Who are the biggest losers that came out from the Chicago Bears OTAs
While OTAs do not decide much for how far the Chicago Bears will go, momentum is started with offseason workouts. When you bring in the offseason additions and rookies to the players who have already been there, every practice is a chance to compare players abilities to each other.
After highlighting some of the winners of OTAs so far, who have been some of the losers, who have brought questions onto themselves in OTAs?
5. James Daniels
It should not be a huge surprise to hear that a 20-year old rookie did not hit the ground running when he got tossed into the fire with veterans. The fact is that Daniels did look strong in rookie mini-camps, but left OTAs knowing that he will head to training camp to compete for a starting job. Nothing is being handed to him.
That is because so far in practices Eric Kush has looked better than he has. Eric Kush is not going to be handed a starting job either, but the two are going to head to training camp with a real competition in mind. And it may not be a surprise that early on Kush looks better.
Daniels is young and the team was banking on his upside when they drafted him. It is not worth being alarmed over, but it is interesting to note that James Daniels did not have the best week.
4. Hroniss Grasu
Grasu’s status with the team has perpetually been on a downfall since his rookie season. It seems as though his time in Chicago may be coming to an end soon with the recent offseason moves made.
Daniels is going to compete for snaps at guard and is so raw there because he was a center in college. He is likely going to slot in at backup center. On top of that, Eric Kush can play center. If these two are competing for a starting slot and both are making worthy cases, neither should be too phased by Grasu when it comes to the backup center position.
On top of that, the versatility that these two bring shine brightly over Grasu, who only can play center. Matt Nagy has preached versatility and the inability to show it from Grasu is going to bring problems. He did not do anything in camp to change that idea, and his buzz was generally quiet, as he did not get much work with the first two teams.
If Grasu is released this summer, the signs were certainly there from this offseason.
3. Jordan Howard
I have been on the record saying that I think a lot of the panic in the media about Howard is a bit overblown. However, there is talk that Howard is going to see a reduced role this year, and it has not gone away.
These reports seemingly have come out since the team hired Matt Nagy. His inability to pass catch has always been linked to something that Nagy does not like. Rumors came that the team was interested in trading Howard for Jarvis Landry.
Those rumors were followed by Jordan Howard deleting a lot of pictures from his Instagram account. Nagy has shot down these rumors from the start and Howard has said that there is no beef. However, the smoke has not gone away.
The Bears have made it public what they are working on with Howard as a pass catcher. They have mentioned that they are making the effort. However, a recent report still came out questioning his long-term status on the team. They once again mentioned pass catching. That is not a good sign for how he has progressed in this area.
2. Josh Bellamy
The wide receiver is starting to get very crowded. Potentially too crowded for Josh Bellamy. The fact of the matter is that he was less of a special teams factor last season than he was in years past.
On top of that, this team has beefed up the receiver room. If they need Bellamy on the field on offense, things went horribly wrong. They have Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller entrenched over him.
On top of that Kevin White is on the winner’s list of offseason players. Javon Wims has received praise and Tanner Gentry made some splash catches this past week as well.
The most notable thing Josh Bellamy did this week was making a rap video. He has not been a name that has come up in any way and has hardly come out of Matt Nagy’s mouth. The frequency in which they added to the room combined with the inactivity of his name across the Bears landscape has his stock at his lowest point since being signed. Is this the year the Bears move on from Bellamy?
1. Aaron Lynch
Aaron Lynch does not have much competition on the edge. He has the backing of his former defensive coordinator-the defensive coordinator who drafted him-being Vic Fangio. He came into OTAs listed as the starter opposite of Leonard Floyd. All he had to do was show up, show that he cared and wanted to be involved and not get hurt.
Well, he got hurt. It is tough to go into a season trusting Aaron Lynch to stay healthy when he cannot go one week in June without getting hurt. Injury issues are arguably the biggest knock on Lynch as an NFL player. When he is on the field he can be productive, it just does not happen enough.
If this is a sense for the how the season will go, it may not happen enough in Chicago either. They drafted Kylie Fitts. Isaiah Irving is a winner of OTAs and a sleeper edge candidate. They signed Kasim Edebali and have Sam Acho as a veteran option who will make the team.
Lynch is still going to have to prove himself or else the Bears are going to look for one of these other names to emerge.