The Chicago Bears experiment with Dominique Robinson is just about over. The third-year pass rusher was a complete project during his rookie season and somehow got worse during his second year. In year three, the Bears gave him plenty of chances and now it is time to recognize where he stands.
Coming into the past two games, Robinson has been ahead of Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy on the depth chart. This makes sense; the third-year guy is ahead of the rookies, both a draft pick and a UDFA. However, we now have a two-game sample in which both Booker and Hardy have performed better than Robinson.
To go beyond that, most reports out of camp are that Hardy is a sleeper to make the roster while Booker has impressed when called upon.
The Chicago Bears have to move Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy up the depth chart
Both Hardy and Booker had 2.5 sack performances in the second preseason game. Robinson hardly had a pressure. The only argument you can make for Robinson is that he started in place of Montez Sweat so he faced better competition.
However, the only test to see if it is Robinson or the competition is to move Booker and Hardy up and see them play against better tackles, then push Robinson down.
If Robinson gets pushed down and goes off, we know that there is something there. If either Booker or Hardy plays well when pushed up the depth chart, the Bears have faith in something this season. This is a win-win. The only thing that the Bears cannot do is keep the status quo with Robinson ahead of Hardy and Booker.
It will be interesting to see if the Bears make any changes as a result of the performances this weekend.