Chicago Bears: Standout players from Week 17 vs. Vikings

Allen Robinson, Riley Ridley, Wide Receivers

The Chicago Bears’ wide receivers corps had high hopes for 2019. Many felt this was a deep unit. Things didn’t turn out as planned, though. Tarik Cohen, a running back, was second on the team in targets and catches. David Montgomery, the other running back, was often targeted as well.

After a slow start, Anthony Miller came on strong to show that last season wasn’t a fluke. He showed that he could be depended on to make big plays (when he isn’t dropping passes). Taylor Gabriel had one big game against a bad Washington team, but not much after that.

Allen Robinson was the man all season long. Despite Trubisky’s struggles throughout the season, he was the one dependable receiving target. He finished the season with 154 targets and 98 catches for 1,147 yards and 7 touchdowns. Imagine if the offense was flowing well as we all expected.

Next season is Robinson’s final year of his free-agent contract. He’s more than proven that the Bears need to extend him. While some of the other free agent signings haven’t been as good as expected, Robinson has more than exceeded his worth. He’s been a number one on and off the field for the Bears. Whatever the team does this offseason, it needs to hold on to Robinson.

In the final game of the season, Riley Ridley showed people why the Bears drafted him this year. He may not possess burning speed but he runs excellent routes and has great hands. His route-running helps make up for his speed.

He came into the game with just three catches for 15 yards but he had three catches for 54 yards in this game. He caught the biggest pass of the game on the final drive on a fourth-and-nine. He displayed his crisp route-running to get open and break away for a 32-yard gain. That play put the Bears in position to win the game.

I expect Ridley to be more involved in the offense next season. At 6-1, he could be the wide receiver on the outside opposite of Robinson. The Bears decided to bring him in slowly this season but he showed that he is ready for a bigger workload. The Bears spent the season with Robinson all season and eventually Miller later as the only two receivers Trubisky really trusted.

He’ll have another one in Ridley next season.