Chicago Bears: 3 Players whose stock went up versus Titans
Chicago Bears Player Whose Stock Went Up: Joel Iyiegbuniwe
In another article, I mentioned how Joel Iyiegbuniwe must improve by the end of preseason in order to make the roster as a backup linebacker. It was great to see him have a very solid game against the Titans and surpass Josh Woods on the depth chart, in my opinion. He had a very important pass breakup against Luke Stocker in the end zone and was racking up tackles all over the field.
His contributions to special teams add to his value as well. Woods seemed to be uncomfortable in coverage at times and also missed a few key tackles. Woods was favored last year after Roquan Smith’s injury, but after his latest performance, I believe Iyiebuniwe made his case to be kept on the roster.
Iyiegbuniwe has not lived up to the potential that Ryan Pace and Bears fans saw in him as a super athletic linebacker coming out of Western Kentucky. He still has that raw potential that has kept him around the last few years, and if he is given the opportunity during the regular season, he needs to make the most of it.
If he does make this year’s roster he needs to do as much as he can with his playing time because this seems to be the last straw ordeal with him. He already has Christian Jones and Alec Ogletree in front of him now, but his latest performance should have raised his stock enough to make the team.
With the injury history of Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, there might be a number of snaps that Iggy gets to play, so hopefully, he can build on how he played against the Titans. It would be great if he taps into that raw potential that he has, especially with how athletic he is for the linebacker position.0