Will Dan Skuta make the 53-man roster?

The Bears signed Dan Skuta recently. Will he make the final 53-man roster?

The Bears have been busier than most teams post-draft. The draft usually completes rosters for most teams, but the Bears have spent their time looking at the veteran free agents available, signing Jaye Howard, Bradley Sowell, and Dan Skuta. All three of these including Skuta come with their question marks as to how they can make an impact and whether or not they will make the final roster. So will Skuta make it?

Skuta is an interesting case. Skuta played with Vic Fangio on the 49ers so he does have familiarity with the defense. Skuta played outside linebacker for the 49ers in their 3-4 and spent some time in the middle during nickel packages. In his most recent stint in Jacksonville, he played as a 4-3 outside linebacker, which has more off of the ball duties. He also played closer to a middle backer in nickel situations in Jacksonville.

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The versatility in which Skuta brings, combined with familiarity with the defense and a special teams presence gives him a decent shot to make the team. However, when looking at the linebacker position it is a bit crowded.

Pernell McPhee, Leonard Floyd, and Willie Young are locks to make it on the outside. Jerrell Freeman, Danny Trevathan, and Nick Kwiatkoski should be sitting easily on the inside. Last year, just nine linebackers made the team. While ten could make the cut this year, it leaves three or four spots for Lamarr Houston, Sam Acho, Christian Jones, Jonathan Timu, Jonathan Anderson, and Skuta.

Houston and Acho have the most name value. Of course, Houston has an injury background which could end his time in Chicago, but he has the most dead money of the fringe roster players also. Both of those two are outside linebackers and would make five at that spot.

Jones and Timu spent some time rotating between the edge and inside, and these are the two players that Skuta is likely competing for a roster spot with. Timu is the youngest, but he is also monetarily the easiest to get rid of this season. Last season Jones played 323 special teams snaps, Skuta played 239 and Timu played only 137. Timu was only active for 11 games, compared to 16 for Jones and 13 for Skuta. However, Timu only played 12.5 special teams snaps per game, compared to 20.2 for Jones and 18.3 for Skuta.

Next: Will Bradley Sowell make the final roster?

As mentioned, Skuta also brings a defensive understanding and a veteran presence that Timu does not have. If Skuta is to make the final roster expect special teams to be a major reason why, and expect it to be Timu who is potentially losing his spot because of this.

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