2017 Chicago Bears Roster

   The official depth chart is out for the 2017 Chicago Bears, the unofficial one had me scratching my head and giving me more questions than answers but now with the official one out I can say I feel better now.

   Deciding on keeping Mark Sanchez? Whatever, but making him the backup was not funny. This got corrected when John Fox announced that Mitchell Trubisky would be the backup because he earned it, which he did. Kudos to Tarik Cohen on getting to be the backup to Jordan Howard as the premier change of pace RB, he makes the offense feel different and probably more fun to watch. Letting go of Jeremy Langford was a bit surprising but it doesn’t feel the group will miss a beat without him and getting Taquan Mizzel of the waiver wire was a good pickup. Getting to the TEs and keeping a FB is where it gets interesting. At one point the team was keeping 5 TEs which felt there were too many, then Ben Brauneker got to the PS and now with 4 TEs it feels right because it feels that the coaching staff is all in on the run game and we might see a lot of 2 TE sets for better blocking and gain short yardage which I’m ok with that. Not keeping Tanner Gentry over Josh Bellamy was not ok and I almost lost it when they released him to hopefully get him on the PS which they did, but come on! that was way to risky. Letting Victor Cruz go I understood but getting Tre McBride off the waiver wire to insert him on the team only because Dowell Loggains knows him when he was with the Titans doesn’t seem right, let’s see if he even plays. The O-line group makes a comeback from last year as an O-line should, I don’t believe Kyle Long will be playing this Sunday and that is going to hurt the team a lot, the guard position was the most established position with Erick Kush as backup but now with him out and Long struggling with his ankle makes it a high concern. Who would have thought that we are one more injured guard away from being in deep shit.

   The front seven looks awesome and love that Roy Robertson-Harris convinced the coaches to give him a spot with his great play in the preseason. Having him, Jonathan Bullard and Nick Kwiatkoski as solid backups and counting Eddie Goldman and Laonard Floyd as rising young stars gives a good feeling for the future. Adding the return of Pernell McPhee to the lineup is huge even if he only plays half the snaps. Love that Willie Young will get to play the strong side while Floyd is on the field at the weakside giving the team a rushing duo in almost every play but this only happens because of the injury and consequently the release of Lamarr Houston which is tough because he really gave his all when on the field. I was skeptical with the decision of not having a backup NT but then saw they got John Jenkins signed and all was good again. The secondary is a sad bunch with all the injuries looming, losing Deiondre’ Hall for the season hurts, it’s like Kevin White all over again but not as costly. The bright spot is that Eddie Jackson gets the nod at FS but is also with a lingering groin injury, so is Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, Sherick McManis and you can’t ignore that Bryce Callahan tends to get injured frequently and add that Kyle Fuller is getting back from a season ending injury. This would be the group with the biggest question mark going into the season due to health, but we have enough questions at QB to be worried enough.

   I wonder if we could have a picture of Roberto Aguayo on the bench in every game just to keep Connor Barth honest. Jeff Overhaugh out, Andrew DePaola in. Why? Don’t know, don’t care. It’s done, let’s move on.

   The future looks brighter with the young talent on the team and Trubisky looking good in the preseason. There’s still a necessity to get better depth at the O-line, specially at tackle and although Charles Leno Jr. got signed long-term, we can still get better at RT. WR is also a position that wouldn’t hurt to have more promising prospects. As good as the front seven on defense looks, getting young on the edges would be beneficial. The secondary is still a mess.

    Still believe they finish 6-10 against a strong schedule and a not established enough Bears team.

   Predicting the 1^st quarter of the season is gruesome and pessimistic. Going against a traumatized Atlanta Falcons group that is loaded on offense and quick on defense will be thought to say the least. There’s just too many weapons on offense but shutting down Julio Jones is priority, next is to not lose sight of the running backs on pass plays. Then the Bears must do what they need to do on every game, grind the defense and clock with the run and pressure the QB as much as they can to alleviate the DBs.

   I’m expecting to see a competitive game at Tampa Bay which is not a bad team but is not a top 10 team yet, right now they feel like a bit better Bears team with more experienced WRs.

   Going against Pittsburgh and then at Green Bay can get demoralizing. The Steelers are a better team than the Packers because of a better-established running game and O-line, but it’s the QB play and WRs that make these teams scary as well as their LBs.

   I believe they will beat at least the Buccaneers and start the season with a 1-3 record.

   Here’s hoping they can beat one other team like the Packers in a not so cold Lambeau Field with a weak interior O-line where the Bears could have an edge. Let’s see if they can get some momentum going early in the year.