Snap judgment: Bears’ rookies see uptick in playing time recently

Draft classes can’t be defined by their rookie seasons, but at most positions, good players start to show promise toward the end of their first year. That’s happening with the Bears, who are playing rookies not for the purpose of future development but because they can help them win now.

That was evident immediately with cornerback Jaylon Johnson (second round) and wide receiver Darnell Mooney (fifth), both of whom were NFL-ready before the season opener. But now it’s happening at tight end with Cole Kmet (second), who played a season-high 85% of the snaps against the Texans, and the Bears are seeing progress from outside linebacker Trevis Gipson (fifth).

Gipson had played just 23 defensive snaps all season before getting 20 (30%) in the Texans game. He’s seen an increase in playing time with James Vaughters out and making the most of it.

“It was exciting to see him out there, wasn’t it?” outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino said. “Trevis has kept his blinders on and all he’s focused on is getting better every day.

“What we got out of Trevis [on Sunday] and [against the Lions] was a little injection of some energy — youthful energy, which is always good to have. ... There are certain things that we want to keep Trevis doing when we can, try to keep some of those difficult things coverage-wise off of his plate as long as we possibly can. But he’s not gonna shy away from any of the responsibilities of the guys in that room. He is ramping up.”

Cornerback Kindle Vildor (fifth) also played a season-high 14 defensive snaps (21%), thought that was primarily because of Johnson exiting with a shoulder injury. Vildor had played just one snap on defense before that.

Here’s a look at some other notes on playing time from the Texans game:

Graham becoming specialist

Tight end Jimmy Graham doesn’t have the speed that made him an all-pro, but he can still box out or out-jump anybody for short passes in the red zone. Graham demonstrated that skill beautifully on his six-yard touchdown catch.

As the Bears get more out of Kmet, they’re narrowing Graham’s role to be more of a red-zone threat. As a result, he played 49% of the snaps against the Texans. It was third consecutive game he played less than half after getting 58-80% during the first 10 games.

Graham has 10 catches (10th in the NFL), 65 yards (12th) and six touchdowns (ninth) in the red zone this season. He leads the Bears in all three of those categories.

Wide receiver breakdown

At wide receiver, Allen Robinson and Mooney led the group with 75% of the snaps, followed by Anthony Miller at 55%, Javon Wims at 42% and Riley Ridley at 3%.

Here’s how the wide receiver targets were distributed by quarterback Mitch Trubisky:

Robinson, 13 (nine catches, 123 yards, TD)

Mooney, 2 (two catches, 22 yards)

Miller, 2 (two catches, 16 yards)

Wims, 0

Ridley, 0

Mooney (5.6 targets per game) and Miller (5.4) are usually more involved, but Trubisky threw to Kmet seven times and David Montgomery four times. That led to fewer balls for the receivers other than Robinson. The Bears’ also threw their third-lowest passes (33) of the season.

Defensive notes

—The Bears played their third-fewest defensive snaps of the season at 66. Their only games better were the Giants (65) and Titans (55) games.

—Linebacker Danny Trevathan played 81% against the Lions and 79% against the Texans after getting just 68% of the snaps against the Packers.

—How big of a loss would defensive tackle Mario Edwards be? He played 30% of the snaps against the Texans and has been at 24% or higher each of the last five games.

—Cornerback Duke Shelley played a career-high 80% of the snaps because Buster Skrine was out with a concussion. He had never played more than three defensive snaps before logging 53 on Sunday.