Don’t look now, but Darnell Mooney is winning the “race to 1,000.”
When the Bears traded for Keenan Allen in the offseason and drafted Rome Odunze ninth overall to join DJ Moore, general manager Ryan Poles had put together a wide receivers room of unprecedented quality at Halas Hall — three players whose talents complemented each other well and would force defenses to pick their poison. They couldn’t double-team all of them.
The idea was to give rookie quarterback Caleb Williams the best chance for a fast start. And immediately, all three receivers were thinking big, with Moore and Odunze in particular envisioning a healthy competition that would take the Bears’ offense to new heights — not only a race to the 1,000-yard mark but the possibility all three could get there. The order didn’t matter.
It wasn’t pie-in-the-sky, and it still isn’t. Heading into Game 5 against the Panthers on Sunday at Soldier Field, the Moore-Allen-Odunze troika is what all things on offense seem to forever be at Halas Hall: the dreaded work in progress.
Through four games, Moore (22 receptions, 189 yards, one touchdown), Odunze (10-166, one touchdown) and Allen (7-48, no touchdowns) have combined for 39 receptions for 403 yards and two touchdowns. Texans receiver Nico Collins has been more productive by himself: 43 receptions for 489 yards (16.3 average) and two touchdowns. (Is it worth mentioning that his quarterback is C.J. Stroud?)
It’s still early, but it’s uncanny how any story involving Bears wide receivers, no matter how hopeful, is always more problematic than expected. Last year, Moore connected almost immediately with quarterback Justin Fields upon arriving at Halas Hall and had the best season of his career. But the chemistry Fields had with Mooney disappeared just as fast, and Mooney had the worst season of his career. (Whatever ailed Mooney is gone with Kirk Cousins throwing to him. He has 24 receptions for 330 yards and three touchdowns in five games with the Falcons — on pace for 82 catches for 1,122 yards and 10 touchdowns.)
A year after Moore jelled so quickly with Fields, he’s struggling to find the same magic with Williams. The two have miscommunicated on pass plays, and suddenly an anti-diva receiver who was a breath of fresh air in 2023 has had to explain bad body language, facial gestures and fits of frustration.
Allen, whose acquisition in March seemed like another masterstroke by Poles, is off to a slow start that might or might not be a red flag. He arrived in Chicago coming off a career-best season with 108 receptions and 95.6 yards per game. Now, at 32, he has missed 13 of his last 38 games — the last six with the same heel injury.
Odunze, 22, had a knee issue that slowed him the first two games. He responded with six receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. But last week, his big highlight was being open 25 yards downfield for what could have been a 70-yard touchdown, only for Williams to throw a 10-yard pass to tight end Cole Kmet in the flat for a first down.
No matter how rosy the outlook, no matter how good the quarterback prospect is, no matter how good the receivers are, the development of the Bears’ offense always seem to be on a loop. So far, the only harm is expecting too much too soon. But the sooner the “race to 1,000” begins in earnest, the better.