The Chicago Bears have amassed an array of talent on the offensive side of the football that has prominent members of the locker room buzzing as the NFL draft approaches.
Wide receiver DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet both spoke recently with Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com about the acquisitions of Pro Bowl wideout Keenan Allen, Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett.
Speaking specifically about himself and Allen as a duo, Moore said they will create only bad options for opposing defenses.
“It’s a lose-lose for the defense,” Moore told Mayer on Thursday, April 4. “One dude has done it longer and one is right behind him, still learning the game but understands it.”
In a more general sense, Kmet addressed the completeness of the skill positions.
“It looks like we could have a pretty explosive offense coming up here in 2024,” he said.
Addition of Keenan Allen, Breakout Year for DJ Moore Bode Well for New Era of Bears’ Offense
Both Moore and Kmet lauded Allen’s experience as an 11-year NFL veteran and a Pro Bowl selection in six of his last seven seasons.
“The way he goes about his releases and the way he gets open,” Moore said. “It’s just different. It’s effortless and smooth. He’s done it before and done it for many years.”
Kmet echoed his teammate’s sentiment.
“He’s been doing it at a very high level for a really long time,” Kmet said of Allen. “The way he runs his routes, he’s so crafty and he does it at an elite level, and that’s why he’s been able to do it for such a long time.”
Allen’s experience and success, coupled with Moore’s career year in 2023 (96 catches for 1,364 receiving yards and 8 TDs) will be crucial to the development of the rookie quarterback Chicago is likely to select with the No. 1 overall pick later this month.
The team traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick and holds the top selection in a draft replete with as much QB talent as any in recent memory. Caleb Williams of USC is the favorite to land with the Bears and met with the team in Chicago earlier this week.
Bears Also Added to Run Game This Offseason With D’Andre Swift
If Williams ends up the Bears’ guy and lives up to some of the player comps he’s received frequently from draft analysts across the country, namely to reigning Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, Chicago’s passing attack should be formidable from the opening drive Week 1.
But the team also invested in its running back room during free agency, signing Swift to a three-year deal worth $24 million total coming off of his first Pro Bowl campaign.
“He can really do everything. He’s able to be an explosive back in the pass game and in the run game as well, and is familiar with that outside zone scheme. That should bode really well for us,” Kmet said of the Bears’ new running back. “He should be a good plug-and-play back who frees everyone up. When you’ve got a running back that can come out of the backfield and run choice routes and option routes and all those things, that can be really beneficial to an offense.”