The Chicago Bears find themselves riding high after a 38-0 blowout win at home against the Super Bowl-contending Buffalo Bills. As always, any measured thoughts about a preseason game should be labeled with “I know it’s just preseason, but…” There was plenty to like about their Sunday night performance in front of a national audience. The starting offense got two drives and made the most of a 93-yard opening drive to get the fan base excited. The defense played lights out in all three levels of the depth
chart. In short, there was plenty to like on Sunday night. For more on Sunday night’s impressive performance, let’s dive into our Five Bears Takes.
1. I’m not sure you could have drawn up a better result for the Bears’ starting offense.
Outside of the holding call on Drew Dalman around midfield, the offense was near-perfect on their opening drive that saw a 93-yard scoring drive end with Olamide Zaccheaus racing 36 yards for the touchdown. It’s something that Bears fans didn’t see at all last year in 17 games. Again, it’s just the preseason, but you have to like what you saw on that opening drive.
Second-year quarterback Caleb Williams looked poised, decisive, and accurate. No. 10 overall pick Colston Loveland had a pair of catches. The offensive line held up well. The list goes on, and almost all of it was positive.
Most importantly, Bears fans needed this. It’s been an uneven camp for the offense, and Williams has been the subject of many headlines around sports talk television and radio. The first week of camp brought plenty of concern. Williams looked like a fish out of water, and the defense was dominating each practice. Without context, it was cause for concern. Then it came out that Ben Johnson and his staff were loading up the offense with everything involved in a complex offense. After 12 installs, things started to slow down for Williams, just as Johnson had predicted. Although the results have still been a mixed bag, there’s been plenty more good than bad over the last two weeks. That all came to a head on Sunday night when Williams went 6 of 7 for 97 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive. Even if the second drive wasn’t as promising, it’s worth noting that there’s little game-planning that goes into preseason games, so this was all about going out and simply executing the offense.
There’s still a long way to go for this group, including establishing their left tackle (more on that in a bit), but Sunday’s performance was a strong step in the right direction and should give fans all the hope they need until they close out Week 1 on Monday Night Football.
2. With just eight days until the NFL’s mandated cut-down to 53 players, there were a few injuries that could alter the team’s projection for their final roster.
Each preseason, we see a handful of injuries for each team that change the trajectory of their roster decisions. It appears the Bears will be no different heading into next week’s cut-down period. Following a rash of injuries to their defensive backs, Chicago signed four defensive backs in advance of Sunday’s game. Following an injury to undrafted free agent running back Deion Hankins, we could see a similar flurry coming at the running back position, especially if Roschon Johnson isn’t able to go on Friday.
Unfortunately for the Bears, their cornerback depth took another hit on Sunday when Terell Smith exited the game on a cart following a pretty gruesome-looking knee injury. Although I’m not sure Smith was a lock for the roster, he had a future on some team’s 53-man roster in 2025 before that injury. It’s unfortunate to see, and with Zah Frazier still away from the team, that final spot on the depth chart remains wide open.
Moving over to defensive end, the statuses of Austin Booker and Dominique Robinson will be ones to watch. The depth behind the two starters has long been questionable, but it was easy to see a path for Austin Booker, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Robinson rounding out the depth chart without an outside move. If Booker or Robinson’s status is in doubt to start the season after leaving with an ankle injury, it could force the Bears into another roster move in the coming days. I’m still of the mindset that they need a more proven DE3, and maybe an injury to one of the two would spur some action.
We’ll see what happens over the next week-plus, but I’d expect the Bears to be active on a few fronts to improve their depth heading into the season.
3. (For now) The competition at left tackle appears to be over. The bigger question for me is, how healthy is Braxton Jones?
Heading into training camp, it felt like the coaching staff (and front office) was hoping that second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo would take the job with force and run with it. The first few weeks of camp felt like an open competition, but as soon as joint practices and preseason games started, it seemed clear that the Bears were leaning in a different direction.
Jones has now seen the bulk of first-team snaps in two joint practices and two preseason games. Trapilo spent last week (and the game) relegated to second-team snaps at right tackle. If anything, the only surprise was that former undrafted free agent Theo Benedet seemed to be far more in the competition than either Trapilo or last year’s third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie. In fairness to Amegadjie, his injury earlier in camp put him at a disadvantage, and it felt like the coaching staff knew that. Regardless, it felt like a two-man competition until Jones played the lone two series on Sunday night with the starters.
Here are my thoughts:
- Jones doesn’t look healthy, but it appears that the coaching staff is more comfortable leaning on his experience than giving Benedet, Trapilo, or Amegadjie a shot to start Week 1. Jones has always had skinny legs, but the atrophy in his previously injured leg is noticeable. In a normal situation with more proven depth, maybe they would give Jones a chance to get back to full strength before throwing him to the wolves.
- Handing Jones the starting job feels like a new coaching staff leaning on experience, knowing that they’ll only have four games until the bye week. Maybe that’s enough time for the fourth-year tackle to get healthy, but in a worst-case scenario, they can reassess at the bye and make a change then.
- As fun a story as Benedet has been this offseason, it would be hard to justify handing an undrafted free agent with short arms the starting left tackle job. Instead, it feels like he’s destined for the Matt Pryor/Larry Borom role, since he can play both tackle and guard. There’s plenty of value in that role, especially with how good he’s looked during the preseason.
- There was always a risk with drafting a player like Trapilo, who was much better at correct tackling in college. Not only is he three years removed from starting on the left side, but Johnson noted that he already looks more comfortable in his “natural” spot at right tackle. So, what now? Even if offensive line depth is a must for any contending team, it would be hard to justify taking a player in the second round who is effectively depth for the foreseeable future. Maybe this opens up a scenario where Darnell Wright slides over to the left side next offseason? For now, it’s not a great look in the present and brings plenty of questions about the future at left tackle beyond 2025.
- I was super low on Amegadjie coming into training camp. Despite his injury that cost him two weeks, his development through camp and Sunday’s game has been notable. I seriously questioned his viability as an NFL-quality lineman, but he looked good against the Bills, albeit against their third-team defense. It’ll be interesting to see if they give him more, considering post-bye for the starting job.
- Because of various injuries and plenty of unsettled roles (left tackle and depth), don’t be surprised to see the Bears keep 10 offensive linemen heading into Week 1. This would account for the starting five with Jones, Ryan Bates, Trapilo, Amegadjie, Benedet, and Newman. This would also give them three options at tackle, and three-to-four options on the interior, depending on how they see Amegadjie’s ability to play guard.
The good news is that four of their starting five players are set. That’s much better than general manager Ryan Poles could claim in his first three years, even if there are questions about the depth behind these starters. I still tend to believe that the Bears won’t be able to intelligently afford to keep Jones beyond this year, which leads me to think that they’ll continue to look for avenues to get one of Trapilo, Amegadjie, or Benedet on the field throughout their 17 regular-season games. It’s a lot easier to scheme around one below-average spot than what they’ve had over the past few seasons. Bears fans should still feel good about this re-tooled offensive line, even if they’ll be going into Week 1 with an unsettled battle at the left tackle position.
4. Are we back to expecting the Bears to make a move at running back as injuries pile up?
Once it was known that Johnson would become the Bears’ new head coach, the offensive focus from the outside world quickly shifted to the running back position. After all, the Detroit Lions had spent two high-value resources in one offseason to form one of the best rushing attacks in the league. In an ideal world, TreVeyon Henderson would have fallen one more pick to the Bears at No. 39, and we’d be looking at an offense with two explosive home run-hitting backs. Instead, the draft board did not fall their way, and it appears that Johnson will be looking to recreate some form of his 2022 Lions backfield with D’Andre Swift as his primary back.
Although Kyle Monangai has impressed since setting foot into the building, it’s worth questioning whether or not they can fully count on a seventh-round rookie to play a key role in Year 1. Some of those concerns would have been quelled if Roschon Johnson could stay healthy, but with a foot injury causing him to miss both preseason games, it’s fair to ponder a scenario where the front office could still be searching for outside help at the position.
Before camp, I highlighted Kenneth Walker II as a top option for the Bears on the trade market. Seeing how the preseason has played out in Seattle, it seems less likely that the Seahawks will look to deal the fourth-year running back 17 games before he hits the free agent market. After they allowed both Nick Chubb and J.K. Dobbins to sign elsewhere in May, their proven options are running thin.
It has been reported that Brian Robinson Jr. is on the trade block in Washington for the right price. The former Alabama product has produced 2,329 rushing yards with 20 total touchdowns over his first three years in the league. At just 26 years old, there’s still some upside with the former third-round pick. The issue is that he has averaged just 4.1 yards per carry throughout his career, and some of the underlying metrics shouldn’t spur much hope that he can become a much more explosive player as he ages.
Audric Estime is another name that could make some sense, as he finds himself on the outside of Denver’s running back race heading into September. With R.J. Harvey, Dobbins, and Jaleel McLaughlin firmly in front of last year’s fifth-round pick, the former Notre Dame product could be had for cheap. At just 21 years old, Estime could be had for a late Day 3 pick.
There are always a few surprise names that pop up as cut/trade candidates around this time of year, and I expect the Bears to be keeping a close eye on that market. With Johnson and Travis Homer’s health in question, a move might be necessary.
5. Five up, Five down, and some more thoughts on the roster after two games.
Five Up:
- QB Caleb Williams (and the first team offense)
- QB Tyson Bagent
- WR Luther Burden and the rookie class
- WR Tyler Scott
- DT Andrew Billings
It was an overwhelmingly positive game for the Bears as a whole. The first team offense opened up the game, going 93 yards down the field for an impressive touchdown, and ended in a 38-0 blowout win. For Williams and the first team offense, it was the most remarkable they’ve looked in years, even if it was a preseason game. Last year, the starting offense failed to score a touchdown on its opening drive in all 17 appearances. If the offense started behind the 25, the chances of success were minuscule at best. We’ll see how much (if any) the starters play on Friday in the preseason, but if this was their only action in August, fans should feel pleased heading into the regular season.
Speaking of quarterback play, Bagent looked about as good as he ever has. Despite his lack of pure arm talent, the third-year quarterback looked to be in full command of the offense. He was quick with his decision-making and showed off his athletic ability multiple times on Sunday night. Last week, I wrote about Case Keenum being the better quarterback in Week 1, but Bagent was flat-out impressive this time around, especially with Keenum sitting out with a minor calf injury. Staying on the offensive trend, both Burden and Scott showed out on the second team offense. Burden’s skill set was on full display, as was his willingness as a blocker in the run game. Despite some early skepticism about his willingness to buy into Johnson’s offense, he’s put out some great tape over his first two preseason games. Scott had plenty of impressive moments too, including an 11-yard touchdown catch from Bagent in the first half. It might be too little too late for Scott in Chicago, but any good tape he puts out will surely help him land on his feet elsewhere after next week’s cut-down period. Even if there’s only one name on the defensive side of the ball that made the Top 5, don’t mistake that for a bad defensive performance. In fact, it was the exact opposite. This unit (all three levels of the depth chart) dominated on Sunday night. Billings was the best of this group with a batted pass and one of the team’s two sacks. It’s nice to see depth at defensive tackle for the first time in a while.
Honorable Mentions: OT Theo Benedet, OG Josh Newman, RB Brittain Brown, RB Ian Wheeler, DE Austin Booker, S Jonathan Owens
Five Down:
- LT Kiran Amegadjie
- CB Terell Smith (potential serious knee injury)
- RB Depth
- TE Joel Wilson’s Pass Blocking
- QB Mitchell Trubisky
Now, don’t get me wrong on Amegadjie. As a whole, I thought he played pretty dang well on Sunday. The bigger issue is that he went from splitting first-team reps at the beginning of camp to only seeing third-team reps at left tackle in the matter of a few weeks. A lot of that is timing due to his injury, but it’s never a great sign when last year’s third-round pick is playing around a large group of players who won’t be on a 53-man roster in just over a week. I’d still fully expect Amegadjie to make the final roster, but he’s put himself behind the curve (yet again) due to an injury. Speaking of injuries, watching Smith scream in pain after going down with a non-contact knee injury was tough to watch. The former fifth-round pick has shown flashes when he’s on the field, and it felt like he was starting to gain serious traction toward a roster spot over the last few weeks. Instead, it appears he will be spending 2025 on injured reserve, which is unfortunate for a player who might be better suited for a zone-heavy coverage scheme.
With Hankins’ injury on Sunday, the team’s depth at running back took another hit. Johnson has missed all preseason action with a foot injury, and rookie Kyle Monangai was a late scratch due to an unspecified minor injury. Once Hankins exited, the Bears had two healthy running backs to finish out the final three-plus quarters. Don’t be surprised to see them make another move or two before Friday’s preseason final in Kansas City. The final two might be a little nitpicky, but hey, I needed five. Wilson, as a receiver, has continued to impress. Wilson, as a blocker, has continued to be borderline un-rosterable. Although I don’t believe the Bears will keep more than three tight ends on the Week 1 roster, Wilson’s struggles as a blocker have hurt his chances significantly. Finally, Mitch… Come on, man. The former No. 2 overall pick is locked in a heated battle with Mike White, and neither player has separated themselves after bad performances in Week 2. Trubisky’s return to Chicago started in classy fashion in Friday’s joint practice. Still, it ended not-so-good following a troubling preseason performance against the bottom of the Bears’ defensive depth chart.
Additional Thoughts on the roster with eight days remaining before cut-down day:
- With Zah Frazier away from the team and Smith injured, the final spot on the depth chart becomes much more interesting.
- For my money, I have five cornerbacks locked into spots heading into Friday night: Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Nahshon Wright, and Josh Blackwell. Assuming the coaching staff decides only to keep four safeties, six cornerbacks feels like the “right” number to get them to 10 overall defensive backs. With Smith likely out for the season and Frazier still away from the team, it appears the final roster spot will come down to a few players. Nick McCloud was highly thought of when the Bears brought him in. Although he’s more of a nickel, he brings special teams value and some versatility on the defensive side of the ball. Tre Flowers is another name that has played plenty in the preseason.
- On top of that, he fits the physical profile of what Dennis Allen prefers. Both players have shown flashes in camp and the preseason. It’ll be interesting to see who ends up getting the final nod.
- If Booker and/or Robinson aren’t ready for the regular season, will the Bears make another move at defensive end? We aren’t likely to hear from Ben Johnson until later on in the week, but the status of both defensive ends will be worth monitoring. It sounds like Booker had a leg issue, and the hope is that it won’t be something that lingers on much more than a week or so. Robinson will be the bigger question after leaving Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. It’s worth noting that Matthew Judon is likely to be off the market following his visit to Miami, which leaves players like Za’Darius Smith (likely too expensive), Jadeveon Clowney, or maybe Shaquill Barrett as the top names remaining on the free agent market. Price might be the most significant component to any remaining moves, but there’s no question that any of these three names would drastically improve their depth at the position.
- Despite the post-draft hype for Ruben Hyppolite, it seems clear that Noah Sewell is the starting SAM.
Sewell might be limited in coverage, but his ability to play the run and not overpursue plays has been noticeable in the team’s first two preseason games. The former Oregon product has always had the size and skill to play in the league, but his availability has been the issue. So far, so good this season. Maybe in time, Hyppolite will earn a role, but so far, I haven’t been impressed with his instincts (or lack thereof), especially in coverage. Now we just have to hope that T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds can stay healthy.
- There’s a scenario where the Bears open Week 1 with none of Ryan Poles’ third-round picks on the roster.
In Poles’ four offseasons as the team’s general manager, he’s made three selections in the third round. Velus Jones Jr. was the first and comes to mind as the biggest disaster. A year later, Zacch Pickens was taken early in Round 3, and appears to be on the outside looking in for a roster spot with the depth at defensive tackle. Then comes Amegadjie. Last year’s third-round pick is more likely than not to make the roster, but if the Bears decide only to keep nine offensive linemen, the final spot could come down between Benedet, Newman, and Amegadjie. Despite Benedet’s undrafted status, he has stayed healthy and been firmly in the starting left tackle mix. Newman was a Day 3 selection in this draft, but has seen plenty of action and has played well. More than anything, Amegadjie’s lack of versatility could hurt him in this scenario. If they deem him as a tackle-only player, that hurts him when comparing that to Newman’s ability to play all three interior spots, and Benedet’s ability to play every spot except center. Again, I wouldn’t deem it as likely by any means, but this is more to outline how poorly Poles has drafted in a high-value round. It needs to improve in a hurry.
