Victor Cruz: Anything Left?

[thebeast]

My takeaway from this signing is that the Bears hate Glennon.

[Shoreline Steamers]

Patellar tendon tears are the end of the road for players on my roster. It is a sad thing but it is an injury that they haven't quite figured out how to get the player back to 100% from. I hope that patellar tears will soon be spoken of in the same light as ACL and MCL tears, where most players can get back to performing at a similar level after rehab. IMO Cruz is only on a roster (real life or fantasy) because of name recognition by fans. Let someone else clog their bench with him.

I hope you're just being hyperbolic. He wasn't just on a roster, he was on the field for over 70% of the snaps last year. You don't get that kind of playtime based solely on name recognition.

And you could say he's an outlier, but Jimmy Graham looked pretty good in 2016 coming back from his Patellar tear. If Roto is to be trusted (questionable, I realize) the news on Kevin White hasn't exactly been glowing. Perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention but I didn't realize he'd severely messed up his ankle in addition to the spiral fracture. I'm really questioning what Chicago will even get out of him at this point.

For such little investment, and on a pretty wide open WR depth chart I think Cruz is worth a flier if you've got room at the end of your bench. He may have competition for targets, but has shown more than Wright or Wheaton ever have in their careers. Perhaps being another year removed from his rehab we'll see a slightly better version of Cruz than we got in 2016. It's inexpensive or possibly free in some leagues to find out. Admittedly though, the money says the Bears value the trio as Wheaton #1 and Wright/Cruz as a toss-up for #2/#3.

If White's not ready, or just face plants, maybe one of Wheaton/Wright/Cruz finds themselves playing on the outside opposite Meredith.

[thebeast]

If White's not ready, or just face plants, maybe one of Wheaton/Wright/Cruz finds themselves playing on the outside opposite Meredith.

Honestly though, is it likely to matter? I would rather use my waiver priority / bb $ on another player, even free there are probably better fliers to fill out your roster.

[Shoreline Steamers]

If White's not ready, or just face plants, maybe one of Wheaton/Wright/Cruz finds themselves playing on the outside opposite Meredith.

Honestly though, is it likely to matter? I would rather use my waiver priority / bb $ on another player, even free there are probably better fliers to fill out your roster.

It's a fair question, as I'm completely in the dark as to what that offense will even look like. Can Glennon be a competent QB? If not, do they rush Trubisky? Can Meredith really function as a WR1? Admittedly Wheaton/White/Cruz are all castoffs from other teams and I'm not sure there's a lot of "upside" to any of them.

But as Ericanadian pointed out, Cruz still saw 70% of the snaps for the Giants in 2016. If he wins a predictable role with the Bears he might just be a spot start in 2017. Not that he'd be an ascending player, but one that could be useful for BYE's and injury.

But I do agree with you Beast that Cruz doesn't excite me much. Neither do Wheaton or White for that matter. Someone's going to have to catch passes there though, even if they're not an enticing option.

[ArrylT]

How many people were excited about Pryor or Britt last year? Or even DMC 2 years ago. Not saying that Cruz will do what they did just that this is how you miss on production (by having bias or lack of interest in a veteran who has a proven history of production).

So if you have room and the capital to acquire him at a reasonable price then why not take the shot?

[Plank]

Wright is one of Dowell Loggains guys (1,000yd season with him at TEN), I expect him to get a good opportunity ..

[Jason]

If Cruz did nothing with 70% of the snaps in the Giants offense, do we really have high hopes for him doing more than nothing in the Bears offense? It's telling that he lasted this long on the open market, I think he's JAG at this point with the injuries and age, and Bears signed a ton of WRs for him to have to compete with too and quite frankly I don't think he has a chance to beat Kendall Wright out for slot duties so he's basically a backup if he makes the team.

[lukkynumber13]

I decided to put a $1 bid in for him... what the hey.

[BuckeyeNation]

I decided to put a $1 bid in for him... what the hey.

....and that's the attitude we should have with these types of fringe stashes this time of year. We're not talking about going out and trading for Cruz or dropping a young upside player for him, we're merely looking at stashing them at the end of our rosters if we have the room to do so. Some people have the open roster spots to do so, some don't.

Like someone else said, people were saying the same things about Pryor / Britt last year. Most of these veteran stashes don't amount to anything, but sometimes they hit. What I like about these types of stashes is that you won't have to tie up a roster spot for a long period of time. You'll usually have the verdict by the start of the season and then you can dump them. They aren't the type of deep stash that you may need to hold onto for a year or longer to know what you have with them.

[ninotoreS]

Cruz has an outside shot to be a WR3 fantasy play in Chicago. White may be an epic bust, and Meredith is intriguing but unproven. It's not exactly an intimidating depth-chart for a veteran to shove his way to the top of.

If Chicago goes base 3-wide and allows Vic to live in the slot, he might not be quite as done for as people think. He still runs good routes. The roto blurb narrative is that Cruz was slow last year, but I'm not sure how a slow WR averages 15 yards a catch in the NFL. I haven't crunched Cruz's '16 tape to be sure one way or another, but suffice it to say that I'm leery of the blurb 'takes' in this case (and in many cases).

[whodunnit]

I actually think Cruz could end up being the no.1 WR in Chicago. White continues to look like a bust and Meredith proves to be JAG, It could all line up perfectly for Cruz

[ninotoreS]

If Cruz did nothing with 70% of the snaps in the Giants offense

39 catches for the second highest YPR mark of his career. It wasn't enough to matter in fantasy, but neither was it 'nothing'.

It was a given Cruz wouldn't make fantasy noise last year playing behind the league's best or second best WR and the most pro-ready rookie in last year's WR class taking ownership of Cruz's customary slot position in 3-wide sets. 39 catches was a pretty decent tally, considering, especially with Eli Manning only barely cracking 4k yards passing and posting his lowest Y/A in nearly a decade. Despite the hype, the Giants passing attack last year wasn't exactly a feast.

[Sterling Archer]

I actually think Cruz could end up being the no.1 WR in Chicago. White continues to look like a bust and Meredith proves to be JAG, It could all line up perfectly for Cruz

... continues to look like a bust after 4 NFL games.

Cruz is a slot receiver. It's very unlikely he'll be the #1 WR in Chicago. As someone else mentioned, Wright has history with the OC and he's looked good at times. I think Cruz will be lucky to be the #1 slot WR in Chicago. Hell, he got beat out by a rookie in NY last year and I think Cruz was as healthy last year as he's going to be in 2017. Unless people think Chicago will be a 4500 yard passing offense, I don't see any reason to roster Cruz. He'll be turning 31 during the season.

[ninotoreS]

Slot receivers can be #1 receivers in today's NFL, though. In fact, the best year of Cruz's career (2011), he lined up primarily in the slot. Something like 70%-80% of his snaps, if I vaguely recall correctly. He's always been at his best lining up there.

There's a few different reasons Cruz's numbers dropped off after 2011 (the biggest was Eli Manning playing some of the worst football of his career in '12 and '13), but one of them was that the Giants asked Cruz to line up more often on the perimeter instead of in the slot, and he was never as effective on the perimeter. The question is how often will the Bears actually use 3-wide sets.

As for Wright, I'm not holding my breath with him. Wright doesn't have better speed than even post-injury Vic Cruz, and he's never had much route craft. This is why he only had the one good season in Tennessee. He's too slow for the perimeter, and he just doesn't have the necessary savvy against zone-coverage to be a truly great slot-receiver. Wright was good in 2013 when Tennessee had no one else to throw to and the coaches subsequently let him 'improvise' most of his routes, but he's been exposed since then as a limited technician.

He'll be turning 31 during the season

That isn't terribly old for a WR. What matters is whether or not he's truly lost his explosion from the patellar injury, not his age.

[whodunnit]

I actually think Cruz could end up being the no.1 WR in Chicago. White continues to look like a bust and Meredith proves to be JAG, It could all line up perfectly for Cruz

... continues to look like a bust after 4 NFL games.

Cruz is a slot receiver. It's very unlikely he'll be the #1 WR in Chicago. As someone else mentioned, Wright has history with the OC and he's looked good at times. I think Cruz will be lucky to be the #1 slot WR in Chicago. Hell, he got beat out by a rookie in NY last year and I think Cruz was as healthy last year as he's going to be in 2017. Unless people think Chicago will be a 4500 yard passing offense, I don't see any reason to roster Cruz. He'll be turning 31 during the season.

You must not have seen those 4 games White played in. Couldn't run an accurate route to save his life. He's not that good. Fact of the matter is the Bears WR competition is wide open.