The Chicago Bears are in a position to have a top flight offense in 2018 if they are willing to reunite two former players, according to Patrick Sheldon of DA Windy City . With the news that the Jacksonville Jaguars released receiver Allen Hurns, the Bears should be on top of this.
Hurns is a deep threat and is also a former teammate of recently signed Allen Robinson. Their time together in Jacksonville is what turned around the career of Blake Bortles and put the Jags in the playoff discussion heading into 2017. However, injuries happened, and it all fell apart for the duo this past season. With new and younger talent available for the Jags, they let their two productive pass-catchers go, and now the Bears can reap the benefits.
With the Bears in the market to provide more weapons for second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Hurns could complete the trio. With last season’s leading receiver Kendall Wright and Robinson, adding Hurns would give the Bears their best trio of receivers in years.
But his presence will go far beyond pass catching. With his Hurns onboard, it will provide Jordan Howard better rushing lanes, as defenses will now be forced to respect the aerial attack, something that didn’t happen last year. And how can we forget the addition of TE Trey Burton who came over from the Eagles this offseason?
In his time with the Jaguars, Hurns caught 189 passes for 2,669 yards and 21 touchdowns. What’s also intriguing for the Bears is that Hurns has the ability to stretch the field just as much as Robinson. For his career, Hurns has averaged 14.1 yards per catch. These are the weapons Trubisky needs to become great. If the Bears are to contend in the NFC North, their offense will need to average more than 175.7 yards per game through the air in a division with Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and now Kirk Cousins.
According to Spotrac , Hurns was set to make $7 million in 2018. However, the Bears may have the upper hand due to Robinson and Hurns’ prior relationship. However, there is a downside to all of this. As Sheldon points out, Hurns has missed a total of 11 games over the last two seasons. But this may be one of those chances the Bears must be willing to take.
How often does a team get a chance to get two of another teams’ best receivers in the same offseason to pair with a young quarterback, running back, and TE?
