Jeff King, Rising Star
Jeff King Continues to Impress
A former NFL tight end, Jeff King joined the Bears as a pro scout in 2016. Ryan Poles is on a mission this offseason to gut and restuff the Bears from the ground up and results are pending, he is doing a very admirable job right now. Part of his strategy is to evaluate the evaluators, he wants our scouts to be as dedicated and hungry as our coaches and players. To me, it seems like he is trying to go back to the smashmouth days of old, and I am here for it.
King has done an excellent job so far scouting out new recruits and Poles has said that «When we jumped into free agent meetings, he stood out to me. He took control of that pro staff. He had an eye for talent. He was a very good communicator. He saw value in players. We kicked it off pretty quick, and he's going to be valuable for this organization.»
The two actually played against each other in college. Poles at Boston College and King at Virginia Teach. King was a second-team All-ACC selection as a senior before being drafted in 2006 by the Panthers. He played seven seasons with the last two being in Arizona, in 108 games with 84 starts with 156 passes for 1,323 yards and 12 touchdowns. His personal circle includes Joe Schoen, Trent Kirchner, and Ryan Crowden, he built a lot of relationships in Carolina as he was always around other scouts.
King has been responsible for 13 unrestricted free agent signings this offseason, including. Trevor Siemian, Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown, Khari Blasingame, Lucas Patrick, Dakota Dozier, Ryan Griffin, Justin Jones, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Nicholas Morrow, Matt Adams, Tavon Young, and Dane Cruikshank. KIng loves free agency, he's a smart guy who goes after the minimum guy the third-round player that starts a whole season and brings value to the game. He understands players, he was a player, and he knows what to look for. The Bears have got it good with King doing his thing.
Article Written by: Joseph Scott King
