Bears position battles 2021

   The preseason is just around the corner and I couldn't be happier to have some football in my life once again. These years preseason games should be very meaningful for the Bears to be able to evaluate new personnel most notably Justin Fields how should receive a heavy workload and see where he is at. There is competition in almost every area of the team like it should be so I list a very early depth chart of the probable final 53 man roster, 

QB - A. Dalton, J. Fields, N. Foles

RB - D. Montgomery, D. Williams, K. Herbert

WR - A. Robinson, D. Mooney, M. Goodwin, D. Byrd, J. Wims, R. Ridley, D. Newsome

TE - C. Kmet, J. Graham, J. James

OL - T. Jenkins, J. Daniels, S. Mustipher, C. Whitehair, J. Ifedi, L. Borom, E. Wilkinson, A. Bars

DL - A. Hicks, E. Goldman, B. Nichols, M. Edwards, A. Blackson, K. Tonga

OLB - K. Mack, R. Quinn, J. Attaochu, Tr. Gipson, C. Snowden

ILB - R. Smith, D. Trevathan, C. Jones, J. Iyegbuniwe

CB - J. Johnson, D. Trufant, K. Vildor, T. Roberson, A. Burns, T. Graham, D. Shelley

S - E. Jackson, Ta. Gipson, D. Houston-Carson, D Bush

SP - C. Santos, P. O'Donnell, P. Scales

PUP - T. Cohen

   I will surely make some changes to it once the preseason games are played but for now this is how I envision it to be, but what I am very intrigued right now are some position battles that should be going right now at training camp,

QB1 - Justin Fields vs Andy Dalton 

   Most important and probably a one sided match, Dalton has the advantage based on what Matt Nagy reports day to day to the media that right now he is QB1, this could change but it will have to depend on the three preseason matches, hopefully Dalton looks good on every preseason game snap but it would be even better if Field just balls out to convince Nagy he should start sooner rather than later.

RB2 - Damien Williams vs Khalil Herbert

   I don't see David Montgomery losing the lead spot at RB but the two behind him might have enough talent to make a run for his job which is a good thing, but for the start of the season Williams and Herbert will fight for snaps to show how good they can be. Both look to be good at catching the ball and running outside with good burst, so the question will be who can do it more consistently?

WRS - Marquise Goodwin vs Damiere Byrd vs Dazz Newsome

   The speed battle for the slot position, I think all three will be picked to the 53 man roster but only one may get all the reps or most of them. I believe all of them will be asked to play outside occasionally, Newsome is the one with the least experience as a pro and as an outside receiver so I got Goodwin as the starter with Byrd coming out the bench and Newsome on a limited role and more as a special teams returner.

WR1 - Jester Weah vs Thomas Ives vs Chris Lacy

   The battle for Javon Wims spot as a backup if he screws up again. These guys may get a shot because of their size to play the possession type receiver which is Robinsons role, it's not a given that having all speed no size on the field for some or most of the game will hurt the Bears but if the coaches prefer to have 2 big outside receivers on the roster then there is a chance for these guys and more so if Wims continues with inconsistency and lack of discipline.

WR2 - Riley Ridley vs Rodney Adams vs Jon´vea Johnson vs Justin Hardy

   Adams and Johnson have been talked about a bit in a positive way at training camp while Ridley hasn't, just for this I'm considering them getting a chance to get the backup to the WR2 spot and only placing Hardy here because he got signed to fill in Anthony Millers spot which was probably going to be the primary backup. I believe Ridley will get a spot at the 53 man roster, even if Adams, Johnson  or Hardy beat him to it, I don't think neither of them will get many snaps or a final spot at regular season games.

NT - Khyiris Tonga vs Mike Pennel

   The heavyweight match to get the backup role behind Goldman, Pennel may have some advantage just because he may share a familiarity with Nagy when both were with the Chiefs but I think it will be an even match where the bigger, better and stronger man will prevail.

OLB2 - Jeremiah Attaochu vs Trevis Gipson vs Charles Snowden vs James Vaughters

   The fight for the third spot at the OLB position should be one to watch, the one who gets it could earn a good quantity of reps if Robert Quinn keeps struggling with health issues. Attaochu was signed to prevent a downfall if Quinn could get it together so he should be ahead of everyone on this group, Gipson flashed good pass rush but failed often to finish the job getting lost once he got passed the Oline, Snowden comes with a good pass rushing resume but with health questions and lastly Vaughters I place him at the bottom of the list because he isnt good or bad.

ILB2 - Joel Iyegbuniwe vs Josh Woods vs Alec Ogletree

   A new challenger has arrived, Ogletree just got signed to fight for the rights to be a backup to Smith or Trevathan. There is a chance Trevathan loses his spot in some point of the season, so it should be another intense group battle in camp to win what I guess is the last fourth spot at ILB. I placed Iyegbuniwe at that spot but it's really up for grabs whoever contributes more at SPs, Ogletree comes with some experience but it won't win him the job automatically, he will need to compete against the young guys.

CB2 - Desmond Trufant vs Kindle Vildor vs Tre Roberson

   This battle may make or break the performance of this years defense. Having the right CB2 in place along with Jaylon Johnson is uber important for this defense to reach their highest potential. If the coaches fail to fill this spot with enough talent, the Bears are going to struggle in a big way. Vildor is making a lot of noise in training camp to be the guy, the problem is his size which is not ideal for an outside corner, Trufant on the other hand has the optimal size but has struggled with injuries. No one is talking about Roberson but last year there were some talks about his good performance in camp until he got hurt, so I placed him here just because I would like him to at least push the others to make the decision more difficult.

CBN - Duke Shelley vs Thomas Graham Jr.

   If Vildor loses the CB2 spot then he should get the Nickel spot, but if Vildor wins the CB2 spot then Shelly and Graham go at it. Shelley should have the advantage due to experience but he really hasn't been talked about to much in a positive way to give it to him just like that so Graham should have a chance to fight for it.

   Preseason was reduced to three games which is fine, it should be enough snaps to get to know the players so the coaches can make the final cuts. The news of numerous injuries in training camp is not ideal, even less ideal is the fact that 6 OL are out and 5 of them are T and 4 of them are LT, that won't help Dalton gel with the team. There's still 1 week to go so hopefully it's enough to get some of these guys back in the field so I can maintain myself hyped for games where the score doesn't matter, may the best man win.