UFA With a Shot: Oregon St. Running Back Artavis Pierce
The chances of an undrafted free agent rookies making the Bears' opening day roster is slim at best.
Last year they had no undrafted free agent rookies on the 53-man roster when they faced the Green Bay Packers. Eddy Pineiro doesn't even count because he wasn't a rookie. He was with Oakland on injured reserve the previous year.
Using undrafted free agent rookies is something rebuilding teams do and the Bears do not qualify for this after Ryan Pace's sixth draft class.
This doesn't mean they can't get use out of some UFAs.
Ledarius Mack is Khalil Mack's brother and the Bears signed him out of Buffalo and he might have a chance to make a contribution, especially because his brother would like this.
The real UFA with the best shot to help in Year 1 is Artavis Pierce, the Oregon State running back who announced his signing via Twitter. He gained 2,2127 yards rushing on 366 attempts in his college season, a 5.8-yard average. Last year was his only year starting, and it was still a shared backfield. He gained 873 yards on 146 attempts.
One encouraging aspect of Pierce's play is his receiving ability. He caught 74 passes for his career, and considering he started only one year that's a lot. Coach Matt Nagy loves his receiving running backs, as everyone knows.The fun twist to Pierce's chance is he's going to be vying for the backup spot behind David Montgomery, one the Bears badly need filled, and he'll be doing against his former teammate Ryan Nall. Both were at Oregon State together, so Nall is trying to keep from losing his roster spot or status as backup to Montgomery to his old backup.
Another player whose signing was announced through the school was Kentucky tight end Ahmad Wagner.
Another tight end.
This one might not be just a tight end, though. Wagner was a college wide receiver and forward. He was a basketball player and football player.
Wagner played forward at Iowa from 2015-18 and was even winner of the most improved player award. He went to Kentucky and played football because he had a year of football eligibility remaining. Add to that, he's fast. He was the anchor of a state 4 by 100 relay champion team in Ohio in high school.
As a receiver, he had 15 receptions for a 16.9-yard average but defenses couldn't match up against him. On 42 targets, he drew 12 DPI penalties.
A few other players who hadn't been officially announced as signing with the Bears but have announced it themselves include linebacker Rashad Smith of Florida Atlantic, Yale offensive lineman Dieter Eiselen, Western Illinois defensive lineman LaCale London from Peoria and LSU backup tackle Badara Traore. The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs reported Duke defensive tackle Trevor McSwain also had signed with the Bears.
Smith was Florida Atlantic's leading tackler last year and will be attempting to land a backup job after the Bears lost both Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis in free agency without drafting a replacement.
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