Kellen Davis (Photo Credit: Getty Images, By: Doug Pensinger)
(CBS) The Bears leading receiver at the tight end position last season was Kellen Davis, who caught just 19 receptions.
New Bears tight end coach Andy Bischoff, who came with head coach Marc Trestman from the Montreal Alouettes, said the team is looking for a pass-catching tight end.
“We need a tight end that can threaten the defense,” Bischoff said. “We need a tight end that can create stress in the middle of the field, or wherever we place him, because we’re going to line him up next to the tackle and we’re going to line him up outside the numbers and we’re going to line him up in the backfield and we’re going to expect the defense to figure it out.
“And so we need a receiver who can catch the ball and we need a receiver who can block enough to be lined up in the backfield if we put him in there. In answering your question, yeah, absolutely we need a tight end that can catch the ball. The days of the tight end that blocked and ran flat routes in this league are coming to an end. The guys that just run three-yard flat routes, that is not going to do anything for you.”
In 2012, Saints tight end Jimmy Graham caught 85 passes working with new Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer.
“We’ve utilized the tight end in this offense quite often,” Kromer said Thursday. “We’d surely like to be able to throw the football to them. We’d like them to be able to block somewhat in the running game. They’re not going to be an offensive lineman blocking but definitely the more weapons you have the better off you are.”
