Daurice Fountain should see playing time with Chicago Bears

Jul 28, 2021; St. Joseph, MO, United States; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Daurice Fountain (82) runs the ball during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 28, 2021; St. Joseph, MO, United States; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Daurice Fountain (82) runs the ball during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bears signed former Chiefs wide receiver Daurice Fountain to their practice squad earlier this week.

On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs granted the wishes of wide receiver Daurice Fountain to be released from the team. On Wednesday, after only two days, Fountain had found a new home, this time with the Chicago Bears, who announced the signing of Fountain to the team’s practice squad.

Just like that, Fountain’s fortunes had changed (and not all for the better, of course, given the success levels of each team at present). But Fountain had made it clear that he wanted a path to playing time, and that was just not happening for him with the Chiefs. In Chicago, however, he has a real opportunity.

While in Kansas City, Fountain was nothing short of a model citizen and solid performer when given a chance. He joined the team well over a year ago and went on to surprise the team during the ’21 preseason with an exemplary preseason marked by strong efforts in practice and standout production in games. In the end, however, all that fanfare only led to two active games played with a sole focus on special teams.

This year, Fountain came back, but a remade wide receiver room created a greater logjam and Fountain found himself stuck on the practice squad once again. Even as a special teams performer, he’d been passed over by the likes of Marcus Kemp, which meant he was sitting inactive each Sunday through seven weeks.

There are no guarantees ahead of Fountain and no one knows that better than the veteran receiver, but the Bears have every reason to give Fountain a chance to make an impact. The Bears have been enduring criticism for their lack of pass-catching options for Justin Fields back before the offseason even started, and yet general manager Ryan Poles did very little to assuage those worries. His lone draft pick, Velus Jones, was an older third round pick who has caught two total passes so far.

Beyond Darnell Mooney, the Bears are barren at wide receiver. Equanimeous St. Brown has caught 50 percent of his 20 targets and Dante Pettis’s stats are worse than that. Former Chiefs WR Byron Pringle is on injured reserve, and the Bears are hoping New England castoff N’Keal Harry can show something in a new environment. Altogether as a list, many fans would likely be surprised some of these very players are still active in the NFL.

Basically the bottom line is this: Fountain knows there’s only so much time where his athletic skill set might still make him some generational wealth. Being in Kansas City is nice for all of the intangibles—coaching, winning, culture, fans—but those things cannot add that extra zero on the end of his earnings. That’s not to say that the Bears can provide that either, but at least the door should be wide open there for someone to step up for Justin Fields and surprise the team in the second half.

Fountain has landed right where he wanted if securing a future payday was the goal. Now it’s up to him to seize that brass ring.

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