Time for Roschon Johnson to Shine

The week Roschon Johnson has waited for since April has arrived.

If there's any Bears player who has wanted to get onto the field in live conditions and get physical, it's the fourth-round running back from Texas.

"Once we get pads I can get more physical," Johnson said.

Putting pads on helped a little, but it's still controlled practice and thud-up with backs. Contact is made and they're allowed to go on their merry ways.

Johnson's defining characteristic is running through tackles and against the Tennessee Titans Saturday he should have a chance to show what he can do.

"I think it's just that—being in an actual game and having live reps, getting into the full swing of just playing a game," he said. "So that's what I'm just looking for—the experience as a whole."

It's not just the running the Bears need to see. Actually, that might be the last thing they need to see from Johnson or any of the other backs for that matter.

Backs contributing as pass blockers and as receivers might be bigger at this point while coaches are assessing players.

They see plenty of their running backs on game film. Seeing their backs blocking in the Bears offense is what they need to see. They need someone else helping to give Justin Fields time, or acting as a safety valve receiver.

The same might apply to second-year back Trestan Ebner, who hasn't had much of a chance to prove himself as a ball carrier. He had just 24 carries, eight targets and 85 total offensive snaps for all 17 games last season.

Total play time for starters might be better defined this week.

All Matt Eberflus has said about using starters to date is: "It will be some time. It will be some play time a little bit in there."

Here's what else the Bears could stand to see in Saturday's preseason opener.

O-Line Run Blocking

It would be good if they were seeing the full line doing the blocking but they'll just take what they can get. Nate Davis' absence in practices the last week has made it seem unlikely they'd have their starting right guard available. Whoever they have out there, the run blocking needs to take shape in the wide zone scheme. Just like with the running backs, they need to see their blockers on the move and being physical.

The #Bears spent a fourth round pick on Roschon Johnson, signed D’Onta Foreman and Travis Homer in free agency, and weren’t willing to pay David Montgomery.

Yet people are out here believing that Ryan Poles will pay draft capital and money to acquire a player like Taylor who… https://t.co/ZuvNO7BnOS
— Coach Usayd Koshul (@usaydkoshul) August 2, 2023

Darnell Wright Pass Blocking

In some of the one-on-one blocking drills, Wright actually pancaked pass rushers. This isn't actually a common occurence in the NFL on pass plays. Wright has been very effective in his pass blocking at right tackle for scrimmages. Now he'll get to show what he can do in actual game conditions.

"He is exactly what we thought he was in terms of being an athlete," Eberflus said. "If you watch his one-on-one pass rush, he's able to really set quickly with his quickness, keep his balance, stay square to the line of scrimmage, not shoot his hands too early, be patient at the top. And he can mirror and stay in front of guys. If guys want to go on the outside, he can ride them by. If they want to do out-in-out or in-out-in, he does a great job working them down to the center, staying square and smashing them down that way."

What Eberflus wants to see is the ability to finish off drives or games. Wright should have this after doing off-season conditioning drills meant for wide receivers.

Consistency of effort is what they need to see.

"That's what rookies go through," Eberflus said. "They work it. They can go four, five and then all of a sudden, something happens. You've gotta maintain that mental stamina as well as the physical stamina."

Larry Borom's Consistency

Wright included, the Bears tackle situation is dependent on players short on experience. Braxton Jones last year played every game without an injury issue at left tackle as a rookie. Now the right tackle is a rookie. Swing tackle Larry Borom has started for big chunks of two seasons and 17 starts total or the equivalent of one full season. They have Alex Leatherwood, who can play tackle or guard. He's not much more experienced and it was bad experience -- it got him waived by the Raiders.

The Bears need to know they can count on Borom as a pass blocker in case something happens to the first two tackles or one of the first two struggle.

Because he's a backup and it's only the first preseason game, Borom is likely to get a good deal of the playing time. Leatherwood and tackle Kellen Diesch should play extensively. Whether Leatherwood plays at tackle will be a point of interest.

Last year they were so unconvinced about Borom that they brought in Riley Rieff and he eventually became the starter. Has Borom improved?

Velus Jones Jr.

The passing game will be important in Week 1 but not the timing in the passing game between Justin Fields and DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, etc.—their playing time should be too limited for this, if they play at all. Their timing is being built in practices. They'll want to see what Velus Jones Jr. has learned about running routes, the offense and being physical. Can he fit in their offense? He struggled in this area last year and coaches have readily admitted this. Jones hasn't caught as many passes in scrimmages as rookie Tyler Scott, but he hasn't been invisible, either. They need to know Jones is getting it. They'd also like to see him fielding punts in game conditions now because punt returner Dante Pettis remains on the non-football injury list.

The Bears have three running backs that showed the ability to create yards after contact, though Khalil Herbert & Roschon Johnson can break and evade tacklers better than D'Onta Foreman. pic.twitter.com/IoaaMdZiyH
— Corbin (@corbin_young21) August 6, 2023

Punt Returner

If you've got a ticket for the game, they might ask you to come out and field a few punts. It seems it's going this way. Instead of narrowing this down to a few punt returners while Pettis is still out, this past week more players got thrown into the fray. Tyrique Stevenson fielded one at Soldier Field Sunday. Would they actually use their second-round cornerback to return punts? He might be a starter.

Strongside Linebacker

Most likely this means watching rookie fifth-rounder Noah Sewell but it's possible it could mean Jack Sanborn, as well. The idea was Sanborn moving from middle to strongside. Instead, he's moved from middle to the trainer's room. He never practiced all off-season due to his ankle rehab, then in camp has been sidelined for the majority of the 10 practices with an undisclosed injury. Is it the same issue? No one knows right now. Filling in at practice with limited physicality is one thing but live is another. Sewell's play at practice has brought commendations for his athleticism but Eberflus stressed a few times the rookie needs to know the intricacies of the scheme better. This will give him a test of how well he has done at learning this.

Curiosities

There are a few players well back on the roster who have flashed some skills in practices, or need to show something. This first preseason game will be their chance to show it was no fluke. One is D'Anthony Jones, a tremendously undersized defensive lineman who the Bears have played at end for the most part. They have him generously listed at 6-foot-2. That's very generous. The most striking thing about him is he is so short for a defensive end. So he has to make up for lack of height with some explosive pass rush ability. In their very limited one-on-one work, he does show this occasionally.

A few others to watch: Travis Bell, the seventh-round defensive tackle from Kennesaw State, has been a study in inconsistency during practices. That's pretty common for all rookies but he'll sometimes get into a gap quickly and beat the blocking entirely, or get totally pancaked. Obviously they need his gap-shooting ability to expand and the other aspect to disappear.

Another one? Aron Cruickshank, the wide receiver from Rutgers and Wisconsin. Since practices started in early May, he probably has made more ridiculous one-handed catches than anyone. They've also added him to the punt return battle, along with everybody except equipment manager Tony Medlin.

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