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Chicago Bears 2015 Training Camp Profile: WR Alshon Jeffery

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Alshon Jeffery Chicago Bears

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2015 is the year we will find out just how good Alshon Jeffery is. 

After a breakout year in 2013, where Jeffery caught 89 balls for 1,421 yards and seven touchdowns for the Chicago Bears, people were expecting even bigger things in 2014. But after the team struggled on multiple levels last season, Jeffery didn’t make the strides most had expected. While he didn’t regress, he didn’t make the steps to go from a great receiver to an elite receiver.

Jeffery’s numbers plateaued last season. He did increase his touchdowns by three, but he caught four less balls, and his yardage dropped almost 300 yards. The most alarming stat is that Jeffery’s yards per catch fell from 16.0 to 13.3. John Fox and Adam Gase are going to hope that Jeffery’s drop in yards per catch was a result of a struggling offense that fell into the habit of Jay Cutler routinely dumping the ball off and not attempting to throw the ball down the field at all.

Jeffery had the benefit of being a No. 2 receiver for all of 2013 and part of 2014. Brandon Marshall was the clear-cut No. 1 receiver on the team and Jeffery didn’t become that until Marshall began to struggle last season due to injuries. Marshall is now a member of the New York Jets and Jeffery is going to be the key to the Bears’ passing attack.

Cutler will still have Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte as safety options this year, but Cutler is going to look to Jeffery to be the playmaker. When it’s 3rd and 9, it’s going to be Jeffery’s job to get open and make the catch and move the chains. That was always Marshall’s role in the offense and Jeffery must embrace that role and run with it.

The addition of Kevin White is an interesting one. Ryan Pace made him his first ever selection as the Bears general manager and the former West Virginia WR is going to be expected to be a big-play threat by Week 1. White has the potential to be an NFL superstar and form a potentially lethal receiving duo with Jeffery, but White isn’t going to just come in and demand the ball immediately. White is going to be eased into the offense and not be asked to do too much right away. Jeffery will be relied on more early in the season until White develops into his role.

Entering training camp, Jeffery has no concerns. He will be one of the two starting WRs on Chicago. Jeffery needs to focus on building chemistry with Cutler and use that to become one of the most feared receivers in the league. Jeffery has the size, hands and athleticism to become just that. Cutler has the arm strength to get him there.

Watching how these two are working together will be a fascinating watch through July and August, and will give you a good idea entering the regular season if the Bears are going to be able to stretch the field once again or remain trapped in the bad habit of only throwing short yardage passes with very little overall offensive production.

Bill Zimmerman is a featured writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.

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