Practice Squad Experience Aids Some Bears
One of the great factors players trying to stick on a roster can use to their advantage during training camp roster battles is system experience.
Last year the NFL expanded the practice squads from 12 to 16 players and the plan this year is for the same number. Besides making $9,200 a week minimum, those players can gain a real shot at making the team in the future.
With so many players hanging around all season and soaking up the offense or defense, the Bears had a chance to get some younger players well versed in how things are done at Halas Hall.
A player like running back Artavis Pierce needed the seasoning because now he is involved in a very difficult roster battle. It's difficult to see how the Bears would want to keep more than four running backs for the roster. It was the total they had last year, including converted wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
This means David Montgomery, Damien Williams, Tarik Cohen and sixth-round rookie Khalil Herbert have the favorite roles, assuming Cohen's complete return to health after an ACL tear.
Pierce got the chance to run a little at season's end and broke a long touchdown run against Jacksonville. He showed a burst that Ryan Nall hasn't shown during his three years in Chicago and will need it.
Another player who has a difficult roster battle ahead but has absorbed massive amounts of football in the past year on the practice squad is guard/center Dieter Eiselen. The former Yale player from South Africa more or less taught himself to play.
Players like Thomas Ives and Michael Joseph have been around the Bears practice squad several years without making a breakthrough, and you wonder how long the team will be willing to retain them in such a role when there are newer players coming into camp who might have better upsides.
Here is the Bears' second wave, the players easier to cut but who would have good shots at the practice squad and several because they have been around the team absorbing the offense and defense.
TE Scooter Harrington
The undrafted Stanford rookie has plenty of natural ability but it didn't get displayed as he was buried on the roster and played only 15 college games during five years at the school. He possesses ideal size at 6-5, 250 and was once considered one of the top prep tight ends in the country. He can block but also catch. The chance he has here is the Bears decide they can work with him as a player who could be used at either the U or Y tight end spots, as a potential third tight end of the future. If they've decide they've seen as much of Jesper Horsted's potential as they can, then Harrington has more of a chance at the practice squad.
Roster Chances: 0 on a scale of 0-5, with 5 the highest chance.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
TE Jesper Horsted
The Bears invested two years in converting this former Princeton wide receiver into a U tight end on the practice squad. The fruits of their endeavor will be seen in preseason. He doesn't have the size of Harrington (6-3, 237) and will probably never be the blocker. But he displayed excellent hands when given a chance to play in six games due to injuries making eight catches in 2019 for 87 yards and a TD.
Roster Chances: One on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
WR Thomas Ives
The former Colgate receiver from Hinsdale, IL has two traits the Bears found very useful on the practice squad—he's 6-foot-4 and 218, and he has excellent hands. He gave the regular defense some trouble with that height in practice. They've kept him around two years—including through a stint on the COVID-19 list last year—but there are other taller X-receiver types now on this roster who could possess more speed and be someone the team might want to invest time in as possible fill-ins should something happen to the starters or backups on the 53-man roster.
Roster Chances: Zero on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
Edge Charles Snowden
A right ankle injury suffered around Thanksgiving required surgery or the undrafted rookie from Virginia might have had a shot at being drafted sometime from the fifth round on. So the Bears felt lucky to have a chance at him, even if he faces steep odds to make the roster with veterans and a draft pick ahead of him. The 15 sacks and 15 tipped passes he had in college shows he could use his 6-7, 240-pound frame the way Leonard Floyd did with the Bears on the edge. With the ankle injury coming so late last year, it could make Snowden an ideal player to stash on injured reserve for a year. This would protect him if they don't have a plan to use him yet, and keep some team from trying to sign him away from the practice squad.
Roster Chances: One on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
C/G Dieter Eiselen
Another player who could benefit from a second year on a practice squad because of his complete inexperience at the sport. Eiselen is from South Africa and made first team All-Ivy League. Already a competitive weight lifter before he was a football player in South Africa, he was 310 pounds coming out of college and is one of the players who has benefited from working under Bears strength and conditioning coach Jason Loscalzo. Since last year he has bulked up to 321 pounds and the Bear used him with centers a good deal in minicamp and OTAs this year. His lack of overall football experience would make calling blocking changes at the line difficult as a center, but the Bears may have determined he's heady enough to handle this.
Roster Chances: Zero on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
T Badara Traore
An undrafted practice squad player all of last year from LSU, he benefited from the seasoning because he'd started only eight Division I games. His first two years were at ASA College in Brooklyn. The year on the practice squad let the 6-7, 320-pounder work on his questionable footwork and technique. He's another of those who could benefit from a second year in the system due to his inexperience.
Roster Chances: 1 on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
T/G Lachavious Simmons
He very nearly made it onto the active roster for a game last year due to COVID-19 and injuries, before being put on the COVID-19 list himself. The seventh-round draft pick from Tennessee State probably projects as a potential tackle at 6-5, 315 because of a longer reach than fellow 2020 seventh-round pick Arlington Hambright. His inexperience makes it more likely they'd have him ready to play either guard or tackle. Playing tackle gives him a bit better chance to get onto the roster or practice squad because it's a more difficult skill set to find.
Roster Chances: 1 on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
WR Rodney Adams
The former Vikings fifth-round pick has natural ability working for him. He had 4.44 speed coming into the league, and even though he's considered a speedy player, the 189-pounder is also a bit taller at 6-1. He could be a slot, Z- or X-receiver fill-in and his speed gives him a shot at the role of kick returner. He did average 24.8 yards on 46 kick returns at Toledo and South Florida from 2013-2016. But injuries forced him into an early retirement with the Colts, before he tried to restart is career. The experience of being on the practice squad and his overall experience can give him a shot.
Roster Chances: 1 on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
WR Jester Weah
When a 6-3, 210-pound receiver has a 38-inch vertical leap and 4.43-second 40 time, it's difficult to discount his chances. Still, Weah has been around the league since 2018 and hasn't made his mark at age 26. He didn't really have huge college numbers at Pitt, either, with 77 total catches for 1,566 yards. But he did become a red zone threat with 14 TDs and averaged 20.3 yards for the catches he made. He needs to work at hands and route running. He'd need to beat out Javon Wims and Riley Ridley, which isn't impossible but is unlikely. And nothing is guaranteed for Ridley or Wims, either. Making the practice squad could come down to beating out Lacy and Ives.
Roster Chances: Zero on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
WR Chris Lacy
A player the Lions had who managed to get on the field for 163 offensive snaps in 2018 and 2019 and made three receptions for 60 yards. He had just 63 receptions for 920 yards and five TDs at Oklahoma State from 2014-2017. He spent last year on Dallas' practice squad.
Roster Chances: Zero on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
RB Artavis Pierce
The brief burst for a 23-yard touchdown he had against Jacksonville had to help his chances of sticking on the practice squad. Making the regular roster will be a different matter entirely and could depend on whether he can become a better blocker at 5-11, 208 while also contributing more on special teams. His old running backs coach at Oregon State is now the Bears running backs coach, which doesn't hurt his chances. He'll need to beat out Ryan Nall and C.J. Marable. And it wouldn't hurt his chances if Cohen's comeback from an ACL tear is slowed.
Roster Chances: One on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 3 out of 5.
RB Ryan Nall
He's more advanced as an overall football player than Pierce or Marable and possibly even rookie Khalil Herbert. However, his lack of burst is obvious and has kept him from cementing a backup running back role. The ability to pass block, the perception he can work in as a receiver and his special teams skills (65% of snaps last year) all combined to get him active on game day for 24 games the last two seasons following a full practice squad year in 2018. However, he hasn't done much when he did get on the field for 76 offensive plays. With so much competition at running back now, catching an occasional pass and not gaining much yardage, throwing a pass block or blocking on returns are not enough to in and of themselves to win a roster spot. If he can't make the regular roster, you'd have to wonder if they've see enough of his potential to know after three years that there are other backs with a better upside. In that case, if he doesn't make the roster it would be difficult to imagine they would want him on the practice squad.
Roster Chances: Two on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 1 out of 5.
DB Teez Tabor
A player coaches have pointed him out on occasion in the offseason as being a potential asset on special teams, if not in pass coverage. The Bears added him to the practice squad last December after he had been with the 49ers practice squad since October of 2019. The Lions had him for two years and then in 2019 training camp he took first-team reps at cornerback but suffered an unspecified leg injury. Eventually he was cut with a non-football injury designation. Tabor wasn't very good when he did play in 2018 for the Lions in 12 games, including four starts. He gave up a passer rating of 143.3 and three TD passes. He played 465 snaps on defense in two years and was on the field for 238 special teams snaps in Detroit.
Roster Chances: One on a scale of 0-5.
Practice Squad Chances: 2 out of 5.
NEXT UP: THE TOUGHER ROSTER DECISIONS
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