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What's the Plan for WR Marquess Wilson?

Even a seventh-round pick has to have some sort of vision behind the pick. What did the Bears envision when they picked Marquess Wilson?

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The Player:

Marquess Wilson was a bit of an enigma when he was drafted. He's got some ability and played really well his freshman year, but then there was the weird allegations of abuse under Mike Leach, ending in Wilson no longer playing for Washington State for the remainder of the year.

If Wilson's... ahem, event... was a one-time thing, the Bears have themselves a player that can make things happen after the catch and could have been a much higher pick. If not, then the Bears only spent a seventh-round pick that they didn't have to begin with.

The Roster:

You know the names well enough by now. Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Earl Bennett currently make up the top three, with Devin Hester and Eric Weems below them (with Hester being solely considered a special teams player). So, there's room for Wilson to make a splash this year. If he sticks.

There's still not a true "speedster" on the roster that isn't named Hester, but Wilson does bring some shiftiness as well as making himself hard to tackle - and in a WCO, with some shorter passes, sometimes that can be just as good as a streak-down-the-field-60-yard-bomb.

The Scenarios:

1) Wilson earns roster spot

It's likely. If he behaves and if he shows anything in training camp, the seventh-round pick is as good as there. I don't think he jumps into any starting lineups any time soon, but with a few big plays throughout the sesaon, he could work himself into some more snaps. Does he replace anybody on the current roster? Not really - if anything, it probably prevents Josh Lenz or Mark Harrison from sticking. Earl Bennett could find his stock dwindling, but it would take adding another receiver too.

2) Wilson struggles with practices, gets cut

If that happened, then the Bears only lost a seventh-round pick. Not the end of the world, but it would certainly be disappointing. I don't expect it though.

3) Wilson gets cut but makes the practice squad

This depends on Wilson. If he performs well and the Bears still try to stash him to keep Weems and Hester, he could be waiver-snagged, if another team watched his camp performances and decided he was over the character issues. If they didn't think that pre-draft, however, would the next couple months change their mind?

The Future:

If Wilson sticks, you've got the after-the-catch guy to go with your number-one receiver (Marshall) and Alshon Jeffery. Is that a corps that needs Earl Bennett in the future?

As far as Wilson continuing down his career path, it'll really depend on what he does with the opportunities he gets. I'm not sure he can develop into an NFL team's number one receiving option, but having Wilson develop into a third receiver would go a long way to offsetting Marshall's contract.