5 Chicago Bears trending up entering bye week

The Chicago Bears are in an interesting spot after their bye week came later in the season than most teams. So, while teams usually will use the bye week to turn things around and make one last push for the playoffs, this team is already out before the end of their bye week.

Still, we knew this season was about the future years from the start, so the biggest thing to watch was always player development. The following players are trending up, and there is hope that they can finish strong out of the bye week.

5. Chicago Bears have found a third back with Darrynton Evans

The Chicago Bears already established a one-two punch in their backfield, but the combination of David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert was missing something. Herbert had the speed that Montgomery lacks, but he was certainly not passing down back.

With the addition of Darrynton Evans, the Bears found a pass-catching back with speed. It is the perfect compliment and everything that they need from their third back.

The team thought that they could get this production out of Trestan Ebner. This was fair to give him a shot over Evans because he is younger and under team control for longer. However, Ebner got his chance and struggled.

Evans got a chance and did well. With that in mind, it only made sense to keep riding Evans. Ebner went from 15 snaps to one in the past two weeks. Evans went from two snaps to 18 and 13 in the past two weeks.

In that time he has 12 rushes for 55 yards, and one catch for 31 yards. He also had one called back due to a penalty. Evans is interesting to watch because he is still only 24. He is a former third-round pick, but in the last two years he could not stay healthy, and the team that drafted him moved on. Still, he has been much better than Ebner, and the team should feel set at running back moving forward when Khalil Herbert comes back. Evans has been a great find.