Chicago Bears activate surprising draft pick ahead of final preseason game

The Chicago Bears will conclude their 2024 preseason schedule on Thursday with a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

While the Bears have yet to make any official declaration regarding whether or not the starters will play on Thursday, odds are Thursday will mostly be an opportunity for players on the fringe to lay claim to a spot on the team's 53-man roster.

2024 third-round draft pick, offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie, figures into the Bears' long-term plans for the offensive line, but an injury has delayed the start of his Training Camp. There was an encouraging update on Amegadjie's status on Sunday as the Bears announced they had activated Amegadjie off the NFI list.

The starting offensive line for the Bears entering the season seems to have taken shape. From left to right, it should be the order of Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Nate Davis, and Darnell Wright.

The biggest question marks for the Bears along the offensive line during Training Camp have been at center and right guard. Due to an injury to Ryan Bates, Shelton has gotten most of the snaps at center with the first-team offense. Davis has done himself no favors as the starting right guard due to his lack of availability during camp and in his game action on Saturday against the Bengals, the veteran struggled.

When the Bears selected Amegadjie in the third round of this year's draft, there was some surprise. Not in the sense that the Bears selected an offensive lineman but a surprise in the sense that Amegadjie was projected as a red-shirt rookie. Meaning that it seemed that the Bears selected Amegadjie to be the replacement for Jones in future seasons but not this season. That is why there hasn't been too mich concern that he started camp on the NFI list. Though, with him now healthy and being able to practice, that would seem to confirm that he will be on the 53-man roster to open the season.