There was a second, again in 2021, that ought to have given the Bears an extended pause earlier than buying and selling for Chase Claypool, if not put them off him solely. But then, as we’ve established, the Bears are incapable of constructing good choices.
On December 10, 2021, Claypool was a star large receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had rallied again from being down 29-0 to Minnesota in the third quarter, trailing by only eight factors with a little bit over two minutes remaining in the recreation. Then-Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger tossed a 38-yard bomb to Claypool. The Steelers stormed all the technique to Minnesota’s 34-yard line, making it fourth-and-one with 45 seconds left in the recreation and no timeouts remaining. Roethlisbeger hit Claypool once more for the clutch first down, only to look at helplessly as Claypool stood there after the catch, taunting the protection whereas treasured seconds ticked off the clock. Finally, an offensive lineman snatched the ball away from Claypool, however the injury was performed. Pittsburgh finally ran out of time on the Vikings’ 12-yard line. Final rating: Minnesota 36, Pittsburgh 28.
Did I point out that Claypool had been benched by head coach Mike Tomlin in the first half of the identical recreation for a silly private foul?
Claypool nonetheless completed that recreation with eight catches for 93 yards, and that’s together with the time he was using the pines as a result of he aggravated his head coach.
And therein lies the conundrum with Chase Claypool, a man generally known as a lot for his Tik Tok dancing off the subject as his play on it.
“It’s a different era,” Claypool as soon as stated. “Social media is a big part of our era. So, I got to build a platform for myself. It helps me off the field. No doubt about it, on the field will always override the off the field, in terms of marketing and all that. The most important is on the field. But I was playing my best football when I was making TikToks. People want to get on me and talk about my TikToks, but as soon as I stopped we started losing.”
This is the man the Bears traded what would find yourself being the thirty second choose in the 2023 NFL draft for again in November of 2022. By June of 2023, Claypool was already carrying out his welcome. Those who’re near Halas Hall began dropping hints that the teaching workers was sad with Claypool, that he lacked self-motivation.
The Bears and Claypool haven’t precisely made lovely music collectively. By Week One of the 2023 NFL season, Claypool, who had been coping with accidents, was put “on notice” by the Bears coaches that he wanted to step up his effort on the subject, after being held with no catch towards Green Bay. Claypool appeared to bounce again in Week 2, operating crisper routes than the earlier week, however by Week 4, Claypool was making his lack of satisfaction recognized to the public. The large receiver grew to become the newest Bear to name out the teaching workers, responding, “No,” when requested if the Bears had been utilizing him to the better of his skill. Last week, QB Justin Fields additionally appeared guilty the coaches for his “robotic” play earlier than rapidly strolling his feedback again.
So right here we’re, in Week 4 of the NFL season, and Chase Claypool is a wholesome scratch. And whereas he deserves criticism for his lack of effort, which is a professional motive to sit down him, Claypool is as a substitute sitting as a result of he answered a query about this clown present of an organization actually. Is Chase Claypool giving it 100% on the market? No. Do the Bears have any form of a legit NFL-caliber offense (or protection) going on the market? Also no. And that’s a far larger downside.
There had been undoubtedly warning indicators about Claypool earlier than the Bears went out and gave up a high-second spherical choose for him, however he’s a symptom of the issues at Halas Hall, not the trigger. Head coach Matt Eberflus seems like a deer in headlights each Sunday, the Bears DC simply resigned amidst a swirl of rumor and innuendo, and the workforce’s promising younger QB is beginning to look an terrible lot like the promising younger QBs that crashed and burned earlier than him. The fanbase’s hopes immediately are pinned on whether or not the Bears can beat the hapless 0-3 Broncos. Meanwhile, we don’t even know if the Bears will play in Chicago in just a few years’ time.
The Bears have each proper to sit down Claypool for being an ass, and he in all probability deserves it. But their issues go a lot deeper. At this level, it’s tempting to need the workforce to lose out and get that prime draft choose, however God is aware of what they’d wind up doing with it. Probably commerce it to Bill Belichick for some magic beans.
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