Bears Trade for WR Chase Claypool

[Stinger226]

Cudos to Adam for future forecast.  Claypool (24) 6-4 238 4.42

                                                             Harry  (24)   6-4  224  4.54

                                                             Mooney (25) 5-11 173  4.31

                                                              ESB    (26)    6-5   214  4.48

                                                              V. Jones (25)  6-0 200 4.31

                                                               Dante Pettis (27) 6-1 195  4.32

                                                               Pringle   (28)    6-1 208   4.42

Here is our WR room by the end of the year. I think the first 5 stay and we draft another WR. 

That could be a very good group going forward. 

Try a 4 WR group of Claypool, Harry, ESB on the outside with Mooney in the slot. I want to see a DC defend that.

[Stinger226]

Forgot who mentioned it , but Harry, Claypool and Pringle are the top 3 graded blocking WRs in the league. ESB and Mooney have both been doing a good job too. It will make the run game better also.  I actually thought that was a bad idea when I first heard it, but it makes so much sense for this year. It helps Justin and a offense that is now averaging 30 points a game. What Poles did was put value on offense and substracted it from D. Im okay with that. 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

17 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Forgot who mentioned it , but Harry, Claypool and Pringle are the top 3 graded blocking WRs in the league. ESB and Mooney have both been doing a good job too. It will make the run game better also.  I actually thought that was a bad idea when I first heard it, but it makes so much sense for this year. It helps Justin and a offense that is now averaging 30 points a game. What Poles did was put value on offense and substracted it from D. Im okay with that. 

I think he becomes WR2 pretty quick.  His game compliments Fields really well and can become a WR1 if they can build that connection.   

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Ok - I was a little surprised at the cost but as I have had more time to think about this I love it. Not cheap - but he is young, you have cap space, and he is a perfect compliment to Mooney. The main risk seems to be some issues with attitude but I don’t know what to think of Steelers, who under Tomlin always have drama. Juju seemed to like him a lot. 
 

But when I think about the Bears - they needed to find a wideout and he has been pretty good early in his career despite shoddy QB play. Tools are very strong so real upside. Beyond that everyone shifts down - so Pringle and Velus and Kmet all benefit a ton as does Fields. 
 

And they still have flexibility. Now it will take time for him to get acclimated but Bears offense got a heck of a lot better.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

7 hours ago, Connorbear said:

It was our 2nd rounder but I have no issues with this. They needed to get Fields help and Claypool is an immediate piece you can plug right away. His presence makes all the other receivers better (most importantly Mooney). 

Peace

Plus they got roster certainty. They needed to upgrade at wideout and the reality is the draft class isn’t overly strong (on paper) and the free agent class is the same. This move, while steep, makes the entire wide receiver room a lot better and gives Fields a lot more. Quite frankly Mooney will benefit from this as will Claypool in terms of how they fit and now Pringle, Harry and Velus (and even St Brown) all fit in better too. And Kmet. 
 

Poles now can really let the draft and free agency come to him. I imagine they prioritize pass rush, center, interior dline and another wideout between draft and fa and I still kind of expect they will get some more picks by trading down a bit for a team looking for QB. 

[AZ54]

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I think he becomes WR2 pretty quick.  His game compliments Fields really well and can become a WR1 if they can build that connection.   

It's not just that his traits compliment Fields he compliments the rest of the WR group who are more intermediate route runners, or in Velus' case short routes.  I get that Claypool's route tree might not be complete, or elite, but as long as Getsy doesn't try to fit a square peg into a round hole he can do enough that it doesn't matter.  We have others like Mooney who can do a little of everything, which is part of what makes him tough to cover.   There's often a discussion about Mooney being a WR1 or not.  He's not elite in that sense and neither is Claypool but having two 1B WRs is a very good thing to have. 

Add in that our top WRs are all outstanding run blockers and defending against Fields on designed runs gets a lot more difficult.  Same for jet sweeps with Velus.  Defenders now have some big challenges figuring out what to key on with our plays and after watching the Dallas game film reviews it's obvious that led to many big plays against Dallas.  Claypool only makes that better.    

We've had some discussion on the WR draft talent this year, as well as FA.  Poles made it clear the lack of available talent played a factor in making this deal.  That doesn't mean there aren't good players but when the pool is small the odds of landing what you need goes down.  He decided it was worth paying now for the known commodity.    

[adam]

5 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Ha, was looking over some past conversations regarding Claypool on this board and found this gem.  From January 2021 when Adam posted:  “

The Bears could've drafted Claypool over Kmet (just like we said to) who would've replaced Burton as the "Adjustor". Look at what Claypool did in Pittsburgh. Could you imagine ARob, Claypool, and Mooney in 3WR sets.”  

 

Looks as though you got your wish Adam with getting both Kmet and Claypool and almost had the threesome you were dreaming about…until ARob left for LA.  

Woo hoo. I always felt Pace reached for Kmet instead of staying with the board and drafting Claypool. 

Claypool may be the best WR the Bears have now. I believe he is still younger than Velus too. 

[adam]

We also have another WR that is great at jet sweeps and has thrown a TD pass. 

Something to consider, the 2023 FA WR class is terrible, a bunch got extended this offseson. If Claypool was an FA, he would get Christian Kirk money, so this is pretty fair compensation. 

 

[AZ54]

This is old...  

https://steelersdepot.com/2020/06/chase-claypool-loves-blocking-because-its-almost-a-chance-to-play-defense/

 

[Stinger226]

Imagine being DBs playing against us and now have to worry about being blocked by WRs after your initial block on a play. I imagine it has some looking instead of focusing on a play. It probably will affect the run game as much as the passing game. Like having a added OT on run plays. 

[Mongo3451]

One more reason to like this trade is that if you factor how long it will take for a 2023 rookie to get up to speed, what good does that do for Justin?  I love all of the reasons everyone gave and the better part of it is that's not fluff.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Going into 2023, the Bears only had  Darnell Mooney and Velus Jones Jr under contract.  They now add Chase Claypool as another WR they have control of. They will still be players in FA filling out the position but they won't be over spending. 

Out of all the WRs in the NFL, who else could the Bear have traded for that would have costed similiar or less? I think they did alright, unless we look at Gordan vs other 2nd RD WRs like Pickens.

[Mongo3451]

It will be interesting to see who gets a contract from us between Pettis, St Brown, Harry and Pringle.  So far, Pringle is the only one to NOT make a big play.

[Stinger226]

I think ESB , Harry, Mooney, and Claypool are our core group with V Jones, Pettis, Pringle and who ever they draft having to proof themselves to get on the 23 roster.

[BearFan PHX]

When we come out in 3 and 4 WR sets, if the defense goes nickel or dime, we can run like a double TE set (or more) because these guys can surely block DBs. Come out in base, and we will throw deep.

I like where this is heading.

[Mongo3451]

To summarize the Claypool deal positives.

Downfield threat, jump ball threat, great blocker, hybrid size, elite speed for size, provides scheme flexibility, on rookie deal, under utilized due to QB's, bad FA class, developed vs adding draft pick, addresses a need, provides draft flexability, can throw the ball and lastly, we screwed the Packers!  Did I miss anything?  IMO, that's well worth an early 2nd, given the success rate of picks.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 minute ago, Mongo3451 said:

Did I miss anything? 

Watched his first presser as a Bear and I get the impression he’s a high character (smart) guy.  I’m already a fan.

And in case anyone was curious, he’ll be wearing #10. 

 

[BearFan PHX]

14 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

To summarize the Claypool deal positives.

Downfield threat, jump ball threat, great blocker, hybrid size, elite speed for size, provides scheme flexibility, on rookie deal, under utilized due to QB's, bad FA class, developed vs adding draft pick, addresses a need, provides draft flexability, can throw the ball and lastly, we screwed the Packers!  Did I miss anything?  IMO, that's well worth an early 2nd, given the success rate of picks.

Ha! Seeing it all there together in such a compact list, it seems all too easy. Go Poles!

[AZ54]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Ha! Seeing it all there together in such a compact list, it seems all too easy. Go Poles!

I think we should add that he was also under-utilized when they put him in the slot.  I don't know how ESPN calculates this stat but using it to criticize a guy who is just doing what he's told to do seems odd:

https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-trade-for-chase-claypool-expert-grades/. From ESPN grade:  

"Claypool is an OK receiver. He ranks 76th out of 102 wide receivers with at least 100 routes in yards per route run this season" 

It appears he was just being asked to be a big body possession WR this year which doesn't necessarily fit his physical traits in the best way imaginable.   At 6'4" with legit 4.4 speed and a 40" vertical leap you want to use him to challenge teams deep, at least I do.   With their QB situation did Pitt just try to give both QBs a consistent easy short read?

Unlike the Steelers, I believe he is here to take full advantage of Fields ability to accurately throw the ball deep, which marries up well with Fields' ability to extend plays.  I can't wait to see it play out.   

[Stinger226]

With several long balls that were just not caught by several WRs, had he been the WR, most of them would have been caught. What I found interesting was Fields stayed after practice and worked running routes with Claypool and going over the playbook. You have to love the effort Fields does trying to be better and being a leader. Anytime a player is available from another team, people value his good traits but we have to remember Pitt was willing to let him go. Why? I suspect they have Pickens going forward and found him expendable but why would they let him walk?

[Stinger226]

Andrew Philliponi was just on the score, a sports DJ from Pittsburgh. He ripped the whole trade with nothing good to say about Claypool. Granted he made some good points but to say he's complete trash is absurd. He said he was immature, wasnt a hard worker, and had a high drop rate. I looked at this year and he's catching at a 64% catch rate, not sure how that compares to other WRs in the league. If playing the slot on short passes, that is bad stat but as a deep threat, probably comparable. Pittsburgh is not known for letting good players let go, we will just have to see how this pans out. He didnt have great QBs this year in Pitt,  maybe with a better QB he excels. 

[Pixote]

54 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Andrew Philliponi was just on the score, a sports DJ from Pittsburgh. He ripped the whole trade with nothing good to say about Claypool. Granted he made some good points but to say he's complete trash is absurd. He said he was immature, wasnt a hard worker, and had a high drop rate. I looked at this year and he's catching at a 64% catch rate, not sure how that compares to other WRs in the league. If playing the slot on short passes, that is bad stat but as a deep threat, probably comparable. Pittsburgh is not known for letting good players let go, we will just have to see how this pans out. He didnt have great QBs this year in Pitt,  maybe with a better QB he excels. 

Agree, Great first year as a rookie. Had great numbers in year two. Both his first two years he had Big Ben at QB.

Then, here comes Mitch & Kenny as QB. The worse start for Pit under Tomlin as HC. Not Claypool's fault.

I think Pit sees a mini-rebuild and wanted some draft capitol. 

Anxious to see the Bears with Claypool in the lineup.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

8 hours ago, Pixote said:

Agree, Great first year as a rookie. Had great numbers in year two. Both his first two years he had Big Ben at QB.

Then, here comes Mitch & Kenny as QB. The worse start for Pit under Tomlin as HC. Not Claypool's fault.

I think Pit sees a mini-rebuild and wanted some draft capitol. 

Anxious to see the Bears with Claypool in the lineup.

I also agree with all this.  Especially the part about Pit being in a potential rebuild.  Probably wanted to get what they could for  a player like Claypool. Who since with the addition of Pickens, has been relegated to play other positions. 

Claypool did say they had been more recently tinkering with where he lined up.  He said although he didn't like (or feel as competent) from the slot, he appreciated the experience he was getting from playing all the positions.  Felt it would give him more experience where he may not have had he stuck simply to the X position. 

[BearFan PHX]

and he's cheap! $680K this year, and $1.5 Million next year total against our cap! The Steelers pay the rest!

Every year, every GM finds a free agent to fill all positions of need before the draft so they arent locked into a need that might not get filled. Often these Free Agents arent the best players, and drafted players will supplant them.

Sometimes you have to overpay to cover a position, like Glennon for example. But you offset it knowing the replacement is going to be on a rookie deal, so youve allocated the dollars to the position, just sort of inside out - who cares.

But this doesnt even cost us much. If we drafted a WR with the 2nd round pick, theyd be no better, and this guy has experience and is proven. And hes still on his rookie deal!

This kills a whole flock of birds with one stone:

1) add young WR talent with our 2nd round pick
2) sign a proven free agent at WR so youre covered going into the draft without risking having to reach
3) add talented young players on rookie deals to your roster
4) provide weapons to help Fields develop
5) get it done with minimum cap costs going forward
6) get ahead of the draft by 10 games to develop the WR and QB chemistry now, this year
7) add help in the red zone and gold zone
8 ) add blocking help for the run game
9) add chess pieces to the offense that force the defense into mismatches (LB = too slow, DB = too small)
10) audition young talented players in your system for a couple seasons before rewarding them with larger deals (or not)

This is a hell of a 2nd round pick, and 10 games early
 

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

and he's cheap! $680K this year, and $1.5 Million next year total against our cap! The Steelers pay the rest!

Every year, every GM finds a free agent to fill all positions of need before the draft so they arent locked into a need that might not get filled. Often these Free Agents arent the best players, and drafted players will supplant them.

Sometimes you have to overpay to cover a position, like Glennon for example. But you offset it knowing the replacement is going to be on a rookie deal, so youve allocated the dollars to the position, just sort of inside out - who cares.

But this doesnt even cost us much. If we drafted a WR with the 2nd round pick, theyd be no better, and this guy has experience and is proven. And hes still on his rookie deal!

This kills a whole flock of birds with one stone:

1) add young WR talent with our 2nd round pick
2) sign a proven free agent at WR so youre covered going into the draft without risking having to reach
3) add talented young players on rookie deals to your roster
4) provide weapons to help Fields develop
5) get it done with minimum cap costs going forward
6) get ahead of the draft by 10 games to develop the WR and QB chemistry now, this year
7) add help in the red zone and gold zone
8 ) add blocking help for the run game
9) add chess pieces to the offense that force the defense into mismatches (LB = too slow, DB = too small)
10) audition young talented players in your system for a couple seasons before rewarding them with larger deals (or not)

This is a hell of a 2nd round pick, and 10 games early
 

Good points, its culture changing for this year.