Former Bears Coach Sends Bold Message on Rookie Playmaker

Dave Wannstedt got the opportunity to see the Chicago Bears in action at OTAs this week and the former head coach came away with one clear thought on rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott: “You’ve got to get this guy the football.”

Wannstedt joined 670 The Score’s ‘Parkins & Spiegel’ on June 1 to share some of his impressions of the newly-renovated Bears roster and had quite a few encouraging things to say about Ryan Poles’ new regime and the upgrades they have made for 2023. One bit of praise, however, rang a little louder than the rest from Wannstedt.

“I’ll tell you what, they threw a couple of balls to our man Tyler Scott, the little receiver from Cincinnati,” he said. “Every time he caught the ball, he made somebody miss. Whether he’s going to be a return guy or not, you’ve got to get this guy the football.”

Scott was the only wide receiver the Bears added in the 2023 NFL draft, taking him in the fourth round (No. 133 overall) to give them another playmaker alongside new No. 1 receiver D.J. Moore and fellow starters Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool. While it is unclear at this point how the 5-foot-11, 185-pound receiver will fit into the picture for 2023, a strong early impression should only help him in his quest for early playing time.

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Scott Has Drawn Comps to T.Y. Hilton, Tyler Lockett

Scott’s skill set gives Bears fans plenty to love. He is a fleet-footed receiver, clocking a 4.44-second time in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Scouting Combine in March, and displayed extremely reliable hands and deep-field ball tracking with the Bearcats. He has also gotten work as a returner back all the way back to his high school days, giving him another dimension where he can potentially impact the Bears lineup in 2023.

In his pre-draft profile for Scott, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com compared the Bears’ new rookie to former Indianapolis Colts four-time Pro Bowler T.Y. Hilton, citing their similar frame, speed and versatility as receiving weapons. He also called the 21-year-old Scott “an ascending talent whose versatility and playmaking talent create an easily projectable upside as a good starting slot receiver early in his career.”

Poles, meanwhile, drew a different — but also impressive — player comparison for Scott when talking with NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund about their 2023 draft class.

“You have a guy here in Tyler, just being able to win on top, and then what you love is the [ball] tracking ability,” Poles told Frelund in their NFL+ interview. “Guys like Tyler Lockett come to mind, just in terms of the skill set, the size and the big-play ability.”

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Wannstedt: Bears ‘Doing Backflips’ Over D.J. Moore

While Wannstedt’s praise for a newcomer such as Scott is more intriguing in the sense that Bears fans have yet to see him in action, he was also unsurprisingly impressed with the reps he saw from new No. 1 receiver D.J. Moore during their full-speed drills.

“I will say this for Bear fans out there, D.J. Moore made three catches that I haven’t a Bear receiver make in three years, really. This guy is a player. He’s experienced enough that they can move him around,” Wannstedt said, adding that the Bears were going full speed in coverage for the session he watched despite not being allowed to hit just yet.

“It was full-speed coverage, 7-on-7 type of full-speed, two-minute with the clock on hurry-up. And [he’s] just laying out,” Wannstedt continued. “He laid out to make two catches, fingertip catches, stuff like that that you don’t coach. You either have that stuff or you don’t. So I think they’re doing backflips over him.”

As an established NFL receiver with five seasons under his belt, Moore gives Bears fans a clearer idea of what they can expect from him as quarterback Justin Fields’ new top pass-catcher. He put up more than 1,100 receiving yards in three consecutive seasons for Carolina from 2019 to 2021 and caught a career-high seven touchdowns in 2022, all in spite of subpar quarterback play from the Panthers over the course of his career.

How good Moore can become for the Bears is, of course, linked to the growth of Fields as a passer, but Fields having a reliable and proven weapon like Moore could lead to great things for the both of them in 2023 — as well as other receivers, like Scott.

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