Chicago Bears top roster battles still left unsettled going into the final week of the preseason with roster cuts looming
The Chicago Bears are heading into the final week of the preseason with its last game scheduled for Saturday against the Tennessee Titans. The following day, head coach Ben Johnson will have to trim the roster down from 91 to 53 players.
The Chicago Bears are heading into the final week of preseason and roster cuts are right around the corner after getting pushed up the schedule this year. Chicago’s final preseason game will be held on Saturday against the Tennessee Titans and the following day the Bears’ staff will have to trim the roster down from 91 to 53 players.
With the players off on Monday, head coach Ben Johnson said he and his staff will use today to evaluate the roster leading up to cutdown day.
“That’s where this discussion, player day off on Monday, with the personnel staff, that’ll be big for us,” Johnson said. “Make sure that we’re all aligned, we see it all the same way. And then anybody that could go either way, it would be a big week for them as well. I said it a week ago, I don’t think that there was as much clarity. It’s actually a good thing. It means we have a really good competition across the roster at a number of spots.”
The Bears have some significant roster battles that are still wide open going into the final week of the preseason. So, let’s break down the top ones and predict how they could unfold.
Top rosters battles still left unsettled for the Chicago Bears going into the final week of preseason
Left Tackle
This is still easily the biggest decision Johnson has to make on the offensive side of the ball. It’s been a four-horse race at the left tackle position all throughout training camp between Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet, Jedrick Wills Jr., and Kiran Amegadjie. Here’s how each of those four have performed throughout the preseason.
| Player | Snaps | Pass-Block Grade | Run-Block Grade | Pressures-Sacks |
| Braxton Jones | 15 | 29.6 | 54.4 | 1-1 |
| Theo Benedet | 63 | 62.3 | 73.8 | 0-0 |
| Kiran Amegadjie | 70 | 44.6 | 58.5 | 6-0 |
| Jedrick Wills | 65 | 66.8 | 49.9 | 2-1 |
Now let’s explain some things. Jones only played in one preseason game, this past Saturday, and has missed some time in camp with a knee injury. Even despite that and his bad showing, I do still view him has the leader in this race.
Benedet, Wills, and Amegadjie have all split time between left and right tackle throughout the preseason. Benedet is easily the top option to be the swing tackle and should get another look at left tackle later this week.
The true wild-card in this battle is Ozzy Trapilo, who was activated from the PUP last week, but still hasn’t practiced beyond doing individual drills. So, it’s hard to determine how soon he will actually be ready and available as an option.
Roster Prediction: Braxton Jones opens the season as the starting left tackle, Theo Benedet makes the roster as the swing tackle, Jedrick Wills Jr. stays on the practice squad, Kiran Amegadjie gets cut. The thing to watch is whether or not Ozzy Trapilo gets placed on the IR, which would knock him out of the first four games, but give him time to rehab.
Outside Cornerback #2
This battle has been bumped up my list and the biggest conversation to watch on defense this week. The Bears thankfully have their #1 this time around with Jaylon Johnson back in the fold for Week 1 and playing at a high level again. Who starts opposite him to open the season is still a conversation worth having this week.
Johnson told reporters after Saturday’s game that Tyrique Stevenson was held out due to injury and it will be a week-to-week situation. We’re running out of weeks here. If Stevenson can’t go Week 1, who’s the next best option to turn to?
From what we’ve seen the last few weeks, the Bears don’t know that answer. Josh Blackwell, Dontae Manning, and William Wright have all gotten work with the first-team either in practice or during the preseason games. Neither seem like starting options. Perhaps this is the week Beanie Bishop or newly-signed Deantre Prince make a name for themselves?
Another option is kicking rookie Malik Muhammad back outside this week with Cam Lewis moving into the nickel spot, which is the best option to get all of your best available players on the field.
Roster Prediction: Malik Muhammad moves outside, Cam Lewis drops down into the slot for Week 1. As for the outside depth players, I’m not sure that player is currently on this roster but I’ll be watching to see what Beanie Bishop or Deantre Prince do this week.
Running Back #3
The RB3 battle became even more important for this offense after Kyle Monangai suffered a knee injury that is considered week-to-week. If Monangai misses early regular season games, the RB3 will serve as the backup behind D’Andre Swift and see a decent share of snaps. The battle has been mostly between Roschon Johnson and Salvon Ahmed, and Johnson seems to be the favorite right now.
“He flashed the other day, in particular on special teams, and we keep talking about the importance of being the number three running back or depth in the running back room and being able to bring that to the table,” Johnson said. “He had a couple really nice plays in practice, can’t wait to see what it looked like on game tape, because we talked about wanting to see players stack good performances back-to-back, and he’s a candidate that may have done that tonight.”
As for Ahmed, Johnson noted he wanted to see him expand his game more on special teams, yet he still only played 10 special teams snaps in the second preseason game. We seem to be close to wrapping this battle up, but I’ll give it another week.
Roster Prediction: Roschon Johnson makes the roster as RB3 while Salvon Ahmed gets added to the practice squad as a call up if anything were to happen to D’Andre Swift.
Defensive End #4
This is one I want to see start heating up this week. The Bears already have their top three edge rushers in Monte Sweat, Austin Booker, and Dayo Odeyingbo. It’s worth noting that Booker was the only one of the three to not play in Saturday’s game, so he’s a potential injury to watch heading into Tuesday’s practice.
The #4 edge rusher spot might not seem like a big deal, but I want to see the Bears give this some real attention. I believe Jamree Kromah has earned that kind of respect and it wouldn’t be fair to see him get cut in favor of Marcus Davenport, who we haven’t even seen on the field yet in any capacity.
I’d like to see Davenport out there this week in practice and see Kromah get some action with the starters on Saturday, but it doesn’t sound like Kromah will have much of an opportunity. It’s also worth noting that we haven’t seen Shemar Turner out there, who’s still rehabbing from a torn ACL. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune wrote over the weekend that we might not see Turner until October.
Roster Prediction: Bears keep Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Marcus Davenport, and Daniel Hardy (ST value) on the roster, Jamree Kromah gets cut and brought back to the practice squad, Shemar Turner gets placed on the reserve/PUP list.
Completed Roster Battles
Center
As I expected, this wasn’t much of a competition. Garrett Bradbury won this battle with ease and will be the starting center for Week 1 with Logan Jones likely red-shirting before taking over as the long-term center.
There was some concern about Bradbury after Thursday’s joint practice with the way Dexter Lawrence dominated up-front. Johnson spoke about that situation and eased the remaining concerns when it comes to Bradbury’s performance.
“It was up and down throughout,” Johnson said. “I think [Lawrence’s] a menace. He’s an issue. That’s been the case for a number of years, I remember being in a joint practice setting with him a couple years ago and he wrecks practice. That’s what he does. I will say I was proud of the way that Garrett competed and he did some good things against him.
That being said, the Bears do have something in Logan Jones. I thought he had a really nice game against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend.
Final Verdict: Garrett Bradbury starts the season at center, Logan Jones makes the roster as a red-shirt backup.
Wide Receiver #6
The WR6 battle has been fun to watch but it ended far quicker than anyone expected with the victor being a name few could have predicted. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas, and Jahdae Walker are locked in as your top five. The WR6 spot is going to Kaden Davis and it’s not particularly close.
Davis has flashed as a wide receiver, consistently been one of the fastest players on the entire roster, has been a willing blocker for his teammates, and produced on special teams. That’s everything you want to see out of your WR6.
The only remaining question is which WRs deserve a practice squad role. That will come down to this final week and will be between Maurice Alexander, Scotty Miller, JP Richardson, and I’ll even throw Ray-Ray McCloud into the mix.
Final Verdict: Kaden Davis is your WR6 and the Bears will be watching this position to determine who makes the practice squad (I’ll say Maurice Alexander and Scotty Miller).
Defensive Tackle #3-4
Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter Sr. are locked in as your two starters, and both players should be on short leashes going into the final year of their respective contracts. The top depth option behind them has to be rookie Jordan van den Berg, who continues to shine and play with a relentless mentality. However, I can see Dennis Allen favoring Neville Gallimore as the top rotating DT early in the season, so be prepared for that.
After that, this is where the numbers come into play. Do the Bears keep five interior defensive tackles or six? I lean five considering Allen wants to keep working Odeyingbo inside and off the edge. So, is the fifth interior player going to be Kentavius Street, James Lynch, or undrafted rookie Jayden Loving? That’ll be one to watch this week.
Final Verdict/Prediction: Neville Gallimore and Jordan van den Berg will be the top interior depth players up-front, Kentavius Street beats out James Lynch, Jayden Loving sticks on the practice squad.
