Amidst a 38-20 blowout loss to their biggest rival, it’ll be hard to find much of any legitimate bright spots for the Chicago Bears. In fact, finding one of the handful of players who showed out well is probably more about seeking a hollow moral victory in a bleak outcome.
That said, veteran receiver Chase Claypool might have legitimately been the worst — or at least, the laziest — player on the field Sunday.
Not only did Claypool record zero catches for zero yards on two targets, but he was also the supposed lynchpin of an offensive game plan centered around receiver screens. And he failed, consistently, with some of the more lackluster blocking “attempts” you’ll see from any receiver in open space all season. No wonder the Bears’ offense never really got going.
Here are just a few examples of Claypool’s halfhearted routes and blocks, courtesy of The Messenger’s Mike Renner:
Pick 32 https://t.co/T1WJdH6s5c pic.twitter.com/MB636VIaov
— Mike Renner (@mikerenner_) September 11, 2023
Oof. At least he’s really good at selling flops, though!
Chase Claypool pulled a Marcus Smart pic.twitter.com/FIqzPMUtJi
— m (@downbadbears) September 10, 2023
It’s one thing to get outexecuted by the opponent, especially against a Green Bay Packers defense with eight first-round picks when healthy. But most of these plays look like Claypool is sleepwalking, playing at half-speed in a full-speed meaningful game.
Oh well. At least the Bears didn’t trade something like the No. 32 overall pick in a draft for Claypool or anything. Oh. Oh, right. They did. Oops. That trade looks demonstrably worse by the day.
This was how Twitter reacted to Claypool's lazy effort from Week 1
This effort should get Claypool on the inactive list… Just shameful. Also, if they were gonna run so many WR screens, why was ESB inactive? Blocking is what he does. https://t.co/CZ2eJ1YmAS
— Brad Robinson (@bradrobinson8) September 11, 2023
Remember when Florio said that Chase Claypool could get $30M a year from Chicago? https://t.co/nfWFsZPBMG
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) September 11, 2023
One of the underrated steals of the last few years by, well…
*ahem*
…the STEALERS https://t.co/Q8WPymzFBo
— DK (@dkarkots) September 11, 2023
There is a player on the Bears, and he’s just sleep walking out there. We all see it. He plays offense.
I’m not even gonna name him. If you’re watching, you know.
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 10, 2023
Clock is ticking on Chase Claypool. Could care less that he had a good training camp before getting hurt. https://t.co/8LjjsMVsl0
— Harrison Graham (@HGrahamNFL) September 11, 2023
Billy, this is Chase Claypool. He’s 6’4 240 pounds and runs a 4.4 40. The problem is he’s a horrible football player pic.twitter.com/JwCymbzHFT
— Dan (@carlosdanger06) September 10, 2023
Chase Claypool is softer than room temperature butter. pic.twitter.com/LWbXwq3I1t
— Brian Tollini (@tollini_brian) September 10, 2023
Bottom line, Chase Claypool plays soft for his size. And I don't give a damn about what anyone says. Trading for him was a terrible mistake. https://t.co/SMuqAUmXjG
— TW (@Tylow237) September 11, 2023
Chase Claypool should probably be a healthy inactive next week in favor of Equanimeous St. Brown.
In case you were wondering how bad he was yesterday.
— Christian Williams (@CWilliamsNFL) September 11, 2023
