Chicago Bears Week 7: Rookie Report

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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It’s about time the Bears veterans played as well as the rookies and earned a victory for our beloved Bears. I discussed it at length in my takeaways, but that was the best game the Bears played on both sides of the ball this season and makes me think they might have a shot at the playoffs this year. The rookies contributed again as they have been all year with the usual solid play from Fuller, Ola, Sutton and Ferguson but also a significant contribution from Christian Jones and the debuts of CB Al Louis-Jean and LB DeDe Lattimore. Here is my breakdown of how the rookies did in week 7:

Bears Rookie Report:

Kyle Fuller – Last week Fuller shut down the Panthers best receiver Kelvin Benjamin (3-38) which was pretty impressive considering Benjamin is the front-runner for offensive rookie of the year. This week Fuller shut down Julio Jones, who has been pretty much unstoppable all year with an average of 8 catches and 109 yards per game. It was the toughest test Fuller has faced so far in his 4th NFL start, but Fuller held Jones to just 4 catches for 68 yards and ripped the ball out of his hands for his NFL leading 4th forced fumble. I’m not sure what else there is to say, Fuller is the Bears best CB and the leading candidate for defensive rookie of the year.

Ka’Deem Carey – For the 2nd week in a row Carey didn’t play much only getting 7 snaps after 4 last week. He did get 4 carries this week and managed to break a 15 yard run. It’s hard to argue that Carey deserves more touches when Matt Forte is arguably the 2nd best RB in the NFL right now (Murray #1). As long as Carey keeps playing well when he gets a chance, he will eventually be worked into the offense once the Bears start worrying about Forte’s workload. For the season Carey has averaged a respectable 4.4 yards per carry and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him later in the season.

Michael Ola – In Ola’s 2nd game at LT he showed some improvement from last week with a fairly solid all around performance. Ola gave up 4 QB hurries, but zero hits and zero sacks. The Falcons don’t have a fierce pass rush, but for a rookie on the road starting only his 2nd game ever at LT, keeping Cutler clean is pretty impressive. Ola was decent in the run game and didn’t commit any penalties this week. He’s started five games this year, 4 of them on the road, and played two different positions (LG, LT), but no matter where the Bears put Ola he at least holds his own if not excels. With starting LT Jermon Bushrod scheduled to come back this week, I think Ola has done enough to stay on the field. RT Jordan Mills has struggled pretty much every game except for his debut in week 1 last season and from what I’ve seen Ola is one of the 5 best O-lineman the Bears have. Nothing against Mills, who has done a respectable job, but Ola at RT gives the Bears the best chance to win.

Ego Ferguson – DT Stephen Paea is finally playing like the guy the Bears thought they drafted in the 2nd round of the 2011 draft. Despite Ego Ferguson’s strong play so far, Paea’s resurgence has kept him on the bench most of the time. Paea had one of his best games as a Bear on Sunday (2.9 grade) which limited Ego to just 14 snaps, the least amount he’s played since week 1. Ferguson played well in limited time and did have another pass deflection, but it’s hard to make an impact with only 14 snaps.

Will Sutton – With Jeremiah Ratliff back from a concussion this week, Sutton was on the bench with Ego most of the game. Sutton has played well the last few weeks and the Bears should have got both Sutton and Ego on the field a little more to continue their development. Sutton also had a pass deflection in his 16 snaps on Sunday.

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Chicago Bears Week 6: Rookie Report

By Mike Flannery | Oct 15, 2014

Bears Rookie Report: