Will Rome Odunze, selected by the Bears in last week’s draft, be the player to finally break Johnny Morris’ franchise record for career receiving yards?
Associated Press
Draft weekend seemed to go fairly well for our Bears.
True Bears fans can’t help but wonder how this could all go wrong, though, since it often does. One post-draft interaction was particularly troubling.
It was a radio interview featuring No. 9 pick Rome Odunze, and made the rounds on social media. Odunze phoned into “The Parkins & Spiegel Show” on WSCR 670-AM and was asked if he knew about the Bears’ career receiving yards record.
Odunze, a Las Vegas native, was not aware. The radio hosts informed him the team’s leading receiver is Johnny Morris with 5,059 career yards from 1958 to 1967. Laughter ensued, loud guffaws.
The Bears’ Johnny Morris (47) played from 1958 to 1967 but he still holds the franchise record for career receiving yards.
Associated Press
Look, this isn’t funny.
For all the stupid stories about the Curse of the Billy Goat and other cute ways to excuse incompetent management, the Bears’ wide receiver curse might be real.
Nothing against Morris, who had brilliant careers in football and broadcasting, but there’s been a thick, impenetrable glass ceiling at 5,000 receiving yards. Plenty of wideouts have been well on their way to reaching that mark, then faded away and left town.
Think about how many receivers should have shattered this record. Alshon Jeffery had two 1,000-yard seasons in his first three years after being drafted in 2012. But the Bears sent him to greener pastures with the Eagles.
Darnell Mooney could have been the guy to break through, but his career went like so many other Bears receivers — a 1,000-yard season, drop-off, then change teams. He’ll now choose between catching passes from Kirk Cousins or Michael Penix in Atlanta.
Curtis Conway left as a free agent after seven years with the Bears. Marty Booker was traded to Miami after five seasons, then didn’t do much in a return stint. Both those players had a pair of 1,000-yard seasons in Chicago.
Marcus Robinson had one amazing season in 1999, then was slowed by injuries. Allen Robinson didn’t last. Willie Gault played more games for the Raiders than Bears. Brandon Marshall ranks 24 the on the NFL’s career list, but got the quick hook from a lot of teams.
Here’s a quick illustration of where this total sits in NFL history. The all-time receiving leader is Jerry Rice with 22,895 yards. According to pro-football-reference.com, Morris’ total does not rank among the top 250 in NFL history, falling 550 yards short.
That means, on average, every NFL franchise has about 10 players with more receiving yards than the Johnny Morris 5,059.
The NFL entered a new era of passing success in the mid-70s when rule changes limited defensive back contact. It continued to grow as pass offenses evolved.
The Bears did not enter that new era. Their second-leading receiver is Harlon Hill, who played from 1954-61.
It’s easy to say the reason so many receivers failed to deliver is because the Bears have never had a great quarterback. Yeah, OK, they drafted the wrong guy 88 years in a row (except Sid Luckman, of course) seems a little far-fetched, too.
This is a group effort. Caleb Williams, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and left tackle Braxton Jones might be in a three-way tie for most important ingredient this fall. If the play-caller doesn’t utilize the QB’s strengths or if the QB gets jumpy in the pocket because he doesn’t trust the pass protection, well, you know the rest.
There may have been some merit to the Bears loading up on defense in this draft. The defensive line and defensive backs will have plenty of questions when the season begins.
But at least the Bears finally decided to join the modern NFL. What they have going is really unprecedented — a No. 1 overall draft pick QB, with a loaded receiver room, featuring Odunze, D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen.
How could this go wrong? Not sure, but it usually does when the Bears are involved.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports