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Bear Digest

Why Bears Roster Cinderella Figures to Be Someone Besides Kaden Davis

Look to the defensive side of the football for an unsung player to rise up and crack the 53-man roster because need outweighs speed at cutdown time.
Gene Chamberlain|
The speed and talent of this Bears receiver corps is going to make it tough for any newcomer to crack the to six or five.
The speed and talent of this Bears receiver corps is going to make it tough for any newcomer to crack the to six or five. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The athletic ability of first-round pick Dillon Thieneman continues to show up more and more as training camp and preseason have progressed.

His interception in the joint practice against the Bengals is another example of his play-making ability. It seems like only a matter of getting more in tune with what NFL offenses and receivers do on the field in games before Thieneman can completely ascend.

The big reason is speed, and wide receiver Rome Odunze has seen it from Thieneman on a level with the team's fastest wide receivers.

"Every time you get the ball, every time he's out there, he's running to the ball, and then you come outside and you see his name on the board: 22 miles per hour, 21 miles per hour, 22 miles per hour, day-in and day-out," Odunze said. "So you feel it as well.

"The game is slowing down for him as well. He made a play early on in camp where he came down on an in-breaking route, he kind of broke up the play. Something that it takes a little bit of savviness, a little bit of knowing what's happening, seeing the field to accomplish. So I think it's coming. The game is slowing down for him a good bit, and he's seeing things a lot quicker. But obviously he's still learning and still getting after it. But he's been impressive so far."

The speed board is overrated

The board, of course, is the speed board the Bears have talked about at times in camp. Odunze and Kalif Raymond had been the subject of this earlier. Through the course of camp, Bears are tracked for speed and top times are posted for players after practices.

Raymond and Odunze have occasionally been on the list. Zavion Thomas would, no doubt, have been up there plenty if not for injury based on his 4.28-second time in the 40 from the combine.

"Yeah, the guys are talking smack over that for sure and Dillon's, like I said, been at the top of it a few times," Odunze said.

The player most consistently on the board as fastest in Odunze's opinion isn't Thieneman, although he's close.

"If I had to guess, I would say I'll probably say Kaden Davis," Odunze said. "He, since he came in, he's been up there, and then I'll probably say Dillon. Those are the two."

Odunze also threw in receiver Jahdae Walker as the No. 3. Then he had a surprise No. 4.

"(Josh) Blackwell is always up there," Odunze said. "I mean, he's you know just fast on how many different days."

Davis is the intriguing one to Bears fans, though. Would they keep him on the roster based only on that great speed? He needs to keep showing good hands and route-running ability. He had four catches for 88 yards against Cleveland.

Davis is really not an unknown player to the Bears or rest of the league. He spent 2024 training camp with Detroit when Johnson was offensive coordinator. He has been around the NFL since 2022 and was with the Browns, Broncos and Cardinals besides the Lions. He played in three NFL games and 16 offensive snaps without being targeted.

The stacked odds at wide receiver

Anyone talking about Davis making the team need to consider all of this, but also there is this much: There is almost no more sure way to fail to make the Bears' 53-man roster than by leading the team in catches in preseason.

No one who led the Bears in receptions in preseason has made the 53-man opening-day roster since Deonte Thompson did it in 2017. Wide receiver Rodney Adams in 2021 was on it in 2021 after the roster cutdowns and that same preseason spent all night at a hospital for the birth of his child before scoring the next day on a 73-yard Andy Dalton TD pass. However, he never made it to the opening-day roster. He he was cut prior to game week and put on the practice squad after the team made several waiver wire additions.

Preseason games mean nothing and it's something fans need to be reminded of each year. It might excite some fans and even earn a receiver or back or some other player a spot on the practice squad, but not the 53-man roster.

This Bears team needs another wide receiver like it needs another site in Indiana to look at for a stadium. After their top five, it's unlikely they'd keep a sixth but if they did someone with real NFL experience and special teams experience, like Scotty Miller or Ray-Ray McCloud — make the most sense. Davis has all the markings of a potential practice squad player. Considering how he's already been around the NFL for so long without catching onto a roster for significant time, it's unlikely teams would be trying to sign him off of the practice squad.

Preseason is always for unknown wide receivers to make noise because they can do it then.

When defenses actually start game-planning and wins are at stake, experience and route running matter more than pure speed, although that can help.

The classic case of the nobody receiver and even the nobody quarterback having everyone fooled came in 2002 Bears preseason. QB Ken Mastrole and wide receiver Kenny Christian had helped beat the Rams in preseason and had all of the attention of fans then.

One report even said they "all but made the team." They didn't make it onto a division champion roster that was tough to crack.

Injuries are about the only way an opening develops in this Bears' receiver room for Davis, and at this point in training camp they should be taking as few risks as possible with players in order to avoid those so they have everyone intact for opening day.

The Cinderella stories will need to be reserved for the other side of the football, where they might need one or two Nahshon Wright types to stand up and help save the day for a group plagued by injuries. They'll take the healthy, productive bodies whether they are on the speed chart or not.

Bears preseason receptions leaders

2025: Joel Wilson (11)*
2024: Tommy Sweeney (9)*
2023: Nsimba Webster*, Daurice Fountain* (7 each)
2022: Isaiah Coulter* (8)
2021: Rodney Adams* (10)
2020: No training camp
2019: Ryan Nall* (10)
2018: Tanner Gentry* (16)
2017: Deonte Thompson (8)

*Failed to make 53-man opening-day roster

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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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