Bear Digest

Better Reception a Bears Goal

The ideal Bears wide receiver? Any number of receivers working at the combine at this point considering their lack of pass catchers on the current roster.
Gene Chamberlain|
Better Reception a Bears Goal
Better Reception a Bears Goal

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Chicago BearsPurdue Boilermakers

The focus will be on 40-yard times on Thursday at the combine with wide receivers running.

For the Bears, it might be more of an all-around interest as the watch the vertical leap results and the receiving drills closely. A bigger receiver who could replace Allen Robinson would be good, but right now they could use any kind of wide receiver with Darnell Mooney the only one under contract who had more than two catches. Ohio State receiver Chris Olave told reporters at the combine he wouldn't mind getting the chance to play in Chicago with his old teammate Justin Fields.

"Oh yeah, definitley, having him in college as my quarterback I know what he can do on and off the field and I know how hard he works," Olave said. "So I feel like we're very similar in ways and I feel like we can complement each other if we do end up on the same team."

Olave recalled seeing Field' pro day last year when he posted a 4.44-second 40-yard dash the Bears spoke about so often this past year.

"Oh yeah, me and Justin talk a little bit but he didn't have a combine last year," Olave said. "Se he went to the pro day. I thought he was going to run a fast 4.3 but he ended up running 4.4, but he slipped at the start so we've got to put that in there.

"Just is a great player, a great dude, and I can't wait to see his career take off."

Neither can Chicago, and perhaps it's Olave or another wide receiver away from happening—along with better blocking from the line and improved play calling.

So it would seem like something to look forward to if Olave slips past Round 1, which most draft analysts say won't happen. But Olave is honest. He has his eyes elsewhere.

"My oldest brother is a huge fan of the Raiders," Olave said. "So I'd love to go there.

"They have a great organization. I'd love to go there and play for them."

Double Christian Watson Visits

One receiver the Bears seem to have shown particular interest in at this point is North Dakota State's Christian Watson.

Many mock drafts have put Purdue's David Bell down as a perfect bigger receiver addition in Chicago considering the Bears lack a first-round pick, but Bell told reporters at Wednesday's combine that he hadn't talked to the Bears yet.

There's still plenty of time.

Watson, though, is also big at 6-foot-4 1/2 and 211 pounds. He has talked to the Bears not once but twice. He said he spoke to them at the combine and at the Senior Bowl.

There are questions about Watson's experience since he played against FCS opponents and also because North Dakota State was a running team. Playing for a running team didn't bother him.

"I was all in," he said. "I knew that North Dakota State wasn't going to change their program for me."

Besides, he pointed out, "Obviously running the ball a lot opens up the play-action pass."

Watson was adept at beating teams deep for scores when they overplayed the run. He also found a niche as an excellent blocker.

"At North Dakota State we obviously run the ball a lot," he said. "That's what helps to win games.

"Blocking is something I learned to enjoy early."

Watson appears on film to have a great burst for a big players so there will be plenty of focus on his 40 time.

He gets compared to Deebo Samuel chiefly because that's the trendy name to compare yourself to these days but he said much of the time as he was growing up a Steelers fan he has thought his game was more like Julio Jones or Mike Evans because of his size. Part of the reason he didn't get to play at a power-5 conference had to do with his size -- as in, he wasn't that big back when he was in high school.

"I was a late bloomer in high school," he said.

Watson said he went from, "...5-9, 140 to 6-1 160 in a matter of months."

Bell Ringer

If the Bears ever do get around to talking with Bell, they may find some of Olave's influence on him. The two have been working out together.

"Chris is a phenomenal player," Bell said. "He's definitely one of the top receivers in the Big 10."

Bell could count hinmself in that category, as well. There's no doubt about his greatest asset, and it's pretty much the same as Robinson's.

"My hands," he said.

The goal for Bell is also playing a role similar to the one Robinson has had.

"Being reliable when your number is called," Bell said. "Making those big third-down catches, those big fourth-down catches in prime-time games."

On Thursday Bell and all the other receivers will settle for running fast 40s and making those big catches in drills to impress NFL personnel people like Ryan Poles of te Bears.

It could even wind up leading to one of them chasing Fields' passes next season.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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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.

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