How would you rank the top 90 players on the Chicago Bears roster?
With the long wait until the start of the regular season, it is a good time to dig into the entire roster and see who has the best chances to make noise this summer. We will attempt to rank the most important players on the Chicago Bears based on their realistic impact with a potential floor and ceiling in mind.
With that said, today we look at players 80-76.
80. John Franklin III
Many know Franklin as the player from the Netflix series “Last Chance U”. He was a highly touted recruit in high school and saw himself being recruited to play for Florida State.
Franklin redshirted one season, was a backup quarterback in 2014, and then transferred to East Mississippi Community College where the show was filmed. Franklin was able to transfer to Florida Atlantic for his last season.
However, Franklin is now trying to play cornerback. He played quarterback early into his career and played wide receiver at FAU. This will be his third position in as many seasons. Add in that the Chicago Bears added a lot of UDFA’s and other names to the mix and it seems as though Franklin will be fighting for any sort of repetitions at cornerback. At the best, the team would be looking to retain John Franklin to the practice squad.
79. Rashaad Coward
Rashaad Coward is essentially in a similar spot to John Franklin. A defensive tackle from Old Dominion, Coward was a UDFA signing in 2017. He spent his entire rookie season on the Chicago Bears practice squad. Maybe he could step in for John Jenkins as the backup nose tackle?
Nope. Harry Hiestand came in and all of the sudden Rashaad Coward was switching positions to guard. This is an interesting spot.
On the one hand, we have a player with little invested in him. A second-year UDFA changing positions. There is not much going on there.
On the other hand, Harry Hiestand knows what he is doing. They also could have just admitted they missed on him at nose tackle and moved on. They clearly see something in Coward. At least more than they see in a player such as Franklin as the team has a full season worth of practice tape against NFL competition from Coward.
Still, it seems as though at his best he is on the practice squad for one more season as he begins this transition to his new position.
78. Colin Thompson
Colin Thompson was brought in at the tail end of last season. The tight end from Temple was signed by the New York Giants as a UDFA. After spending most of his season on the practice squad, the Chicago Bears plucked him for the last couple of weeks of the season to bring him along for the offseason.
The team added Trey Burton since then which certainly crowded the room, but it does at least say something that the team brought him back and did not change his position, unlike the other two on this list.
Thompson is more of an in-line, blocking tight end. See him as a Dion Sims backup. The real question for Colin Thompson this season will be whether or not he can compete with Ben Braunecker. Brauncecker has been on the team longer, but sometimes that can be a bad thing, especially when Thompson was recently acquired. That Chicago Bears will likely keep one of these players on the practice squad. The question is whether or not Colin Thompson is that player.
77. Nick Orr
Nick Orr was a priority UDFA from the 2018 NFL Draft. Orr is a safety from TCU entering training camp for the first time. He is an instinctive, in the box safety who is strong going downhill and making plays on the football in the box.
He comes from a football background. His brother Zach recently retired from the NFL and his other brother Chris plays for Wisconsin. The play below summarizes what you can get with Nick Orr.
He reads the young quarterback perfectly, he breaks on the ball perfectly and makes a big deflection on third and three. Of course, you did not see him make the interception either.
Related Story: Nick Orr UDFA profile
This is the arguably drawback with Orr. He is not overly quick or athletic. He struggles out moving out in space and can get caught with the jump forward to the NFL.
Orr has the bloodlines and potential special teams value to make some noise. However, he is currently looked at as a long shot with the best case being practice squad eligibility.
76. Abdullah Anderson
Abdullah Anderson is a UDFA from the 2018 NFL Draft. The cousin of Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Austin Johnson Anderson has an athletic background. Anderson did not start playing football until his senior season of high school. He was a former basketball player who converted in his last season.
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Multisport athletes are always given better odds to make it to the next level of their respective sport. The footwork that he gained in basketball has translated with his size to make him a quick-footed interior pass rusher. It got him recognized in the NFL despite going to Bucknell.
Watch the play below. A quick first step followed by a drive into the backfield. This is how Anderson wins. This can be very valuable in the NFL.
The fact of the matter is that the Chicago Bears had to know that he was a project coming into the 2018 season. He is still in the first five years of his football playing career. Still, if the team sees any signs of upside from him in camp there is a more realistic chance that the team invests in him than some of the other candidates on this list.