Chase Claypool was a star in the making after his rookie season in 2020. He finished with 873 yards and nine touchdowns. While he didn’t ascend in 2021, he was still good with another 860 yards and two touchdowns. There was no reason to think the 24-year-old wasn’t on track to be a dangerous target for years to come in the NFL. Then somewhere along the way, he found himself no longer a focal point of the offense.
Maybe it was his beef with head coach Mike Tomlin. The Steelers head coach was known to be frustrated with Claypool’s individualism and perceived immaturity. Or maybe it was the rise of rookie George Pickens in the receiving corps. Whatever the case, the new Bears receiver saw the writing on the wall before almost everybody else did. He explained the situation to Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times. From the sound of it, he believes his former team sabotaged his chances to make plays.
The sense that the Steelers didn’t value him was more than a feeling. He saw it in their game plans.
“At some point the perspective on me was like, ‘He’s not a red-zone threat,’ for some reason,” Claypool said. “Or, ‘He’s not a deep-ball threat,’ for some reason. I’m not sure when that happened, but I started getting ‘formation-ed’ away from those things.
“So it was super hard for me to make big plays, because anytime there was a big play drawn up, I was on the other side of it.”
Chase Claypool alluded to this after the Dolphins game.
The Bears threw him a series of quick outs with the idea of getting him the ball and letting him create something after the catch. That simple play was completely out of the question towards the end of his time in Pittsburgh. It was confusing since he was big, strong, and fast. He wasn’t afraid to run with violence, either. GM Ryan Poles couldn’t understand what was happening. So he started digging into the situation. He gauged the price tag and reached out to people he trusted to ask about the receiver.
Once he got the answers he was looking for, he decided Chase Claypool was somebody who could help the Bears. So he sent a 2nd round pick to the Steelers to make the deal happen. Time will tell if it was the right call, but Claypool seems overjoyed. He’s once again in an offense that wishes to utilize his strength, and he has a quarterback with superior talent that can get him the ball. Sometimes things work out the way they should.
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CLAYPOOL TGE ONLY RECIEVER TO JUMP 4 FT IN THE AIR TO CATCH THE BALL AT HIS WASTE.
Omg this dudes a bust! You want to salvage his career bulk him up 12 lbs and put him at TE.
Claypool has the ability and the desire to become a legitimate top 10 WR in the NFL. Not just a low value #1 or #2 WR, but a constant threat to score from anywhere on the field he gets his hands on the football. Think of Curtis Conway only more explosive. Statistically, Conway is one of the best WR’s in Bears’ history. Conway was with the Bears from 1993 to 1999 and had a total of 4,498 yards from 329 receptions and 31 total touchdowns.
I agree with Claypool, it was like someone was out to get him after the first season. Oh. and be quiet about the music stuff big deal he suggested it, the coach said no but some fans made a federal case about the suggestion.
The biggest achievement of Claypool’s career is that he fetched a second rounder after being an utter disappointment as a player. For fans and the Bears organization, I hear all the wishful thoughts…terrible trade and it won’t get much better.