4 Chicago Bears tumbling down depth charts during preseason
By Joseph Herff
Chicago Bears Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Inside Linebacker
Chicago Bears fans have had a ton of faith in inside linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe, but he has been a disappointment in his time in Chicago. Iyiegbuniwe was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft from Western Kentucky and showed a ton of promise with crazy athleticism and a tackling machine.
Unfortunately, his abilities in the Conference-USA did not translate to the NFL as he has failed to play much at inside linebacker. When he has played, he struggled. Iyiegbuniwe even saw practice squad player Manti Te’o get the start in the NFC Wild Card game against the New Orleans Saints in place of injured Roquan Smith.
In addition to him struggling, the Bears added veterans Christian Jones and Alec Ogletree. Ogletree has played lights out at training camp forcing plenty of turnovers in his first few practices and Jones has looked solid as always. Besides those two, the Bears also have Josh Woods, who has played just as well, and undrafted free agent Caleb Johnson who looked spectacular in his debut.
Iyiegbuniwe, currently a second-string inside linebacker should fall to third-string and potentially fourth-string if Johnson keeps playing to the caliber he played at on Saturday.