The Sun-Times’ experts can answer your Bears questions all week on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of queries sent to @PatrickFinley, who responds with more than 140 characters:
What role do you see WRs Meredith (FA) and White (sizeable cap hit) having in 2018? I think #Bears need TWO new WRs in 2018, minimum. https://t.co/dLtdlmQcBk
— Canuck Boy (@CanuckBoy670AM) October 16, 2017
Agreed. I could see them bringing in two veterans to start, the way they did at cornerback this season. They’ll consider a receiver in the first round of the draft, too. The sad fact is, they can’t count on production from Kevin White. Anything they get from him should be considered a bonus.
When will Pace extend Fuller?
— Biz (@TreyBizzy) October 16, 2017
That question would have seemed laughable even a month ago, but Kyle Fuller has been above-average all year, and is coming off a spectacular showing in Baltimore. He gave up five catches on 15 targets, per Pro Football Focus, for 45 yards.
The Bears declined his fifth-year rookie contract option for 2018, so Fuller is a free agent at the end of the year. The Bears like the way he’s played this year, but probably want to see more before considering an investment during the season.
Perspective: even after Sunday’s win, the Bears have a 3 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 1 percent chance to win the NFC North, per FiveThirtyEight.com. That’s not gospel — the site famously missed a projection 11 months ago, if you’ll remember — but also no reason to give up a future asset for a slightly better chance this season. The Bears are building for later. Still, Aaron Rodgers and Sam Bradford are out, and Matthew Stafford didn’t look the same Sunday. Maybe the NFC North looks different in a few weeks.
Zach Miller and Dion Sims struggled with their run blocks Sunday. But Shaheen is still clearly their third tight end. His 19 snaps Sunday against the Ravens were a career high, but the jump from Div. II Ashland is a steep one. Adjust your short-term expectations accordingly.
Think Fox will let Dowell expand the play calling at all? This offense is predictable and Mitch can only get better by throwing the ball.
— Nick (@icknau) October 16, 2017
Depends who they play. The Bears didn’t want to test the Ravens’ playmakers in the defensive backfield Sunday, and thought their best chance to win was to turn the game into a rugby scrum. While the Bears will be a run-first team the rest of the year, it won’t always be that extreme.
John Fox and his staff needs to win games. They’ll do what they feel is best every week to do that. More often than not, that’ll be centered around the run game, not Mitch Trubisky’s throws.
Is Whitehair destined to play G when Sitton retires moving Grasu to C?
— Derek French (@FrenchDerek) October 16, 2017
Josh Sitton is 31 and has another year on the three-year, $21 million deal he signed last season. I wouldn’t be fitting him for any gold watches yet; he’s still considered one of the best guards in the game. Your question is rooted in Whitehair’s bad snaps. The Bears have to be worried, but it could be a temporary case of the yips. Whitehair had one such snap last season, when he was one of the best centers in the league as a rookie. No reason to move him off the position yet.
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