As far as preseason openers go, that Chicago Bears win over the Cleveland Browns was pretty…boring. (Which isn’t bad, especially on an injury front.)
None of the stars, like Caleb Williams, played a snap, leaving the backups to show their stuff and make their case to stick on the 53-man roster or practice squad down the line. Splash plays like running back Salvon Ahmed’s slaloming touchdown run and cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr.’s two INTs certainly won the day.
But as far as players who might actually
matter to the Chicago Bears this season or in the future, there were a couple of performances that may have flown under the radar that we should be watching, one each on offense and defense.
Theo Benedet (72.8)
It was good to see rookie center Logan Jones get out there for some game reps this week with the presumed starters sitting out, and he generally looked fine. But the backup offensive lineman who helped himself the most in Week 1 was unquestionably Benedet.
Getting the start at right tackle, Benedet earned the sixth-best offensive grade of the game for the Bears, including the second-best among all Chicago’s offensive linemen. Even more importantly, Benedet posted a clean pass-pro stat line for the game—no pressures of any kind allowed.
By contrast, veteran free-agent signee Jedrick Wills (58.2) and starting left tackle Kiran Amegadjie (44.8), who gave up three pressures, didn’t pass the smell test when it came to improving their stock.
The news that Ozzy Trapilo is, somehow, unbelievably, returning to practice for the Bears not even months after rupturing his patellar tendon—I mean, seriously, what?!—could change the math for Chicago’s left tackle position. If he’s even remotely prepared to start, you can potentially say goodbye to Braxton Jones, who had been starting in his place, or, at the very least, Wills and Amegadjie if you’re not ready to put Trapilo on the field right away.
But Benedet, the former undrafted free agent, keeps earning a role on this team.
Jordan van den Berg (69.1)
You get the feeling that the sixth-round rookie out of Georgia Tech is a bit of a bull in a china shop right now. But boy, does that bull have some impressive traits.
The uncanny athleticism and raw physicality that made van den Berg one of the most athletic defensive tackle prospects ever to come out of the draft showed up on Saturday, as he racked up three pressures, including a quarterback hit. His violent swipe to the inside to get a lick on Shedeur Sanders (just stay higher next time)—was one of the best reps of the day from an interior defender.
It’s not going to be enough to vault him into significant snaps off the bat, especially given his need to play with more discipline. But if he keeps flashing like this, he’s going to get his handful of snaps a game on pass-rushing downs to push the pocket. The Bears needed all the help they could get in that regard last season, so every little bit helps.
At the very least, we saw a guy with the tools to be a solid player. Now, it’s just about coaching him up.
