The Chicago Bears know how the top of their wide receiver depth chart will look. D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Luther Burden make up the first four spots. That leaves two open. One name that has put together a strong month of training camp to this point is Jahdae Walker. The undrafted free agent from Texas A&M had a decent college career but never stood out. He’d have to change that in Chicago. Things got off to a great start with a touchdown in the preseason opener against Miami. After that, though, he seemed to fade away.
That is, until the final two minutes of the preseason finale in Kansas City. Chicago trailed 27-22. They needed a touchdown from their own 13-yard line to win with 1:29 left. Tyson Bagent fired a pass down the sideline to Walker, who corralled it with an insane toe-tap while falling out of bounds.
It wasn’t over yet. The Bears moved the ball down the field until they reached the six-yard line with seven seconds left. Bagent knew he had to go to the end zone. He went to Walker again, who beat excellent coverage to catch a perfectly-placed ball for the go-ahead score.
Jahdae Walker had one moment left to come.
On the ensuing kickoff, he was the one who made the tackle as time expired to preserve the victory. Three big plays in the span of less than a minute and a half. Two were on offense, and the other was on special teams. There is literally no better case a player can make for earning a roster spot. Jahdae Walker did everything asked of him. He practiced well and made big plays in big moments. Those are the types of players the Bears want on their roster. What happened in college doesn’t matter. Many eventual NFL stars never excelled in the collegiate ranks for various reasons. Walker can play. It is on the Bears to give him the opportunity. If anybody has earned it at this point, it is him.
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