On Tuesday, Marc Silverman, aka “Silvy,” had a discussion on his show on ESPN Radio about whether the Chicago Bears roster from the last 10 years would win the Super Bowl.
So Silvy got me wondering, what would the 53-man roster be over the last 10 years? We took a look at the roster over the last 10 years (starting in the 2016 season). We wanted to make sure we didn’t forget about special teams, so that was included in these decisions.
This is the Bears’ best team over the last 10 years, and yes, especially due to depth, this team would win the Super Bowl.
Quarterbacks (3)
Caleb Williams, Jay Cutler, Nick Foles: The QB situation is interesting. The 2016 version of Jay Cutler was not one that I want to lead my Super Bowl team, but I think the veteran aspect of Cutler as a backup quarterback would be great. Nick Foles is the team’s emergency QB3 as someone with playoff success, have to like that as your break-glass QB. Caleb Williams is the most talented QB they’ve had; he must be the starter.
Weapon (1)
Justin Fields: I’ll leave this up to Ben Johnson on how he wants to utilize him, but I’m not having the team’s best players over the last 10 years and not having Justin Fields’ athleticism on this team. Is he playing quarterback? No. Is he some sort of hybrid Taysom Hill role? Absolutely. With Fields on the field, defenses will have to be on their toes.
Running Backs (4)
David Montgomery, D’Andre Swift, Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen: I think these four are pretty clear, and they all complement each other pretty well. Monty and Swift give Ben Johnson that thunder and lightning duo he likes, and Howard and Cohen can back up their respective roles. This group may not have a high-end back, but they have four guys who can consistently gain yards and wear down a defense.
Wide Receivers (6)
DJ Moore, Allen Robinson, Rome Odunze, Darnell Mooney, Alshon Jeffery, Cordarelle Patterson: It’s funny how loaded the Bears’ WR group is for a franchise that had terrible wide receivers, mostly for decades. Jeffery is the team’s WR5 because the version of Jeffery in his final year in Chicago in 2016 was good, but he wasn’t better than the peak that the other four receivers have had in Chicago uniforms over the last 10 years.
Tight Ends (3)
Cole Kmet, Zach Miller, Marcedes Lewis: This may not be the team’s best 3 tight ends, but I feel this is the best group that can complement each other. Kmet is the team’s best all-around tight end of the last 10 years. Miller makes the team as the team’s U tight end; we just can’t give that to Colston Loveland at this point, and Lewis makes the team as the team’s veteran blocking tight end.
Offensive Line (8)
LT Charles Leno, LG Joe Thuney, C Drew Dalman, RG Kyle Long, RT Darnell Wright, Swing Tackle- Bobby Massie, IOL: Jonah Jackson, C2: Cody Whitehair: With the 25 I kept on offense, it came down to keeping the traditional 9 OL (Braxton Jones) or keeping Justin Fields. I kept Fields. The Bears’ starting OL is elite, and they have excellent depth pieces across the board. Again, the depth of this team is what makes them so deadly.
Defensive Ends (5)
Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Leonard Floyd, Montez Sweat, Roy Robertson-Harris: This is a great group, being able to pair elite Mack with Quinn’s elite year. Floyd and Sweat as rotational run stoppers on the edge is great, and we put RRH on here because he can play inside and ou, and we want his length blocking kicks on special teams.
Defensive Tackles (4)
Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Gervon Dexter, Andrew Billings: Hicks moves into the 3T position in this team’s 4-3 defense, and Eddie Goldman plays his typical big body space filler. Billings backs up Goldman, Dexter backs up Hicks, and with this group, we don’t need a 5th tackle. RRH can slide inside if need be.
Linebackers (5)
Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, Danny Trevathan, TJ Edwards, Jack Sanborn: Smith is obviously the team’s top backer, and you can make an argument that any of the next three should be the team’s LB2. We will let Vic Fangio figure that out (sorry, Dennis Allen). Sanborn makes the team to play special teams.
Cornerbacks (6)
Jaylon Johnson, Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Sherrick McManis, Kyler Gordon, Bryce Callahan: This is another great unit. Peak Johnson and Peak Fuller are an incredible duo, and Gordon plays the Nickel. Prince is the team’s backup boundary corner, Bryce backs up Gordon at nickel, and McManis will be a key special teamer.
Safeties (5)
Eddie Jackson, Kevin Byard, Adrian Amos, Jaquan Brisker, DeAndre Houston-Carson: What another deep group. DHC is again here for special teams. Eddie Jackson at his all-pro skills and three excellent safeties behind Eddie.
Special Teams (3)
Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Patrick Scales: We may not have the big leg we need at kicker, but Santos won’t miss a FG inside of 40 yards, and Ben Johnson will just go for it if it’s a 50+ yard field goal. We could make an argument for Pat O’Donnell, but we will take the big leg of Taylor as the punter, and Scales does the long snapping. We have Tarik Cohen here to return punts, Cordarelle Patterson to return kicks, and you’ve already seen some of our great special teamers like McManis, Houston-Carson, Sanborn, and Robertson-Harris.
