Bears Preseason Week 1: Position Battles (Offense)
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Position: 3rd RB
Up: Senorise Perry – The undrafted free agent from Louisville has been one of my favorite dark-horse roster candidates since the day the Bears signed him. I thought he should have been drafted and think his game translates better to the pros than it did in college. Perry is tall for an RB (6’0) but has elite speed (4.36) which none of the other running backs on the Bears can match. As fast as he is, Perry showed good power on Friday night; He gained 3-4 yards after contact on two runs and 1-2 yac on a couple others. Perry didn’t run like a speed back and didn’t have a chance to let it loose in the open field, but he did have a nice 13 yard reception on a screen pass on 3rd & 11. On the downside, Perry did half-ass a blitz pickup. It didn’t result in a sack but he didn’t do a good enough job stopping the blitzer’s momentum and he got a hurry on Fales. Overall Perry showed some of the talent that got me so excited when the Bears signed him, but there is more he can do that he hasn’t had a chance to show yet.
Up: Jordan Lynch – I am clearly a Perry fan, but I like Lynch even more. He’s a hometown boy from the same high school conference I played in and in-state Northern Illinois. Lynch is a winner and an underdog who is all but impossible not to root for. I think Lynch gained some new fans tonight with 7 carries for 24 yards including a bruising 12-yard run which ended with Lynch running over a safety and hitting another DB before getting knocked out of bounds still on his feet (watch below). It was the kind of hard-nosed, tough run that Chicago fans love. Lynch was a key part of 16 play, 73 yard drive that took up 7:50 late in the 4th quarter that ended with a FG that sealed the game for the Bears. Considering this was the first game ever that Lynch played at running back it was a damn good performance.
No Change: Shaun Draughn – He was the first back off the bench, even before Ka’Deem Carey but didn’t play much. Draughn did have a nice 10-yard gain on a screen pass, but only 1 carry for 2 yards.
No Change: Michael Ford – He may have had the best kick return of the day for the Bears, but didn’t do much on the ground. In Ford’s defense, the O-Line didn’t get any push in the run game all day. The running lanes were few and far between, but Ford did have one nice 8 yard run that showed off his vision and power. Overall he finished with 5 carries for 15 yards which is disappointing, but Ford did have a nice blitz pick-up in pass pro which may be more important to his chances of making the team.