Chicago Bears: Analyzing 2019 offseason moves

Changes on special teams

Okay, so we finally get to what all Chicago Bears fans fretted about and experienced the most frustration about. Say what you will about the misfires, both offensive and defensive, the team had against the Eagles. After Philadelphia scored to take the lead in the fourth quarter, Trubisky did an excellent job moving the offense down to field goal range. Ultimately, Parkey needed to make a 43-yard field goal but missed.

After the game, Parkey did not ingratiate himself to Bears brass. He went on television and Nagy said it was not a “we” thing that he stresses. Because of that, the Bears let him go.

Now there is something that has been turned into a circus. It seems the Bears signed a small village full of kickers to replace Parkey. When rookie minicamp began, Nagy had eight kickers attempt the same field goal Parkey missed. Six of them also missed. Not a good sign in an otherwise good camp.

The Bears promptly cut six of the kickers then went and traded a seventh-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Eddy Pineiro. Now the battle is among Pineiro, Chris Blewitt and Elliott Fry.

At this point, however, we won’t be able to tell if things are better until the games (preseason) begin. Let’s see who can handle the pressure and make the team. Personally, I feel they should have made an attempt at signing Stephen Gostkowski. Also, there is Robbie Gould in the background. It’s still a longshot, but an interesting longshot.

The Bears continued the theme of continuity by re-signing Pat O’Donnell. He ranked 17th in net average (39.7 yards), but he ranked 10th in punts inside the 20 (28). Re-signing him was a good move.

Additionally, the Bears made moves on returners. Once again, we have Patterson. The Bears ranked last in kickoff return yards average (19.1). Patterson helps that. He averaged 26.8 yards per return, ranking 7th in the league. He’ll give Trubisky and company better field position to start drives.

The Bears also signed Marvin Hall. He plays wide receiver but he was used mostly as a returner. He averaged 23.7 yards per return so having him pair up with Patterson gives the Bears a strong kick return unit.

We hope these changes help the Chicago Bears improve on their 2018 success. While some question what Ryan Pace did, I believe these were the right moves, for the most part. He already has a good mix of players on the roster, and I think he strengthened it. Like all his moves, however, many people don’t understand his moves and will end up as wrong about what he did this season as they were in his previous years.