5 surprise players who could make a big impact for the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears Surprise Impact Player No. 5: Trestan Ebner, RB
Trestan Ebner is officially listed as a running back, but if he makes the final 53-man roster he’s going to be much more than that. We have already heard through Matt Eberflus’ press conferences how Ebner has been lining up as a wide receiver also and he loves that Ebner has a full route tree.
It sounds to me that we could see Trestan Ebner play a role similar to what we saw from Tarik Cohen. Ebner is also going to push for kick return and punt return duties. In 2021 he scored two return touchdowns on kickoffs while adding another in 2020. He doesn’t have any punt return touchdowns on his resume, but he did average 8.1 yards per punt return. The fact that he could be the team’s return man is probably enough that he sticks on the final roster.
Now, it will be up to him to make the most of his limited opportunities on the field. The team is probably not going to keep four running backs and a full back on the active roster. The question will be, do they stash Ebner on the practice squad while keeping Darrynton Evans behind David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert or do they release Evans and keep Ebner around? It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out, but if Ebner sees action he has the speed and potential to make an impact on this roster.