According to the Chicago Sun Times, the Bears are giving former third round pick Earl Bennett every opportunity to start at wide receiver opposite Devin Hester this season. Bennett, mind you, is the same dropped-prone receiver who didn’t catch one pass last year because he was inactive for seven of the 16 games and couldn’t beat out stalwarts Marty Booker, Rashied Davis and Brandon Lloyd on the depth chart.

The Bears need to do something about their receiving corps and soon. Torry Holt has lost a step, but he would be an instant upgrade at the position and could serve as a tutor for guys like Hester and Bennett. Holt is apparently out of the country right now on vacation and won’t be visiting teams for the next couple days, but the Bears would be wise to get the 32-year old’s agent on the phone, like, now.

The draft is also littered with receivers and while I certainly don’t advocate the Bears taking one in the first round (everything GM Jerry Angelo touches in the first round turns to rabbit turd anyway), prospects like Hakeem Nicks (North Carolina) and Brian Robiskie (Ohio State) should be there in the second.

I had a chance to watch the scouting combine on the NFL Network in February and Robiskie was impressive. Out of all the receivers who worked out, Robiskie seemed to run the smoothest routes and was very fluid in his motions. He’s not the fastest prospsect (his 40 is a good but not great 4.51), but Robiskie is the son of an NFL assistant (Falcons’ wide receiver coach Terry Robiskie), so you know he’s received a fair amount of coaching throughout his playing career. The Ohio State product looks like one of the more polished receiver prospects in the draft.

Whatever route the Bears want to take in acquiring a receiver doesn’t matter. But they dramatically need to upgrade the position this offseason because I highly doubt Hester and Bennett give quarterback Kyle Orton the best chance of succeeding.