Veteran safety Tashaun Gipson and rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson became the answers to the Bears’ two remaining starter questions when the team released its depth chart Monday. Gipson beat out Deon Bush, while Johnson’s starting role seemed more apparent when the Bears cut Kevin Toliver and did not re-sign him to the practice squad. Buster Skrine, who played outside cornerback at times in camp, will be the Bears’ starting slot cornerback.
Depth charts are hardly gospel — for example, the Bears list Cordarrelle Patterson as a receiver, although he played running back more during training camp. That annual disclaimer out of the way, here’s the Bears’ depth chart for their season opener Sunday against the Lions:
OFFENSE
Position/First string/Second string/Third string
WR Allen Robinson/Cordarrelle Patterson
TE Jimmy Graham/Cole Kmet/Demetrius Harris/J.P. Holtz/Eric Saubert
RT Bobby Massie/Rashaad Coward
RG Germain Ifedi/Rashaad Coward
C Cody Whitehair/James Daniels
RG James Daniels/Alex Bars/Arlington Hambright
RT Charles Leno/Jason Spriggs
QB Mitch Trubisky/Nick Foles
RB David Montgomery/Tarik Cohen/Ryan Nall
WR Anthony Miller/Javon Wims
WR Ted Ginn/Darnell Mooney/Riley Ridley
DEFENSE
DT Akiem Hicks/Brent Urban
NT Bilal Nichols/John Jenkins
DE Roy Robertson-Harris
OLB Khalil Mack/Trevis Gipson
ILB Roquan Smith/Josh Woods
ILB Danny Trevathan/Joe Iyiegbuniwe
OLB Robert Quinn/Barkevious Mingo/James Vaughters
CB Kyle Fuller/Buster Skrine
S Tashaun Gipson/Deon Bush/DeAndre Houston-Carson
S Eddie Jackson/Sherrick McManis
CB Jaylon Johnson/Duke Shelley/Kindle Vildor
SPECIAL TEAMS
P Pat O’Donnell
K Eddy Pineiro
LS Patrick Scales
HOLDER Pat O’Donnell
KICK RETURNER Cordarrelle Patterson/Darnell Mooney/Anthony Miller
PUNT RETURNER Tarik Cohen/Darnell Mooney/Anthony Miller
