Bears Countdown Concludes with 'the One'

The Bears this season are all about the future because the present appears bleak.

The future of the franchise on offense and in all likelihood on defense is among this final group of players who are wearing jersey numbers 10 or lower as the countdown through their roster to training camp concludes.

Justin Fields is the franchise and everything the Bears do will revolve around him. He is No. 1 but they need to find out if he is "The One."

They've already indicated trust in him with how they've designed their offense, and appreciate how he's responded.

"There’s no one in this building that works harder than him," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. "There's no one that cares more than him. We're off to a great start. He's really accepted this challenge."

Here are the final seven players on the roster, including wide receiver N'Keal Harry, who has been assigned jersey No. 8.

No. 10 WR Nsimba Webster

5-foot-10, 180 pounds

The Dossier: Got into six games last year for the Bears after he was signed, waived, put on the practice squad and promoted later due to injuries or COVID-19 His role was limited to 59 special teams plays and one offensive play. In fact, he has been on a field for only nine offensive plays in his three seasons, the first two coming as the Rams return man. For his career, Webster has 18 kick returns for a 22.4-yard average and 34 punt returns for a 6.3-yard average.

2022 Prospectus: He has yet to show the hands and route running necessary to break into the lineup as a contributor at receiver, and his returns haven't been entirely impressive. Also, the new offense favors bigger receivers more so he seems an unfitted piece of the puzzle. Making the roster appears out of the quesiton and there are so many possible return men among players who will make the roster that it's difficult to see how the Bears would keep him, regular roster or practice squad.

No. 9 S Jaquan Brisker

6-1, 200

The Dossier: Bears second-round pick this year, No. 48 overall out of Penn State, and he has started out by holding out from the beginning of training camp for rookies. Saturday was their reporting day. At Penn State, Brisker was an all-purpose type who made 151 tackles, 10 for loss and had five interceptions and 14 pass breakups for three seasons.

2022 Prospectus: Based on the way Brisker flew around the field in OTAs, his first live hitting was greatly anticipated. Instead, it's on hold now and a longer holdout might mean either a slow start for his season or starting off from behind and on the bench. The Bears could get by without him playing for a while with both DeAndre Houston-Carson and Dane Cruikshank capable of starting for a while. However, neither has much starting experience and the whole idea was to develop their rookie safety by letting him play. Look for Brisker to start as soon as he does get into camp with a deal but his success will depend greatly on the length of the holdout It set back Roquan Smith in 2018 when he held out for a month.

No. 8 WR N'Keal Harry

6-4, 225

The Dossier: Harry's official height at the combine was 1 1/2 inches shorter than his reported height now. He was a disappointment with the Patriots for three years by making 57 receptions for 598 yards and four TDs as a first-round draft pick. He has never hit 60% for a receptions/times targeted ratio. Some minor injuries held him back at times, and the complexity of the Patriots offense no doubt failed to help. Harry was graded by Pro Footbal Focus right with new Bears receiver Byron Pringle among the better run-blocking wide receivers in the league.

2022 Prospectus: Changing offenses and working with wide receivers guru Tyke Tolbert as well as offensive coordinator Luke Getsy could boost Harry's chances. Expect the Bears to try to make good use of him in the short passing or wide-receiver screen game with other bigger receivers like Pringle and Velus Jones. This could be a group of bruising receivers who punish defensive backs if used properly.

No. 6 CB Kyler Gordon

6-foot, 200

The Dossier: The Bears have labeled Gordon an excellent playmaker and he drew universal praise for his ability to stick with all receivers but his production in terms of taking away the ball at Washington was nothing exceptional. He had two career interceptions, both in his final year, and 12 pass breakups. He also forced a fumble in each of his last two years.

2022 Prospectus: Gordon missed the last few weeks of offseason work with an unspecified injury, and early in rookie camp was having some problems cramping up. His conditioning and health must be watched first. The Bears also have to decide where he'll play because he's not going to split time with Jaylon Johnson and both were playing right cornerback in the offseason. Once all of this is decided, the Bears should be able to exploint the strong ability he showed to stick with receivers and play in zone coverage.

No. 4 S Eddie Jackson

6-foot, 206

The Dossier: Looking to rebound after two down seasons, Jackson is likely to get the chance to play more deep safety and cherry pick than any time since 2018 if he has Brisker at the other safety. Brisker is a more physical type of safety and Jackson the natural takeaway type, although he hasn't had an interception since the final game of the 2019 season. Worse even than the interceptions is the fact he struggled in coverage when targeted last year, allowing a passer rating of 143.6 with six touchdow passes according to Sportradar. The official NFL stat partner also said he had more TDs allowed last year than in his other three seasons combined (5).

2022 Prospectus: Jackson really should rebound and needs to because of his big contract and the new regime being in place. He should prove his value to coach Matt Eberflus and staff, as well as GM Ryan Poles. He had six defensive TDs on returns in his first two years and none since, so expect the new Tampa-2 style on defense to be of great benefit. He'll have his eyes on the passer more now.

No. 2 Cairo Santos

5-8, 175

The Dossier: Currently the most accurate field goal kicker in franchise history after passing Robbie Gould during his run to a streak of 40 straight field goals over the past two years. The Brazilian is now at 89.1% in Chicago (57 of 64), upping his career field goal percentage to 83.7%. Of concern yet is his kicking beyond 50 yards. He is below 50% for his career (10 of 22), and is just 2 of 6 for the Bears.

2022 Prospectus: Santos' efficiency has always centered around his health. When entirely healthy, he is dead-on. Even the harsh conditions at Soldier Field for kickers didn't deter him. When he has battled groin issues there have been problems. The Bears need their kicker to be healthy, and maybe they'll let him try a few more 50-plus kicks. KC let him try 12 in his first three-plus seasons before his groin injury issues and he made seven, so he's capable from long range.

No. 1 QB Justin Fields

6-3, 228

The Dossier: Fields built momentum toward his second season starting with the team's loss to San Francisco last year in Week 8. From that point on, he completed 84 of 139 (60.4%) for 1,054 yards for 7.58 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and four interceptions. He also ran for 280 of his 420 rushing yards in those games. The Bears lost all five of those starts, which clouds things, but the progress was undeniable considering he had an 84.0 passer rating then but only a 61.8 passer rating earlier in his first seven appearances.

2022 Prospectus: The big question is what effect changing offenses can have. Sure, it's a setback learning a new system. But when the old offense was so bad can it be any worse starting over again like he did as a rookie? Look for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to utilize his QB's mobility in better ways than Matt Nagy's offense did in order to keep the chains moving. Fields has shown he has skills, now expect this staff to play to those skills.

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