their speed and it has their speed locked in from when they were in college," Nagy said. "Some of these guys, 10 years later are 4.31, 4.37, but really, right now, they are running a 4.58.
"And I was joking with him and he said, 'coach, I'm faster now than I was when I came out.' That for him, that's never going to change."
Goodwin has been competing in track meets all along as a long jumper, with a hiatus from the sport from 2012-2015. He is competing in the U.S. Olympic trials again this week in the long jump.
The potential problem with Goodwin was more about how he'd be playing football after a year away, much as it is with Damien Williams, Eddie Goldman and Jordan Lucas. They were all opt-outs.
"You could go both ways with the COVID deal when a guy sits out," Nagy said. "You're not sure if they are in shape or out of shape."
At least with conditioning and running, the Bears have found Goodwin to be as advertised and it's the reason he said his speed doesn't change.
"Marquise, everybody knows he has trained for the Olympics and any time you have an Olympic mentality you are different," Nagy said. "That's a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour regime that you are keeping your body in shape."
Wide receiver Allen Robinson saw something in both beyond the speed and conditioning.
It was exactly the thing Nagy and Pace hoped for when they signed the two because it means a better level of play for all receivers.
"Those are guys that obviously bring a lot of juice to the (receiver) room when it comes to sheer playmaking ability," Robinson said. "I know that you've seen those guys on other teams make big plays, stretch the field.
"At the same time, those guys are competitors. They come out to work each and every day and that's what you want to bring to your room. Not only do they have their personal skillset, but at the same time they have very good mentalities coming into our room, which I think will help us all year."
Players like Anthony Miller, Riley Ridley and Javon Wims can be expected to be pushed to the limit at training camp. So will the Bears defensive backs guarding those receivers, as they all found out through minicamp and OTAs.
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