Going into the 2019 season, the receiving corps of the Chicago Bears looked to be one of the deepest position groups on the team.
Boasting a fully healthy Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, who appeared ready to become a deadly duo in the NFC North, as well as speedster Taylor Gabriel, rookie Riley Ridley, second-year receiver Javon Wims and free agent pickup Cordarrelle Patterson, the sky appeared to be the limit for this young group.
Instead, Robinson was the only one to take off, becoming the true number one option the team needed, with everyone else fell to the wayside. Here are the grades for each wide receiver on the Bears.
Allen Robinson: A
Undoubtedly the MVP of the offense, Allen Robinson was the bright spot on an otherwise disastrous unit. The Bears receiver has his best season since breaking out in 2015, catching 98 passes for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. He accounted for nearly one third of the Bears’ passing yards for the season and ascended to the go-to receiver the team believed they were getting when he was signed as a free agent in 2018.
Robinson made incredible catches throughout the entire season and became the key third-down target to continue drives. Whether it was a back-shoulder throw or an inside hitch route, Robinson did it all this season and produced at a high level. If there was one thing to knock, it would be a few drops, some of which came at inopportune times. But a few rough moments can’t overshadow the best season by a Bears wide receiver since 2014.
Anthony Miller: C-
Did any any player have more of an up and down season than Miller? The talented second-year receiver was poised to break out this season after totaling seven touchdowns in his rookie year while battling a separated shoulder. Instead, Miller was absent from the game plan early in the season, catching four passes on eight targets for 28 yards through the first quarter of the year.
When he started to come alive in the middle of the year, he was called out for running the wrong routes when quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky or Chase Daniel missed a throw to him. Things weren’t going well for Miller, until the second half of the season when he came alive, in part due to receiver Taylor Gabriel’s season-ending concussion.
From Week 11 through Week 15, Miller had 431 receiving yards and two touchdowns while finally establishing himself as the second option in the passing game. Miller certainly showed flashes of his potential and why he was worthy of the hype in the offseason, but his overall 2019 resume is extremely uneven and he disappeared far too many times. Considering the expectations and the results, Miller grades out as a C-.
Taylor Gabriel: C
When he was healthy, Taylor Gabriel was the clear-cut WR2 in Matt Nagy’s offense, although he wasn’t particularly effective outside of his Week 3 performance against the Washington Redskins. Gabriel scored three of his four touchdowns last season in that game and had a season-high 75 yards. He did get his fair-share of targets and catches when he was on the field, but they didn’t amount to much when it came to overall offensive production.
While he was, Gabriel would have benefited from someone liker Miller stepping up earlier, as the veteran doesn’t seem suited to be the second passing option in an NFL offense, but rather the third or fourth. Gabriel missed the final five games of the season as he dealt with his second concussion of the year. We may have seen the last of #18 in a Bears uniform as the team can cut Gabriel and his remaining two years and only incur a $2 million cap hit.
Javon Wims: C+
Taking into account his expectations in this offense, Wims had an okay season. He certainly saw more playing time in 2019 compared to his rookie year and became more involved in the offense as a whole. But he still went five games without registering a single target, let alone catch.
It’s important to remember Wims was a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft and while those selections can certainly make a major impact, it’s not like Wims was vying for the top spot on the depth chart. He had a few bright moments, such as his performances against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4 and the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving where he totaled 56 yards in each game. But otherwise, he wasn’t much of a factor in the pass game and didn’t contribute in run blocking all that well. Still, he took a step forward from his rookie season and can still be valuable as the fourth wide receiver on the team.
Cordarrelle Patterson: P
How do you grade a person who excelled at every other role he played other then the one he’s technically assigned? You give him a passing grade of course. Cordarrelle Patterson was a monster at every position on the field except wide receiver. He was extremely effective on special teams (separate grade) and did his most damage in the backfield.
When it came to catching passes, the All-Pro returner only totaled 83 yards through the air on 11 catches. Patterson is one of the better “swiss army knives” in the league so it’s unfair to give him a low grade as a receiver when he barely split out wide. Instead, he earns a passing grade and will earn an actual letter grade when it comes to special teams.
Riley Ridley: D+
Riley Ridley was the latest Georgia Bulldog to be drafted by the Bears after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was billed as an excellent route runner and was one of the more polished receivers in the draft. So why did he barely see the field, even with injuries and ineffective options at the receiver position throughout the year?
Ridley was inactive for every game until Week 13 and didn’t see much action until the final game of the season when he caught three passes for 54 yards, most notably converting a fourth down with a catch of 33 yards to set up the game-winning field goal. Ridley isn’t close to being a bust yet, but his rookie season feels like a wash. He’ll need to play a larger role in the offense next season to help justify his selection for a team that had very few picks in the 2019 draft.
