With the countdown to training camp on we are counting down the Chicago Bears roster from 90 all the way down to number one. This list is looking at which players can impact the roster the most.
We are into the top 50 players, starting us with number 50.
Chicago Bears 2022 roster ranking: No. 50 Duke Shelley
This is obviously the lowest that Duke Shelley is sitting on the list. This also may be the last time that we see him Shelley on the list. As a sixth-round pick, he is in his fourth NFL season, and his last season under contract for his rookie deal.
When the Chicago Bears drafted him in the sixth round they had him immediately in to compete with Buster Skrine as a starter. With that, he entered the roster at number 38. He did not win the job and only jumped to 36 again the following season.
With Skrine out of the picture, Shelley got a big boost up to number 26 overall. He was thrown into the starting lineup, and it went poorly. He was beaten often, benched, and struggled.
The Bears are bringing him back because his contract makes it easy to do so. Still, they added Tavon Young in free agency and they bounced Thomas Graham from the outside and into the slot.
In the span of a year, Duke Shelley went from a starter in the slot to the third option, and perhaps even lower than that. There is a good chance that Shelley winds up getting cut this offseason, which explains the drop in 24 spots.
If he gets cut, he is probably not going to want to stick around to the practice squad. Because he has the experience and because he started just last season, he gets the benefit of staying at 50. Still, someone at 54 and later likely feels good about making the roster because of someone like Shelley.