With the Chicago Bears’ 90-man roster full — although, it can change at any time — we thought we’d take a look at just how much their roster has changed since about this time last season.
Starting on offense, there have been some big changes made to this roster, particularly at quarterback and tight end. Following an atrocious outing on offense in 2019, they were changes that needed to be made. Whether those changes ultimately result in a complete turnaround on offense remains to be seen, but it’s hard to imagine it could get worse than last season.
Let’s take a look, position by position, at how the Bears offense in 2020 compares to 2019.
Quarterback
| 2018 | 2019 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | Mitchell Trubisky |
| Chase Daniel | Nick Foles |
| Tyler Bray | Tyler Bray |
Heading into 2019, the belief was that Mitchell Trubisky was poised to take the next step in his young career and establish himself as the Bears franchise quarterback. Fast forward one year later, and Chicago traded for former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles, who will battle Trubisky for the starting job in training camp and preseason. May the best QB win (and provide this defense with a little breathing room.)
The main difference is that, this year, the Bears have two quarterbacks on their roster that, for all intents and purposes, are starting quarterbacks. No offense to Chase Daniel, who was an adamant backup for the Bears. But whoever Chicago’s back-up quarterback winds up being, he could be expected to step in and not miss a beat. Despite whoever wins the starting job, you can’t say the Bears didn’t upgrade at quarterback.
Advantage: 2020
Running Backs
| 2019 | 2020 |
| David Montgomery | David Montgomery |
| Tarik Cohen | Tarik Cohen |
| Mike Davis | Ryan Nall |
| Ryan Nall | Artavis Pierce |
| Kerrith Whyte Jr. | Napoleon Maxwell |
Remember what could’ve been with Run DMC — the trio of David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis? That’s when we were under the impression that the Bears would have some semblance of a run game, which we now realize was asking too much from Matt Nagy.
This year, the Bears didn’t do much in the offseason to upgrade at running back. They’re putting a lot of faith in the guys already on the roster — specifically preseason darling Ryan Nall — to serve as a complement for Montgomery. The Bears did add two undrafted free agents to the running backs room, and we’ll see whether Artavis Pierce or Napoleon Maxwell can surprise in camp.
Advantage: 2019
Wide Receivers
| 2019 | 2020 |
| Allen Robinson | Allen Robinson |
| Taylor Gabriel | Anthony Miller |
| Anthony Miller | Cordarrelle Patterson |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | Javon Wims |
| Javon Wims | Riley Ridley |
| Riley Ridley | Ted Ginn Jr. |
| Marvin Hall | Darnell Mooney |
| Emanuel Hall | Trevor Davis |
| Tanner Gentry | Ahmad Wagner |
| Thomas Ives | Thomas Ives |
| Jordan Williams-Lambert | Reggie Davis |
| Taquan Mizzell | Alex Wesley |
The Bears receivers were the offense’s strongest position group last season, so it’s a good thing that they’re returning their core group of receivers this year. Allen Robinson leads the group as the WR1 with youngsters Anthony Miller, Riley Ridley and Javon Wims getting another year under their belts. While Cordarrelle Patterson was used sparingly on offense, he’s a key part of that group, which includes a lot of young talent with potential.
Heading into 2020, the receiving corp. remains practically unchanged at its core — with the biggest loss coming with the release of Taylor Gabriel as a cap-casualty. But the Bears did add more speed this offseason, which was something that was missing last year, with the additions of Ted Ginn Jr. and Trevor Davis along with fifth-round rookie Darnell Mooney.
Advantage: 2020
Tight Ends
| 2019 | 2020 |
| Trey Burton | Jimmy Graham |
| Adam Shaheen | Cole Kmet |
| Ben Braunecker | Demetrius Harris |
| Bradley Sowell | Ben Braunecker |
| Dax Raymond | Adam Shaheen |
| Jesper Horsted | J.P. Holtz |
| Ian Bunting | Jesper Horsted |
| Ellis Richardson | Darion Clark |
| Eric Saubert |
Bears tight ends were downright abysmal last season — with Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen leading the way. It’s why the onus has been on fixing . The Bears did find some young talent in Jesper Horsted and Dax Raymond in undrafted free agency — and Horsted even got some regular-season action late last season — but there’s a reason why Chicago’s list of tight ends rivals the receivers, in terms of number.
Heading into 2020, the Bears’ top three tight ends are all brand new to the team. Second-round rookie Cole Kmet and free agent additions Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris were brought in to rewrite the narrative — and production — surrounding Bears tight ends. Chicago parted ways with Trey Burton and replaced him with an aging veteran in Graham, but Burton was hampered by injuries and the Bears didn’t believe he was going to get it done. Next up: Adam Shaheen, who if he doesn’t get cut before training camp likely won’t land a spot on the 53-man roster.
Advantage: 2020
Offensive Line
| 2019 | 2020 |
| Charles Leno Jr. | Charles Leno Jr. |
| James Daniels | James Daniels |
| Cody Whitehair | Cody Whitehair |
| Bobby Massie | Bobby Massie |
| Kyle Long | Germain Ifedi |
| Ted Larsen | Jason Spriggs |
| Rashaad Coward | Arlington Hambright |
| Alex Bars | Lachavious Simmons |
| Cornelius Lucas | Alex Bars |
| T.J. Clemmings | Sam Mustipher |
| Joe Lowrey | Badara Traore |
| Sam Mustipher | Dino Boyd |
| Blake Blackmar | Dieter Eiselen |
| Marquez Tucker | Corey Levin |
| Jordan McCray |
The Bears were returning their entire starting offensive line from the 2018 season, which you figured would make for continued success. Instead, the unit underperformed on an offense that had multiple weaknesses.
Heading into 2020, the Bears starting offensive line remains mostly intact with left tackle Charles Leno Jr., left guard James Daniels, center Cody Whitehair and right tackle Bobby Massie. Obviously, Chicago faces a tall order of replacing right guard Kyle Long, was retirement earlier this offseason. They’ve brought in Germain Ifedi and Jason Spriggs to battle with Rashaad Coward and Alex Bars for that starting spot. The Bears also added a pair of developmental offensive linemen in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
