Updating Best Camp Battles Brewing

Every spring it's an invasion.

A massive number of draft picks and undrafted free agents arrive at NFL teams' practice sites. The veterans need to fend them off in the battle for either starting jobs or roster spots, beginning with OTAs, although it heats up quite a bit more at training camp.

The Bears have plenty of veterans who will be challenged.

"We believe in all those guys that are currently on our roster, or they wouldn’t be here," coach Matt Eberflus said. "So those guys are all gonna compete.

"And obviously we believe in the guys we drafted. So when you start to increase your talent on your roster, the competition gets better and gets more. And I think it’s a healthy thing, you know? The NFL is all about competition. It's all about, 'Hey, we're trying to get these spots. And you have to compete for that spot.' "

This was the message former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman gave to players at last week's rookie minicamp when Eberflus brought him in to talk for the second straight year.

"You've got to be a fiery competitor to be able to stay in this league and to get in one of these seats," Eberflus said. "That was a great message by him."

Things have changed since the depth chart was last studied. They've drafted, they signed undrafted players, they even signed a few free agents and made trades.

Here are the best nine battles looming, whether for starter, backup or even roster spots, and also a projected depth chart.

1. C Cody Whitehair vs. Lucas Patrick

This one already has Eberflus frothing with anticipation. Even offensive line coach Chris Morgan was giving out the lineup for the starting battle and including both Doug Kramer and Dieter Eiselen in it, but those two would be real long shots. Whitehair was good enough to be in a Pro Bowl as an alternate in 2018 doing this but that was a long time ago. If Patrick stays healthy, he can't be ruled out as a winner.

2. RB Khalil Herbert vs. D'Onte Foreman

Roschon Johnson could eventually become the starter because of his versatile skill set, but as it stands the veterans will do battle for the starting spot and it's going to be backfield by true committee. Johnson wasn't really drafted high enough to assume anything. Trestan Ebner and Travis Homer will battle, as well, but it might before a roster spot.

3. Strong Side Linebacker Triumvirate

Jack Sanborn figures to start out with the Ones but Dylan Cole and Noah Sewell definitely will be looking to win this one. It's only a partial starting position because the strong side won't even be on the field half the snaps. All three of these players could be in the running to back up at the other two linebacker positions. Sanborn started in the middle last year for six games. Sewell was lining up as an inside linebacker most of the time in his last three years at Oregon. He was there 1,502 snaps according to Pro Football Focus. He played out in the slot 113 times and on the line as an edge rusher 222 times. Cole had eight starts at inside linebacker for Tennessee last year.

Bears Projected 2023 Depth Chart

Position	1st Team	2nd Team	3rd Team
Offense
QB	Justin Fields	PJ Walker	Nathan Peterman
RB	Khalil Herbert	D'Onte Foreman	Roschon Johnson
WR	DJ Moore	Dante Pettis	Daurice Fountain
WR	Darnell Mooney	Tyler Scott	Nsimba Webster
WR	Chase Claypool	Equanimeous St. Brown	Velus Jones Jr.
TE	Cole Kmet	Robert Tonyan Jr.	Stephen Carlson
LT	Braxton Jones	Larry Borom	Kellen Diesch
LG	Teven Jenkins	Ja'Tyre Carter	Lorenz Metz
C	Cody Whitehair	Lucas Patrick	Doug Kramer
RG	Nate Davis	Dieter Eiselen	Gabe Houy
RT	Darnell Wright	Alex Leatherwood	Bobby Haskins
Defense
DE	Trevis Gipson	Rasheem Green	Jalen Harris
NT	Andrew Billings	Zacch Pickens	Travis Bell
DT	Justin Jones	Gervon Dexter	Jalyn Holmes
DE	DeMarcus Walker	Dominique Robinson	Terrell Lewis
WLB	T.J. Edwards	Sterling Weatherford	DeMarquis Gates
MLB	Tremaine Edmunds	Noah Sewell	Micah Baskerville
SLB	Jack Sanborn	Dylan Cole	Kuony Deng
LCB	Tyrique Stevenson	Kindle Vildor	Michael Ojemudia
S	Jaquan Brisker	Kendall Williamson	A.J. Thomas
S	Eddie Jackson	Elijah Hicks	Adrian Colbert
RCB	Jaylon Johnson	Terell Smith	Jaylon Jones
Slot CB	Kyler Gordon	Josh Blackwell	-

4. DE Rasheem Green vs. Trevis Gipson

This doesn't rate above some others because they're going to use all of these edge rushers in rotation anyway. But Gipson figures to be the starter because he had a solid year as a run stopper and applied pressure, even if he didn't finish the pass rushes. Gipson was sixth in the league at defensive end in run-defense win rate according to ESPN.com. Green is another stout defensive end the Bears wanted to try go clean up the mess their run defense became last year.

The really interesting aspect of the edge rushing battle will be if they pick up a "hired gun," edge pass rusher from the group of unsigned free agents.

They have four edge rushers now, although they could move Demarcus Walker inside in pass rush situations at times. But a team isn't going to have too many games with five edge rushers active on game day. If they bring in a veteran, will it mean Robinson must be inactive? He'll never develop that way.

It could mean trading someone, and Trevis Gipson has a contract ending after this season. This is a situation to watch.

5. WR Velus Jones Jr. vs. Backup Receivers

Throw Tyler Scott and Equanimeous St. Brown into this one. They will only use so many wide receivers. Their first three will be in the lineup most of the time—Chase Claypool, DJ Moore and Darnell Mooney. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said they need to get the QB-receiver relationship ironed out and the only way that's done is by repetitions.

Those big three are going to need the practice work with Justin Fields. The rest, not as much.

There was much speculation at Halas Hall during rookie minicamp about Jones being an odd man out for the roster. This seems ridiculous. While it is true he didn't live up to expectations with only seven catches and two key muffed punts, he did come on strong as a kick returner and even contributed some key runs and pass catches at season's end after he seemed to gain traction. This is a 4.31-second 40-yard man and that's a combine time, not a distortion like they have at pro days. He's also over 200 pounds.

So they're not getting rid of athleticism of that level quickly. It's going to be on Pettis to show he can return punts like in college, wheh he had an NCAA record nine punt return TDs. Then he'll have a roster spot. Again Equanimeous St. Brown must start picking up the slack with catches because his blocking isn't questioned.

Then Scott gets tossed into this as a backup slot but his quickness makes him a potential Z-receiver. So about anything will happen in this battle.

6. CB Kindle Vildor vs. Terell Smith

It's already a given that second-rounder Dominique Stevenson will take that left cornerback spot from Vildor. The real battle will be if Vildor can maintain the top backup position against less experienced players hoping to stay on the roster. There's fifth-round rookie Terell Smith, who looked good at rookie minicamp. And there's also undrafted Jaylon Jones and slot backup/outside backup Josh Blackwell. It might be a tough battle for Vildor just to keep a job pitted against that group.

7. S Kendall Williamson vs. Elijah Hicks

Both figure to be on the roster but one is going to be the third safety, barring Poles bringing one in from off the street. Williamson at rookie camp looked to have more coverage ability than some predraft scouting reports let on, as he made a pick and was moving well deep. He also exhibited good closing speed on screens and running plays. This will be interesting, a battle of two seventh-round safeties for the first backup slot.

8. DT Zacch Pickens vs. Gervon Dexter.

They both will be three techniques but there is only one backup. They talk about a rotation but there are only so many snaps. It's possible both could play nose a times, too, so ultimately both might wind up playing equal amounts of time. The selection of Dexter at 53 and Pickens at 64 makes for more intrigue. Neither figures to start unless Justin Jones suffers an injury.

9. QB Nathan Peterman vs. Tyson Bagent

This might be a battle for a roster spot, but then again maybe not. There's no guarantee they would keep two QBs on the roster. It would seem more likely they could get away with stashing Peterman on the practice squad because he's a veteran who hasn't reached starting status. But Bagent is an unknown quantity, a Division II prospect, and some NFL teams might want to nab him off the practice squad if he was there.

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