Here’s one final look as to who the Bears should keep on their 53-man roster when the announcement is made on Saturday.
The Chicago Bears wrapped up their final preseason game last night with a 28-27 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The bottom line about that game? Who cares. The Bears are ready to make cuts and get down to the 53 players that will be battling for Chicago on Sundays. We’ve took a guess a few weeks ago as to who those players will be, let’s re-examine.
Quarterbacks
Originally, we projected the Bears would only keep two quarterbacks: Mitch Trubisky and Chase Daniel. That stance has not changed. 53 spots are too previous to waste one on Tyler Bray. No other team will be interested in Bray. If the Bears have an injury to Trubisky or Daniel, Bray will be available to sign off the street.
QBs- Mitch Trubisky, Chase Daniel (2)
Running Backs
At first glance, we projected four running backs to make this team: Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Benny Cunningham and Michael Burton. That projection also has not changed. Ryan Nall has made a case for the active 53 but he hasn’t done it against top competition. Burton is a more polished fullback at this point and will be utilized better by Matt Nagy.
RBs- Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Benny Cunningham, Michael Burton (FB) (4)
Wide Receivers
Another position with no change from our original projections: Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Javon Wims, Kevin White and Josh Bellamy. There’s no reason to think this has changed. All of these players are virtual locks to make the roster, the only one that may not is Kevin White and it’s hard to imagine the Bears don’t ride out the final year of his contract. Bellamy, despite what fans think, will make the team for his special teams value.
WRs- Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Javon Wims, Kevin White, Josh Bellamy (6)
Offensive Line
We still are yet to have movement on the original projections as the Bears offensive line sticks with eight: Charles Leno, Bobby Massie, Cody Whitehair, Kyle Long, James Daniels, Eric Kush, Bradley Sowell and Rashaad Coward. Many people have changed their original projections now to include Coward but we don’t have to because we told you he would make the team previously. Coward right now is making a strong push to replace Bobby Massie in 2019 and the Bears would be able to do it on the cheap with Coward. It could be a fantastic spot for the team and you don’t risk that type of player to the waiver wire.
OL- Charles Leno, Bobby Massie, Cody Whitehair, Kyle Long, James Daniels, Eric Kush, Bradley Sowell, Rashaad Coward (8)
Tight End
In our original projections, we had the Bears keeping four tight ends: Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, Dion Sims and Daniel Brown. We finally have some movement as we are going to up that projection to five. Right now Ben Braunecker projects to make the team because of injuries to both Brown and Shaheen. The severity of Brown’s shoulder injury is up in the air, so it’s tough to gauge this position right now, but for this projection we will assume Brown sticks on the 53 and doesn’t head to IR.
TEs- Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, Dion Sims, Daniel Brown, Ben Braunecker (5)
Special Teams
Cody Parkey is going to be the kicker, obviously. Some people think Ryan Winslow and Tanner Carew might grab the long snapping and punting positions, but we’ll take the conservative approach here as neither stood out clearly from the incumbents. Pat O’Donnell and Patrick Scales make the roster.
ST- Cody Parkey, Pat O’Donnell, Patrick Scales (3)
Defensive Line
With 25 spots to go, we focus on the defense. The defensive line seems set in my eyes and despite a push from Nick Williams late in the preseason because of his versatility and the ability to play nose tackle, John Jenkins makes the roster as a true backup nose. The other 5 spots are locks. No changes here.
DL- Jonathan Bullard, Roy Robertson-Harris, Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks, Bilal Nichols, John Jenkins (6)
Linebackers
The linebacking unit is a little tricky to project at the bottom. Originally, we had projected Leonard Floyd, Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan, Sam Acho, Nick Kwiatkoski, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Isaiah Irving, Kylie Fitts and a wild card in Lamarr Houston. With 34 spots on the projection thus far, we have only changed one spot, but now we are changing an additional two. Fitts should head to the practice squad and Lamarr Houston as a wild card. Aaron Lynch despite basically not playing at all seems safe. As of now, I’ll say the Bears don’t grab another edge and Kasim Edebali. Edebali also suffered an injury of unknown severity but if he’s healthy and the Bears don’t find an edge to add, Edebali grabs the last spot.
LBs- Leonard Floyd, Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan, Sam Acho, Nick Kwiatkoski, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Isaiah Irving, Aaron Lynch, Kasim Edebali (9)
Defensive Backs
With 10 spots left on the roster, we turn to the defensive backs. Our original projections included Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Adrian Amos, Eddie Jackson, Bryce Callahan, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Deiondre Hall, Deon Bush, Sherrick McManis, Cre’Von LeBlanc and Michael Joseph.
We are going to change this up a little. I am still a big believer in CB Michael Joseph but Doran Grant finished camp strong and I’m apt to believe the Bears will keep a player on the active roster with a little more experience. We also originally had 24 offensive players and 26 defenders. With the injury to Shaheen, we took a 25th offensive spot for Braunecker, which means someone loses out in the secondary and that player is Hall. Hall has shown some ability but with his impending suspension, the Bears are probably done with his shenanigans. DHC is still injured so that might play a factor here because if he’s out a few games, would the Bears be willing to roll the dice with just three healthy safeties? That’ll be a tough call for Pace and Nagy, but if DHC is back sooner rather than later, the decision is pretty clear.
DBs- Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Adrian Amos, Eddie Jackson, Bryce Callahan, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Deon Bush, Sherrick McManis, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Doran Grant (10)
Changes from the original projections:
Out- Hall, Joseph, Houston, Fitts
In- Braunecker, Edebali, Lynch, Grant