Windy City Gridiron
It’s that time of year again, folks: padless football is back in action, and us football-starved junkies can’t help but be glad. (That’s all we get to hold us over for the next month until training camp starts. Plus, it’s way more fun to think about than whatever’s going on with the Chicago Bears’ stadium saga.)
And, despite every impulse telling us not to read too much into it, you can’t deny it’s nice to see third-round rookie Zavion Thomas pop up with a highlight play or two in the few glimpses we’ve gotten of the Chicago Bears during this off-season phase.
At one point during OTAs, Thomas got loose for a long sideline grab from QB1 Caleb Williams and later showed off his speed on a screen pass during minicamp. On a team with a lot of good skill players, from Rome Odunze on down to D’Andre Swift, there’s no denying someone like Thomas simply looks different.
Football is not a game you win just by being fast. But speed in the right hands can kill, and that’s what head coach Ben Johnson was thinking when he reached for Thomas with the 89th overall pick in the draft.
“If we can harness all this energy and make sure that we can trust him and that he’s going to align where he needs to and run the route the way we need him to, we really could use him, and he could be a big weapon for us this year. But that’s what we’re trying to harness right now,” Johnson told reporters of Thomas. “I think he’s developing the work ethic that we expect, not only from a receiver, but from anyone on offense, or the team.”
Thomas was certainly a curious pick at that stage, given the other, much more polished prospects available in the third round. But the reasoning for drafting him (at some point) is obvious: with a coaching staff that can develop him, he has the potential to become a game-changing weapon in the slot, out of the backfield, and in the return game.
The Bears have possession receivers (Odunze), matchup nightmares (Colston Loveland), YAC monsters (Luther Burden III), and a stable of solid running backs in Swift and Kyle Monangai. What they don’t have? A straight-up burner. Though Thomas isn’t likely to be Tyreek Hill or even Jameson Williams, whom Johnson oversaw the drafting of while with the Lions, his 4.28 40 time and toughness with the ball in his hands is tantalizing (if he can consistently catch it).
Of course, that’s the thing: looking good in OTAs and minicamp, or even the first few days of training camp, doesn’t guarantee success.
As a former Patriots beat reporter, I’ve watched Tyquan Thornton show signs of production in minicamp and training camp, only to eventually disappear and get traded away from the team. And while he looks like a more traditionally functional player than Velus Jones Jr., it’s hard to completely disregard that comparison. Speed always...
