Predicting the Bears’ 53-Man Roster After the Preseason
The Bears remain undefeated!
The outcome didn’t matter, but it was still fun to see them storm back and get the win against Kansas City.
A few players on the roster bubble made strong cases for themselves, too, and Chicago’s coaching staff has a few tough decisions to make. Specifically, it will be interesting to see where they decide to allocate more depth across the board.
Can they afford to keep six receivers? Which backup linemen will stick around? Do they need to keep more cornerbacks than usual due to injuries on the back end?
The Bears’ front office will surely keep a watchful eye on the waiver wire next week. That’s the normal process during the roster cut-down period. A player making the initial 53-man roster doesn’t mean that they are guaranteed a spot on the week one roster. However, the evaluation period is complete.
We’ve officially reached the season of making educated guesses for Chicago’s 2025 squad.
Who do I think will make the (initial) cut?
3 QBs // Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum
This one is chalk. Bagent’s a beast—ice water in his veins. Three QBs are a luxury, but Keenum is as much of a coach as he is a player at this point.
He’s an important mentor for the QB room, and his job seems relatively secure. Austin Reed will definitely get the call to be on the practice squad.
4 RBs // D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangai, Travis Homer
This one was tough. Brittain Brown has been impressive since they brought him in two weeks ago. I’m sure they’d want to add him to the practice squad. The same can be said for Ian Wheeler. Every roster cut is difficult, but that one will probably sting a bit more for them after he worked his way back from a torn ACL. They are both better (much) runners than Homer, but Homer is a vital cog on special teams.
This is one position I could see them watching closely on the waiver wire (specifically for some thunder to Swift’s lightning). RoJo would probably be the odd man out in that case. I think they saw enough from Monangai against Miami.
6 WRs // DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus, Luther Burden III, Devin Duvernay, Jahdae Walker
The one everyone will be watching. Will Jahdae Jefferso.. er, Walker, make the final roster? He certainly made a strong case for it against the Chiefs. The issue is, keeping six receivers is a luxury. Most teams usually roster five. Still, I think his special teams value makes him the outlier to that rule. Not only did he make the game-ending tackle yesterday, but he also almost blocked a punt last week. I don’t think he’ll clear waivers, and I don’t think they’ll want to risk losing him.
Everyone else’s job is secure here (with Duvernay’s spot tied to the value he provides as a returner). They’ll probably hope to bring at least two players back to the practice squad among the trio of Tyler Scott, Maurice Alexander, and JP Richardson.
3 TEs // Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, Durham Smythe
This one also feels like chalk. While I could see them keeping four TEs with Ben Johnson’s affinity for the position, I think they’d probably be able to bring (early) training camp standout Joel Wilson back to the practice squad. That would allow them to develop him and call him up in a pinch if someone goes down. He didn’t flash enough in the preseason to warrant much interest elsewhere.
10 OL // Joe Thuney, Darnell Wright, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet, Luke Newman, Ryan Bates, Kiran Amegadjie
The offensive line is one of the toughest evaluations on the team. Theo Benedet and Luke Newman’s stacking of solid performances put them in a position where they’ll have to make some tough decisions. Namely, what are they going to do with Kiran Amegadjie? The 2024 third-round pick is clearly buried on the depth chart. Are they willing to throw in the towel on him after just one season? I personally don’t think they will, but I could see it going either way. If he stays, I think they will attempt to move him inside to guard, though.
They’ll definitely hope to bring Doug Kramer Jr. to the practice squad, too, as Ryan Bates is probably the only other lineman whom they feel comfortable snapping the ball. Newman can do it in a pinch, but I’m sure they don’t feel great about it.
9 DL // Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter, Grady Jarrett, Andrew Billings, Shemar Turner, Austin Booker, Dominique Robinson, Daniel Hardy
Remember when I said the Bears keeping six receivers was a luxury? I think it could come at the expense of the defensive line. They’d probably want to keep ten guys here, but ultimately go with nine since nobody else really stood out during the preseason. Chris Williams is the only guy here who could be classified as somewhat of a surprising cut. They’d probably be able to get him back on the practice squad, though. Zacch Pickens played well against the Bills, but it seems like that experiment will come to a merciful end.
They probably expected to keep Tanoh Kpassagnon here when they signed him, but Dominique Robinson continues to do just enough to stick around as a backup. Daniel Hardy will (hopefully) stick around for his special teams value. The Ben Johnson post-game shout-out was a good indication that he will make the team.
5 LBs // Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Noah Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite II, Amen Ogbongbemiga
I was trying to find a way to keep Power Echols around, but I ultimately couldn’t justify it. He played really well in the preseason, though. I’m sure he’s a guy they’d love to bring back to the practice squad. It was good to see Sewell get back out there after getting hurt. He seems to have the edge for the third linebacker job.
6 CBs // Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Nahshon Wright, Josh Blackwell, Tre Flowers
This is another position I think the Bears will keep an eye on via the waiver wire. Flowers’ roster position is hanging on by a thread. I could see them potentially keeping Nick McCloud instead, but I think that comes down to how they feel about Gordon’s hamstring injury. If they fear it could linger into the regular season, he will probably have the edge as CB6.
Everyone else’s job appears relatively safe (I don’t understand the coaching staff’s infatuation with Wright, though). They will bring Zah Frazier back to the practice squad if he still has aspirations to play in the league. Definitely a disappointing start for the fifth-round pick.
4 S // Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard III, Jonathan Owens, Elijah Hicks
Alex Cook has shown potential at safety, but it’s a numbers game. He didn’t flash as much on special teams, which gave some others, including Elijah Hicks, the edge. He’s another strong candidate to bring back to the practice squad, though.
This is another position where they could look to add another body (potentially at the expense of CB6) through waivers.
3 ST // Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Scott Daly
Chalk. Disappointed in Santos for doinking a kick (with Matt Nagy on the sideline, no less), though. If you’re going to miss a kick, at least shank it. This fanbase has been through enough.
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