When we look at the Chicago Bears each year, it is also important to take a look at their divisional rivals. The NFC North is the most important group of teams to the Chicago Bears — it’s the only consistent way to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Bears have not fared well over the last couple of decades. With a few sporadic winning seasons here and there, I am tired of hanging my hat on the fact they have been better than the Lions and about equal with the Vikings over that span. It’s time for the Packers’ reign to come to an end, and more importantly, it’s time for the Bears to take back the North.
For now, I went through each roster and picked out which player from each team I believe is the most overrated. Before we get into the other teams from the NFC North, let’s look within at the Bears roster and determine who is the most overrated player here in Chicago. It wasn’t easy as the expectations here are not too high. You could even argue that Justin Fields is overrated right now, but I will shut that down as quickly as the Chicago Bears shut down the idea of putting a dome over Soldier Field.
Chicago Bears most overrated player: Cody Whitehair, OG
I know that many of you would prefer to see Eddie Jackson listed here. The thing is, I just cannot put him in over Cody Whitehair. The narrative that Jackson cannot tackle is a joke. His missed tackle rate has decreased year after year since his standout seasons in 2018 and 2019. Last year, he was able to move the needle on that percentage to under 10% for the first time in his career.
We are forgetting the fact that in 2020, Jackson had two turnovers he returned for touchdowns that were negated by some ticky-tack penalties. Had those held, people would be singing a different tune about Jackson. He has not been perfect, he has been flawed and he hasn’t lived up to his contract extension, but he’s also been better and more valuable than many are led to believe.
The guy who I have a bigger issue with, and who is accounting for only a little under $3 million less than Jackson is Cody Whitehair. Whitehair has fallen off over the last few seasons. In 2018, Whitehair only committed three penalties and he didn’t allow a single sack. In 2019, the sacks allowed jumped up to three and he committed four penalties. He allowed another three sacks in 2020 and four more in 2021. He also committed five penalties last year.
It may have been the Matt Nagy system or maybe the fact that he went from center to guard, from guard to center, and then from center back to guard again. No matter the reason, he’s becoming more of a liability than an asset.