The Chicago Bears claimed Kingsley Jonathan, an edge rusher who was with the Buffalo Bills. Jonathan is a rookie UDFA from Syracuse.
The immediate thought that comes to mind is that Buffalo was able to beat Jonathan to the punch via the UDFA process back during the draft. Jonathan being from Syracuse and being able to stay close by, while also playing for a contending team likely had him drawn to the Bills.
However, Chicago may have been trying to sign him back before the draft, and now they are taking their chance on him. What hurt Jonathan during the preseason was a lack of availability.
Jonathan played 44 snaps in the preseason opener, then missed week two with an ankle injury before only getting 15 snaps in the finale. That is why you have to assume that the Bears had eyes on him well before the start of the preseason. The Bills were hoping to slip him onto the practice squad because he was banged up over the last two weeks, but the Bears saw him healthy last week and thought that was enough for them.
Jonathan will have to stay on the active roster for three games. Considering he only logged eight special teams snaps in the NFL, we may see him rushing the passer sooner than later.
When you look at the Chicago Bears edge rusher depth chart, they have Robert Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Al-Quadin Muhammad then Dominique Robinson.
They drafted Robinson before Jonathan, but they see Robinson as a bit of a project, while Jonathan had his career high in sacks back in 2018. He has been starting since then. Beyond all of that, Robinson banged up his foot in the preseason finale.
Claiming Jonathan may mean that they can make Robinson inactive for the first three games with no fear of losing him to the IR.
It is also worth noting the athletic profile of Jonathan. When you compare him to Robinson you can see that Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles are trying to drill down specific players. The two have similar athletic traits. Robinson may have the higher ceiling, and Jonathan may be more NFL-ready which gives them two bets from this draft class in the room.