Good Hands Addition for Bears

Fantasy Football Forecast: Chicago Bears rookie Trestan Ebner had a receiver's training before turning to running back.

Trestan Ebner might be a sign of things to come in college football, if not the NFL.

It hasn't been entirely unusual for high school running backs to get into college and find they won't get the carries they want before they switch positions to become wide receivers. At least that's the way it was until the portal—now they just skip town like hired guns in the wild west.

However, Ebner came to Baylor as a highly decorated prep wide receiver and defensive back, then adapted and took the job of running back.  Maybe Ebner is a trend setter.

Samuel is very well adjusted now for a role as a running back who can catch passes in the NFL due to his unusual college/prep experiece. He catches passes out of the backfield like a wide receiver, then makes tacklers miss like a back.

"It's just that it's the position I played my whole life until I got to college so that's the thing I'm like most comfortable with catching the ball and making people miss after I catch it," Ebner said.

Bears running backs coach David Walker was asked during spring work if Ebner was his team's most natural pass catcher out of the backfield, and answered like a coach who doesn't want to grant favor to a player who just walked in the door.

"Um, that's a good question," Walker said. "I don't know if I have that answer yet. He obviously has experience from his college tape. You see him do those things. Being around the guys that are here, they may have not had those opportunities in the past but they seem to catch the ball pretty well and pretty natural.

"He's probably had more exposure in his college career doing that but I don't know if I'd say he's the best guy doing it."

If there was actually any question, it took a few practices in OTAs to really see the difference.

Ebner runs patterns downfield and catches passes with his hands, even on his fingertips, the way wide receivers do.

The Bears had a brilliant third-down type back in Tarik Cohen and tragically lost him to a torn ACL, torn MCL and broken bone. 

It's not necessarily a role critical to the offense running backs coach Luke Getsy has installed, if other players possess the right skills.

While Getsy was in Green Bay, the Packers had Aaron Jones, who is at ease catching and blocking on passing downs as he is running the ball. So they never actually needed a third-down back per se.

What Getsy will find is they have the same type of back in David Montgomery. He seems to have barely been used in the passing game by the Matt Nagy regime, which is no real surprise.

So the Bears have drafted a third-down back without necessarily needing one? This isn't clear.

Ebner is no undersized scatback like Cohen or like Darren Sproles was for 15 years in the NFL. At 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, he's taller and heavier than Bears backup Khalil Herbert.

Most missed tackles forced on runs in a single game since 2020

1. Trestan Ebner, Baylor ('21 Week 1) - 18

2. Javonte Williams, UNC ('20 Week 8) - 17
2. Trey Sermon, OSU ('20 CC) - pic.twitter.com/JcdUCOsD0B

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 6, 2021

Ebner averaged 4.9 yards on 343 rushes, while catching 127 passes for 1,515 yards for Baylor. He also had nine rushing TDs and 11 receiving.

He's also a dangerous kick returner who averaged 25.3 per 47 returns with three TDs and also returned 28 punts for a 6.8-yard average with one TD.

PFF graded #Bears new running back Trestan Ebner in the 97th percentile for missed tackles forced.

Pretty easy to see why 💪 pic.twitter.com/XVCota8YOb

— Ryan (@RyanHeckmanNFL) May 1, 2022

It's difficult to project an extensive role for Ebner in Year 1. Sproles, himself, had only eight rushes and three receptions going into his third year. 

Cohen, meanwhile, was an immediate hit with 87 rushes and 53 receptions in his rookie year of 2017. The Bears needed a receiving threat in the backfield the considering the starting back was Jordan Howard. Cohen provided it.

The need seems far less pressing with Montgomery and Khalil Herbert at 1-2. Herbert caught 14 passes last year as a rookie but Ebner's receiving ability appears far more advanced than Herbert's in his rookie year.

Still, Ebner's role could be largely reduced to backup and special teams duties until he's more experienced or the Bears identify a real need for another pass-catching back.

Trestan Ebner at a Glance

Vitals: 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, sixth-round pick in 2022 (Baylor).

College Career: Played over five seasons with 343 runs for 1,690 yards and nine TDs, and 127 catches for 1,515 yards and 11 TDs. Also scored four TDs on returns.

The Number:  61. Herbert appeared in 61 games at Baylor, more than any player in school history.

2022 FanNation Projection: 31 carries, 139 yards, 0 TDs; six receptions, 40 yards, 1 TD; 22 kick returns for a 23.5-yard average; 7 punt returns for an average of 6.0. 

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven