Way cooler than a David Wilson double backflip, it’s your Chicago Bears Week 5 Free Agent Stock Watch:
RISING
James Anderson
Anderson has been consistent throughout the early portion of the season, and finished Sunday with eight tackles — good for third on the team. He and fellow linebackers D.J. Williams and Lance Briggs have formed a solid trio in the middle of the Bears defense that brings veteran leadership and consistency to a unit that desperately needs some right now. With rookies Jonathan Bostic and Khaseem Greene securely on the sidelines, outside linebacker appears to be Anderson’s job for the nearby future. The Bears would be wise to re-sign him this offseason.
D.J. Williams
It’s hard to take many positives out of the defense’s performance on Sunday, but Williams and the rest of the Bears linebackers were the lone bright spots. Williams finished second on the team with 11 tackles and was far more involved in plays than the previous week against Detroit. The Bears have yet to allow Jonathan Bostic to see the field on any defensive snaps, so barring an injury Williams will be their man the rest of the way and potentially into the nearby future.
Jay Cutler
As Boomer mentioned in his Report Card, Cutler turned in an impressive bounce-back performance against the Saints, throwing for 358 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He did, however, cough up a costly fumble in the first quarter — but Cutler ultimately did his part to keep the Bears in the game until the end. That’s all the Bears can ask from him at this point. His biggest challenge now will be to help calm down Brandon Marshall and keep him from blowing up as he did after Sunday’s loss.