We have a few more training camp battles to look at as the Bears are getting close to reporting to camp. This next battle, if I had to guess, will be the one that Chicago Bears fans will be most interested in throughout July and August.
It’s the battle to see who emerges as the team’s WR3 between Jahdae Walker and Kalif Raymond.
Walker emerged as a fan favorite after a stellar training camp and preseason. As a UDFA, he had a steep hill to climb to make the 53-man roster. But climb it he did. The Bears thought so highly of Walker that they didn’t want to risk putting him on the practice squad. They kept him on the 53 and for good reason.
Walker was inactive for 7 of the first 12 Bears games, and when he played, he only saw six offensive snaps total. But as the season shifted into December, Walker earned opportunities on the offense, and he made it count. Walker had six catches, including 2 touchdowns (and a critical game-tying touchdown against the Green Bay Packers), while earning 78 snaps. Olamide Zaccheaus had 61 snaps over those last three games, and Walker started pushing OZ for snaps for the WR4 spot.
Come playoff time, Ben Johnson went with the veteran, and Zaccheaus was active, and Walker was not. But Walker made it clear that he was going to be pushing for more playoff time in 2026.
The Bears let OZ walk after the season and traded DJ Moore, which opened up the door for Walker to potentially be WR3, but the Bears went out and signed someone who has familiarity with Ben Johnson and his offense, former Detroit Lion Kalif Raymond.
Raymond’s production has definitely dipped over the last two seasons in Detroit. Raymond had 500 yards receiving over the last two seasons after averaging over 500 yards per season from 2021 to 2023.
Raymond, whether he’s WR3 or WR4, will have a role on this team because he will also contribute on special teams, but he and Walker are going to vie for that WR3 role.
Now, to be fair, that role will not be as prominent in Chicago as it is on other teams. The Bears will feature a lot of 12 personnel with Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, but not only that, you can expect 13 personnel with rookie Sam Roush as well.
For some teams that sit in 11 personnel, that WR3 will be on the field for 75 or 80% of the snaps. For the Bears, the WR3 this season may only be on the field for 40% of the snaps, but that’s still going to be plenty of opportunities in this offense.
You would have to think that the Bears would want Walker to take this job and run with it. Teams would always prefer their young players to earn jobs away from veterans, but they never want to hand the jobs to them; they want them to earn them.
Walker definitely has places to improve. He needs to add muscle; he needs better blocking technique, but he’s already made significant progress in one year. Can he make more significant progress this year? I would expect that to happen.
What do I think happens here? I think this situation plays out like Luther Burden and Zaccheaus did last year. In 2025, Rome Odunze and DJ Moore were the WR1 and WR2 on the team, OZ was the team’s WR3, and eventually Burden took over as he got more comfortable in the offense.
This year, I expect Odunze and Burden to be the team’s top two WRs, and I expect Raymond to be the team’s WR3 out of the gate in September, but I think Walker will continue to improve and he will take over for Raymond at some point in the season and secure the WR3 status in Chicago.
Fans might get frustrated when they don’t see Walker getting significant snaps in September, but be patient; Walker’s time certainly feels like it’s coming.