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  6. article_body => "<p>With the Bears approaching free agency with a dearth of cap space and little draft capital with which to work, improvements from within look like the team\u2019s best route to building on the tremendous success achieved in 2018. There are plenty of obvious candidates to make those necessary strides: Mitch Trubisky, Roquan Smith, Anthony Miller, James Daniels, Adam Shaheen \u2014 essentially, most draft picks from the last few years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the Bears\u2019 2018 class of free agents, perhaps, hasn\u2019t reached its full potential yet either (outside of Cody Parkey, who will be released next week). One guy to target out of that group: Allen Robinson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Robinson was targeted 94 times over 13 games in 2018, catching 55 passes for 754 yards (13.7 yards\/reception) with four touchdowns. He saved his best game for the wild card round of the playoffs, in which he caught 10 of 13 targets for 143 yards and a touchdown, with 33 of those yards coming on two catches that set up Cody Parkey\u2019s ill-fated double-doink missed field goal. Those 143 yards set a Bears playoff record.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Robinson\u2019s numbers may not have been eye-popping, especially in a year in which 37 players had more yards than he did. But Robinson\u2019s production came under some tough circumstances: He not only hadn\u2019t played in a year after tearing his ACL, he wasn\u2019t able to fully participate in OTAs or minicamps during the spring, robbing him of important opportunities to learn the route concepts of Matt Nagy\u2019s offense and develop timing and chemistry with Mitch Trubisky.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Being able to enter OTAs in a few months at 100 percent is the first step for Robinson\u2019s growth within the Bears\u2019 offense in 2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being able to go into OTAs and training camp and having that time period to be at 100 percent, to be able to condition myself for a whole season, just being able to prepare a lot better,\u201d Robinson said after the season. \u201cBeing able to not be just worried about getting back on the field and playing and running routes at about 60, 70, 80, 85 percent. Being able to do that at 100 percent and getting those 100 percent quality reps is going to be big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bears are the only team in the NFL to not have a player top 1,000 receiving yards in the last four seasons, with the last guy to do so for the franchise Alshon Jeffery in 2014. Robinson, perhaps, could be the guy to break that streak in his age-26 season, though he\u2019ll have to stay healthy to do it (he missed three games in 2018 for a variety of ailments).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>General manager Ryan Pace will add some pieces to the offense \u2014 he specifically mentioned finding more explosiveness \u2014 but&nbsp;improvements from guys already on the roster, like Robinson, will be critical to the Bears\u2019 staying power atop the NFC North.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s refreshing to look at the depth chart and not be overwhelmed by all the needs everywhere,\u201d Pace said. \u201cNow we can pinpoint and tweak and fine-tune and that\u2019s exciting to do that with Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n"
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Bears

Bears

With the Bears approaching free agency with a dearth of cap space and little draft capital with which to work, improvements from within look like the team’s best route to building on the tremendous success achieved in 2018. There are plenty of obvious candidates to make those necessary strides: Mitch Trubisky, Roquan Smith, Anthony Miller, James Daniels, Adam Shaheen — essentially, most draft picks from the last few years. 

But the Bears’ 2018 class of free agents, perhaps, hasn’t reached its full potential yet either (outside of Cody Parkey, who will be released next week). One guy to target out of that group: Allen Robinson. 

Robinson was targeted 94 times over 13 games in 2018, catching 55 passes for 754 yards (13.7 yards/reception) with four touchdowns. He saved his best game for the wild card round of the playoffs, in which he caught 10 of 13 targets for 143 yards and a touchdown, with 33 of those yards coming on two catches that set up Cody Parkey’s ill-fated double-doink missed field goal. Those 143 yards set a Bears playoff record. 

Robinson’s numbers may not have been eye-popping, especially in a year in which 37 players had more yards than he did. But Robinson’s production came under some tough circumstances: He not only hadn’t played in a year after tearing his ACL, he wasn’t able to fully participate in OTAs or minicamps during the spring, robbing him of important opportunities to learn the route concepts of Matt Nagy’s offense and develop timing and chemistry with Mitch Trubisky. 

 

Being able to enter OTAs in a few months at 100 percent is the first step for Robinson’s growth within the Bears’ offense in 2019. 

“Just being able to go into OTAs and training camp and having that time period to be at 100 percent, to be able to condition myself for a whole season, just being able to prepare a lot better,” Robinson said after the season. “Being able to not be just worried about getting back on the field and playing and running routes at about 60, 70, 80, 85 percent. Being able to do that at 100 percent and getting those 100 percent quality reps is going to be big.”

The Bears are the only team in the NFL to not have a player top 1,000 receiving yards in the last four seasons, with the last guy to do so for the franchise Alshon Jeffery in 2014. Robinson, perhaps, could be the guy to break that streak in his age-26 season, though he’ll have to stay healthy to do it (he missed three games in 2018 for a variety of ailments). 

General manager Ryan Pace will add some pieces to the offense — he specifically mentioned finding more explosiveness — but improvements from guys already on the roster, like Robinson, will be critical to the Bears’ staying power atop the NFC North. 

“It’s refreshing to look at the depth chart and not be overwhelmed by all the needs everywhere,” Pace said. “Now we can pinpoint and tweak and fine-tune and that’s exciting to do that with Matt.”