Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Another TE thought for Chicago
By Tim Kavanagh
Since the Chicago Bears made the decision to go with Marc Trestman as their HC, it's been rumored that the team would also be investing in the TE position this offseason, as their incumbent options don't really have the skills to play the role as it will be played in Trestman's offense. As a result, any of the high-profile TEs set to hit the market have been linked to the Bears, but there's a good chance that they won't get a chance at them, given the possibility of franchise-tagging (or re-signing) by other teams. So who will they add?
Rivers McCown of Football Outsiders profiled the four clubs in the NFC North as part of the "Plugging the Holes" series this week, and for the Bears, he listed both WR and TE as positions that will need addressing this offseason. When it comes to the latter spot, here's what he had to say:
Rivers McCown
Plugging the Holes: NFC North"Kellen Davis had a truly magical season, dropping seven passes on just 44 targets, and finishing with a minus-26.6 percent DVOA rating that placed him 46th out of 49 qualifying tight ends. (DVOA is Football Outsiders' defense-adjusted value over average metric, explained here.) Secondary tight end Matt Spaeth, primarily a blocker, caught the ball about as well as you'd expect a blocking tight end to, accumulating a -34.6 percent DVOA on the 10 passes thrown his way. Due to a poor offensive line, the Bears often had no choice but to use both of their tight ends as blockers rather than waste their time trying to throw to them. The Bears will have a decent amount of cap space, but assuming they won't chase an upper-echelon free-agent receiver like Dwayne Bowe or Mike Wallace, they don't figure to have a lot of enticing options to fill this hole on the market. With tight ends like Jared Cook and Dustin Keller possibly drawing franchise tags, the Bears could opt to try a relatively underused player like Texans fullback/tight end James Casey. Or they could simplify the whole process and draft Stanford's Zach Ertz with the 20th overall pick."
