One Possible 53-Man Bears Roster

With Saturday's first preseason game, the first segment of training camp ends and with it some guessing.

The best way to summarize everything to date is: "The Bears are who we thought they were."

October 16, 2006: Cardinals head coach Dennis Green’s famous postgame press conference rant after Arizona blew a 20-point lead in the second half on MNF to lose to the Bears.

“They are who we thought they were! And we let ‘em off the hook!” pic.twitter.com/lmPS3LKuxT
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) October 16, 2022

They look right now like a team BearDigest predicted they would be, one that could max out somewhere just below .500 because of a lack of depth at key positions, nice quality at some spots, and an overall lack of superstars. More likely they'd be 7-10.

The biggest problem is lack of star linemen on both sides of the football. Defensive and offensive lines are the keys.

They brought in players to help Justin Fields and no one can complain he isn't surrounded by weapons after the abilities shown by DJ Moore, rookie Tyler Scott, tight end Robert Tonyan Jr. and even, surprisingly to some, Chase Claypool.

Fields will not need to carry the team because he has help but he might need to run for his life again at times due to an offensive line only partially overhauled, or put countless points on the board because the defensive line has flaws.

They brought in Yannick Ngakoue but he helps only in one way. DeMarcus Walker isn't helping anything by standing on the sidelines watching right now. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is one of their true stars, though not a top-five elite player. He's also hurting.

Matt Eberflus said neither Edmunds nor Walker are expected to miss the start of the regular season.

WHAT THE BEARS LEARNED FROM LAST YEAR'S DEFEATS

Guard Nate Davis is also out with an injury once thought to be minor, but that was before it continued to linger. And now they're picking up extra guards.

The Bears have depth at some positions but not proven, quality players at most spots. Running back and receiver are spots they have depth. Possibly tight end.

On defense they're lacking quality, experienced depth at safety, cornerback and could even use another experienced, reserve linebacker.

There are defensive linemen who do one thing well, like Andrew Billings in the run game, and Justin Jones is a solid player. However, they lack the dominant all-around tackle unless one of their rookies like Gervon Dexter Jr., suddenly proves better than post-draft projections.

This scheme requires a dominant three technique and they'll be limited up front until they have one.

Here's a projection of the 53-man roster heading into the start of preseason.

Call it a pre-preseason 53-man projection.

Bears 53-Man Projection

Week 1 of Preseason

Quarterback (2): Justin Fields, P.J. Walker

Bottom Line: To get as much depth on the roster as possible, look for them to ignore the new rule allowing a third QB from the 53-man roster to be used as an emergency passer on game day. Nathan Peterman on the practice squad looks like the best third player. The chances of two quarterbacks getting hurt on game day seems slight. If one of the top two has an injury, they could always promote Peterman then. Tyson Bagent is a long, long-term project for some team.

Running Back (5): Khalil Herbert, D'Onta Foreman, Trestan Ebner, Roschon Johnson, Khari Blasingame (FB)

Bottom Line: They're definitely not putting Johnson on the practice squad or even Ebner, who flashes real speed and athleticism from time to time. Travis Homer looks like the odd man out even if he has a two-year contract.

Tight Ends (3): Cole Kmet, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis.

Bottom Line: Keeping Pinkney around might be important because of Lewis' age. The best thing Lewis could do is work with Kmet and Tonyan and any practice squad tight ends to teach them some of his blocking secrets. Kmet is already a good blocker but can stand to get better.

Wide Receivers (6): DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney, Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., Equanimeous St. Brown

Bottom Line: The odd man out looks like Dante Pettis as they've begun training Scott and Jones in punt return more and more. Missing the first dozen practices with an off-season injury did Pettis no good. If they kept a seventh it likely would be Pettis and then if the punt return experiment with younger players fails. Those who think they're going to cut Jones really need to do a reality check. He is better with the offense than as a rookie and physically can give them that gadget quality they would get from no one else, not even Scott who is 185 pounds. Jones is a 6-foot, 200-pound player who runs faster than Scott and has long-distance speed. Unless he fouls up badly at kick returning, he'll be doing that as well.

Offensive Line (9): Cody Whitehair (C), Teven Jenkins (G), Nate Davis (G), Braxton Jones Jr. (T), Darnell Wright (T), Lucas Patrick (G/C), Ja'Tyre Carter (G), Larry Borom (T), Logan Stenberg (G).

Bottom Line: Anticipate they will keep their eyes open for a waiver wire pickup who is mainly a tackle but can also play guard, either as a complement to Borom or a replacement. The situation screams out for a combination guard/tackle who has experience. If that happens, they would only need eight. Stenberg beating out Alex Leatherwood at backup guard is no given, and they might be better off with undrafted rookie Byron Houy instead of either. Carter is no lock, either.

Defensive Line (9): Yannick Ngakoue (DE), DeMarcus Walker (DE), Rasheem Green (DE), Dominique Robinson (DE), Terrell Lewis (DE), Andrew Billings (DT), Justin Jones (DT), Zacch Pickens (DT), Gervon Dexter (DT).

Bottom Line: Because Walker and even Green can slide inside to tackle in pass rush situations, expect the extra defensive lineman to be an end rather than a tackle. What will they do with Trevis Gipson? Most likely they'd look to trade him because it's difficult to see how he would lack value after the 2021 season he had with five forced fumbles and seven sacks. The value wouldn't be high, though, but enough to avoid cutting him outright. He's probably better than Robinson at this point but it seems Ryan Poles didn't draft Gipson.

Linebackers (6): Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Jack Sanborn, Noah Sewell, Dylan Cole, Buddy Johnson.

Bottom Line: You can't get by with five linebackers in a 4-3 defense. Right now Buddy Johnson looks like that sixth, but an undrafted player, Micah Baskerville could be a surprise player as a sixth.

Secondary (10): Jaylon Johnson CB, Tyrique Stevenson CB, Kyler Gordon CB (slot), Eddie Jackson S, Jaquan Brisker S, Terell Smith CB, Josh Blackwell CB (slot), Jaylon Jones CB, Elijah Hicks S, Kendall Williamson S.

Bottom Line: Williamson is going to need to show more before he winds up on the roster. He's actually behind A.J. Thomas at the moment so he needs to make up ground. Kindle Vildor doesn't get in after the year Jaylon Jones had as an undrafted backup in 2022. It's still a secondary lacking experience at safety, particularly with their depth, and that's a possible place for a waiver wire acquisition just before the season.

Specialists (3): Cairo Santos K, Trenton Gill P, Patrick Scales LS

Bottom Line: The only way they're making changes here is if Santos starts out missing extra points. Again.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven