Scott will have to battle for a roster spot this training camp.
When the Chicago Bears drafted Tyler Scott in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, there was a lot of excitement. Scott was projected by draft experts to go somewhere between the second and third round, so when he fell to the fourth and Ryan Poles scooped him up, there was plenty of reason to applaud the pick.
But as Scott’s NFL career began in 2023, his speed was always on display, but there were plenty of struggles elsewhere. Scott had a hard time holding onto the football, not just catching the ball as a wide receiver, but catching the ball as a kick and punt returner, a role that the Bears expected him to excel at.
With Scott struggling in those areas in 2023, Scott saw a greatly reduced role in 2024. After seeing 439 snaps on offense in 2023, that number was reduced to 20 in 2024. On special teams, Scott’s snap count went from 55 to 35. He was also a healthy scratch in multiple games.
Wide receivers who are towards the bottom of the 53-man roster need to be able to play special teams to cement their spot on the roster. They can do that as returners, or they can do that as gunners (think Josh Bellamy), but when the receiver can’t do either, he needs to be one of the team’s top 3 receivers (at least top 4), or he’s going to find himself without a role.
Entering 2025, Scott’s competition at the wide receiver spot is much more difficult. With the draft selection of Luther Burden, there’s no way Scott can be considered for one of the team’s top three spots. Olamide Zaccheus is slated as the WR4 on the roster right now. He consistently has been on the field for 40 to 70% of the offensive snaps at his previous stops (a number you would expect to be lower this year with the amount of weapons the Bears have), and he averages around 25% of the special teams snaps as well. There’s little to no chance Scott unseats Zaccheus for the fourth spot.
At this point, we are looking for guys who are battling for roster spots. The fifth wide receiver will be on the 53 come September, but can Scott beat out Devin Duvernay, who is already assumed to be the Bears’ main kick returner and their top punt returner as well? Duvernay hasn’t had much of an offensive role the last couple of seasons in Jacksonville and Baltimore, but he’s regularly used in special teams, returning both kicks and punts every season of his NFL career.
With the expectation that the Bears use a lot of 12 personnel with Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, there’s a good chance the Bears only carry 5 wide receivers on their 53-man roster. If they do carry six, you can make a strong argument that the WR6 would be Miles Boykin over Scott, who has far better special-teams skills as the gunner-type of player.
What does Scott have that these other players don’t? Speed, speed, and more speed. Scott has 4.4 speed, which is good, but he is incredibly quick at the line of scrimmage and has fabulous acceleration.
This team doesn’t have someone to stretch the field. Yes, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze can be deep threats, but they aren’t the type of guys to just take the top off of a defense. Scott can do that, but to be effective at it, he has to be able to reliably catch the football, and he needs to show that he’s good enough at it to warrant those opportunities, and thus a roster spot.
Scott is in for an uphill battle out of training camp, due to his deficiencies on special teams. If Scott doesn’t make the roster, it’s probably a long shot he would even get stashed on the practice squad because of his inability to play special teams.
Scott has attributes that scouts loved, but they haven’t materialized at the NFL level. He could still develop, so it’s tough to give up on a player after just two seasons, but after Scott trended in the wrong direction in 2024, it’s hard to imagine he finds an expanded role in 2025 and will very likely not be on the roster come September.