Bear Digest

Braxton Jones holds down starting left tackle on first depth chart

The first Chicago Bears depth chart listed Braxton Jones as the current No. 1 at left tackle, although coach Ben Johnson says not to read much into the listing.
Ozzy Trapilo is in the No. 2 left tackle spot on the first Bears depth chart heading into preseason game No. 1.
Ozzy Trapilo is in the No. 2 left tackle spot on the first Bears depth chart heading into preseason game No. 1. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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The first Bears depth chart, released Tuesday, produced no surprises unless cornerback Terell Smith still being ahead of Nick McCloud is considered a stunner.

McCloud is with the third team cornerbacks and Smith listed with Nahshon Wright behind the starters at second team.

The biggest battle of interest is at left tackle and, at least for now, Braxton Jones has the starting spot with Ozzy Trapilo listed as backup. Kiran Amegadjie had been battling with those two but has a leg injury and missed another practice on Tuesday. He's listed as the backup right tackle, although he hasn't had a lot of reps in camp on the right side.

Roschon Johnson still has second running back but in a bit of a surprise, they listed veteran Travis Homer ahead of the inexperienced players: Kyle Monangai, Deion Hankins and Ian Wheeler.

The Tyson Bagent fans will be pleased to know he remains the backup, with Case Keenum the third quarterback behind Caleb Williams.

Bagent and Keenum have been alternating the backup spot although Bagent has more of the reps on Tuesday with the second group.

The depth chart often in the past listed all competitors side by side for a position instead of indicating who led. So in a sense, this was a refreshing change in that it indicated the left tackle, second cornerback, second running back and backup QB leaders.

However, Ben Johnson warned against reading a lot into it.

“I told the players that the training camp is about competition," Johnson said. "We're trying to earn a right for the 53 (-man roster). We're trying to earn a role defensively. We don't know who's going to be up for certain packages going into Week 1 offensively. There's a lot of battles going on.

"The message to the players was, don't look too far into the depth chart, particularly at this point of the training camp."

Bears unofficial depth chart

Offense

Quarterback: 1st team Caleb Williams; 2nd team Tyson Bagent, 3rd team Case Keenum; 4th team Austin Reed

Running backs: 1st team D'Andre Swift; 2nd team Roschon Johnson; 3rd team Travis Homer; 4th team Ian Wheeler, Kyle Monangai, Deion Hankins

Wide receiver: 1st team DJ Moore; 2nd team Olamide Zaccheaus; 3rd team Luther Burden III; 4th team Tyler Scott, Samori Toure, JP Richardson

Left tackle: 1st team Braxton Jones; 2nd team Ozzy Trapilo; 3rd team Josh Miles

Left guard: 1st team Joe Thuney; 2nd team Luke Newman; 3rd team Bill Murray

Center: 1st team Drew Dalman; 2nd team Doug Kramer Jr.; 3rd team Ricky Stromberg

Right guard: 1st team Jonah Jackson; 2nd team Ryan Bates; 3rd team Jordan McFadden; 4th team Chris Glaser

Right tackle: 1st team Darnell Wright; 2nd team Kiran Amegadjie; 3rd team Theo Benedet

Tight end: 1st team Cole Kmet; 2nd team Durham Smythe; 3rd team Joel Wilson

Tight end: 1st team Colston Loveland; 2nd team Stephen Carlson, 3rd team Jordan Murray

Wide receiver: 1st team Rome Odunze; 2nd team Devin Duvernay; 3rd team Miles Boykin; 4th team Maurice Alexander; John Jackson; Jahdae Walker

Defense

DE 1st team Montez Sweat; 2nd team Austin Booker; 3rd team Daniel Hardy

DL 1st team Grady Jarrett; 2nd team Chris Williams; 3rd team Shemar Turner

DL 1st team Gervon Dexter; 2nd team Zacch Pickens; 3rd team Jamree Kromah

DL 1st team Andrew Billings; 2nd team Jonathan Ford; 3rd team Xavier Carlton

DE 1st team Dayo Odeyingbo; 2nd team Dominque Robinson; 3rd team Tanoh Kpassagnon

LB 1st team TJ Edwards; 2nd team Amen Ogbongbemiga; 3rd team Ruben Hyppolite II; 4th team Swayze Bozeman

LB 1st team Tremaine Edmunds; 2nd team Noah Sewell; 3rd team Carl Jones Jr.; 4th team Power Echols

S 1st team Jaquan Brisker; 2nd team Elijah Hicks; 3rd team Major Burns

S 1st team Kevin Byard; 2nd team Jonathan Owens; 3rd team Alex Cook; 4th team Tysheem Johnson

DB: 1st team Kyler Gordon; 2nd team Josh Blackwell; 3rd team Nick McCloud; 4th team Zah Frazier

CB: 1st team Tyrique Stevenson; 2nd team Terell Smith; 3rd team Ameer Speed; 4th team Tre Flowers

CB: 1st team Jaylon Johnson; 2nd team Nahshon Wright; 3rd team Shaun Wade; 4th team Jeremiah Walker

Specialists

K 1st team Cairo Santos; 2nd team Jonathan Kim

P 1st team Tory Taylor

LS 1st team Scott Daly; 2nd team Luke Elkin

KR 1st team Devin Duvernay; 2nd team Josh Blackwell

PR 1st team Devin Duvernay; 2nd team Josh Blackwell

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.