How will Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson decide to fill out the bottom of the roster on offense?
For this next training camp battle, let’s take a deep dive and look at the bottom of the roster construction on the offensive side of the ball.
Before we examine the bottom of the wide receiver room specifically, we need to consider how the offensive roster is constructed. To do that, we will start with the premise that the Bears will keep 25 offensive players (most teams keep 25 on offense, 25 on defense, and a kicker, punter, and long snapper).
I think it’s a safe bet that the Chicago Bears will keep 3 QBs, 4 RBs, 5 WRs, 3 TEs, and 9 OL. That’s 24 guys, so who will be the 25th? The Bears could keep a 5th running back (Ian Wheeler), they could keep a fourth tight end (Joel Wilson), they could keep a 10th offensive lineman, or they could keep a sixth wide receiver.
It’s important to lay that out to understand that not only are Myles Boykin and Tyler Scott competing against each other for a spot on the 53-man roster, but they are also competing with the bottom of those other position groups as well.
If the Bears decide to go out and trade for a veteran running back, odds are they will keep five running backs, and this conversation becomes less relevant, but the Bears haven’t done that, and there are no signs that they are going to do that anytime soon.
When you look at the bottom of the roster, guys, almost all of them fall into two categories: guys who contribute on special teams or young players that the team is hoping will develop.
If Boykin makes the roster, he certainly will make it as a special-teams contributor. Boykin will turn 29 this fall. he was once a third-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2019, but after two seasons of trying to make it work with him offensively, his role was greatly reduced in his third season, and he was released that following offseason.
The Pittsburgh Steelers scooped Boykin off waivers and used him primarily as a special-teams player. He played that role for two seasons. After that, the Steelers let him walk. Boykin spent last season on the Seattle Seahawks‘ practice squad.
With the log jam of offensive talent at the top of the wide receiver room, Boykin’s ability on special teams is his path to the 53-man roster. What he does offensively in training camp is almost irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what kind of offensive skills he flashes. Do we really think he’s going to take snaps away from DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, or even Olamide Zaccheaus?
Tyler Scott’s path to the 53-man roster is murkier. Scott was selected in the fourth round just two seasons ago, and the pick was universally applauded for great value. But Scott’s rookie season was not a successful campaign.
The Bears had thoughts that Scott could develop into a nice return specialist, but he struggled to catch the ball on punts and kicks and was too unreliable for that role. The Beas thought he could be a deep threat, but Scott showed on multiple occasions that he doesn’t track and adjust well to the deep ball.
After those struggles in his first year, the Bears eliminated those roles from him, and, while he made the roster last year, he spent almost the entire season on the bench.
After playing nearly 500 total snaps as a rookie, Scott saw that number reduced to 55 total snaps in just 11 games (he was a healthy scratch for the other six). In short, Scott had no role last year.
If Scott can’t define a role for himself this training camp, the odds that he remains on this roster are small. Like we said earlier, the bottom of the roster is either developmental guys or special teams guys. We know Boykin was a special-teams guy, last year, Scott was a developmental guy. Do you hold onto a player as a developmental piece and eat up a precious spot on the 53-man roster for a guy in year three?
The Bears have picked up Devin Duvernay to handle return duties, but Scott’s best path to making this roster is showing that he has developed into a reliable return man. He could backup Duvernay or perhaps even push for his spot if he could create that role for himself, but the odds of that happening seem small.
One other aspect that can’t be ignored here is something that is important to Ben Johnson: blocking. Miles Boykin is considered a solid blocker, but Tyler Scott is not.
If it feels like I’m building a one-sided case for Boykin to make this roster over Scott, I would have a hard time arguing against that, but at the same time, I can say that it’s not being done on purpose.
It’s just hard to find a role for Scott on this roster at this point. If Scott doesn’t show significant improvement as a special-teams player in training camp, can you keep a WR6 (best-case-scenario WR5) with little to no special-teams skills when the path to him seeing offensive snaps is so small?
It’s simply hard to imagine that a new coaching staff would look at Scott and want him to take a roster spot in a developmental role when there’s so much depth in the wide receiver room anyway.
Taking it a step further, if neither of these players makes the 53 because the Bears choose to keep an additional player at another position group, would both be candidates for the practice squad?
You can make the argument that Boykin would be the better player to stash on the practice squad because if there’s an injury, you can call him up to the 53, and know he can contribute on special teams.
Even if Scott is the better wide receiver on offense, stashing him on the practice squad, you would need injuries to three key offensive pass catchers for Scott to even be relevant. You would have to be in a situation where two wide receivers and either a third receiver or one of the Bears’ tight ends are all injured at the same time. If that’s the case, the Bears have bigger concerns than whether Tyler Scott can contribute.
When I assess this training camp battle, I think Boykin has a serious leg up on Scott heading into camp. I think Boykin either makes the 53 or ends up on the practice squad, depending on how the Bears want to construct the roster, but unless Scott has made significant improvements this offseason, it’s hard to make a case where Scott remains with the team.