(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The running joke around the NFL has been the Chicago Bears, the place where WR's go to die.
This has been true in the past to some point, but hopefully things are slowly changing in Chicago.
A good example of this statement occurred when the Bears signed WR Mushin Muhammad prior to the 2005 season.
Muhammad was coming off a season in which he was arguably the best WR in the league in 2004.
He caught 93 passes for 1,405 yards and 15 touchdowns. His yardage and TD catches were tops in the NFL. After signing a contract to become a Bear, Muhammad topped 800 yards receiving just once while totaling only 12 TDs in three full seasons.
Mushin decided to go back to Carolina following the 2007 season and proceeded to catch 65 passes for 923 yards and five TDs in 2008.
Bernard Berrian was drafted by Chicago in the third round of the NFL draft in 2004 and was the best WR the Bears had in a long time.
In 2007, which was his last year in a Bears uniform, he had his best season, catching 71 passes for 951 yards and five TDs. His 951 yards receiving were good enough to rank him 13th all-time in Bears history.
He led the team in catches 10 times that season and receiving yardage in eight of them. Berrian had the best season in 2007 for any Bears receiver since 2002, when Marty Booker went for over 1,000 yards receiving.
He seemed to be peaking, and many times it takes young WRs three or four years to really breakout.
So with the conventional wisdom of GM Jerry Angelo, it seemed time to let Berrian walk. Chicago failed to match division rival Minnesota's offer following the 2007 season and Bernard was a Viking.
For good measure, Berrian decided to rub Angelo's nose in it, and when the Vikings came to Chicago on Nov. 31, he tied an NFL record by catching a 99-yard TD pass. Berrian has continued to blossom for the Vikings and led the NFL last season with an average reception of 20.1 yards.
Bernard also did something last year that not even Minnesota future Hall of Famers Randy Moss and Cris Carter ever accomplished. He caught three TD passes that were over 80 yards.
Why Angelo ever decided we didn't need Berrian anymore is beyond any sane thought. If it wasn't bad enough that we lost our best young WR, we get to have the pleasure of him torching us twice a year with our division rival Minnesota.
So that pretty much brings us up to speed with the recent history of the WR position in Chicago.
Before the start of the 2008 season, Angelo decided to make up for the loss of Muhammad and Berrian by bringing back former Bear WR Marty Booker and signing Brandon Lloyd.
Lloyd ended up having the better season of the two (if you could call it that), and finished with 26 catches for 364 yards and two TDs. Booker caught only 14 passes for 211 yards and two TDs.
To say that these two guys didn'y exactly set the world on fire would be the understatement of the year.
Following the season, both were released, and that brings us to our current group of WRs in Chicago.
The Bears are currently led by WR Devin Hester, whom they drafted in the second round out of Miami in 2006.
He was originally drafted as a cornerback and played there before switching to WR before the 2007 season. Hester is the most electrifying returner in the NFL and scored 12 kick return TDs in his first two seasons with the Bears.
After making the switch to WR in 2007, Hester caught 20 passes for 299 yards and two TDs despite having a limited role.
In 2008, which was his first season as a full time WR, Hester improved, posting 52 catches for 665 yards and three TDs. Hester began to emerge during the second half of last season, catching 25 passes for 347 yards in the final six games after compiling 26 receptions for 318 yards in his first nine contests.
His production improved after he gained a firmer grasp of the Bears' offense. If the Bears are going to be successful this season, Hester's continued improvement will be the key.
Without a true deep threat, emerging RB Matt Forte will face wave after wave of eight-man fronts.
When asked of his continued development he said, "It is important for me to play like a No. 1 receiver, that’s my biggest goal. I feel like I have the ability to play as a No. 1 receiver, and I’m feeling real good and confident."
As of today, last year's third round pick from Vanderbilt, Earl Bennett, will be given every chance to start opposite Hester. Bennett had a tremulous rookie year in which he failed to catch a single pass.
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