Any 53-man roster projection for the Chicago Bears has five wide receivers locked into a spot right now, and it would take a lot to change that.
As such, four of those roster locks (Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas) did not play in the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. The fifth easily projected roster lock, Jahdae Walker, played the least out of the seven wideouts who did suit up for the game (13 offensive snaps).
Of course, that also meant opportunity knocked for several others against the Browns, and they all took some level of advantage of it. In the numbers game that'll decide the Bears' initial 53-man roster, there's now a welcome headache as a multi-pronged push forces six wide receivers to make the starting lineup.
Amid all those standouts, Kaden Davis stood a notch above. He had a team-high four catches for 88 yards, with a long of 41 yards. His effort to block downfield on running back Salvon Ahmed's 49-yard touchdown reception will also impress head coach Ben Johnson and wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El, as the "no block, no rock" mentality they brought with them from Detroit continues to take hold in Chicago.
Of course, Davis spent some time with the Lions earlier in his career, so he knows what Johnson and Randle El are looking for. The key for him is taking being a training camp and preseason standout all the way to a roster spot, and the Bears' wide receiving corps is just as hard to crack as the Lions' was/is.
Kaden Davis only needed 35 snaps to force the Bears to make room for him on the 53-man roster
Davis unsurprisingly led the Bears' wide receivers in offensive snaps against the Browns, with 35. He also played four special teams snaps in the game, one in each of the return game phases, which creates some important context in the battle for spots down the Bears' wide receiver depth chart.
Could Davis be a threat to Walker's presumed role as the Bears' WR5? It feels unlikely, and he needs to carry his momentum from early camp and the preseason opener forward with little or no drop-off, but it's not impossible.
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The equation could change quickly in the coming weeks. But Davis did everything he needed to in the preseason opener to force the Bears to make room for him on the 53-man roster. Now, let's shift to getting him a jersey number that isn't one a running back or a defensive back should wear.
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