Part 4 in an 11-part review of the 2017 Bears season

Every team finds reasons for optimism throughout the offseason and the Bears were no different last spring.

But as they went through OTAs and minicamp in June, the Bears had natural concerns about their wide receivers. Things turned out to be worse than they could have imagined after Cameron Meredith was lost for the season in the third preseason game at Tennessee with a torn ACL and Kevin White, the 2015 first-round draft pick, did not make it out of the season opener against Atlanta, suffering a broken scapula that ended his season after two catches and 6 yards.

The Bears didn’t expect they would be able to bring back Alshon Jeffery in free agency after choosing not to place the franchise tag on him for a second year at a cost of $17.5 million. The decision was sound as Jeffery battled soft tissue injuries for a second consecutive contract year and missed four games while suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. The greater issue is they weren’t able to replace Jeffery and White could not step up and remain healthy. They tried but couldn’t attract higher-tier wide receivers in free agency with an unknown quarterback situation and coming off a three-win season. Kenny Stills turned down more money in free agency to sign with the Dolphins. Ted Ginn Jr. did the same to sign with the Saints. My guess is there was maybe another target or two they tried to land and didn’t. It’s not like they set out into free agency with Markus Wheaton at the top of their shopping list.

Coach John Fox also lost his wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson following the 2016 season. Johnson, the former Tulane head coach, had signed only a one-year contract but the Bears expected him to remain and he caught the club off guard when he bolted to join Sean Payton’s staff in New Orleans after the Bears coached in the Senior Bowl. That led to the hiring of Zach Azzanni, the team’s third receivers coach in three years, and he went through a bizarre situation in training camp when he claimed he’d sat down with White to watch college highlights in order to bolster his confidence.

“He forgets (about how good he was) sometimes,” Azzanni said in Bourbonnais.

That turned off White, who said he was watching highlight films with Wright and Victor Cruz, and that Azzanni was scripting plays while this happened, not leading a confidence-building session for the former West Virginia star. Detrimental? Not really. Bizarre? No doubt.

Roll call: Kendall Wright (unrestricted free agent), Dontrelle Inman (unrestricted free agent), Josh Bellamy (restricted free agent), Markus Wheaton (signed through 2018), Tanner Gentry, Kevin White (signed through 2018 with club option for 2019), Cameron Meredith (restricted free agent), Deonte Thompson (no longer with club), Tre McBride (no longer with club)

2018 salary cap figures: Wheaton $5.75 million, White $5,270,060, Gentry $555,000

2017 season review: Wright, who had played well for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains in Tennessee previously, was productive in the final four games with 26 catches on 38 targets to reach 59 receptions for 614 yards for the season making him the only wide receiver on the roster with at least 25 catches for the season. The last time the Bears had only one wide receiver with 25 catches or more was 1986, a different era, when Willie Gault had 42 catches and the next closest receiver was Keith Ortego with 23. Alas, the Bears ran the ball for 2,700 yards that year. For Wright, it was a question of opportunity. He was targeted only 30 times in the seven games leading into his strong finish. Once Mitch Trubisky started looking for him more, he started putting up numbers, including a season-high 10 catches for 107 yards in the Dec. 10 blowout victory at Cincinnati. When the slot receiver, a middle-of-the-road slot receiver at that, is far and away the top producer, it’s a sign the passing game has issues and that was one of the challenges Trubisky and before him Mike Glennon faced. To wit, Wright had only one reception of 20 yards or more on the season, a 22-yard grab at Green Bay in Week 4.

Photos of Bears wide receiver Cameron Meredith.

The Bears made a series of moves at the position and tried a variety of players. McBride was claimed off waivers from the Titans at final cuts but he proved to be mostly ineffective. The team finally gave up on Deonte Thompson, releasing him Oct. 11 when he’d failed to provide a spark on special teams. That didn’t look so good when he went to the Bills, another club desperate for receivers, and had 27 catches for 430 yards, including a 107-yard effort in his first game for Buffalo. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking Thompson was or will be a long-term solution for anyone though. Gentry, who created a little buzz for himself in training camp and preseason, got a shot but he simply couldn’t get open. Gentry appeared in four games and logged 182 snaps but was targeted only six times, making three catches for 35 yards.

The failures of others consistently led the Bears back to Bellamy, who’d been so prone to dropped passes in 2016 but did a little better job securing the ball. Bellamy had the speed and explosiveness to actually get open and that led to him catching 24 passes for 376 yards, a nice average of 15.7 yards. Again, not a player you want to think about as a solution but he was a little more reliable than he’d been in the past.