X Marks These Bears

X-Men on the Bears include more than WR Chase Claypool, who has been dubbed a potential impact player who could also disappoint by one analytical website.

The X-factor is a concept describing a player with uncertainty attached, someone who could have a huge impact on a team's success if he delivers.

However, there is uncertainty attached for some reason or other. Because uncertainty is involved, there's also the possibility the player doesn't succeed. He can't be counted on entirely.

So wide receiver Chase Claypool is being appropriately labeled an X-factor for the Bears this season by Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman and Jim Wyman in an article assessing all teams' roster situations after the draft and free agency.

"The Bears swiped D.J. Moore from the Panthers, and Darnell Mooney is very good when healthy," the duo wrote. "They (the Bears) sent a high second-round pick to Pittsburgh for Claypool midseason and so far it has not paid dividends."

They speculate on what could happen if Claypool does actually produce.

The X-factor is not necessarily a concept with exclusivity attached. There can be more than one on a team.

Here are the other potential Bears X-factors for 2023.

1. WR Chase Claypool

PFF is right. Claypool is the top X-factor. The reason he might deliver now is he'll have an entire offseason to learn the offense and work with Justin Fields. It's not a simple matter, going into a new offense, with a new quarterback and new team and city for a wide receiver. Other positions have it easier with midseason moves, like at defensive end or tackle or even cornerback. Receiver can be more complicated. Kardarius Toney and Robbie Anderson were dealt before the deadline last year and although Toney gets a lot of credit for what he did for Kansas City, in the seven regular-season games he played he made only the same number of catches as Claypool, 14. He did get loose for 171 yards and two TDs, but the overall catch numbers was the same as Claypool and Claypool had the disadvantage of getting injured and once he returned to the lineup, having Fields get hurt. The receiver formerly known as Robbie Anderson and now Chosen Anderson is another dealt during the season and once he got traded he made only seven catches for 76 yards in 10 games. Tight end can be even a more complicated position to learn than receiver in an offense but T.J. Hockenson got traded to Minnesota and caught 60 passes after he played seven games in Detroit last year. Mid-season trades are tricky and immediate success depend a great deal on how well-functioning the offense already is when the traded player arrives. Claypool will at least have the chance to prove himself in a contract year, and that's also a potential factor in whether he fulfills expectations.

2. TE Robert Tonyan Jr.

This is a really unpredictable situation. Cole Kmet is their main tight end, the Y-tight end or in-line tight end. Tonyan would be the move-tight end or the U-tight end. How will the Bears integrate two potential targets into the attack? The Packers used the offense Luke Getsy has brought to Chicago and usually had one of the tight ends as mostly a blocker. However, Kmet has established himself as both a red zone threat, a target all over the field and a blocker now. Tonyan actually caught more passes last year in Green Bay than Kmet did for the Bears and he did it coming off of an ACL tear, which is extremely difficult. Another year away from that injury and Tonyan could be 100% now. He could be a real X-factor in giving Fields an alternate target if primaries are covered.

3. DE Trevis Gipson

The great concern everyone has about the Bears is how they didn't go out after an expensive pass-rushing edge or draft one. They focused only on more stout run-stoppers at the position, like Rasheem Green and DeMarcus Walker. There is rumor about a possible trade coming or a free agent, and GM Ryan Poles did nothing to silence such talk when he was on WSCR's Bernstein and Holmes on Friday by suggesting a move could come sooner rather than later for one.

What if they have one already who can get the edge rushing done properly? Gipson enters a contract year and it shouldn't surprise anyone if he actually gets the job done. Three years ago he came into the league from a different type of college defensive front and learned the position as a rookie. Then, after an injury to Khalil Mack, he stepped in and performed admirably with five of his seven sacks in the season's second half.

Gipson had to change positions again to a one-technique end and although it was closer to the college position he had played at Tulsa, it still was a different type of scheme and role. He had to adapt again. Last year he had only three sacks while adapting, the high for any defensive end on the team, but he also had 18 pressures and that was one more than he had in 2021 when he had the seven sacks replacing Mack. He also was given credit by ESPN for being the sixth-best among edges at run stop win rate last. Given a full year now in the one-gap system at end, there's reason to believe Gipson might put up numbers like he did in 2021 or do even better.

4. RB Roschon Johnson

All rookies are X-factors to some extent. You can't count on productivity from them, although more could be counted on from first-rounders. Johnson has a reputation for being an all-around team performer and if the Bears get from Khalil Herbert the level of play he had last year and also a contribution from D'Onte Foreman, there might not be a huge role for Johnson. However, given his success performing in the shadows of Bijan Robinson at Texas and his ability to do things very critical in the pro game that other college backs seem incapable of doing—pass-blocking, receiving and all forms of special teams—they could wind up with a real contribution from a rookie back.

5. WR Velus Jones Jr.

This would be a capital X-factor. Jones provided almost no help to the Bears offense until the last few games of the season, and his need to better understand the position is obvious. It doesn't seem like something a second-year receiver who struggled the way he did last year could suddenly do, but in a bit role emphasizing his strengths of extreme speed with power, it wouldn't be entirely out of left field if he flourished. Then again, if he struggled along all season no one would be stunned, either. Keeping them guessing does make him a true X-factor.

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