Chicago Bears: Stock Up/Down after Preseason Week 3

With Matt Nagy holding out almost every single starter in the Chicago Bears fourth preseason contest against the Kansas City Chiefs, it was going to be an uphill climb for the second and third team against the Chiefs starters.

Although Nagy’s decision is questionable, it’s not completely crazy. The Chicago Bears know who their starters will be this season so having the second string play allows the team to judge the bottom half of the roster against first-string talent. There were a few players that held up against the first string and others that struggled in this week’s stock up and stock down.

Stock Up

Kevin White

It was a milestone day for Kevin White scoring his first career touchdown. It has been a bumpy ride for White with injuries only allowing him to play in five games in his first three seasons. White has looked good so far this training camp in terms of his ability to show that quick twitch that enticed the Bears to select him with the seventh overall pick in 2015. It’s not wise to put great expectations on White, but should he gain confidence and stay healthy, he could be an added bonus for the Bears offense.

Javon Wims

Javon Wims continues to impress the Bears with an electric showing against the Kansas City Chiefs. Wims had four receptions for 114 yards including a difficult touchdown reception from Chase Daniels that showed his length and ball skills.

Wims is a great physical receiver who has showed that he has the speed to create seperation on routes, which was one of the reasons he dropped to the seventh round. It’s hard to imagine that Wims won’t make the 53-man roster especially after exiting the game before the rest of the backup’s. It appears that the Bears will carry six wide-receivers this season: Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Josh Bellamy, Kevin White, and Wims. Look for the Bears try and implement Wims on special teams somehow, giving him some added value on the roster.

Isaiah Irving

Irving continues to give the Bears some depth on the edge with Leonard Floyd and Aaron Lynch missing in action. He had six tackles and a sack against the Chiefs and showed that he could hold his own against a top offensive line. He has done most of his work in the preseason being active with his hands and using his shoulder to gain the edge. Irving could see some time in the beginning of the season with the presumed starters slowed down by injuries.

Stock Down

Vic Fangio

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs used the underneath routes to dice up the Bears unit. The Bears were hurt specifically by the electric Tyreek Hill on underneath routes. Although Fangio was limited to his reserve linebackers, John Timu and Nick Kwitkowski, it appeared there wasn’t a plan for Hill on the underneath routes. Hill finished up with eight receptions for 88 yards and Patrick Mahomes finished with 66.6% completion percentage, mostly from short to intermediate throws. It could’ve been Fangio attempting to limit the high powered arm of Mahomes, but the scheming could’ve been better for a player like Tyreek Hill.

James Daniels

Daniels started the game at center this week then played left guard when Hronis Grassu came into play center with the third-unit. Daniels had a bad snap on a fourth down attempt and a holding penalty against the first string defensive line. It could be that all this moving around is finally getting to the rookie, and it might be wise to get him ready for one position. With the Bears releasing Earl Watford this past week, it could be time for either Daniels or Eric Kush to take the stranglehold on the left guard position to get some chemistry from the group.

Marlon Brown & Bennie Fowler Jr.

It appears that Brown and Fowler’s attempt to make the roster has ran out of steam with Javon Wims performance on Saturday. Brown and Fowler both had the early edge in preseason starting in the Hall of Fame game until a couple of drops on the first possessions of n set the tone for the rest of their camp. Brown has only receptions for 35 yards and Fowler has eight receptions for 90 yards. There may be some hope for Fowler as a special teams guy, but the team might be more inclined to mold Wims into a specialist and gain his upside in the passing game.

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