Chicago Bears: 3 Players who will benefit from new coaching staff
Adam Shaheen, Tight End
I loved that Pace picked Adam Shaheen in the draft. Did he reach a little to get him? Maybe, but he was the guy he felt could help the team. Just like Trubisky, if he succeeds, does it matter where he got him?
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In order for a quarterback to succeed, he needs that big target who could catch a lot of difficult passes. That big target becomes the quarterback’s security blanket if he cannot find an open wide receiver. The big tight end also helps in the red zone where he could just out-muscle defenders and score.
The 6-6, 280-pound Shaheen is that big target. In addition, he runs great routes. In his rookie season, he had only 14 targets. Of those, however, he caught 12. He had 127 yards and three touchdowns (that’s 25 percent of his catches).
The old coaching staff kept talking about bringing Shaheen in slowly so he could work on his blocking. Well, isn’t that why they got Dion Sims? Sure, Shaheen needed to improve, but the Bears sorely needed receivers who made catches and ran proper routes, and they had one but kept him out of games too many times.
Nagy used tight end Travis Kelce in Kansas City. In the offense, Kelce scored a career-high 8 touchdown catches. At 6-5, 255 pounds, Kelce isn’t as big as Shaheen so using Shaheen like Kelce could result in big numbers for the man dubbed “Baby Gronk.”
Shaheen and Trubsiky developed a rapport last preseason. They’re both from Ohio and the team had them room together during rookie camp. While Mike Glennon worked with the starters in camp, Trubisky worked with Shaheen. Both feel comfortable with each other and now need to use that on the field.