Jerry Angelo has left the door open of possibly adding another wide receiver to the roster, but I really don't see that happening (however, I do hope I am wrong). That being said, we have 10 guys currently battling for roster spots:
Devin Aromashodu
Earl Bennett
John Broussard
Rashied Davis
Devin Hester
Juaquin Iglesias
Derek Kinder
Johnny Knox
Eric Peterman
Brandon Rideau
A few days ago, Sklz711 gave us his ideas of how he thinks the WRs will work out.
Wide Receivers: This is really going to be a pick 'em scenario based on quality production on both offense and ST. Hester/ Bennett/ Igleasis at this time are, and should be, the favorites for the first 3 positions. I've not seen many love notes for the Droppasaurus coming out of the propaganda machine, and shockingly saw a positive vote for Rideau locking down a back up position because of his good ST play, and that being a key factor at backup WR. I see them keeping 6 WR, possibly 7 if Peterman sticks solely for ST. The other two slots are pick your poison between Knox/ Kinder/ Davis. Do they go for pure promise? Can any of them play ST better than the others? Your guess is as good as mine here, but I know I'd rather it be Knox/ Kinder.
At the time, I was thinking that the Bears would actually only keep 5 WRs. We are going to be working out of mostly 2 and 3 WR sets, with Hester, Bennett, and Davis being the top three. Iglesias is a lock for a spot, and Knox has a great shot as well. But we have also been hearing that Brandon Rideau has been impressive.
Today, I read an article by Brad Biggs that states Rideau has been working with the first team offense a bit, and is doing well. In the article, Ron Turner expresses that Rideau has been making the most of his opprotunities so far in OTAs. He has been showing great hands, and is the biggest WR on the roster.
Biggs says that the Bears will keep 5 WRs, 6 if one of them makes a splash on Special Teams. Rideau may be the 6th man.
Based on all of this, our wide receiver corp, considered by many to be one of the Bears weakest links, we may end up seeing this as our final group:
Devin Hester
Earl Bennett
Rashied Davis
Juaquin Iglesias
Johnny Knox
Brandon Rideau
Not exactly the most menacing group of WRs, but a lot of you seem to think that the QB can make a subpar group of WRs into something productive. I hope you are right.
Oh, and a parting shot:
Yesterday, we brought you an article about Bears players who all thought that bringing in Plaxico Burress would be a good thing. Well, today, I'm going to leave you with a comment made by Devin Hester recently:
"I really was hoping we'd have gotten a veteran earlier this year," Hester said, "but it is what it is and we're stuck with what we've got, so we've got to make sure we make the best of it and learn from each other."