Before the New York Giants drafted Odell Beckham Jr and he became the star he is now known for his pregame warm-ups where he catches the football basically like a center fielder on a baseball field, the top-notch speed and the ability to turn it up in the open-field, there was another receiver who lit up secondaries by the name of Victor Cruz who was undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts and signed with the Giants and had a breakout year in 2011, became Eli Manning’s go-to guy and helped the Giants win a Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. He got a big payday and everything seemed to be going well. In 2014, Victor Cruz tore his patella tendon and was out for the rest of that season. Since that injury, he hasn’t been the same and in March of this season, the New York Giants decided to release him which I thought was the best move. Today, the second chapter of his career will start as he signed a one-year-deal with the Chicago Bears.
This isn’t a bad move at all and I’ll try my absolute hardest to explain and pitch the idea to Chicago Bears fans. He’s a six foot, 203-pound wide receiver that has the solid breakaway speed to gain yards or even score when the football is in his hands. He can play outside as your traditional wide receiver and get deep, he can run the drag route, he can go over the middle and he also has the versatility to play in the slot and that’s where he does his best work to me on the inside because he’ll see many one on one opportunities with a defensive back without the safety help over the top. He can catch the ball on screen passes and runs his routes with consistency and touch. He has the speed to get open off the line of scrimmage and he can catch the football in stride which can result in six points and the salsa dance which he does in honor of his late grandmother. I know injuries have been an issue with him these last few seasons, but if he can stay healthy, the guy I just broke down for you and described is the guy you’ll get.
He’s a veteran with championship experience that will be a good mentor to this Bears receiving core and this gives Mike Glennon a veteran presence that can make reliable catches when the team needs it. I see Victor being used a lot on third down and short yardage situations where he can make that catch to move the chains. This is a good move for the Bears.
