When people discuss the new Chicago Bears receiving corps, it centers around three names. Darnell Mooney is at the top, with Byron Pringle and Velus Jones behind him. Those three are expected to be the primary trio for Justin Fields to work with this season. Plenty of people covering the NFL aren’t impressed. They think GM Ryan Poles should’ve done more. One former scout believes perceptions are different inside the building. Take Equanimeous St. Brown, for example.
Greg Gabriel has deep connections at the University of Notre Dame and has kept tabs on the NFL for many years after his long stint with the Bears. He has said on more than one occasion this offseason that people should not ignore St. Brown. The former 7th round pick developed with the Green Bay Packers the previous few years. While he never became a primary target, Gabriel doesn’t think that is entirely his fault. He was trapped in an offense that was loaded with established targets. Green Bay never seemed to give him a chance. That is something he’ll have in Chicago under Luke Getsy, the same man that helped develop him since 2019.
Equanimeous St. Brown has improved on tape.
Talent was never his issue. As a sophomore, he looked like a budding star in college, with 961 yards and nine touchdowns. For whatever reason, he took his foot off the gas as a junior, resulting in a steep drop during the 2018 draft—a shocking development for a 6’5 receiver with 4.45 speed. Part of the problem was his route running. It was too raw then and didn’t mature quickly enough to earn him more snaps in the offense.
Gabriel believes that has changed. Recent tape shows Equanimeous St. Brown has improved considerably with his cuts and setup fakes. It is fair to wonder if he might’ve stuck around had the Packers traded Davante Adams sooner. There is no way to know. He wanted a fresh start and will get it in Chicago. The competition is wide open. There isn’t any steep mountain to climb. If he can put together a good training camp, the odds are good he will see plenty of work this season. It’s easy to forget St. Brown is still only 25 years old.
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He likely won’t ever get a better chance than he has right now. The Bears are in a low-risk-high-reward situation. If he flops, the loss is minimal. If he breaks out, they have a young piece to work with moving forward.
I really hope EQ takes off because I also know Velus Jones will become a fan fav as the year goes on. Pringle and TE Kmet will work the short routes and EQ can fly deep with Mooney.
Going to be more exciting this year than most think!
Tbf, the qb from Notre Dame got drafted because of E StB.
When everyone was saying that the qb from ND, was good, I was saying that E StB was the reason.
I believe E st brown will be a pleasant surprise. I’ve watched him at Notre Dame an in GB, he’s gotten better at route running & tracking the football. On a WR core that lacks size, i can see him establishing himself as a go to target. With his speed & catch radius, it shouldn’t be difficult to target him in the passing game. Hopefully he’s getting extra work in an building chemistry with Justin
Isn’t regime change fun? Everybody in the building is loving what they have going on, but none of them have enough credentials to balance out the pessimism of a snake-bit fan base/writer’s beat. So far, everything they have done has looked exactly like what they SAID they were going to do, for those of us who can read somewhere other than between the lines. The people who say Getsy is a genius have a ton of impressive credentials, and Getsy watched Eq St Brown (from the QB coach’s chair, not as his direct coach) for two years and he really… Read more »
Everybody has an opinion…but what as fans we know is simply this;
1) D Mooney is locked as WR#1by the simple fact he is the best WR on the roster
2) Byron Pringle is locked as WR#2-3 by contract status
3) Velus Jones Jr s locked as WR#2-3 by draft status
After those 3, this is anybody’s guess outside the Coaching ranks!