Chicago Bears HC Ben Johnson reveals one of the positions currently up for grabs on defense following the first day of rookie minicamp
The Chicago Bears are still looking to evaluate a few different spots and positions throughout the roster, and this weekend's rookie minicamp is a great way to figure out what the team has, or still needs, in terms of depth.Following the first day of minicamp on Friday, Bears head coach Ben Johnson revealed one of […]
The Chicago Bears are still looking to evaluate a few different spots and positions throughout the roster, and this weekend's rookie minicamp is a great way to figure out what the team has, or still needs, in terms of depth.
Following the first day of minicamp on Friday, Bears head coach Ben Johnson revealed one of the positions that will be up for grabs throughout the next few weeks. And that position is the strong-side linebacker (SAM).
"We certainly have an open competition," Johnson explained. "We feel really good obviously about T.J. [Edwards] and Tremaine [Edmunds] and what they've done not just last year but the last few years. But that third spot is up for grabs…
"We do have a prototype, [Dennis Allen] has a prototype for what that SAM would look like. We're more concerned, let's find our third-best linebacker and we'll figure it out from there. We won't know for sure until we get the pads on."
Already going into rookie minicamp, the Bears had two other returning vets at the position in Amen Ogbongbemiga and Noah Sewell. Johnson noted that Sewell specifically has "shown a lot of good things" over the last few weeks.
Ogbongbemiga appeared in all 17 games for the Bears in 2024 recording 13 tackles and one sack. Sewell, the team's former fifth-round pick in 2023 played nine games as a sophomore totaling just four tackles and one forced fumble.
As for who could stand out at the position this weekend, the obvious player is fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite II. The team's defensive coordinator had a lot of good things to say about the rookie earlier in the week in terms of his speed-factor and mentality.
Beyond Hyppolite, the Bears also signed undrafted free agent Power Echols and invited Michael Batton for a tryout. Last year's UDFA signing Carl Jones Jr. is also in attendance this weekend at practice.
"Any time you get the opportunity to be in the building, just like now, you're always being evaluated," Johnson added. "It doesn't matter if you're a draft pick, if you were an undrafted signee, if you're a tryout guy, we're taking everything into account. They earned one opportunity, now they gotta earn the next opportunity. And the door is wide open for that."
The Bears will have two more days of rookie minicamp this weekend. After that, the new players will join the returning players during organized team activities starting on May 20th.
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He needs to be on the team’s radar.
