By Jeff Dickerson
Courtesy: ESPNChicago.com
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery isn’t the only member of the Chicago Bears’ 2012 draft class who is spending his offseason training with Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall in South Florida.
Last year’s fourth-round pick, fullback/tight end Evan Rodriguez,
arrived at Marshall’s brand-new Fit Speed Inc. training facility in
Weston, Fla., in mid-February to participate in workouts with his Bears
teammates and other NFL players recruited by Marshall, who is recovering
from offseason hip surgery.
Rodriguez’s decision to train in that environment seems like a wise one.
This figures to be an important season for Rodriguez’s development,
after he lined up primarily at fullback his rookie year. Touted as a
pass-catcher by Bears general manager Phil Emery on draft day, Rodriguez
managed to haul in only four receptions for 21 yards in 12 games (five
starts) in limited playing time. The Bears used Rodriguez an average of
19 offensive snaps per game, with a high of 32 snaps (52 percent of all
snaps) in the Bears’ Week 13 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The 6-foot-2, 239-pound Rodriguez showed NFL
scouts he had the ability to be a vertical threat during his final year
at the collegiate level, when he caught 35 balls for 479 yards and two
touchdowns.
But ex-Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice never incorporated
Rodriguez into that aspect of the offense. It also didn’t help matters
that Rodriguez suffered a knee injury in Week 3 that essentially
sidelined him for five games.
Even after Rodriguez returned to the field, he was barely
incorporated into the offense, despite the Bears’ glaring need for
somebody other than Marshall to be targeted in the passing game.
Safe to say Emery expects the new coaching staff to do a better job utilizing Rodriguez’s all-around skills.
“I think [Evan] is going to be used in a variety of roles until we
find the right role for him,” Emery said at the NFL combine. “Obviously,
he finished the year as a fullback. We felt by the end of the year he
had done a good job in there, but he also has other skills and we are
going to work through OTAs [organized team activities] and camp to bring
that out and find that right role. Whether it’s more at F [tight end],
or detached, or 'move' fullback, or 'move' F or as a fullback, he’ll
have an opportunity to display all his skills to our new staff.”
Even if the Bears pursue a tight end in free agency, as many expect,
Rodriguez is likely to be given an opportunity to stretch the field
when the club begins its offseason work next month. What Rodriguez does
with the opportunity is up to him, but Emery drafted him in the fourth
round for a reason.
NFL organizations that are able to sustain success usually have
several things in common, one of them being that their draft picks
produce, which saves them the hassle of finding more expensive
replacements in free agency. While the Bears certainly need to hit on
the majority of their 2013 draft picks and sign a handful of quality
free agents, former draft choices such as Rodriguez, Jeffery, defensive
end Shea McClellin and defensive tackle Stephen Paea need to elevate their game to the next level.
