Believe me, I know I’m sipping on an ocean of Kool Aid. However, I do believe the logic is sound. Here’s why I believe Claypool was a great acquisition and why he’s a perfect fit for this team:
* I’ll start with the obvious. Our WR room is abysmal. This get’s Justin help TODAY and he needs it bad. Invaluable for a developing QB who has massive potential. And guess what, I bet we see Mooney start to really shine with another threat by his side.
* Over his past 3 seasons, Claypool has an average drop rate of 4.1%. And goddamnit did we need a receiver who can catch a fucking ball.
* Claypool is 6’4″, 238 lbs, and runs a 4.4. He’s a freak athlete and a giant target.
* Claypool’s stats don’t tell the whole story. He’s averaging about 800 yards a year, with 9 TDs in his rookie year, and only 3 combined in the following 2 years. You could say he should’ve taken a step forward by now but also look at who’s thrown to him. His rookie year he had Big Ben’s last competent season, followed by the corpse of Benjamin, Mitchell Trubisky (lol) and an unproven Kenny Pickett. It’s also worth mentioning he is currently in one of the [least efficient offenses](https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/team/_/table/passing/sort/netTotalYards/dir/desc) in the NFL and being misused in the slot instead of at his strengths as wideout. Claypool is going to be running a lot of go routes as a wideout on the Bears and [guess who really likes throwing to receivers on a go route?](https://twitter.com/nextgenstats/status/1587508724544942080?s=46&t=yby0IkEyU1vxKBDpqEMfzw)
* The free agent WR pool for 2023 is incredibly thin. Poles hedged his bets and got a proven WR now. This gives him much more flexibility in the draft.
* A 2nd round isn’t an overpay (in my opinion). This upcoming draft is also slim pickings at WR. At pick 43 overall, do we really think we’d get someone as immediately as impactful and talented as Chase Claypool at WR? I absolutely don’t think so. Plus we have another 2nd round pick.
* It shows Poles has clear vision for where he wants to take the franchise. I believe we’re in fantastic hands with him at the helm. And it shows he BELIEVES in Fields. That’s gotta give Justin some serious confidence.
* The icing on the cake…The Packers really fucking wanted Chase. BAD. And where does he go? To their division rivals. Go to their subreddit to witness a full on meltdown. How fucking sweet would it be if we beat them later this year with the weapon they wanted? Just the thought of it makes me tingle.
Overall, I think Poles deserves a lot of credit for this acquisition and I believe Claypool will make an immediate impact.
14 comments
Amen
I hope he plays Sunday!
I think it’ll take him some time to really get integrated into our offense but we can use him on go routes while he gets up to speed with the playbook
Great write up. I will also point out that he can block as well. He has the size to play like a TE. Next designed run for Fields, Claypool can either help block the edge or run down field as the lead blocker.
The player who should be really happy about Chase coming to the Chi is Mooney. When Allen Robinson was here Mooney was feasting cause they had to respect A Rob as a tall fast receiver who can catch those deep throws enabling Mooney to run the slot and take all the open field the DBs leaving behind chasing A. Rob
This is that again. With Fields dual threat ability, Mooney running the slot, Claypool running deep routes, Monty/Herbert in the backfield, along with our other receivers we definitely got alot better with our offense today.
4.1% drop rate! Steelers fans make it sound like the guy drops everything lmao. Maybe he isn’t up to Steelers WR standards but they have an awful scheme with a rookie QB & Mitch who can only throw a limited number of routes. If he can stretch the field vertically, that’ll open up a ton of options that weren’t there before, especially if teams have to go 2-high.
I don’t think we should get ahead of ourselves, Poles pigeonholed himself into having to make this move, I don’t think it’s a bad move and there is a lot to be excited about but it was also kinda the only move. You knew the WR FA pool was going to be weak this coming offseason even during last years draft. They didn’t take a receiver and they can’t really afford to take a gamble in next years draft.
>It shows Poles has clear vision for where he wants to take the franchise. I believe we’re in fantastic hands with him at the helm. And it shows he BELIEVES in Fields. That’s gotta give Justin some serious confidence.
I hate sounding like a doomer but this move screams the opposite. I’ll preface this by saying I think Poles has continued to improve and he may have been slightly in over his head this offseason due to the mess he was in and being new to the role… Which is absolutely understandable.
But if Poles had a clear vision for the team now, it’s vastly different than what it was in the offseason. He opted *not* to acquire offensive players in the offseason where doing so would have been more efficient.
* O-linemen were getting signed to cheap contracts left and right. No, not players like Schofield, Lucas Patrick, and Dozier…I mean actual starter quality linemen.
* WR help like Pickens who this whole fanbase was pounding the table for could have been had for cheaper, with more years of control, and an entire offseason + half a regular season to build chemistry.
He has undoubtedly pivoted in the middle of the season from rebuilding through the defense to attempting to develop Fields. If this was the plan all along, he should have
* Shopped Mack around the league (which he didn’t do according to the Athletic)
* Trade Roquan and Quinn in the offseason, where their value was their highest (I personally don’t think we lost that much in value for Quinn)
* Not attempt to sign a 28 year old 3tech coming off an injury, especially if the plan was to gut the defense anyway. Although to his defense, he’s admitted that this move tied up money so that he couldn’t have spent it elsewhere (possibly on offense).
Ultimately, I think the move for Chase is better late than never. I think moving on from Quinn and Mack were in the best interest for the team. And while I completely disagree on giving up on a cornerstone player like Roquan, he was never Poles’ guy to begin with. I’m certainly a lot more optimistic going with Poles now, than I was in the offseason and hopefully that he can continue to learn as quickly as he has
Slam dunk might be overselling it, but I agree. Claypool has shown what he can do in the NFL, a future draft pick might end up as a Kevin White, that’s really all I need for reasoning.
It’s not kool aid, it’s flus juice
I agree with all except what makes you think this WR class is weak..?
I’ll simplify it, did the Bears recieving core get better? Yes it did. That means it was good move.
He is instantly the second best reciever on the team. Probably has potential to be the best.
I think another big piece of this is that Justin’s style benefits from a big body that he can sling it to when things break down. If you look at the other mobile QBs (Lamar, Aaron, etc) they all benefit from having a large target when things break down.
There were people saying they’d rather take their chances on a 2nd round WR instead of Claypool. It’s absolute lunacy to me. “The 2nd round WR could be anything, hell he could even be Claypool!” It was smart to grab a proven talent instead of gambling in the draft/free agency.
Steeler fan here jumping in. Think this is a solid move for you all. Chase got a lot of shit from the fans in PITT for some of his attention seeking antics and for disappearing at times. However, he seems to have turned some kind of corner this season and a lot of fans including myself that wanted him gone next year are a little sad to see him go now. Tons of potential, just needs to fall in line and give max effort. He should be a great fit for Fields exciting brand of football, can also be a beast blocking down field and keeping the defense honest with sweeps and gadget stuff. Good luck with Mapletron!