NFL training camps are scheduled to kick off in two weeks, but with uncertainty surrounding the preseason and the league's safety protocols to combat COVID-19, it's anyone's guess whether practices will be delayed. But once they kick-off, the Bears will be banking on some of their younger players stepping up and assuming a larger role in 2020. Sleepers, if you will.
There are several players who fit this description, ranging from rookies like TE Cole Kmet and CB Jaylon Johnson to veterans like CB Artie Burns. But with such an emphasis on the Bears' passing game in 2020, second-year wide receiver Riley Ridley is trending toward being the sleeper to watch.
According to Bleacher Report, Ridley is a smart bet to step up as the third option for Nick Foles or Mitch Trubisky.
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Take Riley Ridley, who barely saw the field as a rookie fourth-round pick in 2019 but caught three of the four passes thrown his way for 54 yards in the team's regular-season finale. It was a good sign for the Georgia product that Chicago again didn't spend a high draft pick on a receiver and an even better sign when wide receivers coach Mike Furrey pumped up Ridley's tires last month.
To be fair, the Bears did invest in the position during the 2020 draft when they spent a fifth-round pick on Tulane's Darnell Mooney. Considering that Ridley was a fourth-rounder in 2019, the investment is pretty even and the competition between the two will be fierce. And don't forget about Javon Wims, either. In fact, Wims is a more direct threat to Ridley's ability to see the field because of their similar profiles. Mooney, meanwhile, is a burner who might take a little longer to adjust to the physicality of the NFL game.
Still, the point about Ridley's possible jump from rookie-season afterthought to legitimate weapon in 2020 is real. He didn't provide enough of an on-field sample last year to feel overly confident it will happen, but wide receivers often take a bit longer to settle into the kind of pro they'll be long-term.
Anthony Miller will begin the season as the expected WR2 alongside Robinson, but much like Ridley, he hasn't done much through the first two years of his career to suggest his success is a guarantee. And if he fails, it'll be Ridley who has the best chance to fill in as a well-rounded complement to A-Rob.