Matt Nagy Worked EXTRA Hard to Get Ted Ginn Jr. to Chicago

Ryan Pace has a track record of being fairly active in free agency after the draft. He loves to go hunting in the scrap heap for possible players who were passed over by the initial waves. One such name that landed in his lap was Ted Ginn Jr. The 35-year old wide receiver has had a long, productive career as one of the better third or fourth options in the NFL. A guy with legitimate deep speed and game-breaking return ability. Someone who also seems to have a big fan in Matt Nagy.

One of the mandates this offseason for the Chicago Bears head coach was clearly a desire to get faster on offense. That was evident in their drafting Darnell Mooney in the 5th round. He was a constant vertical threat at Tulane, boasting 4.38 speed. Then just days later, the team brought in Ginn as well. Just like that, they have two guys capable of stressing a defense deep.

Ginn Jr. told the Halas Hall Brawl podcast that Nagy worked hard to recruit him.

"Have I talked to Nagy? Sure I talked to Nagy. Nagy called me every day at one time. We'd talk about just thousands of different things. Really made a dude feel comfortable enough to come on up here and really want to play for him. Wore me down in that sense too."

Matt Nagy knows how Ginn can help the offense

Obviously the big benefit of Ginn is being able to produce some big plays down the field. He averaged a healthy 14.2 yards per catch during his three seasons in New Orleans. However, there is also the mere threat of his speed that can help. Secondaries will be forced to respect him, playing a little further back than normal. This will open up spaces underneath. Spaces that new tight ends Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet will be able to exploit. Not to mention Allen Robinson and Tarik Cohen.

This is exactly what Tyreek Hill does in Kansas City. Obviously Ginn isn't Hill but the idea is basically the same. Find a way to back defenders out of the box. The best way to do that is to threaten them with speed on the outside. With Ginn and Mooney, the Bears now have multiple guys that must be accounted for.