Surprise Name Tops The Athletic's List of Best Bears in Training Camp

The Chicago Bears have had a pretty strange offseason. They traded a fourth-round pick for Nick Foles and moved long-time wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to running back, for example.

But the weirdest part of the offseason was the team's focus on tight ends. Despite dealing with limited cap space and draft capital, the team invested in the position heavily, signing Jimmy Graham to a $16 million deal and spending their first pick on Notre Dame TE Cole Kmet.

Though the focus on the position was perplexing to some, the decision has already paid dividends, according to one Bears beat writer.

Adam Jahns, of The Athletic, ranked Graham as the best player in Bears training camp thus far. Interestingly, the second-best name on that list was Kmet.

Chicago ran 12 personnel on just 11 percent of its plays last season. The resources spent on the position, and the performance of the new additions so far could point to a lot more two-tight end sets for this team in 2020. Plus, 55 percent of the Bears' pass plays out of 12 personnel were deemed successful, which is a huge jump from the 45 percent success rate in 11 personnel (three-WR sets).

If Graham and Kmet keep tearing it up in camp, expect this team to use heavier formations next year.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.