Top 25 most important Bears in 2022: No. 25 Equanimeous St. Brown

Shaw Local is counting down the top 25 most important Bears for the 2022 season.

What makes one player more important than another? That’s subjective, of course. But for our purposes, it comes down to this: Are the Bears worse off if this player can’t play? Does this player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?

For example, Justin Fields might not be the best player on the Bears in 2022 (or maybe he will be), but he certainly is among the most important.

No. 25 Equanimeous St. Brown

Position: Wide receiver

NFL experience: Fifth season

Last year’s ranking: N/A

Looking back: St. Brown signed with the Bears on a one-year deal in March. New Bears general manager Ryan Poles went searching in the bargain bin at receiver, and St. Brown was one of the players he pulled out. The 2018 sixth-round draft pick by the Packers played in 13 games for Green Bay last season, making two starts. A promising rookie season (21 receptions for 328 yards) never materialized into anything more. St. Brown is yet to match those rookie numbers. An ankle injury kept him out during all of the 2019 season. He was healthy during the past two seasons, but he simply wasn’t much of a difference-maker for the Packers.

Last season, St. Brown totaled nine receptions for 98 yards. He did see significant additional playing time on special teams.

Looking forward: At 6-foot-5, 214 pounds, St. Brown gives the Bears some significant height at receiver. He is the biggest target for Fields outside of the tight end position. St. Brown comes to Chicago having previously worked with new Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy while Getsy was the QB coach in Green Bay.

Bears fans have reason to hope there could be untapped potential there. What that might look like in reality is anybody’s guess. At receiver, the Bears have Darnell Mooney and a pile of question marks. They need some of those question marks, like St. Brown, to step up and make some noise.

From St. Brown’s perspective, this is a new year that comes with a change of scenery. If his career is ever going to take off as an offensive weapon, it has to happen soon.