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Possible Bears Hidden Waiver Wire Wonders

Rating chances for waived players the Bears brought in after they failed on earlier shots to stick in the NFL.
Gene Chamberlain|
Possible Bears Hidden Waiver Wire Wonders
Possible Bears Hidden Waiver Wire Wonders

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Chicago Bears

The run up to the draft begins with the Senior Bowl and other college all-star games.

It doesn't begin to account for the start of the talent acquisition season, and neither does free agency.

Personnel departments find talent on the street off waivers, cast off by other teams and sometimes there is value. Sometimes players cut or undrafted find a fit within a particular system and produce, seemingly out of nowhere.

Antonio Gates, Michael Bennett, James Harrison and Cameron Wake are examples of NFL players who got recycled and eventually emerged as forces.

The Bears had brought players onto their roster last year at various points who they saw something in but being on a practice squad or on an active roster for a week or two at the end of a season isn't an ideal way to show a team what they can do.

Sometimes players like this need time to learn new offenses or defenses the following year to find their fit and surge.

The Bears have five players who could be gems waiting to be uncovered when they begin practices.

1. DE Terrell Lewis

Lewis got into a game last year and was on their practice squad after being a third-round Rams choice in 2019 out of Alabama. Lewis could be a player who may have been simply mis-used by the Rams. He played edge-rushing linebacker in a 3-4 there but they constantly deployed him in pass coverage. He still got six sacks in limited opportunities to rush the passer over three seasons, then was waived.
At Alabama, Lewis had been an impact pass rusher who decided games and national championships but he had a few injuries, including an ACL. Injuries plagued him in L.A. for a while, but if healthy and used differently, there's no reason to think a 6-foot-5, 262-pound defensive end wouldn't succeed as a backup contributor in a pass rush rotation on the edge because of his size and athleticism. The one thing he really didn't do with the Rams is something he would have to do as a reserve defensive lineman in a rotation and that's play special teams. He has the athleticism for it with a 37-inch vertical leap and 10-foot-4 broad jump coming out of college but never went above 5% participation in special teams plays. The fact he had a knee injury in his past may have had something to do with it but that's the past and after being waived it's either do everything possible to keep a job or retire.

2. T/G Alex Leatherwood

It wouldn't be the first time the Raiders made a personnel mistake. They waived him and the Bears claimed him last year. Then Leatherwood had a reported bout with mono before the season even started. So not only did he lack the chance to learn their offense in an offseason and training camp, but he had to pick it up on the fly. He wasn't in a game until Week 13 and then got in for just 32 plays. It will be interesting to see how he performs with a year to absorb this situation, considering he was a first-round pick by the Raiders. If Leatherwood only lived up to his draft pedigree immediately last year, he could have solved so many problems for the Bears heading into this draft. 

Also, it will be even more interesting to see whether the Bears line him up at tackle or guard as he has played both.

3. T Kellen Diesch

When the Airzona State tackle went unsigned it had analysts scratching their heads. Here was a 6-foot-7, 300-pound tackle, graded in middle rounds by some predraft accounts, and he didn't get selected. Then he failed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. 

Diesch is very mobile and ran an outstanding 4.89 seconds in the 40, ranking in the top 3% of all tackles who ran the 40 in the mockdraftable.com data base. He allowed two sacks in his last year at ASU and had a Pro Football Focus blocking grade of 87.2 for 768 plays. Then they measured his arms and despite being so tall his arms are just 32-1/4 inches, or the same length as current tackle prospect Peter Skoronski from Northwestern. So it's going to be more difficult for Diesch to reach out and get contact with edge rushers. Still, the Dolphins paid him $130,000 guaranteed because he had good footwork when he pass-blocked and was quick. They thought about grooming him on the practice squad when they cut him, but Poles came in and signed him for the practice squad, instead. He spent last year practicing and learning with the Bears. Because of his physical limitations, he might top out as a swing tackle but teams need them.

4. DT Donovan Jeter

Jeter was an undrafted player from Michigan who made the Commanders roster but was waived after one game, put on their practice squad and later waived. The Bears signed him to a futures contract. The reason he has a chance with the Bears is he is a scarce commodity on the roster as a 6-3, 325-pound big nose tackle. He's essentially a backup at the one technique to newly signed Andrew Billings. It's possible now they'll add another one-technique tackle in the draft but for now he might be their only one besides Billings.  

5. WR Joe Reed

A fifth-round draft pick in 2020 by the Chargers, he has been targeted for exactly one pass without an NFL catch. He did get five rushing attempts for 29 yards in 2020, when he also played in 11 games, largely on special teams. Since then he's been waived and brought on the Chargers practice squad for a few years. It's not exactly easy to get playing time on a team that has receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and when they have running back Austin Ekeler gobbling up targets what purpose is there for an extra receiver, anyway? So it's possible there's more here as Reed averaged 18.6 yards a reception at Virginia in 2018, but that was quite a while ago.

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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.

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