Taylor Gabriel, WR, Chicago Bears
The former Falcon is settling into his new home on the revamped Bears offense and has been quietly getting run as the teams clear WR2. While rookie Anthony Miller garnered all the hype in the preseason, Gabriel is actually the one getting the work with 90% of the teams snap share through two weeks compared to only 56% for Miller according to FantasyPros.com.
Through two weeks, Gabriel is second on the team with 12 targets behind Allen Robinson’s commanding 21. Gabriel also ranks second on the team with 9 receptions. Whats interesting about Gabriel’s usage so far with the Bears is that he has been used a lot more in the short-to-intermediate range this season after primarily being a deep threat in his career.
Gabriel boasts a career average of 13.3 yards per receptions but is currently registering at 6.1 YPR. Despite being used in those short distances, Gabriel still currently leads the league in target separation per PlayerProfiler.com.
The last key note of Gabriel’s usage on the team is that he is currently tied for second on the team in red zone usage with both Trey Burton and Anthony Miller with 3 opportunities. All the ingredients are there for Gabriel to succeed, it just hasn’t quite come to fruition yet with his modest 9/55/0 stat line through the first two weeks. He will be a player to monitor closely as a key piece of an offense on the rise.
