Chicago Bears sign RB Senorise Perry & FS Marcus Trice
The Bears invited 38 unsigned rookies to try-out at their mini-camp last weekend and two of the them were impressive enough to earn contracts. I covered the undrafted rookies that I thought had the best shot to stick around at each position and two of my favorites made it. Senorise Perry, a speedy running back out of Louisville, was signed Sunday after mini-camp and so was free safety Marcus Trice out of North Texas. I am bummed that TE Andre McDonald, SS Larry King, WR Diontae Spencer, and C FN Lutz III didn’t stick around, but Perry was my favorite unsigned rookie in camp and Trice wasn’t too far behind, so I can’t complain. For those of you that have been reading my mini-camp posts, the rest of this will be redundant, but here are my scouting reports on both players and some highlights.
RB Senorise Perry, Louisville (6’0, 206, 4,36 40-time) – I had Perry ranked right on the cusp of being drafted and as the 49th best available player after the draft. I’m surprised he didn’t get signed during the priority UDFA period, but that’s good news for the Bears. Perry is an NFL athlete; He ran a 4.36 40 at his pro day which was faster than any RB at the combine except Dri Archer, has a 37″ vertical leap (6th) and ran the 3-cone in 6.89 (6th). Perry also is a smooth receiver out of the backfield, a willing blocker, and a solid gunner on coverage teams. As a runner he has an explosive burst, elusiveness in the open field, and the long speed to break one. On the downside, he doesn’t have the strength to break tackles and is injury prone. Perry is faster and move explosive than any running back currently on the Bears roster and with his coverage experience on special teams, I think he has a chance to stick around as the Bears 3rd RB or at least on the practice squad.
FS Marcus Trice, North Texas (5’8, 193) – Transfer from Oklahoma who was an all-conference free safety as a senior at North Texas. Trice is short but a stocky 193 pounds. He is very quick with decent long speed (4.57) and very good ball skills (5 INTs, 9 PDs in 2013). He would be short for a safety in the pros, but has the skill-set to have a chance at free safety or as a slot corner. Trice is an aggressive tackler despite his small size (91 tackles) and packs a punch (3 forced fumbles). Trice’s size makes him a long-shot, but he’s a good football player and reminds me of Rams’ 2nd round pick LaMarcus Joyner.
Twitter: @MikeFlannery_