Brandon Marshall has enormous praise for Alshon Jeffery
Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (17) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Chicago Bears WR Alshon Jeffery is a major fantasy piece now, and he received plenty of praise from teammate Brandon Marshall, who has helped Jeffery achieve the gaudy numbers he has posted in the past two games. Teams finally caught on to the fact that Jay Cutler is always looking to throw it to Marshall, who is unquestionably one of the most talented WRs in the league and shares a beautiful QB-WR connection with Cutler, so they have been stacking up their coverages on him. This has led to some frustration from Marshall, explanations from Cutler, and big stats from Alshon Jeffery.
Brandon Marshall heaped some huge praise onto Jeffery, via CSN Chicago, “I’ve always said this guy could be the best to ever do it. He’s probably going to shatter all the Bears’ records by the time he’s done at the receiver position. That’s one of the only positives from our offense today.”
Jeffery looks really good, but let’s pump the brakes on that kind of talk. It’s great to hear Marshall speak so highly of a teammate and fellow wideout like that, but I hope nobody else is taking that praise too hard. Jeffery is a talented player, but essentially everything Marshall stated is pure hyperbole.
But how good is Alshon Jeffery? Really good, and good enough that I should stop benching him in fantasy football. He had an insane 10 receptions for 218 yards yesterday, and that comes after a five-catch, 107-yard performance in Week 4. Jeffery has been scoring touchdowns and hauling in deep passes, and the Bears desperately needed a talented, playmaking WR across from Brandon Marshall. Why? Well, you’re seeing the reasons right before you. Teams can no longer stack up their coverages on Marshall, because Jeffery is more than capable of shredding them. Following this week’s demolition of the New Orleans Saints defense, coaches are going to start focusing on Jeffery more, thus freeing up Marshall more and allowing him to increase his own stats.
The Bears decision to trade up for the undervalued WR in the 2012 NFL Draft looks like a genius move now, and the praise Cutler gave to Jeffery in training camp certainly doesn’t reek of hyperbole right now. Alshon Jeffery already has 429 receiving yards this year and has caught at least five passes in four of the Bears five games.
You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter for more NFL updates and analysis @SorianoJoe. Be sure to like us on Facebook here and follow our site on Twitter as well.