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Chicago Bears wide receiver and tight end drop rate

2013 saw the emergence of an actual, honest to goodness passing offense for the Chicago Bears. Marc Trestman brought in his version of the West Coast Offense and the Bears' passing game was never better. But what was the drop rate for the wide receivers and tight ends?

By Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.

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Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sport

In the 2013 season Chicago Bears quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Josh McCown combined for 4,450 passing yards and 32 touchdowns. Besides having an actual 21st Century offense thanks to head coach Marc Trestman, the Bears had a talented group of pass catchers that helped push their offense to new heights.

Over at Pro Football Focus they recently revealed their tight end and wide receiver Drop Rates for the 2013 season. The Bears were well represented on each list, but unfortunately they were well represented on both spectrums of the wide out list.

The guys at PFF didn't simply divide drops by targets, they actually looked at the tape and decided how many of the targets were truly catchable balls.

Among the tight ends, Chicago's Martellus Bennett was targeted 89 times according to PFF, but they only had him down for 68 catchable balls. He had 3 drops for the season making his drop rate of 4.41% the 6th best among TEs.

The Bears also had a top 15 wide out in their drop rate category. Alshon Jeffery showed strong hands all season long and PFF had him down for just 5 drops on the year. They figured he had 94 catchable balls out of 140 targets, for a 13th ranked drop rate of 5.32%.

Brandon Marshall, while capable of the circus catch, also had a case of the dropsies. His drop rate of 13.04% was way down at number 67 overall. They had him targeted 158 times, with 115 catchable balls.

Just in case you were wondering where the recently released Earl Bennett stood in their drop rate, his was 5.88%. That was 2 drops in 34 catchable balls. I'm sure many Chicago fans can remember those two drops...

What are your thoughts on the Bears' receiving corps moving forward?

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