It didn’t take Cincinnati wide receiver Tyler Scott long to rattle off the names of Bears greats.
The converted running back used to watch Gale Sayers footage. Dick Butkus was one of his dad’s favorite players. His dad, as it turns out, looks so much like Mike Singletary that people stop him and ask if he’s the Hall of Fame linebacker.
He leaned into Bears history after they took him Saturday in Round 4.
“I just wanted to be a part of something great like that,” he said.
If he checks as many boxes at his position as he did in the Bears’ history list, he’ll be just fine. Until then, Scott knows that some critics view him as a one-dimensional speedster.
“Yeah, I hear quite a bit in this process of me being a raw receiver,” he said. “Me being someone who on film is not necessarily the most technical, but someone who is still learning the position.”
That’s where coaching comes in, general manager Ryan Poles said.
“Do you have the tools that you can’t teach?’’ Poles said. ‘‘And that’s speed, so he has one box checked. Then the player himself and the work ethic and the time they’re going to put into the details. . . . I know with good coaching and hard work that he’s going to put in, too, that he can take that next step and add the details of route-running with the speed. And that will be a deadly combination.”
He joins a receivers room that includes DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool, Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis and Velus Jones. The Bears will only keep five or six on their game-day roster.
A new QB
The Bears got a quarterback after all Saturday. Minutes after the draft ended, they agreed to sign Tyson Bagent, a 6-3 passer from Division II Shepherd University. Bagent threw 159 career touchdowns, the most of any player in the history of the NCAA, and set a Division II record with 17,034 career passing yards.
Shepherd announced the deal. Poles wouldn’t comment specifically on Bagent, whom the Bears had yet to officially add, but said it’s important for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and position coach Andrew Janocko to develop quarterbacks.
“I know Luke and Andrew, and those guys do a great job trying to get those guys to improve their game and get better,” Poles said.
This and that
The Bears agreed to sign Arizona defensive lineman Jalen Harris, a source said. Harris is the son of former linebacker Sean Harris, who played with the Bears from 1995 to 2000.
Harris, whose dad also went to Arizona, started 12 games in each of the last two seasons. He set career highs with 57 tackles and 7½ tackles for loss last year.
† Poles reiterated that he believes the Bears are “in good shape” with Cody Whitehair moving to center and Lucas Patrick backing him up. Neither seems to be a cut candidate in the wake of the draft.
