Augie wrote:
From the athletic on ISM....
I don't think the Bears are adding him to be a punt returner. With the Vikings, he was likely a #5 WR. So he had to be able to return punts to stay on the roster.
The punt returner spot is a prime example. For much of training camp, the Vikings gave 23-year-old wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette chances to stand out in the role. Fumbles and poor decision-making hurt his chances and the front office’s belief that he could be the answer.
They apparently like punt/kick returner types, it gives them someone to run counters off the outside zone game.
The only thing really impressive about him on tape is that he will fearlessly cut back into traffic rather than just head for the sideline, again this is what they are looking for as a part of the offense, of course Velus Jones is likely the top guy to fill this role, at least early on in the year.
You are starting to see more and more tells as to what they see as key cogs in this offense, a big WR that can block the back side, maybe even at least willingly getting in the way of a DE/OLB, a back that can catch the outlet pass and make a guy miss to pick up the few yards available, and a speedy kick returner type WR they can use in the counter game or in the screen game.
He is of course patching it together with whatever he can pick up cheaply, but once he can find actual playmakers to fill those positions it should work well with Fields as it takes advantage of his mobility, but he must identify the mismatches and subtle tells from DB's in order to hit the chunk plays that should open up.