The Chicago Bears officially named Shane Waldron as the team’s offensive coordinator on Tuesday afternoon.
Waldron, 44, will get his second opportunity in the NFL to call plays during the regular season. The former Seattle offensive coordinator was the play caller the last three seasons for the Seahawks and also called plays during the preseason under Sean McVay in Los Angeles.
He will take command of a Bears offense that finished 27th in the league in passing yards per game (182.1), second in rushing yards per game (141.1) and 18th in points per game (21.2).
In order for Waldron to get the most out of his first season as the Bears offensive coordinator, general manager Ryan Poles must add more weapons on offense.
Last season, the Bears had two primary pass catchers in DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. Moore set career highs with his 96 receptions,1,364 yards and eight touchdowns. Kmet also had career-highs in receptions (73) and yards (719) and caught six touchdowns.
But after Moore and Kmet, there was a big dropoff in production. Darnell Mooney was the Bears’ third-leading pass catcher with 31 receptions for 414 yards and one touchdown.
When Waldron was with the Seahawks and also with the Rams when he was the passing game coordinator from 2018-2020, he’s always had two receivers lead the team in receptions and yards.
| Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns | |
| 2023 Seahawks (DK Metcalf — Tyler Lockett) | 66 — 79 | 1,114 — 894 | 8 — 5 |
| 2022 Seahawks (DK Metcalf — Tyler Lockett) | 90 — 84 | 1,048 — 1,033 | 6 — 9 |
| 2021 Seahawks (Tyler Lockett — DK Metcalf) | 73 — 75 | 1,175 — 967 | 8 — 12 |
| 2020 Rams (Cooper Kupp — Robert Woods) | 92 — 90 | 974 — 936 | 3 — 6 |
| 2019 Rams (Cooper Kupp — Robert Woods) | 94 — 90 | 1,161 — 1,134 | 10 — 2 |
| 2018 Rams (Robert Woods — Brandin Cooks) | 86 — 80 | 1,219 — 1,204 | 6 — 5 |
Waldron has been on teams when the third-leading pass catcher was a tight end. That was the case in 2019 with Tyler Higbee, 2021 with Gerald Everett and in 2022 with Noah Fant. In 2018, running back Todd Gurley had the third-most receptions and yards on the Rams.
Kmet as the Bears’ second-leading pass catcher in yards last season, falls short in comparison to all of the other No. 2 targets Waldron has worked with over the years. Now, that’s not to say that Kmet isn’t a good option, but the Bears need to add another dynamic receiver to complement and bolster the weapons that Chicago currently has on offense.
The Bears have two first-round picks in the top 10 in this 2024 NFL Draft: No. 1 and No. 9 overall. If the Bears do use the No. 1 overall pick on a quarterback, then that second pick in the first round could realistically be used on a wide receiver. Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers would make for great additions to this Bears offense.
Being the Bears’ offensive coordinator isn’t an easy job by any means. It will only take one stretch of bad games for fans to question if Waldron is the right man for the job.
So it’s important that Poles gives Waldron what he needs to be successful and a good way to start would be adding another true threat at the receiver position.
