| To: roto who wrote (7244) | 6/28/2024 10:39:38 AM | | From: Augustus Gloop | | | | << To me, when I watched McMahon I expected a great game... he took us to the Super Bowl in his 3rd year
In Nov'86, Green Bay literally ended his career with their assassin's cheap shot. From late '86 & on he wasn't the same.>>
I think the guy's name was Charles Martin and what he did was wrong and unacceptable. He should have been cut after the game and left in Chicago.
Mac's game was cocky, attitude & swag. He was a perfect fit for Chicago AND a Mike Ditka led team. He wasn't a gifted passer but he knew how to rally the team. As I look back now, I realize that the Bears team of '85 was never going to last and become a dynasty. There were just too many BIG personalities involved and Ditka wasn't going to reign it in because he knew that was their edge.
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| To: The Ox who wrote (7148) | 7/10/2024 10:49:39 AM | | From: Investor2 | | | | What do you think about the Bears' two 1st round draft picks failing to sign contracts? It's starting to bother me.
Best wishes,
I2 |
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| From: roto | 7/26/2024 10:43:03 PM | | | | | | .. been a couple of weeks !!
Bears camp: Caleb Williams steps into middle of first scuffle, fires TD in hurry-up
By Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns
5h ago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The pushing and shoving didn’t stop between tight end Gerald Everett and defensive ends DeMarcus Walker and Montez Sweat until Caleb Williams stepped in.
That’s right, the rookie quarterback — the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft — stepped in.
He grabbed Walker and shoved him in the middle of the team period on Friday.
The Chicago Bears’ first padded practice of camp continued after that.
GO DEEPER
Bears camp: Center battle set to heat up, defense wins the day vs. Caleb Williams
“It’s good, man,” Walker said. “Obviously, he doesn’t want to see his OGs going at it. But, I mean, it gets raspy out there. It gets rowdy. I’m very proud of Caleb for how he’s been holding himself, and he’s been continually just carving his craft just every single day.”
Sometimes that means showing some leadership and stepping into a burgeoning fracas among his teammates.
“That’s my quarterback,” center/guard Ryan Bates said. “I love that. I love that mentality. He’s got to be smarter, though, because we can’t have that. God forbid anything happens. But I love when he stepped in there and got in the middle of it. That’s who he is. He’s a chippy guy. He wants to get in there. He wants to compete.”
As Bates said, staying healthy remains the priority. Tight end Cole Kmet and others soon pulled Williams away from the kerfuffle as practice resumed.
“We love a little feisty, like getting scrappy,” center Coleman Shelton said. “It’s part of the culture. Knock it forward. We’re always moving forward. We’re moving together. Eleven as one.”
Hurry-up offense
The offense got the ball at the 35-yard line with 80 seconds to go in an end-of-half situation as practice wrapped up Friday. A screen to Roschon Johnson for 8 yards got things started, but the Bears faced a third-and-2 after Williams had to throw the ball away.
On third down, he calmly and quickly got the ball to Rome Odunze, who ran a quick out route against Tyrique Stevenson, for the first down.
One snap later, Williams threw a strike over the middle to Keenan Allen for a big gain. He missed an open Odunze after a coverage gaffe, but then found the end zone when he rolled to his right and connected with Tyler Scott for a touchdown. The second-year wideout had a step on safety Jaquan Brisker and caught the score in the back of the end zone.
In the trenches
With the pads on, we got our first glimpse of the one-on-one pass rush drills. Here are a few notes and observations:
• Sweat kicked things off by beating Darnell Wright around the edge with his speed.
• Bates won his rep against Zacch Pickens with power and good footwork, moving Pickens away from the quarterback.
• Sweat and Dominique Robinson tallied back-to-back wins against Aviante Collins, with Robinson showing off his speed in his rep.
• Rookie Austin Booker showed off an impressive inside move to beat Ja’Tyre Carter.
• Defensive end Daniel Hardy, who flushed Williams from the pocket on his touchdown at the end of practice, continues to flash with his quickness in camp.
One of the highlights of the team drills came on the line. Gervon Dexter judged the snap perfectly and showed his great get-off as he got into the backfield for a tackle for loss.
Rookie punter wows
A slow start for the offense meant the biggest cheer of camp — the first practice open to the public — came in the punting period.
Though, maybe it would’ve anyway, considering what an attraction rookie Tory Taylor is.
Taylor dropped a punt perfectly out-of-bounds at the 1-yard line, drawing enthusiasm from special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and plenty of applause.
“We focused on one thing with him this week, and he delivered above and beyond and executed on that today,” said Hightower, who wouldn’t go into detail about what that was but did say Taylor was “awesome” and showing consistency.
Taylor’s rare abilities have also helped the returners, as have catching punts from left-footed Corliss Waitman.
“Most of the returners right now are talking about the flight of (Taylor’s) ball and how it travels differently,” Hightower said. “Having two punters in camp right now, with Corliss, the spin is different with a lefty punter, as well. They saw Tory’s footballs hang up there quite a bit. They’re both hard to catch. He has a lot of tricks in his bag, like you guys have seen. He’s doing an outstanding job. Our returners are getting better.”
Who will be returning punts?
The Bears have a long list of players vying to be their punt returner. It includes Dante Pettis, DeAndre Carter, Velus Jones Jr. and Greg Stroman Jr. But receivers Odunze and DJ Moore and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson have also been involved.
Odunze’s and Stevenson’s opportunities keep adding up, too.
“Fearless is the No. 1 trait — being fearless as the punt returner,” Hightower said. “And you gotta have confidence. … And then we get on the field, the No. 1 thing is ball security. So we need somebody that is going to take care of the football and give us the best field position. Those are the things I’m looking for.”
GO DEEPER
Pre-training camp NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs and 49ers reign, Texans and Bears on the rise
Reacting to ‘Move!’
The first-team offense endured another tough practice as far as getting into any kind of rhythm. There were several false starts, one of which we got a front-row seat to.
Before the snap, defensive tackle Andrew Billings yelled, “Move!” and as the D-line shifted, someone jumped. We heard from Teven Jenkins in the spring about Billings’ ability to mess with the offense with his “move” call, and now we got to hear it.
“Bill’s probably the best in the league at it,” Shelton said. “I’ve played some good amount, and I’ve never heard anything like that before. He’s very emphatic with it. For us, we’ve just gotta key into Caleb’s voice. They don’t sound the same; it’s just that one startles you more than the other.”
Billings has to be careful when he does it in games to not be penalized for messing with the offense, but as frustrating as it might be in practice, Shelton knows it ultimately helps.
“It’s only getting us better,” he said. “It’s an abrupt sound, and it’s something we’ve gotta lock into because we’re going to play away, and there’s gonna be loud noises all the time. It’s something we’ve gotta focus on and just lock in and just listen for Caleb’s voice.”
Unique training activity
What did backup quarterback Tyson Bagent do during the offseason?
“I was grinding my absolute face off,” he said.
What did that entail? Well, on June 19, he did a 1-mile burpee-broad jump. Yes, Bagent and a friend did burpees and broad jumps a half mile from a backyard to a river, and then all the way back.
“I might not be getting better necessarily at football when I’m doing a workout like that,” he said. “However, the mental edge it gives me in finding out what I can endure versus what the next man can endure in a sense gives me a little mental edge when I show up to things like this and people start complaining about our schedule. I (know) somewhere in the back of my head that I have done things far worse than this, that I can handle really anything that’s thrown at me.”
Quick hits
• One of the most productive plays for the first-team offense came on a well-designed and executed tight end screen to Everett.
• Running back Khalil Herbert has had a good start to camp, and while it’s always challenging to evaluate run play, he had a nice cutback for a big gain to start 11-on-11 drills.
• Safety Adrian Colbert intercepted a Bagent pass in team drills. “I threw my first pick today,” Bagent said. “That’s never fun, but it’s great to be able to see what works and what doesn’t work with different coverages and concepts that we’re installing.”
• Defensive end Jacob Martin left practice with an unknown injury.
• Cornerback Kyler Gordon, wide receiver Nsimba Webster and linebacker Noah Sewell were present but not participating. Tight end Marcedes Lewis had a vet day.
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(Photo of Caleb Williams: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
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| To: The Ox who wrote (7148) | 8/1/2024 3:50:19 PM | | From: Investor2 | | | | One day near Dallas: A blowout, a game ball and a portal back into the dominance of Steve McMichael and the 1985 Chicago Bears
Bears defensive linemen Steve McMichael (76) and Tyrone Keys sack Cowboys quarterback Gary Hogeboom as Richard Dent (95) looks on during the game on Nov. 17, 1985, in Irving, Texas. The Bears won 44-0. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
By Dan Wiederer | dwiederer@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
UPDATED: August 1, 2024 at 12:48 p.m.
Of the hundreds of keepsakes Kathy McMichael has collected over the years from her older brother’s football career, the painted football in the front room of her Austin, Texas, home remains among the most meaningful. The ball sits on a shelf of a wooden credenza, surrounded by framed photographs and with the script facing out.
Game ball presented to Steve McMichael
Bears – 44
Cowboys – 0
Almost three years ago, not long after Steve McMichael was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he gave that football to his youngest sister, knowing what that game meant to their family. For Kathy, it was a time machine back to an unforgettable Sunday in November 1985, to the very top of Texas Stadium, to the moments she still describes with great detail and fondness.
She recalls her family’s early arrival to the stadium: “We were in our seats before the concession stands opened.”
She still can see her brother, a starting defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, striding to midfield hours before the game, stopping inside the giant blue star, turning in a circle and taking a moment to himself.
Throughout his 15-season NFL career, Steve had a regular ritual at the 50-yard line, a crazed Bruce Banner-to-Incredible Hulk transformation he went through to whip himself into a competitive frenzy. But on that afternoon, the routine was different.
Long before kickoff, wearing his uniform pants and a cutoff gray T-shirt, Steve clearly had reached a reflective state. The kid from Freer, Texas, who had gone on to an All-America college career as a Texas Longhorn, was now part of the posse in town to dismantle the Dallas Cowboys.
“Stevie looked like he was an inch tall from where we were sitting,” Kathy said. Still, she could tell her brother was having a moment.
 A game ball from the Bears’ 44-0 victory against the Cowboys on Nov. 17, 1985, sits on a bookshelf at the home of Kathy McMichael, younger sister of Bears great Steve McMichael. (Kathy McMichael photo)Six seasons into his NFL career, Steve never had beaten the team he grew up rooting for. The Bears hadn’t beaten the Cowboys since 1971 and hadn’t won in Dallas since 1962.
But the 1985 Bears were different.
Even before the first pass, the first tackle, the first takeaway, Kathy had the sense it could become a milestone afternoon.
“You could tell it was all very poignant to Steve,” she said. “I just thought, ‘Oh, OK. Here we go.’ As I was watching him before the game, I turned to my mother and said, ‘He’s about to kick ass. And we’re going to the Super Bowl.’”
By game’s end, the Bears hadn’t just defeated the Cowboys in a CBS spotlight game with John Madden and Pat Summerall on the call. They obliterated the Cowboys, with the final score — 44-0 — becoming the bright red stamp on the cover of the following week’s Sports Illustrated.
The Bears defense did just about whatever it wanted. Six sacks, five takeaways, two touchdowns.
Star running back Walter Payton contributed 132 rushing yards. Coach Mike Ditka bested his mentor, Tom Landry. Cowboys Pro Bowl running back Tony Dorsett ripped off 22 yards on his first carry, then managed only 22 more on his final 11 rushes.
McMichael punctuated the first half with a sack in the closing seconds, beating two Cowboys linemen and smothering backup quarterback Gary Hogeboom for a loss of 9.
“One of my lasting memories of that game is that Dallas never really had the ball,” Kathy said. “And when they did? They were almost scared. It was like, ‘I don’t want it. You take it.’”
Damn, did that kind of dominance feel good. That was exactly the kind of game McMichael lived for, a full-intensity, full-throttle, full-team ass-kicking.
As always, McMichael was thrilled to do his part, a relentless in-the-trenches beast equally capable of making the big play or doing the dirty work to allow one of his talented teammates to do so.
Those qualities will be highlighted this weekend when the 66-year-old is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, an honor for a Bears great who has longed forever for his contributions to one of the greatest defenses in NFL history to be fully recognized.
Still, as McMichael proudly told the Tribune in 2019: “It’s the journey that’s the reward, baby. It’s not the destination. The journey is what makes you who you are. The mountaintop is great. But how you got there is what you remember.”
That’s why that historic afternoon against the Cowboys still seems so remarkable, one of many indelible stops along McMichael’s journey.
‘A signature win’Hall of Fame week has offered another entry point to talk about McMichael’s many conquests with the Bears.
There was the Monday night in 1991 when he ripped the football away from New York Jets running back Blair Thomas right before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter to help deliver the Bears a no-way-in-hell comeback overtime victory at Soldier Field.
There were the consecutive sacks of quarterback Don Majkowski in 1988 — the second one a safety — during a home shutout of the rival Green Bay Packers.
And, yes, the Bears’ 46-10 destruction of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX still registers as the most meaningful achievement in franchise history.
Over 13 seasons with the Bears, McMichael played in 203 consecutive games, including the playoffs. He recorded 92½ sacks. But follow Kathy McMichael back to that 1985 Cowboys game for a moment, and it’s almost as if she can feel her brother’s pounding heartbeat, the purpose in his every breath.
“I’m telling you,” Kathy said, “you could just tell there was extra meaning to that game. Our whole family was there. We could have hung from the ceiling with where we were sitting. And yet I guarantee everybody down on the field could hear us.”
To this day, that victory registers for many members of the iconic ’85 Bears defense as arguably the peak performance within a historically dominant season.
“Winning that game in the way we did was such a signature win,” former safety Gary Fencik told the Tribune. “We all felt that. Everybody came back after that one and just said, ‘Hey, this is for real. This isn’t like we’re on some lucky streak right now. We just beat the Dallas Cowboys. And beat … them … up.’”
The delight was enhanced by Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls’ comments leading up to the game, downplaying the Bears’ 10-0 record and arguing they hadn’t really played anybody. To which defensive end Dan Hampton exclaimed after the 44-point blowout, “We still haven’t played anybody!”
Try topping that amusement for a player as prideful and rambunctious as McMichael.
“You don’t put that (crap) out there before it happens,” he told the Tribune in 2019. “Everson Walls should have known a (bleeping) ass-whupping was coming!”
And come it did. Fencik recalls watching from the back end as the Bears defensive line and linebackers stampeded into the Cowboys backfield.
“The scheme was just working so well that you almost couldn’t believe it,” he said. “There were guys coming from the left, from the right. It just seemed like everybody had a free lane.”
When there’s an opportunity to make a statement like that, you hammer that statement with an exclamation point.
That is what the Bears were looking to do that day in Texas. That was the mission they accomplished. That is what Fencik and McMichael talked about for years afterward, how that day was probably the Bears’ biggest breakthrough on their rise to becoming champions.
“In so many ways,” Fencik said, “that really was the one where we went, ‘OK. We have an opportunity. This isn’t foolhardy. We really have an opportunity to win the Super Bowl.’”
Added Kathy McMichael: “That’s what I was telling my mother. Before the game, all these Cowboys fans were being rambunctious. Hollering. Yelling. Blah, blah, blah. And then it wasn’t even the end of the third quarter and half of them were already gone. Because of the embarrassment.”
‘I miss his voice’For the past three years or so, Kathy has split her time between Texas and the Chicago area, doing her part to help take care of Steve. That cherished game ball from the Cowboys blowout was given to her when Steve still could speak.
The loss of that verbal back-and-forth has been among the most brutal blows of ALS.
“I miss his voice,” Kathy said.
She misses all the phone calls, Steve greeting her with his always enthusiastic and sometimes startling baritone.
Katherine Denise! What the hell are you doing right now?
Kathy looks back now with a laugh at all the childhood chaos that ensued when their mother was away and their babysitter was lax.
“One time, Steve put my sister and me back to back, wrapped us in Christmas tree lights and plugged us in,” Kathy said. “My mom came home, asked, ‘Where are the girls?’ And there we were. Blinking.”
Kathy remembers Steve teaching her how to place-kick when she was a girl and misses the predictable calls from her brother any time a Texas or Bears kicker blew a critical field-goal attempt.
Katherine Denise, you could have made that damn kick!
Nowadays, most of their time together is spent watching television in Steve’s Homer Glen home. Episodes of “Bar Rescue” or “Two and a Half Men” — but only the episodes with Charlie Sheen. Late-night Westerns have become a favorite as well.
“We watched ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara’ so many times, I thought I was going to jump off the house,” Kathy said.
‘Toughest man I ever met’Every day presents emotional challenges with Steve motionless, gaunt and confined to his bed.
“Sometimes I’ll look over at him out of the corner of my eye,” Kathy said, “and I can see him staring off into space. You just wonder what he is thinking. Is he thinking about dying? You ask yourself, ‘How can we make all this easier for him?’”
Like so many of those close to McMichael, Kathy is convinced Steve has fought ALS with all this might in large part because he wanted to live to witness his Hall of Fame enshrinement.
That, too, is a goal McMichael has nearly met. The official ceremony will take place Saturday in Canton, Ohio. McMichael will partake in his part of the festivities from his home.
“Three years ago everybody said, ‘You know, you need to brace yourself because he may be gone before Christmas,’” Kathy said. “I said, ‘You don’t know him. I know him. He’ll go when he’s ready. And he’s not ready yet.’”
Kathy can feel her brother’s pride swell when old teammates come to visit. And she senses his amusement when those football fraternity brothers find their storytelling groove.
 Former Bears players Steve McMichael, center, and Dan Hampton, right, laugh as they greet each other before the ALS Walk for Life on Sept. 18, 2021, at Soldier Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)This summer, Hampton dropped by with former Bears teammate Glen Kozlowski in tow, embellished some favorite stories from the ’80s and cracked wise for as long as he could.
Hampton said he had seen a photo preview of McMichael’s Hall of Fame bust and was impressed with how the sculptor had captured his likeness.
“It looks just like you, brother,” Hampton said. “In mine, I look like an idiot. I look like Ditka!”
McMichael’s eyes bugged with amusement.
Hampton then reminded McMichael he was about to become the third defensive lineman from the 1985 Bears to enter the Hall of Fame, joining Hampton and Richard Dent.
“Do you realize there’s no other team in the history of the NFL that has three linemen in the Hall of Fame?” Hampton told his buddy. “But now we do, baby.”
That reminded Kathy of Hampton’s own 2002 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech and how he singled out McMichael as “the toughest man I ever met.”
“For one special moment in time,” Hampton said that day, “we were about as good as good gets.”
That duo may have never been better than they were in 1985. And it’s arguable the ’85 Bears defense was never better than it was than on that November Sunday in Irving, Texas.
Kathy hates that her brother’s final chapter has been so heartbreaking and cruel.
“Seeing him like he is now is the hardest part,” she said. “Steve has always been my hero. And watching him suffer like this is difficult. This would be unfair for anybody. But it’s certainly not fair for him. He’s such a great person. And he had so much more life to live and enjoy.”
Still, the gratitude for how much he lived and accomplished never dissipates. All she has to do to remember is pore over all of her keepsakes — including that painted game ball that sits on the shelf in her front room.
Originally Published: August 1, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. |
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| To: roto who wrote (7249) | 8/12/2024 10:34:40 PM | | From: Investor2 | | | | By the Numbers: Bears' preseason victory over Bills
Aug 11, 2024 at 08:07 AM
Larry Mayer
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Here's some notable numbers and stats from the Bears' dominant 33-6 preseason win over the Bills Saturday at Highmark Stadium:
27
Bears' margin of victory, their most lopsided preseason win since Aug. 30, 1990, coincidentally also against the Bills, in a 35-7 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. After that game, then-Bills coach Marv Levy said: "I'm sick and humiliated about how our team played. I apologize to the people of South Carolina and to the Buffalo Bills fans."
700
Number of days since Micah Baskerville's last touchdown. The Bears linebacker returned an interception 53 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter Saturday. It was his first trip into the end zone since Sept. 10, 2022, when he had a 29-yard pick-six while playing for LSU in a 65-17 rout of Southern.
101.8
Caleb Williams' passer rating in his first preseason game, the highest of the seven quarterbacks who played in Saturday's contest. Williams also threw for the most yards (95) of any of the QBs, completing 4 of 7 passes on two possessions.
0
Touchdowns allowed by the Bears defense. The Bills scored all their points on Tyler Bass field goals of 24 yards in the second quarter and 49 yards in the third period. They reached the red zone on both of those drives, but on their other nine possessions in the game, they ran just one of 38 plays in Bears territory.
6
Number of former Bears on the Bills roster. In Saturday's game, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed 10 of 18 passes for 82 yards with a 67.4 passer rating, running back Darrynton Evans rushed for 11 yards on three carries and had a 24-yard kickoff return, safety Kendall Williamson recorded four tackles and one pass breakup and defensive end Kingsley Jonathan had one tackle. Receiver Chase Claypool and linebacker Nicholas Morrow did not play.
8
Number of sacks by the Bears defense. Defensive ends Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy led the team with 2.5 apiece, while defensive end Khalid Kareem, defensive tackle Zacch Pickens and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga had one each.
5
Number of plays of more than 20 yards from scrimmage in the game, all by the Bears. Those gains were Williams passes of 42 yards to running back D'Andre Swift and 26 yards to tight end Cole Kmet, Austin Reed's 34-yard pass to receiver Dante Pettis, Tyson Bagent's 25-yard pass to tight end Tommy Sweeney and running back Ian Wheeler's 21-yard run. The Bills' longest play was Trubisky's 19-yard pass to receiver Khalil Shakir.
48
Number of yards both of rookie Tory Taylor's punts traveled. One was fielded at the Buffalo 6 and returned 15 yards. The other went out of bounds at the 11.
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| From: roto | 8/27/2024 10:02:55 PM | | | | | | Bears' 53-man roster breakdown: 2 big question marks could dampen Caleb Williams' rookie season
josh schrock
Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 5:01 AM GMT+7·8 min read
Bears' 53-man roster breakdown: 2 big question marks could dampen Caleb Williams' rookie season
Bears' 53-man roster breakdown: 2 big question marks could dampen Caleb Williams' rookie season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The first iteration of the Bears' 2024 roster was finalized Tuesday on cut-down day across the NFL.
The Bears' initial 53-man unit held few surprises.
Running back/wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. made the cut in what is likely his final chance in Chicago to prove he can be a reliable NFL player who contributes to winning football.
The Bears kept six defensive ends, including Dominique Robinson and Daniel Hardy. To keep that many pass rushers, the Bears had to terminate the contract of fullback Khari Blasingame. However, Blasingame is expected to be brought back once long-snapper Patrick Scales is placed on injured reserve. Scales has a back issue that is expected to keep him sidelined for over a month.
Backup long snapper Cameron Lyons was waived Tuesday, which means the Bears will likely hold tryouts at Halas Hall in the coming days. Once they find the proper fill-in for Scales, another member of the initial 53-man group will waived.
The 2024 Bears' roster enters the season with increased expectations behind rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and an electric group of skill players that includes wide receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze, running back D'Andre Swift, and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett. Add in an ascending defense with one of the best back sevens in the NFL, and you have a recipe for a team that should contend for a playoff spot this fall.
However, two big roster holes remain as the Bears prepare to start a highly-anticipated season.
The offensive line has been banged up throughout camp. The Bears will enter Week 1 with a "best five" of Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Nate Davis, and Darnell Wright. That group might look different if guard Ryan Bates was healthy, but a shoulder issue is expected to keep him out of the lineup for at least the first week of the season.
With Bates nursing an injury, the Bears kept third-year offensive lineman Doug Kramer as the backup center. Matt Pryor will be the swing tackle while Larry Borom rehabs an ankle injury suffered in the preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bears placed Borom on injured reserve with a designation to return. He will be eligible to come back after Week 4.
The Bears ' offensive line is the big unknown in the plan to develop Williams into a superstar. It's an above-average group, but the Bears need Jenkins and Davis to stay healthy while getting the necessary ascention from Jones and Wright on the edges for it to be deemed a reliable unit. If the Bears lose one or two of their starters to injury, Williams' rookie season could be a little more turbulent than expected.
On the defensive line, the Bears are incredibly thin at defensive tackle, even after the trade for Chris Williams. With Zacch Pickens nursing a groin injury, the Bears only have three interior defensive linemen on the roster. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker kicks inside on pass-rush downs, which will help spell Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings from what could be a heavy workload early on. If Billings or Dexter go down, the Bears' defensive line will become the Achilles' heel that keeps the unit from reaching their elite potential.
Here's a breakdown of the Bears' initial roster:
Quarterback (2)
Caleb Williams
Tyson Bagent
Analysis: On Tuesday, the Bears waived undrafted rookie Austin Reed and terminated veteran Brett Rypien's contract. The Bears would like to get Rypien on the practice squad, and Reed is also a candidate to land there.
Having a capable backup is one of the NFL's great luxuries. Bagent proved to be that last season, and the second-year signal-caller has looked even more comfortable during this year's camp.
But all eyes, of course, will be on Williams during a rookie season with immense hype surrounding it heading into Week 1.
Running back (5)
D'Andre Swift
Khalil Herbert
Roschon Johnson
Travis Homer
Velus Jones Jr.
Analysis: Jones is listed as a wide receiver on the Bears' initial roster, but the third-year pro has been working with the running backs for several weeks and will be deemed one in the Week 1 report.
Jones' career has been filled with costly errors, but the Bears love his elite speed and playmaking potential. The move to running back is a last-gasp effort to get value out of the 2022 third-round pick. He should also be their Week 1 kick returner.
The backfield outside of Jones is a loaded group. For my money, Swift was the Bears' most impressive player during training camp. The veteran back can gash defenses inside and out, is a good pass protector, and will be a deadly weapon in the passing game. Herbert and Johnson give the Bears a thunder-and-lightning tandem to backup Swift.
Homer has core special teams value but is a potential candidate to be waived once the Bears find their long snapper.
Blasingame, who the Bears cut on Tuesday, is expected back on the roster after some procedural moves.
Wide receiver (5)
DJ Moore
Keenan Allen
Rome Odunze
Tyler Scott
DeAndre Carter
Analysis: Not much to analyze here. It's a loaded group with a diverse array of skills. If the top three stay healthy, the Bears' passing attack should be one of the most lethal in the NFL. Scott provides field-stretching speed, and his improved route-running and ball-tracking skills have him slated to make an impact in Year 2.
Expect Carter to be the Day 1 punt returner.
Tight ends (3)
Cole Kmet
Gerald Everett
Marcedes Lewis
Analysis: A well-rounded group that can do it all. The Bears' offense flows from the tight end position, and they have a triumvirate that can beat defenses in the passing game and punish them as blockers in the ground game.
Undrafted rookie Brendan Bates is a practice squad candidate, but he could receive interest from other teams around the league after a solid preseason.
Offensive line (10)
Braxton Jones
Teven Jenkins
Coleman Shelton
Nate Davis
Darnell Wright
Ryan Bates
Matt Pryor
Kiran Amegadjie
Bill Murray
Doug Kramer
Analysis: As stated above, it's a decent group with question marks in several areas. I think the Bears would prefer to start Bates at right guard if he were healthy instead of playing roulette with Davis' availability. The depth worries me. Developing Williams is the most important thing this fall, and the Bears are one or two injuries away from trotting out the hope of a city behind a unit that would struggle to block an underwear ad.
Defensive line (10)
Montez Sweat
Andrew Billings
Gervon Dexter
DeMarcus Walker
Austin Booker
Darrell Taylor
Chris Williams
Daniel Hardy
Dominique Robinson
Zacch Pickens
Analysis: In an effort to find any semblance of a pass rush outside of Sweat, the Bears elected to keep six edge rushers on their initial 53. They also placed edge rusher Jacob Martin on injured reserve with a designation to return. Martin flashed early in camp before suffering a toe injury.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus plans to "play the hot hand" opposite Sweat. That likely means a lot will be placed on Booker and Taylor early on, with Walker expected to be relied on for interior support.
While the edge-rushing situation is precarious, it's the thin interior line that worries me. Billings was fantastic last season, but he sometimes labored as the Bears increased his workload. They are already planning to use him at both nose and three-technique. If Billings gets injured or wears down, the Bears' defense will have a problem.
Linebacker (5)
T.J. Edwards
Tremaine Edmunds
Jack Sanborn
Noah Sewell
Amen Ogbongbemiga
Analysis: A very stout group with a tandem in Edwards and Edmunds with a cohesive chemistry that should help cause a lot of turnovers this season. Sewell missed most of camp with an injury, but his athleticism and ability as a blitzer are too good to cut bait after one NFL season.
Sanborn remains one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
Cornerback (6)
Jaylon Johnson
Tyrique Stevenson
Kyler Gordon
Jaylon Jones
Terell Smith
Josh Blackwell
Analysis: The Bears' secondary is a talented unit with four starting-caliber corners and two reserves in Jones and Blackwell, who have filled in admirably when called on. The roster crunch forced the Bears to waive veteran Greg Stroman Jr., but they still have arguably the deepest secondary in the NFL. Gordon is on track to ascend to Pro Bowl status. If Stevenson takes the expected Year 2 leap, it will be hard to throw on this group.
Safeties (4)
Jaquan Brisker
Kevin Byard
Elijah Hicks
Jonathan Owens
Analysis: The Byard-Eddie Jackson swap should pay dividends for the Bears' defense. Jackson liked to play in the backend, which made the defense predictable last season. That won't be the case this year as the Bears plan to have Byard and Brisker be multiple in their duties, which should keep defenses from getting an easy beat on what they are doing in the backend.
Specialists (3)
Cairo Santos
Tory Taylor
Patrick Scales
Analysis: The Bears' long-snapper issue is the first one they must solve this week. If they can find a reliable snapper to fill in for Scales, then this is a solid group with a legitimate weapon at punter in Taylor.
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