Chicago Bears Roster Ranking: 45-41
41. John Timu
John Timu is in a similar spot to Jonathan Anderson on the roster. Both were UDFA’s from the first Ryan Pace class, and both are entering their fourth season on the roster. The two are combination linebackers who can move inside or out depending on the depth. Anderson is listed as outside, while Timu is listed inside.
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Anderson has played more special teams snaps over the past three seasons. While Timu played more overall as a rookie, he only played 47% and 67% of the special teams snaps over the past two seasons.
However, the big difference in the favor of Timu is defensive snaps. If the Bears need a linebacker, inside or out, they were calling on Timu before Anderson. Last season Timu played 136 snaps and played 185 the season before that. Most of those snaps have come from the inside linebacker spot, but overall the team has been trusting Timu more overall.
Anderson is likely going to make the team with his special team’s value. However, Timu could make the team because the Bears trust him if things were to go wrong. This is where he gets the slight nod.