The Chicago Bears signed Terrell Lewis to their practice squad after he cleared waivers following his release from the Los Angeles Rams. Lewis started in three games this season and seven overall.
He also was a third-round pick as recently as 2020. Ryan Poles has done this before and will keep swinging at players from other teams’ practice squads. He has signed Trevon Wesco, Armon Watts, Alex Leatherwood, Sterling Weatherford, and Josh Blackwell, and all four have contributed this season.
Then, at edge rusher, he has found Kingsley Jonathan, Gerri Green, and Taco Charlton. He has not found any players in this area to stick, but it makes sense that he is going to keep throwing darts at the wall to see if anyone can stick around.
The reality is that while these names have stuck around so far, even the biggest name from that list, Armon Watts is probably just a solid depth addition to the defensive line. So, that may be the upside you are looking at.
Still, it is better than rolling Jonathan, or Green, two players who are already gone. We may be seeing Charlton move on, or the team may even keep five edge rushers to get a look at Lewis over the final three games.
Most of these names are young, and Lewis is not 25 years old yet, either. While there is plenty to get excited about, there is a reason that he got cut.
As a rookie, he looked solid as a situational rusher late into the season. Then, he went from 11 pressures to 21 and went from 92 pass rush repetitions to 207. After year two, it looked like they had something.
However, in 2022 he has 174 pass rush reps, and he has just four pressures. That is almost double his rookie season, and nearly one-third the number of pressures. That is a massive drop-off, and it is what makes a player go from a third rusher on a championship team to being cut from a poor-performing team.
Ryan Poles is smart to take the chance on the upside of a former third-round pick in his third season. Still, he was cut for a reason, so while fans should keep an eye on whether he plays, he is not going to be a game-changer.