The Chicago Bears Quietly Assembled A Great Special Teams Core
People will talk about offense and defense all day. That is hardly a surprise. Those sides of the ball always command the most attention because they play the most snaps. However, everybody with a good understanding of football knows that games and even seasons can turn on quality special teams play. The Chicago Bears know this more than most teams. They largely made it to a Super Bowl thanks to their third phase. So it’s only natural they would carry on the tradition of paying close attention to it.
GM Ryan Poles made tons of moves this off-season and it was easy to overlook how much he did for the special teams unit. Without raising any alarms, he put together a young core of talent that could be one of the NFL’s best punt and kickoff coverage units. Part of it features homegrown talents, while two newcomers should give it a massive boost.
- Dylan Cole – 14 tackles
- Josh Blackwell – 11 tackles
- Travis Homer – 8 tackles
- Elijah Hicks – 6 tackles
- Jaylon Jones – 6 tackles
This doesn’t include rookie running back Roschon Johnson, whom many draft experts felt was one of the best special teams players in the entire class.
The Chicago Bears suddenly have talent everywhere on special teams.
Coverage units aside, they may have one of the best young kick returners in the league with Velus Jones. He averaged just shy of 28 yards per return last season. Cairo Santos remains a reliable option on field goals and Trenton Gill had a decent rookie season as the team’s new punter. There is plenty of room for growth in this group. The youth, athleticism, speed, and aggressiveness are apparent in all of those players. That speaks to the evaluations done by Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus.
Everything rests now with special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. He’s a veteran of the job and showed last season that he understood how to deploy the players he had to best effect. This group of players feels much deeper and more experienced going into 2023. While nobody expects the Chicago Bears to dominate in any phase, it wouldn’t be a shock if their special teams became one of the more respected in the NFL.