Why do some Bears Fans resist having 'too much' talent?

It began the first night of the NFL draft when the Bears selected Michigan TE Colston Loveland with the tenth overall pick. Some fans speculated that drafting Loveland must mean TE Cole Kmet would be traded.

While the unexpected pick surprised many, Bears general manager Ryan Poles, head coach Ben Johnson, and even Cole Kmet himself confirmed that adding Loveland didn't signal that Kmet was losing an important role in the offense.

Ben Johnson spoke about his vision for the Bears' offense, which includes featuring both pass-catching TEs, playing to their complementary strengths. This shouldn't be a surprise for a play caller who ran 12 personnel at the third-highest rate in the NFL last season.

And while Johnson has been adamant that Chicago's offense will be built from scratch and not a direct replica of the Lions' offense, some Bears fans are outright rejecting the idea of two TE pass catchers being featured because "that's not how it was in Detroit with LaPorta as the primary target."

It's like they are seeing Johnson's lips move, but not listening to what he is saying.

It continued on the second night of the draft. More chatter kicked up that the days for WR D.J. Moore were numbered after the Bears selected Mizzou WR Luther Burden III.

The argument went that because Burden shared Moore's strength of yards after catch ability, DJ Moore was suddenly too expensive and expendable within the Bears offense.

Perhaps this was partly influenced by some fans turning sour on Moore's occasional discouraging body language on the sideline during last year's disappointing and dysfunctional season. But it's a wild conclusion to draw about a WR1 who has averaged more than 1,150 receiving yards in his two seasons with the Bears because of a highly talented, unproven draft pick yet to play a snap in the NFL.

Yet as the off-season has rolled on, conversations about trading Kmet and/or Moore haven't lost much steam among some.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with speculation and questioning by fans.

• Sky-high expectations and excitement around Loveland and Burden is wonderful, as both have incredibly high ceilings and bright futures. One or both may end up surpassing their veteran counterpart someday.
• At the same time, both will have a rookie learning curve to traverse. And both missed important practice reps in OTAs recovering from injuries, putting them behind and having to play catch-up in training camp.

But when the speculation defies logic and becomes rife with unwarranted negativity, it stops being productive.

Here's where it gets even odder.

1, As the offseason has continued, some fans continue to pit these Bears players against each other. They praise the rookie and seem to relish dunking on the veteran. As if only one of the two players at each position could possibly be successful.

Here's the problem. That's not how it works, nor how you win games in the NFL.

The more success both players at the same position have, the better. Sure, they compete for target share. But especially in a Ben Johnson offense, multiple receivers will see plenty of targets. Lions QB Jared Goff had several games where he threw to 5 or 6 different targets in Detroit, and each had multiple completions.

And a wide range of dangerous targets on any particular play are harder to cover. That's part of how Johnson expands production, resulting in more yards, more scoring and ultimately even more target opportunities for the receivers. Offense is not a zero-sum game. The pie expands with the more talent you have.

2. Some Bears fans seem resistant to Ben's approach before even seeing him call a single game. Fans were universally beyond ecstatic when Ben Johnson agreed to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears and create a modern NFL offense.

Yet, as Johnson constructs his first roster in lock-step with Ryan Poles, some fans seem more concerned about depth chart pecking order and wanting them to export talent ─ rather than being excited about the sheer potential of deploying all this talent or having enough roster depth to weather injuries.

These fans have short memories.

It wasn't that long ago when Bears fans would have been thrilled with even half of this receiving talent. And downright giddy thinking of all of it. Just three seasons ago, the 2022 Bears WR room was ranked 32nd in the league.

And that same season, the WR room took a huge hit with injuries to multiple players. Only two of the 9 receivers ─ Equanimeous St. Brown and Dante Pettis ─ were healthy for every game that season. The 134th and 189th-ranked receivers in the NFL were functioning as WR1 and WR2 for multiple games.

That's part of how you end up with a 3-14 record. Not where a team with playoff aspirations wants to be again.

The Chicago Bears have come a long way in this turnaround journey. The roster is stronger and deeper. But there is more work to do.

As fans, let's celebrate and cherish all the talent we have. Let's live in the now and cheer for the team and success under Ben's leadership. And let's first start winning regularly and make the playoffs before we keep talking about trading meaningful and important contributors away.