Chicago Bears 2022 roster ranking: No. 74 A.J. Thomas

With the countdown to the start of training camp underway, we are now counting down the Chicago Bears roster. This will be going from 90 all the way to one and focusing solely on how influential each player will be to the outcome of games on the 2022 Bears roster.

We have started at 90 and now we are at number 74.

Chicago Bears 2022 roster ranking: No. 74 A.J. Thomas

A.J. Thomas is a UDFA rookie from Western Michigan. He did not sign initially, but went to Bears rookie camp and beat out a few guys to earn his UDFA contract and a trip to training camp.

Thomas slipped between the cracks because he is a bit of a tweener. However, it could be in a good way. A.J. Thomas started his career as a linebacker, but as he got into the college lifting programs he got lean and quicker and turned into a safety.

It is usually the slow safeties who move to linebackers, but Thomas is the rare fast linebacker who moves to safety, and he showed that he has good enough athleticism to stick in the NFL.

Of course, this is still a UDFA rookie and one who was not a priority signing. On the safety depth chart, he has some big names, but even players like seventh-round pick Elijah Hicks has to be ahead of him.

Fortunately for Thomas, Hicks is more of a free safety, while Thomas is a box safety and would be serving a different role. Still, he is this low on the Bears roster ranking because he does not have a defined role yet, and the team still does not know quite what they have, other than that he impressed for one weekend after the draft.

This is good enough to get him into the 75 players, but not to crack the top 70. We will see if he can rise next year, or if he will just spend one summer with the Bears.