With so much competition on this Chicago Bears roster, this is the worst possible time for an unconventional season. But that’s life, you have to deal with the challenges, even in the NFL.
That means an entirely virtual offseason and no preseason games for head coach Matt Nagy to make some pretty important decisions, including who his starting quarterback will be. With a plethora of starting jobs and roster spots up for grabs, that leaves just training camp for players to prove their worth to Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace.
Let’s take a look at eight Bears players that need a great training camp.
1. QB Mitchell Trubisky
Mitchell Trubisky needs a great training camp, great practices, a great regular season and pretty much a great everything at this point if he wants to keep his future in Chicago intact. But let’s start with a solid training camp, because if that doesn’t happen, the rest doesn’t get a chance to happen either. Trubisky is coming off his worst season as a pro, which was evidenced by Pace’s decision to go out and trade for his potential replacement in Nick Foles, and he’ll have to earn his starting job.
There were many that had already written Trubisky off in this quarterback competition. But in a strange a turn of events, Trubisky actually has a slight advantage heading into this battle. With the virtual offseason and no preseason games, Trubisky’s familiarity with Chicago’s skill players gives him an edge over Foles. Still, Trubisky needs to come out strong in training camp and prove to Nagy that he’s cleaned up the issues that plagued him last season, including his mechanics and reading defenses.
2. QB Nick Foles
Following Trubisky’s struggles in 2019, the Bears went out and traded for Foles — giving up a fourth-round compensatory pick and $21 million guaranteed for his services. Which speaks volumes of how high the Bears and Nagy are on Foles. With the uncertainty surrounding this season, Chicago brought in an experienced veteran with knowledge of Nagy’s offense and someone that could both challenge Trubisky and/or replace him as the team’s starter.
While Foles was once believed to have the advantage heading into Chicago’s quarterback battle, an entirely virtual offseason and the cancellation of preseason has turned that into a disadvantage. Foles doesn’t have the years of experience that Trubisky has with these skill position players. But if Foles can go out there and show that he can execute this offense with efficiency — and Trubisky can’t — he’ll easily win the starting job.
3. CB Jaylon Johnson
The Bears have two starting jobs open in the secondary, and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to find second-round rookie Jaylon Johnson starting at cornerback opposite Kyle Fuller come Week 1. But Johnson isn’t a shoe-in for the starting job, especially with veterans Kevin Toliver and Artie Burns also competing for the starting spot.
Johnson’s problem is that an entirely virtual offseason and absence of preseason has taken away some valuable reps, which could certainly help him lock up the starting job as a rookie. Johnson, who is coming off shoulder surgery, needs a strong training camp performance to convince the Bears that they can roll with him from the start.
4. WR Javon Wims
Receiver Javon Wims is proof that a strong training camp performance can earn you a spot on the 53-man roster. Wims impressed last year both in camp and preseason and earned the final receiver spot on the roster. Unfortunately for Wims, a packed receivers room got even more crowded this offseason with the additions of speedsters Ted Ginn Jr. and fifth-round rookie Darnell Mooney.
Now, Wims finds himself on the roster bubble heading into training camp once again. With Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Cordarrelle Patterson and Ginn Jr. all virtual locks for a roster spot, that leaves Wims, Mooney and Riley Ridley to battle for those final two spots. And, unfortunately for Wims, he could find himself just missing the cut.
5. RB Artavis Pierce
The Bears have questions regarding depth at the running back position behind David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen. And from the sound of it, they’re content with rolling with either Ryan Nall or undrafted rookie Artavis Pierce to back up Montgomery. The only problem is, they’re both unproven, which isn’t exactly comforting should something happen to Montgomery down the line.
The Bears have been high on Nall, but it’s his former college teammate — and new Bears teammate — Pierce that could challenge him for that third running back spot. Pierce is a versatile back that, like Montgomery, thrives both between the tackles and in the passing game. Pierce was recently reinstated from the COVID-19 reserve list, which caused him to miss a few days of early training camp. But if he can come out with a strong performance, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him beat out Nall.
6. OL Rashaad Coward
When right guard Kyle Long was placed on injured reserve early last season, it was offensive tackle Rashaad Coward that stepped into his role. Coward converted to offensive tackle in 2018, but he saw time at guard, where he started 10 games for the Bears at right guard in 2019. The Bears re-signed Coward to a one-year deal this offseason, where he’ll battle a proven veteran for the starting right guard job.
Chicago signed four-year starter Germain Ifedi to a one-year prove-it deal in free agency, where he’s the favorite to win the starting right guard job. While Ifedi played most of his career at offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, Ifedi did start his career at guard, which means Coward needs an impressive camp to pull away with the starting job.
7. DT John Jenkins
The Bears defense suffered a brutal blow to their defense with nose tackle Eddie Goldman opting out of the 2020 season due to health and safety concerns with COVID-19. Luckily for them, they brought back a former Bear with starting nose tackle experience in John Jenkins.
With Goldman choosing to opt out, the Bears need Jenkins to show that he can be a viable replacement for Goldman at nose tackle. While there’s certainly no replacing Goldman, Jenkins have proven he can be a solid contributor at the position. Jenkins, who was recently reinstated from the COVID-19 reserve list, is the clear in-house favorite to win the starting nose tackle job.
8. S Deon Bush
Following Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s departure in free agency, the Bears re-signed veteran safety Deon Bush to a one-year deal, where it was assumed he was the presumptive starter opposite safety Eddie Jackson. But Chicago also signed a top free agent in safety Tashaun Gipson to a one-year deal, which brought immediate competition to the position.
With Jackson moving back to free safety, there’s a starting strong safety spot up for grabs between Bush and Gipson, where Gipson should be seen as the favorite to win the job given his experience. If Bush is going to have a chance, he’s going to need a strong training camp performance.
