Chicago Bears Position Breakdowns: Wide Receiver

The Chicago Bears' second Achilles' heel this season has been the wide receiver position, as they have had few strong receivers over the past few years.

Last season, they had brought back Marty Booker (now gone) and tried their hand with Brandon Lloyd (unrightfully gone).

The Bears still held on to Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Rashied Davis as those who will likely be the main receivers if they decide to keep their current roster through to next season.

However, most who look at the Bears see them as a team that needs to make a move and add a receiver to become contenders next season.

So what does a look at the Bears receiving core reveal?

How are we looking now?

Devin Hester was a player who got better and better as the season progressed and as he was able to learn his position, which hurt his returning ability and, some say, his chances of ever becoming a star.

However, with the number of catches that he had, he actually had a good year.  He had over 600 yards and averaged 13 yards per catch.

Although he never had one great, breakthrough game, he consistently had between 50-80 yards and was a constant threat to take a catch all the way for a touchdown, even though he only had three on the year.

Rashied Davis has been an average receiver throughout his entire time as a Bear.  Although he was never great, he was never bad and he was somewhat reliable in big situations, just like his game winning catch against the Vikings a few years back.

Davis had 445 yards receiving last year despite having either one or no catches in seven games last year.  He averaged just under 13 yards per catch and didn't do anything special.

Earl Bennett was looked at as a rookie who could develop into a strong receiver, but was buried under failed attempts to revive the careers of both Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd, so Bennett had no catches last season.

Possible Free Agent Acquisitions

T.J Housmandzadeh: Although I think it is unlikely that he will ultimately choose Chicago as his home, he is available and the Bears should get into the bidding.

Shaun McDonald: This is a player I like because he has been a back up his entire career to some great players (eg: Tory Holt) and could be a diamond in the rough, only a lot cheaper.

If the Bears don't get their receiver position fixed soon, they could be stuck on another season where the passing game is average at best and their offense goes nowhere, expect a move, and it could be for one of these two.