Week 12 is going to be a challenging one for the Chicago Bears, as they face a situation with their linebackers that wasn't predicted at the beginning of the season.
Chicago's final injury report exposed a massive issue with the starting lineup. The Bears will be without their top three linebackers on the field as T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, and Noah Sewell were all ruled out for the contest.
That leaves the Bears with D'Marco Jackson and rookie fourth-round pick Ruben Hyppolite II as the starting linebackers for the game. It'll be a good test to see whether Bears general manager Ryan Poles' risk on Hyppolite will pay off or burn them.
Hyppolite has a chance to prove to Bears fans he's a sleeper pick
Coming out of Maryland, there were some questions about consistency with Hyppolite's play on the field, but one thing stood out to everyone: his speed. He ran an unprecedented 4.39 40-yard dash time at his Pro Day. That kind of speed is rarely seen in a linebacker.
Poles took a chance on him in the fourth round of the draft, knowing that adding his speed would be great for Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's unit as long as he had time to develop on the bench. Hyppolite showed glimpses of his potential in the preseason after racking up 16 tackles in extensive play.
In the regular season, though, Hyppolite has been mainly a special teams ace for Chicago. He's only played 18 defensive snaps and 82 special teams snaps on the year. Hyppolite has four tackles to his stat sheet.
This will be the first time all season that he is going to get extensive playing time on the field on defense. Adding that he will be with another linebacker with minimal play on defense in Jackson, these two have a ton to prove to the Bears.
More pressure is on Hyppolite due to the hype of his speed, which he brought with him from college. Bears fans were expecting him to have more playing time this season, but he got outplayed by Sewell.
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One game can define the rest of Hyppolite's career. Bears fans will be intrigued to see how he does in his first NFL start.