What is there to watch for from the Chicago Bears linebacking corps tonight?
Throughout these preview posts, I have hyped up sleepers and talked about significant opportunities that could arise throughout the game or into the second half. I am going to give this to you straight; there will not be much to see in the linebacking corps.
We all know Roquan Smith will not be here. Danny Trevathan just came back from an injury; he’ll be on the pine. With Nick Kwiatkoski as the only one of the big three without question, there is no need to play him either. On top of that, rookie Joel Iyiegbuniwe has not practiced recently and is unlikely to play either. This game would have been an excellent chance for him to see significant snaps with the three names ahead of him out.
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The Iggy injury is what drags all of the luster out of this position heading into the game. We are likely to see Jonathan Anderson and John Timu throughout the early portions of the game. Are we even looking for anything between the two? We know what we have here and can feel confident that they will field their roles well given the context of this game.
However, if we are looking for some juicy, emerging sleepers, the two we are looking for is Josh Woods and Ro’Derrick Hoskins. Still, even in these two, we have to temper expectations completely.
Woods is a safety turned linebacker out of Maryland. In our list of the top 90 Bears players entering camp, he came in at number 87. He is just hoping to show enough to slide onto the practice squad.
Hoskins was not even signed when we ranked the top 90 players heading into camp. With Trevathan, Smith, and Iyiegbuniwe, the Bears signed Hoskins as a body to hold down the fort. If he can continue to climb the ladder, that is great for him. However, expectations are low for these two, even considering the competition level.