Players who have stood out in NFL preseason

#6 Javon Wims, WR, Bears

The Bears' front office brought in a bunch of new toys for quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the creative head coach Matt Nagy. Not only did they acquire veterans Allen Robinson, Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel, but they also drafted Memphis’ Anthony Miller in the second round and they might have found a gem in seventh-rounder Javon Wims.

My notes on him coming out of Georgia basically read “big body, good hands and defeats corners on several back-shoulder fades”. However, in his first few games of NFL action, he has looked much more dynamic than I anticipated him to. Wims leads all NFL players with 227 yards through the air this preseason on 15 catches.

Not only did 11 of his receptions go for first downs, Wims is also a big-play threat with two 40+ yards plays. He can hop-step and create separation out of his breaks on slant routes, tracks the ball exceptionally well, makes contested catches and even brought in a pass while getting up after falling to the ground.

What I really like about the rookie is that he immediately turns upfield once he secures the catch and constantly stretches out late to gain extra yardage when there’s room while holding on tight to the ball in traffic. Wims has displayed awareness for where he is on the field and has shown the ability to toe-tap along the sideline as well as in the end-zone. In addition to that, he has already displayed signs of understanding where to sit down or when to round off his routes versus zone coverage.

Outside of all those additions the Bears have made, I expect Tarik Cohen to be kind of a gadget player like Tyreek Hill was for Nagy in Kansas City and they still hope to see something from former top-ten pick Kevin White, but Wims has been outstanding so far.