Former Washington Football Team general manager and current NFL Network analyst, Charley Casserly, published his first mock draft of the 2021 NFL draft cycle last week and it maintained a trending narrative surrounding the Chicago Bears’ first-round pick.
Casserly sent Chicago the explosive playmaking wide receiver from the Florida Gators, Kadarius Toney.
If the Bears keep Allen Robinson and add Toney — a better prospect than Minnesota’s budding star Justin Jefferson was a year ago — they’ll all of a sudden have a formidable receiving corps.
Casserly’s assessment should pique Bears fans’ interest. He suggests Toney is a better prospect than Jefferson was last year — this after Jefferson posted a rookie season of 88 catches, 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns. It’s a bold statement by Casserly and one that I disagree with.
Toney isn’t as well-rounded of a wide receiver that Jefferson was coming out of LSU. He’s more of a short-to-intermediate target who will dazzle with after-the-catch magic, whereas Jefferson was a complete route-runner who showed he can win on all three levels of the passing game.
Still, adding Toney to the offense would be a boon for a Bears squad that hit on last year’s fifth-round pick, Darnell Mooney. If A-Rob returns, and a player like Toney is drafted, a trio of Robinson, Mooney, and Toney will be a handful for even the most skilled defensive backfields to deal with.
