3 surprising players who could make the Chicago Bears roster

Chicago Bears Rookie Minicamp
Chicago Bears Rookie Minicamp / Michael Reaves/GettyImages
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1. Ian Wheeler

Running back Ian Wheeler is the type of player who could cause Chicago to keep only two quarterbacks, as special teams are his specialty (no pun intended), and the Bears have great depth at the position. However, the Howard University alum displayed a knack for making plays in the return game at the collegiate level, which could help his chances of sticking around.

Wheeler is in a similar position to Reed, as he has veterans in front of him who have seen live game action, and, removing the aspect of veteran mentorship from the conversation, he would arguably have a much more difficult road ahead of him than his fellow undrafted rookie, as each of the Bears running backs have proven they can play their respective roles at a relatively high level.

Wheeler didn't make much of an impact in the ground game in college, and he probably won't provide much there in the pros, either. However, the same can be said for Travis Homer, his main competition for the fourth running back spot. Homer has been a standout on special teams though, and Wheeler will have to prove he can do the same if he wants to stick around.

The only scenario where he could make the roster as the fifth running back is if he shows significant promise as a returner and doesn't provide much value as a gunner. In that scenario, he might not only steal Velus Jones Jr.'s role as the primary returner, but he could even steal his roster spot.

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